Closing my eyes, pinching my nose and... jumping in

Looking for everybody who was in Pau and Bordeaux in 1968-69 with UC Education Abroad Program to France!

I've been thinking for years that "someone" should create a blog or forum where we could all come together. It wasn't happening and, in the end, maybe that someone is me. This is, truly, a case of the blind (i.e. me) leading the blind (i.e. me), so please excuse my clumsiness. J'avance en tâtonnant. All of your help, comments and advice are more than welcome.

I know that you can create blogs with limited access to which all "members" can post (Blogger calls them "contributors/auteurs"). I've been part of one. My idea is to create a blog in which we can catch up (after 40+ years!), share memories, memorabilia and find lost friends. Although I haven't yet restricted access, I see it as a private space for us and close friends of ours who shared that magic year in France. For now, I'm the "administrator", but that doesn't have to be and if anyone else wants the job, it's up for grabs.

Over the years, I've kept up with Candi (Hall) and Robert Dahlstet, Linda (Cozadd) Van Meirhaegue, and Paula Burtis. A couple of months ago, I found Leslie Gerson's comments on the UCSB EAP site and found an email address for her. Recently, I emailed the Centre Californien at the U of Bordeaux asking them if they didn't have, by any chance, a list of us all. A few weeks later, they answered not with a list, but with news that Skip(Harold Victor) Condé had dropped by the Centre. They sent me his email. De fil en aiguille, j'avançais. Linda keeps up with Kim (Crain) and Kim keeps up with Sonya (Varea). Candi tells us that Scott Humble lives in Santa Rosa, and that Dennis Nadale died long ago of AIDS. I know that John Dennis was killed a few years ago in the Bay Area (I'll post the links to that). Candi wonders if "Tate Davie is still in Japan?" and would like to locate Michael Halpern. Linda and I live near Pau.

So far, I have contact info for Anna Kay (Ross) Bourg (me), Candi (Hall) and Robert Dahlstet, Linda (Cozadd) Van Meirhaegue, Sonya (Varea) Hammond, Kim (Crain) Goetz, Paula Burtis, Skip (Harold Victor) Condé and Leslie Gerson. Candi also sent a scanned copy of a (slightly faded, and in places possibly erroneous) list of all of us typed up way back when (then, surely). I will post that, along with a few photos, once I have figured out how this works and can get my act together.

I have invited all of you to be "authors" so you should be able to post (please, please DO!). Tell us your life story!!! and Pass the word. Let's see how many of us we can find. Next on the agenda is a REUNION! Is everybody up for a trip to France? Linda and I both live near Pau so could do something here (n'est-ce pas, Linda ?).

OK... I'm closing my eyes, pinching my nose and... "publishing" my post. And away we go!