50 | Class Announcements: 1) Need an excuse for a great weekend in New York City? Shopping? Broadway show? Fine dining with friends? Reserve Friday, April 27 for the annual class dinner at the Cornell Club. A person of Cornell prominence will be the dinner speaker, plus music and sing-along with Dave and Susan Dingle.Make dinner reservations ($75 each) by sending a check to Stan Rodwin, P.O. Box 904, Scottsville, NY 14546; tel., 585-889-3180; e-mail, rodpkg@frontiernet. net. The deadline is April 15! Overnight accommodations are your choice; however, a few rooms are available at the Cornell Club and can be reserved through Stan. From an initial mailing last July, 35 classmates indicated plans to attend.With accompanying spouses and friends, attendance should be more than 60!

2) More than 80 class members have volunteered to serve on the new regional class councils.With 11 on the central council, we now have nearly 100 in positions to promote communications and class activities nationwide.More information in the next class column. 3) To encourage and facilitate communications among us all, we have begun to include e-mail addresses with each update. Should you prefer that we not do so, please advise us when you send in your news reports. If you write via e-mail make sure that the subject heading contains a Cornell reference such as Cornell Class of '50. Unidentified e-mails go to the Spam folder!

Robert Plaisted has been recognized as an Outstanding Alumnus by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the ALS Alumni Association. Since 1977 only 176 of the more than 80,000 alumni have been so honored. The honorees represent a wide range of interests and accomplishments, and each has achieved success in a chosen field and shown leadership on behalf of Cornell and the Ag college. Robert joined the Dept. of Plant Breeding in 1956 and served as department chair from 1964 to 1979. He was instrumental in the development of nearly 20 potato varieties and breeding lines, and his potato research is heralded by growers, processors, and researchers worldwide. He lives in Ithaca with wife Ellen (Overbaugh) '51, and they have three children, Kathy, Diane, and Thomas '79.

JaneWigstenMcGonigal, PhD '84, Ithaca, NY (jwm7@cornell.edu) was assistant director of Cornell Cooperative Extension. Jane maintains our class website and solicits news, especially pictures, from our 55th Reunion. She serves on the Protestant Cooperative Ministry Board and chairs the Endowment Committee. Robert Kushell (kushellassociates@msn.com) specializes in helping existing businesses develop well-structured franchising systems.He has been asked to develop a franchise course for university business schools in the Triangle area.He lives in a unique housing development called Fearrington, operated in conjunction with Duke U., which provides 1,000 different types of residential units. "I go to the gym three times a week. Like most, I have responded to some health problems along the way, but have absolutely no complaint-- a great wife, sons, and a fabulous grandson."

George Casler, MS '59 (glc4@cornell.edu) reports that he and wife Pat enjoyed an 18-day Lewis and Clark Elderhostel tour from St. Louis to the Pacific. They also visited their son in Cincinnati going both ways from Ithaca. Robert Purple, Canandaigua, NY (thepurps@aol.com) retired in 1987 after 37 years with the New York Dept. of Transportation, then worked part-time for the next 14 years for an engineering consulting firm in Rochester.He and wife Phyllis remain active in the Congregational Church, Bob in the adult choir and Phyllis as the historian. They take their winter break in Hilton Head Island, SC. Both enjoy reunions of those of our class that served in the 87th Infantry of Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army in WWII. They also have enjoyed 50 years of reunions with five Cornell couples from the classes of '49–52 with whom they are close friends.

Phil Davis now lives with his daughter Margaret and son-in-law Andy in Maryville, TN, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. After graduation he bought his father's farm in Kerhonkson, NY, and married Mary (Pelton) '53. Of their four children, two (Holly Davis Kinch '79, MAT '81, and Margaret Davis Smith '81) attended Cornell, as did two sons-in-law, Drs. Richard Kinch '77 and Andrew Smith '79. After Mary died in 1986, Phil took to the road alone in an RV and over the years has traveled many times across the US, taking time to visit fraternity brothers and fellow Cornellians. His most recent trip of three months had him visiting classmates Ben Williams (with dinner at Kendal at Ithaca with Ben and several retired Cornell profs); Doug Lockwood and wife Leslie in Albion, NY; and Charlie Taft and wife Audrey (Hoeflin) '57, who still grow rhododendrons in a greenhouse in Hamburg, NY. Traveling west he visited Elder "Mike"Wolfe and wife Barbara in Avon, OH, and other Cornellians in classes of the '50s. And, finally, he spent three weeks fishing in the Lewis and Clark National Forest and on the Yellowstone and Gallatin rivers.

Dick Pearce, East Greenbush, NY, was a civil engineer with the government. In retirement he's a master gardener who golfs in the summer, plays tennis all winter, and hunts and fishes all over North and South America.With wife Louise he has two children and four grandchildren. Bernard Roth, North Dartmouth, MA, serves as a consultant to local charities and to the Boston Executive Service Corps, helping advisees start businesses or find jobs.With Eleanor, his wife of 56 years, he has enjoyed small ship tours in Europe and the US, and plans a cruise from Charleston, SC, to Jacksonville, FL. He has one grandchild at Cornell, one at Vassar, and two in Midwest colleges, with three more coming along. To stay young he recommends keeping active and "never to be home for lunch."

Mary Elizabeth Adams Williams, Santa Fe, NM (coolypatch22@aol.com) is a retired registered nurse. "Patch" sings in the Chancel Choir of the First Presbyterian Church. She also accompanies husband Cooly, MD '54, to exhibits of his paintings, most recently one in Kansas City arranged by their daughter Ann, with input from son Michael of Austin, TX. She recommends "treasuring every day."Margaret Rueter Ruck, Glen Ellyn, IL, retired at age 77 from work as a lunch room supervisor in elementary schools. She currently volunteers as snack bar assistant and newspaper deliverer at Elmhurst Hospital, and emergency room assistant at Central DuPage Hospital. She's grateful for her Cornell education, which placed her among highly intelligent classmates and teachers, her four children, and the privilege of being able to travel about the US in her geriatric years.

Walter Mehlenbacher, Castile, NY, is retired from specialized farming, in which he was the leading producer in the Northeast of certified foundation seeds--potatoes, oats, wheat, birdsfoot trefoil, crown vetch--and fine-bred beef cattle and sheep. Robert Potter, Oneida, NY, is a retired General Electric engineer. Currently, he does tax returns for the elderly and takes on volunteer assignments for the Oneida Healthcare Center. He enjoys golf, viewing college sports, and, with wife Eleanor, frequent visits to see his four sons and three daughters in California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, and New Jersey.

Several class members attended last summer's on-campus sessions of Cornell's Adult University: Photography Studio (Bernard Herman and Richard Hudes); Arts and Crafts Movement (Daniel and Betty Rosenberger Roberts); and Mozart: Music, Life & Times (John '49 and Jean Miller Weber). -- Paul Joslin, 6080 Terrace Dr., Johnston, IA 50131-1560; tel., (515) 278-0960; e-mail, phj4@cornell.edu;Marion Steinmann, 237 West Highland Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118-3819; tel., (215) 242-8443; e-mail, cjoiner@ix.netcom.com.

51 | Jack Howell, Class Treasurer, reported at our annual fall Class Council meeting that we had contributed $35,000 to Cornell from class dues (July 1 to June 30) as follows: Ramin Tradition Fellowship, 10K; Johnson Museum Print Collection, 5K; Library Acquisitions, 5K; Cornell Plantations, 5K; Lab of Ornithology, 5K; and Hurricane Katrina Transfer Student Fund, 5K. Jack and Betty (Meng), with their three sons and a daughter-in-law, explored the Acadia National Park carriage roads by bicycle for a week in June.With children in Duluth, MN, Durango, CO, and New Hampshire's White Mountains they do a lot of traveling, including the Shakespeare and Shaw festivals in Ontario and Niagara-on-the-Lake.More recently they participated in and recommend two California Elderhostels: a week in San Francisco and a second in Yosemite. They hear from Jean and John Roberts in Sedona, AZ, Carol and Russ Schuh, Lombard, IL, and Jesse and Betsy Zobel Hannan with homes in Seneca Falls, NY, and Sarasota, FL.

Harold and Rose Gould checked in from Pavilion, NY, where he is a semi-retired dairy and crop farmer. Reginald, MBA '52, and Alice Rice,Menlo Park, CA, are enjoying life immensely with five grandchildren and involvement in local politics, duplicate bridge (almost life master), watercolor painting, tutoring Hispanic kids, and voracious reading. Reginald says, "No more tennis, skiing, or backpacking due to bad knees."He sees Jim Stocker around town occasionally. Janet Armstrong Hamber's redletter day in Santa Barbara, CA, was a big surprise party honoring 30 years of service, with a cake that said, "To Jan Hamber: in appreciation of your commitment to the California condor and inspiring three generations of field biologists." She says, "I give thanks to Cornell's Dr. Arthur A. Allen and his class in ornithology for inspiring me to follow this line of work." Thomas Nuttle, Baltimore,MD, failed to get either child enrolled as a student at Cornell, but now has a granddaughter (Molly Ryan) as a freshman. He says he put the house in his wife Marilyn's name for tax purposes and is now unemployed and homeless!

Dean Gernon, Glendora, CA, is still working with Habitat for Humanity, finishing up his 20th house.Wife Rose continues to substitute teach and travel--in Africa last November. Oldest granddaughter entered Cornell as a freshman in September 2006. Ernest and May Sofis, Hingham, MA, completed a 15-day trip to Italy. "It was a joy!" Donald Regula, MD '55, Schenectady, NY, retired in 1989 after 35 years of ob/gyn. He continues to work his 160-acre farm, cutting hay and lumber and caring for horses and goats.With his wife deceased in 1995, it takes a lot longer to do chores, but he says, "I love it."He continues to travel to the Outer Banks, NC, one or two times a year for saltwater fly-fishing. He meets George and Patricia Stitt Truell '52 in Ithaca for Homecoming almost every year.

Highlights for Don '52 and Mibs Martin Follett in 2005 included a ten-day study trip down the Croatian coast in a schooner from Venice with 55 other Cornellians, a two-week stay in Topsfield, MA, with three grandsons (soccer, piano, ice hockey) while their parents were away, a granddaughter's graduation from U. of New Hampshire, and watching two other granddaughters' varsity tennis matches. They still spend winters in Tequesta, FL, and summers in West Easton, PA (except for a family reunion at Cape Cod), but Don has sold his airplane. Tomas Blohm, Caracas,Venezuela, was glad to hear of his roommate from Washington (CT) Gunnery School, Dan Nesbett. He recalls Dan played the trombone, "whose flat decibels I clearly remember after 60 years."

Larry Smith,Northport, NY, has "just about completely" retired from his architectural practice except for adding to and renovating his second home retreat in Southampton. Son Mark '87 is a reconstructive plastic surgeon at Beth Israel and associated hospitals in NYC. Daughter Tami '89 is also an MD, but currently working as a director for a major pharmaceutical company in NYC while raising Jack, 7, and Lucy, 8. Leonard Steiner, still happily retired from the real estate industry after 17 years, reports an extremely successful dinner, dance, and silent auction at the Castle in Tarrytown for the NYU Cancer Center sponsored by the Steiner family. In 2005, he and Barbara took their annual trip to the Scottish Highlands, Stockholm, St. Petersburg,Moscow, and London.

John and Jean Roberts, Sedona, AZ, report that grandson Derek, attending Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles, obtained a summer internship at the Free U. of Berlin. Grandson Joro is acclimating to a snowy 7,000-ft. elevation at Northern Arizona U. in Flagstaff. Their youngest grandson, Ryan, died accidentally; 250 people attended the memorial service. Alfred Blumstein, PhD '60, university professor and the J. Erik Jonsson Professor of Urban Systems and Operations Research and former dean (1986-1993) at the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management of Carnegie Mellon U., will be one of two people awarded the first Stockholm Prize in Criminology this June. The winners will share the prize amount of 1 million Swedish Kronor (about $150,000).

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 | There is lots of new news, thanks to you all. Edwin Biederman Jr. writes from State College, PA, that though retired he stays busy listening to classical music and maintaining his home. Paul Davis, MBA '59, Chatham, MA, is retired from IBM's World Trade Corp. He and his wife travel to see friends in Europe and Asia, and they had recently returned from Europe. Daniel Divack, Great Neck, NY, is retired after 41 year in his ob/gyn practice. He's "enjoying the change," and spends his time reading and painting. Dorothy LaGuardia Gillespie, Setauket, NY, who works with Meals on Wheels on Mondays and audits a class on the history of the civil rights movement at SUNY Stony Brook, writes, "It's really a wonderful program."DeWitte "Tal"Kersh Jr., LLB '57,Waterville, NH, is a mostly retired lawyer, and also chairman of the board of selectman; planning board ex officio; and a member of Linwood Rotary, Cornell Club of New Hampshire, and New England Ski Museum. He's working with the town manager to manage a small resort village, including zoning, planning, and present and future land planning. He skis 90 days a year, and in season golfs five times a week. He and his wife travel spring and fall. Fred Leonard,Merion, PA, is semi-retired from his insurance agency, which specializes in racing shell insurance. He writes, "While coaching light crew at Penn for 27 years, I got to Cornell every other year to race and keep up with campus developments. I miss that, since I retired from coaching in 1992."

Doug, MPA '53, and Sue Brigham MacLean '53 are now in Austin, TX. Doug is retired but stays active with Boy Scouts. He's a life board member in Houston and volunteers. The MacLeans have sons in Austin. Stuart Merz, LLB '57, is retired but still in Shaker Heights, OH. He volunteers at church and at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum in Sanibel, FL. Stu says he has recently been getting older and would rather be getting younger. Irwin Sitkin, Chatham, MA, wrote that he and Helen were winding down another wonderful season with a recent trip to London, where among other things, he collected old woodworking tools. That was followed by a week visiting friends in Dublin and attending the Ryder Cup. The Sitkins were heading south and planned to return to the Cape around Memorial Day. He wrote, "Looking forward to reunion in June. Already planning to join Jane and Bernie Schapiro, Sally and Paul Schlein, Carolyn and Ernie Mendel, and more of our Tau Epsilon Phi brothers."

I hope that the rest of you are making similar plans. Bob Chabon, M Ed '55, has written that the reunion lecture, "What Kind of President Will We Elect in 2008?"with Profs. Ted Lowi and Joel Silbey will be Friday, June 8, 2007. There is much more information coming about our reunion.Watch your mailbox and our Web page, http://classof52. alumni.cornell.edu.

Donald Henn, Huntington, NY, writes that he and Abbie had "a very-mini-Cornell reunion in Southold, Long Island, with Robert and Lois Anderson, Peter '53, JD '57, and Jean Thompson Cooper, and Gloria Maloney, widow of Robert Maloney '53. Interesting talks were had of Cornell days, North Lansing, and, of course, children. I am now fully retired after serving 31 years as a trustee of the Ridgewood Savings Bank in Queens." Jean Cooper writes, "Am still hooking up a storm--I even won a national rug-hooking contest in the ‘Commercial Patterns' category. Have become a pretty good fundraiser for our local community hospital, a trade I learned AFTER graduation, and am still learning. Cornell's educational prowess goes on forever. It is awesome!"

Irwin and Arline Braverman Broida are enjoying retirement in a 55-plus active adult community in Wayne, NJ. They are involved in bridge, Canasta, book groups, theater, and travel, and in planning and chairing events in their community. Last fall they took a river cruise from Vienna to Belgium. In spring they traveled to China, Korea, and Japan. JoyceWhite Cima has been hobnobbing with neighbors on Cayuga Lake in Lansing, NY, and is busy with the Ithaca History Center. She is a member of the corporate housing board for Alpha Xi Delta. She has been traveling and in February was to be birding and whaling in Baja,Mexico. Joyce followed graduation with a 37-year career with the university.

William Hubbard, Poughkeepsie, NY, is a retired real estate appraiser. He works part-time at Business System Technology and at yard and home maintenance. He's active with Lions and works in St. Andrews Episcopal Parish.With two daughters and their families in Wiesbaden, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, he has been traveling. Alan Rose, Cayce, SC, is still a real estate appraiser.He attends college football and basketball games at the U. of South Carolina.He's mostly working and watching a grandson, who achieved a baseball scholarship at the Citadel, pitch. Al hopes to see old friends at reunion. He specifically mentioned Fred Eydt and Whit Mitchell.

Now, then, I hope most of you are also planning to see old friends at our 55th Reunion, June 7-10, 2007, Ithaca, NY.-- Joan Boffa Gaul, 7 Colonial Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15232; e-mail, joangaul@mac.com.

53 | Nuclear energy engineer and advocate Murray Miles (Gaithersburg, MD) reports on his first public speech, presented last fall at the Keese School of Continuing Education. The subject: Radiation: It's Good for You."Rutabagas are radioactive," he began--as is his wife Enid (Spangenberger)--and took it from there. "About 15,000 nuclear rays or particles pass through your body every second," he went on, and "the lowest exposures I have found are to men aboard nuclear attack submarines at sea. The sea water shields them from the sun and cosmic radiation."He spoke of his experiences with Hyman Rickover, generally referred to as "the father of the nuclear Navy," before and after Rickover was an admiral; Three Mile Island ("No one has ever been killed by radiation from a nuclear power plant in the US"); Chernobyl (a different story); the benefits of medical radiation; and the expense in dollars and pollution of not using nuclear power. Fear of radiation causes "illogical, irrational behavior," he maintained, and concluded that "reasonable amounts of radiation are not bad enough for your health to notice (and) they actually are good for you."

Gordon Lankton (Sterling, MA) has opened a spectacular Museum of Russian Icons across the street from Nypro in Sterling, MA, of which he was CEO 30 years before selling the plastics manufacturing firm to its employees in 1987. Russophile Lankton and other half Janet (Kilby) collected the icons, some of which date from the 15th century, during a number of business visits to Russia over 16 years. The priceless artifacts of Russian religion and history are housed in a solar-powered building that was once the town's post office and library. "I like the collection," he told a reporter. "I think others should be able to see it."

Rose Carpenter Gernon (Glendora, CA) has become a substitute teacher ("I'm retired, I think") with time for travel (Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe on safari; the Galapagos, South Africa),machine embroidery, grandchildren, and the state public policy committee of the American Association of University Women. Ruth Burns Cowan is deep into studies of the rule of law in the Republic of South Africa. "We have been lucky," says Marilyn Ellowitch Frank (Pittsford, NY, and Sarasota, FL), who spent most of her working years as an executive director of the National Kidney Foundation. She retired as a fundraising consultant. Now she and husband Irwin have lots of time for golf and bridge and travel to see their three scattered sons--two professors and one anesthesiologist.

Lawrence and Catherine Austin Smith (who've remained in his old hometown of Piffard, NY, all these years) say that what keeps them busy these days is "farming in the summer, Chile and Mexico in the winter, and Scottish terriers all the time."You may recall that Catherine came to Cornell from Caracas,Venezuela. Lawrence, who lists his birth name as "same," nourishes glowing memories of Stan Warren '27, PhD '31 (Ag Economics) and George Healey, PhD '47 (English). "We are trying to figure out how to retire, how to find winter sun, and how to continue to contribute to our rural community all at the same time."

Berton Shayevitz (Manlius, NY), like quite a few of our MDs, continues to practice. Berton and wife Myra were promoted last year to assistant clinical professorships at the SUNY Upstate Medical U. in Syracuse. There they have been teaching parts of the practice of medicine course--relating, eliciting histories, and physical examinations-- to first- and-second-year med students. Berton has long saluted the voice of experience.He says the most unforgettable characters at Cornell for him were "the World War II veterans who were still [on campus] during my first two years. They were far more mature and worldly than most of us. They worked hard and played hard and served as significant role models to those of us attending Cornell out of high school."How true.

Morris Shorofsky (NYC), when last heard from, was still engaged, full-time, in the private practice of internal medicine, which is just what he says he wants to be doing. His most unforgettable Cornell experience? "American Ideals (Konvitz)." Bertram Pitt (Ann Arbor, MI), like many, is retired (from the U. of Michigan) but is "busier than ever, running several large clinical research studies around the world." Joe Huth winters in Venice, FL, where he has been doing some writing.When growing season arrives up north, he migrates back to Delmar, NY, where he stays busy with a large community garden plot and church activities. In fairly recent memory, Elderhostels have drawn him to Prince Edward Island and Auburn, AL, besides short trips to St. Augustine and Key West.

Rick and Lois Patterson Noyes '56 (Osprey, FL) followed their golden wedding anniversary with a return to Mater for Lois's 50th Reunion. Their core family of 20 gathered for the renewal of their wedding vows on a dinner cruise in Sarasota. "We wonder at our fortune to live in Sarasota, where our family loves to visit us for fishing, swimming, and golf." Rick is leader of the building committee for their community golf club and an elder of their Presbyterian Church. Exercise helps him stay in "reasonably good physical condition." Jack Severns (Kent,WA) "enjoys a beautiful but overpopulated Pacific Northwest."His finest hours at Cornell, he recalls, were singing with the A Cappella Choir. He casts a vote for "good friend Ernie Hardy, PhD '69," as his most unforgettable Cornellian.

The hills of western Massachusetts will be alive with the sound of Beethoven and of '53 classmates reuning at Tanglewood on Sunday, July 22. Phil and Roz Zalutsky Baron will continue their quasi-annual mini-festival with a mini-reunion to move us into the mood for our 55th (June 5-8, 2008) to the strains of an all-Mister B (as Poe Fratt used to call him) program. Stay tuned. -- Jim Hanchett, 300 1st Ave., Apt. 8B, New York, NY 10009; e-mail, jch46@cornell.edu.

54 | "Life is very quiet if a tad frustrating." These words from your correspondent, Leslie Papenfus Reed, whose computer malfunctioned the day before a planned Christmas trip to California and remained in Sick Bay until long after deadline. Regular publication of the '54 class column will resume in the May/June issue. Send news and words of encouragement to: -- Leslie Papenfus Reed, 500 Wolfe St., Alexandria, VA 22314; e-mail, ljreed@speakeasy.net. Class website, http://classof54.alumni.cornell.edu/. Alumni Directory, https://directory.alumni.cornell.edu/.

55 | Dateline: Christmas Week 2006. Joe Simon called recently to give me some information about the dinner held on campus last November at which Jim Van Buren, MD '59, was named to Cornell's Athletic Hall of Fame. Besides Jim and his wife Mary (Martin) '56 and their five children, attendees included former teammates Ralph De Stefano, Dick Mathewson, and Dick Jackson '56. Two other key players from the '54-55 team, Stan Tsapis, LLB '58, and Len Oniskey, were represented by their widows,Micky Tsapis and Doris Carretti Oniskey '54. The Robison Hall of Fame Room is located on the main floor of the new Friends Hall, which was dedicated last October as part of Homecoming Weekend. Of particular interest is a visual presentation of 463 current individual members of the Athletic Hall of Fame. And thanks to the generosity and genius of Prof. Don Greenberg, BCE '58, PhD '68, all athletes have their portrait and a description of their heroics projected on a large flat screen.

Now to the mailbag. Bob Leader's oldest son, Henry '84, has produced his seventh child, bringing Bob's grandchildren total to 15. Bob enjoys spending time in Cocoa Beach, FL, or Trout Lake in the western Adirondacks. Don Demske is growing "the best tomatoes east of the Mississippi," building sets for a little theater group, and "still sleeping with the same gal after 52 years!" Ron Ganeles is proud to announce that his granddaughter Caryn Ganeles is a member of the Class of 2010. "Third generation sounds good," Ron adds, "but oh so strange!" George Forester has brought his latest invention to market, a one-handed pocketable computer keyboard, the EkaPad. George's company, EkaTetra, wanted to create a small, mobile, universal and easy-to-use keypad. "The development required six years," George explains."Much of the time was used creating and testing ergonomics, as the EkaPad handles more like a woodwind instrument than a traditional qwerty keyboard."

On a recent trip between Florida and Duluth, GA, last spring, Don and Lea Marshall enjoyed lunch with Ed and Lyn Foster Comans, DVM '60, at their winter home in the Villages at Lady Lake, FL. The Marshalls suffered damage to their Vero Beach, FL, home after the 2004 hurricanes, but the restoration "was completed (at last) last March."And here's an enthusiastic note from Ann O'Neil Potter, who moved to the Villages in September '05. "What a great place to live!" she says. It's an over-55 community, "but like nothing you've ever seen before. This is a place to have fun!" Ann has enjoyed visits from Marie Chandesh Spollen, MS '74, and Herb and Pat McCormick Hoehing. She also keeps in touch by e-mail with Claire Desaix Simpson and Janet Scanlan Lawrence.

Last year, Louis Altman wrote that he and Ellie were getting ready to sell their house in Chicago and spend most of the year in Florida, where he's joined the Cornell Club of Sarasota. Lou was elected president of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, and enjoys playing tennis every day. Sue Spooner Olsen's book, Encyclopedia of Garden Ferns, has been traveling through the production process. It will be in bookstores in March and is posted on both the Timber Press website and Amazon.com."I thoroughly enjoyed doing the research and writing, as well as composing and selecting the 700 photographs--all of which, along with the editing, consumed most of my waking hours for almost three years," Sue explains. She adds that our 50th Reunion was her first, but won't be her last--she's already looking forward to 2010.

Fran Goldberger Rubenstein says now she understands the old saying attributed to parents, that next time they'll skip over parenting and go right to being grandparents-- in their case, of Sophie Miranda, Class of 2025. The Rubensteins divide their time between Paradise North (the Berkshires, in Massachusetts) and Paradise South (Boynton Beach, FL), with trips in between to visit their son, who's on the faculty of the U. of Liverpool. Fran encourages classmates to check out the many Cornell Club events in the Berkshires. "Come join us!"Hope your year has been filled with fun, family, and friends. -- Nancy Savage Petrie, nancypetrie@juno.com. Class website, http://classof55. alumni.cornell.edu.

56 | Donna and Norm Ross have moved into Avalon Village, a retirement community in Hampden, ME, and summer at the coast in Jonesboro, ME. Roy Curtiss III (St. Louis, MO) presented the keynote address at the Third Int'l Salmonella Conference in Victoria, BC, Canada. Baxter Webb (Palm Beach, FL) says, "I love retirement. I never thought I would say that!" Baxter is trying to save the Royal Poinciana Theatre in Palm Beach, but there's time for lots of traveling.

Barbara Grove Purtee (Gulfport, FL) remarked that she had fun at our 50th, but that those Ithaca hills have gotten steeper over the past 50 years! Ken Rind (New York City) is an active venture capitalist and volunteers with the US Civilian Research and Development Foundation and the US-Israel Science and Technology Foundation. Katherine "Tis"Weigt Huberth (Auburn,WA) is a professional artist and teacher. Her painting "Primordial Patterns" was published in SPLASH 9 by Northlight Books.

Marilyn Thomas Kennedy (Milwaukee, WI) reports: "50 years ago, I arrived in Tokyo, Japan, to join my husband Don '55. He was in the Navy stationed at Yokosuda Naval Base.We had a great year and a half in Japan! Don's classmate Jiro Inumaru '55 was wonderful to us. Three and a half years ago we returned to Japan for a two-week visit. Our son Jeff '90 accompanied us.We had a delightful visit with Jiro and lunched with him at his hotel in Tokyo." Carol Blicker Gartner (Valley Center, CA) retired from Purdue U. as professor of English and, earlier, as dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Carol is volunteering her time as VP for acquisitions, Friends of Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve (an environmental organization), and VP of Friends of Valley Center Library, and she participates in San Diego Independent Scholars.

Jean Willman Scott and husband Bill '55 lived in Ithaca until 1990 when they retired and moved to Venice, FL. Jean volunteers for Tidewell Hospice doing Reiki and healing energy therapy. Bob Silman, founder of Robert Silman Associates PC, an engineering firm that has "shored up" many historic buildings, received this year's Landmarks Lion Award from the Historic Districts Council. The award event was held, appropriately, at Columbia U.'s Low Memorial Library, one of Bob's many projects. Bob is married to our classmate Roberta (Karpel).

Here's our annual report of classmates' attendance at CAU's events last summer: Claudia Gabel Anderson (Greenville, NY) and Peter Burckmyer (Somers, NY) attended Underground Ithaca taught by John Chiment; Jim Biben, JD '58 (Rochester, NY) attended The Senate, taught by Glenn Altschuler, PhD '76, and Joel Silbey; Sara and Bruce Bloom (Southhold, NY) attended Lithography:Writing Nonfiction; and Signe Jonsson Brightman (Merion Station, PA) attended Vet World.

Bob and Diana Motycka Day (Silver Spring, MD) have been very active in organizing and coordinating participation of the Cornell Club of Washington, DC, in an urban tree planting program in inner city Washington. A few weeks ago, the Days and ten Cornell Club members pitched in with shovels and sweat to plant 50 trees at Crispus Attucks Park in the N. Capitol St. corridor. Bob has been deeply involved in generating many new Cornell Club projects involving community activities and general urban improvement programs in D.C., including working with a community rowing group called the Big Red Dragons, which introduced Chinese dragon boat racing. Bob has also developed projects to clean up the Anacostia River. For all of you in the Washington, DC, area, check out the club's monthly newsletter for upcoming projects.

There have been lots of favorable reports from our classmates regarding the 50th, including the following suggestions. From Peter Thaler (Los Angeles): "Next time, let's have a single dormitory with a larger gathering room. Better weather would help." And from Curt Reis (Rolling Hills, CA): "Why not raise dues $10-20 to help subsidize Reunion?" And another suggestion: classmates seemed to like the idea of continuing and updating our website, which is being done. The address is http://classof56.alumni.cornell.edu.

And finally, I am saddened to report the passing of our classmate Lenore Spiewak Feldman (New York City). I received the following from Ellie Raphaelson of Boca Raton, FL: "I would like to pay tribute to my wonderful friend of 53 years, Lenore Spiewak Feldman, who passed away suddenly in August. She was an outstanding member of the community, having been the national president of the National Council of Jewish Women, and a member, until her passing, of the Int'l Council, all while raising four children and leaving a legacy of 13 grandchildren. She was respected and beloved by all who knew her. I was proud to count her as my friend. She is sorely missed." -- Phyllis Bosworth, 8 East 83rd St., New York, NY 10028; e-mail, phylboz@aol.com.

57 | Want to know who's planning on coming to reunion? Check out our class website, http://classof57.alumni.cornell.edu. Betty Starr King is updating the information regularly.

2006 was a banner year for Bob and Marcia Wishengrad Metzger, JD '60. They celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary and last summer toured Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Norway after attending the Rotary Int'l Convention in Denmark. But the biggest news for Marcia is that she welcomed her first grandchild, a girl, in October.

When Robert, JD '57, and Carol Elis Kurzman married in 1956 they were both students and honeymooned in Bermuda. So what did they do to celebrate the golden anniversary last year? Took a cruise to Bermuda! In September their daughter Amy Kurzman Buckman '91 had a baby boy, bringing the total of Kurzman grandchildren to nine. Elaine Meisnere Bass and her husband also took a cruise for their 50th, with their three kids, spouses, and eight grandchildren joining in the fun.

Back in 1956 SueWestin Pew spent two months traveling in Europe with Pat FarrellMarinelli, Joanne Field Bleakley, Jan Charles Lutz, Lydia Ebel Andersen, and Marilyn Hester Ridgley. Last summer the group, including Jo Buckley Emerson, got together at the Pews' place on Martha's Vineyard to reminisce about their adventure 50 years later.

Eileen Hoffman King has been retired for six years now, so gets to enjoy lots of visits from family and friends, including Bev Graham Powers and Jan Booth Anderson '56. But Chris Zeller Lippman is still working; she's assistant registrar at the Dwight School in Manhattan. Sue Breslow Dillon works part-time as an assistant to the attorney for the Nassau County Parks Department, but her main focus these days has been on her daughter. Alice Dillon is in need of a kidney transplant, and an anonymous donor has stepped forward to be tested. Her situation has been reported in the local Merrick, NY, paper and in Newsday.

In October an exhibition featuring the drawings of Carol Rose Anderson Brown and the photographic works of her husband, the late Joseph Dean Brown '58, took place in Santa Fe, NM. Carol Gehrke Townsend, an avid gardener, traveled to the South Island of New Zealand early last year and followed up with a trip to Miami to see the Chihuly installation at the Botanical Garden there. Carol visited with Marnie Enck Broman, MD '61, and her husband, docents at the Garden. At year's end Carol was off on a New England cruise and then to NYC to visit the Bronx Botanical Gardens before flying back to California.

We lost some valued members of the class last year. In October while I was reading the Sunday New York Times, I saw this headline in the obit section: "Winifred Bennett, 71, Amateur Who Proposed Jefferson Tests." Because of her age I was curious to read the article, and a few paragraphs in saw the name Winifred Joyce.Win was instrumental in getting a researcher interested in the use of DNA to determine the genetic link between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings and her descendants. Elizabeth "Betty" Quinn Lewis passed away in November. Betty had been a longtime volunteer at the Maine Medical Center in Portland. She was one of three founders of the Ronald McDonald House in that city and received the Golden Heart Award in honor of her service. Barbara Flynn Shively sent along the news that Connie Engelke Skov had died last fall. And a faithful correspondent to this column, Harriet Merchant Shipman, succumbed to pancreatic cancer last year. Her husband Charles '55 said that she was so looking forward to our 50th, as she had attended all our reunions. -- Judith Reusswig, 19 Seburn Dr., Bluffton, SC 29909; e-mail, JCReuss@aol.com.

The understated invitation to Ara Daglian's 80th (yes, 80) birthday bash (I was not invited) asks those on the list to be there for cocktails and Ara tales, and includes a picture of the "Man,Myth, and Legend"wielding a knife and fork, with the former large enough to carve up an elephant. The mild-mannered one, having survived a fairly normal stint as executive secretary and currently general manager of NYC club managers, celebrated last September at his estate on the Jersey shore. Paul Noble and Judy Richter Levy, LLB '59, were there and can fill us in at reunion as to what actually happened, but the great one probably lectured on the art of firefighting when his heartburn was probably more intense than the fire, and the fact that in 25 short years he rose to the exalted position of chief assistant to the assistant chief of a three-person volunteer station. His activity after the party has consisted of European river cruises, from which he has regrettably returned to this country.

Roger Jones,MPA '60, also made a foray in Europe in the late summer and early fall, traveling through 17 countries and 60 or so cities, towns, and villages in a twomonth span. He is back at his home at the Spruce Creek Fly-In Community in Port Orange, FL, and looking forward to the 50th, remembering when his grandfather came to his 50th at the end of our junior year. Lee Poole is refinishing furniture while enjoying retirement in Vermont, having worn many hats as a Presbyterian minister, including family counselor, director of development for Beirut U.'s international college, tour organizer for European travel, and fundraiser for the purchase of two fire department ambulances, on which I'm sure Ara consulted. Lee recounts the decision he had to make to resign from the Glee Club in order to raise money to get through Cornell and get financially ready for Princeton Theological School.

Tom Paterson is living and loving it in Beaufort, SC, doing some landscape design and consultation and playing a little golf, as is John Schuerger, who is looking forward to catching up with his 150-lb. crewmates and Phi Kappa Tau brothers. He is now in Florida, having spent most of December and January in Singapore and Hong Kong. Also golfing at least three times a week is Myron Green, who is deeply involved with the state of Israel's ambulance and blood service emergency clinic, conducting quite a bit of blood-related research. Unlike Ara, he celebrated his 70th quietly so that no one would know that milestone had been reached.

Rick Knittel is an engineering advisor/expert witness by day, and trombonist in a jazz band by night, and was feted at a surprise party by a group of 40 family and friends on his 70th. John Fisher is making all of us look bad by returning to school, mastering political issues of the Middle East, and currently taking a course in Chinese culture. All of Bill Galvin's children and grandchildren threw a surprise party for him on his birthday. He attended the 100th anniversary of Seal & Serpent in fall '05, highlighted by a dinner at the Straight for 190 members and friends. Allan Dunn, orthopedic surgeon and scientist and discoverer of morpho-angiogenesis, a unique action of growth hormone that rejuvenates adult blood vessels to form fetal capillaries (which produce fetal stem cells), has indeed been a pioneer in his work. -- John Seiler, 221 St.Matthews Ave., Louisville, KY 40207; tel., (502) 895-1477; e-mail, suitcase2@aol.com.

58 | Classmates, I'm sorry to begin with some bad news.We've all lost a good 'mate and Cornell supporter, Tom Akins, who Jim and Annette Fogo Harper report died in a fall at his home last September.More may be reported elsewhere, but Jim reminds us that Tom was a Phi Gam, a frosh football player, and an allround good guy, and he will be missed.We extend the class's sympathies to Tom's family and many friends.

We have a few Notes carried over from last summer and, just now in hand, your more recent News and Dues write-ins. Thanks for sending them; our column is now longer as a result of that and you get more news. George Nicholas is one of our Hotelies who lives in Leonia, NJ, in winter and says that he was having a good summer in East Hampton with his wife and son John. They run a small marina called Sunset Cove, and a restaurant, Fiddler's Cove, with ten cottages next door, all in Three Mile Harbor. George says, "The operations are a Mom-and-Pop style. Other than working, I love clamming, shelling, tennis, and occasional jogging . . . all in good health." George welcomes hearing from fellow Hotelies and classmates.

Jon Howell writes, "The most important thing in my life is that I've fallen in love with a new lady, Aimee Elizabeth Rovere, 15 months old on August 19. I've been trying to teach her to say, ‘Let's go skiing Pop Pop,' but so far no luck. She already has strong legs and an adventuresome spirit, so my confidence in her abilities is unbounded. Why, she might even be a climber and ski-mountaineer!" Indeed, Grandpa Jon is heavily into skiing: all over the West, plus some ski-mountaineering near an avalanche chute in Wyoming, then to the three-day camping and ski tour of the 23-mile Grand Teton Crest Ski Traverse, and more--avidly! He was off to California in the summer, where, he says, "Mt. Shasta at 70 became my mantra for 2006. Success! At 10:30 a.m. on July 3, I was standing on top.What a great view! Once you've done something like that it doesn't seem all that special, but as the guide said at the time, ‘I'll bet there aren't too many 70-year-old cancer survivors who've been up here.' " Probably true, Jon, and congratulations on your feats.

Russ Taft has been keeping his activities at the usual high level, too. He writes, "Still doing theater work. I was in three plays in the past year and rehearsing for a repeat of Scrooge the Musical again this season. Also singing with the Maui Chorale Association, with an upcoming Christmas concert.Main travel this year was to Fiji to visit my daughter, who was living on Koro Island for several months, and then I took a Blue Lagoon Cruise around other Fiji island groups. A delightful and interesting trip. Starting to think ahead for June 2008." Jack "JB" Kelly still manages wealth at Smith Barney in New York City and has the additional pleasure of working with his sons John II and Robert, also financial advisors of senior portfolios. Jack and Ingrid continue to reside at their Windsong Farm in Pottersville, NJ, and he says he's looking forward to seeing many old friends in the near future at Cornell.

Benton "Benny" ButlerManganaro enjoys retirement and travel, especially to Southeast Asia last fall, from her and Joe's new residence in Columbus, GA. They recently moved from Sarasota, FL. The Rev. FrancisWaite,MAT '72, traveled to Brazil with a mission team of Aldersgott Renewal Ministries last year and otherwise spends his time filling in at pulpits of various churches in the Livingston Manor, NY, area. He would like to hear from Allan Burns. Ann and John Schneider live in Wellington, FL, where John still practices transaction and estate law at his third-generation law firm. He gets away for snow skiing in his travels and also enjoys tennis and parasailing. He too is looking forward to attending our 50th next year along with son Mark '93, a fourth-generation Hotel school grad who will be up for his 15th then.

Judith Welling Baker and husband DeWitt III travel, having had an "extensive trip to the Middle East last May and Ireland in July." They also enjoy theater and opera in NYC when Judith is not engaged as a retiree in her charity work.Michael Gershon, MD '63, also of NYC and a professor in the Dept. of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia U., says there's nothing he'd rather do than what he does: traveling for meetings and lectures and fun. "If there were anything else I would rather do, I would do it." He is on an advisory board for Cure Autism Now and with his wife Anne (Angen), MD '64, helps in the babysitting for eight grandchildren. From his Cornell days, Michael remembers being coxswain of lightweight crew and his fraternity activities.

Albert Caines is a retired entomologist and vector control specialist for the Oswego County Health Department; he misses the job--"one in a million." In his free time, Albert is into NASCAR racing, his grandson's high school sports, hunting, and fishing, along with "playing with his pet skunks, raccoons, and other wild creatures."He'd like to hear from David Mech and Don Schneider, LLB '63. Albert can be reached at 29 Kline Dr., Pennellville, NY 13132.HerbWhittall, when not technically advising the Electrical Generating Systems Assn., is busy as treasurer of the Indian River Symphonic Assn. that brings seven orchestras into Vero Beach, FL, for concerts each year.Many are from afar:Wales, Hamburg, Germany, and Russia. He also bookkeeps for the gift shop his wife runs for the Friends of the Library in their main county library. They raised $28,000 this year--a very generous amount, your correspondent adds, based on his own experience with his local Friends of the Library. The Whittalls completed a round-the-world trip in Nov/Dec 2005. Herb would like to hear from Ken Derr, MBA '60, with whom he (we all, Herb) has lost contact. The last we've heard, he was CEO of Chevron. Ken, are you still handling that huge job?

Brad Corbitt continues as captain of his charter boat. He is also helping his daughter remodel homes and volunteers as a driver for a local transportation service--and that's when he and Nancy (Horgen) '74 aren't traveling to/from and enjoying their place in the Florida Keys. Farmer Philip Coombe Jr. raises 150 head of beef cattle on his 1,200-acre farm in Grahamsville, NY, where he's now retired from his job as commissioner of the Dept. of Correctional Services for New York. He and hundreds of volunteers are building a 24,000-sq.-ft. library for their little town; he's responsible for the job and doing a considerable amount of the actual construction. Phil says he loves what he's doing, feels that his college experience "was the best anyone could have," and sounds like he's living life to the fullest.

Finally, a correction from the Nov/Dec column: it's Steve Bank's e-mail, not his son Larry's e-mail address that is spyder59@bellsouth.net. Cheers to all as spring is soon upon us. -- Dick Haggard, 1207 Nash Dr., Fort Washington, PA 19034; e-mail, dhaggard@voicenet.com; Jan Arps Jarvie, 6524 Valley Brook, Dallas, TX 75254; e-mail, jjarvie@sbcglobal.net. Class website, http://classof58.alumni.cornell.edu (for other news and events of the Class of '58).

59 | Receiving much press coverage and acclaim for his latest novel, Against the Day, is the "famously solitary" Thomas Pynchon. The epic novel is set during the years between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I. In a blurb about the book, Thomas writes: "This novel moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event,Mexico during the Revolution, post-war Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places not strictly speaking on the map at all.With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained corporate greed, false religiosity, moronic fecklessness, and evil intent in high places. No reference to the present day is intended or should be inferred."

Almost concurrently with the novel's publication, Thomas was in the news for his support of British novelist Ian McEwan against charges of plagiarism. In a letter to England's Daily Telegraph he stressed that authors of historical novels must borrow from resources contemporary to the period they are writing about: "Unless we were actually there, we must turn to people who were, or to letters, contemporary reporting, the encyclopaedia, the Internet, until, with luck, at some point we can begin to make a few things of our own up."

Dave Dunlop of Brooktondale, NY, notes that a lot of great people come to Cornell as guest speakers. "One of the best I have heard is our own classmate Jack White, who was outstanding when we were students together in the ILR school and still is. It is great to see a classmate with so much ability having invested his talents so generously in public service and education." Jack, the US deputy secretary of defense from 1995 to 1997, presented a lecture in September for the Cornell Inst. for Public Affairs 2006-07 Colloquium Series entitled US Military Transformation: Challenges and Choices. He is the Robert and Renée Belfer Lecturer at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and contributes to the policy debate by co-chairing a project on military transformation with another former deputy secretary of defense, John Deutch.

Dave also writes that he and Neil Janovic serve on the Cornell Plantations Second Century Committee. "Last spring Neil gave me some seeds for my garden. Along with lemon cucumbers and other exotic plants was some Aztec spinach. These seven-foot-tall giants are now the dominant feature of my little garden!"

Always on the alert for news of '59ers, Ron Demer reports that the December Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin noted that Steve Fillo was in Sofia, Bulgaria, earlier in 2006 to attend the annual meeting of the Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund. Steve, who now lives in Edwards, CO, is chairman of the fund's board of directors. The fund has invested in Bulgarian entrepreneurs over the past 15 years, creating jobs and teaching former Communists about free markets to insure that capitalism takes firm root. The Fund has grown from $55 million to over $200 million and is the top performer among all US government enterprise funds created when the Berlin wall came down.

Ron, who lives in Ithaca, also reports that Art Geoffrion, who lives in Santa Monica, CA, has retired after many years of teaching and research at UCLA."He was honored by the board of his main professional society with a surprise day-long public program and closing reception at their annual meeting in Pittsburgh," notes Ron. "His principal retirement hobby is discovering close relatives through genealogical research, visiting them, capturing their information into his database, scanning old family pictures, and collaborating within the family to caption them properly. He has met more than a dozen relatives, half over 75 and one 99 (who is frequently mentioned in Art's parents' courtship letters, which he still has), been warmly received, and heard many priceless family stories."

"Fourteen years is a long time to be away from home," comments Patricia "Paddy"Hurley, who loves being back in her house in Ivoryton, CT. Paddy has retired from full-time public school teaching and is looking for that perfect part-time job. In the meantime she is doing some substitute teaching and quite a lot of performing with her quartet, Fair Winds Brass Ensemble. She's also having fun with her local grandkids--two boys, ages 3 and 1-1/2. Jim Glenn writes that he and his wife Gwenneth have sold their Florida home and moved to a temporary apartment nearby. They are building an adobe house in Taos, NM, and plan to move there in June, after Gwen completes her last year as the librarian and media center specialist in a local elementary school. Jim is winding down his real estate business in anticipation of the upcoming move. The Taos house has been designed by Gwen's architect brother in typical Southwestern style. The contractor is Charles Dillon '76, who works with a quality team of Taos Pueblo Indians. Jim can be reached at 2680 Grande Isle Dr., Apt. 19215, Orange City, FL 32763. -- Jenny Tesar, 97A Chestnut Hill Village, Bethel, CT 06801; tel., (203) 792-8237; e-mail, jet24@cornell.edu.