1974

As summer slowly fades, I remember the old excitement of getting back to the Hanover Plain in September, fresh with energy and ready to face the academic year, football games, road trips, fires in the fireplaces, and New Hampshire colors. Just before senior year Bruce "Willie" Williamson and I left Chicago sometime in August and traveled down to see Perry "Aristocracker" Ballard and his buddies in Atlanta. On our way out, we stopped at Willie's sister's house in Cleveland. Arriving at 2 a.m., we were unable to wake anyone in the house, so we ended up "camping" in the back yard until morning on our jackets. Our trip also included a tour of Chapel Hill, Charlottesville, Washington, D.C., N.Y.C., and Boston. The best part of the trip was arriving in Hanover a full week before classes began. It was just wonderful to have the chance to sign up for classes early and buy our books ahead of time. Yeah, right.

Kirk and Linda Hinman wrote a nice letter to remind me that their oldest daughter, Kristen, is a member of the class of '98, starting her sophomore year at Dartmouth. Linda informs me that Homecoming Weekend is October 21-22 and hopes that '74s will be in force then for a mini-reunion. By the way, Jeff Corelitz wants to know if Kristen has been down to the Sigma Nu basement yet, Kirk.

A close friend of mine from Chicago ran into Jon Masters at the Deerfield prep 25th in June. Jon is alive and well and living in Encinitas, Calif., with his wife, Elaine, and their daughter. Jon works with a company called Gridcore Inc. and has been actively teaching transcendental meditation. I remember Jon as a major player on the freshman squash team, which also included the likes of Jim Blick, Jon Blum, Bob Atwell, Bob McKernan, Steve Allison, Carlton Frost, Jay Goebel, Dave Highmark (who used to play in a knee brace), Steve Davis, Jeff Stoermer, Warren Zwecker, Chris Baldwin, Wayne Whitmore, and, of course, squash great Rick Woolworth. Quite an eclectic bunch, eh? Oooooo.

To John Fisher and the rest of the '74s: Go out and get the new disc by the Pat Metheny Group titled "We Live Here." I've kept my usual habit of concert-going alive by seeing this band three times in the past five months. You won't be disappointed. (Remember Dartmouth concerts by Cat Stevens, Liv Taylor, Linda Rondstadt, Poco, Joshua Rifkin, Dizzy Gillespie with "visiting professors" Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff, and the Chicago Symphony, to name a few?)

I'm on my way to Alaska in September to see Rick Ranger and Denali National Park. Full report to follow.

Tames Vreeland has started a small business growing naturally colored cotton in the Peruvian Andes. DON O'NEILL '71