1976

This is the last column before the Alumni Magazine's summer break. I want to seize die opportunity to thank all of you who wrote or e-mailed me during the past year. We all have busy lives, and I know it is not easy to find time between work, kids, and everything else to send a note. To mangle Hemingway, "Life is long, but the days are short!" The time you spent sending news made my job as class columnist much easier during the last year.

This job has many benefits, chief among which is the steady stream of contacts from classmates around the world. There are a higher proportion of Dartmouth grads in Alaska than most places, I suspect, but the absolute numbers are low, and we are somewhat off the beaten track. This makes news from classmates all the more enjoyable and interesting. Now that we're done with the kudos for those who wrote, there remains the problem of the rest of you. With the exception of a note from CharlieBrumback, I'm down to the sticks and stems of this business—press releases and newspaper clips. These are not bad but are no substitute for the real news that your former roommates and college buddies want to read.

Clip and save the address on the end of this column. Take it to the office, tape it to your computer, and send me an e-mail when you should be working. Fair warning: I've downloaded the class e-mail list and intend to send notes to everyone on it. When you get yours, please take a minute to reply.

Anyway, back on task. Charlie and Kim Brumback joined Mike Strout and DanaLevenson and their spouses in Las Vegas for a meeting of the "Friday the 13th Club" on (you guessed it) Friday, March 13. Charlie reports that Mike and Dana have gotten together, "without incident, in the majority of cases, every Friday the 13th since August 1976." The club has met in different locations over the years, and been joined by a random sampling of classmates. Charlie reports the Las Vegas trip went well: "All of us left reasonably solvent, and nobody got arrested, so we consider it to have been a successful trip."

In the news: Carol Bemis is in charge of the Minneapolis branch of Christie's auction house. Carol earned a master's degree from the Courtland Institute of Art in London. In addition to running Christie's Twin City office, Carol arranges appraisals and sales for clients. Timothy J. McManus is vice president of Restrac Inc., "the worldwide leader in automated staffing solutions." Tim earned an M.B.A. from Tuck and is based in Lexington, Mass. Blair Dickerson joined American Document Management as its national account manager. Blair was a late-blooming law student, graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1997. Tom Souza was lauded in the Providence Business Journal for his work "improving the tourism industry's image." Tom is the executive VP of Collette Tours, for whom he worked as a tour guide during college. Dave Brown is a candidate for reelection to the Old Saybrook, Conn., school board. David is "an artist and a farmer," an advisor to the University of Connecticut Asian-American studies program, and a director of the Tibetan Cultural Center of Connecticut.

Again, thanks to all who wrote. The rest of you slugs, get with it! Drop a line or send an e-mail to:

957 Gold Belt Ave., Juneau, AK 99801; (907) 586-4000;