Class of 1949 | 2014 | Issue 1

Frequently I have a dearth of material to write about unless my “boss” at Wesleyan, Cynthia Rockwell, comes to my aid. She has done so on this occasion. She sent out a plea to classmates on my behalf and I have two responses, one from a teammate and one from a fraternity brother.

First the frat brother, Nat Hathaway: As I recall, (he did not verify this), Nat lives in a retirement community in Phoenix, Ariz., called “La Sienna.” He tells me he is 90 years old, and, I observe, he still has an active and fertile mind. He is currently giving talks to his community neighbors about Thomas Jefferson. The issue presently being discussed is the “Sally Factor.” Many of us will recall that Jefferson was accused of fathering children with a slave, Sally. I thought this issue was resolved and the families identified but Nat describes it as “quite a mystery” that has to do with the “Y” chromosome. Sadly, Nat’s wife, Lu, passed away two-and-a-half years ago.

I told Nat in a response to his e-mail that I recall going to a fair in Middletown, Conn., with him and Lu when she suffered an attack of asthma. I suspect that is why they settled in Arizona.

Bob Wylie, my teammate, came through with a short autobiography. He and Karen have been married for 61 years and have four children and six grandchildren. Bob was marketing V.P. for three companies, Celanese, Hoehst, and World Courier, LTD. During his business career he attended the AMP course at Harvard and, after retirement, got his master’s degree in economics at Western Connecticut State University. Bob lives in Greenwich, Conn., where my brother Hap’s family and my family grew up. Bob has been active in town government, with the Congregational church, and on the board of various business and civic associations. He has been a political consultant and manager of a number of campaigns. Karen was a real estate broker for 30 years in Greenwich and is now a docent at the Bruce Museum. She is also the recipient of the Carnegie Medal for a heroic act many years ago. She saved the life of a boy who fell through the ice on a nearby body of water, risking her own life, as I recall.

As some of you may recall, Bob and I were teammates on the track team. Together we made a happy duo for Coach Fritz Martin as he could usually figure on 12 to 16 points from us toward the final score at each meet.

David Richards, the author of a series of books about a naval captain in the British Navy during our revolution and which I wrote about in the previous issue of Wesleyan, has sent me another of his publications called Pollen in the Wind. It is described as “a collection of short stories of developing Western United States during the 1800s.” Again, I found it fun reading and would recommend it for easy reading, unlike Charles Krauthammer who uses such “big” words one needs a dictionary nearby (see his Things That Matter), but whose politics I admire.

William C. Brooks

9 Willow Pond Rd., Amelia Island, FL 32034

williamcbrooks@comcast.net