was “Can you name the 5 Smart Boys?” Yes, I could, for just such an occasion. Pete Petrea (Editor, designer, writer for alumni publications, magazine, admissions, catalog etc., 1966-1974)
KUDOS
weheardfromyou LETT E R S , T W E ETS A N D P OSTS
I just wanted to say congratulations to Leslie Taylor and the magazine staff on a job well done... I have been receiving the magazine for many years.....and each issue has outdone the previous. Thank you for your efforts. Bob Birdsall ’72
C. HOMER BAST Wiping back tears from the terrible news, on the week of my 83rd birthday. I have those tears from remembering that Homer Bast literally created my future and career. His freshman year World History course provided me the understanding that perhaps, just perhaps, I was not just another West Virginia hillbilly; that just maybe I had the intelligence to “make something of myself” as the saying goes. Henceforth, after that course, I made Dean’s List, Phi Beta Kappa, three degrees, and had a good and productive career. All because of that first freshman class from this amazing man!! Douglas W. Ayres ’53
SPORTS NEWS Issue 3, 2012 was another excellent, excellent magazine! Frankie Allen? Hal Johnston? I lost count of how many photos I took of them and those teams in the Salem Civic Center! Great memories. On the 5 Smart Boys — Howard Hammersley was the sixth player, but he seldom played. He was the Roanoke Times photographer for many years. Ray Brown told me they could have won the NIT game in New York, but Pop White realized that was the first trip to New York for all of them, so “go have a good time” was the order of the day. They did, and the next day, they didn’t. But in 1968, VP David Thornton assigned me to visit every daily paper in Virginia and West Virginia. When I got to Richmond, the only department not on deadline was Sports. I said, “OK, I’ll visit them.” First thing the Sports Editor said
The Roanoke College News Blog post “NY Times list shows RC a tough place to get an A,” elicited this comment from Todd Dobiszewski ’11: This article has helped me in many ways when I was first applying for a job. It allowed me to “even the playing field” with Ivy Leaguers or students of schools deemed “more prestigious.” I am very grateful for my Roanoke education and being pushed to my fullest potential by an outstanding group of professionals. When I earned an A, I knew I had outworked nearly everyone in the class. Heck, even getting a B+ or B was quite the compliment on a student’s work, as a B+ was almost as difficult to get as an A. I am truly glad I was pushed so extensively, earned each grade I received, and was so thoroughly pushed by my professors into the business professional I am
today! Thanks again to Roanoke College and all the outstanding business/humanities professors I was privileged enough to have had (special thank you shoutouts to business professors Dr. Lynch, Dr. McCart, Dr. K. Baker, and Dr. Nazemi, and to English professor Dr. Heller)! The quality of education would not be the same without each of you! Chaplain Chris Bowen@maroonsdoc
Excited to send out my first tweet as dean of the chapel at Roanoke College. Ready to welcome students back this month! The Princeton Review@ThePrincetonRev
Congratulations @RoanokeCollege! We’re so pleased to have you as part of our #Best378 book! Ryan Hedgpeth@RyanHedgpeth (Class of 2017)
I can’t wait to be at Roanoke College! #hurryup Zach Birtsch@fearlessboi
I never have more love for or pride in @RoanokeCollege than when I’m on another college campus. #classicfortomorrow As an alum, stats killed me as a freshman, but when I did statistical analysis as a poli sci major as a junior and could apply the concepts, it was a piece of cake. Go to your profs the second you feel lost and they’ll get you up to speed! Erin Grant ’98, commenting on the RC Facebook post on Aug. 29 “So, which of your classes seems like it’s going to be the hardest?”
CORRECTIONS • Nancy Wacker Zindel ’71 appeared in a photo that accompanied a profile of RJ Konner ’73 in Issue 3, 2012. Her name was incorrect. • Marty Snortum ’77 received his master’s degree from Ohio University. • Our apologies for the dropped text in the last sentence of the Marty Snortum feature story in Issue 3, 2012. The full sentence: That way “Sir Paul McCartney can buy a pair. He can’t now, but maybe in 2013,” Snortum says.
We want to hear from you! Roanoke magazine welcomes letters and emails about what you read in this publication. Please mail letters to: Magazine Editor, Department of Public Relations, Roanoke College, 221 College Lane, Salem, VA 24153, or send an email to: rcmagazine@roanoke.edu. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and may be edited for style, clarity or content. Questions, comments and corrections may be mailed or emailed to the same mailing address and email address. Be sure to “like” us on Facebook.
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