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As you may have seen in recent issues; the January/February 2002 issue will be dedicated to "special places" on campus. Classmates with e-mail addresses have been asked to send me their reminiscences, and I've begun to hear back; so far I've heard from a few, some of whom have included information about current activities, which is always welcome. If you have e-mail and didn't get the request, please send it to me at the address below. If not online, snail mail is fine! Deadline for this column is mid-October.

More on retirement: Phil Schaefer notes that more and more of our classmates are having to confront what to do next. The first thing he and Mary Lou did when he retired was to move from densely populated suburbia (northern New Jersey) to sparsely inhabited New Hampshire. They take advantage of being only 20 minutes from Hanover, and in addition are both regulars at HEAD classes (adult education at Dartmouth). Mary Lou is a member of the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra. Last fall Phil helped teach a course in "Codes and Ciphers" at ILEAD. "Of late I've been helping with a slow-moving project to convert the old West Side line at Thayer Cafeteria into a kosher/halal dining area, which is supposed to open this fall."

One of our classmates who had to confront a change in career earlier than most, and whose activities should be an inspiration to all of us, is Donald Schwartz. Don retired from being a physician in 1984 owing to failing vision from retinitis pigmentosa. Don writes: "My visual impairment is quite limiting now. I just graduaged to a white cane, which acts more as a warning to those around me and less as a directional tool since I do have some useful vision. I have not driven a car since '85, so the impact of that has affected my lifestyle. My wonderful wife does not complain about taking me here and there, but the limitation on the freedom and appeal of a ride on the open road is something that I usually just do not think about. Does no good to complain. A Porsche used to be a fantasy, now it is just not even a possibility....more of a frustration. I no longer practice pediatric hematology/oncology either. Not using my expertise does seem to be a bit of a waste of a good education. However, I have sublimated my interest in medicine to an interest in Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs. Just was elected to a position on the board of directors of the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America. I have just shifted my interest in pediatrics to canines! Also am now president of my community civic association while still trying to help Dartmouth as district enrollment director for the Tampa Bay area. As I always tell people, retirement is just another job. You can't sit around and do nothing all day and you need a routine around the home area that fills the day. You have to make the home life satisfying."

Richie Payne was quoted in the April issue of Forbes ASAP. Rich, who was president of TEP and an engineering major as an undergrad, recently moved from Analog Devices Inc. to a new San Diego-based company called OMM (formerly Optical Micro Machines), which makes optical switches for telecommunications devices. According to Forbes, this is the cutting edge of technological development. Rich's son graduated from the College in the '90s. Bill Fitzhugh has been awarded the 2001 Society for American Archeology Award for his book Vikings: The NorthAtlantic Saga, which he wrote with Elisabeth Ward. Bill, who is one of Elmer Harp's former students, is chair of the Arctic studies department at the Smithsonian institution.

2861 Gladstone Ave., Ann Arbor, MI48104-6432; gusb@umich.edu