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Chris was probably the only gentleman, in a rather antique use of the word, that I have ever met or am ever likely to meet. The fact that he tolerated my foolishness for more than 50 years is a small measure of his tolerant forbearance and grace under verbal abuse. I miss his cheery prognostications of doom, which he would broadcast to us, usually after the morning news on NPR.  

Happy Birthday, Chris!

I am so sorry Janie is gone! She was indeed a lovely person. I lived nextdoor in Dascomb freshman year, and Jane was one of the people I will always remember. I would have loved to find out more about her life after Oberlin. Beth Sherman

Chris was the kindest person I ever met

Happy birthday!

Good to see that you are still getting along. Have many more birthdays.

A belated happy birthday Julie--our most memorably beautiful housemate in Dascomb! I do hope you have had a good life in the intervening half-century since last we met. Beth

Thanks, Dan, for your latest from East Timor. Your posts are always interesting and worthwhile--a pleasure to read. Beth

Judy, Judy, Judy! Happy Birthday!

I am very sorry to learn of this. 

Hey, Chuckster, my dear friend, have a great and rewarding birthday. And if weather permits, get out on the river with that kayak. Much love, RZ

Obies, Inspired by Ralph Shapira, I am posting a short biography of my Grandmother, who came over to NYC from Galicia, in what is now Poland, in 1907. At the Holocaust Museum in DC, there is a long glass wall etched top to bottom with the names of towns obliterated by the Nazis in WWII. My grandmother's home town is on that wall. Few remain who remember shtetl life. This is my small attempt to preserve the little I remember of what my Grandmother told me about her life in Zeilin and in early 20th Century America. I hope you enjoy reading it. Beth

Posted on: Sep 08, 2022 at 10:15 AM

Posted on: Aug 28, 2022 at 9:46 AM

Thanks much for your bio, Ralph. I read it with real interest. It amazes me how much I like the Obies I meet at the reunions--including those I didn't know or even didn't like, as a less forgiving 20-year-old! I never knew you at Oberlin, and as I recall it, I was rather afraid of the guys in the Men's Coop, seemed to me to be obsessed with sex, politics, and drugs. (Of course, I, too, was obsessed with sex and politics... but not with beer, crude language, and drugs. I guess I had heard of pot in those days, but I don't think I ever smoked it until the summer of '67, when I followed the song and went to San Francisco.) But I digress. So sorry you lost first your fine marriage, and next your lovely house. I am heartened that you retained your family ties. You are indeed fortunate now to enjoy a solid and fulfilling life that complements rather than obliterates your earlier gains and experiences. Few who make it through 3/4s of a century can claim to have risen from the ashes of their mistakes so successfully. Chapeau for writing all of this down, and for sharing it with your fellow Obies. Beth