1971

As I write this edition of our class col- umn in late August, recent high school graduates everywhere are preparing to head off to college. This reminds me of my first few days on campus some 48 years ago, just yesterday— being dropped off, getting my room assignment and key from the housing office, following a campus map to find a dormitory called Middle Mass, meet- ing my two roommates. It was such an exhilarating time, clearly, full of uncertainty and excitement for what lay ahead, the impatience to feel that I was truly a member of the Dartmouth community and deserved to be there.

I recently caught up with one of those first- year roommates, Mike Cotsworth, who shared the following: “I moved from northern California, Bay Area, to Denver in 1994. I transitioned from real estate development to pursing a business around my passion—cars. I opened a boutique car dealer- ship, specializing in high-end and exotic cars and auto brokerage, finding and buying cars for clients. Now I’m semi-retired, auto broking and hosting a radio talk show with my daughter, along with a little vintage racing and working as a driving instructor with local car clubs. I have two granddaughters and one grandson. Life is good.”

My other roommate that freshman year was Bill Dinneen, who hailed from Washington, D.C. Bill was a huge guy, a real gentle giant—somewhat shy and soft spoken, with a large heart. I remember well his dejection at being cut from the baseball team as he tried out for first base (his grandfather played Major League ball and later became a well- respected umpire in the American League). As Bill was leaving those tryouts he was approached by the weight coach, asked if he’d ever thrown a ham- mer and was handed one. After almost throwing it through the Leverone Field House roof, he later set the Dartmouth record in the hammer throw and was captain of outdoor track our senior year. As Coach Ken Weibel said after Bill’s graduation, “He was nowhere as a freshman and became the East’s top hammer thrower.” The following year he represented Puerto Rico in that event in the 1972 Munich Olympics (his grandmother was from that island). That was the last time I ran into Bill, in Olympic Village, as I was there as an assistant whitewater kayak and canoe coach to Jay Evans ’49, the U.S. team coach. Sad to say, I didn’t stay in touch with Bill after graduation—he wound up living in Idaho—and I only learned of his Novem- ber 2007 passing years later. Bill is among our 83 deceased classmates, as of this writing, out of our original class of 865. I understand another memo- rable mini-reunion was organized out on the West Coast by Malcolm Jones and others; see the class website for details. Gene Elrod was recently named one of 51 “Trailblazers” in energy and environmen- tal law by the National Law Review in a nationwide list of attorneys. Reunion chair Bob Lider is hard at work with his committee planning a great time for our 45th next June 16-19 with the classes of 1970 and 1972, so mark your calendars now.

7 Leblanc Drive, South Hadley, MA 01075; weebs71@gmail.com