1976

1976

Good news! The list of classmates joining our 40th reunion team continues to grow. To the original 40 recruits, we’ve added Nancy and Bob Freidl, John Sherman, Todd Mosenthal and Tom Reinhart. Our theme for next June is “All In!” and we mean it! Please let us know if you’d like to serve for an hour as a greeter or help with entertainment, food, etc., by emailing co-chairs Cathy and Jack Brennan, Martha and Jim Beattie and Andy and Sara Hunter at sarahunter76@ gmail.com.

Most important, save June 15-18, 2017. It’s going to be a fun one!

It seems only fair to begin this column by giving formidable former class secretary Jay Josselyn a dose of his own medicine. I am pleased to report that he and Pat recently celebrated their 37th anniversary (and because my style is a bit more Hallmark than Jay’s, I will insert that Wendy Simila Snickenberger had the foresight to introduce them). They live contentedly close to their daughters and granddaughters in North Carolina and retreat to what Jay describes as a “very small camp on Lake Gaston—too small to even call a cottage.” Is it just me or does his pointed repetition of the word “small” sound like he’s trying to fend off a mini-reunion?

In national news Rob Saltzman has finished a nine-year stint as one of five members of the Los Angeles Police Commission overseeing the city’s police department. As in college, Rob was respected for both his acumen and his principled stands as he fought for more transparency and less bias within the LAPD. Louise Erdrich’s newest, highly acclaimed novel, LaRose, continues to mine and illuminate the dark, treasure trove of life on an Indian reservation reflective of where she grew up.

In addition to LaRose, I’m eager to read Vanity Fair writer Michael Shnayerson’s biography of Andrew Cuomo, The Contender, and Peter Stark’s harrowing account of two perilous 19th century expeditions, Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire. I’ve also ordered Joe Sutton’s play Complicit, directed by Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic in London. I proudly recommend two gems I’ve read from cover to cover: Carl Little’s breathtaking new coffee table book Art of Acadia and an essay collection by our man of letters, Peter Gilbert, executive director ofthe Vermont Council of Humanities. I Was Thinking, comprised of Gilbert’s Vermont Public Radio commentaries, includes observations on all my favorite subjects from fireflies to Robert Frost. If you don’t have time to read a classmate’s book, at least treat yourself to our Pulitzer Prize-winner David Shribman’s continually astute observations in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where he serves as executive editor (post-gazette.com/david-shribman.more).

Finally, we honor the life of compassionate, elegant, barrier-busting classmate Craig Triplett, whose loyalty as alumni interviewer, Alumni Council member, president of the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association and president of the Dartmouth Club of Georgia deeply benefitted and quietly transformed our College (complete obituary at dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/class-1976).

—Sara Hoagland Hunter, 72 Mount Vernon St., Unit 4B, Boston, MA 02108; sarahunter76@gmail.com