1981

Iowan Tom Waterman wrote to say that in one fell swoop he and wife Maria increased their brood by 300 percent. First daughter Lee, who's four, was bummed to discover that mom's bigger-than-usual belly didn't presage a single bigger-than-usual sibling: there were three in there—three sisters, in fact—and since those three emerged kicking and mewling, Lee's moved out of the house and into a tent in the back yard, sulking there with the family dog and willing to wait the 18 years until her sisters head off to college. At that time, like a cicada, she'll emerge from her self-imposed exile to rale the house once more, even if she is old enough to vote.

"She did say that she was gonna get a new family and not invite us to dinner," Tom told me over the phone last night; he was calling from the peace and quiet of his office at Lane and Waterman, a Davenport law firm founded by his great-grandfather. Tom said that the triplets, with the help of 15 doctors and nurses, were born March 11th, about seven weeks premature—average for triplets—and since he's working fulltime and Maria, also a lawyer, is back to parttime, the couple has hired two shifts of nannies—notice that that last noun is plural—to help with newcomers Dana, Morgan, and Drew.

"We have a lot of help, but it's still pretty crazy," Maria told me. Wonder if she and Tom take refuge in that tent every so often?

When Chemical Bank merged with Chase Manhattan last April, Mark Davis was roused out of his tent to become head of marketing and acquisitions at the new Chase.

"It's been a great success," he told me over the phone, audibly sweating after a grueling post-July 4th run. "Within this giant bank I'm trying to build an M&A business. We've gotten off to a fast start."

Living in Rye, N.Y., Mark and wife Bridget must also move fast to take care of their four children: Lauren 9, Kevin 8, Neil 5, and Andrew 2. On this Saturday morning, Mark told me, they were heading to the beach since this rather active bunch can't do much damage to water and sand. Mark himself keeps active by playing a lot of tennis in the leagues around Westchester, and he also told me that DonMcNaughton and his wife, Alison, are moving to South Korea with Corning Glass.

Seems that Don's had enough of Elmira, N.Y. Couldn't get good kimchee in that neck of the woods.

Pamela Mason Wagner wrote to say that last spring she directed and produced a five-part series for Bill Moyers titled "The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith," a conversation with this comparative religion scholar that recalled the famous Joseph Campbell interviews. Her husband, Thomas Wagner, composed and conducted the cool music for that show, while daughter Emily, almost four, kept running onto the set, waving her arms and shouting, "This Smith sure ain't Campbell!" As you might imagine, Emily was sent to lowa to stay in Lee Waterman's tent for a few weeks.

School starts up soon. Ugh. Where's the summer gone?

Read Snow Falling on Cedars if you have the chance and haven't already. Powerful stuff and beautifully written. And notice the new e-mail address below,Jolks.

4807 Dover Road, Bethesda, MD 20816; ; 1047 Lincoln Blvd., Apt* 10, Santa Monica, CA 90403;

Tom Waterman and wife Maria increased their brood by 300 percent in one fell swoop. Abner Oakes '81

Tips by Patricia Berry '81, p. 63