Class Notes

In every letter I write to classmates, I ask who they’ve seen or heard from. Bob Switzgable responded that he has been seeing Bill Churchill every summer on Cape Cod, where Bob lives himself. Bill now lives in Burlington, N.C.

I’ve been telling people about the 65th Reunion next spring and Bob said he plans to come along with King Berlew, who said that if all goes well in the meantime, he and his wife, Jeanne, would also be attending,

Bill Mitchell wrote from Hendersonville, N.C., that his health continued to be good and he continued to be quite active. Bill said he’d do his darnedest to make our 65th Reunion and he was hoping a lot of classmates make it. In the meantime, he’d try to get to a Wesleyan football game.

Bob Willet’s wife, Martha, wrote from Manhattan Beach, Calif., to report that Bob is living in a residential care facility, appropriately named “A Helping Hand.”

I’ve also heard from Jack Pfeiffer, in Jonesboro., Ga.; Jack White, in Wayzata, Minn.; and Bob Mack, in Mexico, N.Y. Jack Pfeiffer lost his wife, Nancy, early in the year and he has moved to a senior citizen’s homestead. He would not be able to make our 65th but hoped we could get enough for a good turnout. “Tell my classmates I wish them good health and a good turnout,” Bob said.

Chuck Exley, writing from Florida, said he saw Matt Clark, Richard De Gennaro and his brother George DeGenaro fairly recently.

Jim McKeon’s wife, Betty, wrote from Danbury, Conn. where Jim was about to move to a residential facility, Maplewood of Danbury.

Bill Steele has also reached the handicapped stage but he still plays a mean game of ping pong and hikes with his wife. Temperamentally, she says, he remains gentle, kind, and funny.

I hope to hear from more of you.

DAVID M. PHILIPS | davephilips69@hotmail.com

100 Elena St., Apt. 618, Cranston, RI 02920-7620

Hi, guys! I’m Bud Dorsey, and I was just asked to be the new Class Secretary, so I guess you could say I’m “the new kid on the block.” My wife, Margie, and I moved from New York to St. Simons Island 21 years ago, and we love it here… nice climate, slower pace, friendly people. I am retired from the investment business and now do quite a bit of volunteer community and church work.

I had a nice conversation with Bob Birney, who preceded me as Class Secretary, and he had just returned from playing 18 holes of golf at the tender age of 90. Not bad, eh? After graduating from Wesleyan, Bob received a PhD in psychology from the University of Michigan and taught at Amherst College from 1954–1968, and then helped create Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. He now lives in Williamsburg, Va.

We regret to report the death of Bill Anderson, who died on June 20, 2015. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, and co-captain of the golf team. We extend condolences to his family.

We also regret to inform you of the death of Peter Fernald. A brief account of his life and accomplishment follows: Distinguished Wesleyan alumnus and benefactor Peter Fernald died Sept. 25, 2015, at age 86. At Wesleyan, Peter was an Eclectic, fenced and played soccer. He was awarded the Thorndike Regional Scholarship, which forged his enduring desire to support financial aid at Wesleyan. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in English and extensive coursework in mathematics, Peter served in the U.S. Air Force. He then obtained an MA and MBA at Harvard and worked at Arthur D. Little. Peter was hired by the Chandler family, owners of the Los Angeles Times, to help them develop their affiliated businesses. He spent many years as the Times-Mirror Corp’s director of planning, overseeing strategic development and acquisitions. In 2009, Peter was interviewed and featured at length in the PBS documentary Inventing LA: the Chandlers and their Times, which highlighted the ways in which the growth of the Times-Mirror Company was tied to the development of modern Los Angeles. Peter never married, and he remained close to the Chandler family in his early retirement years, living in the hills of Pasadena, Calif.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend our 65th Reunion on Memorial Day weekend. Were any of you there? We would love to hear about it by phone, e-mail or “snail-mail.” (See addresses below.)

And, whether or not you were at the Reunion, if you are alive and kicking, we would like to hear from you…..where you are and what you are doing. So, keep in touch!

Bud Dorsey| margiedorsey5@gmail.com

161 Shore Rush Drive., St. Simons Island, GA, 31522 912/638-5616

Please write to your class secretary.

William C. Brooks | williamcbrooks@comcast.net
9 Willow Pond Rd., Amelia Island, FL 32034

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Sandy Mclean | rmcleanjr@aol.com
2270 Melville Drive, San Marino, CA 91108

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Our facility recently changed television servers, and so, I have the new e-address below. My math skills were ever frail, and the upgrade from Comcast to Direct TV is a new challenge in that channel triple digits and my own fumbling digits make watching anything an adventure in exploration; and my old love for reading and writing is rekindled. The word ’writing’ reminds me that a few weeks prior to this October, I received a handsome trophy that recognizes two poems I submitted to an Atria—an arts contest—more than a year ago. The citation indicates that my modest verses “…are among the 25 best of more than 900 offerings.” Well, as Archie would put it, there’s still life in the old guy. Enough life, at least, to be invited to deliver a talk on Veteran’s Day: the history of the Tenth Mountain Division in World War II. This division is unique in the U.S. Military in that it was recruited initially through a civilian organization, National Ski Patrol. It trained for almost two years at Camp Hale, Colo., and then distinguished itself in combat during the final months of the Italian campaign. After the war, division veterans revolutionized what was essentially a rich man’s sport into what is today’s ski industry; warming climate patterns hint at future industry woes.

This was our 70th Reunion year If anyone planned any sort of on-campus festivities, I never knew of it, so I’ll be truly happy to receive a note or an e-mail to include in my next class notes. Slán go fóill!!

FRANCIS W. LOVETT | francis.lovett1@comcast.net
805 Compassion Drive, Apt. 208, Windsor, CO 80550
907/460-9338

Adolf Grünbaum’s writings deal with the philosophy of physics, the theory of scientific rationality, the philosophy of psychiatry, and the critique of theism. In a 2012 book, Why Does the World Exist?, the New York Times journalist Jim Holt described Grünbaum as “arguably the greatest living philosopher of science.” And Holt declared (p. 63): “…in the philosophical world, Adolf Grünbaum is a man of immense stature.”

In 2013, Oxford University Press in New York City began publishing three volumes of his collected papers and lectures under the overall title Adolf Grünbaum: Collected Works. The first volume is devoted to his writings on scientific rationality, the human condition, and 20th century cosmologies. The second volume contains papers on philosophy of physics, time, and space. The third volume features lectures on psychology and psychoanalysis, including Grünbaum’s previously unpublished 1985 Gifford Lectures, and his 1985 Werner Heisenberg Lecture to the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in Munich, Germany.

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Again, I regret having to announce three more losses to our Class of ’43 since my last report. Cyrus Quinn, a fellow soccer player and longtime class agent, who was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, died June 29, 2014. Robert Ackart, a Psi U brother, died Dec. 14, 2014; and Rollin Polk, an Episcopal priest, who was a member of Delta Upsilon, died March 16, 2015. These classmates will be greatly missed and our hearts go out to their families.

Here in Virginia we enjoyed some balmy weather this fall. I hope the same was true where you are. I continue to be involved in my bout with cancer. I have already had two operations, and they have just discovered another cancerous tumor. So here I go again!

Fred Mellor writes: “Appreciated your notes. At 95 years, we’re both in our later 50 years of living, making us prone to injury. I fell and hurt my left leg, so I walk with the help of a cane now. We still belong to Portage Country Club, but only for eating out and playing bridge. I gave up playing golf at 92, the year I shot 59 at a challenge round. Our second son moved here (Akron), so we see him a lot at his own apartment or at our house. Our daughter is close by in Cleveland and our oldest son lives in Sweden with our 19-year-old granddaughter. I do not know of any classmates, or how ole’ Wes has grown over the years, but I do enjoy Wesleyan magazine. All that I can remember of sports and Beta Theta Pi fraternity is most favorable. Well, Fred, you do a great job of reporting on our class.”

From Dick Ferguson: “Always so good to hear from you. Don’t have much news for you, but I always think of you when I go past your Wildweed House. Those were the good old days!”

Frederick P. Appleton
100 O’Brien Court, Suffolk, VA 23434

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