Chris and I started teaching the same year, 1974, in the English Department at Glastonbury High. On the first day of our first summer's vacation, Chris suggested we "hike" Mount Washington. Being a Midwesterner and recently transplanted, I did not really know what this meant --but gladly accepted. The "hike" turned out to be a dawn-to-dusk jog up and back down the mountain. At times we were scaling nearly sheer rock walls because, of course, we had to take the more challenging trails for the most direct route (Tuckerman's Ravine, I think, was one of them.) It was about equal parts terror and exhaustion for me, but Chris was exhilarated every step of the way. That was his way, to embrace challenges -- mental, physical, irrational -- and savor every second. We have been promising during the past two years to get together over a beer to reminisce. At one point in our early careers we met each Friday for dinner at Pizza Plus in Hartford because it was a byob place, and that's what our salaries could almost afford. Our careers and families have taken us separate ways during the past 20 years, but we have always kept in touch. I will regret always the delay of our reconvening. Chris, I'll still have that beer and always remember our many memorable times..... Jim Schepker