1933

Marty Kerwin betrayed his wonted zest when we reached him in New Braunfels, Tex., recently. A former Republican precinct worker in St. Louis, he had currently been a Gram booster, but considered his man finished after his bashing by Buchanan in Louisiana. Although his grandfather, born in Kildare, had been Democratic party chairman in St. Louis, Marty had defected in the 1970s with the Texas tide. He had retired from selling portable pier racks in 1990. His Dartmouth support had suffered a fatal blow after what he considered the inadequate punishment of the students who stole and destroyed The Dartmouth Review. Marty's doctor has certified him to be in good health and he promises to live to be 90 and meet us at the next '33 Reunion.

Moving to Wolfeboro, N.H., we found Ro and Connie Burbank enjoying "a lot of snow," but with Ro not as conversant with the ongoing state Republican primary as Kerwin had been with the one in Louisiana.

In fact, he would not dare predict who would come out on top and showed a degree of disinterest which readers of The Washington Post would find hard to envision. Ro said that the Burbanks were living a peaceful life with a rewarding circle of friends, had enough dollars not to go hungry, in fact were doing not a small amount of eating. A pretty delightful way of life, one would conclude.

John Rockwell demonstrated his characteristic and welcome volubility when we interrupted him munching his late midday lunch on our next call. Having recovered from an operation to remove spurs from his feet, he was feeling pretty chipper. He still works three hours a day at the National Center for State Courts as a researcher who responds to questions of state court officials relating to matters of courthouse design, use of cameras and courtroom security. A very important function, we'd say, with 2,000 questions answered by the center last year.

Wes Beattie, who says he has gone through every procedure but a vasectomy (perhaps academic?), now has his blood circulating property and plays golf three times a week down in Sun City Center, Fla.

3043 West Lane Keys NW, Washington, DC 20007-3057