1935

Having enjoyed a two-month respite from column deadlines, thanks to this magazine's publication schedule, it's hard to believe that anything I write will seem even remotely timely. There are a few things worth reporting, however, and the 500 word limit may well prove barely adequate to contain them.

The most important, so far as I'm concerned, relates to the campus contretemps which gave rise to President Freedman's widely-reported condemnation of the "irresponsible, mean-spirited, cruel and ugly" style of journalism in which the "Dartmouth" Review has been indulging. I am bothered by the fact that most of my classmates have probably had no other source of information on the matter than The WallStreet Journal which, I am told, numbers at least one ex-Review writer on its editorial staff.

When I was in Hanover for Class Officers Weekend, I had an opportunity to get an extensive briefing on the subject from College officials, fellow class secretaries, and local alumni, and came away with a distinct impression, which I ask you to share, that the president was totally correct in all of his assertions, and that the Review has indeed been a disruptive and demoralizing force on campus since its inception. I am taking this much space for the subject because the class membership's predominantly conservative outlook might lead some of you into false conceptions of what took place. We were provided with a scholarly ten-page analysis of the whole subject, written by an alumnus who is a visiting classics professor from Temple University. I'll be glad to send a copy to any of you who ask for it.

On other subjects, a clipping from the Boston Herald with a big headline "Lawyer: Hub cop trampled civil rights," quotes Charlie Naylor in defense of another lawyer who was arrested for recording his own notes on the arrest of a client. Hobie Griffin called me while in town with his Massachusetts-born, Holyoke-educated wife, who was taking part in a symposium on "The Place of Southern Women in Literature." Hobie said she was "being reconstructed."

Echoes from previous columns include a good friend who will remain anonymous: "I've been praying since childhood. Long ago I was told every prayer is answered but sometimes the answer is no." Bill Hands requests a more complete statement of his views on Reaganomics: "First off, we really haven't had it. The mighty Congress in its unparalleled wisdom has not really allowed it." Sorry to have shorted you, Bill.

And peripatetic Sax Ziemen writes of a two-week stay at Sanibel Island, including a reunion with Cathy and Charlie Barnes, and a subsequent visit with Jean and Al Ritchie in Englewood.

That's it for this issue. Peace and love to you. All y'all.

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