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The Retirees' Newsletter

The Faculty and Librarian Retirees' Association, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada

Issue #19 -- October, 1996

The Association

The Faculty/Librarian Retirees' Association at Windsor was formed in 1990, to give a unified voice to retirees; to provide a bridge for communication with the University; to encourage social contact among the retirees; and to open a few doors through which retirees could continue to contribute to the University of Windsor.

Thus the Association is meant to fill what could otherwise be a void in the lives of retirees ­ possible isolation from the University and from their former colleagues; and possible lack of understanding of vital pension and health issues that affect them directly.

The Association operates under a Constitution. Nevertheless the preamble to our Constitution recognizes since we have "retired from active duty in the work force, there is no pressing need for formality and rigidity in the Constitution" and that it should be interpreted in that spirit.

There are only two meetings of the full membership per year: in the spring and the fall. An informal social committee arranges several other events per year ­ dinners, plays, picnics, and so on ­all of which are paid for by those who take part. The Association encourages smaller special interest groups to form as occasion and their interests warrant. Because of extreme economy of operation, dues have been kept at the level of $10 per year. This includes five issues of The Retirees' Newsletter (see p.3).

Currently, the officers of the Association are the following:

President: Edwin Habib

Sec'ty-Treas: William Libby

Elected Members of the Executive Committee: David Booth and Robert Whitehurst.

Ex Officio Members of the Executive Committee: Norm Shklov and Bill Phillips.

Address: Faculty/Librarian Retirees' Association, University of Windsor Post Office, Windsor, ON., N9B 3P4

FROM THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

Recent travellers include Bob Chandler and Jean, just back from Russia and England; Alan Brown and Bobbi now in Europe. Ed Rosenbaum recently back from Israel, where he has two sons as well as grandchildren. When you travel, drop me a note with your one or two most interesting impressions. Please: not a travelogue. And I'll include it.

Out-of-town members: your brethren in Windsor are still genuinely anxious to hear from you. Please don't just forget all about us!

Pictures: Hope you liked the pix from the Libby picnic. I thought them not bad for ordinary snaps done in colour then scanned to a disk for black and white printing. Maybe someday pictures will be a regular part of The Newsletter.

Leo vs. Mike: I just finished reading the formidable novel by Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace. (3200 pages, large print edition, which I love). An achievement, I thought, and I was proud ­ until I read Mike Tyson's view of Tolstoy in Newsweek. Mike said, " When I was in prison I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap. People shouldn't read that stuff". Mike says he now prefers comic books.

Lost and Found: I also recently finished writing the draft of a two-act play ­ strictly for the fun of it, of course. I've long been intrigued by St. Anthony of Padua, the saint who is the patron of people who have lost things and can't find them. St. Anthony has built up a world reputation for allegedly helping people find such things... Now it has always struck me that, given the law of averages -- viz. that 9 out of 10 times when you lose something, it's a pretty sure bet that it will turn up at some point in time -- that St. Anthony has a pretty sure thing going here, the moreso considering that, in that one case where the item never does turn up, Tony doesn't hesitate to play the testing-your-faith-for-next-time card. All of which leads me to perceive in St. Anthony's routine some elements of -- well -- should we say, a trick? My little play is pretty much a light dialogue between God and St. Anthony, in which God chides the good saint for what He too sees as a bit of a racket, and Tony tries to defend himself.

Anachronisms? Could it be that associations like ours will one day be anachronisms? People are retiring earlier than ever before and living longer than ever before, and the old-fashioned notion of retirement as some kind of "golden-year" period may soon disappear by default. I was astonished to learn last week that, of the 27 faculty/librarian retirees in the current year, only 6 or 7 have responded to personal written invitations sent last May to join. And each year there is a surprising number who don't join. Why? Just oversight, I hope. But that's why the Executive decided to pay more attention to the whole question of membership. People who don't join must have some reasons ­ good reasons, no doubt ­ but the Association would like to know what they are.

Noted: Nice to see Frank Auld at the picnic at Bill Libby's in August. Frank drove over from Michigan to see his old colleagues. I notice Peter Sonnenfeld still turns out good letters to the Globe and Mail. Say, Peter, I often see letters there signed by "Jim Parr". From their consistently high level, I feel those could be from my old friend Jim Parr who was Windsor's first Dean of Engineering. Any help on that one, Peter? Or Cameron MacInnes might know, eh, Cam? Jim and I used to work very closely during his many years here. (All the foregoing simply reminds me of what a large and growing contingent we now have in the big T-O.). I saw Cec. Birch recently when he was visiting from Florida. He tells me his sister Barbara, long-time registrar and later secretary to the Senate, is in Windsor and keeping well.

Ron Ianni: The entire Association is behind me, I am sure, when I express our deepest concern and sympathy to Ron Ianni, and extend to him and to Mina our heartfelt wishes and hopes and prayers for their well-being. Ron is showing great courage in confronting so bravely the serious illness that has struck him, and all of us can draw enormous inspiration from him. Our hearts go out to you, Ron, and our prayerful good wishes. Bill Phillips

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