1969

Allow me to begin this column with the reminder that postage on first-class letters and postcards is now 15¢ and 10¢ respectively. I have no doubt but that the dearth of news received by this writer is in direct proportion to the tremendous amount of correspondence that has been returned to you the reader for lack of sufficient postage. In spite of your befuddlement over the recent rate hikes, however, I have managed to ferret out the following newsworthy items.

Ralph Woodman recently surfaced at an embalming party in Hanover and fostered the impression that ambulance-chasing along the New Hampshire coast is every bit as lucrative as it's cracked-up to be. Ralph is the first lawyer to ever greet me with a handshake without surreptitiously palming his. business card. This is either a tribute to his financial well-being or, more likely, his lack of dexterity, a topic formerly much discussed in C.J.C. circles.

From North Gonway, N.H., comes word that John Person was recently appointed to the medical staff of the Memorial Hospital and has opened a practice on a part-time basis. A dermatologist, one can only surmise that he intends to spend a couple of days skinning patients at the office and the balance of the week out on the slopes of Mt. Washington Valley lecturing on the subject of skin grafts. Actually, John is a welcome addition to an area much in need of his services. A graduate of N.Y. Medical College, he completed his residency at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and is currently in active practice in Auburn, Mass.

In the same vein, or in other medical news of note, Kent Sargent has been appointed director of the emergency ward at the Peter Bent Brigham Division of the Affiliated Hospitals Center in Boston. He has garnered a list of credentials as long as your arm, the following being a representative sampling: member of Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude and first in his class at Dartmouth Medical School, and cum laude at Harvard Med. Kent's patients should all be forewarned that they could be in mortal danger of being overly-impressed by prolonged exposure to such highgrade sheepskin.

In a fast-breaking story just in from Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University reports that Chris Page was awarded his Ph.D. there earlier this year. Unfortunately, there was no follow-up on this news item, although it is probably safe to assume that Chris's treatise had something to do with the economics of mating soft-shelled crabs with lacrosse sticks in order to improve ball-retaining characteristics.

For those of you who have bothered to read this far and are wondering, "What, no wedding news?" please heed the following announcement: Norfolk, Conn., was the setting for the June nuptials of Randall Pozdena and Susan Alford. The bride, a Smith graduate, is employed by Stanford Research Institute, as is her husband, who is a consulting economist and also teaches at Mills College.

Unable to attend the Hopkins Center production of That Championship Season over reunion weekend, I nevertheless understand that both Eric Forsythe (who played the part of the businessman) and Chuck Morey (the mayor) acquitted themselves in a manner befitting veteran troupers. Eric is currently an assistant professor of drama and head of the actingdirecting program at Tufts University. Chuck, although still psyched-up from his role-playing, flatly denies that he is a dark-horse candidate for similar office in the Big Apple. Contributions received to date, however, are nonrefundable.

Let's hope the postal union isn't on strike next month.

1 Meadow Lane Hanover, N.H. 03755