Friends of Wilson also remembered personal moments with the president at the reception and dinner in Radcliffe's Cronkhite Graduate Center.

Trustee Pendred E. Noyce '77 spoke warmly of Maine sailing trips with Wilson and her husband Paul. Noyce, a Maine resident, lives near Wilson's summer home. Noyce remembered a side of Wilson not seen everyday in Cambridge.

Noyce explained that Wilson at times plays soccer with Noyce's children--always as goalie. Noyce called Wilson a "brave" goalie, despite Noyce's fears that one of her children might send a particularly hard kick Wilson's way.

"This would be a great stain on my career as a trustee, to knock down the president," she joked.

Also in attendance was famed culinary expert and Cambridge resident Julia Child.

"I admire and like her vary much indeed," Child said of Wilson. "Because of her personality, she's made Radcliffe an attractive place that people know something about."