I just received my copy of USC Trojan Family Magazine, which I find informative and enjoyable. I was especially interested in the Winter 2001 issue, since the cover referenced Academy Award winner Mark Jonathan Harris, as well as the flowering of Jewish filmmaking at USC (“Grand Jewry Investigation,” p. 42).
I am general counsel for Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, the nonprofit organization founded by Steven Spielberg in 1994 after he filmed Schindler’s List. Our mission is to overcome prejudice, intolerance and bigotry – and the suffering they cause – through the educational use of the foundation’s Holocaust testimonies.
After reading the article, I was extremely disappointed to learn that James Moll (yes, my brother and founding executive director of the Shoah Foundation) was not mentioned as an Academy Award-winning director in 1999 for The Last Days, a documentary feature about the experiences of five Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust. James graduated from USC film school in 1987. The Last Days was also executive produced by USC trustee Steven Spielberg.

What a thrill it was to receive your Winter 2001 issue and discover an article about occupational therapy (“Redesigning Lives,” p. 32). As a 1976 recipient of a bachelor’s degree in OT from USC, I have just completed 25 years in this wonderful profession. USC instilled in me a passion for occupational therapy that has not diminished over time. I love telling people about my USC background. Young OTs are totally impressed when I tell them that Claudia Allen was one of my professors.
I, for one, have always tried to incorporate crafts into the treatment programs of my clients, even in traditional medical settings. My one regret is that I sold at a yard sale years ago the beautiful loom that I created in Doris Hill’s woodworking class. Now that I would like to learn to weave, I can’t believe I let that treasure disappear. My career has been on the East Coast since 1978, so I don’t have close ties to the school. I have remarkable memories, though, and feel only satisfaction and sincere thanks for my USC experience.

I read with great interest the article “Redesigning Lives” in USC Trojan Family Magazine. I was most interested to learn of the work being performed by the USC Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Our company, IBAR Settlement, assists in the administration of over 300 special-needs trusts for disabled children and adults. Many of our clients have had difficulty in locating qualified OTs and PTs and would most likely benefit from this program. The trusts, which have been established on behalf of these disabled individuals, are set up to pay for the types of services provided through this program. Thank you for helping me make our disabled clients aware of the program.

My thanks to you and to President Sample for giving me a splendid return in the Winter 2001 issue (“President’s Page,” p. 5) to my best friend at USC. When I arrived in September 1947 from the red hills of Oklahoma, I immediately met that fabulous friend and promptly fell in love. The friend, of course, was and is the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library, which I first experienced with a strong sense of what Emily Dickinson called “the truth’s superb surprise.”
I had never during my world travels witnessed anything so exquisite. By 1947 I had visited Paris, the Taj Mahal, the OK Corral, and seen no end of beautiful people, thanks to the movies. Doheny Library surpassed them all, and it wasn’t on film. It was there, there! And when I learned this incredible USC structure was filled with books, I wondered how the railroad had missed Los Angeles and delivered me to Xanadu, Oz and Wonderland.
I echo President Sample by feeling instantly in the presence of home when I enter a library. Since 1947, I have used other great libraries at universities such as Columbia and Michigan and in many cities. Each served as a home away from home. Yet my home of homes has remained the Doheny Library since that magic meeting day nearly 55 years ago.
My first part-time job on campus by choice was at the library, where my assignment was in the Periodicals Room sending up magazines from the stacks. Between requests I could study, but mainly I spent the hours grazing among the back issues of journals still available in my time on that supreme human material invention, namely paper. I continue to marvel that the university paid me a then-whopping 50 cents an hour for such pleasures.

As a parallel to this current era of terrorist threat, I remember on the job fantasizing “bad guys” could cripple the campus, and indeed our whole civilization, simply by sneaking in and stealing the card catalog or nastily shuffling the cards. As a scholar hero, I intended fighting the invaders off with a frantic barrage of heavy periodicals. Today I trust the momentously cleaned, strengthened and retrofitted library has eliminated such vulnerability through electronic hookups and backups too scary for a computer non-whiz to contemplate.

I do find it reassuring to contemplate what sounds like a wonderful makeover for the institution that for me represents USC, and indeed is USC, the wondrous Doheny Library.

It was so refreshing to read about my friend and former mentor in the Spring 2001 issue (“Our Man in Vietnam,” p. 26). Rob Felton did a commendable job of capturing the essence of the most compassionate and dearest man I know, Jack Langguth.
You cannot imagine how foolish I felt, having had the magazine in my living quarters for several weeks before recognizing Jack on the cover. I first thought, “This guy looks familiar.” Then I said, “Kinda looks like Jack Langguth.” From there I began to read, and realized it was the friend I haven’t dined with in years.
I recall leaving several voice messages at Jack’s home and USC office the past few years, when he was on those Asian treks. He would return a call here and there, and we chatted a time or two each year, and he was humble about where he had been and what he was working on. I did not know that he had completed and published Our Vietnam. Now I am hard-pressed to grab a copy. This time, however, I plan to complete reading it before we next meet.
Here is a man with so much talent and who is so well respected among locals and the international journalism, publishing and academic communities, yet he is never too busy for a former student. This aspect of Felton’s article really appealed to me, as I have some 16 years of experience as both a protégé (of sorts) and friend. I was blessed to meet Jack when I was a USC graduate journalism student. I don’t remember receiving chocolates from him in class. But he remains the professor who covered my writings, most of which he said were well done, with more red correction marks than any other in my seven-year college history. But Jack’s markings were genuine constructive criticisms, and I always still felt good about my writing skills and myself after getting one of these papers back from Jack. (I have since worked for several newspapers in Southern California and Georgia.) He, along with my parents, still encourages me to better utilize my best skill – writing – more.

All of this is written just to support, or “testify,” to the wonderful and uniquely extraordinary person that Jack is. When I relocated to Atlanta and was unhappy with my work, Jack immediately gave me the name and phone number of a colleague of his in a nearby town, who might be able to assist my job search. I ended up with a position back here in my native L.A., but the support and vote of confidence from Jack helped me during that period.

This article about an extraordinary man is most appreciated, and overdue. And, as I recently shared with Jack on the telephone, I finally found out exactly how old he is. So, thanks, Mr. Felton.
I encourage anyone who can, to be sure to attend his speaking engagements (or courses), if you want to experience the company of an intellectual angel among us.

Unexpected Connection

The Winter 2001 magazine was, as always, a pleasure to see in the mailbox. My niece is a junior at Scarsdale High School in New York and is considering applying to USC. Her father represented the Guggenheim Museum in New York during the construction of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Yet we didn’t realize Frank Gehry was a graduate of the USC School of Architecture. Indeed, something to be proud of. Thank you!

Misery Loves Company

My daughter is a freshman in the Thematic Option program, and I am hearing the worry and concern in her voice about her grades. She was No. 1 in her high school class, and hasn’t seen a B in years, even though she was participating in three varsity sports and working for most of her high school years. Thematic Option and four-and-a-half hours of crew practice every day (combined with a lovely case of mono), however, have reduced her to a mass of anxieties and a belief that she will never catch up or get on top of her course work. Your article (Autumn 2001, “Hooked on Classics,” p. 30) and the letters in response will, I hope, give her a sense of reassurance – that others have been, and are, in her shoes, and that it will all work itself out.

Last Word on ‘Last Word’

I have entered this contest just about every issue for the past two years. I believe I have had all the answers in several of the contests, including the last one (Last Word, p. 80, Autumn 2001). In your comments on the “Mongrel Words” winners (“Mailbag,” p. 8), you mention that you gave leeway for some “wrong” answers. I do not believe this to be fair to those of us that understood the intent of the questions and the desired answers. Please don’t lower standards for “wrong” answers.

Degrees of Precision

In your last issue, we were so proud to see our alumnus, Tom McLurkin, featured in an ad on the back cover. He is an outstanding member of the Trojan Family and we are especially proud of the Master’s of Public Administration degree he earned in 1980. Unfortunately, the ad listed this degree as an MA instead of an MPA.

Notice Board

The Office of Black Alumni Programs is looking for 30 to 40 alumni volunteers to participate in a mentor program that supports USC black students. We are looking for volunteers from a variety of professions to provide one-to-one interaction and professional experience. If you are interested, please send your name, contact information and area of professional expertise to <obap@alumnicenter.usc.edu>.
In addition, the Black Alumni Association is honoring USC’s exceptional black alumni for professional and civic achievements and outstanding service to the university at “Trojans of Ebony Hue” Alumni Awards and Scholarship Benefit April 25. For information, please contact the Office of Black Alumni Programs at (213) 740-8342.

Mailbag, c/o USC Trojan Family Magazine, University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2538, fax: (213) 821-1100

And of course, by e-mail at magazines@usc.edu