1983

1983

Hello, classmates! On Inauguration Day Monty Wilkinson, a veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice, was appointed acting attorney general while President Biden’s nominee, Merrick Garland, seeks U.S. Senate confirmation. Congratulations, Monty! During these isolating times, some of our classmates are coping with cabin fever by escaping into books. We recently received many “quarantine reading” lists from classmates. Deborah Michel Rosch, her husband, and their dog have been enjoying extended stays in their pied-a-terre in Venice, California. Her recent favorite books are What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez and The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante. The latter we’d probably recommend for the title alone. All kidding aside, Ferrante is the best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend. Lynn Johnson Kidder’s recent favorites have centered around pandemics and Dartmouth. She recently listened to The Great Influenza about the 1918 pandemic and The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel, which features a teenager who rides out the pandemic/post-apocalyptic world...in Hanover! Finally, Lynn’s recommendation of Interference by Brad Parks ’96 features a fictional Dartmouth physics professor. Another pandemic-related book, A Journal ofthe Plague Year by Daniel Defoe, was recommended by Natalie Hulen Diana, recently retired and also an avid listener of audiobooks. Natalie says it reads like a memoir ofthe Great Plague of London. In need of a good laugh, Natalie also listened to Jerry Seinfeld reading his book, Is This Anything? “I laughed my head off walking through my neighborhood.” Natalie also found Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne, narrated by the author, a captivating listen and elegy to Ireland. For Christmas, I (Elliot) received a year’s worth of books chosen monthly by the London bookstore Heywood Hill. The first just arrived—Sybille Bedford: An Appetite for Life by Selina Hastings. I (Shanta) am reading The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, a drama about twin sisters who run away from a small, Southern, Black community in the 1950s with plans for new identities. Speaking of books, be on the lookout for the new release Develop: 7Practical Tools to Take Charge of Your Career by Ted Fleming. As head of talent at CVS Health, aFortune “10 Company,” Ted has 30 years of experience advising individuals and businesses. Away from work Ted is an avid squash and tennis player and lives in Connecticut with his wife, Kathy. During our most recent class officers Zoom call we enjoyed the company of Ralph “Stephen” Coppola, Mark Hausmann, Ken Hudnut, Peter Kilmarx, Jean Hanff Korelitz and adorable pup Sherlock, J.B. McKoy, Rob O’Neal, John Venezia, and Ian Wiener. At the end of the call Robin Henning Rocchi treated everyone to a surprise photo show of Winter Carnival posters and sculptures from the years 1980 through 1983.

—Shanta Sullivan, 1541 North Sierra Bonita Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; shantaesullivan@gmail.com; Elliot Stultz, 421 West Melrose St., #8A, Chicago, IL 60657; elliotstultz@yahoo.com

Shanta Sullivan