class notes
For the first time we spent almost three months last summer at our place in New Hampshire and were joined by offspring and their kids. I have been going there all my life, as did my father—a tradition his grandfather started in 1886 . . . We read with interest other classmates’ activities on behalf of our beleaguered planet. While we are pulling back from a number of extracurricular activities, we are still active in a local NH land trust that is having a remarkable run preserving the watershed of our beloved New Hampshire lake. After a number of years with the Connecticut Nature Conservancy (that does great stuff ) it has been fun working with a very local organization with a bare bones budget.As this is written, we are packing our bags for three + weeks in India. If our reading is any indication, it will be a very interesting time with exposure to many new ideas, and differences. This will be our third BRIC country, and we look forward to learning more about a country that is becoming a larger and larger factor on the world scene . . . I have exchanged some emails and correspondence with Margarita Curtis, and I’m very impressed with her accessibility and interest in Deerfield’s alumni—particularly old ones! Ed Opler—January found us happily fishing in Argentina. We spent a week with John Bell at his Carieleufu Valley Lodge. We had a fabu-
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Fall 2010
lous time and Laura caught her largest brown trout ever—28ˇˇ (measured) on a dry fly in Lago Verde. John has a top-notch operation: great accommodations and food and fabulous guides! Nori Kabayama—I will be 80 years old on the coming April 19; however, I am physically and spiritually well. I am still CEO and president of N. Kabayama & Co., and chairman of the three other family-owned companies. I recently had a dream of a Deerfield Reunion in Japan in October, 1990, to which Dave Findlay, Charles Grace, Mat Davidson, Hal Henderson, and John Bell came. We traveled together to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Shima, and Yugawara. We had such a good time together! My wife Utako has suffered from Alzheimer’s disease over the last ten years. She has been living in a nursing home, and she can no longer recognize me. It has been quite a lonely life for me at home. One of my sisters, Mako, passed away a few years ago. Tako is still well but having lost her twin sister, she has been terribly lonely. Masa is doing very well. He is now director of the Lego Company, the Danish toy maker. Masa is having a very happy marriage life with Michiko. Van Skilling—This year finds us in good health and continuing to stay busy. We divide our time between Saratoga, WY, (seven months) and Palm Desert, CA, (five months). Two major trips—the Black Sea in
May/June, where one of the highlights was seeing where history was made at Yalta; and Antarctica with kids and grandkids in January this year, where obviously the amazing penguins were the highlight. I am fortunate to continue to be on corporate boards and to teach at Colorado College every October, which keeps me busy, but I find time for a little golf, which unlike fine wine, does not improve with age, and fly fishing in the North Platte. John Marsh—We continue to enjoy life in Williamsburg, especially our chances to take voluntary, exam and grade-free classes. All the instructors are volunteers and are really impressive in their knowledge and experience. We have about 1650 students and about 100 courses per semester, with courses either taking three or six weeks, two hours per class weekly. We use the facilities of my alma mater, William and Mary, free of charge. As a result, our tuition is $85 a semester, which most of us can afford. We do a variety of other things including travel, although the financial situation has slowed down the frequency of our international travel. I’m off next month for a week to attend an Elderhostel (now Exploritas) session on Antietam Battlefield and Harper’s Ferry. Being a Civil War buff has its benefits. Carol is an enthusiastic bowler and we both enjoy singing in our church choir. I attend a men’s club called the Middle Plantation (Wil-
liamsburg’s original name) Club, a.k.a by our wives as “Romeos” (Retired Old Men Eating Out). We have lots of friends from college and high school days in the area, plus many new ones who have moved here during our 45 years away. I do almost no medical work now, although for about ten years I was privileged to be a volunteer physician at a local clinic for uninsured patients, as well as being an adjunct faculty member at the Medical College of VA in Richmond. I continue to be impressed by the progress made by Deerfield and am proud of having been a student there, if only for a year. Best wishes to all classmates—maybe we’ll meet again! Dick Aldrich—I didn’t write sooner, as nothing much is going on. Since my wife is in poor health, we don’t travel as so many of my classmates, what with their ski trips, etc. Pretty boring stuff. Go to the gym everyday for a couple of hours. Try to keep reasonably fit. About 1994 a family friendship developed into something real nice. Their two daughters, then 14 and 15, lost the only grandfather they had ever known and were very saddened. I told them that they could adopt me, and I would be their grandfather. Since we have no children, I was happy when they said, “OK!” Now they are in their early 30s, and I have one “great granddaughter” whom I think the world of. She is almost three now. I am Grandpa Dick to all