11 minute read
Back & Forth
Love without condition
What a caring article about Carole (Fiedler) and Gary Goshorn and the course of their lives, especially now as they deal with COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s (“Somewhere My Love,” Fall/Winter 2020 Miamian). Carole and I served as AWS (Associated Women Students) officers during our junior year at Miami. She was as beautiful, kind, and thoughtful then as she is now.
I, too, took social dance as an easy way to gain the required course hours in physical education, and the women always outnumbered the men in the class.
Alas, dementia in any guise is heartbreaking, but it gives those in its grasp unparalleled chances to love without condition. Thank you for sharing Carole and Gary’s story.
—Constance Swank ’73
Tacoma, Washington
Editor’s note: Carole ’73 and Gary Goshorn ’73 met as freshmen at a Miami home basketball game. They fell in love during college, and their devotion grew even stronger throughout Carole’s 15-year journey with Alzheimer’s disease. When Carole’s senior living community locked its doors against COVID19 in March 2020, Gary stayed with her, knowing he would not be allowed to leave. As Carole took her last breath March 3, 2021, the two were holding hands in a mold to create a final memento of their love.
Dr. Nault, our Oxford father
Dr. Nault was a mentor and friend to thousands in the Miami community. Director, adviser, vice president, and dean — he wore many hats throughout his decades on campus — but for many, he’d best be described as our Oxford father.
Dr. Nault helped us through the formative passage of our college years from adolescence into adulthood, illuminating the way with a light of paternal love.
Dr. Nault served as everyone’s champion, making us each feel that we matter — that “I must matter because I matter to him.”
He offered counsel and comfort when we faced the consequences of our youthful indiscretions, and he enthusiastically celebrated our every success. On any occasion, the constant was his abiding confidence in our ability.
I asked classmate Bobby Dunlap to help me capture in words what our hero meant to us. He told me, “Dr. Nault had the extraordinary ability to make you feel like the best version of yourself, even when you didn’t feel that way about yourself.” That was it.
By the light of his genuine love and compassion, he led us to see ourselves as he chose to see us, and in doing so, he challenged us to become the person he convinced us we could be.
It has been evident in the months since Dr. Nault’s passing, by the stories of his kindness and tributes to his impact, that Dr. Nault’s impression remains strong on the hearts of those fortunate to have known him. His influence compels us to emulate the love he showed us and share it with those we encounter going forward. So long as we do, he will live on in us, in love and honor, forever.
—Bill Pendergast ’07
Chicago, Illinois
Editor’s note: As director of the honors program, dean of students, and finally vice president for student affairs, Richard Nault mentored thousands during his 25 years at Miami. He died Oct. 21, 2020, at his home in Oxford.
Plenty to talk about after all
Last May, a baker’s dozen of former Morris Hall RAs got together over Zoom to catch up. After 40 years.
For most of us, it was the first contact we had with one another since working as residence hall staff in 1977-1978. People tend to drift apart after graduation, and we just went on with our lives.
Neil Gandal ’80, one of the staffers who now lives in Israel, reached out to me via Facebook and mentioned that it was going to be 40 years since we graduated. Since he and I were the ones who had put together an introductory guide to life at Morris as we started our RA experience, he thought it would be great for us to track down as many of our colleagues as possible and organize a Zoom reunion.
And that’s exactly what we did.
To facilitate the conversation and avoid the obvious, “So, what
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Miamian editor Glos Center, 820 S. Patterson Ave., Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056
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Opinions expressed are those of the letter writers and not Miami University or Miamian magazine.
have you been up to for the past 40 years?”, we asked everyone to provide a blurb about their lives and experiences since our time together in college.
Photos were sent via email, and that information was assembled into an online book and sent to all the participants prior to the call. When the Zoom call began, I wondered if we’d really have much to talk about.
But it was a fun and lively conversation, with a lot of anecdotes and memories. Things went so well that another entertaining call happened in November, with a promise to continue the online get-togethers every six months.
Morris staffers participating included Corky Allen, Gregg Bachmann, Steve Balmat, Rick Copp, Keith Dunbar, Rick Fishman, Neil Gandal, me (Tim Halpin), Richie Holland, Rich Levy, John Magrini, Mark Mossing, and Kurt Schusterman.
—Tim Halpin ’80
St. Louis, Missouri
Continue topics of substance
The last issue of the magazine was, by far, the best (Fall/Winter 2020 Miamian). I have been an alumna for 53 years and have read each issue with a warm feeling and sense of nostalgia. This issue took me forward — addressing the need for social justice in all institutions, including Miami University.
Thank you for reporting the work that is being done and plans for the future. The current media spotlight may fade. These subjects need ongoing coverage to truly show our lasting commitment.
Please continue to cover topics of substance. Our collective alumni intellect is not only stimulated, but also encouraged as we learn of actions taken by MU in the name of social justice.
—Carri Salzer Kaufman ’68
Mount Prospect, Illinois
Thank you very much for the most recent Miamian. This issue was more interesting to me than past issues because it seemed more reality based and included more stories of people of color.
I was particularly glad to read about the contributions of Carol Anderson ’81 (“Speaking Up”) to the problem of racism our country is currently finally examining.
This Miamian helped me change my perception of Miami for the better and gave me hope that the university is wrestling with the far-reaching inequities of the nation and Miami’s role in perpetuating those.
I hope there will be more communication like this and related issues in the future.
—Barbara Thomas Patterson ’80
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Like being a ‘senior citizen’
I read the article “Ageism Resurgence” by Kate de Medeiros (Fall/Winter Miamian) with some degrees of understanding, amusement, and disagreement. I only mildly disagree with Ms. de Medeiros, having reached that stage of life of being old and considered in some instances “elderly.”
To put things in context, I was born and raised in Southern Ohio and graduated from Miami University in 1951 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and from the University of Cincinnati in 1953 with a Juris Doctor degree. I spent some time in the United States Air Force during the Korean conflict and the balance of my professional life as a lawyer representing various industrial organizations.
During all that time, I had occasion to travel through a considerable portion of the world and deal with people of many countries, education, and ethnicity. I just turned 91 a few days ago and don’t ever recall being called aged, old, or a senior citizen. I do, however, recall being told on several occasions that I didn’t sound my age.
I like being called a “senior citizen,” and in no way consider or believe the use of that term was a ploy to convince older workers to step aside to make room for younger ones; rather, I found that the term was used in recognition of valued experience and ability acquired over time.
I recognize that the human body experiences change over time and, in some cases, does become frail, weak, or less able to conduct ourselves in physical and mental way as we once did, but I don’t think it is necessary to use any age range that has verifiable connections to risk versus vague and potentially demeaning labels as suggested by Ms. de Medeiros.
Thanks to Ms. de Medeiros for looking out for us “old geezers.”
—William C. Stewart Jr. ’51
La Mesa, California
78 going on 19
Being an alumnus “of a certain age,” I took special interest in Professor Kate de Medeiros’ informative article “Ageism Resurgence.”
It reminded me of a little fun I had with a nurse practitioner at the Wade Park Veterans
Administration Hospital in Cleveland in January. I had received a robocall the day before from the hospital that mentioned I am in an “at-risk” group, and left a number for me to call for an appointment for my first COVID-19 vaccination, if I wanted one.
Meeting with the nurse the next day, I said to her, “I got a robocall yesterday that said I was in an ‘at-risk group’ but the call didn’t say which group I’m in.”
She said, “How old are you?”
I said, “Well, my right rotator cuff is 78, but the rest of me is 19.”
She laughed and, with needle poised, said, “This is for the rotator cuff.”
—Lou Pumphrey ’64
Shaker Heights, Ohio
Ageism article strained
In her article, Ms. de Medeiros made a reference to people being eligible for Social Security at age 65. Currently, people like me (age 65) are eligible for Social Security at age 66 and 3 months if they are still working, or can elect to receive a discounted amount of Social Security at age 62 if they are no longer working. Individuals are eligible for Medicare at 65, but age 65 is no longer a point of eligibility for Social Security.
In general, I found Kate de Medeiros’ article on ageism to be strained. My personal experience differs from her perspective. I don’t find any difficulty in society with being an older person, and I have not observed any prejudice toward my parents, who are still alive. I enjoy Miamian very much. Keep up the good work.
—John Hills
Sylvania, Ohio
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
A Chuckle or Two
You know how you have a favorite story you could hear over and over again? Dick Nault told me one that I’ve repeated for years, never half as good as he did, of course.
Dick profoundly touched many lives during his 25 years at Miami, first as director of the honors program and then as dean of students. When he became vice president for student affairs, we chatted in his Warfield office, and I asked him to share a fond memory.
“I would read honors students’ names at commencement. They would come up and hand me a card with their name on it. One year, a group of honors students … extraordinarily powerful, effective students, wonderful students … they all took their cards the night before and retyped them. The first one handed me a card that said Richard L. Nault. Then the second one handed me Richard L. Nault Jr.
“Well, the first two — one student is now a rabbi and one student very successful in Chicago — they were hell-raisers, so I knew that they would do something. I actually took their cards, laid them down, and said their names with great aplomb. The third student, who was going on to divinity school, he handed me the card that said Richard L. Nault III, and I said, ‘This is going to be a long morning.’
“I knew the first name and the last name. I had to make up the middle names. I just knew that there was some mother going, ‘Aloysius?’
“It was hysterical. They had worked it out so it was Richard L. Nault XIV, Richard L. Nault XV, and I’m getting increasingly panicked, you know, hoping I’ll remember their names.”
We won’t forget your name, Dick, and all you did for us.
Another beloved member of the Miami family who died April 21, 2021, at age 96, Ron Kern MA ’49 regaled me with his theatre students’ antics for a 2009 article. Ron taught and directed plays from 1952-1968, first in Old Harrison and then in Fisher Hall.
“When we did Harvey (that’s the one about the invisible 6-foot rabbit), the publicity gal decided they were going to take stencils and white paint, and they were going to make rabbit feet going up to Mac ’n’ Joe’s. They also put a little on the bells of Beta, on the tower.”
When his department chair, Harry Williams, called him at home early the next morning and told him to come in, Ron simply responded, “Uh-oh.”
Ron and his six students got buckets, mops, and brushes, and started scrubbing. “The rabbit feet were all the way down Slant Walk, all the way to Upham’s Arch. The kids were always enterprising.”
They still are. And that’s a good thing. —Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96
