1963

First, a quick explanation and apology in regard to why there were no 1963 class notes in last month's issue. The true facts are these: I was ordered to Iran by the Philadelphia Inquirer just before the deadline for last month's notes and didn't get back until just before the deadline for this month. While in Iran there was no way to send anything out of the country. (Not even my stories, for a while, but that in itself is another story.) I swear on my 1963 Green Book that this is all true. Now, to the news ... and just the facts this month:

William L. Russell III (a/k/a Bill Russell) has reportedly been appointed to the associate board of directors of the First Merchants Bank, Neptune, N.J. ... Dr. Thomas L. Berger (a/k/a Tom Berger), an associate professor of English at St. Lawrence University, is understood to have been awarded a fellowship-in- residence by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition to attending seminars on medieval and Renaissance English drama at the University of Chicago, Tom will be doing research on "Textual and Editorial Problems in English Renaissance Drama." And it's just as well that he is going to spend this fellowship in residence. Last spring he was off in England participating in the Folger-British Academy visiting fellowship program. ... David L. Browne (a/k/a David L. Browne) was last heard from in Fontana, Calif., at which time he claimed to be starting up a control system at the Kaiser Steel Plant that he helped design (and into which he incorporated the very latest in both pollution control and modern microprocessor-based controls). He was also writing freelance magazine articles (three were published in 1977), and was trying his hand at science-fiction short stories. He may soon try a book (suggested title: How To Get Your Rolling Mill Rolling). Some of his non-technical articles include "Do Your Own Needlepoint Framing," which appeared in PopularNeedlework in the fall of 1977. He also wrote "Control System Design for Nuclear Power" for Instrumentation Technology and "Dust and Mud and the Viet Cong" for the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings, along with a half dozen other stories. (This is all on the level, classmates.)

There was a nice review of Steve Macht's performance in The Immigrants in the Boston Globe, among other places. The Globe's Robert A. McLean said "Macht exudes star quality of the rippling muscle, hot-eyed-stare variety, but he also can act."

Pete Brown would have us believe that "yes, Virginia, there is a Walla Walla" in a recent missive, but doesn't explain why Virginia would want to know. Pete alleges that he and his wife Jan, together with their three sons (aged nine, seven and one) are "enjoying the wide open spaces of southeastern Washington" where Pete is working in the admissions office of Whitman College. He contends that he is the only Dartmouth man "within a 50-mile radius, which is both refreshing and amazing after 19 years in Hanover."

From Wellesley, Mass., comes news that Arnold Katz has become an assistant professor of otalaryngology at Tufts University School of Medicine, and is now the father of twins named, appropriately enough, Jason and Jennifer. Arnold says that now brings the family to a grand total of two boys and two girls (not counting himself and Mrs. Katz). He apparently thinks that this is enough, and concludes his card with a single word, possibly in French: "Finis!"

Roger Parkinson is vice president for administration at The Washington Post (and what's more, he has been since November of 1977, but this column has never claimed to be on top of the news. "All the news that fits, we print," as I may have explained before. Roger says that he is responsible for administration (logically enough), as well as data processing, business systems development, and the capital budget. His wife Maureen, meanwhile, is now a special assistant to the director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission. (I bet she's the one who's going to tell us who Deep Throat is. If you doubt that, keep in mind that she was the author of the SEC report that sank New York, or at least ex-Mayor Beam. Watch this space.)

This column has been prepared in some haste, and may have seemed somewhat confusing, I admit. (But it's all true, so help me Eleazar.) Now, if some of you may want to get things really clear, the man to see is RussSeibert, who has recently joined the staff at the Church of Scientology on Beacon Street in Boston, Mass., where he is a field staff member. "Find out how you can attain peace of mind," his business card invites. John himself is currently enrolled in a course called "New Era Diametics," he reports.

As a parting note, Steve Pennypacker wrote to explain why he'd turned down an interview with the Phoenixville (Pa.) Gazette (or NewsLeader, or Plain Dealer, or whatever the local paper there is called). Careful readers of this column will recall that some months back I reported that Steve had declined to be interviewed about the inner meanings (if any) of Chris Miller's Animal House. I got the information second hand and Steve wanted us to know he hadn't been churlish about it. "But," he says, "have you ever tried to explain the Dartmouth experience to the provincial mind?"

Not me.

Keep those cards and letters coming, or I will tell you more than you'd ever want to know about Iran.

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