1965

In 1984 our classmate Ted Talbot wrote a very open account of his life for our class newsletter. Like many of us, Ted had seemingly done everything the "right way:" graduate degree, military service, exemplary career and a comfortable home in the suburbs. The results had not been what he had expected, however, and Ted had recently been through the bitter collapse of his marriage, the devastation of leaving his children, and the loss of many of his earlier financial and professional objectives. He had accepted an overseas assignment with his company in Australia and from "half way around the world" described the process he had gone through in order to rebuild his life.

This fall Ted wrote to update us on his activities. His thoughts, edited for space, are as follows:

"It has been nearly two years since I wrote to describe what I had been doing for the past 20 years. I think for most of us the really tough learning has come after Dartmouth. The greatest value in our membership in the class of '65 is that we can still share our experiences and help each other. I'm glad for any contribution my previous letter may have had.

"When I last wrote I told of my plans to 'drop out' for a while. I've come to call that period my 'mid-career sabbatical' and it was exactly that: a chance to step back and look at life in some new ways. I took a year off and sailed my boat from Sydney up the east coast of Australia to the Great Barrier Reef. The trip itself was an eight-month experience I'll never forget and one I wouldn't have missed for anything.

"It would take pages to describe all of it, but I think the most valuable learning had to do with taking each encounter for what it was and with living each day as it came. One has little choice when wind and sea conditions become so important in your life, but because of it we came to live very much in the here and now. We literally planned each day as the sun came up. We listened to exactly three newscasts during that eight months and never missed a thing of value.

"We also met the most fascinating people from the very richest to the poorest all living on boats and 'just cruising.' People seem to have an openness and lack of pretense on the water that seems hard to find back in civilization. With some degree of success, we're now doing our best to incorporate that style and attitude toward living into our work routine and city life.

"I keep mentioning 'we.' In my earlier letter I described a lady I had met the year before I went sailing and my hope that she would become first mate. She did indeed and joined me for most of the trip (excluding the open sea passages). She also quickly promoted herself from first mate to admiral. I had little choice but to marry her, which I did on April 6, 1986. Her name is Molly. She's English by birth, but a naturalized Australian now, and we make our permanent home in Sydney.

"As for myself, I am working as a marketing consultant and doing part-time counseling work with people in crises. The idea is to be self-employed in work that I enjoy and that gives me flexibility in schedule. Since it is still in the early stages it is sometimes difficult to tell whether I'm self-employed or self-unemployed, but I'm confident it will build.

"Molly and I have no children here with us so we get to enjoy life as a young couple all over again. My four children live in Milwaukee with their mother. Ted (20) is in his second year of pre-med at the University of Wisconsin. Lara (17) is hoping for Colorado next year and just recently won her third gold medal in figure skating from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. Jay (14) still has ambitions of becoming the shortest all-star in the NBA, and Lisa (8) is also quite serious about figure skating.

"Molly and I hope to get back to the U.S. and U.K. every two to three years to visit family. We'll see if we can't coordinate a visit with a reunion; I'd love for her to see Dartmouth and some of New England."

Thank you for the report, Ted. We have an understanding of what you've been through, and even though most of us may never reach the Great Barrier Reef, we can still learn from the perspective you now have on life.

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