1957
President Dick Perkins has announced plans to execute a project approved at the class meeting in October. All of us who do any volunteer work in our community will keep track of one week's effort. We will send in a report with the details. We will remember to do that. Our individual reports will be compiled and passed along as 1957's contribution to the Dartmouth Partners in Community Service project.
As we get closer to the official "Partners" week in June, look for details, including a model form to fill out and an address, on the listserv and in the newsletter. Right now it looks as if we'll all be sending our reports to Randy Aires, who began stirring up support for this national alumni effort some time ago.
Speaking of support, please help NedBixby and Dartmouth with a gift to the Alumni Fund. The class has been doing well, but we need more donors to increase our participation level.
Charlie Sellman married Carol Dornemann in October. Their eight children and one granddaughter stood up for them at the altar. Carol is Colby Jr. '57, and her daughter Sarah Otis is Dartmouth '90. Carol and Charlie are living in Basking Ridge, N.J.
There have been some sharp exchanges on the listserv on the subject of religion. One outcome has been a reading list of the sort we seldom came away with from "residential life" bull sessions about such subjects. Title, author and source of suggestion follow:
• The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins (Bob Copeland)
• When Bad Things Happen to Good People and When All You've Ever Wanted Isn'tEnough, Harold Kushner (Herb Roskind)
• The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan; Why People Believe Weird Things, Michael Shermer, Stephen Jay Gould (Bruce Sloane)
• A Brief History of Everything, Ken Wilber, Tony Schwarz; The Marriage ofSense and Sold, Ken Wilber; The PerennialPhilosophy, Aldous Huxley (TonyWilliamson)
• The Culture of Disbelief, Steven Carter (Chris Wren)
Also in January, Bruce Bernstein wrote about a serendipitous Dartmouth and class connection in New York City's Central Park. "The other morning I was limping along, having fallen flat on my face and knee on a racquetball court the day before. I saw a new bench and decided to rest for a few minutes. It had an inscription that read something like: 'to John S. Levy in honor of our 40 years of marriage and your love of Central Park, from your wife....' How nice to be the beneficiary of a classmate's [wife's] philanthropy. Thanks, John."
Joe Stevenson is recuperating with amazing speed from a group-B strep infection and an operation to fix an infected heart valve. Dr. John Sanders '64 and a team at Dartmouth-Hitchcock did the extraordinary surgery.
I am sorry to report the deaths of classmates Bob Ramsdell, Pete Falcon, Pete Cooley, J.C. Parkes, Mort Scharmann and Dana Redman. Our condolences and support to their families and friends.
1186 River Road, Selkirk, NY, 12158; (518) 767-2782; jennings @albany.edu
