1943

Our prolific authors keep prolificating, the latest beingBill Foye, who has just churned out Trout Waters, reminiscences with a description of the Upper Quahbin Valley. And that's Upper Quabbin, Mass., for those of you who wouldn't know the Upper Quabbin reservoir unless it were lapping on your shoelaces. Bill, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences in Boston (whew, how'd you like to be a cheerleader for MCPAHSB?), grew up in the Quabbin area and fondly remembers fishing with his father in local streams.

And our prolific painters keep pigmenting, the latest in that genre being Steve Tate's wife,' Joey, whose "Festival of Animals" watercolors were exhibited in Southport, Conn., for two and a half weeks in July.

Bill Fead died of cancer in late 1990, and his wife, Hope, arranged for a bench in his memory to be placed on campus. It's alongside Parkhurst Hall (administration), so next time you're in Hanover, sit thee down on Bill's bench and take in the campus.

When we talked to Al Myers in June he mentioned his 70th birthday and a plan whereby well-wishers, in lieu of presents, would contribute to a modest fund at Dartmouth in his and Lois's name. Nice idea, I'd say; good thinking. Al is still brokering in Boston, living in Swampscott, and keeping the old waistline in line with squash or tennis 5-6 times a week.

A long jump further down the coastline, in Jacksonville, Fla., Rog Arnold says the by-pass he got a few years ago keeps him from strenuous activity. "I pretty much take it easy," he says, "do a lot of reading and stay in touch with the financial world."

Hank and Liz Marshall left Norwich, Vt., for Bluffton, S.C.,a couple of years back, but they haven't turned their backs on the north country in die summertime. They rented a condo in Quechee for the summer and a place in West Falmouth, Mass., in September. In the meantime, they golfed the New Hampshire Vermont 18-holers and spent a lot of bunk-time with son John '71, his wife, Jan, and a granddaughter in Peacham, Vt.

A July note from Dave Sanders in Las Vegas said, "We just returned from Yellowstone where I spent a great couple of days fishing Slough Creek. I just wish I could live on its banks."

Last June's Commencement in Hanover reminded me that the College doesn't go overboard in awarding honorary degrees to alumni. Only two '44s have made it,"MonteDuVal and Gregory Rabassa. My research shows that three '44 alumni fathers have been so honored: Robert O.Blood '13 in 1941, Thomas W Streeter '04 in 1946, and Francis Brown '25 in 1952. Walter Burke has been the only '44 Trustee.

Then, just for the heck of it I figured out that Dartmouth has awarded honorary degrees to only three presidents: Eisenhower in 1953 ("Don't burn books"); Hoover in 1920; and Roosevelt in 1929 and one vice president, Nelson Rockefeller '30 (twice) in 1952 and 1969 before they were in office.

So much for that. So much for all of us. Our "honorary degree" was having matriculated at Dartmouth in the first place. That's it. Blessings.

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