1980

80 Tales From the Crypt, Volume XV, Chapter 5: DATELINE: Greybull, Wyo. Nestled on the western slope of the Bighorn Mountains, not far from Meeteetse and the original Hakowee settlement, lies some of the finest cattle country in the lower 48. A day's work still starts before sunup, kids still learn how to sit in a saddle before they can walk, and pickup trucks still sport pithy bumper stickers like "Cowboys Do What Cowgirls Like." Katheryn Flitner has come home again. The former Miss Wyoming has moved back to the ranch that her family has operated since Teddy Roosevelt was whooping it up in the White House. Having lived and worked in Boston, New York, Denver, Phoenix, and Los Angeles (sounds like Marv Albert's itinerary for NBA telecasts), Kathryn recently returned to the ranch to manage all aspects of their recreational program, Working Cowboy Adventures. Guests from all around the globe have a chance to move cows, chase stray colts and mares, and compare stories around die campfire at the end of the day. Boiled coffee, pork and beans, and saddle sores are all part of the package. Sounds like this will make City Slickers look like a week at "Camp Grenada." Second prize is two weeks in the saddle.

UP in the air, Junior Birdman: Congratulations to Sheila Cheston, who was recently nominated by President Clinton to be the next general counsel of the U.S. Air Force. Sheila has been flying high since graduation from Columbia Law School. She clerked for a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, taught international civil litigation at Georgetown Law School, and became a partner in the Washington law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering before she turned to fulltime government service. Meanwhile, most of us still work 39 percent of the year for the feds.

An apple a day keeps the creditors at BAY: Hanging out a shingle in any field is no easy task these days. Vanessa Britto and three other enterprising doctors have started the Women's Wellness Center in Taunton, Mass. As a recent review detailed, women's primary-care needs, from young adulthood through post-menopause, can be met at the center. Staffed by a team of female internalmedicine physicians and other specialized health-care providers, the center is dedicated to assisting women maintain their good health. This reminds me of a story about Charlotte Whitton, the former mayor of Ottawa, Canada, who once observed: "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."

Well, we're getting close to the end, and helping with the class secretary duties has been a real slice of life. If my memory serves me well, I mailed the first chapter of Tales from the Crypt to Hanover via Aerogramme from some alpine post box near Heiligenblut, Austria, in August 1980. Since then, my news of the '80s hasn't always been pretty, it hasn't always been true, but at least it's been on time. As any good doctor would say for a referral—thanks for your patience.

Let's have a moment of silence for those unable to attend reunions. OK, that's long enough.

11 Longmeadow Road, Winnetka, IL 60093

'80 Pride in '95 15th June 16 -18, 1995