1983

I just got back from seeing Lynn Johnson and Peter Kidder's new baby, Andrew, born this past October. The Kidder household already includes twins, now almost three, and as Lynn and I and kids made the rounds of Palo Alto where the Kidders live I kept forgetting about the baby. I was extremely impressed that Lynn did not.

Our excursion was possible because, as you might have gathered from the address below, I've moved to Northern California. Yes, it's a little sad. No more Hollywood gossip. No more celebrities in exercise class. No more hearing from other park moms (thin, blonde, groovy ones) about how they ended up smoking cigars with George Clooney at the latest new bar at three in the morning. All right, perhaps getting out wasn't such a bad idea—particularly if there's going to be any room left here for actual classmates.

There will always be room for Elizabeth Hovey, new mom of Jake Bainum Jiler, born last December. "He's the first for me and my husband, John Jiler," Beth writes. "We've been aided tremendously by Jessica RosenbergBrown and Suzanne ThorntonDeNunzio in preparing for him. PaulEfthim and Chris Koller have provided long-distance support."

Elizabeth adds that Chris and family are moving to Providence to head up a community-based HMO—"the kind of demanding but fulfulling position he's been preparing for thoughout his career to date."

Also in the demanding but fulfilling catagory, Paul Khoury appealed the death sentence of a client, a convict in Virginia, and got it commuted—three hours before it was supposed to be carried out! It was apparently the first time Virginia Governer George Allen ever commuted a death sentence.

As you might have guessed by now, Paul is a lawyer, with the Washington, D.C., firm, Wiley, Rein & Fielding, but his specialty is the rather less overtly dramatic arena of government contracts. He took on the pro bono case of an already convicted murderer who was subsequently convicted for the murder of a fellow inmate (his sole accuser later recanted) early in his career and by the time it was over had put in 2,500 unbillable hours.

David Orr '57 brings to notice the posters on bulletin boards throughout the Upper Valley announcing "Learn to Dance with Jamie and Faye." "Jamie Orr and Faye Grearson 'BO are," Mr. Orr adds, "among the best country swing dancers in the country. In 1995, before moving here from the West Coast, they took first place overall in Western Regional Dance Competition. Because of the arrival of Colton Orr in July (class of 2017) they weren't able to compete this year, but next year they'll probably be back on the circuit again."

"Asalaam Malekuum" is the greeting from whom else but Nick Roberts. Fortunately Nick continued his missive in English. "After three-and-one-half years in Senegal," he writes, "I've returned to the land of milk and money and post-Peace-Corps trauma/reentry sydrome. I've settled as nicely as I could hope back in Atlanta, receiving my first freelance advertising copywriter's work a total of 36 hours after arriving. After all," he adds, "it was advertising which drove me over there in the first place." Nick is also working on a novel based, he says, not-so-loosely on his experiences abroad.

"I have a feeling," says Nick, "my parents would prefer I table these moves for awhile and get them some grandkids." Which leads me to guess that Nick is still single.

Dean Cascadden, on the other hand, has (with his wife, Crystal) four children: Nora 11, Dean Jr. 10, lan 4, and Carter 1. Dean is a visiting professor at SUNY Oswego, his field being educational administration. (He wrote his dissertation at William and Mary on elementary school principals.)

Until next month...

7 Berenda Way, Portola Valley, CA 94028; dlmichel@msn.com>