1980

Tales From the Crypt, Volume XIV, Chapter 12: Dateline: Earthquake Del Sol, California. This month's western regional report is filed by Eric Cutterthe original "Supe" Doggie Dogg. Eric is busy living the good life and keeping totally buff. From blading to basketball, Eric's life is like outtakes from the Mountain Dew commercials. "Surfed it, skied it, hooped it, Suped it!" In his spare time he works for Bristol Meyers in managed health care. Pardon me, but isn't "managed health care" some sort of oxymoron along the lines of "giant shrimp" or "military intelligence"?

Spit Happens: As most of the country celebrated the 4th of July with fireworks, Michele and Dan Zenkel were having a blast of their own. At 10 p.m. Nicole Crames Zenkel was the grand finale of Independence Day—and the crowd roared! Michele is handling the transition to parenthood nicely, but she wonders about Dan: "All he does is huddle around the bassinet doing monosyllabic impressions of Marv Albert. And his idea of a lullaby is a spin on the old 'Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be lawyers...' Should I be concerned?" No, Michele, it's perfectly normal. With patience, care, and regular feeding, he'll grow out of it. Besides, you now have another benefit of parent- hood—the tax deduction. No longer do you have to use Clinton's simplified 1040 Form ("How much money did you make last year? O.K., now send it in.")

Big Mac Attack: "The Son Also Shines!" beckoned the Barrons headline at the news-stand. And the accompanying eight-by-ten mug shot looked familiar all right. As if to defend Papa Hemingway's honor, I had to investigate. Tucked right in there between articles by such legendary stock pickers as Peter Lynch ("Have You Hugged Your Multiples Today?") and Sir John Templeton ("P/E's Need Love Too.") is none other than our very own David MacAllaster. It seems Dave has followed his father's footsteps to Wall Street, where they both specialize in analyzing bank stocks. Unless you've been hiding behind the door for the last few quarters, you know that the banking industry has been a hotbed of merger activity. Dave and his opinions are precious commodities these days and the venerable Dow Jones financial news weekly gave him the star billing he deserves. Now partners at Dave's firm are following suit. Rumor has it that they've contemplated changing the name of the firm from MacAllaster Pitfield MacKay to MacAllaster2 Pitfield Mackay. I tried to glean a little investment tidbit directly from Dave but was stymied. He knew the SEC insidertrading rules, pleaded the Fifth, and quoted an old C&W Ditty: "When the phone don't ring—then you'll know it's me."

Now here's the hard part. On July 28, Jay Tyson died after a courageous seven-year battle with brain cancer. He is survived by his wife, Colleen, and many adoring friends. From the art studio to the gridiron, Jay was a bright light for all those around him. An obituary in the St. Paul Newspaper mentioned that "Jay touched many people because he was humorous and compassionate. He remained optimistic until his final days." Let's continue to carry the torch for Jay. And treasure life as the gift that it truly is.

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