1952

The two automobile magnates of our class continue to make the news pages in Detroit. Among several top-level changes at Gen eral Motors—perceived as a positioning of several candidates to compete for the chairman's post upon the incumbent's retirement in two years was the naming of Alan Smith to the position of executive vice president-operating staff and public affairs. This is new territory for Alan, who has concentrated on the financial area for many years. A. WSJ article mentioned that the move should provide Alan some important broad experience in the evertightening race for the GM chairmanship.

A recent Detroit Free Press article concentrated on the outside activities of PhilBenton, president of Ford Automotive Group, and his wife, Mary Ann, who are cochairing the 1988 Opera Ball to benefit the Michigan Opera Theatre. Last summer they also co-chaired Meadow Brook Music Festival. Both are active in several other civic organizations. The Benton family, including six children, is a result of a merger Phil orchestrated at Ford 14 years ago following the death of his first wife and Mary Ann's divorce. They had met at Ford years earlier when Mary Ann was an executive secretary there. In addition to their mutual love for good music, Phil and Mary Ann are boating enthusiasts and are in the process of replacing their 32-foot sloop with a 36foot powerboat. She is an ardent, low-handicap golfer. No doubt with an eye on retirement, they are now building a second home on Gasparilla Island on Florida's west coast.

In hopes of encountering some Manhattan '25s, I went to the first of the 1988-89 Wednesday night cocktail parties put on by the Dartmouth Alumni Association of New York City at the Dartmouth (at Yale) Club near Grand Central Station. It was a wellattended party, mostly by younger classes though. No '52s therej but I did enjoy chatting with Mike Choukas '5l, director of Alumni Affairs, and his assistant, Barbara Whipple '85. The three of us topped off the evening with a nice dinner nearby with three chaps who graduated even more recently than Barbara. It was a swell way to cover Dartmouth and other affairs with perspectives ranging from gray hair to raw youth. Mike mentioned that Andy Stewart and Bill Fletcher were scheduled for visits to the Choukas house on a fall football weekend.

Edythe and I were in the stands in Hanover for the disappointing second game with Lehigh. Made the trip from New London with John and Judy Grocott and Whit and Priscilla Williams '50. Not many '52s there either, but we did bump into Dick and Caroline McDonough who were busy with the arrangements for our mini-reunion on the Harvard weekend. Dick and Carine reported that Gail Sanderson's bed-and-breakfast operation is thriving. Our postgame visit with the McDonoughs was enriched by a stop from Mike Harris '51, who is still going strong in the securities industry in Boston. As I pen this in flight home from Los Angeles on Sunday of that weekend, I am still in shock over the 38-7 score over Harvard. Sorry to have missed the big weekend, but had a fabulous three days with daughter Elaine '83 in the eastern High Sierras and Death Valley instead.

124 West 60th Street, Apt. 50A, New York, NY 10023