Retirement seems like a dream. At 70, I’m working two jobs with 3 of 4 daughters at home….

I also realize many critics loved Matterhorn…

I’ll try to check out Eye of Tiger…I admit I bought Matterhorn a few years ago in great anticipation and then couldn’t get beyond about 50 pages. To me, despite all the praise, it tried to include every cliched character I’d met many times before. It felt like a formula developed in a writing group.

I read your interest in UCLA…my oldest was accepted there but opted for UC Irvine. Now she’s earning her doctorate back east. My third daughter is in the midst of submitting art portfolios as part of college apps. UCLA is her top choice but she’s realistic given the low acceptance rate now.

I spent 25 years reporting and editing for newspapers and now 22 editing books, most of them related to GIS technology, most recently “The Power of Where,” as well as teaching a college composition course for 18 years, almost always using “13th” as text. I find many newer books on Vietnam cliched.

Wow. I graduated ‘72 and was one of last lottery years. I too scooped up everything. Also voracious reader as kid. Mom a Red Cross nurse, portrayed in “Pride of Marines.” Her brothers both served. I read “13th” when it came out and was stunned by its power, vowed to teach it one day if chance came.

Wonder how you got connected to DelVecchio and his blog. I’m teaching his novel again in the spring, but a lot of students prefer asynchronous classes now, so it may not fill. DelVecchio is planning the release of a new edition early this year.

For some reason, I never clicked the link to the attachment or read past it too quickly.

Oh yes, now I remember this blog…

Thank you. After all these years teaching a novel that features the song, now I’ve finally heard it. Not familiar with the cassette..

DelVecchio believes the original lyrics were by Rosenberg and his favorite version was sung by Marcus Leddy, who went by the name of Mark Gilreath in Vietnam…

I’ve been teaching this novel in a college composition class for 18 years, so your site drew my interest. Sometimes, I’ve played Vietnam War-related songs such as Sky Pilot by the Animals and other songs of the era.