1984

As you read this column, depending on when your Alumni Magazine arrives, our mini-reunion (during Homecoming weekend) will probably just have been a resounding success, and a great time will have been had by all. I can also say with confidence that the fall colors, smell of wood smoke, and the marching band's stellar routine provided a symphony of nostalgic sensorial input for all those '84's who attended. Finally, the class contingent, royally conveyed in John Pryor's convertible, was the hit of the parade!

Other recent hits include Disney's Tarzan, for which our very own Juliet Aires was story consultant. According to our (admittedly rather biased) source (her husband), this huge success will be topped only by her next project, a film entitled Jilted, which she is also co-producing. (Remember, you heard it here first!) Juliet and our source live with their two children in Pacific Palisades, where Juliet also volunteers as a Girl Scout-Troop leader. (But when, inquiring minds want to know, does she sleep?!)

Another writing classmate, Eric Dezenhall, published Nail 'Em! Confronting High Profile Attacks on Celebrities and Businesses with Prometheus Books this past May. An expose of the culture behind media exposes of (supposed) corporate and celebrity wrongdoing, Eric's book got rave reviews—at least from the five readers on Amazon.com. They were probably all relatives but they sure made the book sound good, if perhaps a bit too pro-business for this member of the left-wing, academic intelligentsia.

In a downer, our professional Dartmouth writer Jim Collins did not get the permanent position as editor of the Alumni Magazine, despite the support of many class secretaries. Hiss.

The next bit of classmate-generated prose is unpublished, but still great reading. Marianne McCarroll's tales of her latest wanderings through the wilds of the West in a motor home recount her adventures from Park City to Canyonlands National Park via "gorgeous golden yellow pictograph laden canyons" in Dinosaur National Monument, powder snow, classic rock, and "enduro" races in Arapahoe Basin (she forswore the races for lack of time!), mountain biking on the edge of the Encompahgre Plateau, to name just a few. Those of us "exiled" to the plains are suffering a serious case of "peakenvy!" (However, although in nowhere near the same league as Marianne's travels, I must admit to five spectacular days of hiking around Mont Blanc this summer.)

Let me end with one last writing-related bit of news. You will be receiving, or have recently received, several "communiques," in forms electronic and paper, from our class officers this fall about topics such as a class project, e-mail discussion lists, etc. Please communicate back with us so that together we can work to make the next four years the best our class has had since commencement. We are: Molly Wender (president), Marianne McCarroll (vp), Allen Waxman (treasurer), Kathy Krause (secretary), John Pryor, (mini-reunion chair), Lucia Jackson and Leigh Garry (newsletter editors), and our most recent recruit, Doug Kingsley (head agent).

4821 Roanoke Parkway, Apt. 802, Kansas City, MO 64112-1822; krausek@umkc.edu

Juliet Aires was story consultant for Disney's Tarzan. KATHY KRAUSE '84