1937

The sad news was carried on national television via the "Good Morning Show" that JohnMeston died March 27 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Host David Hartman was a good friend and gave a five-minute reflection on John's international fame as the creator of the radio and television series "Gunsmoke." John was a Psi U., and brother Dave Camerer has volunteered to write the obituary.

Ex-president Fred Asher recently checked in by phone to say he had been to California, where he sold out his nursery holdings and visited with old buddy Park Johnston, who is thriving in Santa Monica. Fred had a tough winter due to so much very cold weather's killing off tender plants he would normally be preparing for sale through his Lifetime Nursery mail-order business. A farmer at heart, he respects the vagaries of weather and has learned to adapt.

Patty and Bill Rotch attended the alumni seminar in Hanover on Tutankhamen, which they pronounced well done. At one place or another in town they ran into Harry Schultz,Hal Parachini, and Jud Smith.

Ruth and Mutt Ray spent two weeks of business and pleasure in Florida. They saw Berniceand Phil Conti as well as the Bosworths. Phil said he planned to work two more years on the Marco Island real estate operation and is planning ahead for (believe it or not, already!) our 45th reunion in 1982. Bernice took Ruth to the local Dartmouth Club meeting in Naples. The Bosworths had them to dinner at their lovely home on the canal. Boz and Martha plan to occupy that new "barn" abuilding at Eastman fate spring with further plans to establish some sort of brunch for those of us attending fall reunion. If it's anything akin to the one Jackie and Park Johnston put on for us all at Quechee a few years ago, we suggest you make sure your reunion reservation remains valid.

Some of you good guys amaze us. You write to say you don't have any news then proceed to unload a deluge. Ben Marion, for instance. We reported him back in the states from Japan in retirement and looking for a quiet spot in Maine. After a lovely trip across Canada via CPR, the views of mountains, empty space, and numerous wildlife made his memories of "shore-to-shore people in Japan seem somewhat unreal." He bought a Honda Civic and took off, only to find that real estate prices in Maine had jumped startlingly while he was "looking the other way in Tokyo." Seven thousand miles later, he says, he bought a small place in Corea, about a half hour beyond Ellsworth, a town of about 350 population, mostly lobster fishermen. There is a church, post office, half a store that carries everything, and no gas station. It is quiet and cold but seems to have what Ben wants, including a view of a lighthouse. He would welcome any visitors who can find him.

According to the Wall Street Journal Bill Leonard assumed his new duties as president of CBS News officially May 1 (unofficially March 28). Ex-boss, Dick Salant, who was supposed to stay on at CBS as a consultant, opted to avoid retirement by signing on with NBC as full-time president of their news service. So Bill ends up competing for the nation's news watchers with an old friend!

Gene Jones has tackled his new job as class agent with the verve of an H-bomb. He established nine geographical regions country-wide. Each region has an agent responsible for a number of assistant agents. This chain letter of command is all in place, leaving it up to all you good folks who have done us so well in the past with generous contributions. Our present goal is $83,000. At this early writing, the tab shows some $30,000 already in the till, which is an auspicious start.

We had a quick note from assistant agent Hal Putnam with a request perhaps late appearing here. The March issue of this magazine carried a reproduction of one of his recent paintings alongside these '37 notes. Since he gave the copy of the MAGAZINE to the patron who bought the painting, he would appreciate someone's cutting out and sending that page 51 to him at 7 Stonehill Drive 3-C, Stoneham, Mass., 02180. Hal says there are very few North Country painters.

10 Colby Road Wellesley, Mass. 02181