1952
It's been one of those weeks. The head is stuffed with a bug that Jack Daniels can't kill; the Betamax died while taping a favorite old movie; the bank statement defies reconciliation; the batteries in my digital watch dried up; and the "Easy Writer" diskette to the personal computer got fouled up. It makes you want to reach for an Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule. Obviously, it's the perfect time to write this column.
I don't know how many of you have been bitten by the personal computer craze, but I just bought one. I am presently using the word processor feature (for the first time) in writing this column. Notes are scattered to the right and the operating manuals to the left. By my reckoning I shall be two years past retirement by the time I master it unless one of my kids comes over to give me some lessons.
From Boston comes news of Joe Baute's election to the board of the Houghton Mifflin Company. Joe is chairman and chief executive officer of Markem Corporation.
After reading Bill Montgomery's newsy newsletter I researched the September issue of the National Geographic, and, sure enough, there was Jack Crowell. In my archives I have a shot of Jack and John Brower in Cuba on our midshipman cruise. There is still a fading resemblance, Jack.
Jack isn't the only one to make the news lately. If you saw the October 18 issue of Newsweek, you read that Dr. Harry Goldsmith hoped to begin trials soon on humans of the surgical technique he has successfully pioneered on animals to repair injury to the spinal column.
From the bowels of suburbia comes a note from Don MacLeod, reporting that he has escaped from Wall Street and now commutes to Stamford, Conn., from Rowayton (the distance between these two towns is measured in yards). Don is regional mutual fund director for E.F. Hutton.
A word of thanks is due to Class Treasurer Jon Walton, who forwarded some news items included with payments of class dues. Tom Allen, who reported quite some time ago from beautiful downtown Newark, has written from Creve Couer, Mo., that the Travelers transferred and promoted him to vice president of the St. Louis region. He added that the company also transferred his wife, cat, and Airedale.
Ted Hecht sent his dues in from Scottsdale, which is not a bad address. He is in the envious position of having five out of six children in college or graduate school which, as he says, should qualify him for food stamps even under the Reagan administration. Ted recently spoke at the International Cancer Congress in Seattle. His topic concerned the highly technical aspect of cancer genetics. Ted is practicing medicine in the Scottsdale area, I suspect.
News of Jack Morgan comes from Miami. Jack has been headmaster at the Palmer School for a year. Palmer is a coed day school of 385 students in Miami. Daughter Cheryl '79 was married in June on Cape Cod.
I recently spoke with Ed and Peg Finerty over the phone. When not pushing I.B.M. products, Ed is involved with Peg in "Marriage Encounter,'' the largest pro-marriage organization in the world. This involves counseling during weekend retreats. Peg also is active in "Birthright," which offers unwed mothers an alternative to abortion. (I suppose that if you were an unwed mother, you could be interested in "Marriage Encounter.") Seriously, though, I think it is great for people to get involved. Obviously, it means commitment and being unselfish with your time.
The Finerty kids are growing up: Teddy is a junior at St. Anselm's in Manchester, N.H.; Susan is at New England College in Henniker, N.H.; and Julie is a sophomore at Natick, Mass., High School. Julie is quite an equestrian, according to Dad; she has been winning blue ribbons in the local horse shows.
President Pete Zischke reported on the Harvard game weekend. Bill Montgomery will give you the details in the newsletter; however, one item discussed by the class officers was the plans for a year-end push for the Alumni Fund. If you haven't yet contributed, you still have time before you start receiving those threatening phone calls.
Seen and heard recently were Vic Trautwein, Larry Wilson, Pete Burnside, Hugh Brower '50, and Jim Gregg .'50, who with yours truly gathered in a local pub for dinner to talk about the days gone by.
You all take care.
222 East Chestnut Street Chicago, Ill. 60611
