50 |For the first time ever, our great Class of 1950 is holding not just one, but TWO class dinners this year: one in Philadelphia in January at the time of the annual meeting of the Cornell Association of Class Officers (CACO) and another in New York City on Saturday, April 27. The New York dinner will be at our usual haunt, the Cornell Club of New York, 6 East 44th Street.More than 30 classmates have so far expressed interest in attending this dinner. You should be getting a letter with information about how much money to send to whom to make a reservation. If you don't, please contact me, Marion Steinmann, at the addresses or phone number at the end of this column, for this information.

The Class of 1950 may also hold other activities--lunches, dinners, or other gatherings--in other parts of the country in anticipation of our 60th Reunion in 2010. To this end, the class has vastly expanded our Class Council to a roster of 80-plus men and women in various geographic areas, to reach out to other members of the class and help plan these events.

One of the most remarkable life stories among our classmates is that of Horst von Oppenfeld, PhD '53 (Chevy Chase, MD; Oppenfeld@hotmail.com). During World War II, Horst was an officer in the German Army. He was captured in North Africa and spent two-and-a-half years in an American prisoner-of-war camp in Kansas, where he earned enough college credits to join our class as a junior. He worked weekends as a waiter and remained at Cornell until 1953 to earn a PhD in Agricultural Economics. For eight years he was a Cornell visiting professor at the U. of the Philippines. He then continued his career helping developing countries, on the staff of the World Bank and as a freelance consultant. He fulfilled assignments in 45 countries, including six in Afghanistan. Now, at the age of 93, Horst has "just returned from a reunion in Meiningen, Germany, of former German-speaking World Bank employees, and a family reunion in Bavaria."He also volunteers at a restaurant, training the homeless for food-service jobs, and at a social service agency.

A number of our doctors are still actively practicing medicine. Harry Daniell, MD '54 (HWDaniell@aol.com) writes, "Continued good fortune allows me to practice full-time as a solo general internist, while teaching as a clinical professor at the U. of California, Davis Medical School and doing research on the side." Lawrence Scherr, MD '57 (scherr@optonline. net) is "fully employed" at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System as an active clinician, teacher, academic dean emeritus, historian, and chairman of the ethics committee.He is also an emeritus professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Larry's wife is Peggy (Binenkorb) '53, sister of our classmate Fay Binenkorb Krawchick, MA '52. Larry is also one of the new members of our expanded Class Council. Ralph "Cooly"Williams, MD '54 (Santa Fe, NM; coolypatch22@aol.com), our former class president, practices two days a week in Los Alamos and two more days in Santa Fe, "trying to stamp out various rheumatic diseases that so far can't be cured with modern medicine. I also have a lovely studio where I produce oils, watercolors, and pastels that actually sell."

Marjorie Leigh Hart (marj.hart@verizon.net) is busy on the board of the New York League of Conservation Voters, which "works to educate voters and endorse candidates," she explains,"who are good for the environment." She is also active with another environmental group, Scenic Hudson, and is "involved in a major way" to help restore NYC's Seventh Regiment Armory.Marjorie, who has a Chemical Engineering degree from Cornell, had a 30-year career as an engineer and executive with Exxon Corp. She is a former Cornell trustee and currently a Cornell presidential councilor. Pat Fritz Bowers (also NYC) may hold the class record for travel with Cornell's Adult University (CAU). In recent years she has gone on CAU study tours to, among other places, England, Provence, Sicily, Greece,Morocco, East Africa, the Aztec ruins in Mexico, and Machu Picchu, and through the Strait of Magellan at the tip of South America. This past summer, Pat cruised with CAU around the Black Sea from Istanbul along the northern coast of Turkey to Yalta and Odessa and back. Pat earned a PhD from NYU and was chairman of the economics department at Brooklyn College.

DanMoylan (Brookline, MA; jdm@moylan.info) plays the fife and drum in the Bostonia Allarum Companie. "We often trek into Boston to lend a bit of colonial flavor to conventions and other events." Dan also plays the barrel drum with the Sudbury Ancient Fyfe and Drum Companie. Dan, an electrical engineer, worked on over-the-horizon radar projects at Raytheon and the Mitre Corporation. JohnMacNeill (jsmacneill@clarityconnect.com) honors his Scottish heritage as a member of the Mohawk Valley Frasers Bagpipe Band. "I used to march as their drum major. Bad legs keep me from it now, but my wife, two daughters, and a granddaughter are still drummers with the band." John is a consulting engineer with an office in Homer, NY, and also a member of our newly enlarged class council. George Miller, MBA '55 (Deltaville, VA; gvmiller@verizon.net) has had two totally different careers. First he ran his own public accounting firm in Utica, NY. Then he studied at Wake Forest U. and became a physician's assistant in psychiatry, family practice, and general surgery. "I occasionally converse with Walt Bruska by phone as occasions arise." Dickson Pratt (dickson.pratt@gmail.com) has lived in Hawaii, California, Alaska, and Idaho.He and his wife are now in Portland, OR. Dickson was president of a corporation that built, owned, and managed commercial and residential real estate.Howard Schultz (Dallas, TX; Howard@schultzproperties.com) founded the financial services firm PRG-Schultz Int'l Inc., which is listed on Nasdaq. Although Howard sold the firm four years ago, he's "still active with real estate, as our office buildings weren't included in the sale."

Austin Weston (Ruclwa@aol.com) reports in from Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands, where he has a second home. "Most mainlanders have never been here, as it is the only undeveloped island left, with only 7,000 folks. It is like living 50 years ago: no one locks doors, no stop lights, one drug store, and two gas stations."Austin's first home is in Pasadena, CA, where he was a consulting engineer and an adjunct professor at the U. of Southern California. From Florida, Stan Pogroszewski (Pogro12@aol.com) writes that he lives half the year in Bradenton and the other half in Hilton, NY. For most of his career, he was a dairy and crop farmer near Brockport, NY, but he also spent five years with a bank and 12 years with Agway, and was the local Town Justice for 33 years.

Hotelman Marty Horn (Hobe Sound, FL;Martylee35@aol.com) works part-time as a food service consultant. "I consult regularly with my family, which owns two large restaurants in West Orange, NJ."Marty owned a restaurant in Florida, which he has now sold. Chris Demme (ChrisDemme@msn.com) writes, "We live in a secret Cornell enclave: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Our inhabitants include two former cheerleaders, Rodger Gibson and Dave Gardner, MBA '55. Also Dave and Bette Weatherby. Rodger and Dave Weatherby were both in the Glee Club and continue to sing even now, when sufficiently moved." -- Marion Steinmann, 237 W. Highland Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118-3819; tel. (215) 242- 8443; e-mail, cjoiner@ix.netcom.com; Paul H. Joslin, 6080 Terrace Dr., Johnston, IA 50151-1560; tel., (515) 278-0960; e-mail, phj4@cornell.edu.

51 | Joanne Gully DeWolf, Napa, CA, reports three great-grandchildren: Tristan and Alexandre, sons of Geffrey DeWolf, and Victoria, daughter of Eric. She requested an address for Joan Goedert Burkhardt, who is one of our "bad address" classmates. Robert, MBA '53, and Sandra Chachkes Temkin '55 check in from Rochester, NY, but with no news. Also from Rochester, Raymond Nelson sent word of the death of his wife Anne (Plass) on February 8, 2006. Nina Luce, wife of our classmate Laurence, Berkeley, CA, reports that he died on September 19, 2005.

Howard Feinstein, MD '55, PhD '77, reports that son Jonathan has added California to the New York,Massachusetts, and D.C. bars, son Eric works at the Cornell Music Library and teaches electronic music, and son Roger is a health planner for Mass General and Brigham and Women's Hospital.Wife Rosalind is playing piano concerts in Ithaca (chamber music with Music's Recreation and in duet with cellist Elisa Evett), as well as practicing therapy. Recently, alas, she has provided music for a number of memorial services for friends in Ithaca. Howard will attend the 50th Cornell Medical College reunion and is still practicing psychiatry in Ithaca. He says he is "beginning to understand what the field is all about."

Marian FoxWexler,West Haven, CT, writes, "I had hoped to be at our 55th Reunion, but it was scheduled the same weekend that my granddaughter graduated from high school in Bethesda,MD. She has been accepted to Yale, which is just wonderful for me."Another granddaughter just graduated from George Washington U., her sister just finished her freshman year at U. of Pennsylvania, and the only grandson is starting high school. "Maybe I'll still have a Cornellian. I am very grateful to have two super children, one a maxillofacial surgeon who gives all his vacation time to Operation Smile, and a daughter who was an agricultural economist but has stayed home to bring up her children and share an exciting life with her husband, a professor of mathematics at Georgetown U. I've done a great deal of traveling over the years, and when I'm home I'm a docent at the Yale Art Gallery (over 15 years) and involved in a literacy program for children in the inner city. Time flies, and it is hard to believe I could possibly be in a 55th Reunion class. But luckily I'm well and happy and hope I can continue to say that for some time to come."

William and Jeanne Grevelding, Paw Paw, MI, report that after two years of home support, their older son Bill has a new ME degree and has found an engineering position in Elkhart, IN. Younger son Tom, a computer technician for American Insurance for 14 years, is working on a master's degree in business. Guy Trevelyn "Trev"Warfield e-mails, "Great reunion despite excess of Ithaca ‘sunshine.' It was particularly noteworthy to us as son Henry '81 was there with his three sons, and we had just watched granddaughter Cory '06 graduate--all on the same reunion cycle. As always, it was wonderful to renew old and new friendships from our class."

Leon Bush, Tarzana, CA, is still pursuing a serious ceramics hobby, giving lectures and volunteering at local colleges. He has established an international reputation in creating crystalline glazes. You can find his website by googling "Leon Bush" (use the quotes or you may get George). Leon has a moustache, and his pots are impressive. He and Pearl report travel to Belgium, Holland, Vietnam and Cambodia, and the Balkans as I write. Their 11 grandchildren all live in California. Pete Spencer writes from Cleveland, OH, that he's keeping busy with pottery, church, and fitness, in spite of serious vision problems with AMD (macular degeneration). "Thanks to modern technology, I can do most things. I do regret that I can't play the piano; of course, I never could.Wife Heidi Heidingsfeld, GR '52, is as fun as ever. She's in great health and a great help to me. Thanks to Bob, Trev, and Jack for their notes. Had to say NO to 55th Reunion."

Alvin Macomber writes from Alexandria, VA, that he and Diana have four grandchildren, ages 2 to 7, who all live within one and a half miles travel time from home. He retired as a journeyman international trade analyst from the federal government in 1990 and is active in numismatics and as a volunteer at the Smithsonian in D.C. He reports lunching with David, ME '56, and Judith Zucker Clark '53 (Lancaster, PA), Paul, BA '54, MA '55, and Olga Bruun Staneslow '55, and Marty Cohen '52 within the past year. Drs. Sue Pardee and Tim Baker still teach and do research at Johns Hopkins U. in Baltimore,MD, and enjoy vacations in Nova Scotia and New Mexico. Sue was selected for the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame and completed her second term on the Armed Forces Epidemiology Board. Recent research has focused on EMS helicopter crashes.

Barry Nolin's Class of '51 Web page is http://classof51.alumni.cornell.edu. Please send your news to -- Brad Bond, 101 Hillside Way,Marietta OH 45750; tel. (740) 374- 6715; e-mail, bbond@ee.net.

52 | More honors. In June, the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution announced it would present the 2006 "Lawyer as Problem Solver Award" to David Plant, LLB '57, of New London, NH,"for his service as a seasoned litigator and model mediator, arbitrator, and teacher." They cited Dave's having written, spoken, taught, and led workshops on dispute resolution issues on all five continents. He is an adjunct professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center. In July, the Cambridge Health Alliance, an award-winning health system, announced the appointment of Lucian Leape, adjunct professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, to its Board of Trustees.

Two recent e-mails, the first from Murray Adams, Brooklyn, NY.Murray, retired, is president of the Cobble Hill Association (civic), and director and treasurer of Cobble Hill Health Center (day care, nursing home, and rehab center). He writes, "Recently our oldest son Kenneth, touring the state as president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, spent a day near Baldwinsville with Mark Bitz, son of Bob Bitz, owner of the Plainville Turkey Farms, discussing how upstate New York business could be helped to prosper. After hearing about it, I called Bob and we reminisced and agreed that it was great that the next generation had become friends, just as we, our parents, and our grandparents had!" The second e-mail came from Joan Aten Beach, Lantana, FL.While happy with her life now, Joan wrote, "Wish our children were closer. Jeffrey '76 is a teacher at Rajabhat U. in Thailand; Diana '78 has two children and lives in Seattle,WA; and Reg, with two kids in Arlington, VA, is chief scientist for Ocean Research and Archaeology at NOOA." She and Sandy '51, BCE '53, were about to go off to India to visit Jeff.

Now to the rest of the news that came in over the last year with your 2005 dues. Lewis Rubenstein, BA '56, Schodack Landing, NY, had retired after a 33-year career mostly involved in historic preservation. He was involved in music, gardening, home maintenance,musical performances, and ballroom dancing.Herb McCarter Jr.,West Palm Beach, FL, also retired, listed ballroom dance first among present activities, which included ballroom dance music compilation and programming and tennis. He had recently been a dance host on both Florida coasts. Though not dancing, Bruce Warner, Charlotte, NC, attends the Charlotte Symphony and other musical events, sings weekly with his wife and daughter at a nursing center, and does additional shows at retirement homes. As a retired architect, he recently made a drawing of their 30-acre duck farm on Long Island, with all 38 buildings and the house as it existed in 1938, then drew plans of the house for the family archives. His next project: a narrative about growing up on that farm.

Rabbi Ronald Millstein, Great Neck, NY, has been retired from his congregation for nine years, but continues to perform Rabbinic functions: weddings, funerals, teaching his Bible class, and sharing officiating at worship. He enjoys his family and continued study, taking a course at his seminary, Faith Based Politics and Ethics, with the same professor who supervised his ordination thesis 43 years ago. Jim Ling, Ft. Collins, CO, wrote, "Retired, but serve on the board of directors of South Ft. Collins Sanitation District, putting my Cornell Chem E background to use on sewage treatment."When not thus engaged, he helps his 10-year-old daughter with homework and drives to soccer games. He also gives bagpipe lessons and plays his pipes to stay ahead of his students.

As of October '05 Judith Calhoun Schurman, New Canaan, CT, had a grandson, then a freshman at Cornell, and a granddaughter, then a senior. Kirk Personius, MS '56, Rochester, NY, found his May '05 visit to his daughter's family in Iceland "a great experience." Jan Hofmann McCulloch, now an advanced master gardener, was called on for lots of advice and programs. Her sister, Nancy Hofmann '54, lives with Ed '51 and Jan in Ashford, CT. D. Anne Bezer Lombardo, while enjoying golf, piano, and pogo-bridge in St.Marys, GA, was still dealing with insurance companies over loss from the 2003 hurricane. Thomas Weber, PhD '63, was swimming, playing golf, and reading in Williamsville, NY, and doing a good bit of traveling. Suressa Holtzman Forbes, Rochester, NY, was chair-elect, Community Technical Assessment Advisory Board, and a docent at the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery. She was busy arranging a family birthday celebration for Richard. Trudy Serby Gildea, Columbus, MS, was busy with many things, including 21 private violin students in a Suzuki string program.

Robert Pinkley, was settling into a new, smaller home, and raising a 14-year-old grandson in Haddonfield, NJ, and walking, gardening, dining out, and attending theater and opera. John Talmage, Riverhead, NY, had celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first powered flight, exact to the date and minute, by flying his restored 1931 open cockpit biplane. Evan '51 and ElaineWillis Hazard were moving to a new address in Bemidji, MN. Elaine was still very involved in church-related work. Evelyn Hoffmann Huffman, Kansas City,MO, was cleaning house, painting, writing bad poetry--her assessment--and traveling lots.Harold Tanner was still in New York.Henry VerValen was enjoying his home in Monkton and traveling, but leaving time to restore and maintain his Jaguar collection.

Rik Clark, Osterville, MA, was involved in a variety of nonprofit activities, traveling, golfing, biking, and enjoying music and theater.Mary Alice Newhall Mathews,MD '56, was singing and gardening in Newton Centre, MA, and diving in exotic places twice a year, where feasible. She is a strong advocate for the ocean. In Rochester, NY, Lewis Ward-Baker listed his interest as "music,music,music," having portrayed Tevye in Pittsford Musicals' Fiddler On the Roof, a role he'd portrayed twice before.

Jack and Elizabeth Hunsberger Craver remain in Lancaster, PA, where Libby continues to teach therapeutic riding and Jack, in addition to consulting on hotels, was getting certified in arbitration, mediation, and conciliation. From Walt and RosemaryManno Bortko '55, Bonita Springs, FL:Walt is on the board of directors of Meals on Wheels. He, too, is into golfing, biking, travel, and bridge. Don Collins, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, was kept busy with boat repair and repair to his hurricane-damaged house. Nonetheless, he had lots of travel and more planned. Roy Payne Jr., MBA '53, was involved in the renovation of the Delta Chi fraternity house, and said the fraternity recolonized in February '05. In Tulsa, OK, Paul Franks's day job was "yard work and staying as healthy as possible." After hours, he reads and keeps up with the news. John Crager, "still a snowbird," winters in Bisbee, AZ, and summers in Upper Jay, NY.

55th Reunion: June 7-10, 2007. News: http://classof52.alumni.cornell.edu. -- Joan Boffa Gaul, 7 Colonial Pl., Pittsburgh, PA 15232; e-mail, jgcomm@aol.com.

53 | A bit above Lake Erie's waters, they were shoveling off Buffalo's 22 inches of new-fallen mid-October lake effect snow. In Ithaca, a similarly rare occurrence warmed the hardy as their Big Red football team beat Colgate--for the first time since 1992--on a breezy, brisk Homecoming afternoon. The 'Gate got slammed, 38-14. Besides that abundance of touchdowns,Mater provided a pregame tailgate, the dedication of a handsomely renovated Schoellkopf (with a spiffy new home for Cornell's Athletic Hall of Fame and a celebration of Cornell football in a new Tradition Room), a Glee Club concert, a guided tour of the Johnson Art Museum, a chimes concert, and the pleasure of the company of old and new friends.

Classes of the early Fifties once again dined graciously at the Ithaca Country Club, followed by a gathering at the piano as on all those Saturday nights of yore. There were favorite oldies, Cornell songs, and, of course, the never-to-be-forgotten seven ladies (locked in a facility). Dave Dingle '50 and Tom Foulkes '52 took turns at the ivories. Fiftythree's first class president,Walt Foley (New Hartford, NY), made an uncommon appearance. Strike up a song for Paul Blanchard '52, who made it possible. Call him Mister Saturday Night.

BillWhelan, 1952 football captain, and three other captains met at midfield for the toss of the coin before the Yale game during weekend reunions of the 1948-52 and 1971 Big Red teams. Bill, Dick Cliggott, Bob Dilatush, Vinnie Giarrusso, Todd Kolb, and Jack McCarthy once more heard roars of appreciation from the Crescent as they and other returnees were introduced at halftime. Vinnie, Bob, and spouses were still savoring a Cornell-sponsored summer visit to Russia.

Jean Baldwin Harries (Duluth, MN) expressed regrets at having to miss the tailgate at Harvard, pleading conflict: the 50th Reunion of her second degree in early childhood education from the U. of Minnesota, Duluth. Jean Wright Pope (Tunkhannock, PA) has been helping establish a nature center to preserve 1,000 acres along the Susquehanna River.

An old Daily Sun colleague, Bob Cooper (Jerusalem and Brooklyn), is in the midst of a new book to follow his Around the World With Mark Twain of a few years back. It followed the path that Elmira's own Sam Clemens, also of Hannibal,MO, took on his classic international speaking tour (which hadn't been previously covered in a full-length book). Bob's new venture looks into the Great Fire of 1835, which swept 17 blocks of New York City's Wall Street area on a 17-degree-below-zero night of terror in which 674 buildings were destroyed, at least 20 million dollars' worth of property was lost, and US business was paralyzed. Bob says that a while back three suicide bombers struck in downtown Jerusalem-area places where he had been that day.He has learned to live with the awareness that people have a better chance of injury from a traffic accident than bombers, but he did stay out of buses for a while.

As of late summer, Bill Simon (Los Angeles) reported he had five books in print: iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business; Gorgeous Disaster (about a schoolteacher and her intimate relationship with a student, 14); The G.O.D. Experiments (about scientific support for the existence of God); The Art of Deception (Poland's number one bestseller); and The Afterlife Experiments (in its sixth printing).Write on, Bill.

Jolly Woodbridge (Hot Springs, SD) and Maggie, says he, "are happy here in the southern Black Hills,"where people have been living for, oh, 10 or 13,000 years. At least the artifacts that have been dug out seem to show that. At present, the town attracts folks from all over the world to seek archaeological treasure. Historic Hot Springs, Jahleel maintains, is the world's largest site for 21st-century mammoth hunters. The big beasties abounded there during a time of global cooling--the Ice Age. Even though it flows through the chilly hills of southwest South Dakota, the Fall River never freezes. There are about 1,700 springs there and yes, they are indeed hot--80 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.Have the feeling he's not in Mamaroneck any more?

The sun and a carnelian cadre of a dozen frequently seen '53 classmates smiled on the inaugural of Cornell's 12th president, David Skorton, on a summery September day. Footballs and Frisbees flew on the Arts Quad as he spoke. Academic delegates were there from all over the world, including Peking U. Our own Dottie Clark Free and Pat Gunderson Stocker came from the far coast. A big, round, full moon beamed on the bemused as they left a tofu-and-baby-bok-choy inauguration banquet, following Skorton's cool jazz flute riff on "Autumn Leaves" near the end of the program. Historical sidelight: Edmund Ezra Day, the fifth president, was in charge when we arrived in 1949.

You can find instruction in just about any study at Cornell's Adult University (CAU). Bill Gratz and Roger and Barbara Marcus Friedbauer heard the views of Profs. Glenn Altschuler, PhD '76, and Joel Silbey on the Senate. Charles Shelley and Sue Halldorson Fuller sharpened their pencils and skills in a nonfiction writing workshop. Linda Schaumann Marts took up bronze sculpture. Bob Ashton probed mysteries of the deep with Oceanic Studies Prof. John Heiser, PhD '81. Bill Hammond pondered rises and falls of Islamic civilization.

Fifty-three goes to Philadelphia, Jan. 19-20. See you there? -- Jim Hanchett, 300 1st Ave., Apt. 8B, NYC, NY 10009; e-mail, jch46@cornell.edu.

54 | Canadian geese are honking in formation, pumpkins have sprouted all over town, and leaves are being tossed every which way as I write a column that could be snow-covered when it arrives.With the changing of the season it is once more time for the migration of classmates south. Loving numbers as I do I thought I would run a check on the percentage of classmates claiming Florida as their tax base. I was not shocked to learn that about a fifth of the class lives in the path of fall hurricanes.

Bill Kaplan responded promptly to my plea for news in September, and a day later e-mailed back with a change. Think of the time that would have required with snail mail. Bill's retirement date from McGraw-Hill was moved forward to November 2006 with the phasing out of the New York science textbook operation. He had taught science for 35 years, then switched careers to science writing and editing, mostly with McGraw-Hill. Bill credits Richard, his freshman English instructor, for helping develop his writing skills. His one book, Energy and Fuels, while out of print, is considered quite timely.With his early retirement and his wife's new hips and knees, they were off to do the Caribbean in December.

Pete Nesbitt would love to be landing S2Fs on a carrier in the Pacific, but being a realist, settles instead for breakfast with fellow geriatric pilots at the Rochester airport. He and wife Dana recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with an Alaskan cruise.When on terra firma, Pete enjoys fun jobs about the farm. There are people who always get your adrenaline up to speed, and one of those is Ken Hershey. During the summer months, he and Su run between Penfield and Keuka Lake, entertain, bike, hike, sail, golf, windsurf, tennis, garden, etc. In the winter months that changes to winter sports, pushing snow about, and chopping tons of wood. Energizer Bunny, take note. Alice Hoffman is making a career move from legal secretary to court assistant during the day, and after hours is fixing up her Brooklyn home.

Ro Seelbinder Jung has the energy of Ken Hershey, her co-class president. She has given up boards and meetings for one-on-one work with primary children in after-school tutoring programs and will soon begin mentoring teenage girls in the shelter program in Sarasota County, FL. To feed the gray cells, Ro attends the Sarasota Lifelong Learning Inst., where your assignment is to absorb knowledge without the stress of exams and papers.Norm Lynn, with time to read, has polished off all of Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin series and is now beginning on the oeuvre of Philip Roth. Retirement does have its advantages and time to read is certainly one of them. I loved the following e-mail from Morey Storck: "Thought I was retired, at least that was my first impression. Lasted a few months, maybe six.Moved into a condo, started a theater group, started a condo newsletter, elected to condo board (six years), condo social director (seven years), and am now one of the original founders and VP of a new community newspaper serving the Hudson River towns of Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, and Irvington. Ah, retirement! So calm and comfortable."

Phil Decker, retired for ten years, is more active than ever as a park volunteer at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. He not only points out the special features in the park for visitors and helps them select campsites, but is also a professional desert guide for people who want to four-wheel to remote areas of the park. From the sounds of things, he is having a ball. He and his wife Norma live about 80 miles south of Palm Springs, CA. Dick and Phila Staines Slade were in the D.C. area last April taking care of two grandchildren while their parents took the third to Japan, where she is now spending a year with relatives attending a Japanese high school. In May, Phi and Dick celebrated their 50th at their Cape Cod home, surrounded by their immediate family. Last heard from, Tyler Todd was headed off on a trip around the Black Sea. Hope he checks back in soon with his impressions.

Sandy Dreier Kozinn's fascination with Sherlockian studies has always been of interest to me, but so have her yearly trips to Israel to visit her daughter and grandkidlets. Asked to describe her comfort level, her reply was that even though her daughter lives on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and she takes the bus to the inner city, she takes the same precautions that one would take in any big city and in some ways feels even safer.Muggings, for instance, are not something she worries about. Yes, they have had friends fall to terrorists, but for the most part it is business as usual. -- Leslie Papenfus Reed, 500 Wolfe St., Alexandria,VA 22314; e-mail, ljreed@speakeasy.net. Cornell Directory, https://directory. alumni.cornell.edu.

55 | Pete Bowell says he and his wife are enjoying their new home in Williamsburg,VA. Pete is volunteering with the Jamestown 2007 organization and will be working with the Godspeed landing party in Alexandria, VA, and Boston, MA, during its trip up the East Coast. Ken Carlson and wife Diana are restoring an old post-andbeam barn transported from New England to Maryland. It's now located on the Wye River in Queenstown,MD, where the Carlsons enjoy a river view from the hot tub on the deck. Evelyn Barber Lance has retired as a Hawaii Family Court judge, but travels frequently, working on the American Bar Association's Int'l Rule of Law programs. She also keeps up with her chamber music.

Bill Lockwood writes that he's "still alive and healthy," enjoying golf, tennis, skiing, boating, and his 15 grandchildren. Bill's wife died 15 years ago, and he has been seeing "a lovely lady named Roxana" for quite a while. Our best to you both. Lorrie Pietryka Plamondon and her husband Peter '54--plus old friends Mike '54, MBA '55, and Dot Noll Hostage '54--were planning a trip to visit the Banfi Vineyards of John Mariani '54. Bill Murphey, who lives in Carmel, CA, is keeping active, doing crowd control at a marina airport, go-kart races, and autocross weekends. Bob Gluckman has retired and moved to Boca Raton, FL, and would enjoy hearing from classmates in southern Florida.

Mort Kolko says he's happy "right where we are, in beautiful upstate New York," where he serves as a trustee of Foodlink Foundation, a local food bank. In February and March, the Kolkos head for Siesta Key on the beach. A good change of scene! Renee Miller Mayer still practices law, but she and Joe manage to spend a lot of their time visiting their children and grandchildren. Renee enjoys reading, plays, TV, dinner at romantic restaurants, traveling, and long weekends at their second home in Connecticut.NancyMartin Reichenbach of Camarillo, CA, writes that "life is good." She's retired from the school district but continues to work part-time as a resource specialist in special education.

Phyllis Birnholtz Melnick is still volunteering for a community work service program and tutoring at a women's prison. Not much news, Phyllis says, but "I'm still grateful to be around, in good health and growing older."Hilly McCann Dearden took a spur-of-the-moment trip to England, spending two "wet but wonderful"weeks in the south, and then four days in London with her son Bruce. "I'm still trying to retire, and this trip has almost convinced me the time has come!"After 39 years on the Cornell faculty, Don Farley, PhD '60, became professor emeritus in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has no plans to leave Ithaca, however, since "global warming has improved the winters lately."Don is still running and racing, and doing well in the 70-74 age group.

Larry Phillips was awarded the Frank P. Ramsey medal by the Decision Analysis Society, in recognition of his distinguished contributions. It was "a great and pleasant surprise to receive the Society's highest award," Larry adds.Norm Nedde is a big Sudoku fan and continues bowling and playing poker and bridge.His average bowling score is 175-- "not bad for an old man."Norm's already looking forward to our 55th--"Can't wait!"Pete Hoss was able to help his hometown, Salinas, CA (birthplace of John Steinbeck), pass a sales tax measure that restored library service to the city. Otherwise, Salinas would have become the first city of its size to close its libraries.When not involved in such civic duties, Pete finds time for writing, art, traveling, voluntary mediation, tennis, promoting a Dixieland Festival, and serving on trust administrator boards. "I can't improve on where I am and what I'm doing," he concludes.

Hope all of you are finding as much contentment these days as we are, staying active and healthy, seeing a little of the world, and getting in some quality family time with your kids and grandchildren. Stay in touch! -- Nancy Savage Petrie, nancypetrie@juno.com; tel., (631) 329-6430. Class website, http://classof55.alumni.cornell.edu.

56 | It's amazing that Art Linkletter, the father-in-law of Art Hershey, is still entertaining at the age of 93. I was reminded of this after reading a note from Art about traveling with his wife Sharon's parents on the first voyage of the QE2 to the Pacific Ocean. They went to Hawaii and back for 12 days and had a great time. The Hersheys are still living in Calabasas, CA, where Art teaches classes in labor law. Lois Patterson Noyes is retired after 24 years as a realtor in Morristown, NJ. Since she is active in the Junior League, as well as the Symphony Association and Fine Arts Society of Sarasota, FL, it is a good guess you will find her there.

Another person reporting retirement is William Purdy of Scotia, NY. He is still a bank director and is involved with two museums.He has seven children, 15 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild! Barbara Grove Kuhn Purtee writes from her home in Gulfport, FL, that it has been a long time since she's gotten a paycheck, but she's very busy with her friends and church responsibilities. She attended our reunion. Diane Newman Fried, M Ed '58, of Stratford, CT, is treasurer of the local League ofWomen Voters and teaches at various retirement venues. Phyllis Miller Lee is still drawing and painting in Dorset,VT. In addition, Phyllis is involved with the Manchester Music Festival and the Southern Vermont Art Center. She has a big family, with daughter Cynthia Lee Dow '91 and husband Jim '91 expecting their third child--the ninth grandchild in the family.

John H.Maltby,Monmouth Jct., NJ, is pastor at the Miller Memorial Presbyterian Church. He is busy with so many activities there, it is hard to list them. John is also a member of the Big Red Band Advisory Council. It has been a tough year for him with his wife Mary Ann passing away on March 20.We send him our sympathy.We were also saddened to hear about the death of Rabbi Howard Greenstein '57, husband of our classmate Lenore (Brotman). Although Howard was not a member of our class, we all remember his participation in our reunions.

Anne Jackson, Ridgefield,WA, is a retired immunologist. She has "a big garden, two Dalmatians, and a semi-new kayak," and is constantly remodeling her house. She loves cruises and is trying to get her grandson through university. Ruth Heit Licht is happy being her own boss in New York City. She tutors and does Orton-Gillingham language remediation. She was looking forward to going to South Africa in the fall. James R. Sterling, Hermosa Beach, CA, is in real estate investments and is chairman of Recording Artists, Actors, and Athletes Against Drunk Driving ("RADD"). He recently cruised the Amazon River in Brazil. -- Stephen Kittenplan, 1165 Park Ave., New York, NY 10128; email, catplan@aol.com.

57 | Happy New Year to all.Happy 50th anniversary to some. And happy reunion year to the Class of '57. Responses are coming in by the dozens and it promises to be a very well attended 50th. Class officers will be meeting in Philadelphia at the Marriott on January 19-20 to finalize plans, and there will be a class dinner on the 19th--so if you're in the area, plan to be there.

Phillis FergusonWatterworth expects to come to reunion. Last fall Phil and Scott traveled from their Mill Valley, CA, home to Maine to visit Phil's son and grandson. The Watterworths spent the first six months of last year in France. Phil writes: "The highlight of our retirement years has been our successes with house exchanges." They lived in a small Alpine village outside of Grenoble and skied 15 different stations using three different passes--in France, if you are 70, many resorts give free season passes. ("Great to be old!") Part of their time was spent touring France: Lausanne, Provence, Paris, and Normandy.

Another active skier in the class is Jerry Neuman Held Kovell, who recently took her granddaughter on an Elderhostel trip to ski in Utah and will be going to Steamboat Springs, CO, in February. Jerry and Stan moved to an age 55-plus condo complex in Fairfax,VA, and will be snowbirding to Austin, TX, where one of her sons is CEO of a company that owns some country clubs in the area. The Kovells are looking forward to playing golf all winter and to some tennis as well. Jerry also visits her other son Andy Held '84 and family in Seattle, and plans on attending reunion in June. Charlie and Jeanne Waters Townsend intend to be there, too. The Townsends are birders and travel to exciting places around the world--Bhutan,Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, and South Africa in the last few years. Their sons work abroad, one in Germany and one in Australia, so those countries are also on the travel itinerary.

During last year's class meeting, Jan Nelson Cole offered to organize a pre-reunion event for the Mid-Atlantic Region. Little did she know what a great success it would be as word went out to all duespayers that the get-together would be held at Colonial Williamsburg in October.More than 50 alums took the opportunity to enjoy two days of great weather, living history, and classmate camaraderie. Colin Campbell, president of Colonial Williamsburg, and his wife Nancy graciously opened their 18th-century home for a cocktail reception the first evening. I gathered a few notes for the column from those in attendance.

Bill and Jan Charles Lutz celebrated their 50th anniversary last September with 170 friends and family in Philadelphia. Robert and Ritalou Rogow Harris will be at Cornell for her first-ever reunion. The Harrises have donated their large collection of Japanese baskets to the university, where they will be on display at the Johnson Art Museum. Farmer Bob and the Bionic Woman (as JoAnne Eastburn Cyprus describes husband Bob and herself) have plans to drive to Ithaca from their farm in Tennessee this coming June. Bob recently acquired a new horse and JoAnne a new hip, and now a knee replacement is on the agenda. She'll be all set to tread the Hill again.Dori Goudsmit Albert worked on her golf game at the CAU session in July. Kevin and Betty Ann Rice Keane spent the summer in Saranac Lake, as did Bobbie Redden Leamer, who welcomed her eighth grandchild recently. Jan Nelson Cole took a bicycle tour of the Canadian Rockies in September. Edie Carrroll Skoog, Judy Lund Biggs, and SueWestin Pew all plan to be at reunion.Will you? -- Judith Reusswig, 19 Seburn Dr., Bluffton, SC 29909; e-mail, JCReuss@aol.com.

I had a chance to experience more hospitality from classmates when my son and grandson and I invaded the Weiss household in Greenwich, CT, last Labor Day Weekend. The stated purpose of the trip was to take my 6-year-old grandson to a Yankee game, but the hospitality of Suzanne and Steve quickly took center stage. Young Ben was seated, thanks to Steve, almost next to Joe Torre, and relished the entire NYC scene. Next was a solo stop at Dom and Debra Pasquale's home in Farmington CT, where I was treated to an evening with their delightful friends and great food and drink.

Everett McCooey claims to be retired, but has consulted in almost every West Coast venue for his former employer, Turner Construction Co. George Rocklein, MBA '59, reports the arrival of his fourth grandchild last September in Manhasset, with another on the way in the Chicago area. Stu Fischman had a busy 2006, having spent the spring in Jerusalem (Stu and Jane spend some time there every year), where he was a volunteer member of the faculty at the Hebrew U. School of Dental Medicine.He also participated in a meeting of the Middle East Center for Dental Education, which launched a joint program between the Hebrew U. and the Al-Quds Dental School, the first dental school in the Palestinian Authority. In June, he and Jane were honored by Temple Beth El with an award in recognition of their service to the Greater Buffalo Community. They then traveled to New Zealand and Australia, where Stu coordinated a study to evaluate the best method to remineralize early tooth decay to retain as much tooth structure as possible in filling the cavity. About the only thing Stu hasn't gotten his arms around in his 45 years in Buffalo is how to get the Bills to and through the Super Bowl.

As Judy has mentioned in her column, Colin and Nancy Campbell hosted a pre-50th event in Williamsburg, VA, including a reception at their home. I won't go through the list of attendees, but about 70 classmates and spouses were there.My detection device in the flowers on the dining room table enables me to tell you that Colin broke three fingers a few days before the event while trying to personally restore part of Williamsburg, a project in which he has been involved for the past six years as president of the Williamsburg Foundation.

Also gleaned was the fact that Bob Steele spent 37 years in the Navy, many of them working with Admiral Rickover, that John Maclay lives in Walnut Creek, CA, but has a second home at Ford's Colony near Williamsburg, that Ron Dunbar is retired and living in the Philadelphia area, and that Charlie Parker has a company in Carlisle, MA, involved with greenhouse gas emissions and WILL be at his first Cornell reunion in June.

Roger Jones, MPA '60, had told me beforehand that he would be in Williamsburg and sent along news of a two-month trip to Europe last summer to all the places that I want to go, traveling to about 60 towns, cities, and villages; his favorite haunts were the island of Islay in Scotland, Edinburgh, Capri, Tuscany,Vienna, and Prague. He has spent time since then at home at the Spruce Creek Fly-in Community in Port Orange, FL. At the end of our junior year, Roger's father attended his own 50th Reunion, and Roger is now looking forward to following in his father's footsteps in a few months. Colin and Nancy have done a great job in elevating the momentum for that occasion, and the days are counting down. -- John Seiler, 221 St.Matthews Ave., Louisville, KY 40207; tel., (502) 895-1477; e-mail, suitcase2@aol.com.

58 | I had a nice e-mail from Tony Corbisiero.He had just completed his memoir on working for President Nixon, entitled "Disillusionment:Watergate and the Betrayal of President Richard M. Nixon."At this writing he was still looking for a publisher. Any ideas? Tony is a former member of Richard Nixon's personal staff and was hired by him to work with Pat Buchanan in 1966 as a speechwriter/researcher in the 1968 presidential campaign. During his years in Washington, he knew personally many of Nixon's closest aides, including Pat Buchanan, Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and G. Gordon Liddy, among others. Following Nixon's victory in 1968, he was appointed to a high-level position in the US Dept. of the Interior, where he served for almost 30 years until his recent retirement. Over the past 25 years, he has also taught political science and public administration courses at Temple University and LaSalle University in Philadelphia.

A wonderful phone call and news arrived from Judy PhilipsonWarsh, who resides in Loudonville, NY. She is still a very cheery, lively person and has some very accomplished children. Her oldest, Brad, owns a software company in New York.Middle daughter Alexandra Steele is a meteorologist and TV anchor on the Weather Channel every weeknight from 9-11 p.m. Her background extends behind the camera as well. She has worked in the London and New York bureaus of ABC News for both "Good Morning America" and "Prime Time Live." Judy's youngest, son Kevin, was just sworn in as a member of the seven-person board of governors of the Federal Reserve System. At 35, he became the youngest governor in the Fed's 92-year history! Prior to his appointment, Kevin served as special assistant to the president for economic policy.

Art Brooks wrote last summer that the Sherwoods are "alive and well and visiting Florida and the Bahamas.With founder classmates Doug Lee, PhD '68, Lee Minnerly '57, MArch '61, Bill Hazzard, MD '62, Carl Deppe, BCE '60, Jack Wade, JD '61, Joe ‘Frog' Douglass '57, PhD '62, and yours truly, the reunion group has metamorphosed into at least two groups of 12 or more, the Originals and the Youngers! Venues from Cornell (in June) to both coasts have opened up and I suppose we should call these events the ‘Sherwoods Reunion Tour.' " George Nicholas, BS Hotel '71, lives in Leonia, NJ, but summers in East Hampton, where he is running two businesses. One is a small, well-situated marina called Sunset Cove Marina, with two cottages that are rented for the entire summer season. The other is ownership of a restaurant called Fiddlers Cove and ten cottages that are rented most of the time. Other than working, he loves clamming, shelling, tennis, and occasional jogging.He goes to New York City at least one a week, just to relax! He would love to hear from Cornellians, Hotel Society members, and fellow classmates.

What a way to end the column, as I, too, would love to hear from classmates. It's so easy to send me a quick e-mail! Hope to hear from you! -- Jan Arps Jarvie, 6524 Valley Brook, Dallas, TX 75254; e-mail, jjarvie@sbcglobal.net.

59 | Don '58 and Dale Rogers Marshall are back in their home in Piedmont, CA, after spending the spring semester teaching in Russia on a Fulbright. They were the first Fulbrighters to teach at Kalmykia State U. in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, a little-known republic in southern Russia between the Black and Caspian seas. "The Kalmyk people came originally from Mongolia around 1600 and are Buddhists," writes Dale. "The universities are very committed to quality education for their students and encourage global awareness.Many students speak English and want to improve their English.Many now also want to learn Chinese. In spite of critical views of American foreign policy, the faculty and students are very friendly to Americans and would like to have more opportunities to visit the US."

Carl Hedden of Hazleton, PA, is partially retired but continues to help manage a local building contractor. He and his wife Nancy enjoy skiing and visiting their four children and six grandchildren. Steve Bosses of Scarsdale, NY, retired from the active practice of law at the beginning of 2006 and launched a new career as a mediator. "It has been an exciting change and one that is both challenging and extremely satisfying," he writes. "To be able to get two or more parties who have been at one another's throats to sit down in one room and help them resolve their differences is very rewarding." Ian Maksik of Lauderhill, FL, is a hospitality trainer, lecturer, and author known as the Professor of Service. He's the owner and dean of Schools for the Service Arts, which he is expanding nationwide. At the same time he's fine-tuning the First Annual Conference for the Service Arts, scheduled to take place in 2008. He doesn't limit teaching "the Maksik Method" to the US; last year he completed a two-year training tour of 27 Caribbean Islands.

Traveling remains a popular pastime for classmates. Susan Bates Cottrell, hospitality director at the Freemark Abbey Winery, made a pilgrimage to Israel. Linda Rogers Cohen of Great Neck, NY, visited "very dramatic and very beautiful" Peru. Bill Fraser of Greensboro, NC, traveled to Mali and Burkina Faso. Travel agent Marge Holeton Weaver of Naples, FL, sailed on a 19-day portion of the Crystal Cruises World Trip from Australia to Mauritius and Cape Town, then flew to Johannesburg for a safari in Kruger Park. Attorney Robert Markovits, JD '62, of Stockbridge, MA, took a 105-day world cruise. Barbara and Phil Yarnell (Denver, CO) enjoyed "an adventure of a lifetime" as they joined 694 college students during a 100-day Semester at Sea; they took four courses as senior students and saw some wonderful ports while circumnavigating the globe from Nassau to South Africa, India, China, Japan, etc. Phil also was among '59ers who attended CAU's on-campus programs this past summer. Others included Valerie Johnson Conner, Ron Demer, Leroy Jewett,Marjory Leshure Marshall, and Beverly Hall Severance.

The '59 Alpha Delt group and their spouses and special friends convened in Charleston, SC, last May for another mini-reunion, this one organized by Stan Lomax, JD '62. The group cruised out to Fort Sumter, visited one of the nearby plantations, walked around the city's famed historic district, enjoyed a carriage ride, and viewed the last parade of the term at the Citadel--a formal review similar to that at West Point, although the Citadel's parade includes bagpipes in addition to the traditional brass bands. A second trip for Stan took him to Salzburg and Vienna in June to join in the celebrations of Mozart's 250th birthday. He traveled as a member of the U. of South Carolina chorus, which sang Requiem--"a far cry from my days as a frosh when I was belting out slightly more risqué tunes with the Sacrilegious Six," comments Stan.

Peter Sacerdote of NYC left Goldman Sachs after 41 years and, together with his son Alex, started a long/short hedge fund called Whale Rock Capital Management. Peter told the Harvard Business School Bulletin: "Starting up a new company from scratch has been a lot of fun, and working with my son has been the icing on the cake." In October the Wall Street Journal published a feature on Ratan Tata, chairman of India's Tata Group "and scion of one of India's wealthiest and oldest business dynasties." The Journal noted that Ratan "was among the first Indian entrepreneurs to see the potential in making foreign purchases to boost growth." Today he "controls everything from Eight O'Clock Coffee Co. in the US to the ultraluxe Taj Group of hotels worldwide--which last year took over management of the Pierre landmark hotel on Central Park in New York City."

As you consider a contribution to the Cornell Annual Fund, remember our class scholarship endowment; on the contribution form simply indicate that your contribution should go to the Class of '59 Scholarship Fund. -- Jenny Tesar, 97A Chestnut Hill Village, Bethel, CT 06801; tel., (203) 792-8237; e-mail, jet24@cornell.edu.