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High Treason, Ethnobotany, and the Taj Mahal

Dean Christopher Queen

For the Harvard Extension Alumni Association, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Changes for the final year of the second millennium included spirited presentations by acclaimed alumni authorities on the assassination of President Kennedy, the discovery of medicinal plants deep in the Amazon jungle, and a 2,000-mile trek through the glories of Asian art. Remaining the same were the congenial settings of our Grossman Common Room for our fall meeting, the Harvard Faculty Club for the Valentine's Day dinner, the Charles River and Boston Harbor for our Sunset Cruise in May, and the commanding vistas of Dean Shinagel's penthouse roof garden and Quincy House dining hall for the June alumni reception and banquet.

Harrrison Edward Livingstone, author of High Treason: The Assassination of President Kennedy, spoke at this year's first HEAA meeting.

High Treason: The Assassination of President Kennedy and its sequels, The Great Cover-Up, The Case for Conspiracy, and What Really Happened, have been the passion of Harrison Edward Livingstone, ALB '70, for the past 30 years. As an investigative journalist who has pored over declassified medical and documentary evidence in the century's most controversial whodunit, Livingstone made a dramatic year-opening presentation for Harvard Extension alumni on October 28. As always, the audience comprised the faithful, who take every opportunity to celebrate their association with their alma mater, complemented by conspiracy buffs and the curious.

On December 6, the Association sponsored a dinner in the elegant Skyline Room of the Museum of Science to honor Dr. Mark J. Plotkin, ALB '79, renowned ethnobotanist, author, and creator of the IMAX film Amazon. Author of Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rainforest and a beautiful children's book illustrated by Lynn Cherry, The Shaman's Apprentice: A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest, Plotkin regaled the dinner audience with stories of his life with rainforest tribesmen and shamans in his search for plant compounds that will offer relief to sufferers of diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. After dinner, Extension graduates were treated to a special showing of the film followed by dessert, coffee, and a chance to query "the shaman's apprentice." We all learned new meanings of the term "medicine man."

Dr. Santo J. Aurelio, ALB '83, ALM '85, honored the Association with a return engagement on February 3 for a sequel to last year's 90-minute slide extravaganza of Western art. A docent at Harvard's Fogg Museum, Aurelio accepted a public challenge at the conclusion of last year's presentation to return with news of the past 5,000 years of Asian art. Thus we began with the jaunty bronze statuette of a young dancer from the Indus Valley city of Mohenjo-Daro, part of the extinct Harappan civilization dating back to the third and fourth millennia BCE. The journey wound its way through the glories of Buddhist art and architecture in India, China, and Japan, and the discrete charms of Mogul miniature painting and Shah Jahan's magnificent Taj Mahal.

This year's Sunset Cruise and Alumni Banquet provided joyful opportunities to meet old friends, new graduates, doting instructors, and devoted deans.

Among the causes for celebration at this year's banquet were the announcement of new officers for the coming three-year term: Laurence E. Sheehan, ALM '94, president; Santo J. Aurelio, ALB '83, ALM '85, vice president; Andrew White, ALB '91, treasurer; Grace Scheibner, ALB '90, recording secretary; and Kristin Sudholz, ALM '92, corresponding secretary. Chairpersons for the coming term are James Conway, ALB '85, Chair, Shinagel Scholarship Committee; Theresa DiLando, CSS '83, Chair, Program Committee; and Ella P. Smith, ABE '66, Chair, Banquet Committee and representative to the Harvard Alumni Association.

This summer Erin O'Connor, Alumni Affairs Coordinator, moved on to pursue teaching and dance, her first loves. We offer heartfelt thanks to her for her gracious service to the HEAA for the past two years.

The 1999-2000 academic year will mark the 90th birthday of the Harvard Extension School, a time for great celebration. As the 25th year of Dean Michael Shinagel's leadership as Dean of Continuing Education and the Harvard Extension School, we look forward to recognizing his remarkable achievements, along with those of the Extension School. Please join me and the officers, faculty, and staff at our meetings and social gatherings over the coming months, and please give generously to the Shinagel Scholarship Fund when you receive our appeals in December and March. Call us, (617) 495-3481, with your greetings, news, address changes, suggestions or concerns. We always welcome your calls and visits.

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