February 1999
Reeg Magazine

reed.magazine@reed.edu

Published six times each year (as quarterly magazine, annual report of donors, and as catalog) in February, May, July, August, October, and November by Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., Portland Oregon 97202-8199; 503/777-7591; fax, 503/777-7798. It is distributed free of charge to its alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends.

Editor: Paula Barclay,
Director of Publications
Assistant Editor: Nadine Fiedler '89,
Assistant Director, News & Publications

Alumni News: Marianne Brogan '84, Director of Alumni Relations;
Constance San Juan '87, Acting Assistant Director of Alumni Relations;
and Kristin Converse, Staff Assistant, Alumni Relations.
Class Notes: Patti MacRae '71

Design:
Anderson McConaughy Design

Web Design:
Jonathan Feldman

Founded in 1908, Reed College is a non-profit educational institution incorporated as the Reed Institute, named in honor of Portland pioneers Simeon and Amanda Reed. Reed is a private, independent, nonsectarian, four-year college of liberal arts and sciences. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students and awards the bachelor of arts and the master of arts in liberal studies degrees.

President of the College:
Steven S. Koblik

Executive Vice President:
Larry D. Large

Director of Public Affairs:
Harriet M. Watson

Magazine Advisory Group 1996-98 Marianne Colgrove '84, Associate Director, Computing & Information Services; George Joseph '51, Retired Judge; Noelwah Netusil, Associate Professor of Economics; Deborah Prince '71, Academic Counselor, University of Washington, Trustee; David A. Schiff, Professor of Music; John Sheehy '82.
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It was the late 1940s and a group of impoverished Reed students decided to commingle resources and rent a house together near campus. Thus begins the tale of the first "Reed house" and the unique people who inhabited it.

Among the students were Gary Snyder '51, who would become one of the original Beat poets and later win a Pulitzer Prize for literature; Philip Whalen '51, who would also become a Beat poet and later a Buddhist monk; poet Lew Welch '50, whose thesis on Gertrude Stein would later be published with a foreword by William Carlos Williams; Don Berry '53, who would become perhaps this century's greatest writer on Oregon history; and William Dickey '51, who would also become an accomplished, award-winning poet.

The group drank cheap wine, wrote poetry, and had all-night discussions and arguments on wide-ranging topics. Berry later recalled, "It was probably the birth canal for the Beat Generation--classic postwar Bohemianism and also one of the richest experiences of my life. The quality of minds involved was extraordinary."

These poets and writers were part of a new generation, emerging in the aftermath of World War II and in the midst of the cold war. All around the country young people were embarking together and independently on a quest for a new set of values, and in this search one of the most influential cultural movements of the century was born.

That so many of this movement's dharma warriors shared a house at 1414 SE Lambert Street and attended classes at Reed together is, in itself, extraordinary. But it's not surprising. The Beat qualities that today continue to inspire younger generations of artists--directness of purpose, courage, and intensity of vision--are also qualities that are inherently Reed. Paula Barclay, editor

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You can now update your address, submit a class note, make a contribution to the college, and add your email address to the new on-line email directory from our web site. Information available on our web pages includes chapter events, reunions information, photos of "Old Reed," and links to other administrative offices.

On-line directory Our on-line directory lists Reed alumni email addresses that have been added via our on-line address update page (see above). This is a protected web site, and you will be asked to enter your last name and Reed ID. Your ID number can be found on your alumni association membership card, or on your address label from a Reed mailing."

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