1943

If your taste in reading runs to historical novels perhaps you'd be interJested in the Aubrey/Maturin novels written by Patrick O'Brian, first published in England in the 1970s and subsequently re-published here in 1990. There are some 16 stories, each describing an incident in the career of a sea-going officer of the Royal Navy and his unlikely comrade who is at once surgeon, botanist, and spy. The stories are set in the time of the Napoleonic wars and as one critic has observed, they are the best thing afloat since Horatio Hornblower!

Bob Craig, now fully retired from the practice of surgery, writes from Fernandina Beach, Fla., to suggest we might be interested in visiting Fort Clinch, built in yjvll War times at the border of FloridaGeorgia on the Atlantic Ocean. There, personnel in appropriate uniforms are trained to provide historical information of that era. Bob and a number of his friends are assisting in the preservation of this state park by replacing all 32 of the heavy doors built to the specs of the 1880s. Nearby, the Amelia Island Museum of History (converted from an old jail by volunteers) is one of the best in Florida. Bob advises it is known nationally and is approved by Elderhostel. The verbal presentation tracing northeast FloridaGeorgia history from early Indian times to our day is outstanding. Perhaps some of us snowbirds will be able to take a short side trip to visit these sites on the way north. We have learned of the death of Dr. George Van Patten on December 21 of last year and offer our sincere condolences to his widow and his family. Write when you can. Your classmates will be pleased to hear about your doings.

29 Foxworth Lane, Kingston, MA 02364