1983

"You may find yourself, living in a shotgun shack; You may find yourself, in another part of the world; You may find yourself, behind the wheel of a large automobile . . . You may find yourself, in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife; You may ask yourself, world, how did I get here?"

And the days go by . . . but things in Boston are not the same as they "ever was." The Nick Roberts endowed chair in the Fenway Park bleachers is empty now, vacated by the world's self-proclaimed "Greatest Sports Fan," who has succumbed to love, packed his bag, and headed south to be nearby his girlfriend, Heather, when she enters Emory Med School. Note the eerie similarities to the Talking Heads ballad: Nick loads up his VW Rabbit (his "large automobile"). Nick heads for Atlanta ("another part of the world"). Nick suddenly strikes gold in advertising. Cash rolls in. He buys a condo (his "beautiful house"). But then, vindictive friends send Nick 150 copies of Bob Ryan's "Celtics Notebook" from the Boston Globe. The thought of parquet floor sends Nick drooling towards his cable television, just in time to see Robert Parish post up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for an easy two, 1,000 miles away ("World, how did I get here?"). But love supplants all, and Roberts remains firmly implanted in grit country. Maybe playoff tickets can lure him back.

My plea for letters (it will degenerate from "plea" to "groveling" soon) was not lost on Mary Allen, who checked in to report that she will marry Bill Proom '81, Tuck '87, in Boston on June 20. Mary is the director of public relations for the New York office of Imero Florentine Associates, an entertainment production company. The two will be based in Manhattan, happily ensconced on the Upper West Side.

Here's a good one: During March, I kept having suspicious conversations with people who approached me with ridiculous grins plastered all over their faces, anxious to tell me about their "vacation plans" in Hawaii. Frank Davis finally broke the news. "Yah, we must all be going out for A1 King's wedding," he nodded sagely. "I'm staying for three weeks." I tried to remember if Frank even knew A1 and tried hard not to think about Frank's reaction were he invited to a wedding in Detroit: "Wedding? Great! In Detroit? Ooops, I'm taking GMAT's that whole weekend." At any rate, Jim Freeman and Greg Curhan also forced themselves to take a breather from finance in San Francisco and endure the trip to Maui. Al's magnetic appeal should not, however, obscure the fact that on March 28 he did marry Monica Latini '84.

Sarah Reynolds, of California vintage, nonetheless has kept her eyes focused eastward and is engaged to Edward ("Skip") Walton, Middlebury '84 and Dartmouth Med '88. And although I want to say that Kim Steele is still a frenetic force on the trading floor for Salomon Brothers, inside information reveals that she's now forecasting interest rate shifts for Merrill Lynch's mortgage department. News sources also indicate Kim is engaged to Todd Moseley. My plan for Kim and Todd goes something like this: Kim buys bonds. Todd, depending on his mood, buys or sells future contracts against these bonds. The bond market rallies. Kim sells! Todd sells! Everybody wins! The next time anybody hears from them again, the letter is postmarked "Bel Air, Calif."

More marriage notes: Bill Scoville and Sue McNaney will take their vows come September. Bill's been working as a consultant in the environmental field and has been charged with opening up a Cincinnati office for Weston Consultants. The ineluctable question here is "What kinds of environmental issues are there in Cincinnati?" Such is the art of consulting. Geoff Durno is still with E.F. Hutton in the Big Apple, but now spends his time playing with mortgage-backed securities. Think of Geoff the next time you buy a home. Think of what he could do to you if you fall behind in your mortgage payments. Think about sending him a very large gift soon.

Lawyer's Lobby: Guy Rasco is back in business. Upon graduating from U-Miami Law, he'll be clerking for a federal judge in Miami. Now, "clerking" may sound somewhat nebulous, but in Dade County not exactly the apotheosis of law and order the term assumes a rather different connotation. "I even get my own 5,000 horsepower speedboat," says Guy, "with a huge searchlight." And, hopefully, a bulletproof vest. Kurt Benckley is poised to graduate from Notheastern Law this spring. He and Guy plan on traveling throughout the United Kingdom this summer. Then life really gets interesting for Kurt: he will be in the navy, living the adventure of serving as a judge advocate general. Finally, Jeff Silberman (U-Maryland) and Mike Behn (New England) will wrap up their legal education this spring as well.

News about Bill Cossaboom begins innocently enough: he's in the process of securing his master's at U-Georgia. This degree encompasses (and I quote) medical microbiology, immunology, and "large animal medicine." In the interest of taste, I will resist adding anything else at this point. The next educational tier for Dr. Bill involves a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Dartmouth Med.

Shelley Drake, her whereabouts previously classified as "unknown," has surfaced in. New York City, where she put together an exhibition of contemporary oil paintings from the People's Republic of China. Unfortunately, by the time you read this, the show will have ended, but I heard rave reviews. Liz Mueller can be found in Mexico City, reveling in the peso's continued devaluation and entertaining visitors such as John Hall. However, more in-depth details about these two have temporarily managed to elude me. Stay posted.

I'm out of space and about to disappear into California for several weeks, but cannot close this without one final entreaty: please write. Otherwise I'll drive Jenny Hanley insane. Thanks.

28 Exeter Street, #302 Boston, MA 02116