Carolina Alumni Review - July/August 2007

LET TERS
Music and Memories —
and Recalling The Rookery

I’ve known a number of people over the years planning to write histories of Chapel Hill music or of the Cat’s Cradle, in particular, and Kathleen Kearns has beaten them to the punch with an excellent article on the Cradle (May/June Review). As a frequent customer in the early ’80s (and occasional customer today), as owner/manager of the rock club down the street in the mid-’80s and as the husband of one of those band-house housemothers the article mentions, I can assure those who don’t know the Cradle that Kathleen did a wonderful job in capturing the history and the atmosphere of the best rock ’n’ roll club ever. And congratulations and kudos to Frank Heath for continuing to focus on the music and not the scene.

Tony Patterson ’ 82

Chapel Hill

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Re: Kathleen Kearns’ excellent article, “Out at the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking”: The “nameless little stage in an attic over what was then the Pickwick Restaurant,” in fact, had a name. It was The Rookery. Many local musicians performed there, and many of those were quite talented. There was a core group of us who played regularly and as often as not were in the audience when any of the others performed. Larry Reynolds and Mike Cross, who played together at that time, were among those. A favorite of patrons and fellow musicians alike was Dave Olney, who has gone on to a successful career as a songwriter and singer.

John Becton ’ 69

Chapel Hill

In a Sea of Blue, New Grads
Bring Meaning to Mother’s Day
My name is Richard Steinbach, a 1981

graduate of Duquesne University School of Pharmacy and full-time uncle of Rose-

mary Steinbach ’07, who graduated with her bachelor’s degree in English and history. I just wanted to express my sincerest gratitude to the administration, faculty, students and Tar Heel Parents for sharing with my family the heart-warming graduation ceremony held on Mother’s Day at Kenan Stadium. We traveled from Edison, N.J., to share in the day.

What made the day even more special was that my parents — Rosie’s grandparents, 77-year-old Anna and 80-year-old Bob Steinbach — made the trip as well. Anna is battling cancer, and she finished her latest course of treatment on the Thursday before Commencement. She wasn’t sure if she would feel up to the long, nine-hour car trip down to Chapel Hill, but on Friday morning, she and her husband had their bags packed and informed me at 8 a.m. that “they were ready to go and see their second granddaughter graduate from college!” My mom was overwhelmed by the ceremony and the way the stands filled up so orderly with students turning simple bleachers into a sea of Carolina blue. The pride everyone showed in their university was extraordinary, and she understood what it meant to be a Tar Heel … if for only a day. She remarked to my brother and me that this was one of the best Mother’s Days she ever had and being surrounded by family made it even more special. When I brought my mom and dad back home to New Jersey on Monday, my mom hugged tighter than she ever has and thanked me for taking them to see their “Rosie” graduate. Thank you for making Mom’s day truly Mother’s Day!

Rich Steinbach

Edison, N.J.

Dibbert’s Scholarship Tribute
Called Well-Deserved

How great to pay honor by way of a scholarship to a well-deserving man (“GAA Adds to Scholarship Fund in Honor of Dibbert’s Service”). Doug Dibbert ’ 70 has been a constant cheerleader for Carolina Blue devotion. He has done an outstanding job in encouraging alumni to keep Carolina first in their hearts and in their giving. I have been especially

impressed with his presence and support of the Black Alumni Reunion. I am sure it took convincing to have what some might think a “separate” gathering of alumni. Doug helped stretch UNC’s arms around all the classes, inviting all Tar Heel Born to come home to the Hill.

Kathleen Hoskins Smith ’ 80

Greensboro

This letter was a response to an online article in “Out of the Blue,” the GAA’s e-newsletter. The article also appears in this issue on page 54.

Turbulent ’60s Also Marked
By Start of Conservative Revolt

I found Peter Filene’s article, “ Personally Authentic,” (May/June Review) nostalgia for the protests of the ’60s, personally overwrought. In his concluding paragraphs, subtitled “Aftermath,” and specifically in the section subtitled “Antiwar,” he recalls the 1973 U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam but neglects to mention one of the consequences — the slaughter of 2 million humans in Cambodia by the Communist Khmer Rouge.

Inasmuch as Filene drew inspiration and a title for his piece from the Students for a Democratic Society’s Port Huron Statement, please let me inform the readers that there was during those turbulent times a movement that had a different world view. The Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) adopted their founding statement on Sept. 11, 1960, at Sharon, Conn.

The full statement is online at www.fiu.edu/~yaf/sharon.html. Included below are pertinent portions:

“We, as young conservatives, believe:

“That foremost among the transcendent values is the individual’s use of his God-given free will, whence derives his right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force;

“That the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of internal order, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice;