1949

My mailman has been good to me this month. Many thanks to those of you who have written me. I suspect that the snowy, freezing weather that has spread over the country has been to my advantage. Distractions from outdoor activities certainly have been reduced to a minimum, especially in my part of the country. To make matters worse, the skiing is terrible in Colorado and there is nothing else to do but work, play indoor tennis and curl.

I received a nice letter from Peter Gish, telling about his continuing interest in painting. He maintains a studio in Westport, Conn., next to his father, Carl '15. He says he is pretty much of a traditionalist - post impressionist. He is also assistant professor in the art department of nearby Fairfield University. He has done quite a bit of painting and correspondence work with the Marine Corps in the past years, but has retired as of June 1, 1976. His home is in Greenwich, Conn., where he lives with Margo and his sons - Peter 14 and Carl 12. Daughter Charlotte 18 is at Vassar.

Phil Goodspeed writes that he is enjoying reviving his ties with Dartmouth, now that his son Bill is a freshman. This brings him to Hanover frequently, so perhaps some of us will run into him there. He is still in Grand Rapids, in the commercial real estate business, and has four sons. He sees Bob Castle every summer in northern Michigan.

A Christmas card from Sandy Kelsey reveals that he has gone into retirement after 25 years with the State Department. Anyone in the Irvington, Va., area will find him at the Tide's Inn, where is is a dockmaster and windsurfing specialist. (Just the sport for most of us.) He and Anne promise to join the Class next fall in Hanover.

The last time we saw John Cooley, he and his wife Vania were headed back for Beirut, where he covered the Middle East for the ChristianScience Monitor. That was more than a year ago at the fall reunion. He writes that they survived the war in Lebanon, although they lost all Vania's paintings and many of their other possessions before they finally moved to Athens, last March. John is traveling about half the time and had just returned from covering the OPEC oil minister's conference in Qatar. His next stop was Saudi Arabia. He has begun working on a new book and Vania has published her first novel, My Friend the Colonel. So far it's only been printed in Greek so you may have trouble finding it. Their four-year-old son, Alexander, is enjoying kindergarten at the American Community School in Athens. They all hope to be home on leave next summer.

Dick Hoar reports he is working for Hoffman-LaRoche. He moved there in 1969 from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he was associate professor of anatomy. In his present position, he is assistant director of the toxicology department and head of teratology (birth defects). He spends about one day a week lecturing at Columbia or Mount Sinai College of Medicine on embryology and anatomy. He is adjunct associate professor of anatomy at Columbia.

His son Andrew is a freshman at New England College. They all have made numerous trips to Europe, Ireland, England and the French West Indies during the past years and he continues to be active in Dartmouth alumni activities. He and Rita live in Allendale, N.J.

Rod Finkbiner writes that he is practicing gastroenterology with the Bryn Mawr Medical Specialists Association in Bryn Mawr. (About 50 per cent of our classmates must be in the medical profession.) He's been in the Philadelphia area for about 19 years. He and his perennial Carnival companion, Joyce, have a daughter, Isabel, who will be graduating in June from Dartmouth. They also have a son, Dick 18, and a daughter, Brent 12. He claims he takes his frustrations out on the golf course. (I thought that's where you develop frustrations.)

If you've lost track of Dave Heusinkeveld, he's practicing medicine in Lewiston, Idaho. When he's not practicing, he's floating rivers. He's covered most of all the rivers in that area and last fall he and Mary floated the Nile from Aswan to Cairo. (He's really a serious floater.)

I'm sorry to report that we have just learned that Ted Clarke died last September in Port Clinton, Ohio. More on this in the obituary section.

Secretary, 677 Forest Hill Road Lake Forest, Ill. 60045

Treasurer, 168 Lost District Drive New Canaan, Conn. 06840