Terry died of complications of sepsis in April of our 50th reunion year. I met him when we were both High School Freshman. We both ran the mile (slowly) on our Freshman team, and discovered that we shared an interest in Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, and Saturday night wrestling on TV. To this day, I’m not sure whether Bugs or the wrestlers were more cartoonish! We applied to Carleton separately, neither of us knowing that the other had also applied. Neither of us knew that Bill Alfini was also headed to Northfield, but that’s another story. Terry was bright, even by Carleton standards, and he was a gifted mime and comic. He was also a bit of a wild man, and his exploits “car-hopping” on snowy Minnesota nights and freight-hopping during warmer weather are legendary. Although academics were never a problem for him, Terry was enough of a contrarian that he didn’t always conform to what Carleton demanded of us. He viewed being labeled a “booker” as a supreme insult, but his deep intellectual curiosity lead him to pursue knowledge well outside the bounds of our curriculum. At the same time, he was goofy enough to be one of the founding fathers of Continental League Softball (which preceded the origin of the Rottblatt League by a year or two). I really don’t know anyone else quite like him, and knowing that he was planning to attend our reunion makes his death even harder to accept.Charlie Brook ’65I never had much influence on Terry’s way of thinking. A shame because I owe him one. He certainly came up with a genuine block buster on mine. Last night lying in bed I got to thinking about him. We go back to March of 1957 when my family moved to town and I became the newbie on Captain Campbell’s 8th grade baseball team. I was the team’s fire balling lefty. Lack of control was however, an issue. No one ever knew where a pitch of mine might be going. Nonetheless, I was pissed when I learned he did not choose me to be on the league All Star team. This was good honest feedback, however. It helped me realize my natural position was and still is 1st base on a slow pitch softball team.However, I digress. Once on one of those long ago college vacation times, I was driving on the freeway from the burbs into Chicago. Just cruising, changing lanes like a pro, the car full of buddies, good music on the box. Suddenly Terry called out from the back seat, “Alfini, slow down, you’re driving too fast. You’re counting on other drivers being aware of your presence. You’re scaring me to death.” Man, was I pissed and embarrassed. But I made myself calm down and reflect on what he had said. I can’t recall ever driving the same again as I was then. Who would have thought Terry would be the one to do a shout out like that?Traveling in from Hawaii, he was often in his seat at my folks’ house in Winnetka for a holiday feast of lasagna, ravioli or angel hair with squid. He was always truly delightful, urbane company for my young adult offspring, Cheri, my folks, and assorted brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, etc. He even made it all the way to Rifle, CO to catch one of my sons play football against rival Glenwood Springs. Naturally with him there the Bears crushed the Glenwood Demons. Gave us the chance to chat about the fun we would have had kicking the Demons around if we’d been students at Rifle High.Terry died about 6:45 this past Sunday morning, 4-26. Fortunately his brother Carter and sister-in-law Beverly were able to stay with him until the end. Here’s a final hint of the man’s wit and style. I have no doubt he was the smoothest ballroom dancer at Carleton all 4 years we were there. I miss you, my friend.Bill Alfini ’65
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I never had much influence on Terry's way of thinking. A shame because I owe him one. He certainly came up with a genuine block buster on mine. Last night lying in bed I got to thinking about him. We go back to March of 1957 when my family moved to town and I became the newbie on Captain Campbell's 8th grade baseball team. I was the team's fire balling lefty. Lack of control was however, an issue. No one ever knew where a pitch of mine might be going. Nonetheless, I was pissed when I learned he did not choose me to be on the league All Star team. This was good honest feedback, however. It helped me realize my natural position was and still is 1st base on a slow pitch softball team.
However, I digress. Once on one of those long ago college vacation times, I was driving on the freeway from the burbs into Chicago. Just cruising, changing lanes like a pro, the car full of buddies, good music on the box. Suddenly Terry called out from the back seat, "Alfini, slow down, you're driving too fast. You're counting on other drivers being aware of your presence. You're scaring me to death." Man, was I pissed and embarrassed. But I made myself calm down and reflect on what he had said. I can't recall ever driving the same again as I was then. Who would have thought Terry would be the one to do a shout out like that?
Traveling in from Hawaii, he was often in his seat at my folks' house in Winnetka for a holiday feast of lasagna, ravioli or angel hair with squid. He was always truly delightful, urbane company for my young adult offspring, Cheri, my folks, and assorted brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, etc. He even made it all the way to Rifle, CO to catch one of my sons play football against rival Glenwood Springs. Naturally with him there the Bears crushed the Glenwood Demons. Gave us the chance to chat about the fun we would have had kicking the Demons around if we'd been students at Rifle High.
Terry died about 6:45 this past Sunday morning, 4-26. Fortunately his brother Carter and sister-in-law Beverly were able to stay with him until the end. Here's a final hint of the man's wit and style. I have no doubt he was the smoothest ballroom dancer at Carleton all 4 years we were there. I miss you, my friend.