1949

Who, in his right mind, just as he becomes eligible for Social Security, would start taking piano lessons for the first time? Well, Bill Ballard, for one. (If you've heard of another let me know.) Then there are the cooking lessons. Okay, maybe he needed to get back in touch with his creative self. Or maybe he was irked by 16 straight rejections of crossword puzzles he submitted to The New York Times. What's a four-letter word for frustrate? Longtime adman Bill, of Chatham, N.J., retired almost two years ago from Ciby Geigy's house agency—following which development Ciby decided to drop their Geigy, too.

The Ballards, Bill and Naomi, have three children: physicist William '74, professor Lynn, and dropout Jean. Actually, what Jean dropped out of was a perfectly good job with the aforementioned New York Times so that she and her husband—formerly an assistant manager of the Metropolitan Opera's stagecrew can sail around the world in their new 40-foot Valiant. Bon voyage. Bill, incidentally, has volunteered to help with the book celebrating our 50th Reunion unless he gets a gig at Carnegie Hall. Or decides to join his daughter in Tahiti.

Speaking of world travel, a few columns back we noted the peregrinations of Charlie Fay, who, as an ex-marine, has been making major use of "Space A" freebies for his frequent flying. Shedding further light on this, Charlie explains that what we're talking about is empty seats on military planes that reservists and retired military can fill on a Space Available basis. (Actually they are not totally free; there's a $2.30 charge for the box lunch they provide which, we assume, is worth every cent.) The 1996 closing of March Air Force Base near Charlie's Corona, Calif., home is likely to cramp his style. But in the meantime Charlie has hitchhiked all over, including five trips to Alaska, on such glamorous airships as the KC-135 and KC-10 tankers, the C-13 0 Hercules, the C-5 jumbo, and on a small squadron of smaller planes. For more luxurious vacationing, call your travel agent.

Zut! Alors! A new New Hampshire law has decreed that English is the state's official language. Of course, it always has been, but that didn't deter the legislators or our adopted classmate, John Rassias, who described the law as "scandalous, ill-advised...grotesque...deadly... murder against minority groups, murder against ethnic groups." But he saved his most damning charge for last: "It's a political ploy."

By now most members of the Dartmouth family have heard the tragic circumstances surrounding the untimely death of Sarah Devens '96, a three-sport, all-Ivy star who took her own life several months ago. John Stearns, in his president's letter in Skip Ungar's newsletter, gave some perspective that's worth repeating: "I hope that Sarah's experience will help convince those of us who still may begrudge women's presence at Dartmouth that those women love and fight for this College as much as any man ever did. In her case, perhaps, too much."

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