1979

Greetings from yet another class secretary. Clearly our class has a real appreciation and instinct for confusion, however disguised. Thanks for your votes though. I do appreciate the opportunity to disorient and otherwise dismay '79s at least until our fifth reunion (June 15-17, in case you've got your 1984 calendar out yet), at which point you will all undoubtedly have had enough. But until then you're mine, heh heh.

OK, now to mention the activities and whereabouts of people only I know. This brings up my next point. I'm hoping that a benefit of this job is that I'll get a great deal of mail. I need to know the sorts of devious activities now making the term Dartmouth '79 feared throughout the world. Send me something.

When we last left our hero, Dave Bridges, he had just proposed to his high school sweetheart, Lisa Latchford. As we return, apparently thoughts of Italian ices and strolls through the Villa Borghese have prompted an acceptance and consequent return to Italy, where Dave works in the real estate business. Even if it is making sure that the transfer of the Sinai goes peacefully, it's still real estate. Dave's friends, including Eric Schnittger and Otho Kerr, seized the occasion to throw him a party under the Brooklyn Bridge. Very classy. Eric and his wife Vicki live and work on Long Island except when Eric's work for Grumman takes him to distant regions where he follows local customs in closing deals. A recent trip to Japan nearly included eating the tail of a live lobster.

Anyone remember the guy in our yearbook with the pith helmet and tent? Well, HollyAllen married that guy. They now live in Montreal where Holly attends McGill Medical School, undoubtedly dissecting whatever new species the Bwana brings home. Her husband's name: Jim Stein. Now for more of the Top 40 in '79 marriages.

Chris Whitney retired his pith helmet and other singles scene memorabilia in marrying long, long-time honey Andrea DeVantier. Chris was, as they say, a successful applicant to the Rhode Island bar and now practices in Providence. The wedding was in the best tradition, with Chris, Andrea, and best man Paul Wetmore ending up in the pool complete with wedding finery. George Stone,Dave Thomsson, Chip Fauver, and Rick Carpenter probably took the plunge as well. The big question in my mind is whether Andrea's Holyoke friends were so inclined.

It would appear that '79s are zipping rather than just roaming around Mother Earth. Ritchie Brown, having inspired Ritchie Gere in Officer . . . , now flies jets for the Navy near San Fran. Interesting that a career choice is based on liking short hair. If you thought that jets were fast, then listen carefully. TerryGould and Steve Franklin drove from SF to LA for a David Bowie concert, returned to SF for the Stanford-Oklahoma football game, and then saw another concert within 48- hours. Usually marathons of somewhat dubious nature do not make this column, but this recent feat represents a quantum leap in human achievement and cannot be ignored. Terry, it seems, had been storing energy for the event while working at a computer software place in SF. Franklin's the one I can't figure out. He always moved so slowly.

Those of us desiring more sendentary lifestyles chose to become those creatures that move more cautiously through life. Yes, I'm talking about lawyers. I have a list in my possession of people whom you may have thought would become jet pilots but instead turned to law. Barb Murphy attended George Washington Law after deciding that pushups weren't her bag, and she now practices in D.C. Calisthenics are apparently not part of a junior associate's day. Others have not been so lucky. T. Weymouth told me before he headed back to Northwestern for his third year that the partners at his summer firm would cry out, "Drop and give me ten," for every bungled citation. Still, I noticed T out for soccer practice at 6:00 p.m. sharp so things couldn't be too bad.

I doubt that those New York lawyers get out before 6:00, but Leslie Mandel has yet to inform me of her hours or even of her afterhours. Leslie is a recent graduate of Georgetown Law.

Not that everyone who goes to New York practices law. Some work for small, struggling, yet ambitious companies which hope to affect American business someday. Such was Wayne Arden's case last summer as he commuted out of the city to IBM's suburban headquarters. Wayne will have the last laugh on Columbia's attempts to lease him an apartment in Harlem when he receives his degree in business and engineering from that institution this fall.

Finally, Libby did lie, but I know that I can find it in my heart to forgive her. Libby has been and no doubt will continue to be of great help to our class and to me. Burr.

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