April 2013 (16)

From Jeff Stein

Hey There Great Neckers,

I could say it was because I was so hard at work on this that I missed the reunion. I could say that. Or I could just put it out there that I published a new book, a collection of short stories entitled The Magic Word and Other Stories from before the Millennium. Like my previous political thriller, Gentlemen of Decision, confronting environmental destruction is a core concern of these stories. You can check it out on my website www.jeffryjohnstein.com and see the many venues for getting hold of the pertinent, fantabulistic tales including a great twofer deal.

Maybe I’ll see you at the next reunion (should we be so lucky) or somehow before that. And please excuse this shameless promotion.

I hope you all have a joyful new year.

Jeff

Just published: The Magic Word and Other Stories from before the Millennium Go to: www.jeffryjohnstein.com "Life, Myth..." book interview excerpt from "Word on Words:"http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124910

From David Haber

The 6th edition of Health Promotion and Aging comes out in March. It is a complete overhaul, ranging from the individual (exercise, nutrition, mental health, etc.) to the societal (the Affordable Care Act and other influences on Medicare, Death with Dignity Act, etc.), complementary medicine, long term care and other types of supportive housing, health behavior change, the future of aging, and so forth. A real page-turner (for those of you who like to turn pages, not because the content is any good), all 600 pages worth.

From Hayward Liebling

This year begins with my reinvention as a retiree. On January 1st, 2013, I retired after 40 years of running my own insurance agency in St. Louis, Missouri . It was a great run and I enjoyed "most" of those years.

As for retirement, not really. I started a new business as an insurance consultant for small and medium size businesses.

I am also looking forward to spending more time with my family with whom it seems I have needed to wear a name tag so that they know who I am. Our family is still growing as we are expecting a new baby this summer. She will round out the number of grandchildren to a whopping nine .

My wife and I have and do enjoy travelling. Over the past fifteen years, our favorite vacation getaway is spending two to three weeks a year in Hawaii and in Arizona. We also work towards getting to Texas and Colorado to visit our daughters and granddaughters with an occasional trip to New Mexico to visit my brother.

From Tom Flint

I want to thank the members of the reunion committee for your commitment and efforts to make the Class of ’62 Reunion last May such a satisfying and memorable event. It was great reconnecting with friends and acquaintances I hadn’t seen for 50 years.

I do have something about me that may be of interest to some of my classmates, and a fit for Bits & Pieces. I was recently honored by being selected one of a hundred people to be photographed and interviewed for an oral history project in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho called “Portrait of a Town.” A photo collage of all one hundred participants was mounted on a vacant wall in a small park in the city center and will remain there for a year. If you go to the following website you can read about the project and see a picture of the collage. http://portrait-of-a-town.com/. My picture is third from the left in the second row from the top on the wall collage. However, because the imagery that comes up on the home page scrambles and changes the pictures’ arrangement every time you go to the site, I am also giving you the link to my picture and interview. I may not be recognizable to anyone who didn’t attend the reunion (and by now perhaps some who did); so picking me out might be difficult. If you click on the Short Video an edited composite of the full interview plays for about 4 minutes. However, the Long Video of the full interview has not been put up on the website yet. That may happen by the time the next Bits & Pieces comes out, but I don’t know as the project is apparently still somewhat of a work in progress. Anyway, the link to me is as follows: http://portrait-of-a-town.com/group.php?id=53

From Jim Wynne ’60

Several classmates from my era (late 1950s - early 1960s) have been in contact with me to contemplate a memorial in honor of Lew Love, who passed away on January 23. In particular, the GN North HS Class of 1963, which will soon have its 50th Reunion, would like to have something in place by the time of their reunion.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please contact Jim.

From Eric (Wally) Gingold

First grandchild – Gracie Nellie Lehpamer - BORN 2/27/13. Much happiness.