1983

Hello again. When we last talked, I was a little irritated because you all seemed inattentive and uneasy about divulging details of your life. Part of my life is Quality Control. I say to myself, "How can this be? What causes silence to supplant sharing? Why aren't people talking?" This is NOT a boring world we inhaDit. I selfishly don't think it's fair for you to force me to sniff things out, like a hungry pit bull. Because then my reports are driven by my emotion (re: vengeance). I did a little study: since August 1986, I've only written about 63 people in this column, which is less than five percent of my class. The ineluctable conclusion? I am failing in this job. Send help!

The New Decade got off to a fine start when Howie Brick called to spread the happy news that he's now engaged to a wonderful lady named Jill Smilow. Those of you who know Howie and Jill will cheer. Those of you who don't... well, let me just say that this marriage will be as solid as they come. Which reminds me. Cathy Barr wrote to report she's engaged to Tom Taylor (UVA '82) and looking forward to spending the next "50 or so" years with Tom. Cathy continues to thrive in the Midwest, working for Kraft (a/k/a Philip Morris & Companies) in the Grocery Products Group, where she dabbles in momentum analysis of soybean oil prices and BBQ sauce trends. We can all help Cathy by ordering more Chinese food and having lots of cookouts. Anni Dupre, class prez, is also scheduled to make the wedding bells ring next month to Charles Santry (St. Lawrence '84, Tuck '89). Annie still has her priorities in order, though her wedding has been adroitly arranged so as not to conflict with Class Officers Weekend. I like that.

Where have you gone, Reed Webster? I called Reed at his old job at Manufacturers Hanover to squeeze him for class information. Instead of Reed, I got hold of an office secretary in poor humor who told me tartly "I wouldn't know where a FORMER employee is located." Thank you very much, ma'am. When I trudged home that day, there was a note from Kellogg Business School saying "Reed is here." Maybe you know all about Reed being in business school, but did you know he majored in earth science? The press release about Reed referred obliquely to his "grueling undergraduate courseload" at Dartmouth. Anyways, Reed's in Chicago, and that's that.

The remainder of this column, and part of the next, will be devoted to telling you about Paul McGorrian, a wonderful classmate who is believed to have died in a plane crash in Pakistan. Last summer, Paul left his job as a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times to work as a freelance foreign correspondent in Pakistan. Paul had been in Pakistan only for a few months when he boarded a Pakistan International Airlines plane which apparently went down in the Himalayas. As of this writing, the plane and its passengers still have not been recovered, despite a search which the Associated Press described as one of the biggest in history.

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