1975

1975

Y’all come down now, ya hear! I am serious, please let me know if you are ever in the Texas Gulf region; Eliza and I would love to see you. Although I attempt to root out as many of our classmates as possible, especially those who prove the most elusive, sometimes I just fail. So I turned to my newest re-acquaintance after 40 years, Jeff Barndt, for a humbling lesson in the vagaries of golf. He and John “Melon” Elsenhans ’74 joined me for a friendly round of the little white ball chase at the Galveston Country Club recently. The GCC, as it is known, is the oldest country club in Texas; probably the flattest as well. That did not stop me from losing several white orbs, but Jeff was “steady Eddie” and showed us the way. He is a sneaky player.

Fortuitously, I just received an incoming note from Bill Meili. You may recall that his daughter, Katie, is an Olympic swimming medalist. I actually caught the Meilis on Bill’s phone last year in the back of a taxi in Rio on their way to see her win one of her medals. She is now headed to Indianapolis, Indiana, to compete in the U.S. Nationals. The first two finishers in each event will go onto the Worlds in Budapest, Hungary, in July. I expect to be communicating with the Meilis while they are in an Uber car in Hungary. Bill has also recently heard fromPamela Brewer Smythe and Bob Sullivan. I am delighted to hear that our classmates are communicating among themselves; now please send me a note or pick up the phone!

And don’t forget to update your profile on the College directory website. If you have not been receiving class update emails it is probably because we do not have your current address. You can also opt in and out of various approaches from the College, so no excuse.

You can also join on us on Facebook, where folks such as David Robertson provide helpful updates, such as “The Lord Hall ’75 Chicago contingent Tom Denison, John Koltes and I, plus Tom Gleason, M.D., turned out for the Dartmouth evening with President Hanlon and Dean Mastanduno.” These sorts of posts usually result in a lively exchange among the members regarding White Sox, Cubs, etc.; never mind the content of the president’s speech.

On a final more somber note, news arrives from Ricky Jones of the recent passing of classmate Harold Washington. A more formal notice can be found on the online DAM. All for now.

Vox clamantis in Tejas,

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com