ALUMNI PROFILES
Gardner Gray '64
One Last Landing

James Simon '64

David Rea '71

David Melpignano '72
Taking Stock

Maura Shaughnessy '83

Jennifer Massengill '88
Cell mate

Mala Rafik '93
Cause and effect

Congratulations to Joan Gay Kent on the recent publication of her new book, Discovering Sands Point: Its History, Its People, Its Places. It is truly fascinating to read and is enhanced by a handsome, well-illustrated format. . . . Helen Strauss ducked New York's late winter weather with her annual trip to Florida, including a visit with Anne Lawrence Bondy '46 and Gene. Helen, Muriel Marker Gould and I attended New York's reception in January for President "Bro" Adams. Everyone there was obviously impressed by him, his good wishes and his important goals for the College. Muriel and I are slated for a June cruise of the Norway coast, round-trip from England with stops along the way, going as far north as Longyearbyen in the North Cape. . . . "Thanks a lot" to Bill Whittemore for using this magazine's class news questionnaire. He reports that last year he and Alice not only visited Egypt and Indonesia (to upgrade scientific equipment he installed in 1965) but also took a trip around the world, with stops in Romania, Japan, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Dalat. They wrapped up Y2K with a cruise of the French Polynesian islands. During the course of all that, the Whittemores celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. . . . Dee Sanford McCunn and Ian (two more major travelers) planned to visit some of Ian's family in Scotland in May and Paris and Venice as well.

-Naomi Collett Paganelli

Thank you, thank you, Marie, Norma, Betty and Fred. Since I love reading your news, I know your classmates will, too. Perennial Manhattanite Marie Kraeler Lowenstein checked in first via e-mail "because you sounded so desperate." I was. She and Larry were just back from London and Paris"great weather, great time. Saw good theater in London including Life x 3, The Caretaker, Long Day's Journey into Night and Merrily We Roll Along. Marie's working as senior consultant in development at the Fieldstone School preparatory to retiring in June after years of raising money for the school. . . . Norma Taraldson Billings, who sounds as though she's finally retired, reports that Dick '47 is recuperating well, with his sense of humor still in place, after surgery for a brain aneurysm. Grandson Sean, after graduating summa cum laude from the University of New Hampshire, joined the Peace Corps and last August journeyed to Uzbekistan, where he teaches English to elementary school students. He picked up the language easily; likes the people; is enjoying a great experience. Watch for Gurney's seed catalogue with a photo of Dick holding big sweet potatoes that he and Jill grow successfully in Maine. . . . When this was being written, Elizabeth Scalise Kilham was planning an April move to a new retirement community. By now we hope Betty is happily ensconced in Brooksby Village in Peabody, Mass. "Time to be carefree and just do as I please," says Betty. Happy Days! . . . All news wasn't as happy. Fred Leshane in Miami is coping with multiple health problems. He is minister emeritus of the First Unitarian Church of Miami and visits the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin, N.C., during the summer. He and Phyllis hope to drive in their handicap-elevator van to their cottage in Hiawassee, Ga., this summer. Fred has a 5-year-old grandson in Gainesville, Fla., and a 2-year-old great-granddaughter in Vista, Calif. Phyllis writes, "Fred is no longer able to speak or write but still votes his ‘compassionate liberal views' by absentee ballot with his legal X." So, Rev. Dr. Fred, we're sorry you won't make reunion but glad to hear your heart is always with Colby. We admire your courage, and we'll be thinking of you. . . . At this writing in March, we have no word of reunion, but by the time you read this it will have come and gone. Did we have a good time or what!

-Anne Lawrence Bondy

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I regret having to report the death in December of Lillian Hinckley Worcester, the result of a stroke following surgery. Lillian was one of three sisters who all attended Colby. She leaves her husband and three sons. . . A few years ago, Beverly Benner Cassara helped to establish the Senior Volunteer Clearinghouse in Cambridge, Mass. This organization's function is to match would-be volunteers with organizations that can use their skills. Beverly works nearly full time in several different capacities for the clearinghouse, co-chair of five committees among them. I'm enjoying being on the publicity committee with her. If any Colby alumni in this area spot the announcement and would like to volunteer, don't hesitate to call (617) 864-6688. We'd be more than glad to find the perfect spot for you. . . . Shirley Lloyd Thorne has recently left for Malta. I hope she will give us an interesting account of her trip when she returns. . . . As I write, John and I plan to be in northern Spain in May. We especially look forward to visiting the Getty Museum in Bilbao and a side trip to the medieval walled city of Carcassonne in southern France. Later I'll be visiting a son and his family in Germany. . . . It's getting increasingly difficult to get news for the column. Please help me bring your friends up to date on your activities.

-Mary "Liz" Hall Fitch

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Well, we reached a milestone, our 50th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to the Dorado Beach Resort in Puerto Rico accompanied by Richard and Vivian Marson (brother and sister-in-law) and one of our daughters, Marsha Moller, and her husband, Ed. The weather was great, with swimming, golf, good food and wine. We took a day trip to Old San Juan for shopping and lunch at El Convento. On July 3 this year Dorothy reaches another birthday milestone! . . . Marvin Joslow can always be depended on to deliver news. He wrote from his home on Martha's Vineyard that he and Betty also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary within the last year. As many of you may recall, Marvin is a volunteer firefighter, town constable and chair of the local zoning board of appeals. Additionally, he is an elected official on no less than five up-island boards. More recent travels have taken the Joslows on an exciting tour of the Southwest, especially New Mexico and Arizona. . . . We received an e-mail from Gene Hunter, who recently had a total hip replacement and was recovering at home. He may have the other hip replaced later. Gene still coaches the Lincoln Middle School girls' basketball team, and they finished with an 11-3 record. He indicated that it was tournament time in Maine and that he still enjoys watching the games. . . . Gil Taverner wrote that in 1981 he went to the St. George's School in Newport, R.I., for a semester. In February of 2001 he completed 20 years of affiliation with the school. Although now living in Concord, Mass., in semi-retirement, he is still the school historian and has written two volumes of the school's history. The newly renovated, state-of-the-art Gilbert Y. Taverner Archives were dedicated in May. . . . Everett Rockwell wrote that they had a fun winter. He worked on a project in which a group of volunteers built forms, poured and finished 3,600 feet of golf cart paths. He said that people were worried about "us old codgers" out there working, but he indicated that they were none the worse for the effort. Little theater and dessert theater were over for the winter, but the chorus was still practicing for an end of March concert. He says that he does not have to leave the park for want of something to do. . . . Hanna Levine Schussheim continues to live a busy life at Dupont Circle in the nation's capital. She reminisced about Mayflower Hill in 1948 and asked which buildings were first used for classes on the new campus. (Seems to me it was the Women's Union (now Runnals) and later Miller Library.) When she returned for her 50th reunion she was amazed at the transformation. Hanna's daughter Rowen Schussheim Anderson and her husband, Steve, and children Sydney and Eric visited Colby last summer from Davenport, Iowa. Rowen teaches textile arts and design at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., and found the Colby art collection to be extensive and world-class quality. . . . Elizabeth Coombs Corke Myers spent five weeks on Sanibel Island on Florida's west coast. She had lunch in November with Deanie Whitcomb Wolf '49 and Marshall at their condo in Vero Beach. Last summer she visited with Nancy Ardiff Boulter '50 in Rockport, Mass. To her surprise she discovered that Nancy owned the house that Elizabeth rented for a family reunion in 1986. Elizabeth says that she thinks of Colby daily because she wears, with pride, her "stunning Seiko watch" designed for Colbyites. . . . From Betty Dyer Brewster we received "greetings from Paradise," otherwise known as Naples, Fla. She is enjoying tennis, golf, swimming and bridge. She had a wonderful millennium (2000) celebration in Naples with 15 family members, including her brother, Dick Dyer '42. In 1999, Betty visited Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Last fall she went to the Caribbean. In 2000 she also went to Orlando to see her granddaughter win a medal in the high jump in the Junior Olympics. The Dyer family now has a third generation at Colby: Matthew Bacon '04, son of Betty's sister, Nancy Dyer Bacon '54, and her husband, Robert, spent his first semester at the University of Salamanca and in February moved to the campus. Betty was to return to Rhode Island for the summer on May 10 and planned to attend her 50th reunion at the Yale School of Nursing at the end of May. At that time she expected to see Marie Machell Milliken, who also graduated from the Yale School of Nursing. Five years ago Marie received the school's Outstanding Alumna award. . . . In early March we heard from Elaine Browning Townsley that her former roommate Hazel Huckins Merrill was in the Peabody Nursing Home in Franklin, N.H. Elaine urged her to recover so that they could attend reunion in June. Elaine and her son, Dudley '72, were going to Florida for a short vacation. She wrote that they had had enough snow for a while.

-David and Dorothy Marson

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No new news from any of you or the Alumni Office, so as promised in my last column I will report on the long letter from Jack Mahoney. Jack lives on Androscoggin Lake in Wayne, Maine, which I discovered in my Maine atlas is west of Augusta. His whole career was spent in the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries on both the west and east coasts. So is it little wonder that when he retired he became interested in environmental issues in general and the health of Androscoggin Lake in particular. For eight years he has been a volunteer lake monitor testing for water transparency and total phosphorous, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen determinations. A watershed survey has been undertaken to attempt to determine the cause of a total algae bloom in 1999. Besides the biological pollution, the lakes of Maine are suffering from chemical pollution. Jack reports that his lake, Androscoggin, is contaminated with dioxin, a noted carcinogen. Three paper mills on the Androscoggin River release it daily in their millions of gallons of discharges. Jack states that this is a health issue but that the federal and state governments do little about itand that these big corporations will do nothing until forced to. Jack goes on to say he enjoyed our 50th and that you girls looked pretty spiffy, even without your bobby sox. . . . By the time you read this, spring will have come, I will have moved permanently to Maine, and we will be enjoying summer. In the meantime, don't forget to send me your news even if it seems trivial to you.

--Anne Hagar Eustis

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