L-^ Oral History Interview with WILLIAM THOMAS (TOM) BOST, JR., '35 January 27, 1983 By Clarence E. Whitefield SUBJECT: Class of '58 (Part I of 2 Parts) NOTE TO USER: This is a transcription of a tape-recorded interview. While we write in complete sentences, very few persons speak this way constantly. No effort has been made to edit the transcription to allow for this, although some minor omissions or corrections have been made where there were repetitive or meaningless phrases, such as hesitations.) WHITEFIELD: Well, Tom, it's nice to be back with you again, This morning we are goin g to talk about the Class of 1958, which came alon g a number of years after you and I had left Carol ina, but still I think we know quite a few members of this class. And, I think it will be interes ting to chat about them, Maybe we might start by talking about some of the more prominent members o f the class, like the President of the Student Body or the President of the Class, or class offi cers—that sort of thing, I believe "Sonny" Evans was President of the Student Body back in 195 8. BOST: Sonny's been certainly a busy person. In fact, he just recently got married, didn't he? WHITEFIELD: Yes.. BOST: A year or so ago. WHITEFIELD; ...right. BOST : The class' most eligible bachelor. WHITEFIELD: He was for a long, long time. (chuckle) But you are right. He is married now. He got married Interview number L-0007-L0008 in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) at The Southern Historical Collection, The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. Interview #2, Tom Bost, Jr., January 27, 1983 Page 2 a little over a year ago. BOST: And, Sonny has spent most of his time in New York, hasn't he? With the Revson Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation. WHITEFIELD: That's correct. BOST: He's with them, and... WHITEFIELD: Of course, he's Eli and... BOST: Eli. WHITEFIELD: ...and I think he's trying to get rid of that nickname Sonny, which carried with him for a long, long time and he still doesn't mind it from people who really know him well, but he's Eli. BOST: Well, we'll call him Eli. And I believe he wrote a book didn't he, some time ago. WHITEFIELD: He wrote a book... BOST: Called "The Provincials". WHITEFIELD: Yes. BOST: A personal history of the Jewish race in the South. WHITEFIELD: That's right and that was the first time that he got any real recognition more than his brother, Bob... BOST: That's right. WHITEFIELD: ...who is a CBS announcer of some note and a public speaker. And of course Eli's older brother. Sonny was in the shadow of him for a long time and when he published this book I went to a party—an autograph party that his parents(of course that's "Mutt" Evans and Sara in Durham)... BOST: So, that sorta closed the gap a little bit, didn't it? WHITEFIELD: It did and they said that...or maybe it was Bob that said at that party this is the first time I've ever been referred to as Sonny's brother. (chuckle) BOST: (chuckle) WHITEFIELD: It was a good book though. BOST: Sonny went on to Yale, too, for his law degree, Interview number L-0007-L0008 in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) at The Southern Historical Collection, The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. V Interview #2, Tom Bost, Jr., January 27, 1983 Pacre 3 didn't he? WHITEFIELD: After he came...after he finished at Carolina. BOST: Came to school here at Carolina. WHITEFIELD: That is correct. BOST: Of course he's a life member of the Alumni Association. And another thing, Sonny was one of our earlier class agents in Annual Giving. Of course, George Ragsdale, the president of the class, started it off, but then Eli came and took it over and he was followed, in turn, by Tommy Kearns. WHITEFIELD: Well, Eli had some good examples set for him by his father, too. BOST: He sure did. His father being the chairman of when Annual Giving went over a hundred thousand dollars for the first time. WHITEFIELD: Yes sir. BOST: I always give "Mutt" big credit for that particular achievement. WHITEFIELD: By all means. But Eli as you said is now the president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation in New York and I understand doing an outstanding job there. It was predictable, though, because when he was at Carolina he was not only president of the Student Body, but was a member of the Golden Fleece and the Grail and Phi Beta Kappa and a real student leader. BOST: And while we're talking about student leaders there's George Ragsdale the permanent president of the class. WHITEFIELD: Right. BOST: As I mentioned a few minutes ago, George was the first class agent of the Class of '58 and did very well. George has been real active in many areas. Of course now he's on the Board of Trustees. WHITEFIELD: He certainly is. BOST: Serving a four-year term I believe isn't he? That ends this year. WHITEFIELD: That's, Interview number L-0007-L0008 in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) at The Southern Historical Collection, The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. Interview #2, Tom Bost, Jr., January 27, 1983 Page 4 BOST: I Believe that's right. He came on in '79 WHITEFIELD: I think that's correct. Yeah. BOST: And George married Adora Prevost who was also daughter of a former trustee. WHITEFIELD: Yes. Aaron...Aaron Prevost's daughter, isn't she? BOST: Yes. WHITEFIELD: From up at Waynesville? BOST: Waynesville. That's right. And George has been, of course, a Superior Court Judge and he was legal counsel to the Governor...Governor Moore in the late 1960's. WHITEFIELD: Yes and went from that to the Superior Court Judgeship. I guess the Governor probably appointed him to that. BOST: That's right. He did, and of course he's now with the firm of Smith, Anderson, Dorsett, Blount and Ragsdale. WHITEFIELD: In Raleigh. BOST: In Raleigh. That's right. WHITEFIELD: Yes. BOST: George, of course, won many honors here. He was Chairman of the Honor Council, member of the Golden Fleece and the Grail. So, his career sorta was like... WHITEFIELD: Parallel to Eli's. BOST: Parallel to Eli's. That's right. WHITEFIELD: That's correct. BOST: While talking about Annual Giving, I might mention here that this class over a period of years, 26 years or 2 4 or 5 years, excuse me... WHITEFIELD: Yeah. They'll be having their 25th reunion this May. BOST: That's right. They've raised $133, 000. But the one encouraging thing about this new year, they've already had four commitments to the Interview number L-0007-L0008 in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) at The Southern Historical Collection, The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. Interview #2, Tom Bost, Jr., January 27, 1983 Page 5 Chancellor's Club. Tommy Kearns is busy. WHITEFIELD: Which means, ah...$10,000 a piece. BOST: That's right. And they have another five they believe are committed. So, indications are they are going to break Fred Bauer's record for most money in a single year. Fred, you know,... WHITEFIELD: For a 25th-year class. BOST: For a 25th-year class. That's right, not for a 50th year but for a 25th year. The best we've ever done before was $25,000 in one year. WHITEFIELD: Yes. This $133,000 that you mentioned just now is a cumulative total of everything that's been given by the Class of '58.... BOST: Yes, it is. WHITEFIELD: ...over the years. BOST: But they...I might add that last year Tommy Kearns, as a class agent, raised $26,000 in a non-reunion year, which was quite an achievement. WHITEFIELD: Well, we'll get back to Tommy in a few minutes because he was one of those members of the 1957 National Championship basketball team and it's nice to see that we've people like that who still carry on for the University and we do have a lot of them. BOST: That's right. You can...I can still see Tommy Kearns jumping against Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlin. WHITEFIELD: (chuckle) BOST: Chamberlin was so startled that he tipped the ball right into one of our players hands. (chuckle) We gave him the tip but we got the ball and scored three baskets before they knew what happened. WHITEFIELD: (chuckle) BOST: And I always thought that gave us a run at them that was pretty hard for them to overcome. Although it did go into three overtimes. WHITEFIELD: Yes sir. BOST: I can still see him jumping there. 6'2" against 7'3" (Wilt) Chamberlin. Interview number L-0007-L0008 in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) at The Southern Historical Collection, The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. Interview #2, Tom Bost, Jr., January 27, 1983 Page 6 WHITEFIELD: Yes. BOST: And I thought it was great strategy on the part of Coach Frank McGuire to pull a thing like that. WHITEFIELD; It certainly was. He didn't have a chance with anybody else so he might as well put his shortest guy up there and let all the taller guys stand out there and try and get the rebound.