1945

Shortly before writing these class notes, I received notice of the October 26 and 27 class executive committee meeting and mini-reunion, organized by Ed Pirie and expedited by HarryHampton (the venerable hustler). I hope this event will have drawn more classmates and wives than last spring's Boston alumni dinner, at which Moe and Jane Frye and Pat and TedSmith were the only '45s. We lamented the fact that the woods were full of '45s who did not show up at this sociable, interesting, and informative affair. The dinner had been postponed from its originally-scheduled date because of a power blackout in the Back Bay area of Boston, where the dinner was to be held. President Kemeny, in his opening remarks as the major after-dinner speaker, could not resist saying that he had spoken under a variety of unique conditions at various alumni functions. But, he continued, if the original date had not been cancelled, it would have been the first time that he had addressed an alumni group in total darkness! He then went on to give a fascinating talk on his role chairing the commission charged by Mr. Carter to look into the nuclear incident at Three Mile Island. I think that we can be proud to have him as a president. Moe Frye is still a public-spirited citizen, currently working to elect John Sears,, former MDC commissioner and Suffolk County Sheriff, to the City Council of Boston. Wife Jane, meanwhile, is running for the Republican State Committee.

Other recent mail included the summer issue of "Dahtmuth: A Proper Newsletter for Dartmouth Alumni and Alumnae Who Reside in Eastern Massachusetts," which listed entering freshmen from the Boston area, including three applicants that my interviewing team had seen. This encouraging piece of news whetted my appetite for a second piece of mail — the Dartmouth College enrollment and interviewing folder, which named Joe Young as the new head of the enrollment committee of the Alumni Council. Once again we start the fascinating process of interviewing applicants from Reading and nearby towns. We agonize over our decisions because we want to be fair to the College and to the applicant, especially this fall with the cost of gasoline restricting a lot of travel by the admissions staff. Why do we spend all those agonizing hours, coming home exhausted mentally and emotionally and yet with a quiet surge of exultation? The hill winds in our veins? Or the granite of New Hampshire in our brains? I think that you can guess why.

Next January 1, J. Donald McNamara will move up to the presidency of the Interpublic Group of Companies, the largest ad agency organization in the world (with apologies to Prexy Hutchins). Currently, Don is executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the corporation and is in the midst of his biggest, Interpublic's biggest, and history's biggest agency acquisition — one that fairly boggles the mind with its complications. That's the well-publicized acquisition of SSC&B, which owns 49 per cent of the worldwide Lintas operation (Unilever's house agency), and the subsequent acquisition of the remaining 51 per cent. It is a job that must be accomplished country by country, with Lintas' equity varying with location. It has controlling interests in 30 countries, minority interests in six or so, and association arrangements with four or five. Don is also serving his second term as president of the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, and is among that horde of early-morning East Side joggers.

Vic and Vesta Smith are spending as many weekends and vacations as possible in their future retirement home, located upriver from Hanover in Haverhill. They will be there off and on this fall and welcome classmates and others who might be in the vicinity. Vic said that Renfrew Poindexter III is busy on a project reprocessing widget retreads and therefore will have been unable to attend our fall minireunion. Renfrew was very disappointed not to be able to come because he wants to be more active in class functions. But there is always our 35th reunion coming up, and Vic is going to check with Renfrew to see if he has sent SteveHull, our reunion head, his $10.000 reunion deposit. Have you sent yours?

483 Franklin Street Reading, Mass. 01867