Nov 1995
It is my sad duty to report the death of John Mackey. The following note was received from several of his classmates: “John Mackey died on the night of Tuesday, August 15, 1995. All of John’s friends mourn him deeply. We all remember him as he was in the 1960s — young and vital. There was always a vivid excitement about him as well as an uncanny ability to bring out the best in all of us.
”Our hearts go out to Jan; to their children: Alex, John, and Jane; and to the whole family. We think especially now of Jan, whom we remember so well from freshman year because John talked about her endlessly. Against all odds, he won her, and that was the smartest thing he ever did.
“Many of us knew in recent months that John was terminally ill. So his death comes as a release from pain. We can take some solace from that. But all of us, upon learning of John’s death, felt a deep pang of loneliness.”
Further evidence of the tenuous hold we all have on life is a short note from Derek Huntington (whose address, I should report, is headed “ZZZ Carpentry, Inc.”). Derek writes that he was “diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, 1989; started dialysis, March 1994; received kidney transplant, March 8, 1995. After a few ups and downs in the hospital, I am improving steadily. A taste of mortality is a tonic for the soul.” I wonder.
In a less sober tone (hard to cheer up after the last two entries), I got a nice note fromAndy White, which enclosed a complimentary profile of my interlocutor from the June 23 issue of the L.A. Daily Journal. Although the photo in the article suggests that Andy hasn’t aged since roughly 1969, he notes that the printing process helped to obscure the wrinkles around his eyes and the ravages of every late-night road trip to Vassar and of other insults to body and soul. The article, I should add, quotes a judge in a case as saying to Andy: “You are one of the most brilliant lawyers I have ever seen. . . . You are almost as smart as I am.” Andy hastens to add for us that the judge is, in a certain respect, mistaken. Since the case in question is on appeal, I will leave to the reader to divine that respect. While not working, or fundraising for Yale and other, lesser, institutions, Andy works up the courage for triathlons, and dreams of trying the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii in a couple of years. Makes me tired just writing this.
Received a fairly cryptic note from Felix Pace suggesting that I “extol the virtues of the little, unassuming institution . . . at the very heart of the University — Dwight Hall.” He says he recently became reacquainted with the place, and it is gratifying to know that the spirit of service is still strong and active at Yale. Maybe Felix can elaborate at some point; in any event, there it is.
Got a note several months ago from Hughes Norton, enclosing articles from the May 2Cleveland Plain Dealer and April 16 San Francisco Examiner. Seems that he played in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament, with his team originally finishing second. I say “originally” because the putative winning team included a Japanese amateur who had rigged his handicap. This caused an unprecedented decision to strip the winners of their cup, and to award the win to Hughes and his pro partner. The Japanese Amateur Golf Association has expressed embarrassment and apology, and directed the sinning golfer to do same (not yet forthcoming). While I hesitate to ascribe any geopolitical meaning to this incident, it is at least a nice “happy ending” for Hughes. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit in the articles is that the offending Japanese golfer is (1) 72 years old (a six handicap isn’t bad), and (2) the owner of the golf club in Japan which certified his handicap as 15.
Bill Caltrider has sent in a large packet which describes a nonprofit organization he started last year called the “Center for Alcohol and Drug Research and Education.” This organization operates as a clearinghouse for public policy information on the use of alcohol and other drugs, and offers expert services to other nonprofit organizations. This effort has taken Bill to Thailand under UN auspices and to India on a teaching gig for the State Department. I gather that the newest program of the group is the “Drug Prevention Network for the Americas,” which is engaged in technology transfer and collaboration for North America, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Space doesn’t allow more here, but Bill is interested in hearing from classmates who have an interest in programs in this field, especially those with particular interest in social development in other countries.
Finally, Hugh Connell, one of our more faithful correspondents and still in the Navy, writes that he’s received new orders as chief of staff for the U.S. Sixth Fleet, stationed in Gaeta, Italy. While he hopes to return to the political mire of Washington (he was on the Secretary of Defense staff), which he actually writes that he enjoyed, he sounds satisfied with life and the posting. Of course, his note was written before the recent activities over the skies of Bosnia, so I suspect that the imagined idyllic life in a mountainside villa in Italy has, shall we say, been exploded by reality. Hugh also reports the birth of his first grandchild, and says everything else pales by comparison.
More next month.