Class Notes, January/February 2006

The Salty Dog Rag, Outing Club trips, pig roasts on the commons, convocation, football games, the beautiful colors, and the first chills of the impending change of seasons are upon us as I write these notes. They will be memories when I read them deep into winter. The passing of time has proven to be no impediment for many of our classmates. For instance, from Don Richardson '52 comes this little note, "In celebration of three quarters of a century of continuous heartbeats without a pause, and the end of summer, Tom Ritner and Don Richardson bicycled the 217 mile Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Parkway in 5 days, September 15-19. Both agreed this was the hardest thing they had ever done, and this includes many marathons and 50 mile trail runs, all of which are only one-day events. Future efforts will be less ambitious and include regular stops for soft beds and world class Manhattans. Both are now sitting up and taking nourishment while their wives fill the jacuzzis."

Another is world class hiker, Peter Bridges who writes that he and Mary Jane along with their children did another trek from June 13-18. This time it was across the western half of Corsica reaching 5000 feet above sea level on a couple of occasions which allowed them glorious views of still higher peaks. Reaching Cargese they walked down to the beach and jumped into a cool clear sea, all in celebration of Peter's 73 birthday and Mary Jane's and his fiftieth wedding anniversary.

In another milestone, Professor Emeritus of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Ted Spiegel will be inducted into the Direct Marketing Association's Hall of Fame. Ted was instrumental in developing the curriculum and establishing Medill's graduate direct marketing program, the first in the nation, where he expanded direct marketing as a discipline of study. Ted has worked, in addition to running his family business as a consultant to business, government entities, and non-profits helping clients as diverse as Walt Disney to The Readers Digest to the Library of Congress... Congratulations, Ted!

Sadly I write of the passing of Jim Wheaton, who entertained us and many others on the trombone and trumpet, both in and after College, who wrote a book on the letters and diaries of his great, great, grandfather, Dr. Charles Brackett written during the Civil War. Jim, though ill, redesigned our Class web site and left his son Bill in charge when he became too ill to proceed. Bill has generously agreed to maintain the uniqueness and creativity of the site.

I also must sadly write of the death of John Corcoran. Bob Malin, in his eulogy described John as a consummate gentleman, mannerly and courtly, with a sense of understated humor. He spoke of his dignity and decorum, his wise and inquiring mind and of his intellectually brilliant concepts in business, and ultimately of his uncritical, loyal, and sustained friendship, which when other memories fade, will last forever. For our class, I offer our deepest and most sincere condolences to both families.

Mark H. Smoller; 4 Schuyler Drive, Jericho, NY 11753; (516) 938-3616; dartmark@optonline.net