Update 6-4-02


Hi,

This is turning into the Olympics.  Zelda White Nichols makes a pitch for San Diego in 2005:

From Zelda:  Hey, classmates!  Do you know San Diego's main source of revenue until three years ago was tourism and conventions?  That includes reunions, and the reason is sun.  No rain -- almost ever! (we've had a whole 3 inches since January 1st).  What better climate to have a reunion in?  No humidity.  No flies or mosquitos.  No potholes.  What we have is glorious weather.  And beaches.  Also, the well-known San Diego Zoo, companion zoo to the Wild Animal Park -- which is even better.  Plus, Sea World, world-class surfing and sport fishing, Old Town, Seaport Village, zillions of concerts for every music lover, terrific theater, vineyards, incredible restaurants, and hundreds of hotels, including the famous Hotel Del Coronado, a real old time resort where Some Like It Hot was filmed.  And did I mention beaches, beaches, beaches!  Why not consider San Diego?  Temperatures are usually a steady 75, year round.  Perfect for relaxation.

Counterpoint, from Jerry Bittman:  For Zelda Nichols:  Funk, Nebraska is located in the south-central part of the state.  I don't think you'll find it on many maps.  Also, I'm glad to know that your husband made it out of the state.  Though that barn fire you saw became a state holiday.  Every second Saturday in October, they burn a barn in each county.  That's how you meet your neighbors.
      And for Jean Cohen Oklan:  Ak-Sar-Ben (Nebraska spelled backwards, for those who missed last week's lesson) is also the name of a horse track in Omaha.
      Great News:  I was told last week by a Dr. Brown -- no, not the one who makes cream soda -- in Ft. Lauderdale that I'm on the list to become a guinea pig for a new medical procedure.  I guess they figured since I'm the size of a pig that I should qualify.  They're waiting to hear from the FDA within the next few months, before beginning this procedure in the States.  It will be done at Mt. Sinai hospital in New York City, so the next mini-reunion should be held in the hospital.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because if this is successful, transplants will become a thing of the past.
      Meanwhile, if anyone's stuck for something to do this summer, you're welcome to come visit Nebraska -- where you can bale hay, or milk the cows, or detassle the corn.  I'm sure you're all running to your travel agents now.  Be good, and stay in trouble

Some disparagement, from Diane Fruzzetti:  You must be kidding about Nebraska.  I cannot think of one reason why I would ever want to go to Nebraska, even for a class reunion.  What is in Nebraska?  Why Nebraska?  How about Venice, Italy?  Or Paris, France?

And regional noises, from Ms. Blitfield Pech:  Good grief, I am so happy that I will be seeing Mr. Bittman in Florida.  And, as much as I love to travel and see our country --   especially through the eyes of a home town host -- NEBRASKA???  This is a joke, right?  Tell me, it's a joke.  Then again, I did some net surfing and discovered that Kearney, Nebraska has a Sonic Burger and a Hometown Donut Shop (but no Krispy Kreme).  S till, I'm gonna wait for the next wave of opinions before I make up my mind.  Yee-haw!

A more rational view, from Roz Minsky Bobrow:  I had a thought for the next reunion:  Why not some place we might all like to visit?  For example, Disneyworld or Las Vegas.  Or Toronto, Boston, Montreal, San Diego, Atlantic City.  All have meeting facilities, large and small.  Another time, another place is what I'm thinking, though I'm not ready yet.  But I think my husband Alec is!

A non-Nebraska note, from Ira Mitzner:  Last weekend was graduation at Brown University.  Staying at the Biltmore Hotel were Steven Davidson and Ellen Nudelman (for their daughter); Nancy Nudelman and Rich Lobell (for their niece); Ken Schwartzman (for his daughter); and my brother Rick (South '68) and I (for my son).  In all, seven South graduates.  Great fun.

A courtesy note, from Eric Hilton:  At my age and weight, I need as much help telling me I look nice.  Thanks.

A change of address, from Richard Meis:  I have sold my businesses after 23 years, so please change my e-mail address to my home:  splashmick@aol.com  Thank you.  (Congratulations, Richard.)

And it's come to this -- as we begin taking each other's pulses:  obituaries of two people who may have influenced our growing up:  From The New York Times:

Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew novels -- those spine-chilling tales of the fearless teenage sleuth who motored about in a blue roadster solving crimes -- died on Tuesday in Toledo, Ohio.  She was 96.  Nancy Drew, seldom just Nancy, inspired readers, many of them envious girls, to scoop up more than 80 million copies of the books in the series.  Here was a heroine who could survive being beaten, choked, and tossed into car trunks, escape spiders and snakes, and then retire at night in her four-poster bed in a golden bedroom.  She dated the athletic Ned and basked in the attentions of her doting, widowed father, the distinguished lawyer Carson Drew.  And she had no mother to interfere with her adventures.  Mrs. Benson, her anonymous ghostwriter, took a title and a few sentences of outline and turned them into 200-page novels, once churning out 13 in one year, when she was also working full-time as a newspaper reporter.  She generally got $125 a book, plus Christmas bonuses, and signed away all rights to royalties and personal recognition.  To her readers, she was Carolyn Keene, one of at least two and perhaps as many as six writers who used that pseudonym for the original 56 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories.  Some of the originals are still in print, republished by Applewood Books.  But as the author of the very first one, "The Secret of the Old Clock" (Grosset & Dunlap, 1930), it was she who defined the character.  In an interview with Salon, an online magazine, in 1999, she described Nancy as a person who believed in her own freedom. "The girls were ripe for a change in literature," she said. "They were way overdue for a good, entertaining story that broke away from the old style of writing.  I think Nancy was the character the girls were waiting for."

Dave Berg, who affectionately spoofed what he called "the human condition" in the pages of Mad magazine for more than 40 years, died on May 16 at his home in Marina del Rey, California.  He was 81.  Mr. Berg created the magazine's enduring "The Lighter Side" comic strip.  He began working for Mad as a freelancer in 1956, introducing "The Lighter Side" in 1961.  "They were satirizing commercials, movies and TV programs," he once told Contemporary Authors.  "I added something new: people.  That's when 'The Lighter Side' was born.  It was more than just gags.  It was a psychological and sociological study of the human condition, and truth in humor."
He often put friends, family members and colleagues into his cartoons, among them William M. Gaines, the publisher of Mad, whose head appeared mounted, like a deer's, on a wall.  He also drew himself into the strip regularly as Roger Kaputnik, an Everyman with an always-present pipe.  Mr. Berg "saw the American scene as a wonderful example of our culture, our society, and our life and did comments on that," said Nick Meglin, co-editor of Mad.  Berg's final "Lighter Side" comic strip is scheduled for the September issue of Mad, which observes the magazine's 50th anniversary.

No new business.  No immediate regional gatherings.  Outta here.

Home page link:  http://hometown.aol.com/falcons1965a/myhomepageprofile.html


Rich