Sep/Oct 2004

First of all this month, I bring you greetings from Tokyo. Jim Schweitzer-san and I visited Bogaty-san in June, partially on the important class business of delivering his class clown — no, that’s not right — class service award. William was appreciative, and he has no doubt proudly stored it in his futon closet. We also were treated to a tour of his office, the very one in which he taped the class message for reunion. The office is large enough for at least six Japanese families and serves as evidence that Exxon-Mobil will not be going the way of Enron any time soon. Will and Helen were terrific and gracious hosts, and we thank them for their hospitality. (An advisory: We were put on notice that no additional Yale guests will be welcome, including a return visit from us.)

On to other important news. William Alper wrote from Rye, New York, to report that his son Dan graduated from Kenyon in May, and his younger son Ben has finished his second year at West Point. Bill and wife Kathy spent two weeks in Tuscany in April, so request photos if you see them.

Cornelis Disco provided the first news from The Netherlands during my tenure in this job. He writes: “We moved to Groningen two years ago to live in a bigger and better barge, but are yearning to return to Amsterdam. My seven-year-old son refuses to learn English; what can you do? My wife Esse is studying to become a haptotherapist (a Dutch invention; look it up in your F&W). [From a Google search, “a form of therapeutic assistance and accompaniment, which aims to help the person to recover or develop his psychic health.” Which, I suppose, could involve illegal substances.] As grand old man of the outfit, I am partly retired from teaching and dividing my time about equally between matters of the intellect and matters of the hand — more a Roman than a Greek balance.”

Lee Bachman reported from Minneapolis that his son Andrew is an ER physician at HCMC in downtown Minneapolis and is marrying another ER doctor, Katie Leuck (apologies if I misinterpreted his handwriting), this fall, and that they will be joining the staff at Methodist Hospital this summer. Also, “My granddaughter Julia (class of 2023?) keeps us busy.”

That’s all the news coming to us after reunion, but if you are part of the class listserv, you’ve heard more than enough from classmates to last until the 40th. Let me hear from you.