Update 6-28-01    

Hi,

We're up to 106.  Unfortunately, with the increased contacts come the increased deaths, and I put myself in the awful position of having to call someone's mother to find out if a rumor were true.  Sadly, it was:  Gerry Kaplan was killed five-or-six years ago by a drunk driver.

Unless you were a very close friend of Gerry's, please don't call her mother.  She finds it very painful to talk about Gerry.  I sent a card, on behalf of us all, saying a lot of people were thinking a lot of nice things about Gerry.  I don't know if that will make things worse.  While I was thinking about it, I also sent a similar card to Ken Seelig's wife.  Further, I'm adding Susan Baron and Bari Levi to the list of deaths.  They died while we were still in school, in the days when those things weren't talked about.  But they deserve to be remembered.

On a more personally embarrassing note---the level of Moe, Larry, and Curly---I also discovered blind phone calls turn me into a tot.  Especially when I'm trying to convince someone I never knew that I'm not a stalker, and further persuade them to give me their e-mail address.  It's why I've been saying all along that the best contacts are made by people who were once close friends.  Or even passing friends, or someone you dissected a frog with.  So save me from future humiliation and call anyone you ever knew.

Sorry about the bad news.  Guy-fashion, I figure if I just try to swallow it whole, quickly, maybe it will go away.  More, happier, Monday.


Rich