1961

It is a pleasure to share with the Class this month a long and most interesting letter from John White: "I'll start with a question: why does our Class have a newsletter whose only purpose seems to be competition with class notes? The newsletter costs somebody money for printing and mailing (oh, those postage costs!) and tells me more of the same as I read in the Magazine, on'j 'iess frequently. Meaning no reflection whatsoever on Tom Conger's noble efforts, I wonder why this inefficient doubling of effort and expense takes place.

I had a nice evening not too long ago talking witn iete Palin at the Quinnipiack Club in New Haven. He's just moved to Fairfield with his rood of three, if I recall correctly. Reason for the move: a promotion in the banking corporation he works for selling pension fund plans. Friends of Dick Sax of Huntington Beach, Calif., should know he is now sharing his life with a wife, Janet, and his Irish setter, O'Hara.

"As for me, I've embarked on a career of writing and publishing from my home in Cheshire, Conn. Last year, after an article of mine on consciousness research appeared in Saturday Review, a New York publisher asked me to join him as a partner on projects in my field. As things have turned out, our first two projects have been my own books, both mass market paperbacks. Everything You Want ToKnow About TM came out in January, followed the next month by Relax. We're publishing Mysteries Of Time and Space by Brad Steiger soon and have several other books under preparation by various authors. This is a natural outgrowth of my long-time interest in the literary world. My own books four paperbacks and three hardcovers are now going into Spanish, German, and Dutch editions.

"What else am I into? I'm writing the script for a film on spiritual communities, to be made by Hartley Productions here in Connecticut. I've worked with them on several other films, including one on biofeedback where I appear on screen briefly, wiggling my ears to demonstrate voluntary control of normally uncontrolled muscles. I suggested the thing as a joke to the producer, but it was taken seriously. I couldn't back out. Now my place in cinematic history is assured: look at that idiot wiggling his ears!

"Well, as W. C. Fields once said, it's a hard life and a guy's lucky to get out of it alive. Matter of fact, that is the theme of a new national organization I'm helping to direct. The Phenix Society is a friendship association (costs nothing to join and there are no dues) whose purpose is to help people improve the quality of their lives through reading, discussion and meditation. What do I mean by 'quality?' I mean the sense of purpose, direction, and fulfillment that most of us have in younger years as we pursue the usual materialistic goals. But what happens in midlife or so when a person has scrambled to the top of the heap and gotten about as much of fame and fortune as he wants? Midlife crisis sets in. Statistically, it begins anywhere from 35 to 50, the time our Class is entering. It's that time when the values and game plans of youth lose their luster, and apathy or depression can set in, with a consequent loss of physical and mental vitality. For us, it's male menopuase.

"What's the answer? The development of wisdom. That alone is the way to survive midlife crisis. Carl Jung pointed out that we can't live the second half of life according to the standards and values of the first. If you try, you end up mentally bankrupt, if not an alcoholic or suicide.

"So The Phenix Society tries to deal with the philosophical and spiritual concerns that generally are ignored or avoided by people until life pulls them up short. Each local group meets once a week for an hour or two, and during the week members individually pursue a program of study and meditation. We also have a home study correspondence course called The Wisdom College, which is a four year curriculum (costing almost nothing) that deals with the great insights won by civilization largely ignored by existing schools and colleges - things like planetary stewardship and cosmic consciousness. If anyone wants information about The Phenix Society or The Wisdom College, drop a line to P.O. Box 25, Guilford, Connecticut 06437. There are nearly two dozen Phenix groups around the country.

"I trust no one objects to this free ad for The Phenix Society. I'm kind of tired of reading the same old bull about "hoisting a few" with Harry Highschool and Joe Sixpack. Maybe those who are concerned about global crisis and spiritual development will follow my lead and drop a note to the column about where they're really at. We come into this world naked and we leave it the same way. The only thing you can take with you is spiritual growth."

After writing over 40 class columns and several obituaries during the past four and one-half years, Bob Mclndoe has decided to bow out as class secretary. Publishing interesting letters, such as this one from John White, has been the most enjoyable aspect of being secretary. Un- fortunately, very few classmates take the time to volunteer information about themselves, so the secretary is often faced with having little or no news to write about or with having to spend time soliciting news. With a successful investment management business placing increasing demands on Bob's time, he has suggested another classmate, with ample time to solicit news, become secretary.

Bob, his wife Margaret, and their two children, David and Anne, live in Winchester, Mass. He is in charge of investment counselling at The Massachusetts Company, the nation's oldest corporate trustee. (Founded in 1818, the Company included among its earliest clients our old friend, Daniel Webster.)

Just in from Aspen: Paul Heimer says the skiing there is great! He is fast becoming the Franz Klammer of the dental profession. The last couple of years, if you couldn't reach Paul at his office in Lancaster, Pa., chances were you could find him on the slopes somewhere in the country. Understand his next stop is Stowe.

Secretary, 14 Glen Road Winchester, Mass. 01890

Class Agent, 34 Colony Road Westport, Conn. 06880