Of Porcupine Livers and Wool Socks

" A RE porcupine livers edible? Where can you buy hundred-per cent wool socks in Seattle? What will the weather be on Mount Washington next week?" Those, according to an article in the Appalachia Bulletin, the official publication of the Appalachian Mountain Club, are the kinds of questions on which C. Francis Belcher '3B is perhaps the preeminent authority.

The article and a dinner, and an official portrait, and tributes from past A.M.C. presidents and past New Hampshire Governor Sherman Adams '2O were all testimonials to Fran Belcher upon his retirement last year after 25 years on the staff of the A.M.C.

But Belcher's association with the A.M.C. goes back even further than that. He was born in Foochow, China, to missionary parents who were White Mountain hikers and early members of the club. When his family returned to the States, he was introduced to the trails and huts at an early age. Reinforced by a stint as president of the outing club at Phillips Andover Academy, his years at Dartmouth, and summer work in the huts while he was in college, his love of the outdoors has been a guiding passion ever since.

But from 1936 to 1956, this interest was merely an avocation mostly as a volunteer with the A.M.C. So when, in 1956, the A.M.C. was ready to hire its first full-time executive director, Belcher was more than willing to leave his ;ob in the legal department of the Boston and Maine Railroad to take the post. Years later he said that he went from a job "where I had to be suspicious of people and their motives to a job where I had to trust people."

Fran Belcher combined his abiding love for the outdoors with a tireless zeal and an extraordinary talent for dealing with people to guide the club during the period of major expansion encompassed by his 20 years as executive director and five years as director of special affairs. When he joined the staff in 1956, membership was at a low ebb, the club was involved in tax litigation, fiscal affairs were in a shambles, and the headquarters on Joy Street in Boston were in disrepair.

He gave completely of his time and energies, spending vacations checking out club operations while hiking and working at home in the evening to edit the monthly bulletin. He was also a member and officer of more conservation organizations than most people can name.

During Belcher's tenure, the club grew phenomenally in size and complexity. Among the achievements in which he took greatest pride was the club's ability to foresee and plan for the staggering increase in back-country use that began in the late sixties. His associates also cited Belcher's unwavering deference to the volunteer, elected officials of the club as a major factor in its growth in strength.

In retirement if Belcher's plans can be called anything like that he will serve as editor of the Mount Washington ObservatoryBulletin and on several conservation councils. He also plans to do some birding and climbing with his wife Beth and to visit his seven children, who range in age from 19 to 44 and are scattered from Maine to Montana.

And he also hopes to do some more writing on New England history, having just completed a book called Logging Railroads of the WhiteMountains. Research for these efforts will probably find him often in the A.M.C. library where, as a walking research center himself for so long, he will still be handy to answer those questions about porcupine livers and wool socks.

Fran Belcher '3B strikes a familiar pose inthis official portrait commissioned by theAppalachian Mountain Club upon hisretirement last year after 25 years on theA.M.C. staff.