1981

1981

Class of’81 top story: Chris Meledandri was inducted into the Dartmouth Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame in September. Congratulations, Chris!

In other heights, Martin Weinstein wrote in from Washington, D.C., that after “40 years off Steve Kelly is now one of the top senior pole vaulters in the country.” Martin knows this because his eighth-grade son Joshua took on Steve in an open section of the pole vault event for the Potomac Valley Track Club’s event in late May. No word as to the outcome. (Martin also reminded us that his lucky daughter Ruth was Kathy Kiernan’s fourthgrade student a couple of years ago at St. Albans.)

Because our 45th reunion is this June 2025, class officers are putting together playlists. This spurred the latest “Big Question,” in which ’81s are being asked to reflect on the power of music in our lives.

Lynnette Eubanks Marshall summed it up beautifully. “The single most comprehensive force that wraps itself around me, no matter what is happening in my life, positive or negative, is music. The older I get the more truth this carries. Billy Joel said, ‘Music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.’ I won’t ever forget the space Billy Joel, among other artists (EWF, Steely Dan, James Taylor, George Benson, to name a few) occupied during my Dartmouth days, as I listened to The Stranger and many other albums on vinyl in my dorm rooms.”

Jeff Walters wrote in that Deborah Harry songs from her album Parallel Lines—“Hanging on the Telephone” and “Heart of Glass”—transport him immediately to Sophomore Summer, when they were “belting out open dorm windows [to] the soundtrack of the summer.”

Steve “Sully” Sullivan took it a step further. “The best p acifier I know is playing music, whether on piano, guitar, or whatever else is handy—and with other people is even better. I am far from a virtuoso, but my limited skills do not prevent me from deriving endless pleasure from playing an instrument and usually singing along.” A link on YouTube to Steve and friends jamming can be found under “Up at Bartlett Narrows.”

John Curtis shared that, “I will never forget a small informal concert by a group of Dartmouth gospel singers on the first floor ofthe Hop by the big windows overlooking the Green. Their songs transported me to an ethereal, spiritual place I would love to visit again. Ever since that day I have made an effort to listen to gospel groups. If music is about tapping into something beyond ourselves, those singers certainly made great music that day.”

On that poignant note, it’s my sad duty to report the death of Ramond “Ray” Brainard Woolson III in Virginia on August 13. Heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

Wishing all peaceful, healthy, and harmonious holidays.

—Ann Jacobus Kordahl, P.O. Box 470443, San Francisco, CA 94147; ann@annjacobus.com; Emil Miskovsky, P.O. Box 2162, North, Conway, NH03860; emilmiskovsky@gmail.com