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MARCH 2001
www.a1um.dartmouth.org/c1asses/54/

Unless you are a Renaissance man ala JOE MESICS (computers are rude!), get a pair of scissors, cut out the headline and paste it on the top edge of your computer screen. The headline is the address of the Class website, managed with brilliance by PERRY DAVIS. Every week, some new innovation comes along and the website’s content is enhanced. Before you bring it up, make yourself a sandwich and pour a beer, because you’ll be on-line for at least 45 minutes, savoring the ‘54-ness of what comes up. You can even read the newsletter three weeks before its publication (with photos in color!). Face it - this is the world of our grandchildren and we need to keep up with the technology - might as well enjoy it.

While the newsletter editor has come up empty over the past seven years on finding old Tulsa-buddy DON MILLER, the job was accomplished by now-Californian PETER SCHENCK, primarily by getting a note from Don. The Millers (LORI and the man) live in Oxnard, CA and can be reached at donlori@iopener.net. Before email contact was made with Don, Peter reported what sounded like a heart attack problem begun on the golf course. The good news came in the response from Don: "NO HEART ATTACK - HONEST!". The message/advice underlying this prodamation is : Always pay attention to chest pains on the golf course! Ignoring the ‘54 prodivity to "macho" through such minor irritations, Don hied himself to a hospital, found that the potential was certainly there - an agina attack - and was able to have steps taken, in plenty of time, to reduce the odds well within acceptable levels. While this is interesting and welcome news, there is something far more intriguing in Don’s kit bag - his website. Having just exercised your well-honed computer skills, bring up the website - www.seeit-learnit.com - and be prepared to be dazzled by what Don has conjured, beginning with a simple question asked in Psych I, nurtured through a broad educational portfolio and ripened with the observations of a career dedicated to education. What you will see and learn is a fascinating view of how we think and how we learn. Your value to your grandchildren will be greatly enhanced and you will become far more interesting to the women seated next to you &t d~. parties. A fine re-connection with a Classmate with dividends.

Hold on - don’t log off yet! Bring up www.artmeister.com. Hit Florida Artists,then hit DON KENNEDY. There, following several notable quotes and a statement that Don’s imagination has been allowed to run "amuck", you will find some brilliant computer artwork from his hand. Plus, you will be offered the opportunity to put forth minima! cash for some of his work. On the other side of Don, there is his tract, "The Tip of the Iceberg", which he represents as having been written by "Don Kennedy, curmudgeon". It is a compilation of Don’s discussions of politics and legislative direction under "Why ...." headings, such as "Why ... has moral relativism supplanted the rule of right and wrong?" While it leans somewhat to the right, it does have a striking cover - a fine combination of the righteous and the artistic. Lastly, this whirling dervish of retirement age activities has started a rowing program in Pinellas County, FL He is currently wading through the morass of funding, ecological concerns and required local governmental support while truly sensing a momentum toward attainment which will benefit potential young athletes and, possibly scholarships under Title IX grants. All in all, a ‘54 to be applauded.

The Secretary of the Class of 2004, one Caryn Karo, has contacted the Class of 1954, proposing a cross-century project. Loosely defined, the initial idea is to hook up individual ‘04s with individual ‘54s for an exchange of experiences, observations, ideas, opinions, etc. First, if you would be interested in participating, whip a Greencard so stating to the editor today; Second, let’s play with the concept a little - are there some imaginative ways we can make the project more challenging and entertaining? Interesting to

consider our relative "youth" and vitality of today when imagining such a project between us in 1950 and the Class of 1904. Probably inconceivable 50 years ago, while it seems an easy connection today. Let’s hear from you.

The latest Tuck School Directory lists one BAYNARD JOHNSON, nickname "Baynard". The newsletter research staff has not been able to determine a logical reason for the addition of an "N" to Bayard, so there is obviously something more sinister afoot.

A memory from DICK PLUMMER warrants a full recitation: "Seeing the notice of ROD ROCKFELLER’s passing reminded me of a story that’s been buried for years about a proposal for a total energy plant that was seriously considered in the early 1980s. The proposal was made by Rod through his Pocantico Associates investment company and the idea was to construct in downtown Hanover a huge electricity generation plant employing a slow speed diesel engine. Dartmouth had nearly reached its ‘firm’ steam capacity at that time and was considering what type of new boiler to install, where it would go, what fuel to use, etc., and Rod came to us, unsolicited, with this idea of a 25 megawatt total energy plant that his company would finance and a company called Thermo Electron would construct and operate beside our existing plant, selling Dartmouth all the power we needed and the balance to the local electric grid. As a byproduct, Dartmouth would also get all the steam it needed for most of the year, supplementing with the boilers during the winter. It was a bold plan for the times and we took it very seriously. A delegation of administrators and plant personnel even took a trip to western New Jersey to Hoffman-LaRoche to see such a diesel engine operating and came away very impressed. The engine was huge, with 36 inch cylinders and must have been at least 25 feet high and 50-60 feet long! One could stand a couple of blocks away from the building that housed it and hear the rumble. Memory dims as to all the reasons we had to turn the proposal down, but I believe that size and noise were the serious problems; also, the electrical connector to the nearest substation was across the river, making access difficult. Oil storage was another problem, to say nothing about the excessive carbon dioxide emissions. Rod took our refusal in stride and went on to back other innovative schemes and I often think of how it might have been if the College had accepted his proposal. Assuming no oil shortages over the years, it would have saved millions of dollars, but perhaps would not have enhanced the ambiance of Hanover." Quite a memory. Another notch on the 1954 belt for significance in the history and future of Dartmouth.

A gift copy of the December/January issue of Copy Editor (subhead - Language News for the Publishing Profession) arrived in the newsletter office. It is an 8-page "tool kit" for those who pump out millions of words in our daily newspapers and newsletters. Topics range from the treatment of vulgarities to changes in the usage of words and phrases, according to acceptability. The last article in the letter was entitled "Quotation Quandary" and was penned by PAUL R. MARTIN, Assistant Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He dealt with the sensitive issue of how to deal with obvious slips, errors, gaffes in quoted statements. The stylebooks of the many news media vary dramatically from "never alter" to "correct to avoid errors which are embarrassing in print. " Paul zeroes in on "quoted speech should be rendered as accurately as possible, but not at the expense of distorting the speaker’s intent or embarrassing him." Fine and upstanding, but one might suspect that Paul would have difficulty working with or for Ruppert Murdoch. In the March edition, Paul is quoted several times on the proper use of hyphens and it is noted that William Safire once dubbed him "The Great Hyphenator".

JOHN HESTON, our Hanover stringer, has kept us informed on the progress of DAVE MCLAUGHLIN’s blue ribbon commission on a tax basis for funding public education in New Hampshire. While the commission did not present a specific recommendation, it did put forth a well-researched "menu" of the impact, economic stability, revenue potential and sensitivity of a melange of taxes. Within the considerations were taxes on income, property, video gambling, manufacturing (VAT) and sales. Looks like the next steps are political.

Our Class Master Telephoner, FERRIS "TOMMY" THOMPSON, reports that Professor JIM CONRAD has been working on the last two chapters of his definitive book about the textile industry of the 1600s for the last year! Considering the fact that whatever it was, it has already happened, one might wonder what mysterious activities Dr.onrad is really engaged in behind those dosed doors every afternoon extraterrestrial communication?

Verbatim from LUKE CASE: "There I was, having a drink with a guy at Ojibway/Keewaydin on Lake Temagami last year. ‘ART KELEHER’ - I replied’ I know an Art Keleher’. ‘Oh’ the reply - ‘from Virginia, from .... whatever?’. ‘No’, said I, ‘how about Dartmouth?’. ‘Yes’. ‘How about Class of ‘54?’. ‘What did you say your name was?’ !!! As I have so often said about reunions, it is so very nice to meet nice people that you can barely (if that) remember with whom you have spent at least four common years"

BURT ONOFRIO: "Since leaving Dartmouth in 1955 after two years of the Medical School, I finished at Cornell . M.D. in 1957. Interned at Cornell in New York City, then joined the Navy. Served in Japan and California. Met a Navy Junior, JUDITH TYREE and we married in 1960. Resident in Neurosurgery 1960-1964. Back in the Navy as a neurosurgeon at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Joined the Mayo Clinic staff in 1967. Raised three children - Scott, Gregg and Jennifer. Retired in 1995 as Professor of Neurosurgery. Still worked part time at Mayo General in Boston until 1999 and continue to work part time at Mayo Clinic, LaCrosse, WI facility. Judy is a nationally known sculptor-artist and I am her manager and ‘grunt’. Nice to see JOHN POPE’s recognition."

SYLVIA HOLTON forwarded a marvelous booklet containing a series of tributes to MILNE at several memorials. Typical of the commentary: "From the raucous to the highly evolved, his pliant and elastic intellect swung in dizzying arcs, a kind of mind-dancing that Mime did better than anybody." The list of his books, reviews and translations consumed the last 5 pages.

Dr. DICK DEANER finds ironic humor in most everything: "Had my right hip replaced in late January. And, since I was going to be lying there anyway, my orthopedist decided to arthroscope my right knee and tidy-up that joint a bit. UP-SIDE -no more hip pain!; I get a disabled parking tag. DOWN-SIDE - I’ll probably need to use an elevated commode (as opposed to the shorter, standard artide) for the rest of my life. MORAL - DON’T JOG! Repetitive joint trauma begets osteoarthritis." Dick’s greencard data varies from that in the Class directory, so take note: P.O. Box 21508, Bakersfield, CA; (661) 663-9637; bevdeaner@aol.com

Dr. BOB SPEARS keeps his hand in by chairing the Beth El Health Science Board at the University of Colorado Springs and serves on the Board of First Visitors … an organization that trains people to visit new mothers and discuss issues of caring for newborn babies. Also on the board of Memorial Hospital. Recent travel has been wide and varied: "May 2000 - went to Taiwan with the Mayor of Colorado Springs to attend the inauguration of the first elected President of Taiwan. The inaugural ball of 5000 people was something to see. July 2000

- went to China and visited several nursing schools. Walked on the Great Wall. December/January 2001 - cruised down the Amazon in Brazil , visiting villages and staring down alligators and other unidentifiable creatures."

The murder of the two Dartmouth professors in Etna, NH currently appears to have been at the hands of two teenagers from Chelsea, NH and unrelated to the College. With details of the actual crime being kept under tight control, the press, induding The Dartmouth, have run rampant with speculation. Even the Boston Globe was carried away and was forced to issue a public apology for suggesting a salacious basis for what now appears to have been a "thrill" killing.

In subtle retribution for some inter-Class ribbing, the prolific editor of the 1953 newsletter, Don Goss, referred to The ‘54 Newsletter as "creatively entitled". Having shucked off "Hazqui" as non-PC years ago, we have been generically captioned ever since. Any thoughts or opinions? Perhaps we should stress content over the marquee.

From a New York Times January article about the 1973 resignation of Elliot Richardson as Attorney General: "Back at Justice, Richardson gathered his top aides over sandwiches and told them what he had said about Cox. JONATHAN MOORE, a longtime advisor, was stunned. ‘Why in the hell did you think that?’ he asked. Even if Richardson believed it, saying so would only embolden the White House men. Moore feared that they were not telling Richardson their full plans, in hopes that, surprised and boxed in, he would feel compelled to go along. Richardson’s desire not to judge anyone unfairly, Moore suspected, was keeping him from seeing the cynical games they were playing." Wonder if Alexander Cox knew that our Varsity Cox was thinking about him.

Adopted classmate CARRIE PELZEL has been promoted to Vice President for Development, reporting directly to President Jim Wright. In the announcement, her "strength as an administrator, a fund raiser and a strategic thinker" was cited. An initial challenge for Carrie will be the impending capital campaign. Once again, the Class has responded to a prime need of the College.

Grab your ‘54 Directory and make the following changes:

John Pope: change FL address to P0 Box 696, New London, NH 03257

Mort Galper: new email

rn.galper@worldnet.att.net

Jim Davidson: new email

BOCAFISHERMAN@aol.com

Don Miller: scratch "Blue Solutions Security Company"

According to STU ROTH and TED NOVASCONE, Ted and his two partners won the amateur division of the Bob Hope Classic, played on three course in the La Quinta, CA area! Ted appeared on national television, with doubters in the crowd demanding a check of handicaps. Awaiting details.

JOHN GILLESPIE’s cup runneth over.He received an effusive thank you note from the cheerleaders (girls) for being their official photographer and his daughter-in-law and her team won a Lincoln Prize $50,000 award from Gettysburg College for their CD-ROM, book and website: "Valley of the Shadow:The Eve of War", which explores antebellum life on both sides of the Civil War. In response to the damor for new digs for the Boston holiday luncheon, John has contracted with the brand new Quincy Marriott which opens in May.

BOB LEVINE sent a letter to the editor in which he corrects the reported diminishment of his high school class from 135 down to 8 to a current number of 80.

MIKE BIGGS has issued several notes to various musicians who wandered from their own reunion in the woods in 1999 to our tent on Friday night. There is quite a fraternity of these talented men from a spread of different classes. Following the death of Chuck Knudson ‘52, the flashy trumpet-playing leader of The Barbary Coast Orchestra, Jim Wheaton ‘53, established a Barbary Coast website which has grown tremendously, both in its content and its list of email addresses. A great piece of memorabilia. Interested? The website is www.siterrific.com/BarbCoastOrch/. Mike "can no longer do tenths or Bud Powell type right-hand solos, but as long as I can play the changes, all is not lost" due to the onset of some osteo-arthritis. You won’t notice the difference at our 50th.

The ski mini-reunion at Mt. Snow in late January. Skiing en masse were DANA and ANNE LOW, DICK and ELLEN GORSEY, STEARNS and PAT MARTIN, DICK and snowboarding daughter Jennifer PEARL and leader JAY DAVIS (MARTHA joined them for apres ski festivities). The conditions were rated a ten. The skill of the assemblage was attested to by the challenging of several black diamond hills with no spills. Plans are to duplicate the trip exactly next year.

Some headlines from The Dartmouth:

-Psi U Keg Jump Gone for Good
-Women’s Hockey Posts Glittering 19-1-1 Mark;
  Claims ECAC Playoff Spot
-Trustees Raise 2001 Tuition to $26,400/year
-Carnival Sees No Major Incidences
-Dartmouth Provost To Leave in Summer
  (to seek better opportunities)
-Saturday Classes Set For Green Key
-Are We Over the Rainbow Yet?

Last December, Dr. JOHN STEEL attended the annual meeting of the American Academy of Aging in Las Vegas. 300 exhibit booths and 4000 registered attendees. Along with his associates, John manned their Body Wise International booth for their new product, AG Immune, a nutritional supplement. "Anti-aging" is defined as the ability to continue to function in a capable way far past what has traditionally thought of as "old". John projects the potential well into our 80s. That should translate into well-attended 60th, 65th and maybe 70th reunions. The IRS has already recognized improved longevity by revising its tables for mandatory withdrawals from IRAs. Contact John for more information: jsteel@san.rr.com.

The picture-filled Christmas letter from BOB and MARY KENNEY indicates a pair for whom the term "aging" has no meaning. Bob’s still teaching calculus at UVM and they manage to fill the rest of their time with travel and family. Last summer, they flew to Istanbul where they toured the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, ferried across the Bosporus and enjoyed belly dancers before boarding a ship for visits to Kusadai, Rhodes, Santorim and Athens. At home, they gave up on a recently acquired sailboat and upgraded to a Pearson 31 with dreams of sailing from Maine back up to Lake Champlain. BUSY!

IN MEMORIAM

KEVIN IRVING SULLIVAN

We have lost a Classmate who was extraordinary not only in accomplishments, but also in his contributions. Kevin Sullivan succumbed to complications following surgery for esophageal cancer on February 15th. A memorial service was held at the Medaille College Campus Center on March 2nd.

Kevin joined with us in Hanover in 1950 from Winchester High School, MA. While pursuing his AB in History, Key, starting with the Dorm Manager Award at the 1952 Wet Down, took on a series of important campus responsibilities that were mirrored in his later life. As President of the Interdormitory Council, he served as its representative on the Undergraduate Council and was subsequently appointed to the ultimate Palaeopitus, the eleven ‘54s who basically set the agenda and the tenor of the Class and the College. In addition, he found time for the Newman Club, the Chi Phi house, the Intramural department and the strictures of the Air Force ROTC.

Kevin spent his military years in a SAC outfit in Maine, accompanied by bride GINNY DARLING of Colby Junior. Following his mustering out, good fortune took the Sullivans to Buffalo where Key began a banking career that soared to the position of President and CEO of the Western Region for the Bank of New York, a position he held at the time of our 25th reunion. The early years in Buffalo brought forth son Kevin ‘79 and Keith, an alumnus of Medaille College. In 1987, Kevin took a dassic ‘54 career step and moved from Chairman of the

Board of Trustees of Medaille College to its presidency.

The truly awe-inspiring impact of his presidency is described in the obituary in the Buffalo press: "Mr. Sullivan has overseen and provided leadership for unprecedented growth in enrollment at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, academic program development, initiating a residence life program including the recent ground breaking for the College’s first oncampus residence hall complex, maturing of the intercollegiate athletic program and attainment of full NCAA Division III status, geographic expansion of the off-campus ACCEL Program and implementation of the College’s first Capital Campaign, designed to enhance the College’s physical facilities and accommodate future growth."In 2000, the Board of Trustees confirmed their exceptional good fortune by appointing Kevin to an unprecedented fifth term as President.

Incredibly, he found time to involve himself in multiple institutional and organizational causes in Western New York. The Class of 1954 was the beneficiary of his energies in its early post-grad years. How about this - Head Agent for the first six years after 1954, at-large member of the Alumni Council, 10-year District Enrollment Director, Third Century Chairman for the Buffalo area and a Class Agent and Enrollment Director for many years. He laid the base for our 25th year reunion giving. The Class recognized his contributions with the Class of 1954 Award at the 40th reunion.

We are diminished by the loss of Kevin and extend our condolences to Ginny and their family.

Click here for obit from Medaille College

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