Dear George,

Here's a peripheral note on fox-hunts:

Sally Mead was the incredible human being who sustained and managed the local SPCA for decades. She never curbed her tongue when the well-being of animals was at stake, lashing out in her radio broadcasts over the lamentable shortcomings of UVa students, especially their annual abandonment of animals adopted from her shelter. At what must have been this marvelous woman's last appearance at the Grace Church--Cismont fox-hunt, shortly before her sad death, I asked Sally if things were going well for the animals involved--the horses, the dogs, the foxes. With her characteristic brevity and acuity, she instantly responded, "too many furs, too many furs," nodding her head towards those draped around chilly onlookers.

Best,

Virginia Germino (electronic mail, January 19, 2001)