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Dennis Chase - Class Of 1964

Dennis Chase



 
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05/16/13 03:37 PM #1    

Alison (Abby) Greenstone (Goldbaum) (1964)

Dennis was outgoing and had a great sense of humor!  Many referred to him as "Denna the Menna".


07/05/14 12:58 PM #2    

Eric Pianin (1964)

Dennis proved the rule that good things come in small packages. With his thick glasses and diminutive stature, some might have mistaken him for a pushover. But Dennis was anything but that. He was aggressive, occasionally combative and always intellectually challenging.

Dennis was the first person I ever knew who sang the praises of Ayn Rand and her "rational and ethical egoism" philosophy. The importance of self-interest was one of his recurring themes. And he was forever challenging the half-baked liberal views of his friends, classmates and teachers.

Dennis once told me he didn't want to play tennis with me because I wasn't very good at it and it would be a waste  of his time. He was trying out for Mumford's varsity tennis team at the time and probably was making a valid point -- although I was still taken aback by it. Dennis eventually won a spot on the tennis team.

But a lot of his aggressiveness and bluntness  was a pose, I think. He was also warm-hearted, incredibly funny and a good friend to me, Steve Parker, Lee Elbinger and others in our class. Dennis, Steve and I spent one memorable summer working as waiters at Camp Tamarack/Brighton, where we sealed our friendship writing and performing skits that spoofed the camp counselors and senior administrators.

Dennis  became interested in journalism along with me at Michigan State University and we worked on the school paper, The State News, together. Dennis went on to become a highly successful business writer and newspaperman in Chicago, and rose to the post of executive editor of the industry publication Advertising Age. He died tragically in a freak skiing accident  while on vacation in Utah with his son, Justin, on Feb. 21, 1994. One of Dennis's former colleagues at  Advertising Age later described Dennis very aptly -- as a "larger than life impact player, who was dedicated to the newspaper profession."


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