P.A. 1964
Tom Seligson
July, 1997

News from some long lost classmates, along with yours truly. Bob Dieter informs me that he's still teaching in the Legal Aid and Defender Program at the University of Colorado Law School. "I move back and forth between student contact and client contact, teaching and courtroom practice," he writes. He also recently published a book, Colorado Criminal Practice and Procedure, that was six years in the makings. "It ruined my life, but was otherwise a rewarding experience," he joked. Bob's daughter just graduated Columbia, a classmate of Paul Gallagher's son, and he has a son at Trinity, and another daughter in high school. Just so you all know - Bob passed on all this info via E-mail, hint hint. So those of you who think nothing of chatting with complete strangers on-line consider sending your hot news to this familiar class gossip.

Another classmate who's devoted himself to representing needy defendants is Hunter John. Hunter was tracked down in Seattle, where he's a public defender, specializing in juvenile cases and prisoner's rights. Though he spent several years in private practice, "getting paid to defend privileged kids didn't satisfy me," he said. He returned to the public defender's office, where he handles up to 75 cases at a time. When he's not in court, he enjoys fishing and being a father, which Hunter calls "the most fun I've had with my clothes on." Talking about fun, I had a wonderful visit with Al Look who stopped in to see me while in New York. At our 25th reunion, Al arrived with full beard and sandals, looking very much like Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea." Al was living in Martha's Vineyard, building boats. Though he still calls the island his home, and looks dashingly salty (though minus the beard) he's gone from boat building, and the construction business to video production, specializing in inter-active training video. Al's been married for 29 years, and has two kids, both in college.

Al visited me at CBS, where I'm now producing a daily show for CBS's new cable channel, "Eye on People." His visit was particularly special for me because he arrived just as my staff was giving me a surprise party, and Al shared in the champagne. The reason for the party: the anticipated birth of my first child. Those of you whose kids are now grown may wonder what took your 51 year old classmate so long. Obsession with career, an unsuccessful first marriage, and a long search for the right woman certainly contributed. But on May 1st, when my strapping nine pound daughter, Justine, was born, I finally joined the club that Al, Hunter, and so many of you others have relished being in for years. Whether or not Justine follows her dad to Andover, (class of 2015) will, of course, be up to her - she's already showing signs of independence. But she'll certainly attend reunions. And she looks forward to meeting all of you.