Class Notes

October 2003

by Tony Lee

Our London Mini in June was a great success. Hosts Blaine Krickl and Nick Baskey organized wonderful insider tours of the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, House of Lords and Pembroke College in Cambridge. Please see our class web site for a full report, a complete list of attendees and photos. Here is an abbreviated version of Blaine's report:

"Blessed with warm, sunny June weather, sixty members of the class with spouses, children, and friends gathered for the London mini-reunion at a cocktail reception in the courtyard of the Crowne Plaza St. James, a few blocks from Buckingham Palace. People traveled from California, Utah, Argentina, St Petersburg Russia, Paris, and Tennessee, as well as the East Coast to attend, including eleven members of our Whiffenpoofs, plus "the locals" from the UK.

"Thursday began with guided tours in the British Museum. We gathered in the afternoon at Westminster Abbey for Evensong and a private tour of the Abbey concluding with a reception in Cheyneygates, a medieval portion of the Dean's residence. The Gentlemen Songsters took advantage of the Abbey's wonderful acoustic, performing in front of the High Altar exactly three days after the Queen had celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of her coronation. Pitchpipe Al Rossiter chose "The Whiffenpoof Song" as the most appropriate number, which the group sang with no small emotion and delight, given the venue. We concluded the day at the Cavalry & Guards Club overlooking Green Park for an evening of dining and more songs. Mark Sullivan, recently appointed to head the US Desk of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, described the role and its challenges.

"On Friday, the group split with half attending a luncheon and tour at the House of Lords, the other, dinner. Saturday featured one of the annual bits of pageant for which Britain is so renowned, Trooping the Colour, the celebration of the Queen's official birthday. Our wonderful guide for the week led us along the route of procession from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards' Parade where the troops of the Household Division were drawn up in ceremonial array for the monarch's inspection. The day also offered opportunities to enjoy other aspects of London before gathering for an evening of dining and more singing on a Thames River boat.

"Sunday the group traveled to Cambridge where Nick Baskey, Bursar of Pembroke College, had arranged a fine program starting with a tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum, followed by Evensong at King's College Chapel, and High Tea and a tour at Pembroke. All in all, a fine conclusion to what those who attended agreed met or exceeded their expectations, which greatly relieved the chief organisers, Blaine Krickl and Nick Baskey. Those attending: Baskey, Baxter, Clay, Danforth, Dauphine, Dorsey, Elting, Evans, Francis, Franklin, Galvin, Giblin, Haggerty, Harter, Hershey, Hoffmann, Huffman, Krickl, Lee, Mazer, McBride, Nagel, Ostrich, Rossiter, Shea, Sullivan, Thompson, Troyan ['63], Vietor, Whitby, Wilson, Witherspoon, and Ziegler."

One of the surprises at the London Mini was learning that John Witherspoon, our quiet country physician from Tennessee, is the proud father of Reese Witherspoon. I can remember the name of the third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1950, but I don't keep current with movie stars. Last month, the name Reese Witherspoon drew a blank. No more, thanks to Margie. I've seen 3 magazines with her on the cover, and we've seen 2 of her films in the last month, Sweet Home Alabama and Legally Blonde. Both were great and I heartily recommend them to you.

Art Hovey is enjoying life: "I'm retired from teaching physics but still active as a musician, working Sunday nights at the Chowder Pot III in Branford, CT, teaching tuba at NMS and Choate, and doing a little tutoring in science and math." Bill Taylor announced that he has bought the placement agency in Houston where he has been working for the past 13 years. Some are winding down, while others are winding up.

Peter Rice, Gerry Shea, Butch Hetherington, and Charlie Pulaski attended the wedding of Jim Turchick's daughter, Rebecca, on June 28 in Syracuse, New York. Those of us who attended the Washington DC Mini remember Rebecca accompanying Jim for the weekend.

Paul Manchester has rounded up classmates to speak at the Yale Club of Washington. Gus Speth spoke about "America and the Failure of Global Environmental Governance." Bob Kaiser and Attorney General John Ashcroft both addressed the Club separately last November. And Jim Rogers will speak about and sign his new book Adventure Capitalist in September.

On to the sad news. Alan Michael Greene died in March. He lived in Bloomfield, NJ and was a senior district executive with the North Jersey Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Jim Klint passed away in April after a nine-month battle with cancer. Jim had been the team physician for the San Francisco Forty Niners for 23 years. And finally a note from Sandy McKleroy, "Burt Davis passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 20. For him it was no doubt a release from over two years of courageous yet ultimately frustrating effort to regain communication and movement skills lost in a devastating cerebral hemorrhage. Besides his teaching career, Burt had been active as a Boy Scout leader, track coach, photographer, and choral singer. He was always an avid outdoorsman and we had many fine hikes together. We will all miss him." There is more information on each of these classmates in our class web site In Memoriam section.