1941

Last month, smack in the middle, couple of weeks ago or so, some of us were" able to foregather on the Hanover Plain for the annual au- tumnal encounter. I'm talking about mid-October, and there hasn't been enough time since then for me to pull my notes together. All about the 1941 minireunion of 1989, but 20 months shy of Big 50, including the business of a class meeting, I shall be reporting to you in a future issue of DAM. But here we are, Novembering together, as we did half a century ago, when Thanksgiving was strained by the effects of the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe distantly leveling the German way through western Europe. It wasn't long before a big issue developed for debate at Dartmouth and throughout the country: Isolation or Intervention? Outspokenly isolationist, in the halls of Congress, was Dick Wheeler's father, Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana; in 105 Dartmouth and in Webster, by and by, we were to hear from Norman Thomas, New Hampshire's Senator Charles Tobey, and Herbert Agar, editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal. America First or Fight for Freedom: the protagonistic associations had substantial support nationwide, and passions rose as WW II spread into 1940-41 with the U.S. inching closer to full participation.

As another decade winds down, BruceBrown has moved to 1107 First Avenue #1004, Seattle, WA 98101. He asked me to let Hanover know of his new address; I decided to let everyone in on it. Nice city, Seattle, perhaps not yet beset with the crisis of crack. Moving around the way he does, Bruce must be crossing paths with Al Adams. Al writes that he and Effie, having finished up trekking in Nepal, are redirecting their energies into the peace movement. "The Cold War is over," he says, "but don't expect the U.S. government to admit it. After all, what would the military-industrial complex do without an enemy?" Al and Effie are making plans to be on hand for the assembly in the June after next, and he suggests that the reunion program include a panel discussion of what the 50 years from 1941-1991 will have meant for the world. Not a bad idea, picking up on the "Personal narrative and/or reflections" requested by Don Stillman for the reunion book committee that includes Don Brown, BruceFriedlich, Win Watson, and Steve Winship.

Happily, no deaths to report. Nor much of the living. (Not happily.) But, from my file, The New York Times report back in May of the death, at age 92, of Earl Blaik, whose Dartmouth football teams from 1934-40 "were unbeaten through 21 games." Didn't that include 1939? The same source yields synapse, the Journal of the Dartmouth Scientific Society, which is "bridging the gap between the arts and sciences, " and also the Dartmouth business forum, the undergraduate business publication. Neither likes capital letters, it would appear, but each is nicely turned out with substantive content. The College's computer time-sharing system is in its 25th year. The Hopkins Center presented, some months ago, none other than "Gone with the Wind," 50 years after its opening. But when did it reach the Nugget?—that's the question. Shalom.

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