To the Editor:
Half and Susanne Zantop lived across the world before they chose Dartmouth.
In his late 30s, Half took an enormous salary cut to leave an industrial career
and start anew as an assistant professor. For years, Susanne commuted to Massachusetts-to University of Mass and then Harvard-to earn the Ph.D. that would win her a coveted position alongside him.
With two careers and two young children, life was crowded but there was always time for people. When the phone rang in their kitchen, the conversation might be in German, Spanish, French or English; a lonely exchange student was welcomed into their home (and cooked cake every Friday in thanks); at Hiram Blake Camp in Maine the Zantop cabin always overflowed with relatives and guests.
We came to Dartmouth in 1976, the same year as the Zantop family. Our children grew up together. Mariana and Martin met at the day care center. Veronika and Kate capsized and then righted a sailboat in the cold waters of Penobscot Bay, while grandparents watched, first aghast and then delighted. Half taught us all to ski. We stayed with his sister in Barcelona. We moved away but they were always there-friends to cherish and return to.
Susanne's last letter, at Christmas, was full of vitality. News of the children. The apartment in Berlin. Thoughts of retirement. Possible dates to meet at Hiram Blake Camp. This summer, we will be in Maine again, with the seals and ospreys, the gooseberries, chanterelles and mussels. And everything will remind us of Half and Susanne.
