Letter from

Gaile Haessly

Claudia,

Thanks so much for keeping us all updated on one another.  It was such fun
to read Dennis Anderson¹s nice long letter about his move half-way across
the country, his new business, and the family's doings. 

I¹d guess that many members of our class are turning down some unexpected
paths as we all move into our reclining--I mean, declining--years.
Demographers are now saying that our generation is the first one to have a
bonus 20 years added to our middle years:  we¹re the first to be healthy
enough to be able to throw ourselves into empty-nest careers with enough
oomph to produce an impact.  What are we each going to do with that extra
time?

You and Dennis have inspired me to tell a little about where I am in life,
in hopes of hearing from more of our classmates about more recent
developments in their lives. 

The people who knew me at Palo Duro knew me as a pretty one-dimensionally
academic person.  I continued down that path until I hit a brick wall:  no
good jobs in my field despite my Ph.D.  I made a sharp left into corporate
business, where I prospered for about 20 years as a marketer and  product
developer--credit cards, mutual funds, trust services.  I was a
hard-working, happy DINK--double income, no kids.  Then I hit brick wall #2:
age fifty.  All at once I was unemployable again, despite what everyone said
were great skills and the booming 90¹s economy. 

That¹s easy to say now, but it was hard to live.

About three years ago, my husband Rick re-ignited a home-based
business-writing practice that he had started 10 years earlier when we still
lived in New York City.  After a while, I began insisting that I could help
him market his business--my twenty years in the direct-marketing of services
was, after all, not for nothing.  I did a brochure, website (at
www.holton.cc--we tell people that the "cc" stands for "cool companies"),
trade-show booth, and public relations campaign that included articles,
training seminars, etc.

Until this spring, I was totally a "stealth staffer."  You'll see what I
mean if you go to the website, where I¹m not yet to be seen, but where I've
made my husband's head into a ³fun² marketing icon that wears different hats
representing different skill areas (see the ³about² section for the man in
the Fargo hat, the Viking hat  ]:)  , etc.).  But, in actualility, we¹ve
gradually, with some trepidation, moved to a co-practice.  We both consult
with and write for business clients, sometimes separately, sometimes
together; we both noodle over, second-guess, and edit one another¹s work.
But he¹s the salesman and factory manager, and I¹m the visionary and
tactical marketer.  He keeps the clients happy and the trains running on
time.  I dream up the big ideas and refine things beyond perfection.

Lately, I¹ve taken to speaking and writing about practical marketing
strategies and tactics. (Dilbert really doesn¹t know what he¹s talking about
when he disparages us marketers.)  And this spring we went public with me as
the ³managing director² of the marketing part of our practice.  It¹s been
challenging--I¹ve been interviewed on morning drive-time radio, I¹ve pitched
marketing campaigns to public television, and started to publish my insights
into that much maligned field, marketing.

In fact, I just wrote an article this week that I¹d like to share.  In fact,
I¹ve pasted it into this email because it¹s sometimes hard to open
attachments.  It might prove relevant to your non-profit, church, or school
work, as well as to your business.  In it I use a huge local art fair as the
jumping off point for discussing marketing fundamentals.  If you want
another new essay--from my baby-boomer series--on ³How I Rode A Magic Carpet
[the Weekly Reader] to Fame and Fortune²--send me an email at
gaile@holton.cc.

So, to all the Dons who made it this far:  congratulations!  And whazzup for
the third half of your life?

Gaile Haessly

PS  I'm one of the few people I know with a parent still living.  I'll be
visiting Amarillo in May to see my mother who's 82, and would love to get
together with anybody who's willing.

(Gaile, the article you wrote is not included in this email but I would like
to refer classmates to your email so you can send it to them upon their
request.  Email her at    gaile@holton.cc   Thanks, cp)