Dear Mrs. Holliday,
Thank you so very much for leading us once again more than 34 years later! It was a splendid weekend and it surpassed my expectations. Thank you for hosting our Friday evening gathering. It was very special for all of us to be together in your very comfortable home.

“For the record, I’m an English professor and when I introduce the ancient Greek playwrights—be it in a drama literature class or an introductory literature class—I never fail to mention my “Wooster-In-Greece” experience, complete with selected Instamatic shots of Troy posing as a god of some sort at Delphi, Randy and Pat getting ready to race at Olympia, and myself posing as a priestess at Castalia Springs ready to invoke the latest prophecy. I always preface my stories with “That was one of the best summers of my life (and I’ve had some fabulous summers!).” I also am a fiction writer, and actually wrote a short story inspired by the week trip a few of us took to the island of Skiathos once the official program had ended. Too, I have an enlarged framed photo taken of an elderly Greek woman-a widow, no doubt—leading her burrow in the olive groves, a timeless picture. So, you see, I carry many memories with me of that very magical summer with you all. Talk about political upheaval, too: how about “omitted name” tearing down a propaganda poster or the tanks rolling down the street in the middle of the night in Thessaloniki or the fire next to our hotel that brought us all out in our nighttime garb…Or the “devout” monks at the one monastery who made us females drape towels around our shoulders. Not to mention the myriad impromptu parties after dinner in some taverna off the beaten track, Professor Holliday leading the pack in dance and celebration. And that, in turn, leads me to the wonderful readings of Kazantzakis. Where else in the world can one witness shepherds wending their way up the craggy paths, goats in tow? Or golden sands and pastel-pebble beaches? I tell all my students to travel abroad, and some do…but somehow I don’t think anything could match traveling with a group through so much of a country as we did. Talk about coming of age! Though I have traveled extensively in Europe since then, I’m not sure I want to return to Greece so as to keep intact the memories of a 19-year old. How could another trip be as special?

Our outside dining experience after visiting Sounion Temple at sunset.
Attending a Greek play in the ancient theatre at Epidaurus.
Traveling all over Greece – in and out of museums, archeological sites and Byzantine Churches.

Dinner and dancing after our excursion to Marathon.
Watching the sunset at Sounion.

I remember the delicious calamari, the ouzo, the spinach pie, the mystery of Delphi, fascination I had with Kazanzakas whose books I read all summer for my independent study project.

Sitting in the actual small stadium at Delphi while Dr. Holliday conducted class. I was struck by how I was actually in the ancient venue hearing a lecture about the place, as it was BCE.
The Temple at Sounion, Breathtaking!! I’ll think of that place by the sea often. It is a beautiful spot. No wonder a Temple was built there! Byron was overcome there and though defacing a monument is criminal I understand how he was so taken.
Standing on the beach at Marathon, near where Phidippedes began his run to Athens to announce victory.
Spontaneous meals. Like the one on the way back to Athens from Sounion. Naomi Buckner ’74 singing! What a beautiful voice.
Thinking I’d made a new archeological find while snorkeling in Crete only to discover it’s a well known, long abandoned, Roman dock and port.
The friendship, tutelage and erudition of Vivian Holliday who made the trip an event in my life I will NEVER forget!

Dinner and dancing at a Taverna; the bus driver dancing with Holliday
The argument between Floyd and the bus driver about when a girl says no—does she really mean no? (Floyd “yes”; bus driver “no”)
Visiting the tomb of Clytemnestra at Mycenae
Hearing a line of tanks roll down the street in front of our hotel in Thessalonica and realizing the possibility of conflict
Crete—two glorious weeks of crystal blue water and white sand. Everything seemed blue and white…pristine and pure! Poetry reading on the pier. Kavafy seemed more meaningful there.”

Vivian Holliday
It will soon be a month since our “magical” Wooster In Greece reunion and I have thought about each of you often. We missed those who were not able to attend and a couple we were unable to reach. We, however, captured at our reception and dinner the special spirit of adventure and bonding of the participants, present and absent, in the founding session of Wooster in Greece 1973.
I have on display the lovely gifts David, Wendy and Niall provided on your behalf and will keep them on display as reminders of our special connections in Wooster in Greece. “Apollo with lyre” stands on my china cabinet, my ancient cookbook is on the dining room table, and the bag with the design of the Ravenna mosaic in Italy that I talked about (David’s Journal) in connection with one we saw in Greece greets visitors from the entrance wall of my house.
I have to date received a few pictures from Wendy and Niall and will try to gather other photos in case The Alumni Office wants to show how well preserved Wooster in Greece folks are. While we will never be able to have a more successful reunion, I hope we will preserve always not only the memory but also the spirit of our special times together. To my “local” conspirators—David, Wendy, Troy, and Sandy—on behalf of all of us, many thanks. Vivian Holliday