Dear HCM

Fr. Boroughs Transformed Holy Cross

As a widow of a Holy Cross graduate of 1953, I have always enjoyed your excellent magazine. My husband, Louis G. Pecek, loved his time and experience there; however, I can’t help but think he was born too soon.

Under Fr. Boroughs’ administration, Holy Cross has been transformed (“An Uncommon Balance,” Spring 2021, Page 26)! I’m sure he will be missed by students and faculty alike. He truly has been the pastor as president. You have all been blessed by the experience of Fr. Boroughs’ presence in your lives. May he enjoy a restful and nourishing sabbatical!

Mary Ann Pecek

Cleveland, Ohio

Kudos on the Winter Issue

I want you to know how much I enjoyed the fruits of your labor. I have been a fan of Dr. Fauci since the first time I heard him speak on the subject of COVID last spring. After learning of the Jesuit connection, I went to my senior class yearbook and ascertained that he had attended Holy Cross three years behind me, but knew little else. Through the months since, my admiration for him has swelled, as has my pride in being a Crusader. As I have watched and listened to him on television, I have been increasingly impressed by his clarity, honesty and steadiness in explaining matters of enormous importance and complexity. After reading your article and learning more about his background and ideals, how he has conducted himself throughout his life and the numerous honors he has earned for his many accomplishments (“I Mean, Is This Really Happening?” Winter 2021, Page 34), I knew that the person I have seen and heard on television is a truly remarkable individual.

I must add that his adventure with the hot test tube notwithstanding, Dr. Fauci had a little more luck than I as a chemistry major. During my four years at The Cross, all of my labs were in the two oldest buildings on campus, O’Kane and Alumni, with the organic lab in the bowels of O’Kane, where the ventilation left something to be desired.

I also enjoyed the article about Tommy Heinsohn (“Remembering Tom Heinsohn ‘56, Winter 2021, Page 62). Here the roles were reversed: I was the freshman and he was the senior. I saw him play in his senior year and as a Bostonian, I enjoyed a fabulous stretch of Celtics success after he joined them. I regarded him as a hardnosed competitor as a player, but found him to be quite the opposite off the court.

I feel like I hit the jackpot with this issue. The article on the old mailboxes evoked a happy memory (“Ode on a P.O. Box,” Winter 2021, Page 48). One day in my junior or senior year, while I was manipulating the combination knob on my mailbox, I was singing to myself in hopeful anticipation of a letter from Mary Parsons, my steady date at the time and now my wife of 59 years. From a voice behind me came a very complimentary remark about my vocal effort. I turned around and there was Professor “Doc” Mirliani, director of the Glee Club and Marching Band. It gives my ego an occasional boost when I recall the incident.

I loaned the magazine to a friend of mine who had first called my attention to Dr. Fauci when COVID became a major topic. Jesuit-educated at Fordham Prep and Fordham University (class of 1960), it was he who motivated me to break out my copy of The Purple Patcher, 1959 edition, where I found Anthony Fauci in one of the group pictures of the freshman class. I knew my friend would enjoy the article on Dr. Fauci and I suggested that, as a contemporary and sports fan, he might also enjoy the article on Tommy Heinsohn. When he returned the magazine, he told me he had enjoyed both of those articles very much, and then surprised me by saying that he also enjoyed a third one, about the mailboxes. Take this as a sincere compliment on a very well-written article.

Thomas C. Doyle ’59 Fort Mill, South Carolina

A New Level

Just a note to say that each issue of Holy Cross Magazine brings excellence to a new level.

Joseph Trent ’77

Worcester

A Job Well Done

Thank you for your integrity, professionalism and interesting articles.

My son and his wife are both alums. They came in the first year Fr. Boroughs took over. Oldest son Boston College, daughter Saint Louis University. A Jesuit household — but one that really appreciates the Holy Cross Magazine. So glad our