1949

There are vestiges of memories from reunion which demand notation. On the Wednesday of reunion, at Rollins Chapel, classmates gathered for a memorial service for deceased class members. People like Zeke Straw, Carl Struever,Stu Versfelt, Charlie Vanderhoff, SummieArneson, Paul Bloodsworth, Ray Cirrota,Bill Cook, Stu Dunham, Lou Gluek, ErkIngram, Sam Kilner, Rank Lashmet, TerryMaphis, Bill Meeker, Ed Nicholson, JackOstergaard, Dick Parsons, Joe Riley, RodKroehler, Herman Stein, Roger Wilde, SyFinnoff (who was the first of our classmates to die, while in college, in the crash of an airplane he was flying), George Day, John Doukas,Jack Halpin, Lou Kastenbein, Bill Kimball,Jeff Mansfield, Mike Powell (who was news editor at radio station KSFO in San Francisco for his whole career and whom your class secretary didn't see often enough), and others were remembered.

I didn't have sufficient space to cover reunion as I wanted to do, so let me reiterate that it was one of those ephemeral moments in life when our 1945-like vitality was resuscitated. The moments disappear, so seize the opportunity whenever and wherever you can. My next one is on October 1 at the Holy Cross Game. I'm flying east with the mighty San Francisco 49ers, who will battle the New England Patriots on October 2 at Sullivan Stadium. Notwithstanding jet lag, I hope to have stamina to join as many of you Easterners as possible.

One of my old roommates, Bob Weber, took a circuitous route to becoming a plain, country-boy, Beverly Hills lawyer. Bob did not finish with us, but graduated with the class of 1958, majoring in Spanish. He was appointed a Reynolds FellcJw by the College, went to Europe for a year, and then to Princeton on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, receiving a doctorate in Romance languages and literatures in 1962. Bob taught at UC Berkeley for two years, then at Indiana University for one year, and subsequently at Wesleyan. That's when he became interested in law, moved back to California in 1975 with three children from a second marriage, and completed law school. He practices in Century City with his wife, who is an immigration law specialist. Bob wonders what happened to John Adler and Jay Haft. Adler could be seen dancing nimbly on the tennis courts during reunion with his second wife, the almost indefatigable Vi. Haft is a regular doctor (an M.D., I mean) in Milwaukee at 8925 North Tennyson Drive, and ought to write Bob and me with more information.

The day before reunion began, that bastion of conservative" thought, the New York Times, ran a flattering article on the great John S. Ransom (a.k.a. Jack) and his chairmanship, executive leadership, and co-ownership of the Vault, a security business which opened in Greenwich, CT, in early July. According to Jack, a man of consummate probity, half of his customers have chosen false names for their accounts, which include gold bullion, jewelry, art works, antiques, and business records. The CEO of Vault states that "anonymity" can be useful "in shielding assets from an estranged spouse or a business associate." (Bud, where was Ransom when you needed him?) His institution of such a fascinating enterprise does not surprise those of us who always appreciated Jack's collegiate wit, imagination, and uniqueness of personality. We wish both Jack and tennis whiz Sallie the very best.

I sure wish Gunther Purdue (but not his onions) could have joined us at reunion. Gunther, not content with being the "big bulb" in Canastota, NY, has opened a branch oniongrowing operation in Vacaville, CA. Avoid that part of Highway 80 on your way to Lake Tahoe.

300 Montgomery St., #723 San Francisco, CA 94104