It was the end of the 1966-1967 academic year. Classes were over. Graduation done. I was heading off on a cross-country drive with my friend Tom Church, who had just graduated. From Walla Walla to the east coast. In his vintage VW bug, no less.

We ended up at his family’s home in Maryland, as I recall, where I vividly remember the hot, humid east coast nights and seeing my first fireflies. Then we made a visit to New York City, still the only time I’ve been there.

This photo was taken as we prepared to leave Walla Walla. I’m guessing that it was probably in early June of 1967.

I tracked Tom down several years ago, after he retired from his longtime post as a professor of politics at the State University of New York at Albany. He and his wife, also a Whitman grad, now own and operate the Coveside Bed and Breakfast in Georgetown, Maine.