1962

A very welcome letter arrived the other day from William "Gatz" Hjortsberg. In the column featuring '62 professional fiction writers I recommended a visit to his Web site (www.williamhjortsberg.com) but had no fresh news from Gatz himself. I am delighted now to provide this real-life addendum.

Gatz has been busy. Last year he got married to Janie. "For the past 10 years," he writes, "I've been writing a biography of Richard Brautigan, who was my friend and neighbor in Montana. I've completed 1,600 pages and have about three chapters still to go. I have a contractual deadline to deliver the book to my publisher (Knopf) on June 1. I started researching this overwhelming project (think of it as the term paper from hell) in 1991. Had I but known how much of my life would go into writing Richard's life, I might have had second thoughts. But, fools rush in....

"Since starting the biography I've also published my novel Nevermore-, started two other novels (about 300 pages done on each), which I hope to finish someday; and written two screenplays (one for Disney) as yet unproduced. My proudest recent accomplishment was writing an introduction for a new limited edition of Alexander Laing's horror novel The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck. Alex was my mentor at Dartmouth and the main reason I've had a career as a writer. We (his estate and I) even have the same agent! Writing this introduction was one of those rare moments in life when one feels the circle to be unbroken." Writing deadlines notwith- standing, Gatz looks forward to being in Hanover for our 50th.

Kudos to Robbi Cox for having recently been elected the 150 th president of the 300-year-old Carpenters' Cos. of Philadelphia, "an historic organization of 150 prominent architects, building contractors or structural engineers" whose members in the 18th century erected Independence Hall, Christ Church and Carpenters' Hall and who, today, own and maintain Carpenters' Hall, where the First Continental Congress met in 1774. Robbi and wife Meredith live in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Robbi is a principal in the firm of Blackney Hayes Architects and is nationally known for designing clubhouses and other golf course facilities.

Kudos as well to Manning Smith, who, in April, received the Globe and Anchor Award, for his involvement with the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. The foundation provides college scholarships for the children of Marines, particularly the children of those who were killed or wounded in action. The award was made at the same Philadelphia ceremony that honored Dartmouth President Jim Wright. Executive vice president of Indel Corp., Manning lives with his wife, Virginia, in Upper Makefield, Pennsylvania.

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