MBA alum pens book of family stories

Peter Hitt (MBA '70) wrote to tell us about his new book Palace in the Fields is now available via the Kindle Bookstore. An engineer-turned-small-business-owner, Hitt penned Palace in order to capture some of the stories about his siblings growing up on a farm in southern Maryland in the 1940s and 1950s before they escaped his memory.

His family moved from suburbia to a tobacco farm for 10 years. The farmhouse turned out to be "Dent's Palace," a former colonial plantation manor which his parents restored to an elegant showplace. Farm play, work activities and interaction with the unforgettable characters who were his neighbors has provided a slice of Americana "which probably does not exist anymore."

"This is my first publishing experience although I have some other manuscripts of my other experiences as a young man," he writes. "But some of the material is not in accordance with my image as a father and grandfather, so I am reluctant to publish anything else."

Hitt earned his MBA in 1970 at TCU at night while working full time at General Dynamics as an Aerosystems
Engineer. Later, he worked several years as a cable television general manager and was responsible for the construction and operation the original cable television in Jacksonville, Fla. "When the system sold, I opened a home inspection business and am still at it," he writes.

Read more TCU People stories at The TCU Magazine.

Are you a fan of The TCU Magazine on Facebook? Please "like" us to stay current on TCU photo galleries, story links, trivia, nostalgia and more.

Alumnae teaches Brent Musburger the frog sign

Alana Dvorak '07 wrote to tell us that she taught the horned frog hand sign to ESPN and ABC sportscaster Brent Musburger in late January when he came to talk to the company about teamwork. Alana works as a merchandising analyst for Dell Computers in Round Rock. Her husband Aaron Dvorak '08 is a manager of financial reporting. They have 2 sons, Aidan, 3 and Andrew, 11 months. They live in Pflugerville.

Read more TCU People stories at The TCU Magazine.

Are you a fan of The TCU Magazine on Facebook? Please "like" us to stay current on TCU photo galleries, story links, trivia, nostalgia and more.

Washington state Frog publishes tome

Paul W. Murphey ’53 wrote to tell us that he had his book Living Life, Facing Death published by Lucas Park Books in October 2011. He also is listed in Who’s Who in America, 2012 edition which came out last September. Paul lives in Silverdale, Wash.

Read more TCU People stories at The TCU Magazine.

Are you a fan of The TCU Magazine on Facebook? Please "like" us to stay current on TCU photo galleries, story links, trivia, nostalgia and more.

Seventh-graders showing TCU pride

Laura Callison '81, the school nurse at Bear Branch Junior High School in Magnolia, Texas, wrote to share this photo of a seventh-grade class at the school.

"We have been celebrating college readiness on our campus. Every Monday, the students and staff are encouraged to wear college shirts and promote their schools. Each homeroom class has chosen a school to celebrate, and Mrs. Staci Carle’s seventh-grade class chose TCU. Four TCU alums and their spouses — Dr. John Callison '80 '84, Laura Callison '81, David '79 '83 and Terri Benepe, and Steve and Gayle '93 Samford — furnished Mrs. Carle’s class with Horned Frog gear to wear on Mondays." Pictured are the students, teacher Staci Carle, Principal Gerald Evans and school nurse Laura Callison '81.

Read more TCU People stories at The TCU Magazine.

Are you a fan of The TCU Magazine on Facebook? Please "like" us to stay current on TCU photo galleries, story links, trivia, nostalgia and more.

Donated yearbooks and a hidden treasure inside

Coit Yancey may not be an alumnus, but he’s been an avid TCU supporter and fan for decades, partly because of his lovely wife Jane Olive Woodbury Yancy ’45, who passed in 2003.

So when Coit saw our request in the Fall 2011 and Winter 2011 issues for donations of TCU yearbooks, he decided that Jane would have happily contributed her four annuals — 1942-1945 — to the magazine office. They are now part of our growing collection of Horned Frog yearbooks, which are used frequently for content in the magazine.

Inside one of the volumes were the items shown above and below: A program of the Graduating Exercises from 1945, a program from the July 1, 1945 worship services at First Methodist Church in Fort Worth and two copies of invitations to the Commencement Exercises held at “eight o’clock at the Honeysuckle Arbor,” — one of which has a deep purple cover made from thin, supple leather.

The 64 graduates that year earned either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science, some receiving a Bachelor of Science in Education, Physical Education or Commerce.

Deans Colby D. Hall (who also offered the invocation) and Cortell K. Holsapple invested the three who received graduate degrees, including Milton E. Daniel, who earned the “Degree of Doctor of Laws.”

If you have any Horned Frog annuals you would like to donate, contact us at tcumagazine@tcu.edu.

Frogs bust in on Mythbusters

Lauren Gervais '08 and her fiance Derek Matthies '09 attended a "Mythbusters: Behind the Myths" live show in Riverside, Calif., earlier this month and had the chance to teach the TCU Horned Frog hand sign to the show hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage.

Lauren is a registered yoga teacher, fitness instructor and wellness coach and just opened her own studio. (Check out her website — www.reveillelife.com.) Derek is attending Loma Linda for his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. The two plan to be married May 11 in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Read more TCU People stories at The TCU Magazine.

Are you a fan of The TCU Magazine on Facebook? Please "like" us to stay current on TCU photo galleries, story links, trivia, nostalgia and more.