1979

I peered out over a throng of about 2 5 11-and 12-year-old aspiring Little League superstars. They all stared back respectfully in anticipation of my sage instruction on the finer points of skillful pitching mechanics. "We're going to start with tire basics," I began. "I'm going to demonstrate how to work from a stretch." I had their undivided attention. "The first thing you do is place your back foot in front of the rubber. You all know what a rubber is, right?" Big mistake! Amidst the uproar, half of these hormonal children were falling on the ground laughing. End of lesson. It was so much easier when they were eight.

News abounds about the upward mobility of our classmates. Jeff Jackson's Northwestern M.B.A. and 14 years at American Airlines has recently landed him a promotion to vice president and controller. Collins "Jinky" Byrd is the new director of admissions of the University of Minnesota Law School. Jinky had spent 11 years in the admissions business, including six years as dean of admissions at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul following stints as associate director of admissions at Northwestern and Dartmouth. Julia Hunter's portrait and bio appeared on the pages of the Rockland, Maine, Courier-Gazette. Julia has been appointed curator of the Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage. Julia is uniquely qualified for the post. Professionally trained in the Cooperstown Program in history museum studies and interning at the Smithsonian, Julia is a descendant of many of the original families who settled in the Knox County, Maine, area. She knows where all the bodies are buried.

If you're ever cruising a bit too swiftly on 1-95 in southern Connecticut and get pulled over for speeding, just tell the trooper that your friend and classmate, Dean Esserman, is Stamford's chief of police. After getting a law degree, Dean became a cop in New Haven, where he rose to assistant chief of police before becoming the chief of the MTA's Metro-North Police in New York. When making his appointment, the mayor of Stamford said of Esserman, "I surmise that it isn't very often that one finds someone from an Ivy League college, much less an attorney, who goes into police work." When asked why, with his educational background, he went into police work, Esserman gave a quick answer: "NYPD Blue is way cooler than L.A. Law." Virginia's governor-elect has named his top legal advisor, David Anderson, as chief spin doctor. Officially, David will serve as counsel to the governor and director of policy. He had previously served as chief deputy in the attorney general's office, was a congressional lawyer, and is widely credited with drafting the noparole policy implemented by Virginia's previous governor. David's the guy to look to if you need to beat a ticket in Virginia. Lastly , Thomas Peck was sounding more like a political candidate than the new chief of circulation for the West Virginia Journal. Peck was quoted as saying there would be tolerance" for missed deliveries and "everyone who wants a paper gets a paper where and when they want it." He's got my vote.

Make tomorrow count. And then tell Jeff or me about it.

7 Griffin St., Simsbury, CT 06070; (860) 651-0085 (h); (800) 982-6810 (w); (203) 949-5670 (fax); ; 765 Teresita Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94127; (415) 337-7737 (h);