1976

An excerpt from PeterStark's new book, Drivingto Greenland, was in the Anchorage newspaper recently. It is an engrossing account of a young man's sometimes painful journey from the frigid confines of Pewaukee, Wise., to the frigid expanses of Missoula, Mont., with intermediate stops in the frigid wastes of Zermatt and Hanover. En route, Starkie met the rest of us: "I don't know what sort of sophisticates and intellectuals I expected to encounter, but to my crashing disappointment my classmates struck me as pimply adolescents in highschool letter jackets." Jeez, Pete, not all of us had letter jackets!

News from the Golden State: GeorgeChimiklis moved back to Stockton after graduation and is an environmental specialist for a non-profit group that works on safe-water and housing issues for lower-income rural communities across the West. After attending the fall mini-reunion, George was headed to Tillamook, Ore., to work on a water project near the site of the largest dirigible hanger ever built.

Tina had business in San Francisco, so the kid and I tagged along to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Ken Norman did us the honor of crossing the Bay Bridge for dinner one night. Ken was a public defender in San Francisco and Oakland and is now a judge in Alameda County. Hizzonor confirmed that former public defenders are the toughest judges they know all the excuses ("Wait a minute, isn't that the third time your grandmother died?"). Ken expressed regrets at the Alumni Magazine's news that my freshman-year roommate, Jeb Burns, passed away in Los Angeles. The report of Jeb's death, however, was greatly exaggerated, thanks to dyslexia in the typesetting room: John E. Burns '67 passed away, wot John E. Burns III '76. At last report, our Jeb was alive and managing investments in the tropical splendor of Honolulu.

We caught a glimpse of Rich Nichols making a hasty exit from the Cafe Marimba

on Chestnut Street. Rich and spouse Jenny entered as we were getting seated, but blew out of the place when the maitre d' told Rich there would be a 20-minute wait for a table. By the time I reached the door to flag them down, the famous sprinter was out of sight. Rich and Jenny won't be moving so fast now they were expecting a baby girl around Thanksgiving.

When we returned home, there were a few notes in the mailbox. Eileen Cave is back in D.C., having left United Airlines to accept a position as vice president of sales and marketing for Woodside Financial Trust in Bethesda. Eileen is in touch with many classmates in the D.C. area, includingjudi Redding, Monica Hargrove Roye, and KarenTurner.

Dan Velleman is now a professor at Amherst College. He recently won first prize from the Mathematical Society of America for a book of problems $500 and dinner in Minneapolis. The press release didn't describe second prize.

Dave Shribman's byline appeared in the Juneau paper with a man-on-the-street interview about the O.J. Simpson case which he conducted "in a restaurant near Lebanon, N.H." Sounds like our resourceful reporter finally found an excuse to order fried clams at the Riverside Grill on the Globe's expense account.

That's it for this month. If you've got a minute, please drop a line or send a fax. Thanks!

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