Cover Coincidence

I attended Penn State in the late ’80s and had the opportunity to meet Joe Humphreys as a student. I’m now the advertising manager at Fly Fisherman magazine, and thrilled to have Joe Humphreys on the subscriber cover of our Aug./Sept. 2025 issue. The cover image was taken by George Daniel, who is on the cover of your July/August issue. I think it’s an amazing photo.

Ben Hoffman | Elizabethtown, Pa.

I was pleased to see Joe Humphreys recognized in the July/August Penn Stater [“Flow State,” p. 52]. I first met Joe in 1959 when I was a classroom teacher in Kittanning, Pa., and Joe was teaching in the high school. I came to Penn State in 1963 and found that Joe was a full-time faculty member at Bald Eagle Schools and part-time at Penn State. I am so glad to see how this program continues. 

William E. Schall ’69 DEd Edu 
Winchester, Va.

Nick Parish’s feature article “Flow State” brought back memories of my visits to George Harvey’s classes at Spring Creek in 1948. I accompanied my friend Charlie Ridenour on many visits to these classes. Charlie also was a State College native and an accomplished fisherman. He enjoyed helping out at these classes, and I enjoyed gaining knowledge of fly-fishing and fly tying.

Maxine Dickey Patterson ’50 H&HD 
Hermitage, Pa.

Tunnel Vision

The article on Penn State’s steam tunnels [What’s Up With That?, July/Aug., p. 16] brought back some great memories. In the mid-1970s, my friends and I made several surreptitious, nocturnal trips into the tunnels. It was fun to see where they led—and to discover where we could get to. There was also a bit of a thrill: the nervous excitement of slipping in through a grate or, especially, emerging from one without knowing if anyone might be watching. I’ve heard the light switches were later alarmed, but we never used the tunnel lighting anyway—we always brought our own flashlights.

Mike McGurrin ’78 Sci
Vienna, Va.

More Rec Hall Memories 

I was a junior in the fall of 1972, living in West Halls. A few mornings a week, I would get up and jog around the upper track in Rec Hall. Being my first exposure to a large campus, I thought that was pretty cool. One morning I’m jogging along and a man comes out of a room and says hello. It took me about 10 steps to realize that Joe Paterno just said good morning to me!

Gene Cyprych ’74 Sci
Spring Grove, Pa.

Bovine Buddy

The article by Cade Miller [My Thoughts Exactly, July/Aug., p. 88] reminded me of my experience as a freshman in the College of Ag. I was determined to be a veterinarian, and the admissions director at the vet school advised me to learn about farm animals if I was to be successful. As a pre-vet student, I decided to enter the student Little International Show, and I chose to show a pig. I walked from North Halls to the Swine Barn a few times a week to get acquainted with my assigned sow, a white-belted Hampshire breed. I had to learn to clean her up and coax her around the show ring using a wooden cane. When the time came for the show, her black coat was all shiny, her white belt was powdered up, and we worked well together in the show ring. The judge liked what he observed and declared me the best fitter over other students who had farm experience. I still proudly display my blue ribbon as “Champion Hampshire Fitter.”

Greg Cusanno ’67 Agr
Warrington, Pa.

Just Lounging

The photo of Kunkle Lounge [“Meet Me at the Corner,” July/Aug., p. 12] brought back memories from my freshman year at Penn State in 2001. I had German 1 in Hammond Building and liked to study in the lounge beforehand. The view onto College Avenue on a snowy day was picture-perfect, with the cozy, glowing windows of the Corner Room right across the street. Although it could also get quite hot due to the glass windows and rising heat, the vista from the second or third tier of the lounge was worth it. The downtime was appreciated, because immediately after German, I had to jog 1.1 miles to calculus class that was quixotically assigned to Wagner, nearly all the way to Beaver Stadium. It was quite a hike with a full load of books and having to push through the midmorning throng around the HUB. Thankfully, calculus was moved after a few weeks due to complaints, this time to the Forestry Building!

Brandon Aldinger ’05 Sci
Butler, Pa.

The Long and Winding Road 

With my Penn Stater in hand, I  am posing with the statue of the Beatles on Albert Dock, Liverpool, from where my mother, my brother, Brian, and I set sail on April 1, 1960, for New York. Brian and I were quite the pair. I grew to 6-foot-2 and he to 4-foot-4; Brian was a little person. America represented great opportunities to us, and it delivered. I received a scholarship to Penn State for track and field and graduated having captained the track and cross-country teams and played soccer. Brian had a more challenging early life until, in 1967, he connected with the Little People of America organization. He became a leader in the organization as well as in the Dwarf Athletic League. Brian passed away in 2013 after becoming the managing partner of an accounting firm. He and his wife adopted four little people and had two of their own. Quite the American success story.  

Arthur Morris ’68 Eng
Lancaster, Pa.

In Memoriam

My wife, Dr. Janet Styduhar Hugo ’71, and I met and were befriended by Jacque Houck when we moved to Hilton Head [S.C.] and joined the Low Country Chapter of PSAA in 2017. She and my wife shared the commonality of a Slovenian mother and Croatian father, and ties to Pittsburgh. What wasn’t mentioned in the article [In Memoriam, July/Aug., p. 82] was that Jacque’s father, Jack Zivic, was an accomplished boxer and Olympic participant in 1920. Her uncle Fritzie was the world welterweight champion 1940-41, and two other of Jack’s brothers were boxers. Jacque was a wonderful and strong Croatian-Slovenian woman, as they all are. I should know!

Douglas Hugo ’71 Bus
Elkins, N.H.