1979

"Rock'n roll," shouted Dean Esserman, as he hurtled high off a couch holding the apartment's only broom like a guitar. Blaine McBurney and Sam Bozeman quickly followed suit, each grabbing the nearest standing lamp and proceeding to give his best Pete Townsend imitation. The room was plunged into darkness. But through the gloom, one could discern the image of Dave Scheller 'BO, fumbling with the needle which would soon descend onto the flat black disc from which would echo those immortal words, "Are you experienced?!" (Doesn't ring a bell, huh?) The event bringing our four heros together was none other than Jimi Hendrix's 43rd birthday. (I have no idea what these guys do in real life.)

One alumnus is reading this column and regretting his absence from "The Birthday Party" because that alumnus could play, in a serious way, rock'n roll. John Tonneson started a band after his Dartmouth days and gave the music world his best shot. John was always good with the microphone and many thought that his one-eyebrowed performance as "The Brow" was the peak of frat row's "haute culture." John, however, has apparently determined that "haute finance" is where it's at, and he now works as a senior consultant for Arthur Andersen near Boston.

Want to hear something really strange? Karen Brownsberger Gordon writes that as of the middle of last December there was still not enough snow to ski in Anchorage. You just can't count on anything anymore. Karen teaches grade school students with learning disabilities, while her husband, Steve, works as an artist. Steve has begun selling his works through a local gallery and has a show scheduled for May. Great!

There seems to be a wave of news from happily married couples. Susan BrandZelie mentioned that she and Dave '73 are the happy parents of Mathew (four), Elizabeth (two), and Mary Helen (born October 1985). Susan and Dave are working up in New Hampshire, along with Bill Cole and Scott Somerville, to establish the Durham New Testament Church.

Puddie Haugie Sword claims that her son, Morgan, is so easy to take care of that any prospective parents should feel free to try their hand with him. Sounds like a scam to me. Morgan, Puddie, and husband Dave have been on the road for the last three months covering the U.S., coast to coast. But why?

We all went to the same college, that is true, but we appear to be a lot less homogeneous since. Greg Sharkey returned recently from three years of studying Buddhism and languages in Kathmandu, Nepal. He plans to be ordained as a Jesuit priest upon completion of his master's in divinity and in theology from Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass.

Ann Kappler plans to become an attorney upon her completion of the Juris Doctor degree from NYU. (Sounds much more refined this way, don't you agree?) She manages to fill the empty void of law school with her work as editor in chief of the Law Review, and when that is not enough heads down the street to carouse with Esther Cohen. Esther is pursuing theater, albeit from the administrative end, at Columbia but probably manages enough of a bohemian life-style to intrigue Ann.

Know a person's business card, as they say in the eighties, and you know his soul. Well, this might not always be true, but in Charles Laubach's case such an exercise is truely revealing. One side of his card seems fairly conventional, with a heading of Chadbourne, Parke, and Afridi followed by some office addresses, while the other side is written in Arabic. You see, Mr. Watson, the office addresses are all located in Saudi Arabia.

Other '79s working in oil country include Justin Aro, who works for Intermountain Geotech in the Paradox Basin. Paradox Basin is, of course, located in Colorado and Utah. Justin claims to frolic in Livingston, Mont., on occasion.

Suzanne Carr sent word from Austin, Tex., that she and her husband, Carl Shephard, had experienced mixed fortunes during the past year. The two had twin sons in April, although one son, Galen, was stillborn. The other twin, Connor, is doing fine.

And to think that everyone saw MarkTomalonis's future as a tarantula tycoon. Mark professed to settling even further into social conformity with his recent acquisition of a cozy, cottage in Walnut Creek (a suburb of San Fran). As with many, Mark's purchase caused him to speculate about the future. Still, although thoughts of PTA meetings were self-professedly winging through his daydreams, Mark proved once again that his feet were firmly on the ground, bidding a jaunty farewell on his way to purchase hedge shears.

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