1944

I hope you won't fault my taking a minute for a short credo.

Like a majority of alumni, I love Dartmouth, I really do. I loved it as an undergraduate, I've loved it for almost 50 years as an alumnus, I loved it for the 17 years I was lucky enough to work at the place, and I've loved it for the seven-and-a-half years of my retirement.

And, I expect to go on loving it for the rest of my life.

Dartmouth has been a major factor in my life. It gave me that chance for a superb education; it has played a part in my love of and concern for the outdoors; and in general it has been for me a tower of purpose, dedication, and resolution. I am proud of its history, its traditions, and its modernness; and friends made 50 years ago in Hanover are today friends 50 years deep and none better.

R. Frost, Birches : "I don't know where it's likely to go better."

Is Dartmouth perfect? Probably not. But whose "perfection?" For every wart, I see ten rainbows. I live near Hanover, and its campus, ever one of the loveliest in the country, is a warm and welcome neighbor. The College's faculty, its students, its programs in the performing arts, the library, athletics these things and much more draw me like a beacon.

I'm not tickled pink about everything that happens at Dartmouth, but nor do I cheer or guffaw at any day's domestic or world headlines outside Hanover.

So. I've been the '44 class secretary for 22 years and I've enjoyed the job. I'll probably go on doing it until I croak or until you've had enough of my prose, poesy, or poses. Or of my love for Dartmouth undying. End of pontification

In November we reported Red O'Connor's death. A subsequent note from his widow, Jean, said: "John loved Dartmouth and believed that it gave him a rich and precious foundation ...He is the last of his family, but he is survived by many who loved him."

A couple of the things from my files. In the spring of 1990, a Dragon Senior Society newsletter announced that it had graduated the tallest and shortest male members of the class: Walter Palmer, 7'1" basketball player (alas, released in October from the Utah Jazz), and Pete Damman, 53", president of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and the son of Joe Damman, who also had sons in the classes of '75 and '77.

A New York Times social note last year informed of the marriage of Mary Ellen Donovan '76, daughter of Dan Donovan and the late Arline Donovan. She is a writer and the author of two books, Women and Self-Esteem and Love Blocks.

Last June San Francisco alumni celebrated Dartmouth's historical link with the United Nations at a special conference, and among the speakers were Leonard Rieser, who is the director of the Dickey Endowment for International Understanding.

That's it. Blessings.

PO. Box 24, Lovejoy Hill, Cornish Flat, NH 03746