April 2012 - Alumni News - Williams College

and all full scholarship. Matt
said Tom’s class was highly
stimulating.
Matt also had lunch in
December with Bill Harter. Matt
says Bill has lost 60 pounds and
looks great. Hey, nothing like
Bill, but I’ve lost a few; Tom
Shulman noted it last year. I got
a shot over the bow re: type-2
diabetes and hope to stave it off.
I mentioned Phil Rideout’s
and Flavia’s son Danny and his
high position at the Waldorf.
This astounds Phil, who teaches
a lot of Danny’s contemporaries
who have few if any job
prospects. Danny is a graduate
of Johnson & Wales, a university
in Providence big in hospitality.
One of Danny’s fortés is providing
for the particularized tastes
of the many foreign dignitaries
who make the Waldorf their NY
home. When the cooks cannot
deliver, Danny cooks it himself.
Phil and Flavia paid a moving
visit to Ground Zero. They were
both working two miles away
in midtown when the attacks
occurred. Phil also says that he
has finished all of his work on a
fifth edition of his Dictionary of
American English.
Phil said they visited the
Ramapos after their NY visit.
I imagined this must be some
obscure group of North Atlantic
islands. Nope—they are mountains
in northern New Jersey.
I think Ron Cullis drove me
out there once yea those many
years ago. Phil says they greatly
enjoyed the relaxing visit.
Jim Conlan said he and Virginia
spent an enjoyable (and ocean
swimmable) few days at Spring
Lake, N.J., in the fall. Jim says
this area is known as “the Irish
Riviera.”
Jim Hutchinson and Kay finally
did make it to Antarctica on their
third try in December. “Very
enjoyable, though the Drake’s
passage going and coming was
rough. Back in Portland with the
usual winter rain.” Up near the
other end of the planet, Whitey
Kaufmann attended a meeting of
his University of the Arctic board
in Fairbanks in early January. It
was only about 5 below zero—
practically a heat wave for the
time and place. Whitey almost
daily informally posts a reply to
a conservative blog commenting
on some of the prominent
media op-eds. Whitey is so well
informed and articulate that I
sometimes wonder how he managed
to stay out of an even more
active political career. He’s going
to have an active 2012.
I’m going to give you the bad
news about Jim Becket first. He
had some intercranial bleeding
and a subdural hematoma and
underwent brain surgery on
Christmas Day. Jim notes that
it was just a “one hole” surgery.
He was in Southern California
at the time. The good news is
that the surgery appears to have
been very successful. Jim had a
follow-up with the leading neurosurgeon
at UCLA, who gave
him a strong thumbs up on the
denouement. Jim sent me a priceless
blow-by-blow of the events
and his mindset as he awaited
this meeting and “verdict.”
Jim earlier completed his
“peace climb” of Mount
Kilimanjaro with the two scions
of the past-warring African
legends referred to in the last
issue. He’s currently editing and
finalizing that documentary and
a “horror thriller” he directed
in July called Serenity Farm. Jim
reports he’s feeling fine and preparing
for a trip to the Ganges in
India for some more production
work.
I was kind of hoping for an
upper-midwest World Series this
year after the Brewers knocked
off our local Diamondbacks.
Tigers vs. Brewers wasn’t to happen,
but Sandy Hansell confirms
that the renaissances of the local
feral beasts, the Tigers and the
Lions, have raised spirits around
the Motor City. Someone is
going to get rich writing a book
on fan psyche.
John Buckner and Lorraine and
all available family members go
dressed up in stylish Renaissance
garb to celebrate Lorraine’s
birthday and sent me a picture.
I can’t say whether John looks
more ducal or troubadorian.
Lorraine is very much the
contessa, ready to outmaneuver
Catherine de Medici. John Jr. is
very much some royalty higher
than conte. John and Lorraine’s
daughter Alison ’89 is either
queenly or high-level peasantry.
I’m not enough of a renaissance
man to know which.
Donna and Bill Dudley are cochairs
for the National Maritime
Historical Society’s Washington
Awards dinner to be held April
12 at the National Press Club.
Honorees are Admiral Bruce
DeMars, who directed the Navy’s
nuclear propulsion program;
innovative racing yacht designer
Bruce Farr; and eminent marine
artist Patrick O’Brien. Bill says
this was to be a gala affair. You
can reach him at billdudley@
starband.net.
n 1958
Bill Taggart and Lil were off to
Salinas, Ecuador, in late winter;
report to come.
Bruno Quinson and Minkie
had a harrowing experience
relocating to NYC. They were
on the Taconic in the early heavy
snowstorm and their car conked
out. Bruno confesses to envisioning
some “Elderly Couple Found
Frozen to Death” headlines. But
he finally got the car restarted
and limped into Poughkeepsie,
where they got the last room at
the Marriott. Next day, Fifth
Avenue Manhattan never looked
better.
Bruno ran into John Karol at
the annual black-tie affair of
the Century Association in New
York. Bruno says John is looking
good. Not long after the last
issue’s material was submitted
John sent me some fine memories
he had of our late classmate Bill
Huckel. John writes: “I was sorry
to read of Bill Huckel’s death. I
have happy memories of time
spent together with Bill while he
was at Williams. Among others,
I recall long discussions on the
relative merits of Mozart and
Bach—his passion for the former,
mine for the latter. And when
winter ice now clings to our trees
here in New Hampshire, I recall
a hike with Bill up Pine Cobble
where the ice-covered underbrush
chimed our way to the
sun-dazzled summit one Sunday
afternoon. On vacations while
still at Williams, Bill visited my
parents and me in Chappaqua
and Edgartown and joined me
for an event or two in New York.
I heard from Bill in January
2002, together with an appeal
to support The Regeneration
Center in West Palm Beach. I
was pleased to contribute to the
faith-based nonprofit organization
that had rescued Bill from
the addiction that he forthrightly
described. ‘Brother Bill,’ his then
moniker, joyfully responded,
enclosing photos from the center,
including [one] with the caption
‘Here I am with Corey, who, at
18, is our youngest graduate.’ At
the time, Bill reported that his
cancer was in remission but that
hepatitis was taking a toll. Bill
has come to mind many times
over the years. Those who add
to one’s life are never forgotten.
If any of you are in touch with
members of Bill’s family, I would
be pleased to hear from you via
karol@apertura.org.”
Be sure to either download or
order your copy of the “hardcopy”
mag.
aPril 2012 | Williams PeoPle | 25