1952

1952

1942-1957

Just a little more than 61 years ago, March 1963, this publication featured a two-page 2,500-word story on pages 33-34 titled “The Secret Life of Richard Watt.” It is a fascinating report about a member of our class. His secret was that, unknown to many people, while as his day job in New Jersey was as manager of a company in the construction industry, he was also an excellent researcher and author of three published books about segments of European history. Sadly, Dick passed away in January 2015, but his obituary sums it up neatly, and we quote, “Dick authored several books on the subject of European history: Dare Call It Treason (344 pages), about the French Army mutinies in World War I; The Kings Depart (604 pages), about Germany between the wars; and Bitter Glory (511 pages), the history of a free Poland from 1918 to 1939. His books were published in eight different languages and were reviewed favorably by The New York Times, Time magazine, and others.” Despite his success as an author, Dick stayed with his company, rising to become president and retiring as chairman of the board. His comprehensive entry in our class 50-year book tells it well. If you are computer savvy, you can find the alumni magazine story or we can send it to you (contacts below). Dick is not our only published author. There are probably some we don’t know about, but two we do are Ken Roman and Harry Goldsmith, M.D. Ken, an advertising industry leader, retired as CEO of Ogilvy and Mather, has written two industry-related books, but his most noted is The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising (304 pages). Harry, a research surgeon, summarized his extensive investigation effort about the health and death of our 32nd president with the book, A Conspiracy of Silence: Franklin D. Roosevelt Impact on History (290 pages). All are excellent reads—and available. We also know that several classmates have written memoirs, but that’s for another day. We are sad to report the passing of Marshall T. Slayton.

—William Montgomery, 11 Berrill Farms Lane, Hanover, NH 03755; (603) 643-0261; wmontgod52@aol.com