1982

First things first. I promised scintillating news about Sue Elliot and spouse EricChristensen and about Laura Morrell. Sue and Eric win the award for "Classmates Least Able To Choose A Permanent Address and Most Undecided About Places They've Lived." During approximately the past two and a half years, Sue and Eric moved first from Los Angeles (?) to Paris, France; from Paris to Rhode Island; from Rhode Island to Menlo Park, Calif.; from Menlo Park back to Rhode Island; and from Rhode Island back to Menlo Park. I know there was a series of jobs involved Eric's in finance with Euro-Disney and various other outfits, and Sue is a lawyer but I lost track of them, and honestly, in light of the spectacular moving streak, who could blame me? I hope they got some frequent-flyer miles and movingvan discounts.

The news about Laura Morrell is that she has started downhill skiing again. This may not sound like much, but I don't mean for fun like the rest of us schleps; I mean competitively. Knowing Laura, she's probably shooting for the Olympics. Of course, life is full of tough choices. For example, I've chosen sedentary contemplation for my spare time activity.

Matt Yee reports that Karl King is studying at UCLA for a Ph.D. in neuroscience, with a focus on vision research. Since visually impaired people continue to procreate with non-visually impaired people, and the entire world will therefore eventually be visually impaired, this seems a good specialty to choose. We'll have to wait and see. Ha ha.

Matt is still practicing law parttime and making music with his new band the other part of the time. He sent me a tape of the Mattaio Band's songs, two or three of which have rocketed to the top of the charts in Hawaii. I can attest that they are worthy of the success.

Betsy and Bill Ragan sent notice of the birth of their son James Crawford Ragan on December 19. Bill reports that "he has a great pair of lungs on him an heir (Aire) apparent!" Note the quotation marks. I am not responsible for that one.

I found a note to myself about a chance encounter at a McDonald's in Hartford, Conn., last Thanksgiving. I was visiting my sister for the weekend, and we stopped for a Mcbreakfast before some sightseeing. I was minding my own business in line when suddenly someone behind me said, "Philippa??" It was VJ Dowling and son. VJ looks wonderful, and so does the little guy, but I have absolutely no recollection of what he's doing to pay the bills. All I remember is that his inlaws were visiting, and it's my personal belief that he used his son's McDonald's mania as an excuse to get out of the house. Shame.

I heard tell that Cindy Willett is a star at NBC news. Cindy is the news producer for the Sacramento, Calif., NBC affiliate and was given an experimental 10 p.m. news time slot. Apparently it is a success, and everyone has their eyes on her.

Some miscellaneous tidbits from my sketchy, still-to be-reported reunion notes. If details are wrong or non-existent, please write in. Speaking of which, Kent and Sheila KayCooper are living in Austin, Texas, with their two children. Presumably, someone in the house works. Robin Shaffert left Latham & Watkins to work as in-house counsel for Booz Allen & Hamilton. She has a very nice husband and a lovely baby girl.

Finally, I received a letter from the Committee to Save Dartmouth, urging me to urge you all to register objections with the Board of Trustees on a parade of horribles infecting the college. Their number-two horrible is coeducation. What is wrong with this picture? Not surprisingly, no phone number or individual contact was identified. If you want more information, let me know. I don't think they deserve more time in this column.

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