ROADTRIP TO THE 40^TH REUNION:
 DISPATCHES FROM THE TYPEWRITERS OF
MADISON, HOLDER, WITHERSPOON AND BLAIR
LETTER #8 August 2018

Countdown to Reunions

Dear Classmates: 

Holder here again taking my turn in the Family rotation! 

Remember 4 years ago when Wit first started writing letters to the class in advance of our 35th Reunion? You know, the cute dog dressed in orange and black to my left? He motivated so many of us to come to the 35th Reunion that we set attendance records!

Thinking back to that Reunion, that many if not all of us thought was our best ever, got me reminiscing, not about the Glory Days, but rather thinking about what students have today that we didn’t.

You know things like great food, Macintosh computers, digital cameras (might be fortunate we didn’t have those!), paid-for Gap Years, streaming movie services (again, probably good we didn’t have those), flat screen Hi-def TVs. Add to the list 50% women! And you have to add the Internet and smart phones, don’t you think? 

And who would ever forget the joy of using punch cards, stacked high to conduct complex computations, praying they were in order and wouldn’t jam? I recall my own to do a regression analysis based on hand entered census housing value data. Ugh! 

So many things have changed, mostly for the better, but many things have stayed the same. Nassau Hall, Chapel, Blair Arch are physical examples. How ‘bout PU Band – totally the same! And you could include the Orchestra (the conductor when I was in it, Michael Pratt, is still there!), Glee Club, arch singing groups like the Tigertones.Great songs like Going Back and Old Nassau! And the Honor Code, Senior Thesis, P-Rade and, most of all, the opportunity to forge relationships that enrich our lives and span decades. 

But back to Macintosh computers. I bought my first one in 1987 and I remember, when I opened it, wondering what the heck am I going to do with this thing! I know our heading states that we are typing these family letters, but you know that isn’t true. Wit found this cool font 4 years ago that makes the letters look like they are typed. So I’m typing this on my MacBook Pro, an engineering marvel. 

But did you know the Apple II was available in 1977? I didn’t know that and don’t recall anyone having or using one when we were in school. Our 40th Reunion is symbolic of the incredible transformation that the digital revolution has brought to us. Here’s our typewriter from back in the day, and the Apple II that none of us had!

Time to sign off, come back to Old Nassau. We look forward to seeing you at our 40^th!The clock officially ticks toward our 40th reunion, May 30 to June 2, 2019! Click the link to the official countdown clock at the top of this email!

Meow, see you in Tigertown!

Holdie