Jul/Aug 2015

As Garrison Keillor would say, “It’s been a quiet month in Lake Wobegon.” Very little news, either good or bad. Bad: I have been officially informed that Richard Griest has died, but I have almost no information on him. Greg Montes has said he will prepare a memorial. Here is what I have from our yearbook: Richard was born in Salt Lake City, and entered Yale in 1966. Philosophy major. Resident of Morse (tackle football and crew). US Grant Foundation, 1966–67. Future occupation: writer.

Good: The Class of 1969 Scholarship Fund is again supporting Vincent Tanutama. Yale reports: “Vincent spent last summer working as a poverty alleviation intern for the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning near his hometown of Jakarta. There, he helped plan and implement social welfare policies. Now back on campus for his junior year, Vincent has declared a major in ethics, politics, and economics and is studying international development, welfare states, and institutional design in his courses this semester. He hopes to one day obtain a master’s degree in public policy before working with the Ministry of Welfare in Indonesia or doing economic research at a think tank.… In his free time Vincent serves as the creative director of the multilingual magazine Accent and is a dedicated member of Timothy Dwight College.”

The letter also reports that the market value of our scholarship fund is now $241,983. Good! Also reported in the same letter: “With the current cost of tuition, room, and board at $59,800 . . .” Wow. Didn’t we start at about $2,350?

The mailbag is once again empty. I would especially like to hear from those who have been reticent to write. I would remind them that the life clock on the wall says it is after 6 p.m. of our one “day” on this mortal coil. The hands on the clock seem to only go faster. Who is still working and enjoying it (or not)? Who is retired and enjoying it (or not)? What do you want to accomplish or experience or see or learn before midnight on your life clock? We could put all of this off until the 50th, but the iron laws of demography and large numbers guarantee that some of our clocks will stop before then. Write, dammit!

“Are you havin’ any fun? / What y’gettin’ out o’ livin’? / What good is what you’ve got / If you’re not havin’ any fun? / Are you havin’ any laughs? / Are you gettin’ any lovin’? / If other people do, / So can you, / have a little fun / …You better have some fun / You ain’t gonna live forever / Before you’re old and gray, / feel okay / Have a little fun, son! / Have a little fun!” –George White’s Scandals of 1939.

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