1951

For a change there are several items of good news that have come to me lately. A proud grandfather, Bob Shannon, reports the eldest of his nine grandchildren, Luke Antal, has been accepted by the College into the class of 2007. Luke's blood really is green, having his mother, Cindy '76, an uncle '69 and a cousin '03. Al Schmidt has made the big move to Vero Beach, Florida, and tells me that he looks forward to attending this year's fall mini on the weekend of October 4. Watch for the sign-up from Batch later this summer. Bill Merkle plans more prostate cancer treatments in August. Before that, however, he has scheduled five of his 11 grandchildren into a local sailing school. Without their parents, they stay with Bill and Trudy and have a great time. Sounds like my "Camp McKee" experiences of the 1980s and 19905. Dick Halloran was named a Fellow of the Pacific by Hawaii Pacific University, Hawaii's leading private university, and delivered the commencement address on May 14. His citation read, in part: "The entire Hawaii Pacific University community takes great pride in honoring this year's recipient of The Fellow of the Pacific Award, Hawaii Pacific University's highest laurel. Richard Halloran has long been acclaimed for his outstanding and invaluable contributions to our country, Asia, and Pacific region. His ongoing work in journalism and his continuing service and dedication has made him a most worthy recipient of Hawaii Pacific University's Fellow of the Pacific Award."

A lot of us leave companies after decades of faithful service and solid achievement and that's it. Few of us earn the honor of having an annual award by his company named after him. Arriving on my desk at my new firm RBC Dain Rauscher, was the announcement of this year's "Dick McFarland Volunteer of the Year Award." What a legacy Dick left behind when he retired several years ago. Not retiring at all, at least from writing, is Jeff Hart. He announced that the Yale University Press has published his eighth book, Smiling Through The Cultural Catastrophe. Jeff modestly reports that it did very well with great reviews and an interview on C-Span Book Notes. One of the book's highlights is Jeff's discussion of The Great Gatsby. That would be "English 96" all over again.

Finally, I want to thank all my classmates who do read The New York Times "Sunday/Styles" section and told me so. Yes, my marriage to the former Jo Ann Sapling was solemnized on June 14 and duly noted in the Grey Lady. You may be interested to know that social or business status and proximity to New York are not all that count to get into the paper. Reading the directions that are available online, particularly the need to send in your complete story at least six weeks in advance, seem to help the editors and help your cause as well. Batch says he will print it in his next newsletter.

P.O. Box 848; Orinda, CA 94563;peirce.mckee@rbcdain.com