1994

Guess what? I'm older than I thought I was. Our 10th (technically nth) year reunion is right around the corner. Mark your calendars for June 17-19 and prepare your low- carb selves for a carb-heavy weekend. Also, bring your kids. If you don't have any, start making some. If you have more questions, e-mail me or one of the many people on the reunion committee, such as reunion chair Deme Navab Taleghani at dtaleghani@smartmoney.com. Deme and other reunion committee volunteers (such as Samantha Stoddard, Jon Newton, Sarah Langmore, Josh Heikkila, Lisette Perez Di Gasbarro, Rob Perkins, Ben Dean, Mich Leopold, Ann Koppel and Ed Maori) are working hard to organize reunion activities such as golf, live music, a kid-friendly BBQ, some academic stuff and other fun group events with '95s and '96s. So come.

Okay, on to your news: Jud Caswell recently won the 12th Annual Performing Songwriter Competition held by the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Jud has been a vital part of the New England folk music scene for more than a decade, as those of us who heard him play at various haunts in Hanover and elsewhere already know. However, he has recently been recognized for his talents by groups such as the Philadelphia Songwriter's Project, which honored one of his songs, and the Boston Folk Festival Competition, in which he was a finalist. He also performed at the prestigious Summerfest in New Bedford last summer, and his new album, Lost and Found, has been getting great reviews. Here's what theBoston Herald had to say, for example: "Caswell's guitar playing is elegant, his voice both personable and tuneful, his songs neatly crafted, his sound imbued with warm energy." How true and cool is that? If you want to sample and order some of Jud's music, go to cdbaby.com. I just did. Hunter Buckner writes in to let us know that he and his wife, Robyn, recently moved back to Dallas after a two-year stint in New Jersey, where he led the product-training division for BMW of North America. "Despite having the coolest job on the planet, the allure of being back in Texas for the birth of our third child was simply too strong," writes Hunter. "Luke Buckner was born July 27, join- ing his big brother, Ford (3), and big sister, Tabitha(s),as native Texans." Hunter now works as an independent consultant for various man- ufacturers, such as BMW, Mini and Porsche. Jonathan Good writes to let us know that he grad- uated with his Ph.D. in history from the Univer- sity of Minnesota in August, and just began a tenure-track job at Reinhardt, a small liberal arts college in North Georgia. He and wife Anne are enjoying exploring the South together. Hooray for life after grad school, Jon! I can only dream of fancy phrases like "tenure-track" and "finished my doctoral work." All I seem to do these days is revise draft upon draft of my dissertation. It's official: I hate school. Just kidding. Sort of. Hope to see many of you in 2oo5! Oh, I almost forgot: Please write to me.

AMorreene Road, Durham, NC 27705; nmfarooq@earthlink.net

REUNION June 17-19 2005