James Nelson ’61, MD ’65 and Dennis Moore ’61, PhD ’68 first became friends through a love of football. So it makes sense that it continues to bring them together.
Living far from the Yard in Seattle, they get together regularly to watch The Game. This year, Nelson drove to Moore’s house to pick him up so they could cheer together. It was a tradition they started when the local Harvard Club sponsored watch parties at a local sports bar. Now they continue to cheer for their team from Nelson’s living room.
The two of them have been friends for 64 years and counting.
What they share from their Harvard stories gives a slice of their rich histories with the College and as friends. Nelson was a football player from Cherokee, Iowa, who once took a class with James Watson, of the famed Watson and Crick. He recalls turning down the chance to try out for the Boston Patriots because of his medical school ambitions, a commitment that led to 45 years in academic radiology.
Moore came from Toledo, Ohio, and was drawn to the water. He became an avid rower and remembers competing in the first Head of the Charles regatta. A mathematics concentrator, he fell in love with the sea after a stint at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Traveling the world throughout his career, he proudly shares that he was once known as the “equatorial oceanographer.”
Both regularly attended Reunions in Cambridge whenever they could, sharing how much the community has meant to them. These days, though, they stay close to Seattle. Moore is an avid walker, traveling everywhere with his bamboo cane. Nelson comments that he doesn't walk very much these days. “Too much football,” he says.
But he welcomes the chance to connect with Moore and plans to continue their tradition of watching The Game next year. Go Crimson!