1944

When Jack Shearer walked in my office in July looking for all the world like an ad for suntan lotion, I asked him where he had left his boat. "In Florida," he replied casually. Which is exactly where he berths the thing. He and Jane were just back from a month of tootling around the Caribbean.

Also flirting with Florida from their digs in Longmeadow, Mass., are lawyers Bud and Dorcas Park. They've bought a condominium in Naples and plan to retire there before too many suns. "We've got our own boat dock and the fishing is great," says Bud. Meanwhile, both he and Dorcas are writing and re-writing their books on real estate.

That guy in the picture peeking out from under the pagoda wasn't the ghost of Chairman Mao; it was Bob McLaughry, who, with wife Ann and a new set of chopsticks, was off touring mainland China. The word is that it was Bob, not Mondale, who delivered the invitation to Hua to visit the U.S. I think McLaughry wants to sell him a house in Hanover.

From merrie olde England — Dartmouth and Devon to be exact — comes a postcard from Merle Hagen, saying that the best pub he'd found was named "The Leg of Mutton and Cucumber. Honest. Merle was teaching a term at the Arundel campus of New England College this summer.

Another postcard came from a friend vacationing at the Boulder River Ranch in McLeod, Mont. He said that a fellow fishing enthusiast and long-time regular guest was BillRoberts, a Great Falls insurance and real estate executive and a perennial hunter, fisher, and general sports buff. But I can't help you on the location of McLeod; my Rand-McNally doesn't list it.

I can tell you about another McLoud, name of Malcolm, because he and son Pablo brought themselves (and joy) from Cincinnati to Cornish Flat at the end Of July. They stayed in my log cabin before heading to Maine, to visit Dick andProc Ostberg in Ipswich, Mass., to see JohnEaton in New York, and then on to Washington, D.C., and the battlefield at Gettysburg.

Also in Hanover were Greg and ClemRabassa, with whom we sipped and nibbled at the Hanover Inn. They were fresh from Brazil, where Greg had been a representative at a PEN meeting. Clem's book is about to go to press and Greg is busy with a thousand things, including a sabbatical.

Across the river in Norwich, Harry Grieger is into sheep (he was herding 17 at last count); wife Ginny is into real estate, having joined the Gardner Agency in Norwich; and son-in-law John Donovan is into the D.O.C., having recently been named assistant director, outdoor affairs.

A nice thing happened to Leonard Rieser last June, he was initiated as an honorary member into Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Dartmouth. Key in hand, he then went off to Fortaleza in Brazil to attend a five-day meeting of the Brazilian Society for Progress in Science. Leonard is currently provost and dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, and he is a past president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The old slouch Bird Partridge isn't letting any alfalfa grow under his toes. He went back to school again and in May received the certified financial planner designation at graduation exercises of the College for Financial Planning in Massachusetts. A year ago, Bird joined Mitchell, Hoilman & Associates in Braintree, a firm providing investment, tax, and financial services to individual and business clients.

Then, there was plenty of rime to that ancient mariner Stan Barr in the June Bermuda cup race. Stan was skipper of a 48-foot ketch, with an all-Dartmouth crew (see photo below), that became the "winningest boat ever," according to Stan. The Gabrietta was the first to finish, first in its class, and first in overall corrected time. "It was the roughest four days of my life," said Stan. "We went through three thunder and lightning storms, 45-knot winds, and waves 12 feet high."

Finally, a sad note: Nathaniel "Babe" Spitz, of New London, Conn., died May 31 after surgery. Our deepest sympathy to his wife and son. An obituary will appear elsewhere.

That's it. Blessings.

This all-Dartmouth crew of a 45-foot ketch called by skipper Stan Barr '44 "thewinningest boat ever" in the Bermuda cup race included (left to right) Sandy Tierney '75, Barr, Duncan Todd '74, the skipper's daughter Cathy '83, and John Clayman '75.

311 McNutt Hall Hanover, N.H. 03755