1983

Dry, Arid. Barren. Scorched. Vacuous. Bereft. These are all excellent words for describing news of our class. Every year around this time the staff at the Alumni Magazine nervously asks me if I like being class scribe, knowing full well that I love to complain. "Use your creative juices," they suggest. "Paint us a mosaic of the '83s." I had Mike Behn analyze this dispatch from a lawyer's perspective. "They're asking you to lie," he advised me. Now we're talking!

Spring is looming, the grass is riz, and there is a strange sequence of news events hitting the airwaves. Wade Boggs solved his sexual exploits by listening to advice from Geraldo Rivera. John Tower's future remains uncertain, confirmation or not. Jay Leno put it this way: "This is a womanizer? He looks like Yoda with a bad haircut." And, now we have babies to report. Julie Keegan brought Alyssa into this world in late January, while Suzie Alexander is a fledgling mom for Shaun. Two years ago, all I wrote about in this column were weddings and engagements. Now babies are in vogue. This is called progress.

Something momentous is about to happen. Will the dollar fail? A change in the jet stream? Collapse of the ozone layer? Killer bees in London? Why, no, it's none of that. It's just that after 25 years of school Tod Leggat finally feels ready to breath some fresh air and be turned loose on real people so that he can practice the art of being a doctor.

Tod, who I think has been in Hanover for a decade now, can be found (subterraneously) at Dartmouth Med. Tod already has one prospective patient to care for: his father, who should be receiving a bill for Tod's student loan around June 15.

Doug Marshall was defensive when I cornered him in a Boston subway this winter. "Yes, yes, I live in Cambridge and I'm in architecture school. But, really, you don't need to tell people that." Doug, when news is slow, anyone's fair game. Curious readers will be interested to know that Doug is from St. Louis. Meanwhile, Jim Allen's worth a look. Jim is now aboard the U.S.S. Princeton, an Aegis cruiser, with 70 officers and men reporting to him. Two stripes now adorn his uniform, bearing testimony to Jim's expertise in radar, sonar, and missiles. Officer Allen is also engaged to Patty Reeves 'B4 who, according to grandfather Art Allen '32, is a great catch for Jim. It's funny how things change. As a freshman, Jim used to sail Flying Juniors back and forth across Lake Mascoma, a whopping quarter-mile trip, the outcome of which was always uncertain. (Jim and I used to compete to see who could capsize the most.) Now he's defending our country and has mastered entire oceans. His crew salutes him. The boat goes where it's supposed to go. This, too, is progress.

It may intrigue you to know that we have at least one class member making a career out of alcohol. Chuck Ankeny, finally located in Napa, Calif., is proud owner of Willett's Brewery, a new restaurant and pub overlooking the Napa River. Chuck, who's been brewing beer for three years, has prepared a menu designed to mix well with beer and, naturally, is eager for his customers to sample his personal brew. Chuck's genealogy includes a great-great-grandfather who established a brewing company in Minnesota back in 1865. A taste-test of his wares is definitely in order.

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