The death of Marvin Rauch, who I went to high school with, is a chilling reminder of how vulnerable I am, as that leaves only me, Irv Sager and Ed Reich. I spoke to Ed about the Orozco murals in Baker. We kept looking up as we studied, fascinated by the experience of watching one-armed Orozco up on the scaffold, outlining the mural while directing student helpers paint in the colors as he went along, creating a revolutionary journey. Ed Reich remembers Orozco continually glaring at him for disturbing the students who were assisting the artist.
I do no: think that we will ever tear down libraries like Baker, which will be museums as relevant to the present-day culture as the great library at Alexandria was to the culture of its time. Finely crafted books, as we know them, will cease to be and will become ancient artifacts that will be looked upon in the future as an important art form.
I had a wonderful conversation with Irv Sager, who considers watching Orozco create his murals one of the great moments of his life. Irv feels libraries such as Baker will endure and play a great role in our lives, although, realistically, they might take the role of museums.
When we were accepted by Dartmouth in 1930, Baker was only 5 years old. It is hard to believe that the world has changed so much, but the great class of'35—all three of us—still limps on.
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