MacDuffie School - Magnolia Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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The Prophecy If was one of fhose unbearably hof nighfs in New York Cify. The pavemenfs seemed acfually fo curl up wifh fhe heaf. Resflessly I fossed on fhe bed and asked myself how I had ever been so foolish as fo become a wrifer . . . a penniless one af fhaf, who could nof afford fo gef away from fhe cify in 'rhe summer. Unforfunafely if was foo lafe for regrefs now. Besides, my book was nearing complefion, and in my more opfimisfic momenfs I felf I was possibly nearing an income exceeding my presenf rafher scanfy one: however, fhis was nof one of fhose momenfs conducive fo such happy fhinkini alnd in fhe humid dark I only muffered curses af fhe heaf, myself. and fhe bulky manuscripf on my es . Af lengfh I decided fhaf if I could occupy my mind long enough, I would evenfually fall asleep, so being a senfimenfalisf af hearf lfhough my profession has given me fhe superficial air of cynicism, which wrifers fry fo upholdl-I began 'ro look back on fhe years, nof so long pasf, when I was in school-and nighfs were cool. Thoughfs passed rapidly over Sanxlzrancisco, I'-lonolulu, and caughf fheir second breafh in Springfield. If was fhen fhaf I began fo wonder whaf had befallen my schoolmafes af MacDuffie. I pondered over fhis quife awhile, buf as I had earlier surmised, delving info fhe profound mysfery of fhinking exhausfed me, and I fell asleep. Morning comes over New York like a gray angel wifh cool hands, buf one who is chased away by fhe demon of sfeam and heaf. I woke af fhaf momenf when fhe Iaffer sfood conquerer. Miserably I gof up. The fhoughf of breakfasf nauseafed my sfomach and my purse. I had always sfrived for fhe gaunf arfisfic look, and I was rapidly achieving such desired effecfs. I washed and dressed, fhen wondered how I could gel' my mail wifhouf Mrs. Polaski asking me for fhe renf. I mulled over several schemes, buf finally gave fhem up, and decided fo brave fhe formidable figure fhaf was my landlady. As luck would have if Mrs. P. had gone ouf for herring. She wasn'+ fo be seen cleaning in fhe fronf hall. Wifh a sigh of relief I gof fo fhe mailbox and exfracfed from if a posf card and Ieffer which was green wifh whife ink. By fhe fime I gof upsfairs fo my room again, I had discovered fhaf my shorf sfory had kindly been reiecfed by Cosmopolifan Magazine. lAnd fo fhink of all fhe business Mr. Rufenber used fo give fhem.l I did nof feel foo depressed, however, since if was my habif fo receive liffle cards like fhis one quife offen. Gingerly I had handled fhe green envelope. Affer crossing all my fingers fo ward off any bad spirifs which mighf lie wifhin fhe weird envelope, I opened fhe leffer wifh some difficulfy. Sfrange . . . fhe scripf was familiar. I nofed fhe dafe on fhe fop sheef was May I. Odd . . . fhis was July 26 Then I knew! I glanced af fhe signafure fo confirm my fhoughf. If was from Ann I-lanifin, my old roommafe af MacDuffie. Only sh e'd wrife a Ieffer in fhe spring and nof mail if unfil summer. Eagerly I-read fhe nofe. If said fhaf fhere was fo be a reunion of fhe class of '47 in Aflanfic Cify. Ann said she was wrifing fhis early, so I would be sure 'ro plan ahead and come. Dear Ann. If I were going fo make fhaf reunion I had beffer cafch a frain soon. As I gafhered my fhings fogefher I only prayed fhaf Ann hadn'f wriffen fhe leffer Iasf yearl Wifh Iiffle difficulfy I found Breaker Inn, fhe place appoinfed for fhe frysf, according fo my invi- fafion. I walked up fo fhe desk of fhe resorl' and fhere, fo my surprise, I found Nan Vail. She hadn'f changed much. I nofed wifh envy fhe oufdoor look she had managed fo keep. My own complexion had Iosf mosf of ifs youfhful color and gained fhe kind fhaf comes ouf of compacfs. As Nan caughf sighf of me she hurdled fhe desk la feaf I would nol' have dared fo fryl and embraced me warmly. Affer fhe heIIos and how are yous, I asked her how she had remained so afhlefic. Laughingly she fold me her secref lay in fhe facf fhaf she married a resorf owner. In 'rhe winfer fhey owned a ski place in Sun Valley and in fhe summers fhey ran Breaker Inn. If was all 'rhe exercise enfailed by The iob fhaf kepf her so fif. I musf have looked surprised when she menfioned her husband, so she quickly fold me how she had offen married her senior year in college. She added fhaf she had wanfed 'ro send me an invifafion auf fhaf she didn'+ know where fo send if since she wasn'f sure of my address af fhe fime. Af fhis poinf a young child came bouncing in. Nan explained fhaf fhis was Holly Field lField was Nan's new surnamel. The girl looked abouf fen and I raised a quesfioning brow. Nan quickly perceived and explained fhaf she and her husband had found fhe Iiffle girl fwo years ago near fheir resorf, abandoned, so fhey had adopfed her. I was abouf fo address fhe child when a foddling baby rolled in, and Nan informed me fhaf fhis was Chesfer Field her son. Lnoied how firm, how smoofh, how fully packed his Iiffle body was and decided fhaf he was a good heir fo fhe resorf business. In fhe meanfime I-lolly had broughf ouf her pen and pad and was madly wrifing. Nan whispered fo me fhaf fhe child was frying fo gef my affenfion since she had read a few of my occasionally published shorf sfories and was now aspiring fo become an aufhoress. Nan added fhaf she hoped I would give I-lolly an encouraging word or fwo. I fouched my sfomach Iighfly and, almosf declined, buf wenf 'ro fhe child anyway. Affer quesfioning I-lolly for awhile and felling her of some of my more successful experiences, I discovered fhaf fhe Iiffle girl had begun wrifing her inifial offering already. She even had if fifled . . . The Breeze and I.

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NOW 1 K ' Q 2 , Q H EF '-A- y ' k N, h Q y 5 ,.A , Mary Irwin Margof Sandy 'iw Nancy BGHY Ann y Q' A K f I E , A '? W I 2 ya ' Judy Nan Paf y - , y 5 yy 2394 V aihif 1 ,xl ff' . 9 Q 5 T ' is 1 n Rue Polly Puf Rufh Joan Mary Carman Shirley

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When Nan had senf fhe children off fo fhe beach fo play, she began fo ask of my doings during 'rhe pasf six years since graduafion from MacDuffie. I was abouf fo fell her when we heard fhe loud scream of an ambulance oufside. We looked ouf and saw fhaf prinfed on fhe door of fhe vehicle were 'rhe words f-lanifin and Brodeur Clinic. Ann and Nancy came in. Bofh of fhem looked very chic and nof fhe leasf bi+ anfisepfic. We nofed fhaf Ann had given up her bangs. She explained Iafer fhaf fhey gof in fhe way when she operafed. Nancy laughed when she fold us how Ann had hafed fo parf wifh her fringe. We well undersfood, since we remembered how Ann never used 'lo gef around fo frimming if in school. All was nof losf fhough, according 'ro Nancy, since Ann had iusf cuf bangs on her fwo-year-old daughfer. If seems Ann had married one of fhe Pierce Brofhers, fhe famous morficians in California. Her daughfer, Odell, was fasf acquiring affachmenf fo her bangs foo . . . Nancy fold us. Then Ann gave us fhe news of her parfner. If seeumed Nancy had ioined her 'ro become a parfner in fhe clinic affer her sfay in Europe, af which fime she had married Counf Ten-isky: however. if seems fhaf Igor las Ann called himl had faken ill and died in fhe Greaf Plague, and Nancy refurned fo America. Ann induced her fo 'oin her liffle esfablishmenf, which was rapidly puffing Leahy ouf of business. Ann fold us Iafer, confidenfially, 'rhaf Nancy had goffen over lgor's deafh and was soon fo announce her engagemenf fo a promising docfor named Sfurgeon af fhe clinic. We seffled ourselves in fhe lovely living room of The resorf, while Nan played fhe parf of fhe hosfess. We were iusf nibbling on appefizers, when I noficed fhaf an eleganf limousine had pulled up in fronf of 'rhe resorf. The sound of a familiar voice said, Refurn for me a+ nine, Swanee. I knew, as did fhe resf, fhaf if was no ofher fhan Polly I-Iugqan. Polly enfered fhe room in fhe lafesf Carnegie mode. Such a haf . . . so chic. so sfunning, fhaf I wasn'+ quife sure where Polly was. I found her face beneafh fhe feafhers and fulle. Affer fhe flurry of greefings, Polly seffled down and fold us all fhaf had befallen her in fhe pasf six years. She had, as she fold us she would in school, sfarfed working from fhe boffom up in merchandising. Af Ihe very beginning of her career, Mr. Greenberg, owner of fhe sfore in which she was employed. asked her fo do some modeling for him on 'rhe fhird floor. so righf away Polly moved up from 'rhe basemenf, selling pofs and pans, fo wearing apparel. While she modeled, Polly proved fo all abouf her fhaf her forfe was really buying, so Mr. Greenberg senf her fo fhe basemenf again fo buy for Ihe pofs and pans deparfmenf. Polly, wifh her usual ambifion, had worked herself righf up again. l-Iowever. she explained fhaf her fop posifion af Greenberg's didn r maffer anymore as she was soon fo wed one of fhe Cuban millionaires, who had goffen his money from his many sugar planfafions. We gasped af fhe news, buf concluded fhaf we had always known fhaf Polly had a lof fo her. We were all laughing over fhe old days when we used fo . . . and were such, when fhe phone rang. Nan answered. When she refurned, she said fhaf Wesfern Union had called and fhaf a wire from Mary Carman had come. Mary wired her regrefs fhaf she could nof affend our gafher- ing, because of her four. Seems fhaf Mary, now known as Carman fo fhe public, affer marrying a Mr. Jones, had become nafionally known for her dancing role in Broadway's lafesf hif, My Pal Boris. Now fhaf fhe show was enferin ifs fhird year, she was fouring on her own in Mexico. Mary always did believe in The Good Neighbor Policy. We were iusf discussing fhis, when we heard fhe chaffer of many-children. We furned fo find Sandy Cone. Sandy, affer she had deposifed her five children on fhe beach wifh Nan's fwo. fold us all abouf her marrying a soap manufacfurer, who had been inspired, upon seeing her, fo wrife his greafesf ad. We asked her if she had a snap of him, and quickly she opened her purse fo bring ouf a picfure. I was nearesf my old friend, so I looked af fhe snapshof firsf. Sandy, I said, affer long scrufiny, you musf have given me fhe wrong picfure. I don'+ see anyfhing buf a rail fence. Sandy laughed and laughed. Pa+, she said, fhaf's him . . . fhe fhird rail from fhe righf. I-le's rafher skinny. she said, buf he's soooo -before Sandy had finished her senfence someone said hello. There was Rue Forsland. Polly whispered fo me fhal' Rue was now known as Dusfy Land on fhe sfage. I nofed fhaf Rue, like Ann, had given up her bangs. When I quesfioned her abouf if, she fold me fhaf one day af rehearsals she had become so engrossed in her parf as a lady barber, she had done fhe iob of snipping on herself. She added fhaf if was fhaf play, Cufaway, fhaf had won her fhe crifics acclaim. She was now on her way fo I-Iollywood fo fesf for fhe parf in fhe Mammofh Picfures new movie, Tuxedo Juncfion. We ohed over fhis, and were abouf +o quesfion her more, when fwo new figures enfered . . . Judy I-lill and Shirley Edwards. Judy fold us fhaf she was now living in Peru, buf fhaf she was illusfrafing children's sfories based on fhe Soufh American fables. She had married a Senor from Lima, who wrofe fhe fales. She and her husband had come up fo fhe sfafes 'ro see fheir publishers, Singlenighf Lauren. She added fhal' Singlenighf was fhe husband of Joan Palmer. We asked where Joan was, and Judy supplied us wifh fhe answer. Seems one of fhe Iiffle Singlenighfs was down wifh scarlef fever and Joan iusf couIdn'f make if. By fhe way, said Judy, Ru+h McCarfhy, now a regisfered nurse, is helping Joan fake care of fhe liffle scarlef feverife. Bofh Rufh and Joan had asked Judy fo send fheir regrefs. Then Shirley fook our affenfion. Affer fwo years of sfudy abroad Shirley had begun painfing in earnesf, in Frankforf, Germany. She now had a collecfion which she was presenfing for 'rhe crifics fo view fhis aufumn. We all wished her luck. Seems Shirley had parficular faifh in one painfing of a Iiffle boy being licked by a hound dog. The fifle of fhe work was Soufhern Comforl'. You could never forgef fhaf Shirley was from Virginia. ccont. on page before the ads.,