Amherst Magazine: Fall 2013
FEATURES
Treasure Hunting
Interview by Rick Griffiths
Dan Brown ’86 on reading Dante, scoping out chase scenes and why he’d never write a character as evil as Cruella de Vil
Our House, Emily’s House
By Jean McClure Mudge
After outbidding the A&P grocery, Amherst sought a tenant for Emily Dickinson’s house, and a family of five moved in.
Frost + Kennedy
Fifty years ago helicopters landed on Pratt Field at Lehrman Stadium and President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about privilege, poetry and Robert Frost.
The Short-liners
By Roger M. Williams ’56
George Betke ’59 and Mike Smith ’68 know something that most people don’t: The railroad industry has seldom, if ever, been in better shape than it is today.
DEPARTMENTS
College Row
Waiting for the van at Logan Airport—Stats on the new first-year class—The fundraising campaign raised $502 million—And more
Sports
Football: Last year three brothers were nursing injuries in the living room. This fall they fought it out on the field
Beyond Campus
Flying: Randy Davis ’76 has chauffeured wolves, emperor penguins and a Catholic saint
Dining: Alden Booth ’83 and Lissa Greenough ’83 own The People’s Pint
Health: A lawyer and an actor are fighting suicide’s stigma
Second act: How the U.S. Army led Josh Cole ’99 to medical school
Energy: Lois Epstein’83 heads The Wilderness Society’s Arctic Program
Point of View
Notebook Days: Tess Taylor ’00 said she was “being a writer,” but she felt like a fake
Amherst Creates
Theater: A new play by Ralph Lee ’57 and Robert Bagg ’57
Fiction: Six Years, by Harlan Coben ’84, and The Partner Track, by Helen Wan ’95
Nonfiction: A guide-book to air travel
Biography: Michael Gorra ’79 on Henry James
Now and Then
In 1962, back when Amherst men took dates to football games, the home team had its best season in a decade. As reported in the Alumni News, the clincher was the Williams game, which Amherst won 7–0 by scoring with 88 seconds left to play.
This fall, students and alumni cheered from the stands of a renovated Pratt Field, which has artificial turf and a new fieldhouse, press box and track—not to mention the best fans around.
Top photo from Amherst College Archives; bottom photo by Joyzel Acevedo ’15.