1963

Three '63s have completed or are hard at work on books. John Dickey published Quebradillas (Little Streams), a delightful collection of poems evoking nature and life in and around the small town in northeastern Puerto Rico that gives the book its title. If you have never been to Puerto Rico, John's pungent, loving descriptions, his sometimes tart, sometimes soaring reactions to the moment—"Carpe Diem" is followed by "Coconuts" in alphabetical order—will make you want to buy a ticket. Short of that, order from Terranova Editores; eterranova@prtc.net; (787) 791-4794. You can find John at jdickey@prtc.net; (787) 895-4957. If history and film interest you, try Why We Fought:America's Wars in Film and History (University Press), edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor, 27 essays plus a filmography and bibliography that survey Hollywood and war from the Revolution to the present. Peter discusses the book in a 30-minute interview for "Under Surveillance" on Chicago's WLUW FM (www.wluw.org). Kevin Lowther, recently retired head of Africare, has a contract from University of South Carolina Press to write a book about a former slave who returned to fight the slave trade in his native Sierra Leone.

Johannes von Trapp visited Salzburg, Austria, in July to attend the first public opening of his family's villa since 1938 when the von Trapps fled Austria for the United States. The story of the escape after the Nazi occupation inspired The Sound of Music. The nearly 10,000 square foot 19th-century villa was used as a residence by Heinrich Himmler. Johannes was accompanied by sister Maria and sister-in-law Erika. Nearby in Vienna Tom Holzel was assisting at the wedding of his son Peter to Miriam Houska, a teacher and doctoral student. The couple met when Peter was studying in Vienna nine years ago. They live in Boston where Peter is a business systems analyst for Fidelity.

Lou Gerstner and Rick Braddock, who once headed IBM and Citicorp, announced they would step down from current organizations they now head but for different reasons. Lou resigned as chairman of The Carlyle Group, the private equity group, but will remain as senior advisor. Rick gave up the chair of Fresh Direct, the $250 million New York 'online grocer, only to take over as CEO to help revive the company from a drop in sales.

Wally Chappell departed as executive director of the Paul Taylor Dance Founda- tion and plans to consult for not-for-profit institutions. Wally headed Paul Taylor since 2004 and presided over a period of notable financial growth. He continues to serve on the board of the Kronos Quartet. Tom Berger, Shakespearian scholar and emeritus professor of English at St. Lawrence University, has become scholar in residence in the master of letters/M.F.A. in Shakespeare program at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. Tom is a trustee of the American Shakespeare Theater in Staunton, which partners with Mary Baldwin.

Our class lost three members: Vic Mansfield, Burdett, New York; Bob Henderson, Madison, Wisconsin; and Frederick Thompson, Arlington, Virginia.

60 Madison Ave., Suite 910,New York, NY 10010; (212) 447-9292; harry@zlokower.com