1980

Was it the appeal of a few days relaxing in the dry desert heat? Was it the magnetic pull of the championship golf course? Was it the open arms of the saguaro on the front of the brochure? Why did I agree to attend the annual spouse-friendly partner meeting that my wife's law firm held in Arizona earlier this month? While some go to Las Vegas to see Wayne Newton, I went to Scottsdale to see Stuart Sarnoff. It turns out that the securities-litigation-practice-leader- turned-hedge-fund-manager has never strayed far from the versatile song-and-dance man we knew in college. During his 19 years at Morgan Lewis Bockius in New York Stuart gained notoriety as the writer, director and principal in an annual musical revue performed at each year's partner meeting now commonly referred to as the StuartSarnoff Show. I eagerly anticipated watching Stuart and his ensemble of more than 20 lawyer/performers mine comedic gold from subjects like hourly billing rates, sexual harassment and class action suits. By all accounts Stuarts shows were considered genuinely funny; in the summer, when Stuart announced his plans to depart Morgan Lewis for greener pastures, there was still optimism about this fall's show. Surely he would return for one more command performance in October! But alas...the time had passed. Stuart had left the building.

If his new partners at Avenue Capital Group can't fully leverage his talents, Stuart might look for help from David O'Connor, managing partner at CAA, the agency that represents everybody-whois-anybody in the entertainment industry. I haven't seen much of Doc in the nearly 20 years since we ran into each other at an LA. restaurant and he introduced me to his client and dinner companion, Bill Murray. Since then I have followed Daves career from a distance, watching him rise from Mike Ovitz's protege to an important and influential Hollywood player who can waltz into any restaurant in town without a reservation.

I recently touched base with Robert Berlinger, who leads a successful career as a television and movie director. Bob moved to southern California shortly after graduation and hasn't looked back. I look for and often find Bobs name listed in the credits for TV shows such as TheWest Wing, Arrested Development and scores of others. Bob also directed this year's runaway hit, The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, a movie whose commercial success might have been boosted by encouraging words from classmate and Boston Globe critic Ty Burr: "If this is how they have fun in the backwoods of Georgia, get me a pair of Daisy Dukes!"

I caught up with Keith Pickholz during a recent trip to Seattle, Washington. Or so I thought: soon after I returned home Keith had focused his brain on yet another new challenge. An eclectic set of interests and a non-linear career are two of the many things that Keith and I have in common. From trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to launching products for Microsoft to producing infomercials to architecting and developing Web strategies, Keith has learned a few tricks along the way.

A few weeks back I gathered with 20 or so New York-based Dartmouth alums at the Old Town Tavern in Manhattan, a group that included Rick Gemberling, Mark Alperin, Rob Ruocco, Craig Lambdin, Jeff Citrin and Hans Morris. We agreed that the draft beer was better than the Bud we drank 30 years ago and the food was about the same. But, more importantly, we rediscovered that it's not that difficult to get 2 o old friends together and that its always worth the effort.

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