1961

By. the time you read this, it will be May and just over a year away from our 25th reunion.

Already, excitement is building among our classmates. For instance, Duck Eicke signed off a brief note to Vic Rich: "Looking forward to the 25th in 1986."

Actually, Duck was writing on the back of his class dues statement which has an open invitation to all of you to tell us something about yourselves. Bert Rowley or OtterAnderson or I will get your message.

Duck's news: "I represented Dartmouth at the inauguration of R. Gerald Turner as chancellor of the University of Mississippi, August 25, 1984. I also assumed the position of coordinator of the Division of Counseling and Educational Psychology in August 1984." He's living in Oxford, Miss.

Pete Stuart writes on the back of his statement: "I saw John Becker recently. He is president of Advest Bank, the new banking plan for this stock brokerage (regional) firm. He is based in Hartford."

And Fritz Kern: "Promoted to vice president, marketing, for American Isuzu Motors, Inc., importers/distributors for Isuzu cars and trucks. Business trip will take me around the world in October Los Angeles to Tokyo to Geneva to Athens to London to Honolulu to Los Angeles." Phew. Fritz's note wasn't dated, so I don't know if he was talking October '84 or '85.

Anyway, you'll earn yourself some quick ink in this column or the class newsletters if you'll take a minute to jot a note about yourself on your class dues statements. And do send in those statements. Vic reports class dues are lagging.

While we're doing commercials, Alumni Fund chairman Joel Portugal appeals for your help as we strive to reach a goal of $12 million and 70 percent participation.

Mike Murphy passed along this item from The Orlando Sentinel. Here it is in full:

"State Rep. Sam P. Bell of Ormond Beach, member of the House Appropriations Committee, was a commencement speaker at one of the three graduation ceremonies Friday [April 27, 1984] at the University of Central Florida.

"Bell has addressed such conclaves before, but speaking at the 11:00 a.m. ceremony was special because his wife, Anne Moorman Bell, was a member of the graduating class from the College of Arts and Sciences.

"The Bells have two college-age sons one at Florida State University, the other at Daytona Beach Community College. Mrs. Bell, majoring in English, has given her sons something to think about. In her years at UCF, she had no grade lower than an A.

"As the state representative removed his gown after the ceremony, his wife pointed out that one of the buttons on his jacket was hanging loose.

" 'Yeah, I know,' he said. 'My wife's been in school.' "

We've already mentioned in an earlier column Bruce Forester's new book, Signs andOmens, but you're probably going to be hearing a lot about it as it draws publicity.

For instance, there's the good-sized piece in his hometown newspaper in.which he tells the reporter he never expected to be a writer. "Other things I've done are things I always thought I'd do. But I couldn't stand the details of school, and I never thought I'd be a good writer. I'm not a very compulsive person I get distracted."

Earlier in the article, he is quoted as saying, "My original purpose in writing was because it was funny."

The article says Forester's first project "was to turn tales of a vacation into a humor book. Vacation, the result, has not been published. 'I realized, when I got home, how I enjoyed doing this it's relaxing and exciting.' "

Bruce has two other books in the works: Amnesia is a political novel, with a subplot of ex-husbands and wives getting back together. It's being held back on the road to publication by an as-yet-unnamed medical mystery about how young men and women are unexpectedly hemorrhaging to death.

And Pete Stuart sends along a piece on Don and Linda Baker and their recent move to Cleveland, when Don was promoted to vice president of the network and engineering department at Ohio Bell. The Bakers have been transferred within the Bell System five times in 14 years, and the piece in ClevelandWoman featured their strategies for dealing with frequent moves. Example: "The family's house-hunting technique is called the 'Baker Blitz' allowing no more than one weekend to buy a house. The Bakers take both sons (Russell and Kenneth) along. 'They have a great deal to say about the house and location,' says Linda. 'When they got here and found that Ohio had trees and hills, they began to get more positive about the whole idea.' In this particular move, the Bakers had five-days' notice and then Don was gone."

The article concludes: "When asked what advice he would offer to others considering a move to Cleveland, Don Baker responds: 'I would say forget everything you've heard and really face it with a very open mind. If you're in doubt, certainly come visit. See Cleveland for yourself.' "

Don, some of us may show up in Cleveland, so be prepared to prove it!

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