Thanks to the Simian Outing Society,
I had an absolutely wonderful time in college, loved the University of
Illinois and have nothing but good to say about it, the University,
that
is. That was back when the U of I was a leader in computers,
housing
the huge, famous ancestor, Illiac IV. We punched cards. After
CS101
and (Rhet101&2), however, I was never ever going to have anything
to
do with computers (or writing). Then in the late '90s I moved to
Idaho and had to reach out or else . . .
STUMBLING ONTO S.O.S. Exactly how I, a
clueless
undergrad ('63-'68--"if you don't know what you want to do then you're
going to college")--stumbled onto the Simian Outing Society, cannot
recall.
NOTE from Dick Windecker: "I suspect you and
Lorrie
stumbled on the Simians at one of the activity nights held each fall at
the Illini Union: we always had an enthusiastic (some would probably
call
it rowdy) contingent of recruiters looking especially for women
recruits."
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Recruiting season ~1965?!
Dick Windecker with ??
both photos C Vann
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Recruiters w new recruit Cynthia
L-R: Curt, Garry, Bob ~1966?
"Climbing" and "Caving" signs
hand lettered by CV!
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For sure Lorrie and I were sorority misfits,
looking
for a better home. For the record, I'm not a "true child of the
'60s"
as in: if you can remember the '60s, you weren't there. If I
can't
remember, it's not because of drugs. I remember the '60s as well
as anything else in my life, which is not really all that well.
The
strongest thing to cloud this Illini mind was wine, mercifully
discovered
after giving beer the old college try and failing to hold down even a
glass
without barfing. Not that I was a serious student. Nooo.
With the discovery of the Simians, most of
us
were having way too much fun. I also suspect that most of us, a
large
percentage of grad students, had fair respect for getting through
school.
I can almost hear the hoots as I type! (There were
exceptions.)
By and large, the Simian experience was just plain old good, muddy
fun.
(See evergrowing PHOTO EVIDENCE below)
After meeting the Simians, life gained
purpose.
"Membership" meant regular Thursday night meetings over coffee in the
Student
Union basement, reveling in recent outings and plotting the next.
As months went on (and perhaps birthdays bpassed and GPAs slipped) more
and more of these planning sessions adjourned to the Capitol Bar.
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Thursday night planning meetings,
Illini
Union L-R Dick W. ?, ?, Smeaton, Richard Ely and Garry Patterson.
Photos by Cynthia
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L-R Don Mcloud, Vera, ?,
Curt, familiar
faces -- but who? [Steve Jellen standing center, ?, Garry far
right]
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ACTIVITIES
CAVING. Caving trips took us across the
border
to Bloomington and Evansville, Indiana, regularly. Sometimes to
Kentucky,
New Mexico, . . .
CLIMBING/HIKING. Trips included regular
outings
to nearby Portland Arch, Indiana, and occasional outings to Devils
Lake,
Wisconsin, over longer weekends. All weekends were long, because
we left as soon as possible on Fridays and returned at dawn before
Monday
classes (which may or may not have been attended). Hardier
climbers
strayed as far as the Swangunks, NY. There were occasional
fantastic
weekend drives to Colorado to climb 14ers with their inevitable
stories.
Classics include: Assualt of Mt. Sneffles, CO, 196?; Tetons
Jun/Jul
1967; Mt. Robson; the Bugaboos.
PADDLING. Canoes, rafts,
whatever.
Canoeing Indiana criks like Sugar Creek?; Illinois, the Embarass R. at
flood stage; Current River, MO (196?). Rafting Boquillas Canyon,
Big Bend NP, TX
PARTIES. Abundant. Cannot Recall
very
well. Numerous and various.
PROTESTS. Washington 196?
SKIING. Colorado. . .
HOLIDAYS. Of course we took advantage
of
all holidays. One Easter we rafted in Big Bend TX; one Christmas
we slept in the bathroom at Grand Canyon. And so it went.
The
sky was the limit, central Illinois its hub.
MISC. MEMORIES: Who remembers stuffing
into
Paul Boyer's (black?) Beetle for caving outing in Indiana?
THE WILDEST PARTY? My vote--Garry
falling
off (whose?) roof, breaking jaw, getting skinny, sipping through straw
the next umpteen weeks. Another Garry story, something hearing
alarm
clock late the day after sleeping off the night before. Anyone else
remember
late night runs to Po' Boys? Best BBQ I've ever had.
Period.
Peter Z (10/9/05, Boise) recalls a party evening Terry Courtright might
not during which he was tortored by simian love. [Bet there are a
lotta dittos on that theme!]
your versions and recollections.
A WEBSTER LOOKS BACK. Since I lacked
professional
direction other than collecting rocks and bugs, I was packed off to my
second generation Illini folks' alma mater, where I peaked academically
freshman year. Thanks to discovering the anthropology department,
I escaped with a B.A. half a semester early. Hours after I locked
into this viable exit route, the bar was raised, doing away with the
Dept's.
miniscule 20 semester hours requirement. Altho I had some 34
hours
in Geology, my passionate childhood hobby, I knew there was no way I
could
survive the Physics and Organic Chemistry requirements, so, Anthro it
was.
Even highly motivated Carol Evers, the architect student in my sorority
(that's another story) barely passed physics. I was not about to
waste time trying.
Instead, in dad's old USAF coveralls with
the
family genuine Auto Light carbide lantern converted for hardhat, I
headed
further out each weekend!
Like I said, somehow Lorrie and I--we met in
L.S.B.
Leakey's--honest!-- Anthro 103 class, fall 1965 -- appeared on the
Simian
scene. As the minority sex, we were greeted enthusiastically and
patiently, with much, much teasing. As I recall, we immediately
began
spending weekends crawling on hands and knees through slippery caves
around
Bloomington, Indiana. Peeling frozen, muddy clothes off exhausted
bodies, with stiff fingers, in mixed company, dispatched with all our
midwestern
sensibilities once and for all. True Simians got great mileage
outa
showing off, comparing and talking about bruises all week until we
could
go get more. It was a barrel of fun, dragging back to our
respective
sorority beds after a caving adventure, or party, or perhaps finding
digs
elsewhere. While others were off protesting, we crawled under
Indiana.
One exception I recall was Vera and Anthony Martin-Trigona attending an
historic Peace March in DC ~ 1968.
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO S.O.S.?!
How long into the '70s did S.O.S. survive???
Note: internet shows as recently as mid-'80s
Simian Outing Society still listed under Student Activities!!
[stay
tuned for newly located early '70s Banana Peels from P Brickett]
WHERE (in the world) ARE
THEY
NOW??!!
Al Lawrence, engineering; CLIMBER,
SKIER;
PARTIES; (WritePeterZ)
Al & Jo Russell, ski (Colo 1970)
Allen Morrill, climber (N Carolina 1970)
Anita Benson, math/computers; CAVER, PARTIES;
last sighting - WA State
Chris Menges, climber (N Carololina 1970;
Elbert)
the film guru???
Chris Pischl
Das and Dolores, math, ??
Dave Erbes
Dave Hill, skiier; last known, Denver
Dave Jenson, winter mtneer (Colo 1970)
Dick Good, peace corps...
Don Lee, grad student?; PARTIES, SUPPORT
Don Mcloud, accounting?; bicycler; CAVER
Windy
City Grotto?
Don Mills
Fred Hanson; PARTIES; CLIMBER 2011
rumor - may be in Indiana
Greg Sellers - Momence IL? Naperville?
Mountaineer
Harold Jacobs
Jack ? 1966
Joan Curvoisier
John Rutherford, caver
John Stoltenberg
John Stover, Purdue, climbed at Portland
Arch;
Boulder, CO joined Flatirons expeditions
Judy Hoyt
Linda Froelick, CLIMBER
Lou Jones, physics
Mary Bryant
Mary Brongel, climber (N Carolina 1970)
Mel Hoffman
Michael Werner; PARTIES; from Wilkes
Barre... now? Boston?
Nancy Wicke
Peter Ealy, geology grad student
Ray McKinley, skier;
Reb Hutchins; CAVER
Roger Cook
Ron Campezi, French, SUPPORT; PARTIES,
Ron Cox, "early" simian, still teaching in
Colorado?
CLIMBER
Stevie Highland, skier
Terry Burlingame
Trish Clark, SKIER (Color 1970); last sighted
Pt. Townsend WA
Vic Bell
GUILTY by
association/adjuncts
BERNADETTE PACE, Microbiology; now
trapeze
master!, Bloomington Indiana
BILL KNOWLER, U of Iowa, CLIMBED w Simians,
notably:
Bugaboos w P Zvengrowski, G Campbell: see:
Knowler, WC: "Direct
route on the west face of North Howser Tower". The Canadian
Alpine
Journal 51:
205-209, 1968. Now:
NIH research, Phoenix see: webarticle
or email
C. BRENT MILLER, physics
DOUG MEDLEY, Engineering. Berkeley, Aspen,
now
VANCOUVER, BC! email
ELLEN TORRENCE, physics, PADDLER
LULU WOLFE, Bay area email
NICK & MARY JANE CARRERA, physics?
Falls Church, VA see Dick Windecker
RICH MICKLIN, geology,
Tucson?
Traverse City MI?
RON SCOTT, Physics grad student, PARTIES;
cancer
treatment ctr, so. CA (see GeorgeF) Died in plane crash, winter
2004
HERE THEY ARE!
BOB (Robert) SMEATON, anthropology;
CAVER,
CLIMBER, PARTIES; from Colombia to Nepal, located virtually unchanged,
2/2001 with family in Tucson AZ email
BRAD DAVISON, caver. FOUND!
5/2006.
Chicago! Married to long-time caving buddy Val [Lichon], 2
kids. ebraddavidson at comcast.net
BYRON LARSON; Oriental studies, CAVER; last
reported
in China. Taiwan? web-ref?
CHARLIE HENKEN, physics; rafter (Grand Canyon
1967) ....? Found in Arlington 2007 [VA?] charles.henkin at
verizon.net
CHERYL HILTIBRAN, climber; educator, now
between
MN and Palm Springs. email: cherylhiltibran (at sign) mm
(dot)
rr (dot) com ... web
CHUCK COOPER, sociology?, CLIMBER, SKIER,
mountaineer;
Found! in Chambana! email
CRAIG SUTTER, physicis; CLIMBER!
Found "retired" (hardly) after decades of teaching physics, still
climbing in Urbana (2011)!!! csutter (at sign) illinoisalumni
(dot) org
CURT and GRETCHEN (SCHOENBERG) WAGNER;
Physics,
CLIMBER, Elbert, PADDLER (BigBend '68) CAVER; retired Physics Prof,
Minnesota
Southwest State Univ., Marshall, MN .... email
CYNTHIA VANN, anthro/geology; CAVER, PARTIES;
last report - USAF; our Cindy! webarticle
Found!: Prescott AZ! email: cynthia@ (at sign) cableone
(dot)
net
DIANA KNAAK, CLIMBER (Colo winter 1970;
Sneffles,
new year's 1969), PARTIES; Calgary? more pending?... webnote
DICK STUTZKE, physics; CLIMBER (Sneffles?),
PADDLER
(Current R. 1968?), PARTIES; Huntsville AL; died fall 2006 see High
Ground
page... web
DICK WINDECKER, Physics, and Patty; RAFTER
(Grand
Canyon 196?) - after Thailand, still in NJ! email: RWinedecker (at
sign)
aol (dot) com
ERIC ALDRICH, Climber, Found 7/04, still in
the
Front Range of Colorado, biking...!!! email: aldrichae (at sign)
juno (dot) com
ERIC JOHNSON, physics grad student; HIKER
(Yankee
Boy Basin?) PADDLER; Scottsdale AZ; died fall 2007
FRED CABOT, physics; paddler retired,
northern
CA (see D. Windecker)
FRED PHALER, "early" simian climber and
mountaineer,
Lake Oswego, OR per GC
FRANK KNIGHT, math, SKIER; CLIMBER; last seen
in Boulder; retired Math Prof, U of I! obit: News-Gazette 3/21/2007
-3/23/2007
(thanks, HarryZ).
GARRY PATTERSON (and Carolyn), engineering;
CAVER,
PARTIES; FOUND! DENVER since '73! email: cmp9 (at sign
here)
earthlink.net
GAY(lord) CAMPBELL, math; CLIMBER; found (by
RSmeaton), Middleton, WI
GEORGE FREDERICKS, PhD physics; CLIMBER
(WindRivers
196?) PARTIES, SKIER; Colo Springs, CO email: georgefredericks (at sign
here) hotmail (dot) com or puzzledojo
or web
HARRY (& Kathy) ZANOTTI; CLIMBER, SKIER,
Crestones; photographer Urbana, IL (per P Huizinga 12/00!)
Harry died July 2008 Kathy: kzanotti (at sign) illinois (dot) edu
JEANNIE HEMPHILL, anthro/geol; CAVER/CLIMB,
Mt
Yale; Tucson/1966; Flat Tops rendezvous 1971); yoga world, Jacksonville
IL email: retro_illini (at sign here) frontier (dot) com; simian
co-webster; web
JOE STRUTT, Math, climber -- deceased ~1977,
NY? per PeterZ and Eric A
JOHN B (and Lynn) CONLEY, CLIMBER,
PARTIES;
SKIER, Elbert, Sneffles; Warrenton VA!; dog shows! email:
jchinthe
(at sign here) infionline (dot) net
JOHN SCHMIDT (Phyllis Makita) -
veternarian/malamute
breeder; Aspen CO, New England (deceased)
LAURA JASCH, anatomy; CLIMBER (Mt. Sneffles;
Crestones; Tetons 1967); UBC med school faculty, Vancouver BC; climbers
heaven~1979? Tribute see: HighGround
page
LORRIE HOUGH (McCOY) psychology; CAVER,
CLIMBER,
Robson, Tucson, Tetons 196?), PARTIES; PADDLER (Current R,
1968?);
Denver. Still climbing! PhD counseling
MARK ROSS, caver, from Normal. Per Brad
Davidson
4/2006
Kerrville TX (good place for caver!) FOUND 2011:
marjan (at sign) windstream (dot) net
MARK WILSON, forestry; CLIMBER, SKIER,
RAFTER;
geography faculty, HSU and history tours, McKinleyville CA web
....email
MIKE MOORE, geology; Indiana Geological Survey
NORM PACE; PhD microbiology; CAVER (Flat Tops
1971); Prof, U of Colo, Boulder email
PAUL BOYER, geology grad student collector of
fine election posters; CAVER; PARTIES; taught at Okaloosa-Walton Junior
College, Niceville FL; died (per R Ely) see High
Ground
PAUL BRICKETT, Elbert, Sneffles trips.
FOUND in San Jose after years in Vancouver area BC!
10/2002
email: brickett (at sign here) earthlink (dot) net .. web
PAUL HUIZINGA, math; CLIMBER; SKIER,
Crestones;
San Francisco, Grand Rapids, Mich. 2/2002 climbers heaven.
Died Feb 27, 2002 For memories of Paul go to High
Ground
PAUL MANTSCH, physics grad student; CLIMBER
(WindRivers);
now St. Charles IL email: MANTSCH (at sign)
NALV
(dot) FNAL (dot) gov
PAUL SPENCER, physics; Dick Windecker's in
touch
with Paul! FOUND (Nov. 2007!) Pullman WA!
email:
paul-spencer (at sign here) pullman (dot) com
PEGGY PARKER ELY, botanist/photographer,
Berkeley
CA
PETER ZVENGROWSKI, PhD math; CLIMBER,
PARTIES,
SKIER; math prof, U of Calgary email: zvengrow (at sign here)
ucalgary.ca
RICHARD ELY, geology grad student; CAVER (IN,
KY, Flat Tops 1971), CLIMBER, PARTIES - see caw.org/clergy/
Found! Geologist, Sonoma County CA
STAN FUKA from WI; mountaineer; artist;
CLIMBER
(Crestones); found! animation world, Phoenix AZ!
STEVE JELLEN, CLIMBER (Tetons 1967), FOUND
2/2004,
photographing and enjoying life, Edwardsville IL email
SUE MAHLBERG (Kay); CAVER; geochemist,
Cornell
University, NY email
--- cornellfaculty
TERRY COURTRIGHT, geology; CLIMBER
(Colo);
Retired, Aurora CO email: Tcxtwo (at sign) aol (dot)
com
TOM DiGENNARO, engineering;
CAVER... FOUND AT LAST in BOULDER, CO, nat!! Software & more,
married w 4; galgalsystems (dot) com thomasdigennaro
(at) comcast...
TOM JUDSON, math; CLIMBER; SKIER; prof.
Portland,
Tacoma, Boston email: judsontw (at sign) sfasu (dot) edu
VAL LICHON, married Brad Davidson, TX
VERA LUTTRELL, math; CAVER; PARTIES;
PROTESTS;
heaven Oct 8, 1971 see HighGround page
For RARE PHOTOS! Click below:
SIMIANS
aka Folks
SIMIANSatPLAY
HIGHGROUND
remembering friends
CINDY'S
ARCHIVES
CONLEY
COLLECTION
THOSE
WHO WISH THEY'D NEVER HEARD OF S.O.S., haven't retired yet, are
applying
for sensitive jobs, wish to be deleted, etc. well... TELL US MORE!
HELP!
THOSE WHO'D LIKE TO GET THE STORY STRAIGHT, share memories, fill in
dates,
majors and degrees, spelling, names and details, add stories and
photos...
Yes! send additions, corrections, photos and stories... write me at
retro_illini@verizon.net
Thanks
to George, the major technical enabler for hosting and posting the
site!
Thanks to Lorrie for inspiration to see if the web can help us learn
Where
Are They Now and for many photos to come! Thanks to everyone who
has connected, adding dates, memories...photos...energy...
