1962

I Connections. The official Dartmouth College class list arrived a few days ago. It's an impressive fan-fold, computer-generated compendium five-eighths-of-an-inch thick. It lists each living "Dartmouth preferred class year 1962." Six names to a side.Twelve names to each page. Roy A. Abbanat, M.D. (Pollock Pines, California) through Evan M. Zuesse, Ph.D. (University of South Australia). At the very end is the notation "Count 755." Some of the names have a boldface, all caps notation "NOT INTERESTED." Some have no information at all, other than first and last name. Some names are familiar and some aren't. They send a new list about every year. Unhappily, the count goes down several notches from one list to the next. I can see that the curve is declining at a steeper slope. I turn the pages at random, looking at addresses and jobs. It's tempting to pick up the phone and call some of you guys, but I'm fearful that I would mess up on the time-zone differences, interrupt your sleep this Sunday morning at 6 a.m. your time and, worse yet, be mistaken for a telemarketer or a college fundraiser. (There is a difference, I'm sure, but both terms popped up together in my reverie.) Connect by e-mail, fax or old-fashioned mail. Telephone works also: (978) 744- 0650 (office) or (978) 745-6615 (home). I hate it when my first news is from alumni records, telling of another drop in the "count."

Russ Hardy is one to be counted. He writes, "I'm still practicing neurosurgery as a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. However, I recently also became chairman of an organization called the Foundation for International Education in Neurosurgery. Our mission is to send neurosurgeons to developing countries to help improve the standards of neurosurgical education and practice. We also sponsor training courses and send medical supplies through an associated foundation." Sounds terrific, Russ. He continues with a political comment. "This new interest provides a respite from the hassles of managed care and is a reminder that in some parts of the world doctors can still practice their profession the way we used to in the United States." Any doctors out there that wanna comment?

A great connection device maintained by Webmaster Dan Tompkins is the class of 1962 listserv. You can get there via the Internet at class-62 @dartmouth.edu. Class treasurer Charlie Balch got interested in demographics, actuarial data and life. (Perhaps he also wants to collect class dues, I don't know.) Anyway he put together a great tabulation of our class that was picked up by Tom Komarek in his excellent August newslet- ter. Charlie notes that 781 matriculated in September 1958. We added four honorary members; 58 of us have died. (Being a bit obsessive-compulsive, I did the math and figured that 28 from other classes prefer to be listed as'625.)

Two final thoughts: No. 1. Plan for our 40th reunion Monday to Thursday, June 10-13,2002. No.2.Stay connected!

11 Sunset Road, Salem, MA01970; (978) 744-0655 (fax); rjhannah@massmed.org