1948

By the time the following is read spring will have well arrived in Hanover, the few remaining large old elms surrounding the campus will have burst their tops of green, the white front of Dartmouth Hall and its adjoining cohort buildings will be gleaming in the sunlight, afternoon and evening softball games on the diamond in front of the senior fence will be cheered by those spectators who enjoy the action and the conversation from their vantage points along the honored rail, and many of the soon- to-be departed seniors will be breaking out new green jackets in recognition of their elevated status and the fact of the dwindling number of their remaining days as undergrads in their alma mater. The days for the student will be a combination of appreciation of the physical beauties of the season and the place on the one hand, a new burst of energy to get outside on another, along with an always gnawing awareness that final exams and papers must be faced up to regardless of a wonderful spring in Hanover. Do your own memories contain any of the foregoing?

While we're on our days at Dartmouth, '48s may wish to check the following. A few years ago Time-Life Records came out with a series of five record albums covering the music of the years 1936-1945 and entitled "The Swing Era." A great many of the greatest monaural swing records of the period, as made by all the famous bands, were remade in stereo in the early 1970's, using precisely the same music and even some of the same musicians. Each of the albums was accompanied by a booklet giving the history and color of the music and American life of the era. The one attached to the 1940-41 album included a description, written by a young lady who worked at the Inn for eight months in 1946, of some of the life on Main Street and over the campus in Hanover which we knew right after the war. See pages 29-30.

Based on the lead article on advertising in the New York Times issue of January 2, and from his stimulating letter to merchandise his new publication; former publisher of BusinessWeek, Jim Randolph, will have a winner in the American version of the successful slick German magazine, GEO. The magazine, to be published by Grunar & Jahr USA, of which Jim is president and publisher, issued vol. I, no. 1 in May; it may already be on the newstands. Advertising pages will cost a nifty $4000. The description of the format and content, as written by Jim, leads one to believe it will be an artistic and intellectual success, "a new synthesis between the written word and the visual image ... a magazine that combines the finest contemporary expository writing with the best color photography ... devoting itself to rediscovery of our planet." We'll watch for GEO, Jim, and you may receive comments from some of your '48 classmates after they look it over.

To my utter surprise and delight. Rick Landon gave me a call when he recently passed through Houston. Rick is one of Dun & Bradstreet's boys. He is currently working to expand their international business, a task which kept him on the road 42 weeks last year. He and Mary recently transferred to Daytona Beach where they built a new house and Mary successfully underwent a serious operation. Looking forward to see you on your next swing through these parts, Rick.

Ralph Helm has really done a job! In addition to the respect and responsibility he has attained as a high-ranking official of the Internal Revenue Service, Ralph was in 1977 elected a director of Lions International at the International Association of Lions Clubs convention in New Orleans. As such, he has traveled and spoken widely in support of the international brotherhood of man. In January, in a return to the area of his College, he was the featured speaker at the annual Lions Club midwinter statewide New Hampshire conference, attended by more than 500 people, which took over the Sheraton Inn and Conference Center in West Lebanon. Belated congratulations, Ralph, for a noteworthy contribution.

Another '48 who has competently gone about his business in an unsung way is Bob Merriam. Bob, an educator by trade who lives in Green- field, Mass., has become a recognized authority on appraising old and rare books and book collections. His reputation in the field, as well as his good humor, have made him a desired speaker at gatherings of the interested and educated up and down the Connecticut Valley and elsewhere. He recently gave such an address at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, the Colby of our days of 30 years ago, where his daughter is a freshman. (Bob, is there something in this about the return of the days of our youth?)

Had a few minutes between planes at Tampa recently. Managed to find Dave Kadyk's name in the phone book and got him on the line. He's still in what must be a highly interesting portion of the practice of law - dealing with trial work concerning personal injury. He's often on his feet, before judge and jury. Remembering Dave from our days on campus my bet is that he does well in the big sense of "for truth and justice," though he sadly points out that "sometimes ignorance and superstition prevail." Dave mentioned that he sometimes sees Howie Hilton and Mouse Taylor, and hopes to run into other '48s in his occasional business travels.

I join the class in commending Prexy LloydKrumm and Newsletter Editor BarneyHoisington for the '48 activity, such as the recent reception at the Inn for '48 sons and daughters, they are developing in Hanover. Thanks also to noble volunteer Tom Crook for writing some of these notes, a task not always easy within the confines of the calendar.

We'll close with some reminiscing by Tom: "Do you remember night skiing over in Norwich? One night it was 30° below, and we didn't even know about the wind chill factor then. I also remember coming down Cannon for the last run with Brad Butler '47 when the final sweep by the ski patrol advised us to sideslip down because it was so cold and almost totally blue." That'll grab those of you who were there.

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