1977

Eric Witte has taken the plunge, the big plunge. Last August Eric was participating in a transatlantic sailing race from Quebec to St. Malo, France, when his twin-hulled vessel, the Double Bullet, struck a log and capsized 700 miles north of Newfoundland. The six crewmen hung on to the hull in 50 degree water for 15 hours before they were rescued by an ocean freighter which had been diverted to the area as part of the rescue attempt. According to the Canadian coast guard, waves reached a height of eight feet during the ordeal. Their survival is attributed partly to the fact that the men were able to don their anti-exposure suits before they went into the water. While the other sailing vessels ended the adventure in France, Eric and his mates landed in Rotterdam, the destination of the rescuing freighter. Eric now lives in Capistrano Beach, Calif., where he works as a yacht designer and sailboat racer. We are curious, Eric was it anything like sink night?

From Boston comes word that Mark Desnoyers has been appointed the chief medical student resident in the department of medicine at New England Medical Center. This past year Mark served as the senior medical resident. Among Mark's main responsibilities has been that of supervisor and teacher of interns and medical students. Last May he was recognized by the Tufts University Medical School graduating class for excellence in teaching. Mark's chief research interest is cardiology, specifically coronary disease. He calls Watertown, Mass., home.

Last week Lon McClintock arrived in Rochester to do a little research in the Mayo archives and have a chat. Lon is practicing law with the Vermont Legal Aid Office in Rutland, Vt. Earlier this year Lon was appointed to the board of the Bennington Rutland Opportunity Council by Governor Snelling, and this September he was elected to the presidency of that body. Lon's response was equivocal when queried as to whether he was still playing rugby. Lon did mention that he had heard from BarbaraHeroy not long ago. Babs lives in Boulder, Colo., where she is working on her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Colorado.

Jan Malcolm is industrious in Minneapolis, where she is a planner and developer of health maintenance organizations, and also battles under the boards in a women's basketball league.

A nice note from Gretchen (Heller) Farmer, including photos, arrived this week. Gretchen and Phil are the proud parents of Austin Morgan, who was born last April. According to Gretchen, Austin's long range goals are to attend Dartmouth with the class of 2006 and to coach the women's ice hockey team thereafter. Sounds reasonable. She also mentioned that the Peter Mills family count increased by one with the arrival of Alexander this August. Lastly, Gretchen forwarded a postcard from Don Wiviott which detailed his meanderings through the downunder part of the world. Don is in the process of moving to Dallas but had time to visit Australia where he went sailing and diving (specifically underwater for the latter, not the bar type). A high point for Don appears to have been the cheap motorcycle rentals available in Nepal.

Unfortunately, that is all of the news avail- able at this time. From Walter Percy's book Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book comes the following quote: "Why is it that of all the billions and billions of strange objects in the cosmos novas, quasars, pulsars, black holes you are beyond doubt the strangest?" Surely you folks have something to tell us. We await your news. Happy Holidays!

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