Greetings from sunny Florida, where I (Pat Farnham Russell) just completed a Road Scholar program, Kayaking the Everglades. For the more adventuresome, this was an excellent program. The only way to really see the Everglades is in a kayak or canoe. Plenty of wildlife, including alligators of every size. * Al Neigher hopes you’re all having a great 2015. * Graham Barkham read about New York Times reporter James Risen, who won Colby’s 2014 Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism and spoke at the Lovejoy Convocation in October about his refusal to name a national security source. * Dave Jacobson remembers taking an organizational behavior course with Professor Gemery and sociology courses with professors Geib and Birge. After spending the holidays visiting kids in San Francisco and Denver, the Jacobsons were back home, where Dave was preparing for a second knee replacement with hopes of being on the tennis courts by May. Dave enjoys keeping in touch via Facebook with other classmates. * Ann Tracy’s senior-year remembrance needs to be quoted: “I was taking oil painting with Abbott Meader. I wasn’t very good at it, but I was happy. I had to leave it a little early to get to my Shakespeare class, so I had a special dispensation to show up in my otherwise-prohibited blue jeans, which made me feel wonderfully bohemian. At the last class of Shakespeare, Mark Benbow said, ‘Our revels are now, indeed, ended,’ and we all begged for one more class in vain. I must have been taking Spenser from Colin MacKay, because I was having a kind of nervous intellectual meltdown that last spring. MacKay kindly told me that he’d had his meltdown the first semester of grad school, and it was much better to get it over with as a senior. How lucky we were to have professors at once exacting and sympathetic! I think of them often and try to strike that balance.” * Bruce Brown, who left Colby for BU during sophomore year, was glad to have attended part of our 50th reunion. Bruce travels extensively; he was in India and this spring planned to travel to Latvia, Estonia, and St. Petersburg, followed by an art tour of Milan, Venice, and Turin in the fall. Bruce is codirector of the PhoPa Gallery in Portland, Maine, where he is also a guest curator and art exhibitor. * Brenda Lewison and Bill rented a cottage on Penobscot Bay last summer. They enjoyed visiting area towns, spending time with family, and a visit from Lynn Kimball. On the way home to Cleveland they had their almost-annual visit with Cindy Dunn Barber and Sandy Keef Hunter in Vermont. Brenda remembers a difficult economics course and MacKay’s Evolution of the English Language senior year. * Nancy and Gerry Tays took a river cruise followed by a motor trip around Scotland, and this spring they are headed to South Africa. Gerry is writing a journal of their trips. * Professors Reuman and Geib inspired Ceylon Barclay to address the virulent malice in the communist world. After building his own successful company, he spent decades working and investing in Grenada, Nicaragua, Russia, and China. Now he and Irina are writing. Look for The Taxol Thief and Twenty Years in Berias Hell in 2015. * Judy Hoagland Bristol reminds us that our 55th is approaching. We need to generate ideas, especially about our pre-reunion gathering. Camden was a successful venue for our 50th. We are seeking suggestions for other locations. Judy and Harry are still traveling: Ecuador, Galapagos, Amazon, England, Wales, and Scotland. They took their 17-year-old grandson to Oklahoma and Arkansas. Roey Carbino visited in May. As Judy says, “The great thing about us Colbyites is that we just pick up where we left off.” Judy and Harry plan to move into a new retirement complex next fall. Happy downsizing!
Spring 2015