1927

Rereading the last sentence of the March column with its long list of departed classmates, I find it difficult not to repeat a statement made at last fall's reunion in Hanover, to the effect that as our numbers gradually become depleted, it behooves each and every one of us to make an extraordinary effort to keep in touch with one another if we are to maintain the high level of class loyalty on which 1927 has always prided itself. Many of you must have been having the same thoughts, for replies to birthday cards continue to bring in many items of interest.

Syd Voice, for instance, wrote a long one recounting an enviable summer in 1978 when he and Evlyn spent two months in Nice, France. There they rented an apartment and toured up and down, and right and left, to all parts of France and northern Italy, ending up with a week in gay Paris. Syd didn't explain, though, in his letter (written after he had returned to N.Y.C.) why he is now taking French lessons two mornings a week, especially in view of the fact that he expects to spend next summer touring the West and Northwest of our own country. A second letter, written only a week after receiving his January birthday card, seemed slightly contradictory: "I love New York and don't envy for one minute our brethren in Florida, California, or what have you. Here, every day is something new - for example, a blizzard outside. I am still a hospital volunteer for one day a week and spend two days a week teaching ninth grade students to read English. Most of them are from broken or disadvantaged homes."

By pony express, from Francis Steegmuller to Fritz Kortlucke to Art Kelleher to your esteemed secretary, we learned that an interesting and thrilling who-dunit mystery novel by Francis has recently hit the presses. It is entitled Silence at Salerno, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, and is sub-titled 'A comedy of Intrigue. The review, which also came by pony, was tremendous. In their respective footnotes, Art Keileher wrote that he often sees GeneSullivan, who lives near him in Dunnedin, Fla.; and Fritz Kortlucke, when he started this series of tidbits, added that he was enjoying St. Lawrence, Barbados, W.I., where he attended a computer conference at which Prime Minister Adams introduced as the main speaker one John Kemeny of Hanover, N.H.

The word from Si Morand in Chicago is that he's in excellent health and only a little overweight. He and June both believe in beer, gin, vitamins, rich food, a little exercise, and a good night's sleep.

Frel Owl continues to be active with the Federal Council on the Aging, the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina, and numerous Cherokee organizations. In connection with the latter, he makes frequent trips from North Carolina to Washington and other points north in spite of advancing years and a six-year affliction with Herpes Zoster.

Out in Kalamazoo, Mich., Ted Rose still operates his own retail establishment, providing smart apparel for women and misses or could it be apparel for smart women and misses?

And Al McDonald is still secretary/treasurer of the Dartmouth Club in St. Petersburg, Fla., and also treasurer of the condominium in Pinella Park, where he lives, and which keeps him "busy, busy, busy."

Paul and Betty Hannah had a good 1978, which included much work (as seems to be usual for a lawyer) and some travel to England, New Orleans, Sea Island in Georgia, and their summer place on Cape Cod. And speaking of work, John Machen, at least when he last wrote, was still practising medicine at the same old stand in Baltimore, Md. John did say, though, that after 44 years he was thinking seriously of doing something else for a change.

Our insistence on a report from Doc Milliken on his trip to Rome last fall brought forth a long letter, mostly legible, which included the following: "Every section has the appearance of an ant hill with all of the ants (small cars) racing here and there to get there first and with politeness out the window. For the first few trips I took tranquilizers - the bugs nearly always stop about two inches away from a fender bender. The ruins are, of course, interesting, some having wild cats, which exist on the crumbs of the tourists and on Roman mice. We also spent several days in Sorrento and visited the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, also Naples and the Isle of Capri."

Al Lawrence, who majored in history while earning his 4.0 average some 55 years ago, still engages in scholarly pursuits in Key West, Fla., where he and Gene live most of the year. An imposing article in the Key West Citizen men- tioned how, at a recent meeting at the Monroe County Public Library, Al reviewed a book on one of America's most famous men, Thomas Jefferson. The book was written by Duncan Malone, who won a Pultizer prize for it, and the article reminded us that after graduation Al taught English history and literature at Massachusetts Institute of Technology before leaving to chair the humanities department at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New Haven, Conn.

Syd Harris was hospitalized for a spell in January, when he was felled by a heart attack. He wrote, however, that except for losing 15 pounds and having to give up smoking, he feels better now than he has for a long time and still expects to be able to go to Arizona in March to visit part of his family.

In closing, we regret to have to mention that Frank Wetmore passed away on January 19.

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