1979

While there are some very positive rewards to serving as class secretary, certainly one of the toughest duties is to advise you of the untimely death of a classmate. I am sorry to report that during the spring of 1994 Alec Donaldson took his own life. Alec's parents have graciously submitted the following letter to the class of '79 and other members of the Dartmouth family: "To Alec Donaldson's friends,

"It seems appropriate to add some details which might clarify Alec's situation for his college classmates and many other friends.

"After graduation in 1980 Alec and several classmates and Heorot friends, including Barks Penick and Johnny Olszewski, went to San Francisco to seek their fortunes. They all found jobs as bartenders. Alec continued in the bar business as the symptoms of manic depression, eventually complicated by paranoia, began to drag him down. We suspect that it started to affect him well before he finally came back to our home on Cape Cod to seek help in the spring of 1990.

"That first summer he got several summer jobs on the Cape but was unable to get a permanent position here. He moved to Cambridge that winter and lived there independently, always trying unsuccessfully to find a permanent job. During this whole period he was under excellent psychiatric treatment at McLean Hospital in Boston, but the side effects of the multiple medications were very difficult to live with, and although many different medications were tried, they were not really successful. In short, Alec's illness was very difficult to treat. All during this period Alec had suicidal thoughts in varying degrees of severity.

"Ultimately, after doing everything he had been advised to do as a good patient, Alec must have decided to take control of his life and end it. He disappeared on April 5, and his body was found on May 7 in the Hudson River near the George Washington Bridge, from which we are sure he jumped.

"During that month dozens of friends and relatives and hundreds of strangers assisted us in a massive search for Alec in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Over eight thousand "missing person" posters were distributed in places including part of the route of the Boston Marathon. It was amazing to us to see the great support we got from all those we asked for help.

"In particular the New York police were outstanding in their response, guidance, and support throughout the whole period. Detective O'Connell even attended Alec's memorial service in Hartford.

"Our family and his many friends have established an Alec Donaldson Memorial Fund, and contributions to that fund can be sent to McLean Hospital, attention of Dr. Joseph Davis, Research Administrator, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02178. To date, well over 80 donations have been made to this fond which will be used to support future research into the treatment of manic depression.

"Anne and David Donaldson would welcome mail or visits from the Dartmouth community. Our address is P.O. Box 499, Orleans, MA 02653."

108 St. Dunstan's Road, Baltimore, MD 21212