1958

Some years ago Union College sent an annoucement on Frank Gado's book on Ingmar Bergman, which ran here. Unfortunately, despite the announcement, Professor Gado had just started the book, which is now out.

The Passion of Ingmar Bergman is,described by film critic Stanley Kauffmann as "deeply serious, thoroughly researched, a very thoughtful book" and by another critic as a "superb book. The content is rich, the critical approach is firm and authoritative, the style is supple." It delights me to see Frank Gado receiving such comments after laboring for years to reduce his thoughts on Bergman to 575 pages. The text of Frank Godo's letter to me follows:

"A few years ago, someone in the PR office at Union sent you a sheet of propaganda, including the information that my book on Bergman would soon be published by Duke Press. And you, either as an expression of generosity or because you were short on copy that month, mentioned in your class notes column that you were looking forward to finding out at last what The Seventh Seal was all about. Unfortunately, the PR operatives were [premature] I spent the next two years sweating a 750-page manuscript down to a more manageable size. But now, coinciding with my 50th birthday in November, the monster will be thrust out to meet the indifferent world."

"Several items that serve to underscore Time's cruel trick: "1) Last winter at Union, I found JoeSlotnik's son, Charlie, in one of my English courses. That's the first child of a classmate life's merry-go-round has spun into that position, though Doug Wilder's daughter graduated from here just days before our 25th reunion.

"2) My eldest, Anna, has started her freshman year at Dartmouth. The daughter of Johnny Otis my roommate sophomore year and a graduate of the same high school is also a freshman this fall.

"3) In August, I hauled my children o'er the mountains to Wait's River, Vt., to celebrate the anniversary of Pete andSheila Herman. (I had been a guest at their wedding back at the dawn of creation.) George Metes '59 was there. PaulStewart also attended, and, after the party, we drove down to Hanover for a quick meal with his son, Colin, at Lou's Restaurant. As best I can figure, four Dekes currently have children attending Dartmouth: Rod Berkeley '57, Monk Failmezger, Paul Stewart and myself. Plans are in the works for a gathering on the sacred site the vandals have reduced to a parking lot.

"I caught the message in your most recent column and agree with your implied view. I finally voted for Schramm and Field, mostly because [the other side] bungled the campaign so horrendously it would have hurt Dartmouth badly if his slate had won." Frank.

Thank goodness for Hal Bernson last issue and Frank Gado this time. If I don't get more input from the rest of you, this column can be written on the last feather of a vanished Indian.

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