July 1952 (age 53)

Not much to report, except for an interesting letter Sigurd wrote to a Lawrence Hautz, thanking Hautz for a book called "Tomorrow and Tomorrow," by Stanwood Cobb. In the letter, Sigurd writes: "During the past twenty years or so, I have done a great deal of reading and studying of world religions and philosophies and so am in full and absolute agreement with the basic premises of the Bah'ai Faith."

July 1967 (age 68)

Sigurd's older brother, Kenneth, died on July 13 at the age of 71. [Kenneth, pictured at left, spent nineteen years as dean of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, transforming it into one of the nation's top programs.] After the funeral, Sigurd wrote to his good friend Charley Woodbury: "A sad mission from which I returned last night. I lost my brother Ken and somehow still cannot comprehend. He has gone to the great brooding silence that's full of something toward which we all yearn and is now part of endless tranquility still surrounded by our love." A couple of weeks later Sigurd was at Yellowstone National Park, helping the Park Service put together a Master Plan for the park. He felt out of place and frustrated, writing a note to himself that said, "I have no right at my age to be wasting my time any more. Finish this job and then say no. You cannot clutter your mind if you are going to write."