1968

"You've got mail" (sort of). My mailboxes, real and electronic, have announced only light mail lately but I have heard some news. John Everett caught me up on his life recently. After years in Maine, he moved to Roanoke, Virginia, where he served as a federal attorney. He did a lot of biking and hiking, and, alas, had a minor heart attack. More recently, he moved to Charlottesville, also as a federal attorney. His 30 years with the feds are up in just more than four years, and he is already looking forward to lots of travel post retirement (and so are we all!). Ron Cordova was recently mentioned in the news (TheCommercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee); he has been serving as defense counsel to a Tennessee politician accused of killing his political opponent in a 1998 state senate race. Once called a "sesquipedalian" by a Superior Court judge (note: see definition below), he was in the midst of a presentation when the judge commended the opposing attorney for his "quality of brevity." Ron, noted as "a loquacious showman whose asides and witty banter led to rolled eyes in some parts of the courtroom," asked about his own brevity. The judge did not offer a similar commendation to Ron. Couple Christmas letters found my mailbox: Linda and John Melski celebrated their 33rd anniversary recently. John, at the Marshfield (Wisconsin) Clinic, is immersed in information (especially handheld wireless devices) and dermatology; Linda just finished as chair of the local Universalist Unitarian church. Son David is wrapping up a Ph.D. in computer science at University of Wisconsin; daughter Kasey is in Boston and son Eric in Silicon Valley, both in high-tech computing. Two Wheaton terriers and one horse round out the family, though they had a turkey for several weeks before her rendezvous with a holiday dinner. Vicki and Clark Wadlow wrote, in the smallest font I've seen in a long time (perhaps a comment on changing eyesight), a letter dense with family news. Son Ray got married in May (65 Dartmouth alumni were at the reception!) and now lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Jessica; Ray is doing a residency at UPenn Hospital; Jessica is at Johnson and Johnson. In a fascinating story too long to relate here (check with Vicki and Clark), son Tom also got married, to Mihaela (Miha), a Romanian national, in midsummer. Son Jeff is at the USC Film School and recently had a bit part in an upcoming movie with Ben Affleck. Daughter Anne will graduate from Dartmouth this spring, majoring in the classics. Amidst all the family excitement, Clark and Vicki snuck in a trip to Italy (Cinque Terre and Portofino), and love the life on their farm full of Connemaras, Nubian goats, cats and dogs. And finally, "sesquipedalian": Somebody who loves long words. And I welcome any kind of words, long or short. Write soon, and have a great spring.

157 Sandwich Road, Plymouth, MA02360-2503; (508) 746-5894; david.peck@tch.Harvard.edu