1960

Karl Mayer has signed up for our 45th reunion, and, he says, the first one he has ever attended. Recently retired after 37 years with the California state attorney general s office, he says he is loyal to our reunion chairmen, Bill Gundy and Dick Chase, and he hasn't seen his old roommate who has promised to be there, Sam McMurtrie, since 1961, so he has decided to go. Also, Karl confesses, he has a little grandchild back East he is anxious to see.

Karl is not the only one to decide to go to the reunion in Hanover, June 13-16, who hasn't been to too many. Jeff Fine lives fairly close in Connecticut, but he hasn't been in the habit of going either. Now, he says, "I often think about my classmates, the guys I was closest to, and I'm hoping to see them. He mentioned in particular Pete Crumbine and Phil Kron.

Dave Sloper will also be there, from Maryland, now that he has retired from Grumman and become a consultant, with a little more time, and a sense that he misses his fraternity brothers in the old Alpha Chi Alpha. And for some, like John Guy, who lives in Dover, New Hampshire, it's easy to come, because it's so close, and he comes to reunions frequently. With two children, Timothy and Sarah, who graduated in the Dartmouth classes of 1990 and 1992, John always wants to renew his close ties with the College.

More than 130 classmates have signed up, and more than 40 others are maybes. Only 12 have said no.

But David Greenstein, presently director of continuing education and public programs at the Cooper Union in New York City, has decided to wait until the 50th reunion to attend such an event. I had a pleasant chat with him though, mentioning I had seen a recent letter he had sent to The New York Times.

"Yes," he said, "I frequently write to them. I think we should be getting out of Iraq as quickly as possible. In fact, I think we should not have gotten in there at all."

As most of us get more deeply ensconced in retirement, it's a time for some to do things they've never had the chance to do but always wanted to do. That is true of Sid Goldman, an orthopedic surgeon who has moved with his wife, Deborah, from Michigan to Key West, and is driving a taxi for the sheer enjoyment of it two or three nights a week.

"I'm not making a big deal about this," Sid told me. "I love to drive and have always wanted to drive a taxi." So he leased a car, made an arrangement with a taxi company and, so far, he says, "It's restored my faith in my fellow man." You can reach Sid to hire him if you happen to be in Key West at the cell phone he usually has with him, (305) 849-0475. He will be at our reunion too.

5522 Nagle Ave.,Van Nuys, CA 91401;(818) 994-9231; kennethireich@yahoo.com

REUNION June 13-16 2005