1944

Johnny Peacock is too nice a guy to be a Japan-basher, but neither is he filling up the carport these days with Japanese appliances. Awhile back, Hawaiian-John had a real-estate deal going with a Tokyo group, but it fell through and with it went the pineapples. "We were pretty well cleaned out," says John, "so my long-time friend, Mona Wolf, and I decided to relocate to Mona's ranch in Fort Collins, Colo. And we love it. People think of Hawaii as paradise, well, this place is right there with it. We just crank every day. I have a couple of modest projects in the works, but mostly we're just enjoying the area."

Incidentally, in February I wrote that BillBenoist was the only '441 knew of who had lost a son in Vietnam, forgetting that John's son, pilot John Peacock II '68, died in that same unhappy conflict. I hope there were no others.

Joe Vancisin, longtime basketball coach at Yale and executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches since 1975, says he'll be retiring in July. He and Lizanne will stay in Branford, Conn., perhaps do more traveling, and try to sharpen up the golf game.

Bill Davies writes glowingly of retirement in Williamsburg, Va., where there is more going on than they can keep up with. "We monitor courses at William and Mary, attend town and gown luncheons, partake of concerts, plays, and operas, and are active in churches. We're also into Elderhosteling and have been to Fryeburg, Maine, and south of Atlanta. Next summer we hope to get to Rome." Bill and Nancy are also within easy driving distance of their three children and five grandchildren in Herdon, Va., Stroudsburg, Pa., and Connecticut.

Still battling with commuter traffic in Columbus, Ohio, is Lorenzo "Bud" Baker, who is still working 50 hours a week as administrative manager for a trucking company. But not because he wants to. Fifteen years ago he came down with multiple sclerosis, and today's health insurance doesn't begin to pay the doctors' bills. "I'd like to retire," he says, "especially for wife Ann's sake, but we just have to hang in the way things are." Their son Lorenzo III is on the staff at Gould Academy in Maine, and he and his wife have a Baker grandson.

It's not on the best-seller list yet, but keep an eye out for Charles X. Larabee's book, Many Missions: Research Triangle Institute's First31 Years. Founded in 1959, RTI is a university- affiliated but separately operated organization serving clients with research in such fields as sociology, economics, biology, environment, electronics, and engineering sciences. It is located in the triangle between the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and North Carolina State University. X himself has been at RTI since 1964, "having a great time all these years, always on condition that I get time off for Maine in the summer and an occasional shot back home to Bellingham, Wash. Happily, the occasional has now become frequent."

Four more deaths: Fred Rankin, December 14; Len Kokins, January 17; FrankParker, February 4; and Warren Leopold, March 7. Our sympathies to the families.

P.O. Box 24, Lovejoy Hill, Cornish Flat, NH 03746