Ray Martin and Elise Myers Martin
The first time I “met” Elsie Myers was sophomore year. I frequently studied in the Library carrels on the second level, along the windows. I remember walking past a beautiful girl with long blonde hair. I was very shy, but I think Elsie was even more shy. After several walks past, hoping she would look up, I barely whispered “hello.” Elsie never looked up and that was that.
Elsie’s junior year abroad was Carleton’s independent study in Pune, India, where she studied Kathak, classical Indian dance. My independent study was in Puerto Rico, on family planning, where I became friends with Elsie’s long-term roommate, Sue Anderson.
Spring term, the three of us took Langworthy’s course, “Developing Societies.” And after one class, at lunch, Sue introduced me to Elsie. Maybe the course should have been called “Developing Relationships.” Our first date was biking to Saint Olaf on April 22 to hear Walter Mondale speak at the first Earth Day rally. Years later, we had the opportunity to meet Walter Mondale and told him that he was indirectly responsible for our marriage!
When we graduated, a ZooBook marriage might not have been predicted. Yours truly had fallen for a freshman met while on a Chamber Singers Tour during Spring Break 1971. I, however, began to see the light with the help of my roommate George Kane and my brother Floyd (‘73) who were coworkers of mine at a North Carolina summer camp. Elsie and I began to correspond, and at the end of summer we all took the bus to see Elsie in Washington, DC.
Elsie was getting an M.A.T. at Northwestern. Meanwhile my somewhat fruitless search for employment landed me a job with the CDC as a VD Investigator, with a choice of assignment in Los Angeles or Chicago. Needless to say, my choice was Chicago.
I found an apartment which just happened to be in the same L-shaped building in which Elsie lived. It was a great arrangement, with dinners and alibis included. Her roommates would answer Elsie’s Mother’s early morning calls with “Elsie has already gone to the library.” We were married in August 1972 in DC with many Carleton friends in attendance, including the Knights.
We moved immediately to Cincinnati (VD transfer!) where Elsie taught eighth grade math and I continued my VD investigations for one more year before deciding it was time for graduate work. I got a 2-year MBA at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Elsie an M.S. in Operations Research.
We both wanted to reside permanently in the Twin Cities because of its culture and politics and to be close to Carleton friends. We moved back in 1975 and put down strong roots. We’ve now lived in the same house since 1976; Elsie worked for the local power company for 27 years and now in retirement choreographs. I have worked in health care finance and not yet completely retired. We spend as much time with family as possible. Our son, Langdon (39) is Chair of the Chemistry Department at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. We try to see his family (daughters 12 & 7) at least three times per year. Daughter Celia (36) teaches ESOL at ESOL at St. Paul College. Her family lives just ten blocks away so we have ample opportunity to see our grandson (7) and granddaughter (2).
We are active in Plymouth Congregational Church, love the out of doors, but missed our annual summer trip to Nova Scotia with the Canadian border closed. We are thankful that we found each other at Carleton.
Joe Foran and Nancy Allen Foran
Ours was not a “typical” Carleton courtship; more like “When Harry Met Sally.” Though we apparently shared Soc 10 and History 10 freshman year, and Joe photographed the women’s tennis and swimming teams for the Carletonian at various times, we finally noticed each other senior year as part of a group of RAs who frequented The Rube. We dated on and off. We were mixed doubles partners. Nancy pulled an all-nighter typing Joe’s hastily put-together History Comps paper. Joe gave Nancy a pair of hefty Jack Purcell tennis shoes for graduation and moved to Washington, DC while she headed home to New Jersey to find a job.
We had a disastrous outing later that year in New York City with our good friends, Mary Kath Cunningham and Hugh Maynard. That entailed walking up from Grand Central Station to witness a burning car on 42nd St. and walking out of an absolutely unaffordable French restaurant Joe insisted we should try. Joe and Hugh showed up unexpectedly at Yale Divinity School the following year (not a pretty sight; girls do date other guys…). We were star-crossed Carls if not lovers, and so went our separate ways.
Seven years later we were both living in Minneapolis, with Joe working for MPIRG and Nancy in grad school at the U. Hugh and a tennis tournament were the catalysts that brought us together. Eating chili and peanuts at the Haberdashery, we discovered we were both far more accepting of each other than we once had been.
We have been together since and have been so blessed over the past 41 years: meaningful, fulfilling careers, three kids (two of whom are Carls and one a Williams Eph), a variety of dogs, and our Little Farm in Maine.
Maybe not the typical Zoobook love story, but Joe did carry a photo of Nancy in his wallet all that time – not necessarily always on top, but there nonetheless. Sometimes we go on circuitous routes to find the one who means the most to us!