CLASS OF 1966 | 2023 | SUMMER ISSUE

Bud Smith has done it again, publishing another book; Bud edited and wrote a foreword to  Gauntlet in the Gulf: The 1925 Marine Log and Mexican Prison Journal of William F. Lorenz, MD. The inimitable secretary of the Class of 1967, Richie Zweigenhaft, reviewed the book, writing: “Gauntlet in the Gulf reveals the adventurousness of William F. Lorenz, a prominent early twentieth-century psychiatrist who, in 1925, was forced to abandon a fishing vessel smack in the Gulf of Mexico, only to be imprisoned with his shipmates in the Yucatan. It also reveals how innocent individuals traveling internationally can become caught up in geopolitical animosities. Finally, it reveals an insightful and engaging storyteller, as Claude Clayton Smith deconstructs Lorenz’s fascinating journal. When the Ruth strikes a reef, Lorenz’s leisurely, lyrical account, takes a stunning and dramatic turn.”

On the subject of books, David Luft’s The Austrian Dimension in German Intellectual History (2021) is now in paperback. This past January, “[a] colleague in Poland invited” David to give a lecture in Poznan, and he spoke on “writing Central European intellectual history. My friends in Europe suggested that, since I would be there anyway, we could create a workshop on the changing forms and meanings of Romanticism in the 19th century and after. I spoke to the workshop on Romanticism on January 23.” Harold Potter and his wife Lee have been traveling as well, Harry dropping me this note: “Lee and are at Logan waiting for our flight to Paris. Then on to Morocco.” Thomas Hawley has been receiving visitors at his home in Carmel-by-the-Sea. “Not too long ago we got together with Cliff and Michelle Shedd and Bill Boynton and his very nice female friend for a lovely evening together. And before that, Sandy Van Kennen and his son paid us a visit, which was just great.” Another West Coast classmate, Clark Byam, is “still alive and been retired since end of 2021 after 49 years of practice. Hike along in hills where I live [Pasadena] and play golf. Invested in stock market and so far reasonably happy with results.” David Griffith, who is about to retire from a distinguished career as a lawyer in Colorado Springs, writes: “Our family is fine. I’m in pretty good shape and looking forward to fly-fishing and nature photography and seeing the summer again, waking up to the mountains and rivers. I’m about to retire from law practice after 52 years. I’ve been writing stories from law and life . . . some true, others I’m not sure if the stories are true or lies or dreams recalled from mixed memories. Old habit of Griffith men to tell a good story and exaggerate or tell outright lies to make the story better.”

Dan Lang in “August . . . began a three-year term as a member of the Board of Governors at King’s University College,” London, Ontario, Canada, “a liberal arts college much like Wesleyan today. . . . ” At a recent board retreat, “maintaining faculty quality” was discussed. The phrase caught Dan’s attention. “Maybe it was the notion that King’s and Wesleyan are what we today call ‘selective liberal arts colleges’ that triggered a recollection of where I had heard the phrase before: Victor Butterfield in his address to the entering class, and in a little booklet—The Faith of a Liberal College—that we all received in our orientation packages. I still have a copy and looked. There it was on page 19, ‘responsibility for maintaining a faculty of quality.’” Dan doesn’t think much will come from such a discussion; “in Canada academic senates and faculty unions give the idea short shrift as a role of governors.”

Bob Dearth, “a car nut” who “can’t accept aging gracefully,” writes, “Instead of throwing a big, six-figure sum at a new high-performance Corvette, I have gotten the bug to preserve one of the late ’50s/early ’60s piece-of-art automobiles that came out of Detroit as I was growing up.

My latest focus is on a ’61 or ’62 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible. These were huge tributes to chrome and options that were being added all the time to the cars being designed in Detroit. I’ve bought a shell of a ’62 that now seems to need more dollars to restore than I bargained for and I will likely turn to one already restored and finished . . . not to be a trailer queen but to drive and enjoy while we can still buy premium gasoline. I still remember the 17-year-old date I had as a senior in high school whose dad worked for GM and who had a ’62 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible as his company car and who let us take it out on dates, especially since the bucket seats and console kept us a respectable distance apart as we drove.”

We end with a celebration of the life of Frank Burrows who died on February 2. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. His daughter Lauren writes that Frank “died peacefully at home. As was his nature, he remained cheerful and in good spirits until the very end.” Rick Crootof, who knew Frank well, visiting him at his home in Florida, writes: “Frank was a giant in our magnificent 50th Reunion class book, itself a giant love fest to our class. I am so glad he was able to join us for a reunion or two after the 50th.” John Neff wrote to Lauren: “I’m not surprised to hear that he was cheerful and in good spirits. I have only the most affectionate and smiling remembrances of your dad over all these years. Apart from Middletown I visualize him most in Faulkner territory there in Oxford. Or at a parting breakfast or lunch at our 50th when passing on to him a skinny red, white, and blue regimental tie acquired from J. Press in 1965–1966 for our tongue-in-cheek ‘secret society’ F.S.S.S. (Fraternal Society of the Self-chosen Seven) whose ritual greeting was ‘fssss-sss.’ All good times. Not least his quarterbacking our last reunion book with all the incredible Argus and other documentation—a labor of love.”

Dave McNally shared with Lauren this reminiscence: “Your dad was ever cheerful and good spirited, and always a pleasure to be with. And I will never forget, sitting at a round table at one of our class reunions (I think it was the 40th or 45th) when I noticed that my wife Michelle kept staring across the table at your mother Carol, and vice versa. It turned out that they had shared a house off campus when both were undergraduates at the University of Minnesota. Talk about small world! I was glad that Frank passed away peacefully (may we all be so fortunate). And may you fully celebrate his life even as you mourn his passing.”

As Rick wrote to Lauren: “I think we can all agree that you are an honorary member of the Class of ’66, however distinguished that might be! Thanks for keeping us informed, Love, Rick.” Amen.