1968

Mid-fall greetings. Eight months or so until our 35th; it should be a lot of fun. One person looking forward to it is Dick Jones. His dad, a member of the class of 1942, attends every reunion these days, plus Dick has brothers in the classes of 1970 and 1972. He foresees the four of them sharing a moment (or more) on the steps of Dartmouth Hall next June. We should all keep up with the Joneses and attend this reunion! Dick works for McCormick Spices and Seasonings, for the last 11 years, in their IT department. Wife Martha is a VP for claims at LAD Aviation, an aircraft insurance company, where she has worked for 25 years. Daughter Kristin is in Web design, and son Matthew is a senior at Penn State studying aeronautical engineering. Key free time activity for both Dick and Martha is the Frederick Chorale, which performs extensively in the greater D.C. area, plus has traveled to the Middle East and England.

Aphone call and e-mail caught me up with Jamie Newton. He was just packing for an office move at San Francisco State University, where he coordinates the social psychology graduate program and its laboratory for research and teaching. He has taught at San Francisco since 1980. He reports: "My family life is a source of great joy. My wife is kindergarten teacher at the Peninsula School in Menlo Park. We spend summers and holidays in southwestern New Mexico, where we have a home in a small rural valley of exceptional beauty. Our daughter lives there also, with her husband and our delightful grandson, aged 2. My experience there broadens my perspective on life in general, as I drive fence posts, tiy to keep a local skunk out of the chicken coop, listen for rattlesnakes when I'm working on firewood and maintain wells." Jamie remains a voice of social conscience, as he did at our graduation in 1968. "I am profoundly concerned about current trends in national and international affairs. Our nations response to the attacks of September 11—brutal crimes against humanity which all civilized people must condemn—has been to compound those tragedies by mounting assaults that added greatly to the toll of innocent victims while, in my view, increasing the danger to Americans within this country and abroad. We seem to be moving rapidly along a path that will take our planet into increasingly destructive conflicts while diverting our attention from challenges to environmental preservation and public health, which would severely test our ingenuity and tax our resources if we were not preoccupied with war-making. I am encouraged by bold voices of dissent that challenge simplistic justifications for unwise policies (e.g., 'This is a battle of good against evil'). I do what I can to strengthen creative, critical thinking in this contentious time, and to support initiatives with potential to change our course toward peace and justice."

Food for thought, both this fall and next June. On a sadder note, I recently heard that Jim Lipsky had passed away. Watch for the obituary in a future magazine. And keep in touch. It is great to hear from each of you.

157 Sandwich Road, Plymouth, M4023 60-2503; (508) 746-5894; david.peck@tch.harvard.edu