1974

I'm back in the saddle after long hot summer. I've moved from Baltimore to Annapolis, and changed jobs as well. My new position is principle clinical coordinator for the Delmarva Peer Review Organization, which contracts with the Health Care Financing Administration to oversee quality of medical care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in Maryland and D.C. After 21 years of patient care, I now work 40 hours a week and currently do not have malpractice insurance, as I'm not actively seeing patients. Yes, it feels a little weird, but I guess I need a break from beepers, middle-of-the- night sleep interruptions, and weekend rounds at the hospital.

One of my famous medical cohorts, Freddie Fu, celebrated his Hong Kong roots m grand style by opening a bottle of Prince Hubert de Polignac champagne when the island of his birth was handed back to China this past July. Ju Ho Keung (Freddie's actual Chinese birth name) is descended from three generations of Hong Kong natives. According to Ju Ho, Hong Kong is literally translated as "fragrant harbor," which helps explain why the" British gave it back. Perhaps there will be a name change.

I got an ASCII file from the alumni office and created a computerized database for the class, and while querying for those 74s with an e-mail address came across Ken Bernstein's. As I've been spying for the past three years on Kenny's career as a cutting-edge clinical researcher of hypertension, I fired a message off to him and got a surprisingly prompt response. Turns out Ken has lived in Atlanta and worked at Emory as a professor of pathology since 1987. He and his wife, Ellen, have three girls named Colette (9), Sabrina (7), and Danella (2). "Jook" (as he was affectionately called by his Gile Hall cronies), is a nephew of the late Leonard Bernstein and described his musical renaissance: "About three years ago, I decided I was going to give the girls piano lessons, so we "rented a piano, which came with six free lessons. Now we are on our third piano, and I am the only one interested, playing whenever I can. And by the way, where are John 'Fat'Larson and Scott 'Gouda' Mason?"

We'll look forward to a duet recital at Thayer with Wayne "Dude" Whitmore in 1999, Kenny.

I came across yet another famous '74 while immersed in my weekly perversion of reading The Economist from cover to cover. J.P. Morgan's Rick Escherich was quoted regarding the issuance (as opposed to the repurchase) of new stock shares by most S&P 500 firms as a typical way of financing- potential acquisitions. I wish you had told us earlier,. Rick. Oh, well...

Randy "Tex" Barnett drove through Annapolis with his kids and his new boat, which he picked up in Florida and stopped off at Jeff "Lingus" Corelitz's place. Tex and Lynn invite all '74s out to his place in Abilene, including such '74 M.I.A. Texans as Kevin Squire, Dr. John Pigott,Maurice Johnson, Paul Strohl, FredPrevic, Dr. Gerald Knezek, and HalMallory. Actually I think it's just a ruse to get a poker game going, Tex, so lay off of innocent victims until the 25th. And by the way, Lingus and I are new neighbors a.k.a. "Sigma Nu South."

Until next month.