1980

I reached Bert Boles on his car phone. He was lost in a section of L.A. that was not as safe as, say, Hanover. I offered to call back but he insisted that it would be safer if we stayed connected. As I know that Bert is a litigator at Kirklad & Ellis, I agreed on the condition that he indemnify me against any claims from his heirs. On top of his professional duties he is father of nine and is co-founder and trustee of an independent school. And he has just been elected to the executive committee of the Dartmouth Alumni Association, from which he intends to advocate change. I congratulated Bert and urged him to act with moderation, though I agreed that advocating the return of a "Great Books" requirement was pretty moderate.

Joe Marines may not be reading great books but he's reading pitch books as COO of Samco Capital Markets. Samco is an investment bank that finances and invests in community banks nationally. It is now clear to me why Joe is going to be a good class treasurer. Indeed, he reports that we are nicely in the black. The only bad news is that while some of us pay dues more than once a year, others don't at all. If you are in the latter group please contact Joe at joe@mannes.com to arrange payment, or else he'll send a pro bono team from Bert's firm to slap a lien on your home. Joe, father of three daughters and 20-year husband to Lori, reports that he just received an artificial hip. He was not sanguine, however, about it leading to restoration of his old "Jumpin Joe" nickname from our WDCR days. Joe sees Rob Rough a lot and confirms that while you can no longer drive in Texas with an open beer, you can still have a gun on board. In the section of L.A. where Boles was lost you can't legally do either but it is not uncommon to observe both.

I believe that my freshman trip buddy John Rich is our first classmate to receive an honorary degree. In June President Jim Wright awarded John a doctor of science degree, honoring his good work in addressing the health care needs of men of color in urban settings. John, who now chairs the department of health management and policy at Drexel University, writes, "It was a truly amazing and magical experience. I had the humbling chance to share the platform with several faculty heroes of mine, including President Wright and Professors Cook, Rassias and Pease."

Class president Mike McClintock and the executive committee have decided to promote a series of "group" 50th birthday parties nationwide. Mike, leading by example, will organize one in the New York City area. We are looking for volunteers in other regions and if you are so inspired please contact him. Mike ran into Stuart Sarnoff, who has just left his law practice to set up a hedge fund. Good luck, Stuart, in your search for the elusive "alpha." For the financially uninitiated that's an investment term, not an astronomical one, although if you achieve great alpha your relative returns can be astronomical. Too bad Stuart wasn't a Beta, as that would have allowed me an elusive turn of phrase.This just in: Hans Morris has surrendered his American Express card. After a 27-year career at Citibank he has been named president of Visa, the credit card giant. The news earned Hans a handsome "dot" portrait in The WallStreet Journal.

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