Books, Big Bend, Van Life and a Wedding

By Kyndall Krist

1950s

“Ginger Purington Bernhard ’59 (BA; PhD, 1971) and her colleague, Roswitha Wagner, wife of Harrison Wagner ’58 (BA), are awaiting publication of ‘The Ima Hogg Diaries: Love and the Great War, 1907–1918,’ by Texas A&M Press. Ginger is also at work on a novel about Cotton Mather’s witchcraft wife. I have three new books now available on Amazon: A memoir of my days as general manager of Houston’s Society for the Performing Arts titled, ‘Somebody Peenched My Het!’; ‘Tiny Troupers’ about child stars; and a new, light-hearted translation (shades of Lester Mansfield!) of Molière’s ‘Le Misanthrope.’ I can’t seem to shake my habit of constructing crossword puzzles, which appear regularly in the Phi Kappa Phi Forum and highly irregularly elsewhere. I also concoct a weekly theater quiz for a national online theater publication called GraceNotes.” — Contributed by Jim Bernhard ’59 (BA)

1960s

My family managed to plan a trip to Big Bend to celebrate my 80th birthday. Everyone drove, including my younger son and his wife from California. We stayed at Cibolo Creek Ranch, which really is in the middle of nowhere. They were only booking on a limited basis so there was plenty of social distancing, and we all had carefully quarantined two weeks beforehand. It was a safe and enjoyable experience. Thanks to our guide in the park, I even managed to spot an owl in a tree when we stopped for our picnic lunch. My only other outing, other than to the hospital for cataract surgery, was the final Owl football game of the season. The Rice staff did a great job organizing a safe opportunity for us to mask up and enjoy a beautiful afternoon at the stadium. — Contributed by class recorder Nancy Thornall Burch ’61 (Jones: BA)

2000s

“Husband Andrew Foster and I decided 2020 wasn’t quite interesting enough, so we decided to add Samuel Joseph Foster (Lovett 2043) to make a Foster Party of Five. Leo Atticus Foster (Lovett 2037) and Maxwell Oliver Foster (Lovett 2039) are pleased with the addition, noting that more boys means more chaos. … The Foster family enjoys loading up the 12-passenger Mercedes Benz Sprinter van with Tracy Dittert Janda ’79 (Jones: BA), Ken Janda ’77 (Lovett: BA), and other family and friends to visit national parks or to go on other ‘van adventures.’ The next time you are in DFW, come play with the Foster fray!” — Contributed by Allie Janda Foster ’09 (Lovett: BA)

2010s

Gabby Parker ’17 (Sid Rich: BA) married Blake Alfson ’15 (Sid Rich: BSME) Nov. 28, 2020, at St.
Joseph’s Catholic Church in San Antonio. The newlyweds first met at Rice and quickly became best friends, bonding over pizza and movies on Friday nights and trips to Ren Fest, bluebonnet fields and the Idaho wilderness. They continued to remain close after graduation and started dating after some time. When Gabby is not working in the Rice University Archives or freelancing for Roll 20, you can find her and Blake playing elaborate tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons, baking wonderful confections or spending time with friends watching “Lord of the Rings.” They look forward to traveling to New Zealand to experience the Shire once traveling is safe. — Contributed by class recorder Margaret Lie ’17 (Wiess: BS and MA)

— Illustrations by Delphine Lee