Arthur D. Hlavaty

The partial escape of Mickey Mouse into the public domain brings back memories of the Realist’s illegal but unprosecuted Disneyland Orgy, which appeared in the same issue with the LBJ/JFK necroslash.

More than 50 years ago, when I was at Swarthmore, a fellow student committed suicide. I learned about it when I was in the hospital for a minor infection and saw in the newspaper that a decapitated female body had been found on the railroad tracks. I worried that it was one of my friends (a number seemed capable of it) and felt guilt-laden relief the next day when I learned it was someone who was only a name and a face to me.

The Alumni Bulletin now informs me that everyone's first guess was right: A friend of hers tells us that the case was a powerful argument for legalized abortion. She adds that the Dean of Women (whom I had thought of as a minion of the repressive establishment) had been helpful in similar cases. Good for her.