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CAROLINA
September/October2008 ALUMNI REVIEW
Where Light Meets Dark:
Confronting Time in a Photo
The picture of Chancellor Holden
Thorp ’ 86, “Casting His Shadow” in the
September/October issue, brought home
an epiphany of sorts. For the thousands of
us baby boomers who matriculated Carolina in the ’60s and ’70s, he is the first
chancellor younger than us. It is similar to
another experience many of us are having:
grandchildren. You find yourself, of course,
overjoyed and perhaps less publicly a little
concerned. “Am I old enough to be a
grandparent?” I don’t feel that old.
The Review only gets better.
David Wynne ’ 71
Virginia Beach,Va
Columns Provide
Unusual Support
Editor’s note: English Professor Michael
McFee ’ 76, author of the cover story in the
September/October issue of the Review,
received this e-mail message in mid-September
Holding
Up Well
The Graceand Charm from a reader, who
of Columns
agreed to share it with
others.
Dear Professor,
You made my day,
my week! I don’t think any medication
could’ve made me feel better than your
wonderful article “Pillars of Wisdom” on the
columns at Carolina.
I work at Wachovia as a financial editor,
and the past few months, weeks, days have
gotten so harrowing that I’ve spent several
evenings lately in the fetal position in front
of the television worrying that my job will
be eliminated.
So, something made me pick up the
magazine this morning and something made
me read it on the light rail on the way into
the office ... and I was transported back into
the love and longing I have for Carolina. Of
course, it’s always there anyway — very
vocal and visible — but as my daughter is
there now causing me the usual amount of
parental angst, the pure love has been some-
what diluted by worry about if she’s safe on
campus, is she drinking or will she really go
to graduate school? Well, you get my drift.
The diversion of your spare, elegant writing, which was a joy to read, made me want
to get my hands on everything you’ve written. I will definitely come back and explore
all of these columns the next time I am in
Chapel Hill and have an afternoon to play.
Surely, this e-mail will help make your
day brighter, too? Turnabout is fair play. I
wish I was in a creative writing class this
VERY SECOND.
Dawn Dixon Cotter ’ 80
Charlotte
Facing Challenges In True Form
Thank you for the inspirational story
about Jeff ’ 87 and Marnie Kaufman ’ 87
(“A Home for the Orphan,” September/
October Review).
I had the pleasure of working with Jeff
at Putnam Investments; he’s one of the
brightest, most gracious people I’ve known.
