Barry Bosak:  

Left Wm Prescott elementary for CHS. Boy, the difference between Chapel School (K-5) and Prescott was remarkable. The nuns helped us with the three R's but the teachers at Prescott opened up our minds. Went to private school '56-'58 (my parents showed me the application, saying "sign here"--but it was a good experience). Roomed in Princeton with the late Dave Jenkins (CHS'57 for two years), majored in French Lit, and swam in every varsity meet. Got married six months after college graduation and then was an army officer in West Germany from 1962 to 1964. Both these events got me "on the right track" for the rest of my life. Returned to NYC and went to graduate business school (just attended my 50th at Morningside Heights in NYC--Columbia is undergoing an amazing expansion. Started off in a NY bank in 1966 doing stock research and moved to a small institutional brokerage firm for the same purpose in 1971. Continued to do this at two other firms until 1997 when I retired. Work involved considerable travel to the West Coast and Far East as well as a one way commute of 80 minutes to Wall Street when at home. I was in stock research during its "boom period"--it's not much fun anymore since the big firms are just "factories"--not particularly well-managed ones, in my opinion. I actively follow individual stocks and certain industries, amazed at the amount of information available on the 'net and elsewhere. Now I have considerable time to do other things. I'm very involved in a local church and sing in its choir. It's hard to believe that our director--a talented Taiwanese lady--switched me back from bass (which I'd been since '58) to tenor. She needs more tenors--and, believe it or not, I lower the average age of that section! I enjoy active outdoors sports, including mountain climbing, ice climbing, skiing, biking, short triathlons, etc. I find that swimming is now the easiest and most convenient exercise year round--do about 1/2 mile per day and am still pretty fast for my age. This past winter ('15/'16) was so easy I've been jogging 2-3 miles almost daily. Spend a lot of time at a seasonal home in NH--great lake sports and the White Mtns are nearby for climbing/skiing. NH has some great mountains, but a tiny area--King Pine--is fun (and cheap). Two granddaughters live up the road and they are on the ski team (one of the best in NH since it's "up-down-up-down," steep, and has two olympians as coaches). Moving to 2022--don't downhill ski anymore--balance issues and risk of a concussion. Can do X-country but snow-shoeing safer/more stable. Also do some travel, including five hiking/climbing trips to Nepal (and Tibet once)--my last trek was to Kangchenjunga in eastern Nepal (Nov 2010). My wife and I toured Germany/Czech Republic in December 2012 to celebrate our 50th anniversary. I'm amazed at how West Germany--now Germany--has changed in 50 years. I visited a relative in southern Germany--amazingly beautiful countryside/mountains. Using German/English/French we communicated--and the relatives couldn't believe that "some Americans love Germans"--they live in a secluded part of the country and don't have much interaction with foreigners. My wife and I put 5700 miles on her small Ford Fiesta in 2013. We were in Duluth when the national parks were shuttered (thank you senator x) but decided to drive onward. It was very enjoyable: we loved the Upper P, Dakotas, and Wyoming but realized that Pennsylvania and New York are among the most beautiful states. The car averaged 42 mpg overall--I was remiss to take a gas-guzzler, having toured the West in '61 after summer ROTC army camp in a '59 Renault that got decent mpg for the time. At least our new Subaru gets decent mpg even with studded snows Took a great...Expand for more