Update 10-5-10

Hi,

A series of answers to Ellen Epstein Silver's medical question, two short remembrances, and some more sci-fi stories.  First, several people wrote asking if there'd been a newsletter last week, and, yep, there was.  As I've mentioned before, the fastest way to get one if you've noticed yours is missing is to write me.
    There seems no way I can predict when this will happen.  Last week, the problem wasn't in one mailing group or with one server, though the three people who contracted me did live within ten miles of each other.  I try to keep the newsletters to a certain length and not include active links, but last week's list of class of '60 party-goers may have triggered some filters.  I just don't know.

The first answer to Ellen's question, from Amy Miller:  I had cataract surgery in 2004, when I was 59.  It was done the traditional way, and I use reading glasses, like almost everyone else who doesn't have the one-eye- near and one-eye-far correction in their contact lenses or from cataract surgery.  I am very pleased with the results, as I love having reading glasses available in every room of my house!

Second, from Larry Rugen:  I had that cataract surgery in both eyes, the first in 2007 and the other in 2009 -- both single vision.  For me, it worked out as the doctor had told me ahead of time.  One eye is 20/30, and the other is 20/40.  My reading is okay in bright light, but, otherwise, I need reading glasses.   I was told that ahead of time, too, and it has worked out fine for me.  There are trade-offs, as the closer the doctor gets your vision to 20/20, the greater your need for reading glasses.  If you want more information, please feel free to contact me.

Third, from Valerie Nelson Gillen:  I also could never get used to the two different range contact lenses.  I finally gave up the contact lenses all together and just got glasses -- tri-level, which I adjusted to quite well.  Sorry I have no input regarding the surgery though.

Fourth, from Betsy Fels Pottruck.. I had cataract surgery last February.  I was also told about the surgery that was not covered by insurance.  One of my closest friends chose that and has had trouble ever since.  She is so sorry that she did not go the traditional route.  I went with great vision for distance and wearing glasses for reading.  I am extremely happy.  I love not having to wear glasses all the time, and the reading ones don't bother me.  You are going to be amazed how much brighter the world is going to become after surgery.  You don't realize how dull everything has become.  Good luck with whatever decision you make.

[Rich -- yep, the brighter vision comes from replacing the lens, not necessarily removing the cataract.  As we age, our corneas yellow.  Monet probably thought those water lillies he painted were realistically colored, not intensely blue.]

Fifth, from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  While, according to my eye doctor, I am only in the infancy stage of cataracts, every so often I do seem to get a "smudge" on my cornea that has usually been a dirty contact lens.  But, of late, I realize that the same smudge appears even when my lenses are out.  Considering that, I have a few questions to pose that might be helpful to me and to everyone else who's trying to understand this surgery by reading the weekly newsletter.
    If Ellen or anyone can answer, that would be great.  1.  How long did it take for a final diagnosis".  2. What is or was your vision like before surgery -- clouded, shaded, existent?  3.  Are you encumbered?    4.  What are your current visual limitations.

[Rich -- I noticed that "smudge" on my glasses, too, and couldn't figure it out.  Then my eye doctor said it was the very beginning of a cataract but not to worry for a few more years and that he'd tell me when it needed care.  That was several years ago, and I seem to be holding steady.  Though my glasses function largely for mid-to-far distance now and to read, I take my glasses off. The vision in my affected eye is simply slightly blurred and a bit dimmer.]

Ellen got these responses as they came in, and she wrote:  What quick responses.  This is a terrific way to share information about any subject.  Thank you all so much for taking the time to write.

On another serious subject before the science fiction, Booker Gibson wrote:  my wife thinks many of the former South students knew the music teacher, Don  Scanlon.  He taught mostly woodwind  instruments -- or maybe brass and woodwinds -- in the grade schools.  Don passed away about two-or-three weeks ago, at the age of 84.

[Rich -- sorry to hear that, of course.  I'm afraid the only grade school music teacher I remember is Jane Beethoven, from Forest.  I don't think she was a lot older than we were, so she might not even be 70.]

Thoughts on another person who recently died, from Jerry Bittman:  Like many females of our generation, as a teenager, my sister Gail had a crush on Tony Curtis.  Curtis was a client of my dad's and a very close friend of my cousin, Buddy.  One time, when Buddy and Tony were in New York, it was arranged for Curtis to call Gail on Saturday at 11 AM.  It was a surprise.  Well, Gail wanted to go out with her friends that Saturday, but my Dad told her she had to stay home because he had a surprise for her.  Sure enough, at 11 AM, the phone rang, and Gail answered.  Right away, she recognized Curtis'  voice, and they spoke for a while.  The amusing part of the story was when Gail's friends asked her what the surprise was, she told them about the phone call from Tony Curtis, and, naturally, not one of them believed her.  Rest in Peace, Tony.
And in science fiction, first, from Allen Moss:  Moss in Maine again.  Eric... you and me both with the House of Wax!  But more than any other image in that movie, I remember the guy with the paddle ball, sending that puppy WAY out into our audience, compliments of the 3D glasses.  The audience of little kiddies -- and adults, too -- went bonkers.
    The other great 3D image that is still in my mind is the scene in Creature from the Black Lagoon, when the bat flies over Richard's Carlson's head and right into the audience!  And I love those old cheapie red/green lens 3D glasses.

From Ryki Zuckerman:  I remember Day of the Triffids (1962) at the Valley Stream theater.  I always liked my sci-fi with some twist or an idea, along with the bug-eyed monsters, if one had to have the monsters.

From Jan Dickler Blake:  I also spent many a Saturday at the Valley Stream movie theater (Psycho!), and took guitar lessons at Down’s Music.  But I quit after a couple of months because I didn't sound like Joan Baez.

From Barbara Blitfield Pech:  My baby brother is turning 60 on the 14th, and for fun, I found a copy of Vincent Price's The Tingler.  My dad took us to the Saturday matinee of this at the old Valley Stream theater on Rockaway Avenue.  We were well settled into popcorn and Good & Plentys at the start of the movie; my brother must have been at least 9 or 10 and not afraid of anything -- except his big sister, now and then.  No sooner had the story line developed, when my brother bolted out of there and refused to come back to his seat until the movie ended.  Just the mention of this film has been a torture hold for all these years, so I hope he enjoys the DVD, gift wrapped with microwave popcorn.  Ahh, there's still much to be said for having big sister status!

And from Valerie Nelson Gillen:   I remember that movie theater very well.  I remember going to the movies with Alan Biener and him putting his arm around my chair -- not me! -- and the matron telling him NO!  Ahh, I remember it well.

[Rich -- there are more notes, largely about Banned Book Week, but I'm trying to stay aware of length.  Still, I need to correct one thing:  last week, I mistakenly said Joanne Shapiro Polner was in the class of '60, not '59.  She reminded me that her class "had our very satisfying 50th reunion last year in Oceanside."
    Also, remember that Booker Gibson’s 80th birthday is being celebrated on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at the Bordeaux Wine Bar.  7 PM, 324 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre.]

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb.google.com/SouthHS65


Rich