Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin | Fall '15

BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL

FALL ’15

inclusion & access 1965–1990

common roots

In this issue:

Defining the Central Qualities of a Choate Rosemary Hall Education

shared purpose

WEAVING A SOCIAL WEB: Alumni in the Blogging Universe

A CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL READER: The Act of Remembering

c o m m o n r o o t s

s h a r e d p u r p o s e

CANTERBURY Tales, May 1972, performed in the

then brand new Paul Mellon Arts Center, began the School tradition of the Spring Musical.

BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL

FALL ’15

Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin is published fall, winter, and spring for alumni, students and their parents, and friends of the School. Please send change of address to Alumni Records and all other correspondence to the Communications Office, 333 Christian Street, Wallingford, CT 06492-3800.

Choate Rosemary Hall does not discriminate in the administration of its educational policies, athletics, other school-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices on the basis of age, gender, race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, genetic predisposition, ancestry, or other categories protected by Connecticut and federal law.

COVER: Mark Grazette ’74 and Kim Hilaael ’75

Editorial Offices T: (203) 697-2252 F: (203) 697-2380 E-mail: alumline@choate.edu Website: www.choate.edu

Classnotes Editor Henry McNulty ’65

Director of Strategic Planning & Communications Alison J. Cady

Photography Ian Morris Ross Mortensen

Editor Lorraine S. Connelly

Illustration Gwen Keraval

Design and Production David C. Nesdale

Communications Assistant Britney G. Cullinan

Contributors Joel Backon Connie Gelb ’78 David Desjardins ’02 The Hon. Katherine B. Forrest ’82 Victoria Irwin G. Jeffrey MacDonald ’87 Charles Monagan Eric Stahura Andrea Thompson Lindsay Whalen ’01

CONTENTS | Fall 2015

features

4 10 16 30

Defining the Central Qualities of a Choate Education Weaving a Social Web: Alumni in the Blogging Universe Inclusion & Access: The Winds of Change/1965-1990 A Choate Rosemary Hall Reader: The Act of Remembering by Joanna Hershon ’90 departments

4 32 36 54 58 60 64 Choate Rosemary Hall Board of Trustees 2015-2016 Kenneth G. Bartels ’69 P ’04 Samuel P. Bartlett ’91 Michael J. Carr ’76 George F. Colony ’72 Alex D. Curtis P ’17 Thompson Dean P ’14, ’18 Borje E. Ekholm P ’17 David R. Foster ’72 Robert B. Goergen, Jr. ’89 John F. Green ’77 Linda J. Hodge ’73, P ’12 Brett M. Johnson ’88 Vanessa Kong-Kerzner P ’16

Cecelia M. Kurzman ’87 Edward O. Lanphier ’74, P ’04 Gretchen Cooper Leach ’57 James A. Lebovitz ’75, P ’06, ’10 Kewsong Lee ’82 Patrick J. McCurdy ’98 Robert A. Minicucci ’71 Tal H. Nazer P ’17, ’19 Peter B. Orthwein ’64 Marshall S. Ruben P ’07, ’08, ’10 Anne Sa’adah Henry K. Snyder ’85

On Christian & Elm News about the School Alumni Association News

Classnotes Profiles of Kate Walbert ’79, novelist; Dr. Aaron Baggish ’93, Associate Director, Cardiovascular Performance Program at MGH; Katie Davis ’96, Assistant Professor at The University of Washington Information School; and Jane Mosbacher Morris ’04, Founder and CEO of To the Market | Survivor-made Goods In Memoriam Remembering Those We Have Lost Scoreboard Spring Sports Wrap-up Bookshelf Reviews of works by Michael Byrne ’73, John Steinbreder ’74, Kate Betts ’82 and Harlan York ’87 End Note Making Judgments by The Hon. Katherine B. Forrest ’82

Life Trustees Charles F. Dey P ’78, ’81, ’83 Bruce S. Gelb ’45, P ’72, ’74, ’76, ’78 Edwin A. Goodman ’58 Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. ’57, P ’84 Cary L. Neiman ’64 Stephen J. Schulte ’56, P ’86 Edward J. Shanahan P ’92, ’95 William G. Spears ’56, P ’81, ’90

Editorial Advisory Board Judy Donald ’66 Howard R. Greene P ’82, ’05 Michelle Judd Rittler ’98 Dorothy Heyl ’71, P ’07 Seth Hoyt ’61 Henry McNulty ’65 John Steinbreder ’74 Monica St. James P ’06 Francesca Vietor ’82 Heather Zavod P ’87, ’90

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Remarks From The Headmaster

Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends of the School, The new academic year has begun and we are moving forward with plans for a new student center, embarking on the first major curriculum review in 10 years, and continuing to celebrate our 125th anniversary.

This summer, demolition was completed on St. John Hall, former home of the mathematics and computer science department. In its stead, opening in 2017, will be the new St. John, a student center housing the Student Activities and Deans’ Offices, as well as the School Store, snack bar, club and game rooms. We are excited that this building will provide Choate with a versatile meeting, dining, and gathering space located in the heart of campus that is exclusively dedicated to student life and enhancing the student experience.

The upcoming curriculum review will undoubtedly have great impact on the overall student experience as well. In preparation for our 10-year review, we have articulated and examined the central qualities of a Choate education (See p. 4). This affords us an opportunity to step back and think about our leadership role and to codify practices that we have adopted informally. While we continue to avail ourselves of the latest advances in applied neuroscience and pedagogy, to observe best practices at top schools and universities in the U.S. and around the world, and to weigh advice from educational experts and professionals in a variety of industries, we have also gone to great lengths to make sure that our explorations remain firmly rooted in the student experience.

As we celebrate our 125th milestone year around the country and the globe, I am reminded of an extraordinary moment this June when I was joined at Commencement by three living members of our School’s history: former President and Principal Charles F. Dey; former Dean and Head of Rosemary Hall Joanne C. Sullivan; and former Headmaster Edward J. Shanahan. As you will learn from reading the latest chapter in our history, “Inclusion and Access: The Winds of Change” (See p. 16), these individuals laid the groundwork for the one unified school we are today. It was Charley Dey who was selected to make two schools one, and he set forth to do so by pledging his commitment to inclusion and access with “an emphasis on relationships between people of widely divergent backgrounds living and working together purposefully.” It was Joanne Sullivan who helped ensure that the ideals and spirit of Rosemary Hall came to Wallingford and continued to flourish, and it was Ed Shanahan who set a standard for Choate Rosemary Hall – that it might be “a place that values human goodness and human hope, as well as ideas.”

I continue to be humbled by Choate Rosemary Hall’s extraordinary legacy and remain in awe of its future. It is with great certainty I can say that we continue to provide our students with transformative and meaningful experiences. Our students graduate with the skills and talents to be game-changers, difference-makers, and champions for equity and justice. They will be fully equipped to enrich, improve, and inspire the world around them. We can’t wait!

With best wishes from campus,

Alex D. Curtis Headmaster

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 3

Letters

COVER COMMENTARY Many thanks for the wonderful Spring 2015 Bulletin!

I believe that the student on your cover may be Arne H. Carlson C ’53 who was at Choate from 1949-53 and also was a pre-Choate St. Andrews camper from NYC. I believe our first en masse TV experience was Eisenhower’s swearing in (1953) and especially the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954, seldom for any regular program viewing. (Choate had a bad experiment with Coke machines (1950-51) and any new technology would be guarded).

(P. S. It was a 6th form perk to have a radio!)

WHO'S THE GUY ON THE FRONT COVER PHOTO? I think it's me. Check out your photo with my photo in the 1950 Brief.

Bill Hadley, Choate '50 Scottsdale, Arizona

[Ed. Jon Dickinson ’56 of Portland, Oregon, also believes that he is on the cover. Our archivist Judy Donald ’66 is doing some sleuthing to accurately identify the young man on our cover. Please let us know if you can help us identify! jdonald@choate.edu]

Charles Scotland ’54 New York, New York

And that’s indeed what took place that summer.

Yes . . . kids from New York and New Haven learned aspects of life outside of their neighborhoods: one on the train from Grand Central Station to Wallingford asked “When do we get to France?” another had never seen a cow, all were eager as the photo shows.

But the counselor depicted learned as much or more: to open one’s mind and heart to others and to take responsibility for the consequences of that experience.

Thank you for including St. Andrews Society and its summer camp in “125 years.”

ST. ANDREWS SOCIETY A photo in the Spring 2015 installment of the Bulletin’s excellent five-part history of Choate Rosemary Hall caught my eye. There I am with six young bunkmates at St. Andrew’s camp intently concentrating on fixing a tool - one of the boys seems to be patiently instructing the older counselor.

Arch Gillies ‘52 Islesboro, Maine

CLASS OF ’55 BULL ARTISTS The photo caption on p. 29 of the Spring 2015 Bulletin misidentified one of the Class of 1955 Bull Artists as John Ducato. They are pictured from left, Grey McGown, Skip Moss, and Geoffrey Wolff.

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WHAT’S THE

ON CHRISTIAN & ELM |

BIG

Defining the Central Qualities of a Choate Education

by l o r r a i n e s. c o n n e l ly

Only by strengthening good tradition and establishing new, could we hope to make the present-day Choate a future-day Choate that we could take pride in.

–george st. john, forty years at school

IN APRIL 2014, Dean of Faculty Katie Levesque and Director of Curricular Initiatives Katie Jewett charged a committee of 7 individuals from various academic departments around the School to create a document describing the skills and habits of mind that the School affirms and instills in its students. The piece would align with the School’s Mission, Statement on Character, and Statement of Expectations, thus establishing an effective fourth pillar that clarifies both program initiatives and student experiences.

The committee’s nine-month effort culminated in the Central Qualities of a Choate Education available on the School's website.

The result is a map, a mirror, and yes, a compass for the “future-day Choate” that Headmaster George St. John envisioned.

As the School embarks on an intensive curriculum review that will address daily schedule, graduation requirements and extracurriculars, this document underscores the value and meaning of a Choate education in the 21st century.

Since their founding in the late 19th century, both Choate and Rosemary Hall have been firmly rooted in values of character education. Those qualities of integrity, respect, and compassion are at the heart of what it means to be a good person, to live a productive and meaningful life, and to be a positive force for good in the world. In his remarks to The Choate School nearly some 70 years later (May 4, 1963), President Kennedy ’35 acknowledged the important role schools play in developing character for the common good: “I believe that private preparatory schools have a role – a significant role – in American education. But it is evident that they will merit that role only as they continue steadily to increase their contributions to American life. Schools like Choate must recognize and fulfill their special obligation; and those fortunate to go to such schools must justify their special opportunity.”

The pace and intensity of modern day life reflect an added – and at times competing – set of values even in the educational marketplace, as author David Brooks points out in his recent bestseller, The Road to Character. He paints a picture of some of the challenges young people face as they step out into the world: The competition to succeed and win admiration is so fierce that it becomes all-consuming. The consumer marketplace encourages us to live by a utilitarian calculus, to satisfy our desires and lose sight of the moral stakes involved in everyday decisions. The noise of fast and shallow communications makes it harder to hear the quieter sounds that emanate from the depths. We live in a culture that teaches us to promote and advertise ourselves and to master the skills required for success, but that gives little encouragement to humility, sympathy, and honest selfconfrontation, which are necessary for building character.

Forging its own path in this context, Choate’s Central Qualities articulates the “significant role” and “contributions” that Kennedy referred to. In determining our collective aims and achievements as a school, the CQ offers a welcome and well-reasoned antidote to the excesses and frenzied obsessions surrounding success that Brooks describes. Emphasizing qualities such as self-motivation, curiosity, and creativity, along with perseverance and resilience and humor and joy, the document portrays the “dynamic balance” of the Choate Rosemary Hall experience, says Amy Foster, history, religion, philosophy, and social sciences department head, who along with science teacher Todd Currie, co-chaired the committee that composed the document. Notes Foster, “The focus on dynamic balance was intentional. When you think of balance you immediately think of stasis or a lack of movement.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 5

A ‘dynamic’ balance signals that the student experience is fluid and always allowing for adjustments. Thus students can learn to pair self-motivation, which is normally thought of as a solitary enterprise, with self-awareness and ask themselves questions like ‘How can I ultimately contribute to society?’”

Rather than a creed, she adds, “the Central Qualities are more like guiding principles for student expectations and are preparation for a rigorous curriculum review that will focus not just on conveying information to students but on imparting skills to them.”

Thirty years ago, says Foster, desirable skill sets for students did not emphasize collaboration or metacognition and certainly not “occasional failures.” But the design process prevalent in many of today’s businesses and industries focuses on iteration, a repeated process with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target or result. “Revising a draft and taking chances on an experiment are important steps along the way toward true learning.”

Developing these qualities happens not only in the classroom but also in sports teams, music ensembles, the dorm experience, and other endeavors, says Foster. “The end game is for students to create an experience that is useful, necessary, and enriching and to learn to live as rich a life as possible.” And for faculty, the Central Qualities offers a useful platform for the Curriculum Review which seeks to ensure that the overall student experience – from academic diploma requirements to extracurricular opportunities – is optimally coordinated so as to instill these central qualities in our students.

Science teacher Todd Currie, co-chair, says the debate as to whether the central qualities were a map or a mirror informed much of the committee’s discussions and decisions. “If we were going to use this as a guide for new courses or establishing new programs, there needed to be a willingness to explore and understand the world around us. Going forward our curriculum had to be relevant to the world our students are heading into. Teachers must consider what skills they need to include in the classroom beyond content. In today’s world, collaboration is far more about the ‘end product’; industries want the end product that is best for the team. And that pertains to the classroom experience as well.”

Currie is quick to note that including “self-advocacy” as a central quality is not to be confused with self-promotion. “Selfadvocacy embodies the can-do spirit of the entrepreneur,” he says. “It’s not about aggression; self-advocacy is the engine behind creating a successful startup; getting investors to invest, and then creating a philanthropic arm for investment.”

For parents, the Central Qualities is also a useful core document, says Currie, “It describes what Choate will offer your child in terms of personal growth and challenges. We are laying out the training we are going to give your child and as teachers we are going to challenge your children and ourselves to do better.”

For Katie Jewett, Director of Curricular Initiatives, and Katie Levesque, Dean of Faculty, who will be leading the curriculum review, the document lays the groundwork for next steps. Says Jewett, “The Central Qualities piece speaks to the purpose and outcomes of Choate’s educational enterprise as it is manifested in our students’ lives.”

Levesque adds, “The document also helps to remind all of us as adults what qualities we need to continue to engage in as models of lifelong learning for our students.”

“The central qualities are”, says Jewett, “a touchtone against which we can define ourselves.” She prefers to see the central qualities as a compass that students’ wield along their journeys.

“There is an aspirational quality to the Central Qualities which gives students agency and meaning; it allows students to take charge of their school experience.”

Jewett, who over the course of the past 18 months has visited and collaborated with more than 50 schools around the globe, says the curriculum review is an opportunity to view graduation requirements in a new way. In addition, Jewett says her thinking about curriculum has been informed by Headmaster Alex Curtis’s outreach to Choate alumni at the forefront of innovation in companies like Pixar, Google, Oracle, Twitter, IDEO and General Assembly, all of which she has visited with Curtis and other colleagues. The feedback from visits to these innovation hotspots is helping to shape the curriculum review. Says Jewett, “Our curriculum review, while informed by advances in applied neuroscience and pedagogy, best practices at top schools and universities in the U.S. and around the world, and advice from top educational experts and professionals in a variety of industries, is firmly grounded in the unique experiences of Choate students and faculty."

Choate’s Next BIG i.d.EA Students were surveyed on their school experience. Here’s how they rate their Choate education: Choate students rate these skills as most essential to their education: 1. Time management 2. Independence, resourcefulness, and self-advocacy 3. Perseverance and hard work 4. Creativity 5. Writing skills 6. Collaboration What Choate students would like to see incorporated in the curriculum: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Greater flexibility in course selections Required computer programming Less emphasis on AP courses More interdisciplinary course offerings Life skills such as money management; public speaking; social skills and interacting with others; and self-care (sleep, nutrition, etc.)

Director of Studies Kevin Rogers and Director of Curricular Initiatives Katie Jewett would like to solicit input from alumni on skills and habits of mind.

1. What do you believe to be the Central Qualities of a Choate Education?

2. What are the three most important academic skills for a person to possess?

3. Are there non-academic life skills that Choate should teach?

Email Katie Jewett at: kjewett@choate.edu

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ON CHRISTIAN & ELM | On Campus

OPEN

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 7

ING DAYS During the opening days of school, 270 new students from 26 states and 27 countries and regions participated in PLAYFAIR, facilitated by Newton Kaneshiro. A popular new student orientation program, PLAYFAIR is a perfect way to make new campus friendships. New students drop their inhibitions as student facilitators take them through a series of a team-building experiences that have a long-lasting effect on the campus community, creating unity and school spirit.

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ON CHRISTIAN & ELM | NEWSWORTHY

125th Prize Day and Commencement Exercises Commencement Weekend began with the awarding of form and department prizes on Prize Day, June 5. Four sixth formers were awarded Sally Green Hart and Larry A. Hart citations. Initiated by Choate alumnus Larry Hart ’32 in 1991, these awards honor students who have won the affection and respect of their peers. The 2015 recipients were Nicholas Owen Chobor, of Madison, Conn.; Aditya Vinay Goel, of Mumbai, India; Dora Thirkield Jarkowski, of Burlingame, Calif., and Lucia Catalina Madero Murillo, of Monterrey, Mexico. In addition, 27 sixth formers were recognized for participation in Choate’s Capstone Program, which allows students to work independently in a curricular area about which they are passionate. Nancy Miller, veteran

English teacher and Dean of Girls for the Sixth Form, was awarded the Johannes van Straalen Award for Distinguished Teaching by vote of the Student Council.

At the 125th Commencement Day Exercises on June 7, Headmaster Alex D. Curtis and the Board of Trustees bestowed diplomas and certificates to the 256 graduates. U.S. District Judge The Hon. Katherine B. Forrest ’82 delivered remarks. (See excerpts on p. 64). Three graduates received the School Seal Prize: Nicole Elizabeth Chavez, of Mount Vernon, N. Y.; Sonja Kiser Eliason, of McLean, Va.; and Noah Michael Hastings, of Madison, Conn. In total, 87 academic and form prizes were awarded.

Lanphier Center Accolade The Cameron and Edward Lanphier Center for Mathematics and Computer Science, designed

by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, is the recipient of a 2015 Brick in Architecture Award. The Lanphier Center is a gift from Trustee Edward Lanphier ’74, P ’04 and his wife, Cameron.

The largest and most prestigious juried awards program of its kind, the Brick in Architecture Awards program showcases the best work in clay face and paving brick from architects across the country. The competition was particularly competitive this year with over 115 entries. The Lanphier Center won Best in Class in the Educational K-12 category.

The Lanphier Center was also chosen to receive one of six Honorable Mention Awards

by Learning By Design magazine. The facility will be featured in the fall and digital editions and at www.learningbydesign.biz.

2015 Year End Celebration On June 11, Headmaster Alex D. Curtis and the entire Choate community gathered to celebrate the retirement of 10 members of the community. Honorees were development and donor relations coordinator Ann L. Cerreta; mathematics teacher Velma M. Dean; school physician Benjamin Gardner, M.D.; community safety officer William E. Grant; facilities services carpenter James S. Greer; director of the Andrew Mellon Library Dianne C. Langlois; administrative assistant to the Director of Admission Marianne Pocsik; history teacher Richard S. Stewart; administrative assistant to the Headmaster Sharon S. Totz, and administrative assistant to the College Counseling Office Carla M. Zanoni. The program also recognized faculty and staff reaching their 25-year milestones: Gloria F. Baldelli, Elva Ray Brandon, G. Cyrus Cook, Jan D. Cook, Timothy R. McCrillis, and Monica St. James.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 9

Choate on the Move

Summer Program Celebrates 100 Years The Choate Rosemary Hall Summer Program celebrated its 100th year with its official opening on Sunday, June 28. The 614 students enrolled in the 2015 Summer Programs came from 26 states and 49 countries.

Founded in 1916, the summer program enjoys a rich tradition of academic excellence and innovation.

The curriculum hones 21st century skills – collaboration, creativity, communication, and discovery while exploring content not traditionally found in middle or secondary school curricula. Says Director of Summer Programs Eera Sharma, “We offer courses that are relevant to the concerns of today’s world and our passionate and dedicated faculty constantly push themselves to create lessons that are experiential in nature."

This year the program added new offerings: Arabic for Beginners (Middle School) and Introduction to Arabic (High School); Introduction to Computer Programming (Middle School); Introduction to Robotics (Middle School and High School) and a newly enhanced Math/Science Institute for Middle School Girls.

In addition to study abroad programs in China, France, and Spain, this year a new cultural and language immersion program was introduced in Oman.

St. John Student Center This summer, demolition was completed on St. John Hall, former home to the mathematics and computer science department. In its stead, opening in 2017, is the 37,000 square foot St. John Student Center, designed by Bowie Gridley Architects of Washington, D.C. It is a facility designed for today’s students.

Whether during the school day, or on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the student center will be central to student life. Busy, engaged, and hungry Choate students will be drawn to the space by the School Store, snack bar, club and game rooms as well as the Student Activities and Deans’ Offices.

View from Hill House Circle.

Several Choate administrators and teachers have presented nationally on the future of independent secondary school education.

Admission Director Ray Diffley spoke at the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals Annual Institute on July 12-15 in Baltimore. He announced the start of a national admission officer certification program of which he is a co-chair. He also announced a new award for admission professionals, the Andrew B. Noel III Award, named after the former Choate Admission Director of Financial Aid and Associate Director of Admission, Andy Noel, who died last in January.

In early June, college counselor Sharonda Dailey spoke at the New England Association for College Admission Counseling on optional testing for underrepresented students for whom testing can be a barrier to access. Senior Associate Director of College Counseling Eric Stahura spoke at the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools in late June on athletic recruiting in the 21st century.

On October 8-9, Director of Academic Technology, Joel Backon; science department head, Ben Small; and science teacher, Deron Chang, will speak at OESIS (Online Education Symposium for Independent Schools) in Boston.

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illustrations by gwen keraval

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 11

Feature

Weaving a Social Web In this Day-Glo dream of Southern California, you are hightailing it south on the Pacific Coast Highway in a mint 1967 Chevy Malibu convertible, Marina Blue with a cream interior, maybe a pair of red high heels banging in the glove box. The ocean is on your right, big waves pounding the shore, and the curving highway is laid out before you like a length of sugary ribbon candy. The woman behind the wheel is talking a mile a minute‌

by charles a. monagan

“my mom used to park her car, crack a window and stroll into lord & taylor for a few hours of shopping and an uninterrupted lunch,” she is shouting above the wind. “This left the three of us bored to tears in the back seat. So we did what any restless pack of kids would do - we tried to kill each other. It was like Lord of the Freakin’ Flies.”

She turns and briefly looks at you over the rims of her sunglasses.

“However, now that I’m a parent, I completely get it,” she continues. “It’s more sanitary than checking your kids into Ikea’s germ-filled Småland and so much easier than pretending you really want them in tow. I once wondered if I could get away with this. I figured no one would die if I tried to drop a letter in the PO box without my 4-foot shadow nudging me to buy her Mickey Mouse stamps that she’d inevitably affix to the interior of my car. But before I could even try, she blurted out, “You can’t leave me in here. It’s illegal.” Ugh. Fine!”

The woman rattling on and on is Amelia Conrad Dalgaard ’89, but we are not riding shotgun in a convertible with her. Not really. The actual vehicle for this and her many other entertaining observations is her blog, Motorhead Mama (motorheadmama.com), whose subhead is “Angelino Car Culture … Distilled.” Take a look at Motorhead Mama and you’ll likely be entertained and amused whether you’re a “car person” or not. It’s full of the life and color of Southern California and the endless parade of cars and trucks and the people there who operate them, customize them, worship them and park them very, very poorly. Dalgaard’s stream of posts runs high with attitude and immediacy; they’re breezy, often naughty, and always delightfully personal – in short, so many of the things a blog should be. Taken together, they create a world.

Dalgaard’s post quoted from above is entitled “5 Things Moms Did In The ’70s That Would Land Them In Jail Today.” Along with imprisoning children in the back seat of the car, it goes on to mention not wearing seat belts (“hitting our heads on the roof of the Land Rover as my mom blazed over train tracks was something we did for fun”), smoking cigarettes in winter with the car windows closed, taking along a roadie from a cocktail party (in a glass, not a big red plastic cup), and making misbehaving children get out of the car and walk the rest of the way home. Such memories of an earlier day are only a small part of what Motorhead Mama contains on its many blog pages, and something Dalgaard hardly anticipated when she first set out as a blogger in October 2011, when she found herself in Los Angeles after an East Coast upbringing.

“I started after sending some joke emails to my friends about the cars I saw on the road,” she recalls. “Finally, a friend said, ‘Start a blog.’ So then I Googled ‘blog.’”

Once she learned what a blog actually was, the process came slowly.

“When I began, I had no vision whatsoever,” Dalgaard says. “In fact, the blog was simply a creative outlet which I kept as a secret from my friends and family for six months.”

Now she has about 2,000 faithful, supportive readers a month and is comfortably situated in an auto-centric orbit that has included the automotive team at The New York Times, writers at the BBC, and Jay Leno. And despite the difficulties of keeping a blog alive and fresh, she has no intention of putting her foot on the brake.

“When I don’t feel like blogging, I go for a drive. By the time I’m home, I have a new idea. I can’t imagine not blogging in five years.”

When I don’t feel like blogging, I go for a drive.

By the time I’m home, I have a new idea. I can’t imagine not blogging in five years. –amelia conrad dalgaard ’89

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BULLETIN | FALL 2015 13

Amelia Dalgaard is only one among the dozens of Choate Rosemary Hall alums who currently blog under their own names or pseudonyms - and she’s also one among the hundreds of Choaties who have attempted blogging at one time or another, for themselves or their employers, since the word “weblog” was coined in 1997. Of course, worldwide there are millions who have tried their hand at this ever-mutating form of communication, defined by Webster as “a website on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities and experiences.” As you no doubt have noticed, every sort of online presence – from media outlets to major corporations to the sandwich shop on the corner – employs blogs for better or worse. And just as the world of blogging covers an ever-widening field of purposes and designs, so do the contributions of Choate grads range out into every imaginable direction as well.

There is Bill Simmons ’88, who started a widely-read entertaining blog (he may prefer to call it an online column) under the name of Boston Sports Guy in the late 1990s, and parlayed it into fame, infamy and fortune at ESPN, and now at HBO. He also produced the Emmy Award-winning “30 For 30” series, became an on-air NBA panelist/pundit and podcaster, and was instrumental in the creation of the highly regarded grantland.com. And then there are the lesser-read personal blogs (usually about food, dining, travel or just “my life”) begun by Choate grads with the highest, most earnest hopes only to fizzle out or parachute into quippier, less time-consuming forms such as Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram.

Kate Betts ’82 has been in and out of blogging since 2005, when she first covered fashion shows in New York, Milan and Paris on behalf of a Time magazine supplement called Time Style & Design. By that time, Betts had already

made notable career stops at Fairchild Publications, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, but she found that the new writing form presented peculiar problems.

“It was challenging because Time had such a specific voice and the whole point of a blog is to establish a freer, more conversational, off-the-cuff voice,” she says. “So I had to navigate the divide between my own voice and what sounded right for Time. I loved doing it then, though, because it was so quick and people responded so you could have discussions about the shows and which designers’ collections were good or bad. Also, as someone who was trained at a daily newspaper, it took me back to that daily rhythm of filing stories.”

Betts stopped blogging after leaving Time in 2010, but recently returned to it with her own everydayicon.com, a blog offering her trenchant recommendations on style, design, travel and beauty – and along the way revealing a good deal of her own personality through daydreamy posts on Paris, book recommendations and ideas for the perfect summer shoe. [See p. 60 for a review of Betts’ newly released book, My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine.]

“That’s what blogs do,” she says. “They transport you to another place, to someone else’s experience. You see something in a new light. I don’t read any blogs that appear on the websites of major publications anymore. Blogs are only really useful when they are personal.”

Blogs transport you to another place, to someone else’s experience.

You see something in a new light.

–kate betts ’82

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A blog may seem like it’s an outlet for you to share your innermost thoughts...

but to build an audience and be successful, you need to create a two-way street in terms of communications. –celia cheng ’92

Betts also sees a clear connection between the magazine world she knows so well and the realm of blogging.

“Blogs are essentially communities, aren’t they?” she asks. “Much the same way that magazines, at their genesis, were communities for like-minded readers. With the Internet, these communities are even more focused, the shared interests can be even more specific than with magazines.

That’s where the personal point of view comes in.”

That “personal point of view” is something never lacking among Choate bloggers. Take the food writers, for instance.

There are no doubt more alums who blog, or have blogged, about food, recipes and dining than any other subject, and their passion runs high. Some burn out after a year or two, but others are managing the long haul with a high degree of style and professionalism. Go to Alexandra’s Kitchen (alexandracooks.com), the home port of Alexandra Cobbett Stafford ’99, and you will find a handsome site with regular updates and an active, involved community of readers.

“I started the blog in the fall of 2007 while living in Philadelphia and working as the food editor for a small newspaper,” says Stafford. “I had recently stopped working in professional kitchens and I wanted to have an outlet for sharing lessons and techniques I had learned during those years. I also was discovering farms, shops, restaurants and farmers’ markets, and a blog was a perfect, casual outlet for sharing those discoveries.”

Lately, Alexandra’s Kitchen has mostly been devoted to recipes, each with a tempting photo or two, that readers seem to love trying and commenting on. “I am always surprised by the kind comments and emails I receive from people I have never met,” says Stafford. “I have kept in touch with some people for years now, and I always feel inspired to keep the blog going when they write in telling me they made something to rave reviews from their family, or that a recipe on my blog has become their go-to for entertaining.” Stafford is currently writing a cookbook on bread with her mother, former Choate faculty member Elizabeth Lowery, to be published by Clarkson Potter in the spring of 2017.

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There's a similar feeling at Taste As You Go (tasteasyougo.com), where Michelle Judd Rittler ’98 has been dispensing menu plans, recipes, and well-chosen nuggets of her own personal life (her late-stage pregnancy recently led to a craving for scones) since August 2008.

She started writing when she was living in New York and continued to blog from her home after relocating to Bethlehem, Penn., in June 2011. She notes that her passion for food was awakened during her time at Choate.

“Before Choate, I’d say I was a relatively picky eater, only choosing foods that I was already familiar with,” she recalls. “The variety of food in the dining hall helped me see that there were so many other options out there and that tasting them was encouraged. Now I love trying new foods when dining out and experimenting with new-to-us –phil nel ’88 flavors and cooking methods at home.”

Meanwhile, at Cravings (findyourcraving.com), New York-based Celia Cheng ’92 dispenses information and advice on high-end dining, imbibing and travel. With its archived videos and profiles, and its worldwide reach (you can find restaurant and hotel information for Kyoto, Vieques and all the stops in between), Cravings is perhaps more of a website than a blog.

“In this day and age, the line between website and blog is so blurred, as long as it offers value to the readers, I don’t think it makes a difference,” offers Cheng. “A blog may seem like it’s an outlet for you to share your innermost thoughts, but to build an audience and be successful, you need to create a two-way street in terms of communications. Being authentic and true to your own voice will make you stand out, and will naturally attract people who like the real you.”

Other Choate grads use blogging as an aid to an existing business, and a way of injecting a voice and personality.

Charles Martin ’70 discovered in 2013 that a blog at

One other benefit is further practice in writing - when you blog you learn to write as well as you can in a very short period of time.

charleshmartin.com could help sell his book, Every1’s Guide to Electronic Contracts, and also lend background color to his consulting business. A recent post, for example, was perhaps a bit more about jazz in France in the 1950s than it was about contract law.

“I think blogging is a great business tool,” he says. “It allows your customers and potential customers to understand your personality, and therefore your business product.

It is not, however, a short-term tool. Its effectiveness can only be measured over years.”

George Colony ’72, a Choate Rosemary Hall Trustee and CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, started his blog at forrester.com in 2008 “as an example to other CEOs to be more social.” He ranks blogging as an “exceptional” business tool.

“It’s a way to talk to the world and have the world talk back,” he says. “We hire lots of 20-somethings – they are encouraged that the leader of the company behaves socially.”

He also thinks a business blog should stay on topic. “Only post valuable ideas, information or analysis,” he says.

“Most of the world doesn’t care about your restaurant choices or vacation miscues.”

Finally, there are the Choate alums who operate in the realm of academia and who find blogging to be a natural extension of what they are up to in the classroom. Phil Nel ’88, a Distinguished Professor of English at Kansas State University with a special interest in children’s literature, began his blog, Nine Kinds of Pie (philnel.com), in 2010 as “a good way to test ideas and to connect with a broader public.” The blog (named for a passage in the children’s classic, Harold and the Purple Crayon) is mostly about children’s literature (“French Lyrics Reveal Shocking Truth About Rudolph’s Red Nose” was one recent topic), comics and academia, including, recently, freedom of speech issues on campuses in Kansas.

“People follow me on Twitter because of the blog,” Nel says. “When I meet people at conferences, one of the first things they often say is, ‘I love your blog.’ One other benefit is further practice in writing - when you blog you learn to write as well as you can in a very short period of time.”

As a good professor should, Nel has some advice for those in the Choate community who are thinking of starting a blog or picking up where an old one left off: “Have fun. Seriously. I don’t make any money doing this. So find stuff to write about that you enjoy.”

Charles A. Monagan is a longtime editor and writer and father of Claire Monagan ’08.

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1965 Brief

Students, 1971, on the steps of the newly built Rosemary Hall campus.

Feature

inclusion & access the winds of change 1965-1990

In 1965, rhythms of life at The Choate School were still largely as they had been for years. Clean-cut boys donned coats and ties for class and all meals. They ate dinner familystyle at assigned seats with two masters enforcing manners at each table. They turned up dutifully, if sometimes reluctantly, for daily required chapel. It seemed this world barely changed from one generation to the next.

These and other pillars of prep school life were about to come crashing down. Long-held norms would collapse so rapidly, both at Choate and Rosemary Hall, that school leaders wondered aloud whether single-sex secondary education as an institution would survive in America.

As a “question authority” spirit roared across the country against the backdrop of an unpopular Vietnam War and a rising counterculture, students in Wallingford and Greenwich began to challenge everything from single-sex classes to Eurocentric reading lists to faculty censorship of student publications. Administrators were hard-pressed to adequately explain why old ways of doing things should endure, even for one more year. by g. jeffrey macdonald ’87

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“Something must be done to make the total educational process more meaningful, or, as the young say, more ‘relevant’ in terms of today’s and tomorrow’s life experience,” wrote Rosemary Hall Headmistress Alice McBee to the Executive Committee in 1968.

Something indeed was done – something dramatic. The trustees of The Choate School and Rosemary Hall jointly announced in 1968 that after seven decades in Greenwich, Rosemary Hall would return in 1971 to its roots in Wallingford. The school would locate on a new, soon-tobe-built campus next door to Choate’s, but they’d remain separate institutions.

As the plan was concieved, the schools would practice “coordinate” education, rather than coeducation. Girls and boys would come together – not for every class – but for certain advanced electives, and courses in drama, music, and fine arts, as well as other select activities and then return to their same-sex domains. The vision called for construction of a centrally-located arts center to serve as a meeting place for boys and girls. Merging into one school wasn’t the intention, at least not yet.

Even with the march toward coordinate education underway, the bumpy road to inclusivity would take years to pave. Both schools had a long way to go. Rosemary Hall enrolled its first black student in 1966. At that time,

September, 1968. Choate Headmaster Seymour St. John and Rosemary Hall Headmistress Alice McBee study a Wallingford campus map and the proposed site for Rosemary Hall facilities.

Choate had only one to two black students in each form.

The status quo in areas of race and religion was becoming untenable.

Chapel, where Choate students gathered daily for prayers and reflection on moral values, was fast becoming a lightning rod. In the Choate News, students took on their Episcopal headmaster, the Rev. Seymour St. John ’31, in dueling op-eds where they insisted religious observance should be a choice, not a duty, especially on an increasingly diverse campus. St. John steadfastly supported required chapel, insisting it was essential for honing shared values and shaping moral character.

“For decades we had taken our values for granted,” St. John wrote in his unpublished memoir, As We Were Saying.

“Now our expressed concern with ultimates betrayed nationwide questioning.”

Chapel was often where conflicting values came to a head. Students protested when Choate spent $620,000 to expand the chapel and install a new organ – both symbols of traditional authority and culture – rather than put the funds toward new scholarships for minorities. At the 1969 organ dedication, St. John warned from the pulpit that anyone who walked out in protest would be expelled. No one dared leave, but tensions remained at fever pitch.

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In 1968, Choate’s Board of Trustees adopted a goal: within five years, 8 to 10 percent of all boarding students would come from non-white or disadvantaged backgrounds.

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African American students in the late 1960s. From left: Phil La Viscount ’69, Tony Legrand ’71, and Lafayette Rose ’69

Chapel Service 1964. By the start of the 1970-71 school year, mandatory chapel would end.

Conflict wasn’t always neatly managed. In 1969, Choate’s eight black students used a two-page spread in the Choate News to call for more black studies options and fewer white authors on reading lists.

“These stupid honkies who try to tell us that our culture is not as good as theirs and won’t allow us to do our own things,” the group’s statement said, “these people in their ignorance are the causes of violent outbreaks among black students.”

In response, St. John again took the pulpit, where he called their phrases, “deeply disturbing.”

“We are not intimidated,” he told the assembly. “To follow your unhappier intimations. Of course buildings can be destroyed; even lives taken. But we are all ephemera, and there are far greater values to lose than life and property.”

With tensions boiling, Choate scrambled to build and embrace a more diverse community. In 1968, Choate’s Board of Trustees adopted a goal: within five years, 8 to 10 percent of all boarding students would come from nonwhite or disadvantaged backgrounds. To get there, Choate would raise scholarship funds that would be matched by A Better Chance, a five-year-old non-profit organization that was helping students of color attend private schools. In 1969, Choate established an Afro-American Studies Center to encourage more study of black cultures and arts.

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McBee declared that Rosemary Hall “will not only retain her freedom, but will also be strengthened through affiliation with Choate,” but she admitted that hurdles would need to be surmounted.

“I am seriously concerned by one central issue which could cause grave trouble in the attainment of our common goal,” she told the Executive Committee. “The two schools have a widely divergent philosophy about the best methods of handling young people outside the classroom.”

She summed up the differences in a few words: “Choate is run along ‘traditional lines’; Rosemary is a ‘liberal’ school.” On approaches to discipline and rule-making, they might not reach an easy accord. In the early 1970s, discipline was no small concern as societal mores began to change.

BY THE TIME ROSEMARY HALL ARRIVED IN WALLINGFORD IN FALL 1971, CHOATE HAD RELAXED A NUMBER OF ITS RULES. Softening of hardline policies marked

Rosemarians come to upper campus in 1972.

IN GREENWICH, ROSEMARY HALL HAD ITS OWN CHALLENGES in forging the path to inclusion. In 1967,

the Executive Committee approved a plan to deconsecrate St. Bede’s Chapel, an Episcopal house of worship, so that the space could accommodate more types of speakers and worship. Rosemary Hall Trustees authorized new funds for scholarships and minority recruitment. English teacher Ann Nesslage introduced two new courses, one on Black literature and the other on feminist authors. Meanwhile the path to partnering with a boys school meant the additional challenge of negotiating terms, particularly around money and control.

Financing Rosemary Hall’s move to Wallingford meant more than selling the Greenwich property and using the proceeds for a new home. It also meant relying upon Choate to contribute as much as $3 million toward new campus construction. Choate’s commitment was a far cry from the original $25 million that Rosemary Hall envisioned from the larger and much wealthier boys school. But it was enough to make Rosemarians worry that Choate, as the benefactor in the arrangement, might overly dominate decision-making in Wallingford.

McBee acknowledged that, among Rosemarians, she detected “fear that Rosemary Hall will lose her freedom to be an independent entity. This fear must be allayed immediately if we are to be able to rely upon our constituency for wholehearted support in the future.”

St. John’s strategy, prior to his retirement in 1973, for renewing goodwill with students.

It was worth a try. So acrimonious had the late 1960s been that he’d once asked for an assistant headmaster to help out as he coped with the “psychic energy drain of dealing with those who seek to destroy.” Meanwhile the administration had heard students’ gripe that they weren’t taken seriously. It was a theme in Peter Prescott’s 1970 book A World of Our Own, which chronicles Choate’s tumultuous year of 1967-68. [The author was an alumnus, Class of 1953].

“Too much weight is given to rules which focus on matters trivial in relation to education, such as beards, smoking, compulsory chapel,” a student committee said in a report requested by trustees. By 1971, boys were allowed freer weekends as well as longer hair and beards. Smoking was permitted. And the chapel attendance requirement, which St. John had fought so hard to preserve, was no more.

Academic life reflected the more relaxed atmosphere as well. Choate dropped letter grades and adopted a simpler system with just four marks: honors, high pass, pass, and fail. In 1972, the School’s new open curriculum expanded access to courses such as architecture and criminal law, thought to be relevant to a changing society.

But nothing did as much to boost morale as the arrival of more than 230 Rosemary Hall girls on a new campus up the hill. When the plan was announced, Choate faculty supported coordinate education, and when it came to fruition, the boys overwhelmingly approved as well.

“There is a qualitative difference to our School life in this new year,” St. John told the trustees in October 1971, “a happier frame of mind of both faculty and students.”

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Deerfield Day, circa 1970s.

But nothing did as much to boost morale as the arrival of more than 230 Rosemary Hall girls on a new campus up the hill. “There is a qualitative difference to our School life in this new year,” St. John told the trustees in October 1971, “a happier frame of mind of both faculty and students.”

When Senator John F. Kennedy ’35 came to Choate to receive the School's first Alumni Seal Prize in 1958, he met with Headmaster Seymour St. John ’31, left, and his former history master, Courtenay Hemenway.

Rosemary Hall library, 1972.

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Besides operating separately, the two schools also had differences galore in how they functioned day to day. Admissions procedures, diploma requirements, policies for discipline and readmission, weekend permissions, faculty workload – none of these were uniform across the two schools.

LEFT Rosemary Hall Hand-

book, circa 1972

RIGHT Headmistress Elizabeth Loomis, 1971-73

ROSEMARY HALL AND CHOATE WERE TRULY INDEPENDENT IN THEIR EARLY DAYS as reunited sibling

schools. Each had its own board and its own head of school. Elizabeth “Libby” Loomis became headmistress in 1971 after McBee stepped down, and she oversaw the return to Wallingford. Joanne C. Sullivan, a Latin teacher with a doctoral degree and roots in Greenwich, led the school from 1973 to 1975.

Even telephone operators answered the School phones “The Choate School - Rosemary Hall.”

Besides operating separately, the two schools also had differences galore in how they functioned day to day.

Admissions procedures, diploma requirements, policies for discipline and readmission, weekend permissions, faculty workload – none of these were uniform across the two schools. But synergies and pragmatism won the day as the schools blended their missions and procedures step by step, year by year.

In 1973, the boards made a bold decision to hire one administrator to serve as president of both schools. The president would report to both boards of trustees as well as to a joint Resolutions Committee.

Their choice for president was a Dartmouth College dean Charles F. Dey. He had been a Peace Corps pioneer as well as a Phillips Andover Academy teacher, and he brought deep experience in helping private institutions become more inclusive. At Dartmouth, he’d run the A Better Chance program, which helped prepare scholarship students from families in poverty to succeed at prep schools.

At Choate, he would put all that experience to work in a job that was as much about cultural bridge-building and increasing access as it was about educating young people.

LEFT 1973-74 Rosemary Hall

faculty. Front row, fourth from left, Joanne C. Sullivan, Headmistress from 1973-1975.

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WHEN DEY AND HIS WIFE, PHOEBE, ARRIVED IN WALLINGFORD IN FALL 1973 , he had no timeline or

master plan for bringing about a merger of the two schools. He planned to follow the terms of the schools’ agreement, which called for them to remain independent as long as it was practicable to do so.

“You want things to grow organically,” Dey told The Bulletin in a June 2015 interview at his home in Walpole, N.H. “You want to work with people positively and collaboratively. You don’t want to tell them, ‘Well, we’ve got to do this or it has to be like that’ – that doesn’t get you anywhere. I wanted very much to understand the culture so that I could speak to the positives of the Rosemary culture and to the positives of the Choate culture.”

Within Dey’s first year, the two institutions began working more closely together. Their respective executive boards began holding all their meetings jointly. In 1974, they began working out details to establish a consolidation plan.

A new Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation was in the works.

By June 1974, the new foundation had its first governance board in place. In a move that signaled equal partnership for Rosemary Hall in its new environs, the board elected Elizabeth “Beezie” Brownell (RH ’21) as its chair.

Now the two schools were clearly on track to become one coeducational institution, but not overnight. Dey made sure to let the process unfold as naturally as possible and not on an imposed schedule.

Making the transition would involve lots of letting go, as well as gradual reclaiming of traditions that had been casualties of the late 1960s and early 1970s upheaval.

The adjustment to coordinate education turned out to be difficult for many on a personal level. The large scale of Choate and Rosemary Hall – now consisting of some 850 students, plus 300 faculty and staff, spread across two campuses – took a toll on close-knit relationships that had long been hallmarks of both schools. From 1973 to 1975, 73 teachers left their jobs amid uncommonly high turnover rates.

“I wanted very much to understand the culture so that I could speak to the positives of the Rosemary culture and to the positives of the Choate culture.” –charles f. dey

Helen MacKissick Williamson.

Rosemary Hall's Headmistress, 1953–1957

Forging a new school culture meant recovering old threads and nurturing community ties. All-school meetings twice a week tried to fill the void left by the loss of daily chapel. A day student center opened in Pitman House to foster community and hospitality for a growing number of commuter students. In 1975, third and fourth formers were reintroduced to family-style dining as a means to improve personal relationships.

Compounding the challenge of building a new, coeducational institution was a weak national economy, saddled by high rates of unemployment and inflation. In what Dey termed “an enormous disappointment,” a capital campaign to raise $30 million fell far short of its goal in 1975, bringing in just $16 million. To cover costs, including those lingering from the Rosemary Hall move, tuition for boarders climbed 33 percent over four years, from $4,200 in 1973-74 to $5,600 in 1977-78. For day students, the price of education rose from $2,400 to $3,550.

LEFT Elizabeth Hyde Brownell

TOP Charles F. Dey, President

’21. First Chair of the Choate Rosemary Hall Trustees

and Principal, 1973-1991

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Larry Hart ’32 (with camera) pictured with swimming coach Bob Burns.

“If I have an apprehension for the future, it is the threat to the diversity of our student body brought about by rising costs,” Dey wrote in his two-year report in 1975. “With every increase in tuition, the pressures mount on middle income families… A comparable fear is that in our efforts to balance the budget, we will be forced to lessen our commitment to minorities.”

Choate Rosemary Hall accepted sacrifices in the mid1970s in order to pursue an inclusive, sustainable future.

To qualify for federal subsidies, dining halls stopped serving coffee, tea and soda at breakfast and lunch. Fewer desserts were offered. One dining hall was routinely closed on weekends. During the energy crisis, turning off lights and other measures slashed energy consumption on campus by 22 percent. Tough decisions led to the elimination of 32 jobs and the shelving of plans to build a new science building, a new dispensary, and a swimming pool.

“At each juncture we have asked the question, ‘Where is our priority?’, and answered, ‘Faculty compensation and scholarships’,” Dey wrote in 1975.

Steps to integrate the lives of boys and girls accelerated in the wake of a catastrophic loss in February 1976. A massive fire tore through the Winter Exercise Building, leaving two-thirds of the facility badly damaged. To rebuild the Winter Ex and convert the old gym into a student activities center with a swimming facility would cost around $4 million, a sum raised within a year in a campaign led by Worthington Johnson ’32. When the facilities reopened in 1979, three new coed sports emerged: swimming, squash and riflery.

“The effect of the fire was to help the two schools begin to see themselves as one,” wrote former Choate history teacher Tom Generous in Choate Rosemary Hall: A History of the School.

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Reggie Bradford was one of four African-American faculty and staff when he arrived in 1976.

IN 1977-78, CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL TOOK A FINAL STEP IN COMPLETING THE MERGER OF TWO SCHOOLS born in

“We were all kind of going through a similar thing… As an adult with kids, I had the experience of being a minority in a predominantly white environment. So if some of the kids’ reactions were purely emotional, I could help them look at things a little differently.”

–reginald bradford

Wallingford in the 1890s. The School held its first joint convocation in the fall and awarded the first Choate Rosemary Hall diplomas in the spring. By this time, policies and practices were largely reconciled across the two predecessor school cultures. True coeducation had become the order of the day.

Diversifying the campus, however, remained a work in progress. In 1973, 20 of 843 students at Choate and Rosemary Hall were black. By 1978, the student body had grown to 926, yet still only 24 were black. The financial aid budget had increased by 49 percent over that time, but most of the resources went to cover higher tuition costs, not new scholarships. A bright spot came on the international front as Choate enrolled 60 foreign students from 38 countries.

For minority students at Choate, the heated tensions of the late 1960s had given way to a more supportive environment where each could find his or her niche. Adjustments were still challenging, especially for students from backgrounds far removed from those of their peers.

Some faculty didn’t like the fact that black students routinely sat together, not with white students, at meals, according to Reginald Bradford, an African-American faculty member who taught art at Choate from 1976 to 2014. Minority students craved settings where they could relax and be themselves without feeling like fish in a fishbowl.

“There were lots of issues,” Bradford recalled. “A lot of those kids had never been in a completely white environment. A lot of the white kids had never been around minority students. So it was a little bit tense in the beginning … it was something we had to work out over time.”

Bradford was one of four black faculty and staff when he arrived in 1976. The number of black employees remained similarly small for years, Bradford said, as the hiring of more minorities was “extremely slow.” But that number eventually grew.

Black students meanwhile found a home away from home in those days with Bradford’s family at their apartment. On weekends, they’d get together at the Bradfords’ home for a meal, a movie or a trip to a park for a picnic.

By the early 1980s, as many as 50 students from various backgrounds – black, white, Hispanic and Asian – were gathering regularly at the Bradfords’ as part of the Choate Afro-Latino Society. They knew Bradford as someone who would step in and advocate for minority students on occasions when they sensed racial bias in a classroom or dormitory situation, and he discovered that by sharing food and hanging out together away from campus, they learned constructive new ways of appreciating and relating to each other.

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LEFT Architect I.M. Pei and

benefactor Paul Mellon ’25 at the construction site of the soon to be Science Center.

ABOVE Aerial view of the

arts center and science center, both I.M. Pei designs.

As the two schools learned to function as one, values were tested in times of crisis. One of the Dey administration’s first moves in 1973 had been to institute an automatic suspension for violation of major school rules in a bid to curtail recreational drug use. The issue came to a head in May 1984 when two students flew to Venezuela and tried to smuggle cocaine back into the United States.

Tipped off by an anonymous student phone call, Dey alerted law enforcement, who stopped the students as they tried to pass through U.S. Customs. Back at Choate, 14 additional students were also implicated and dismissed immediately from school. The incident made national news, including a fall 1984 segment on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” and in its wake Choate debated how severe its drug punishment policy should be going forward. Once again, differing philosophies of discipline defined the debate.

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Floor Plan of the Paul Mellon Arts Center. Note the directional arrows "To Choate" and "To Rosemary Hall"

“Something good is happening,” one student leader noted not long after the crisis reached its peak. “I don't know exactly what it is, but I can feel it. Students, faculty, and administrators all seem to be pulling together.”

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–choate rosemary hall, a history of our school Faculty weighed in: the School adopted a zero-tolerance policy for drugs with 43 percent voting to allow second chances for alcohol. Among leading prep schools, only Phillips Exeter Academy had the same consequences on its books.

The incident was a turning point for the School. Choate Rosemary Hall decided to draw a line in the sand on its expectations for students, and faculty questioned, revisited and reaffirmed that. It was a conscientious decision made as one school, not two. And, it was perhaps indicative of the start of a cultural evolution on campus around student wellness and support, greater institutional awareness, and community education. All of the issues tackled during this period (accessibility, diversity, inclusion, sex, drugs, and rock and roll) required the School to adjust and reflect.

Choate’s willingness to do so put it ahead of its time, or at least in a position to remain a beacon among its peers.

The 1980s ended with Choate Rosemary Hall enjoying the fruits of its long-term vision, planning and sacrifice.

Recruitment efforts had made the School increasingly selective to the point of admitting fewer than one in three applicants. A new, $10 million Science Center opened in 1989, as did a new Office of Multicultural Affairs. In lieu of a traditional chaplaincy, a Campus Ministry team of five faculty members from various faith traditions ministered to the spiritual and religious needs of the community.

As Choate Rosemary Hall celebrated 100 years of roots in Wallingford in 1990, its first president was preparing to pass the leadership baton. A new top administrator would soon chart the next course for a young coed school with deep roots in classical liberal education, an institution strengthened by having engaged a changing world and having weathered its unsettling storms. With coeducation and inclusiveness now woven into a single proud identity, the School would begin the next century on firm footing.

NEXT ISSUE:

tradition & innovation building a community / 1990-2015

From the experimental and “latest ideas of modern education” embraced by our founders to our present day position as a global leader in secondary school education, Choate Rosemary Hall has proven to be a place conducive to risktaking and innovation, as well as character formation and academic endeavor.

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Charles F. Dey, 1973.

CHARLES F. DEY:

BUILDING COMMUNITY President and Principal (1973-1991) WALPOLE, N.H. – When Choate Rosemary Hall’s first top administrator declined to be called “headmaster,” he did more than break with tradition. He also sent a message about what kind of school this new creation should be.

For Charles F. Dey, the title “principal” was truer to his roots as a public school graduate. In sharing a title with his public school colleagues, he aimed to ensure that Choate not be seen as a world apart, but rather as a place accessible to all who would take advantage of its opportunities and resources.

“I was not going to cut myself off from public education,” said Dey, who was both principal and president after Choate and Rosemary Hall merged. “I was going to do my best to see that we were part of a larger community.”

Choate had proved attractive to Dey and his wife, Phoebe, largely because it belonged to the fabric of Wallingford. Unlike boarding schools situated to feel set apart and removed from their towns, Choate sits at a crossroads on the edge of downtown. The Deys loved that aspect of Choate from the moment they first visited.

“You can’t tell where the campus stops and the town begins,” Dey said. “We liked that.”

For Dey, increasing access to all Choate had to offer was only partly a matter of recruiting students, faculty and staff from a broader range of backgrounds and finding funds for their scholarships and salaries. It also meant cultivating town-gown relations to an unprecedented extent.

It started among Choate employees. As Choate and Rosemary Hall were forging new traditions as a united school, Dey designed a picnic at the start of the school year and an appreciation dinner at the end of the year. The key ingredient was the invitation list. Everyone was included, from the most senior faculty member to the newest groundskeeper or laundry room staffer.

“I wanted to have, at the beginning and the end of the year, everyone together - all the employees, without distinctions,” Dey said. “Before that, faculty had their own way to end the year, but not all employees … I didn’t like the feeling of class or caste. We’re all dependent on one another in that kind of community.”

Partnerships with Wallingford residents flourished in the 1970s with Dey’s encouragement. WWEB, the School’s FM radio station with broadcasts from the science building, became a cooperative venture among students from Choate Rosemary Hall and Wallingford’s two high schools.

Choate teamed up with local civic leaders to inaugurate an annual mini-marathon and 4K fun run. Local programs from Wallingford Youth Hockey to the YMCA flocked to campus in cold weather to practice and compete at Choate’s indoor winter sports facilities. The Paul Mellon Arts Center, which opened in 1973, became home to the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra and a magnet attracting high-quality performers to Wallingford.

Municipal departments found a warm welcome at Choate when they needed training facilities. For target practice for Wallingford police, Dey offered the School’s rifle range. When firefighters needed a place to drill in rescue techniques, Dey let them hack holes in one of Choate’s older, vacant residences. And when the Connecticut Association of Urban Superintendents needed a place for a monthly meeting, Dey arranged to host them and provide refreshments. Being known as “principal” helped him feel comfortable with them and vice versa.

Visions of working together for the common good were so ambitious in the 70s that some proved impossible to implement.

“The hope that we could develop a medical center which would serve both town and school while providing learning apprenticeships for our students has foundered on the shoals of reality,” Dey wrote in his five-year report in 1978.

He also lamented that Choate hadn’t been able to provide land for a new Wallingford public library, and neither could the School attract scores of local residents to audit Choate courses. On the whole, he felt good about Choate expanding openness to the community.

“I am gratified by the amount of interaction between ourselves and our neighbors and we shall continue to look for ways to extend those relationships.”

–charley dey

Expand they did. Starting in the early 1980s, Choate annually hosted the Connecticut Scholars Program, which drew as many as 100 high-achieving urban high school students for five weeks of summer study in mathematics, sciences and the humanities. Choate also started sending about 40 of its students every year to tutor elementary schoolchildren in town through a new program called Teach Wallingford.

By the time Dey stepped down in 1991, Choate had an array of programs and annual traditions that aimed specifically at reinforcing neighborhood ties, breaking down class barriers and uprooting any inklings of elitism that might emerge. The only principal in Choate Rosemary Hall history had left his mark.

r o o t s

s h a r e d

Charley Dey and his wife, Phoebe, at a student meet and greet at the Lodge, 1985.

Choate

c o m m o n

p u r p o s e

WALLINGFORD

C E L E B R AT I N G 125 Y E A R S O F C O M M U N I T Y

Join us for the Celebration! Visit the Choate Rosemary Hall tent at Celebrate Wallingford on October 3–4.

Weekend Festivities include:

Friday – A free live performance of Sandbox Percussion at the Paul Mellon Arts Center Saturday – Football under the lights, Choate vs. Exeter Sunday – Tours of the Seymour St. John Chapel, Andrew Mellon Library, Hill House Dining Hall, and the Cameron and Edward Lanphier Center for Mathematics and Computer Science.

30

CHOATE

READER

On the occasion of Choate’s 125th celebration, we asked Choate Rosemary Hall authors from across the decades to write a tribute or recollection of their time at school.

The Act … of Remembering joanna hershon ’90

They were from North Carolina; California; Washington, D.C. via Africa and Puerto Rico; New York; and New England too. Some were day students who arrived – heroically – in their own cars; they drove us off campus, up hills, and into woods. They were generally music-obsessed and had better taste than I. They were smart, silly, serious, and artistic; they sang and danced; they hated singing and dancing.

They were shy, cool beyond my wildest aspirations; they were beyond uncool with bottle glasses and too-pleated pants and brilliant ideas and unmatched wits and strange, beautiful observations. They were gay, but we didn’t talk about that then. They were athletic, flush-faced, and pasty slackers, writers and math geeks; masters of smoking undetected. They were rebels and on the straight and narrow, sophisticated and innocent; my friends.

…

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 31

I remember falling asleep in history class with such profound exhaustion it was frightening, and the excellent teacher’s steel-blue eyes flashing as I nodded off while taking notes. I remember nearly failing chemistry and math and trying trying trying trying trying. I remember writing and performing a 20-minute monologue as Zelda Fitzgerald in an insane asylum, writing countless stories and poetry and a novella –no trouble staying awake for those – or for hours spent dancing in the Black Box theater, drawing and painting in the Arts Center with light streaming in – buttery light, gray light, and the florescence after dark, in those final moments before curfew. I remember The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Nine Stories, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Emily Dickinson. I recall writing essays in French and my teacher’s faith in my ability to learn despite my inability to do well on a French test. It’s true that I remember very little French grammar. But I can converse about Proust, Truffaut, Catherine Deneuve and Eric Rohmer. And the energy in my senior English class! The teacher laid out the following scenario: You’re driving on a highway in an empty desertscape when you come to a red light. There are no other cars for miles. Do you run the red light? Immediately I thought: No. I’d wait at the red light. I’d stop.

But others argued aloud: Yes, of course you run the red light.

Why wouldn’t you? The teacher explained how waiting at the light was the definition of maturity, which set off a fiery debate. I was so disappointed in myself for agreeing with the teacher. Had I no fight in me? Was I mature or simply fearful? Why do I remember this?

…

Hours and hours spent outside. On the grass, in a field, by the water tower; a river and another river, a charred and fallen tree. Hours passed before sundown with cold fingers and raw cheeks, squeezing out the last free hours before the dining hall closed. There were overheated common rooms and walls of posters and tapestries – so many multicolored, batiked and tie-dyed shmatas draped over beds, hung as art, casting moods over desk lights. Girls staying up late boiling water in hotpots: tea as an excuse to eat more sugar. The intoxicating scent of pipe smoke during intermissions in the courtyard of the Arts Center.

There was the cool night air, the fallen leaves; the fragile springtime blossoms.

…

The act of remembering: it’s strange and inaccurate. What did I learn? Who was I? Where and who were you?

…

Joanna Hershon ’90 is an adjunct assistant professor in the Creative Writing department at Columbia University. She is the author of four novels: Swimming, The Outside of August, The German Bride and A Dual Inheritance. Her writing has appeared in (among other places) The New York Times, One Story, The Virginia Quarterly Review, the literary anthologies Brooklyn Was Mine and Freud’s Blind Spot, and was shortlisted for the 2007 O. Henry Prize Stories.

They were gay, but we didn’t talk about that then. They were

athletic, flush-faced, and pasty slackers, writers and math geeks; masters of smoking undetected. They were rebels and on the straight and narrow, sophisticated and innocent; my friends.

32 32

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Reunion Weekend 2015

choate rosemary hall alumni association mission To create, perpetuate, and enhance relationships among Choate Rosemary Hall alumni, current and prospective students, faculty, staff, and friends in order to foster loyalty, interest, and support for the School and for one another, and to build pride, spirit, and community.

OFFICERS

New York

Patrick McCurdy ’98

Sheila Adams ’01

President

Jason Kasper ’05

Chris Vlasto ’84

Rosemary Hall

Vice President

Alice Chaffee Freeman ’63

Parisa Jaffer ’89

San Francisco

Secretary

Kevin Kassover ’87

1

2

3

Tara Elwell Henning ’99 STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS Admission

Washington, D.C.

Gunther Hamm ’98

Dan Carucci ’76

Colm Rafferty ’94

Tillie Fowler ’92 Olivia Bee ’10

Annual Fund David Hang ’94

Beijing Gunther Hamm ’98

Communications Michelle Judd Rittler ’98

Hong Kong

Kathrin Schwesinger ’02

Sandy Wan ’90 Jennifer Yu ’99

Nominating/Prize Chris Hodgson ’78

Seoul Ryan Hong ’89

Regional Clubs John Smyth ’83

Thailand

Carolyn Kim ’96

Pirapol Sethbhakdi ’85

Student Relations/Campus Programming

ADDITIONAL EXECUTIVE

Mike Furgueson ’80

Dan Courcey ’86

Shantell Richardson ’99

Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations

REGIONAL CLUB LEADERSHIP Boston Patrick Clendenen ’84

gathered inside the tent on the Great Lawn for a roaring rendition of the School Song that finished with a bang when confetti rained down on the guests. Guests also spent time touring campus, attending programs featuring alumni speakers, and catching up with friends. Thanks to all our alumni that came back to celebrate!

2015 Distinguished Service Awards

Director of Development and Alumni Relations

Goodyear House Dedication

Faculty Representatives

This year reunion attendees gathered together to remember former faculty member Zachary Goodyear at the dedication of a faculty home in his honor. At the dedication, Zack’s grandchildren unveiled the plaque that will be a constant reminder of Zack’s service to Choate.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

St. Bede’s Concert

Director of Alumni Relations

David Aversa ’91 Leigh Dingwall ’84

London Kate Aquila ’92

making it extra special. To commemorate this momentous occasion, attendees

Mari Jones

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Monica St. James

Katie Vitali Childs ’95

This year’s celebration coincided with the yearlong celebration of the School’s 125 years,

Headmaster Alex Curtis presented longtime Class Agents and volunteers extraordinaire John Russell '46 and Anne Marshall Henry '62 with the Distinguished Service Award which recognizes consistent and substantial service to the school. Choate Rosemary Hall is fortunate to have volunteers that so selflessly commit themselves to the success of our School.

Lovey Oliff ’97 Connecticut

Reunion Weekend was a great success with close to 1,000 alumni returning to campus.

PAST PRESIDENTS Los Angeles

Susan Barclay ’85

Tom Nieman ’88

Chris Hodgson ’78

Stan Savage ’92

Woody Laikind ’53

On Sunday, May 17, the Reunion Weekend festivities continued as many Rosemarians traveled to Greenwich to celebrate the School's 125 years at the former Rosemary Hall campus. Alumnae gathered in St. Bede's Chapel for a superb concert by the Choate Rosemary Hall Chamber Chorus and Whimawehs whose program included songs from the

Rosemary Hall Songbook. During the lunch that followed Headmaster Alex Curtis spoke about the importance of Rosemary Hall’s legacy; at dessert he joined former Rosemary Hall Headmistress Joanne Sullivan to cut the celebratory cake.

2015 Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees The Athletics Hall of Fame at Choate Rosemary Hall recognizes those whose efforts and achievements enhanced the School’s athletic program and reputation.

This year’s new inductees take their place in the Hall of Fame.

The 2015 inductees are: Julie Chu ’01 (ice hockey) Hilary Knight ’07 (ice hockey) Kim Insalaco Legg ’99 (ice hockey) Josephine Pucci ’09 (ice hockey) Phoebe Staenz ’13 (ice hockey) First Boat of 1997 Boys Crew (1997 National Champions) Jeffrey “Woody” Laikind ’53 (squash) Coach Tom Generous (coach: squash) NOMINATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED for future inductees into the Athletics Hall of fame at Choate Rosemary Hall. Please fill out the form on the Choate website under About Choate/Notable Alumni to get the process started.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 33 1 Dr. Curtis at the former Rosemary

2 Choral Director Emeritus Ralph

3 Headmaster Alex Curtis presented

Hall campus in Greenwich with former Headmistress Joanne Sullivan.

Valentine ’62 conducts the Chamber Chorus at St. Bede’s.

John Russell ’46 with a 2015 Distinguished Service Award.

’75

4 Ted Kennedy Jr. P ’12, ’16, Andy Cohen ’73, and Headmaster Alex Curtis.

’80

5 Goodyear Family at Goodyear House

Dedication.

1

Rosemary Hall in Greenwich

’90

St. Bede's Concert in Greenwich

2

’10

’05

Distinguished Service Award HO

’00

ATE

’95

’65

MA

’85

RY

HA

’65

LL

4

ROSE

C

3

St. Bede's Concert

Reunion Weekend Panel

5

Goodyear House Dedication

34

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Back in Wallingford Sixth Form Transition Dinner On April 14 the Choate Rosemary Hall Alumni Association welcomed the Class of 2015 into its ranks at the annual Sixth Form Transition Dinner. The highlight of the evening was the “I Love Choate” video which showcased why sixth formers love Choate. With 94% participating in the Senior Class Gift, the Class of 2015 set a great example for all alumni classes. Check out the photos on the Alumni Association Flickr page.

Congratulations to the Class of 2015!

Celebrating THE YEARLONG CELEBRATION OF THE SCHOOL’S 125 YEARS continued in Washington, DC on June 20 when alumni and parents gathered at the home of Linda Burdman Fine '81 and Jeffrey Fine P '17. The room buzzed with energy as guests caught up with friends, made connections with fellow alumni, and listed to Dr. Curtis speak about the exciting things happening on campus. And of course, guests enjoyed a DC-themed celebratory cake complete with a mini Washington Monument!

The celebration will continue this fall in Los Angeles; Greenwich, Conn.; London; and New York City. We look forward to seeing many of you there! Watch your email, along with the Choate Rosemary Hall eNews, for more information.

Luz Solano-Flores ’15, Shantell Richardson ’99, Jill Ginger ’15 and the Wild Boar (at the Sixth Form Transition dinner).

D.C., 125th Celebration with host Linda Burdman Fine ’81, Sonja Eliason ’15; Headmaster Alex D. Curtis, and Ed Fox ’54.

Alumni Awards The 2015 Alumni Awards were presented to Peter Goldmark ’58 and Margaret ’Peggy’ Brim Bewkes ’68 at an all-school meeting on Wednesday, April 22.

Peter was honored for his service on the Board of Trustees of the newly created Choate Rosemary Hall and his leadership of the Environmental Defense Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation, among others.

Peggy was honored for significant contributions made in writing, directing, and producing television and film, and her longstanding commitment to various philanthropic endeavors. Congratulations to this year’s Alumni Award recipients!

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2016 Alumni Awards and may be submitted to alumnirelations@choate.edu

Headmaster Alex Curtis with Alumni Award recipients, Peter Goldmark ’58; Peggy Brim Bewkes ’69, and Alumni Association President Patrick McCurdy ’98.

Boston Red Sox game, July 30. Left: York Chen, Larry Morin ’58 and Nancy Miselis. Right: Christine Wight Chen ’05, Ashley Jacobson ’04, and Dave Howell from Choate's Alumni & Development Office.

New York Urban Adventure, August 12. From left: Ian Chan ’10, Emily Simone ’08, Leslie Smith ’08, Jonah Loeb, and Anna Boissard ’08.

Sonoma Food and Wine Event, June 14. Gracious hostess and chef Linda McCulloch ’75.

ApriL L.A. Brunch with Bianca Cristina Janicin ’98 and daughter, Rick Rosenthal ’67 and Nancy Stephens, Whip Hubley P ’15, Alexandra Platt ’95 and daughter.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Be part of it!

SEPTEMBER 2015 17 – Celebrating 125 Years in Los Angeles Whitewater Films Studio 18 – San Francisco Giants Game 19 – Alumni Soccer & Volleyball Games 20 – Chicago Cubs Game 27 – D.C. Nationals Game 30 – N.Y. Yankees Game

DEERFIELD CHALLENGE

CHOATE VS DEERFIELD

OCTOBER 2015 Regional Club Community Service Month 8 – Annual Fund and Parent Fund Phonathon in NYC 13 – Celebrating 125 Years in Connecticut Bruce Museum of Art and Sciences 28 – StartUp//Choate Showcase NOVEMBER 2015 13 – Hong Kong Thanksgiving Celebration 14 – Deerfield Day at Deerfield TBD – Celebrating 125 Years in London DECEMBER 2015 4 – Celebrating Alumni in the Arts Making Music: Alumni Musicians Pay Tribute to the Legendary Alan Lomax ’30 16 – Celebrating 125 Years in New York City Whitney Museum of American Art 16 – NYC Holiday Party To learn more about our upcoming events, visit WWW.CHOATE.EDU/ALUMNI.

GEAR ON?

GAME ON! C O M P E T I T I O N

CALLING ALL YOUNG ALUMNI! IT’S TIME

TO DEFEND OUR TITLE AND EVEN THE SCORE IN THE 8TH ANNUAL DEERFIELD CHALLENGE! Classes of 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 The Deerfield Challenge is a simple competition based only on the number of young alumni donors to the Annual Fund.

Each donor equals one point. When the final whistle blows, more Choate Rosemary Hall alumni need to have given to our Annual Fund than Deerfield alumni gave to theirs. All gifts count, no matter the size, and we need YOUR help to claim a victory for Choate! #beatdeerfield #defendthetitle

CALL FOR ALUMNI SPORTING CHOATE GEAR!

Be part of Deerfield Day! Send in photos of yourself, fellow alumni, children and pets! Photos will be posted on the website and prizes awarded for Most Layers, Most Exotic Location, Most Creative, Most School Spirit and more!

Official Kick Off: October 14, 2015 Ends: Deerfield Day, November 14, 2015

Look for Deerfield Challenge Spirit Parties…

D.C. – 10/16 / NYC – 10/22 / Chicago – 10/28 / New Haven – 10/29 Providence – 11/4 / Boston – 11/5

36

CLASSNOTES | News from our Alumni

Send Us Your Notes!

We welcome your submission of classnotes or photos electronically in a .jpg format to alumline@choate.edu. When submitting photos, please make sure the resolution is high enough for print publication – 300 dpi preferred. If your note or photograph does not appear in this issue, it may appear in a subsequent issue, or be posted online to Alumni News on www.choate.edu.

To update your alumni records, email: alumnirelations@choate.edu or contact Christine Bennett at (203) 697-2228.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 37

1940s

“And so we learned to look for different attitudes. We learned that controversy is to be explored, not avoided, nor having just one ‘correct’ answer. Would it not be splendid if our Congress Members learned this multiapproach to problem solving?!”

–MARY CHANDLEE (MARLEE) TURNER ’50 RH

’50

’44 C George (Bud) Stege has recently published two volumes of poetry, and has three novels about to be printed – all in publish-on-demand format.

Each volume of poetry contains 150 poems. They are based partly on a lifetime of ocean sailing experience.

Poetry volumes are titled “Whistling in the Dark” and “Singing in the Sun.” They are available at Amazon. com, Borders.com, and Xlibris.com. The author’s pen name is G. Henry Stege.

Bill Weigle writes, “I did not receive my diploma until well after WW II. I left for the Army Air Corps in 1942-43 at the age of 17-18 while a sixth former, in the hopes that I could eventually receive my pilot's wings and commission as a Second Lieutenant. My first exposure was to take the lengthy Aviation Cadet Entrance exam. Thanks to the excellent teachers at Choate who switched the curriculum from being prepared for Harvard, Yale or Cornell to teaching navigation, meteorology and the mysterious workings of an internal combustion engine, I passed the exam. I was able to win my pilot's wings. My first duty assignment was as a twin engine pilot in the 9th Air Force; we flew low-level combat missions dropping paratroopers, towing gliders and resupplying the 101st Airborne division during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium as well as hauling gasoline for General Patton's 3rd Armor Division in his rush to Germany.

Immediately after the war, I enrolled in Cornell as a ‘special’ student because I had not yet received my Choate diploma. But I was able to keep my grades up high enough due to Choate's excellent preparation and was allowed to graduate with a BS in agriculture.

I was called back to active duty as an all-weather flight instructor in the U.S. during the Korean War. The exceptional lessons learned at Choate gave me a solid educational foundation on which to prepare me for a safe, happy and useful life for me, my family and Country. Without Choate's discipline, religious background, nurturing and education I doubt that I would ever have lived to have survived to my 90th birthday this past August.” ’48 RH Dotty Braden Holbrook recently reconnected

Barbara and Joe Stafford ’46 and Genie Bourne and John Russell ’46 had lunch at the Fairfield Beach Club this summer. Joe and John were Choate and Yale classmates.

LEFT Cheerleaders circa 1977

with classmate Edie Thurlow Keasbey. She writes, “It is fun hearing about what she has done with her life, and she, mine. We wonder who else from our class is still out there and would like to join our email conversations?”

1 Rosemary Hall 50th Reunion

gift a bench dedicated to Rosemary Hall teachers, from left, Helen Kydd, Bill Baily, and Joanne Sullivan.

2 Choate ’61 Mini-Reunion.

Karen and Dick Hull, Howard Morrison, and Terry and Pam Hannock together in Savannah.

3 Trustee Gretchen Cooper Leach ’57 and Katie Jewett, Choate’s Director of Curricular Initiatives, met up in Paris in July.

4 Isabel Malkin ’54 and husband, Peter, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in July.

2

1

4

3

1950s ’50 RH Mary Chandlee (Marlee) Turner writes, “It is a joy to see classmate Nancy Evans Burns who lives in nearby New Hampshire. One of the greatest benefits to my education in Rosemary Hall was learning from history and social studies teacher Ruth Yerrall. After one heated discussion on a major issue, we students came to a conclusion. Miss Yerrall immediately asked, "What would be another viewpoint?" We stated, "We already gave you the answer!" She continued "What is ANOTHER viewpoint?"… And so we learned to look for different attitudes. We learned that controversy is to be explored, not avoided, nor having just one "correct" answer. Would it not be splendid if our Congress Members learned this multi-approach to problem solving?!” In other news, my rustic B & B is now on airbnb.com thanks to my son at Apple, Dave Whitcraft. I enjoy guests from all over. I enjoy Texas in winter at my son Steve Whitcraft's lake house in Enchanted Oaks.”

’51

C Lee Chadeayne writes, “Greetings to all my Choate classmates of the class of 1951! As I approached retirement, I was also intrigued with computer technology and thought a lot about linking language people all over the world in a vast group of language experts, and thus was born Wordnet, Inc., which grew to a medium-size business. In 2003 I sold Wordnet and went into literary translation exclusively, working for publishers, and have since then translated a number of bestselling novels from the German, mostly in the genres of historical fiction and thrillers. If you want to see the whole list, there's an address for that maintained by amazon.com: www.chadeayne.net/books. My wife is the former Evelyn Anna Schumann of New York, a high school sweetheart, who also went into education and taught special ed for 30 years in Waltham, Mass. We have been married 53 years and have two children who are, of course, no longer children.”

’54 C

Jenk Jones writes, “Significant illnesses have probably ended our major travels, but with well over 100 countries, all seven continents and every state in the bag we feel quite blessed.” Jenk had a long journalism career in which he covered state

and presidential politics, the space program, crime, sports, weather disasters and did hundreds of travel and feature stories. He also taught as an adjunct in three universities, has been a tour guide for some 4,000 people around Oklahoma and has 17 years as a docent at The Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve with 2,700 bison to observe. He can be reached at jonesjenk@cox.net.

’54 RH Isabel Malkin writes, “Peter and I happily celebrated our 60th anniversary in July, at a family party given by our children. Our first grandchild wedding took place in March. One of our grandsons, Andrew, graduated from Choate in 2011. He loved it. We sold our Greenwich home eight years ago and live downtown in a small but charming apartment overlooking Long Island Sound. We are having a lot of fun playing house on this small scale. My RH roommate, Bethann Crane Sullivan, lives in Irvine, Calif., and is facing the challenge of a very big birthday in August. She is as beautiful as ever. Rebecca “Sherry" Sutter Breed lives just a few miles away, in a house in which she and Billy raised their children. She is surrounded by sons, a daughter, all married, and many grandchildren. We get together and do a lot of reminiscing and laughing.”

’55 C

John Ducato writes, “I moved to northern Arizona from the San Francisco area about 15 years ago and reside near Sedona in the beautiful red rock country. We have a fall color change here, plus trout fishing and beautiful vistas in every direction. After retiring from many years in the banking business, I showed world champion quarter horses throughout the 11 western states, a special experience for me. I had a great contact with Geoffrey Wolff regarding our bull sessions and his article in the Spring '15 Bulletin.

Sixty years ago really doesn't seem that long ago.”

Peter Elebash writes, “I am now fully retired from a varied career in real estate. My wife, Jane, and I live in West Palm Beach with a panoramic view of Lake Worth, Palm Beach and the ocean. We spend the summers in Newport, R.I. Recently I published my memoirs, “The Last Resort,” an adventure story about how a boy born and raised in sleepy southern

towns in the 1930s, 40s and early 50s found himself on a different planet in 1953, when he arrived at Choate. I survived the culture shock, and went on to Yale, Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and to an exciting life. I am fortunate to be alive today to tell the story. You can read about it on Amazon.com or Tate Publishing.com. A few years ago, when Seymour St. John was summering in Rhode Island, we had the privilege of entertaining him at the Hall of Fame Tennis Tournament in Newport. He, along with George Steele and Stanley Pratt, were a great inspiration to my generation of Choate boys.”

Knox Glass (who attended Choate as Jamie Cone) writes, “Still alive and kicking at 79 in great health. Was retired by employer’s request at 74, said it was time! Live in the mountain community of Big Canoe in North Georgia. Am still an active volunteer firefighter and have been in various places since 1976. Learned a few things though: We “older types” do not climb ladders or go into active fires any more, but do have some key jobs supporting those who do.”

Wally Nichols writes, “An intrepid group of nine '55ers returned for our 60th Reunion: Dick Lambrecht, Bill McConnell, Jere Packard, Rob McKinnon, Wally Nichols, Bill Poole, Peter Seed, Orson St. John and Tom Wilson. Many of us brought our spouses. It was a wonderful shared experience that brought back lots of fond memories and the sharing of one or more delightful stories long into the night.”

’56 C

Lee Gaillard writes, “Ann and I spent a wonderful week in London at the start of May. We visited Westminster School, where I'd spent a year on an English Speaking Union Fellowship between Choate and Yale; attended concerts at St. Martin-in-theFields; got to the British Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the National Gallery, and the Tate. On the writing front, my three-part series on astronomy as our new frontier is running in Reflector, the quarterly publication of the Astronomical League, and my article on UFOs ran in our local paper followed by an evening presentation in our town library.”

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 39

Robert Graham writes, “While I am still active at the cathedral here in Ottawa, now that my wife has finally retired, we are planning to spend more time trying to be with our two children and the six grandchildren. They are all young adults now, and having graduated from university, are spread out all over the world in pursuit their interests and opportunities.”

’57 C

Robin Leaver writes, “In the spring Bulletin, on Page 17, there’s a photograph of the 1958 Festivities dance. Do I recognize anyone? Perhaps, but not by name. On page 24, there’s a photograph of Mr. St. John in the study with the 1954 student council. It doesn’t say it’s the student council, but I know it is, because I was on the 1957 Student Council, and we were the only group I knew of that met in the Curtis House study. I think that’s Bill Pitkin ’54 on the left, and Doug Murdock ’54 in the center.

They were sixth formers my third form year and while we never exchanged as much as a word, I remember them, and their exploits, clearly.”

Luis Armando Roche writes, “I have written a play called, Juana La Calamidad Y El Doctor James Barry Hijo De Miranda. I have also written a book of short stories called Winks (available, In English, through www.amazon.com), and written and directed (with my wife, Marie-Françoise Roche, as producer) an animation film called Wanda, Una Vida Musical (Wanda, a Musical Life). It will be sent to animation festivals during 2016.”

’59 C

Ivan Light has written a historical thriller, Deadly Secret of the Lusitania. This sinking began the chain of events that dragged the United States into the First World War. In this historical novel, set in New York City in 1915, an insurance investigator and his fiancée have undertaken to assist a stevedore’s widow unjustly deprived of her husband’s life insurance benefit. But the couple then find themselves unexpectedly in possession of the suppressed, secret truth about the Lusitania’s cargo.”

Tom Viertel writes, “I’m thrilled to have just produced Penn & Teller on Broadway at the Marquis Theater. My partners and I started our theatrical careers by producing their very first New York show 30 years ago in a little off-Broadway house. It got all of

us launched – Penn & Teller to great careers in TV and in Las Vegas and me and my partners into long and exciting careers as Broadway producers. Last spring we opened our new campus addition at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Conn., where I serve as chairman. Seven new residential cottages and a spectacular new rehearsal and composition facility artfully designed by Centerbrook Architects now house our artists and provide them with thrilling new workspaces.

1960s ’60 C

John Henderson visited Dave Brownell in California for several days in early July. Dave is a member of The Cedars, a rural retreat in the Sierra Nevadas, which Dave and his family have enjoyed for the past century. John has visited Dave there numerous times since his first trip to visit the Brownell family in 1957.

’61 C

Tim Fullam writes, “In March 2015 I retired from Alaskan Brewing Company where I'd worked as IT Manager. This was my second retirement, the first being in 2002, when I retired from teaching in the University of Alaska system. I would welcome contact from classmates taking Alaskan cruises that come to Juneau.”

’62 C

John Kasson retired as professor of history and American studies at the University of North Carolina on July 1, after 44 years on the faculty.

Simultaneously, his wife, Joy, retired as professor of American studies. They will continue to live (happily ever after) in Chapel Hill. His most recent book, The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America, published by W. W. Norton, was released in paperback earlier this year.

’63 RH Condolences to Tina Close on the death of her mother this spring. And to Mary Ford, whose brother, Sandy, died in February. Mary is retired now, and she and her husband have been doing a lot of traveling. Condolences, too, to Tracy Garmise Glaser whose husband, Frank, died this summer. They were married for nearly fifty years.

Margo Heun Bradford and Margo Melton Nutt spent two weeks in England in the spring (a week at delightful rented cottage in the Cotswolds and a week in London). They liked it so much, they are planning to go back next spring. While in England, they spent a couple of nights with Donna Dickenson and husband Chris outside of Oxford. Donna and Chris spent two weeks in Scotland in the spring.

Margo Nutt visited Margo Bradford in York, Maine for several days in July.

Alice Chaffee Freeman has been doing a lot of traveling, notably to the West Coast for a family graduation and visit to Judy Hetzel Jones in June. And in May a trip to Paris with husband Castle.

Castle’s new novel, The Devil in the Valley, comes out in October. The movie of his previous novel Go With Me will come out in November.

Doreen McClennan Gardner and husband Michael went on a 10-day cruise from San Francisco to Alaska along the Inside Passage in July. She reports that the highlight was Glacier Bay National Park, where they spent a full day cruising the Bay and viewing the many glaciers. They also thoroughly enjoyed port stops and excursions in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria, B.C. Jean McBee Knox and husband Dick have moved from Dorchester, MA to a house they built in Center Sandwich, N.H. New address: 33 Top of the World Road, P.O. Box 253, Center Sandwich, NH, 03227. Daughter Elizabeth is a landscape architect with Shadley Associates in Lexington. She provided valuable landscaping advice for their new house.

Angela Treat Lyon has published a new children’s book The Big Bad Wolf Steals the Magic.

(Available in print or as an e-book.)

Chris Murray McKee has been spending a lot of time with her children and grandchildren (five granddaughters at once in New Hampshire!).

Judy Shaw Richardson reports a lot of travel to visit children and grandchildren from Naples, Fla., to New York City. She’s been doing a lot of babysitting for grandchildren, and planning a Shaw family reunion.

Mike Sherry Roy spent time in March visiting her brother in Florida.

Cindy Skiff Shealor spent the month of August in Sea Ranch California (in Sonoma County) with her daughter and three granddaughters.

’59 “I was moved by the Choate production of Hairspray, which I produced on Broadway back in 2002. As you might expect, Choate’s production was highly professional and filled with incredible talent. Our arts program is unmatched in secondary education. Congratulations to everyone involved!” –TOM VIERTEL ’59

40 CLASSNOTES

Betsy O’Hara Stiefvater is happily settled in to her new home in the UK, and was thrilled to connect with Gillian Robertson Molesworth ’91 right there in tiny Blisland (population 500)! Betsy and her partner Clive Atherton spent the summer traveling in Germany.

’64 C

Robin Read received the New Hampshire Democratic Party's 2015 McIntyre-Shaheen Legacy Award in May. According to the organization, "the recipient of this award will have made an exceptional impact on our state and party through many years of tireless work on the local, state, and national level."

Curt Tobey’s daughter, Caroline, was recently married in Maine. Caroline just finished her master’s degree in early childhood education from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. Curt reports that his son, Ben ’00, and his wife, Jordan, recently had twins, Blake and Jake. Curt recently joined Chilton Trust Company as a consultant, where he is working with fellow Choate classmate Brooks Carey and Gary Lickle ’72. He has also been doing work for Save the Children, the humanitarian organization. He traveled to the Middle East in August to see their great work being done in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan to include the Z'aatari refugee camp on the SyriaJordan border.

’65 C

Rob Simpson will step down from his position as President and CEO of the Brattleboro Retreat Center, one of the largest behavioral health providers in the United States, at the end of the year to become the chief executive officer of the World Purpose Forum, whose mission is to empower people to achieve their purpose through the assistance of a global network of business and thought leaders. In addition, he will join Linkage, Inc. as a consultant in their Executive Leadership and Board Practice.

’65 RH Ann Sears writes, “The 50th Rosemary Hall reunion on the Wallingford campus Friday and Saturday and the Greenwich campus Sunday was a great success. The special project and 50th class gifts from our donation allowed us to have a tree planted as a remembrance for our friends and classmates in the Class of 1965 and a bench dedicated to Rosemary Hall teachers. Headmaster Alex Curtis, joined us for the Chapel performance and lunch in Greenwich. His

enthusiasm and understanding of the Rosemary Hall campus, the spiritual and bonding nature of the chapel, the traditions and the beautiful school architecture was clearly evident to all and greatly appreciated.”

Dick Terry is performing in musical theatre.

He writes, “Hoping to get a job during NFL games.

Need a breather from Deflate-Gate. "

’66 C

Vermont, polishing up my murder mystery and hosting writers’ retreats for fellow authors. Also catching up with Anne Brower DuBosque, who lives nearby.”

Jamie Kirkpatrick writes, “After 22 years, I have retired as director of college counseling at Landon School in Bethesda, Md. My book of photographs of Landon's beautiful campus comes out in September.”

Rod Walker writes, “I have been leading the charge to create the first Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) in Virginia. CWMAs are collaborations of federal agencies, state agencies, nonprofits, universities, foundations, other conservation organizations, companies, local government entities, and public and private landowners. The objective is to coordinate efforts and share best practices in dealing with invasive plants across wide areas. In our case we are currently targeting 11 species across ten counties along the Blue Ridge. Track me down at rwalker@alum. mit.edu if this is an area of interest to you.”

’67 C

Selby Hinkebein writes, “On July 6, my third grandchild, a second boy, was born. His name is Everitt which in ’Old English‘ means the Spirit of a WILD BOAR! His Dad played in the Rose Bowl with Drew Brees so I think that 17 years from now Deerfield is TOAST!” Charles R.B. (Chuck) Stowe is an Assistant VP for Development at Lander University in South Carolina and is also Program Coordinator for an online Master of Science in Emergency Management.

Chuck is a commissioned Colonel in the South Carolina Joint Services Detachment and is the liaison to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division. His 16-year-old son, Charlie, was admitted to the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities (Drama). Chuck’s wife, Laura, works part time for BFW (high school textbook publisher) and for Pearson (college textbook publisher). They reside in Greenwood, S.C. and Chuck has a LinkedIn and Facebook account under Charles R. B. Stowe.

Executive Producer Rick Rosenthal writes that his comedy-drama television series, Transparent, produced by Amazon Studios, was nominated for 11 Emmys.

’67 RH Toni Wiseman writes, “I spent my summer in

’68 C

Paul Pepe, M.D., Director of Emergency Services in Dallas, is developing a new subspecialty in emergency medicine, event medicine. Early adopters have been the Rolling Stones and U2 tours.

Phil Snyder and his brother Rob Snyder '69, screened their new short film, The Bag, at the Long Island International Film Festival in July. The film, a satirical, environmental comedy about the end of the world, is written and directed by Rob, and filmed and edited by Phil. Check it out at http://longislandfilmexpo.com/event/the-bag/ Bill Wadsworth writes, “I'm happy to report that I continue to serve as director of the graduate and undergraduate writing programs at Columbia, where I also teach poetry in the graduate program.

Columbia's writing program is well-known for its distinguished faculty (in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and literary translation), the rigor of its curriculum, and the extraordinary track record of its alumni.

Notably, two of our alumni and one of our students (Gregory Pardlo, this year) have won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry three out of the past four years. I credit my Choate mentor, John Joseph, with inspiring me to choose the life I've led in literature, as a writer, teacher, and administrator. I'm also more than happy to report that my son, Sam, has graduated from Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn with several honors, including the Rhode Island School of Design Award for Art, and will be starting in the fall as a freshman at NYU's Tisch School Undergraduate Film Program, and that my daughter, Charlotte, just completed her freshman year at Milton Academy.

When Charlotte and I were touring boarding schools in the fall of 2013, we had a wonderful visit with now-retired Tom Yankus, who was my housemaster my own freshman year at Choate, another great Choate mentor, to whom Charlotte and I send our best regards.”

’67 “On July 6, my third grandchild, a second boy, was born.

His name is Everitt which in ‘Old English’ means the Spirit of a WILD BOAR!” –SELBY HINKEBEIN ’67

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 41 1 Curt Tobey ’64 was father of

2 Dr. Meredith Osterman ’99 and

3 Brothers Rob ’69 and Phil

4 Vickie Spang ’69, center,

5 David Yudain ’73 and Lily de

6 John Steinbreder ’74 and Herb

the bride, to daughter Caroline who recently wed Jake Dolan in Maine.

her father Dr. Lee Osterman ’65, hand surgeons, were featured in a Mainlinetoday.com article.

Snyder ’68 (center) at the July screening of their newest short film, "The Bag".

attended the wedding of classmate Helen Halpin’s niece in the CA wine country.

Jongh Downing were married in a private ceremony in Greenwich CT, in December.

Kohler ’57 at the Hamilton Grand, (a Kohler property in Scotland) for the 2015 British Open.

1

2

3

4 5 ’68 RH Ginger Perry continues to be a DJ in Boulder, Colo., on the community station KGNU. She also has had several photo shows featuring photos from her travels in Greece, Egypt, and Guatemala.

Ginger reports that Suzy Prince Quinn just had a granddaughter, Leah, whom she takes to see Suzy's 96-year-old father and who brightens up the lives of everyone around her. Franny Beaty Perry welcomed her second grandchild, Leo, born July 9.

1970s ’70 C

Jim Berrien writes, “I now own an executive recruiting firm, Bentley, Farrell, Ahl & Berrien, LLC in New Canaan. My business partner Darcy Ahl ’80, is also a Choatie. My daughter Reid is engaged to be married; daughter Lacey is working in Boston.

’71

C Peter Richmond writes, “My first young adult novel – Always a Catch (Philomel/Penguin) – was a "Junior Library Guild Selection," which must be prestigious, because they sent me a pin and a certificate with a gold seal on it. I also just earned a masters of art in teaching from Moravian College.

I'm also an adjunct at Moravian, where I teach writing, YA literature and a grad-level course on "Teaching Writing Through Sports."

’71

RH Dorothy Heyl has published in two areas of the law in which she practices. Her article titled “The Limits of Deception: An End to the Use of Lies and Trickery in Custodial Interrogations to Elicit the Truth” appeared in the Albany Law Review’s Fourth Annual issue of Miscarriages of Justice Vol. 77, No. 3. This article was inspired by her work for The Innocence

Project on appellate amicus briefs involving false confessions. Dorothy also published a chapter in the “SEC Compliance and Enforcement Answer Book 2015” (Practicing Law Institute) on penalties and remedies in SEC enforcement actions.

Hope Gallagher Ogletree writes, “I have begun a new job as director of development for the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. I am both in my New York office at Lincoln Center as well as at the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx when I am not out on the road meeting with alumni in greater New York metro, including a number of alumni in Connecticut. This is a new venture; the business schools have been unified under one school named after alumnus Mario Gabelli. We continue to live in Fairfield, and I am commuting to the city.”

’72 C

Jason Danielson and his wife, Freda Scott, spent a delightful 4th of July week on and under the narrow island of Manhattan. He writes, “We traveled the subways (I think my wife’s favorite form of transportation) to museums, the World One Observatory, Central Park, Brooklyn and Spanish Harlem. We had dinner with Steve Bogardus and his darling wife, Dana. And we celebrated the 35th anniversary of our marriage and honeymoon in New York City.”

’73 C

David Yudain and Lily de Jongh Downing were married at Christ Church Greenwich (Conn.) on December 20, 2014. After spending two years at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, David transferred to the London, England, campus of Antioch College, from which he graduated in 1979.

A former corporate affairs director of Sotheby’s, the fine art auction house, and also a film producer, he is a partner with his wife in Downing Yudain LLC. He and

6 Lily live in an historic 18th century house, a former Revolutionary War era inn, in Long Ridge Village, North Stamford, Conn., with five dogs and three horses.

’73 RH Julia Allard Brine writes, “My husband and I collaborate as landscape designers and are celebrating our 25th anniversary of our six-acre garden in Pawling, N.Y. The Garden Conservancy Open Day is Saturday, October 17. http://www.gardenlarge.com.

Hope you can visit.”

Barbara Friedman had a solo exhibit, "Big Collars," at BCB Art this past summer in Hudson, N.Y.

’74

C Russell Davis recently joined Pierian Water Systems in San Diego, working to treat storm water, wastewater and polluted lakes with a unique ozonederived application that has shown amazing results in large volume applications. He writes, “Cleaned an EPA top 10 worst site already, now engaged in larger pilot projects. Loved Andrew Cohen's ’73 book on JFK, a CRH alumni must-read!”

John de Jong was elected Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Veterinary Medical Association at the annual convention held this year in Boston. A 1985 graduate of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, he owns the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic and Newton Animal Hospital. He is the former CEO and Director of the Boston Animal Hospital; and is the founder and former chief surgeon of the low-cost spay/neuter clinic at the Merwin Memorial Clinic. His two sons, Jack and Sam, will be enrolled at Avon Old Farms this fall.

’76

42 CLASSNOTES

John Steinbreder writes that his mother, Cynthia Means Steinbreder, passed away peacefully March 4 at her home in Sonoma, Calif. Says John about his mother, “She was an amazing woman, and a surrogate mother to so many of my Choate classmates. Our home in Fairfield was a real refuge for a number of my friends, and ‘weekends at the Steiny's was a popular phrase in many of the yearbook bios of my friends. They spent a lot of time there, and my mom and dad loved having them around.”

’75 C

Bruce Cooper was sorry to miss his 40th Reunion, but his son graduated from Tulane on the same weekend. He writes, “All is well in the Washington, D.C. area and Chelsea FC's victory in the English Premier League made this year that much sweeter.”

’76 C

Rod Fletcher writes, “I am still actively involved with volleyball 42 years after getting my start at Choate. I helped coach the U.S. Air Force Men’s All Star volleyball team which took Gold in the USA Volleyball (USAV) National Championships in Detroit over the Memorial Day weekend. The Air Force guys were terrific, great young men, eager to learn and willing to work hard, a coach’s dream. And they are the kind of young men that we can all be proud of for their service to our country. In my playing days, I won five USAV National Champion gold medals, four silver medals and was selected as a USAV All Star three times. It all started for me at Choate with Tom Yankus and the boys volleyball team. We played men’s YMCA and college teams because there were no local high school teams then. Coach Yankus took us to play in matches and tournaments all over New England, Pennsylvania, Virginia Beach, Montreal, as well as Czechoslovakia, Poland, Holland and England.

Our sixth form year the team included Coach Yankus, John Kazickas, Guy Rovezzi, Jim Bryan, Pat Fallon, George Mandes, Kalani Brown and Fabe Yeager, and we beat teams from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Springfield College. I now coach the Wayland, Mass., high school boys varsity. A year ago Coach Yankus brought the Choate boys VB team for a scrimmage with my Wayland HS team – and the circle was complete.”

Michael Alan Lerner released a movie this summer, Love & Mercy, about the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. The movie also stars Paul Giamatti ’85.

’76 RH Bette Ann Sacks Albert writes, “My daughter Brittany, who graduated from Hamilton, worked for Sotheby's in the Prints Department and now is the donor relations coordinator for young donors at the American Friends of the Israel Museum in NYC. Remy, a Bates graduate, is a marketing assistant in integrated marketing at Martha Stewart Living magazine.”

Evangeline Lincoln Wollmar has published her second children's book, Sarah the Sunflower Seed, which follows the life cycle of a sunflower plant as seen through the eyes of one of the seeds. ”I have put my 13 years’ experience as an organic farmer in Maine to use in this story to introduce children to vocabulary such as compost, mulch, heirloom seeds and many types of insects and critters.” She lives in Georgetown, Maine.

’77

RH Elizabeth Salisbury Cameron writes, “I can’t believe that I will be eligible to retire from government service in the next couple of years! I will hopefully be retiring from the Federal Financing Bank with the U.S. Department of Treasury located in Washington, D.C. My daughter Airlie is in Graduate School at Science Po in Paris and just accepted her first internship with L’Oréal with (La Roche Posay).

My husband, Stuart, and I look forward to visiting our daughter in Paris.”

Kitty Kean Czarnecki writes, “As class agent this year, it was great to reconnect with friends from my class. Jen Walser Campbell, Liz Salisbury Cameron, and Ann Rhame Coffin reached out to say hi, and it was wonderful to hear from them. I am still in touch with Gail Hearn Capelovitch, who was not only my roommate, but is my oldest friend. I also recently attended a Choate Rosemary event in Sonoma County at Linda McCulloch’s beautiful home (her husband makes a mean brick oven pizza) and she didn’t even make me “sing for my supper” (that’s an in-joke for class of 75 theatre people). I am currently a grad student getting my master’s in speech pathology, which considering that I never set foot in the science building at Choate is a small miracle. It feels good to be ‘mid-life’ and re-inventing myself. I am challenging Rosemary Hall classmates to come to our 40th in two years.”

Jean N. Hayden Tabin writes, “I have been living in Park City, Utah, for the last 10 years, and work as an ophthalmologist at the Moran Eye Center, University of Utah. My oldest, Livia, is a lawyer in Burlington,Vt. and has a young son – yes, I am a grandma! Emilia, is a second-year resident in family medicine at UCSF. Alessandra got married last summer and is finishing up a master’s in public health at UW. Sara will start college at Yale this fall, and my son Daniel is still in high school. I have been a widow, remarried, now divorced and overall doing well.

Really enjoy keeping up with Liz Cameron (Salisbury), who has been a wonderful friend over the years. And love getting news whenever from Laurence Dodge, Tracy Eccles (Tibbals) and Alec Lawrence. Hope all is well with everyone.”

Ned Stone ’75 came back to campus to celebrate his 40th reunion. Holding a tree pose here with classmate Katie Ewald.

“I am still actively involved with volleyball 42 years after getting my start at Choate.

I helped coach the U.S. Air Force Men’s All Star volleyball Team which took Gold in the USA Volleyball (USAV) National Championships in Detroit.”

–ROD FLETCHER

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 43

CLASSNOTES | Profile

’79 Kate Walbert PHOTO: DEBORAH DONENFELD

FOLLOW THE QUEST?ONS by lindsay whalen ’01 Ask novelist Kate Walbert ’79 when she began to consider a career in fiction, and she will tell you the precise moment. It was junior year, and she was studying with Liza Lowery. “I wrote a story for her – it was the first story I had ever written. Before then I had only written bad poetry,” Walbert says. “I can very vividly remember. I was leaving the Choate dining hall and I was walking the path back to the dorm and she was coming toward me, and took me by the arm and said, ‘You should be a writer.’

It was a level of validation I had never really gotten from any teacher.”

It was an early act of encouragement we can all be grateful for. A graduate of Northwestern University and New York University’s MFA program, Walbert is the author of five books, including A Short History of Women, named one of the best books of 2009 by The New York Times Book Review and Our Kind, nominated for the National Book Award.

Her most recent novel, The Sunken Cathedral, is set in New York City, where Walbert lives. An intimate, vivid portrait of contemporary urban life, the novel’s origins can be found in Walbert’s own experience living in Chelsea. “I was thinking about where I had lived – the street where I lived, the brownstone, the apartment that I rented with my family, from a woman who owned the brownstone for over 60 years. And I found myself going back to that apartment – and to her apartment – and imagining a few characters.” Thus was born Marie, in many ways the center of The Sunken Cathedral. Her husband dead, her son long gone, Marie remains in the Chelsea home they once occupied, though the city has changed dramatically since she first arrived as a young French immigrant, dislocated by World War II. As her characters navigate their daily lives, they’re often disrupted by the ghosts of the past – still very much alive.

History, and its impact on the individual, is deeply present throughout Walbert’s work, and her novels often bring the past and present into uneasy dialogue. What role does research play during the early stages of her creative process? “It doesn’t begin with the history itself. I think it begins more with questions about the history,” Walbert says. “For instance, with The Gardens of Kyoto [her 2001 novel set in the shadow of World War II] I knew a very scant detail of my father’s cousin who was killed on Iwo Jima at the age of 17 and so, in some ways, I set out to write the history that I didn’t know, and the ways in which his death reverberated through the lives of his family.”

Curiosity is the engine of Walbert’s creativity, and has more recently taken her into new territory: theater. In March 2015, her play Genius – an examination of the costs of ambition on two artistic couples, one older one younger – premiered under the direction of Darrell Cox, artistic director of Profiles Theater in Chicago. Previous plays include an adapted version of A Short History of Women and Elsewhere. Her writing for the stage follows a distinct process. “The plays that I’ve written have tended to come out of specific ideas I want to explore,” she says. “I’ll have an idea about a story that is interesting to me, and I feel like I can work out that idea in a play – not always successfully, I’m still very much a novice when it comes to writing plays. With fiction, I never have an idea. With fiction it’s much more serendipitous.”

A writer of remarkable empathy and generosity, Walbert’s expansiveness of spirit extends beyond the page. She was, for many years, a teacher of creative writing at Yale University and elsewhere. “I was lucky enough to work with extraordinary students while teaching at Yale and many of them have gone on to very successful writing careers,” she says. “What I probably yammered on about the most in the classroom is the need to revise, revise, revise, and to read your work aloud to hear if you’re getting it right – nothing as cringe-worthy or as instructive.” Now a mentor to emerging writers herself, Walbert brings the journey she began as a Choate student full circle.

Lindsay Whalen ’01 is a writer and editor based in New York City.

44 CLASSNOTES

“My years at School were wonderful on so many levels. Most important, they became the standard by which I measured my children's education, and if Choate was innovating, pushing, achieving, then I knew to expect more for my kids.” –KATHERINE K. BURDGE ’81

’81

1980s ’80

Peter Kaufman is the head of Read Russia, an American nongovernmental agency that promotes Russian literature in translation. Russian and American academics, publishers and Russian government officials announced in June that they would collaborate on an ambitious new series of Russian literature in translation to be published by Columbia University Press. Peter hopes that the project would help Russia “make up for lost time” in promoting its culture.

Michael Lewyn writes, “I am moving to Pittsburgh to spend this coming year teaching at the University of Pittsburgh's law school. In addition, I recently published an article for the University of Hawaii Law Review on land use planning and in the Real Estate Law Journal on nuisance law.”

’81

Katherine K. Burdge writes, “I’m happy to write in for perhaps the first time since graduating.

Tom Generous was just inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame, an overdue recognition that I was very sorry to miss. But happily, it also resulted in my reconnecting with "Doc", and friends Marty Winnick Blue and Jennifer Meagher Convery. If it weren't for two big kids calling me Mom, a wonderful husband, grey hairs popping up everywhere and a middle-age body, I could swear the years were not so long ago.

I married a Suffield man, a wrestler on the team that would come and defeat Choate. My years at School were wonderful on so many levels. Most important, they became the standard by which I measured my children's education, and if Choate was innovating, pushing, achieving, then I knew to expect more for my kids. We live in Florida and summer in Connecticut, so I have seen some of the exciting changes on campus. My daughter will be a senior at Stanford, and my son a senior in high school at Tampa Prep - fun fact - Laird Davis ‘65 (Choate admission) was an early headmaster and Mr. Merluzzi (Choate math), Prep's rival headmaster. Every year we have a Headmaster's Challenge to rival the annual Deerfield Day. This coming year will be full of exciting changes and probably a few more grey hairs - hope everyone else has more!"

’82

The Rev. Adam S. Greene has been named the Episcopal School of Jacksonville’s Head of School, effective July 1, 2016. Adam was selected after a rigorous search and interview process. Adam currently serves as the dean of spiritual life at Episcopal High School in Houston, Texas.

Kalen Hockstader Holliday writes, “For the past five years, I've been overseeing communications for Covestor, an online investing company, which was acquired by Interactive Brokers earlier this year. Had a great time celebrating my birthday and was grateful to all the Choaties who joined me, including Page Vincent Gosnell - even though my party was her actual birthday - Caroline Vincent Mockridge '84, Dave Seaman, Christine Mulkiewicz Gelwicks, Cynthia Houx and my brother Lee Hockstader '77. Had a great time visiting my roommate Laura Rawlings Petricone in D.C. Looking forward to seeing Lisa Ryan-Boyle in Colorado.

Her son Perry and my daughter Piper (aka Pierson) are both starting at University of Denver as freshman.

’84

Patrick Clendenen has been appointed to chair the Business and Corporate Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section.

Dennis W. Alpert and Choate legend Tom Yankus ’52 met on Cape Cod for a working lunch in June. The two have been working on a baseballrelated project and expect to see each other again soon. Next time they hope to get together with other Choate family members on Cape Cod like Ed Maddox, Dick Stewart, Art Goodearl, and David Webb. Dennis reports that he recently took a senior vice president position with Mercury Public Affairs, LLC (www. mercuryllc.com). He’ll still be based in Nashville, but will continue to travel all over the country and hope to see Choate friends along the way.

’85

Lynn Grant Beck writes, “I am living in Malibu, Calif., with my husband and two children. I am a screenwriter currently working in television movies.

I've written several scripts for a Lifetime producer and my screenplay, "The Christmas Gifter," is currently being produced for this holiday season on the Hallmark Channel. Would love to connect with other Choaties in the entertainment business in the LA area.

Edward P. Cannon writes, “I was recently promoted to associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver, where I coordinate the master's program in clinical mental health counseling. I moved to Colorado six years ago, and it is an incredible place to live. I feel like I have finally found the elusive life-work balance. Classmates and friends: If you're in Colorado and want to go for a hike, look me up!”

Michael Mullin has published Simon, a modern-day Hamlet for young adult readers.

’86

Monte Frank was recently named presidentelect of the Connecticut Bar Association. Monte is a principal in Cohen and Wolf's litigation and municipal groups. He was recognized for his work in commercial litigation in the 2009-2015 editions of Chambers USA, where one source noted "His powers of analysis are fantastic. He was able to understand my industry quickly, dispensing with the long learning curve we have with most firms." Monte is also the founder of the Sandy Hook Ride on Washington, an annual 400mile bike ride in honor of the students and teachers killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Leah Guggenheimer writes, “In May of 2015, I joined Burford Capital as a director, supporting its ongoing evolution from start-up to leading global provider of finance and professional services to the legal industry. My particular focus, is on organizational strategy, process improvement, and strategic marketplace opportunities.”

Andrew Meehan married Anne T. Hickey on January 10, 2015 at the Holy Trinity Church in Washington, D.C. The couple attended the 125th Anniversary for Choate Rosemary Hall held in D.C., hosted by Linda Burdman Fine ’81 and husband Jeffrey. They had great fun talking with the other alumni and classmates and listening to Headmaster Alex Curtis describe the many new additions to the campus and the impressive plans for the new St. John Hall.

Brian Walker and his wife, Marla, are overjoyed that their eldest son, Silas, is joining the Choate class of 2019 this fall!

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 45

1

2

1 Alexander von Cramm ’82

3 Lyle H. Bennett ’86 and

5 Gordon St. John ’55 and his

sends his greetings from Denali.

“Three summits down, four to go to scale all seven summits!

Not getting easier at this age, but still having fun.”

2 Kalen Hockstader Holliday ’82 had a great time visiting roommate Laura Rawlings Petricone ’82 in D.C.

Bernadette DiNatale Bennett ’86 celebrate the graduation of their son Curtis H. Bennett ’15 along with their daughters, Bailey A. Bennett ’10 and Natalie R. Bennett ’12 .

4 Chris Capsimalis ’82 vacationing with his family in Telluride, Colorado unexpectedly crossed paths with former faculty member Ed Maddox.

son, Gordon ’80, and grandsons Alexander and Jacob Amorello ’15 all lived in Combination House.

From left, Gordon St. John ’80, Alexander Amorello ’15, Gordon St. John ’55, Susan St. John Amorello ’84 and Jacob Amorello ’15.

6 Enrique Posner ’82 spent the summer producing a film, The Healer starring Oliver Jackson-

Cohen, Camilla Luddington, Jonathan Pryce and Jorge Garcia (www.thehealer-film.com). He came back to campus in September to drop off his daughter, Natalie, Class of 2019.

7 Andrew Meehan ’86 married Anne T. Hickey on January 10, 2015 at the Holy Trinity Church in Washington, D.C.

3

4

6

6 5

7

46 CLASSNOTES

’94

’87

Diana Pittet reports that since leaving Choate she has transitioned from classics to cheese, and now to cocktails. Currently leading walking tours of distilleries, wineries and breweries in Brooklyn, she is in the process of organizing a culinary and cultural trip to Mexico in February 2016 that includes a full day of visiting traditional mezcal distilleries in Oaxaca. For more information about the Brooklyn and Mexico tours or to go out for a craft cocktail in NYC, email Diana at spiritedtraveling@gmail.com.

1

Sara Schaefer Munoz is now a correspondent in the Latin American bureau of the Wall Street Journal, covering politics, economics and human interest stories from Panama to Argentina. She is based in Bogota, Colombia, with her husband and 11-year-old daughter.

Tuan Anh Nguyen writes, “I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband and two children. My son, Hiathan, is 10 and daughter, Hayden, is 7. I have been mainly a stay-at-home mom for the past 10 years,

“I think that teachers are often not aware of the deep and lasting impact that they have made on us. If you have ever had an inspirational teacher who deeply impacted your life, I would highly encourage you to reach out to let them know.” –COLM RAFFERTY

2

’88

Marianne van Pelt Self writes, “As of last March, I have taken a new position as an account executive for Zambuni PR in Mayfair, London.

Zambuni represents luxury brands in the country lifestyle sector. I have also moved as of November 2014 to Farrandau West, Castletownshend, West Cork, Ireland, where I continue to live. I am also an equestrian journalist, published in The Irish Field, Eventing Nation, Horse & Hound, and others.”

5

3 1990s

4 4 5

1 Colm Rafferty ’94 and the

4 Grant Johnson ’88 and his

Choate Alumni Club of Beijing hosted a dinner for history teacher John Connelly in Beijing in June.

2 Susan Levy Brown ’94 and husband, Jon, welcomed a son, Landon, on June 17.

3 Stephen Mullennix ’90 and his wife Rachel, welcomed a son, Ayrton Teddy Mullennix, on February 18. Ayrton is well looked after by his big sisters Charlotte (5) and Matilda (3).

wife, Elle, welcomed a daughter, Henley Belle Johnson on May 8, 2015.

5 Amanda Star Frazer ’94 and Brian P. McDermott welcomed a daughter, Eden Star McDermott, on December 1, 2014. The family lives in Miami.

’90

Stephen Mullennix writes, “My wife, Rachel, welcomed our third child, Ayrton Teddy Mullennix, on February 18. Ayrton is a happy little soul, and well looked after by his big sisters Charlotte (5) and Matilda (3). At SolarReserve (www.solarreserve.com) we are excited to be commissioning our flagship Crescent Dunes project with a breakthrough solarwith-storage technology. The project was the subject of a large art installation that Leonardo DiCaprio recently donated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art to increase awareness of climate change. That was a nice piece of press professionally, but even more fun personally, as Rachel used to work at the museum before taking a turn as Chief Mom Officer of the Mullennix clan. If you are in LA, stop by and check it out.”

’92

Kevin Murphy writes, “After more than eight years as vice president and general counsel of Home Loan Investment Bank, FSB and a successful career at Adler Pollock & Sheehan, P.C. in Boston and Providence, I opened my own law firm in downtown Providence. I practice law in the areas of real estate, corporate law, litigation and estate planning.”

but have managed to keep an energy healing practice, which I love. This fall, Jarita Davis was in town on a business trip. We had a lovely dinner at a sushi restaurant and talked about the classics and poetry – food for both our souls. Portland is lush and has the best berries during the summer! Look me up if you are heading this way.”

’93

Kalimah Fergus Ayele is always pleased to catch up with friends in NYC during her summer break from teaching at international schools in Africa. In August, her family moved to Cairo, Egypt.

Visitors are always welcome. She would also like the thank many of her classmates for purchasing her memoir Roundtrip Ticket Home, which was recently self-published.

Hannah Sears lives in the District of Columbia, where she works and volunteers.

’94

Susan Levy Brown writes, “My husband, Jon, and I welcomed our second child, a son, on June 17, 2015. Landon joins big sister Mallory as part of our growing family. We love living in Los Angeles and seeing many of the other local Choate classmates as often as possible.”

Colm Rafferty recently had the opportunity to reconnect in Beijing with history teacher John Connelly, who taught Colm in his modern Chinese history class. Colm writes, “2015 is John Connelly's 33rd year of teaching history at Choate. My interest in China began over 20 years ago, when I took two Chinese history courses with him. I later majored in East Asian Studies in college, moved out to China soon afterwards, and have been here since.”

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 47

CLASSNOTES | Profile

MARATHONER AND CARDIOLOGIST

’93

Aaron Baggish by g. jeffrey macdonald ‘87 Jeffrey MacDonald ’87 is an award winning journalist and author from the Boston area.

At Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Aaron Baggish ’93 runs a cardiology practice that draws the world’s top athletes to Boston when they get concerned about their most important muscle: the heart.

For Baggish, helping professional athletes manage cardiac risks and stay in the game marks only a slice of what he does as associate director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Mass General.

The unique needs of athletes too often get overlooked and consequences can be tragic, according to Baggish. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

“They’re under-noticed and they get under-diagnosed,” he says. He explains that cardiologists with a waiting room filled with people who barely exercise tend to have less concern for the 50-year-old runner who used to run 10 miles and can now tackle only five at a slow pace.

The program has broken new ground in clinical medicine by combining cardiac care with a particular priority: helping a wide range of athletes remain as active, competitive and safe as possible. Athletes include anyone who puts a premium on physical activity, from the European soccer star to the local firefighter who strives to stay in excellent shape.

“A general cardiologist spends most of their time dealing with people above the age of 65 and has no ability to understand the life of a 20-year-old collegiate athlete or a 35-year-old professional football player,” Baggish says.

In his office, Baggish looks more like a physical trainer than a traditional physician. He wears no lab coat, no stethoscope, no surgeon scrubs. His work attire consists instead of slacks and a collared golf shirt bearing a “US Soccer Sports Medicine” logo. He talks quickly, avoids medical jargon, and listens carefully.

His program gets up to 800 new referrals a year and serves as a research hub for the field. It’s become a magnet for millions of dollars in research funding to study, for example, how the use of anabolic steroids impacts the heart and whether too much training in a person’s routine might become detrimental to the heart after a point.

His dual interests in medicine and sports trace directly to his days at Choate. When he didn’t make the varsity soccer team in his senior year, he switched to cross country and grew to love long-distance running.

For his senior independent project, he got certified as an emergency medical technician, which set him up for summer jobs during college in an ambulance serving Wallingford and surrounding areas.

His path into cardiology led through Colorado, where he relocated after graduating from Middlebury.

Within a few years, he became an expert in the conditions that, on rare occasions, cause a marathoner to drop dead during a race. That expertise led the Boston Athletic Association to tap him to be its co-medical director in 2011. Baggish was the principal author of a recent study on cardiac arrests (and deaths) among marathoners and half-marathoners entitled, "Cardiac Arrest during Long-Distance Running Races," published in the Jan. 12, 2012 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. But another factor also made him a natural choice: his commitment to the sport as an elite athlete in his own right, one who’s run dozens of marathons.

“He’s not a 2:08 marathoner, but he’s faster than 99.9 percent of people on this planet,” says Dave McGillivary, race director of the Boston Marathon, who recruited Baggish to the co-medical director role. “So he’s very in tune to the fit athlete.”

That role put him on the front line of caring for victims when bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon finish line in 2013. All that blocked him from flying shrapnel was the dense crowd. He immediately turned to his EMT training, tying tourniquets on legs and performing CPR in attempts to save limbs and lives.

“It was largely basic first aid, because that’s what saves lives,” Baggish says. “There wasn’t much for a heart doctor to do after the fact, so I didn’t insert myself in any way that was unnecessary. But what I did do was stay in very close communication with a lot of the people that were touched by that experience and was part of their journey, more as a friend than as a doctor.”

He has been a teacher as well. He’s advised many of the 20-plus centers that have launched in recent years to provide athletes with cardiovascular care tailored to their unusual needs. And each year, the cardiac program hosts a sports cardiology fellow, who trains at MGH and then shares the wealth.

“I’m incredibly proud of having our fellowship,” Baggish says. “To me, that is the single most important accomplishment that any of us have made. It’s to have a teaching model that takes what we do here and allows people to go to other cities and to other countries and start practices like ours.”

48 CLASSNOTES

CLASSNOTES | Profile

DIGITAL DEMOCRACY We see them everywhere: Teens glued to their smart phones, tapping away while the world goes by, sometimes texting or Snapchatting with friends just feet away. Middle school students reaching for a tablet at the dinner table to find the proof they need for a debate with mom or dad. Younger children playing games on a laptop instead of roaming outside.

’96

Katie Davis

by victoria irwin Victoria Irwin is a freelance writer who lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

They are the “digital youth,” and they are what Katie Davis ’96 studies. But her role is not that of an Internet scold or nervous hand-wringer, but as a researcher.

She co-wrote, with renowned Harvard developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, The App Generation: How Today’s Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World (reviewed in the Fall 2013 Bulletin).

She has been the recipient of grants, fellowships, and awards, such as her recent 2015 National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award. She has published many peer-reviewed papers on topics ranging from cyber-bullying to technology’s role in diverse learning experiences, and one, co-authored with G. J. Crowther, titled Amino Acid Jazz: Amplifying biochemistry concepts with content-rich music.

She is conversant in online gaming and design, and has explored young people’s concept of trust and ethics, and how being online has shaped their development.

And Davis has delivered talks to librarians, educators, parents, and corporations around the world – from her current home base of Seattle, throughout the U.S., to Hong Kong, Milan, Berlin, and beyond.

Davis supervises, through her NSF grant, a project at the Discovery Corps, an after-school program at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, where teens gain job and life skills while volunteering and working. She has designed a digital “badge” program, similar to those used in online games or when reading an eBook, in which the player earns a digital badge to validate an accomplishment.

“It’s something they can share internally and perhaps use in the future in college applications,” says Davis. Her work in Seattle and also with programs in Rhode Island, has targeted a broad diversity of students, with many from immigrant families and homes where English is a second language, who may not have had as much access to computers, as well as students with significant digital experience. The badges both encourage achievement and lessen the digital divide often seen between different communities. “It can be a democratizing force,” she says.

Davis, who graduated from Williams in 2000 and has earned two master’s and one doctoral degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is currently an assistant professor at the University of Washington Information School (iSchool). She is at heart, she says, “a writer and a teacher, as well as a researcher.”

She remembers being told, even while growing up in Bermuda, that she would be a great teacher.

In 2005, when she was accepted into the doctoral program at Harvard, the world was just discovering MySpace and Facebook, and a lot of people were asking questions about how online communication was shaping the development of young people. Davis and others at Harvard began working with the MacArthur Foundation, studying how the evolving digital media was affecting the moral and ethical compass of teens.

Her research steered her to blogs written by young people, and her dissertation looked at the impact of interpersonal relationships and digital media use on adolescents’ sense of identity. She notes that while there are many negative aspects to the Internet, there are also many positive ones, and she has studied those.

“Fan fiction communities, for example, are usually very positive places, where members support each other,” she says. She uses insights gleaned there on what creates a positive experience when including digital badges into a platform.

She is also keenly aware of the role women play in digital technology. “I think about it a lot,” she says.

She’s the faculty advisor for Women in Informatics at the iSchool. The student organization promotes women in information technology, celebrating their ability to program and create.

Davis says her Choate education was “phenomenal,” and life changing. “It taught me to be open-minded, and introduced me to the concept of a liberal arts education,” she says. “Choate expanded my sense of the world and who was in it. We were exposed to so many different life experiences there. At Choate, I was given permission to be a high achiever – to just go for it. I loved that opportunity.”

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 49

Serena Torrey Roosevelt reports that her family relocated from New York City to the San Francisco Bay Area in July. During their planned one year in California, Serena will start the Bay Area chapter of the NationSwell Council, a "domestic version of the Council on Foreign Relations" that she helped to launch in New York City last year. While they are in the Bay Area, Serena's husband, Ted, (Deerfield '94) will be a Sloan Fellow at the Stanford Business School, and children Teddy (5), Katharine (2), and Clare (2) plan to spend as much time as possible outdoors.

’96

Mary Ballantyne and her husband, David Ebenstein, welcomed their fourth child, Thomas James, on March 15, 2015, joining siblings Charlotte, Ryan and May. Dave and Mary live in Stamford, Conn., and regularly see Emily Meyer Song and her son Arthur in a music class. Mary is looking forward to bringing the gang to our upcoming 20th reunion.”

’98

Noah Charney was interviewed on NPR about his latest book The Art of Forgery: The Minds, Motives and Methods of Master Forgers. Noah is an art historian and the founder of The Association for Research into Crimes against Art. Megan Clarke and her husband, Michael Archambault, welcomed their third daughter, Grace Phipps Archambault in May, who is just as delightful as her two older sisters, Lucy (3) and Catherine (2).

Megan is currently completing her dissertation and will begin her doctoral internship in Clinical Psychology at Connecticut Valley Hospital and the Whiting Forensic Institute in Middletown, Conn., working with individuals with serious mental illness in inpatient, outpatient, and maximum security settings.

Jennie Ripps’ company, Owl’s Brew, had a recent writeup in the New York Times. Jennie and her business partner Maria Littlefield set out on a quest to fuse their passion for tea with their thirst for premium cocktails. The result? Owl’s Brew, a line of tea-infused cocktail mixers that has attracted tea lovers, health food enthusiasts and cocktail aficionados

alike since its introduction in late 2013. (Jennie was profiled in the spring 2013 issue of the Bulletin).

She reports that she welcomed her second child on June 30, Miles Richard Brockman, who joins his older sister, Juliet Jay Brockman.

’98

Erik Fleming reports that last summer he received a Ph.D. in public health and he married Starr Plummer at a ceremony in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Amongst his groomsmen were Brooks Rockwell '98 and Joshua Dolin '98. Earlier this year Erik was appointed Assistant Professor at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles.

He was also selected to be a member of the team that represented the USA at the Touch Rugby World Cup in Australia.

1 Mary Ballantyne ’96 and her

1

2

5 5

4

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husband David Ebenstein welcomed their fourth child, Thomas James, on March 15, 2015, joining siblings Charlotte, Ryan and May. Dave and Mary live in Stamford, Conn.

2 Michelle Judd Rittler ’98 and her husband, Stephen, welcomed their first child, daughter Caroline Patricia, on March 9, 2015. Born three weeks early, Caroline arrived with a healthy set of lungs, a full head of hair, and her mother's dimples.

3 Matthew Emmett Shields ’95 married Katharine McCarthy on May 25, 2015, at the Ritz Carlton hotel in St. Louis. In attendance were close family, including Matt's two daughters Abigail Rae and Shelby Katheryn.

4 Marianne van Pelt Self ’88 is an equestrian journalist who lives in West Cork, Ireland. She is pictured here at Royal Ascot with Seig van de Vater, Esq. 5 Colleen Morrow ’97and husband, Rob Luzzi, welcomed a son, Luca Rocco Luzzi, on June 19, 2015. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 inches long.

6 Megan Clarke ’98 and her husband Michael Archambault welcomed their third daughter Grace Phipps Archambault in May.

50 CLASSNOTES

’99

Alexandra Cobbett Stafford writes, “I had a fourth child, Antigone Elizabeth Stafford, on March 15. I currently live in Niskayuna, N.Y., with my husband, Ben, and four children: Ella, Graham, Wren and Tig. Ben works for GE, and I am currently writing a cookbook on bread with my mother, former Choate faculty member Elizabeth Lowery, which will be published by Clarkson Potter in the spring of 2017.”

Aimée Derbes writes, “I have spent the last five years immersed in acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutrition, and the healing arts. This spring, I completed a MS in traditional Chinese medicine and opened my acupuncture and herbal medicine practice in Manhattan. While working towards my doctorate at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, I am having an incredible time working in service to my patients' health and wellness goals.”

Tadd Spering, CEO of New York City-based startup Stylinity, has been interviewed twice by Forbes. A year and a half ago, the company’s mission centered on a digital booth, in which people could share the outfits they were trying via social media.

Spering was recently interviewed about adapting to the ever-changing retail market while sticking to one’s strategy.

Sean A. Thomas and his wife, Hemangi Pai Thomas, welcomed their daughter, Sonali Pai Thomas, on March 2, 2015. Sean writes, “At 20 inches long, she's looking forward to joining the Wild Boars Track team in 2030.”

1

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2000s 4

’00

Lisa Mondani works as an RN at Connecticut Valley Hospital on a competency restoration unit.

She enjoys working with this challenging patient population. (Patients have mental illnesses as well as criminal records). Lisa regrets missing the 15th class reunion. Her email address is lisa.mondani@gmail.com.

’01

KiBum Kim plays a key role in a recent article in the New Yorker about plastic surgery in Asia. KiBum served as the writer’s translator, and also posed as a potential patient! Read it here: www.newyorker.com/ magazine/2015/03/23/about-face. KiBum is a faculty

1 Yoga instructor Lauren Taus

5

’00, center, at a retreat she conducted in Costa Rica with attendees Catherine Tarasoff ’03 and Alicia Forry ’00. Check out Lauren’s website at www.laurentaus.com 2 Tim Ganser ’01 and Faith Wallace-Gadsden ’01 were married on November 8, 2014 on Flamenco Beach in Culebra, Puerto Rico with friends, family, and Choate classmates Isabel

Lizardi, Peter Ortner, Ellen Carter, Georg Gademann in attendance.

3 Stefanie Fisher ’02 married Anna Pinkert on July 11, 2015 in Cambridge, Mass. Alissa Bernard Golbus ’02 officiated. Alissa’s husband, Peter, and their son, Aaron, were co-ring bearers.

4 Lucy Kennedy Walker ’02 married Brian Michael Williams on September 27, 2014 in Tebernash, Colo. The couple

member at Sotheby's Institute of Art specializing in art business. He and classmate Kate Bryan, who spent time at Sotheby’s and Andrea Rosen Gallery, are the curators of NEWD Art Show.

Erica Melief and her husband, Ben Slusser, welcomed their second daughter, Lauren Jessica Slusser, on May 16, 2015. Big sister Andrea loves having a baby around.

’02

Anthea Jay Kamalnath will join the U.S. Department of State as an advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. As a Franklin Fellow, Anthea will provide legal and policy expertise for the U.N.’s work on General Assembly resolutions, engagement in other United Nations bodies and on special projects of critical interest to the United States.

Emily Rothschild lives in Woodstock, N.Y. with her husband Jonathan and daughter Iris, who was born January 2014. She works as a documentary film consultant and producer.

Jessy Trejo writes, “I recently left Prep for Prep and am now working as the Associate Director of Admissions at the Speyer Legacy School, a K-8 co-ed independent school in Manhattan. I started in July and am looking forward to the academic year and this new journey.”

’03

Ithai Schori has written a cookbook, Twenty Dinners, available from amazon.com. Ithai is a photographer (who happens to be an ex-restaurant cook) who has collaborated with Chris Taylor, bass guitarist for the Brooklyn-based indie folk group, Grizzly Bear, on more than 100 seasonal recipes.

’04

Yin Mon Vanessa Han has co-authored a book with her grandmother, Tinsa Maw-Naing, entitled A Burmese Heart. It is a historical memoir of 20th century Burma (Myanmar) as told through her grandmother’s eyes. The grandmother was a former political prisoner, the daughter of Prime Minister Dr. Ba Maw, and the wife of Bo Yan Naing of the Thirty Comrades, and was perhaps the last person alive to remember things as they happened during the colonial, independence, democratic, and dictatorship eras.

reside in Boulder, Colo., with their dog and an impressive amount of hiking, biking, and camping gear.

5 Jeff Vaughn ’04 married Angela Fontana on June 24 in Villabate, Sicily. Choaties in attendance included from left, best man Jason Power ’04, Kati Vaughn ’05, Bridget Vaughn ’08, Angela and Jeff, and John Vaughn ’15.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 51

CLASSNOTES | Profile

’04

A HEART FOR SURVIVORS Jane Mosbacher Morris ’04 conceived the idea of To The Market in 2013 while on a fact-finding mission for a humanitarian organization to Calcutta’s red-light district.

As she watched human-trafficking survivors sewing old saris into beautiful bags and blankets for a co-op, she was struck by the notion that it was possible to help people in the developing world by creating jobs rather than just building shelters and food kitchens.

“The idea that you serve a population by creating a business in that community rather than setting up a non-profit to serve that community – I loved that,” Morris says.

Building on connections she had cultivated during her tenure as Director for Humanitarian Action for the McCain Institute, as well as five-years at the State Department working on counterterrorism and global women’s issues, Morris has grown TTM into a thriving e-commerce site. The firm connects survivor-artisans in the developing world with socially aware customers – mostly women – who are interested in having their money make a difference.

Jane Mosbacher Morris

While customers can feel good about helping survivors of abuse, conflict and disease, they are also buying into a unique and individualized look. TTM is a curated store with more than 20 product lines. From a stunning guava-hued scarf woven by master weavers in the Kashmir Valley, to an eye-popping Ugandan clutch purse, TTM’s goods are one-of-a-kind. “Millennials are more and more wanting an individualized look,” Morris says. “Our customers are women who are socially aware, interested in giving a gift with meaning and being globally connected.”

Her global journey began at Choate, where she gained a diverse educational and social experience. A Houston native, she is part of a multi-generational Choate family that includes her grandfather Robert Mosbacher ’44, Commerce Secretary under President George H.W. Bush; her father Robert Jr., ’69, her Aunt Kathi ’73; and her sister, Meredith ’07, TTM’s Chief Media Officer. Jane credits her roommate – and close friend – LeAnne Armstead ’04 for encouraging her to join Milagros, Choate’s gospel choir, and Step Squad, a traditional African American step dance group. She graduated cum laude and chaired the Young Republicans Club. Presaging her current position as founder and CEO of an online retail outlet, Jane recalls with humor how she won Best-Dressed in her Fourth Form year at Choate.

The 2001 terrorist attacks occurred when she was a fourth former at Choate. Fortunately, no Choate students lost parents that day, despite the fact that a large proportion of the Choate student body lived in New York City. “It definitely had an impact on me personally,” Morris says.

After Choate, Morris majored in international relations at Georgetown and started working as an intern at the State Department in her junior year. After graduation, she was hired full time to work in the Office of Counterterrorism. At the State Department, she worked on portfolios ranging from Afghanistan to Antigua.

Toward the end of her tenure, she went to work for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. She then took a position as Director for Humanitarian Action at the McCain Institute, where, in 2013, she found herself drawing inspiration from survivors of human trafficking.

In addition to selling survivor-made goods through TTM, she is trying to create a sense of community of like-minded people who are interested in helping survivors of human trafficking, conflict and diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, polio and Hansen’s disease (leprosy).

She encourages customers and supporters to share stories with friends and family about products through social media. In addition to the commercial website, TTM also has a presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (hashtag: #aheartforsurvivors). Each TTM gift comes wrapped and includes a custom tag detailing the various projects around the world.

Recently married, Morris currently divides her time between Lexington, Ky., and Washington, D.C., – in-between site visits to TTM cooperatives around the globe. The firm has been featured in People magazine, Glamour, Elle, Bloomberg and Fox Business. Morris hopes to bring TTM to a more commercial audience and recently launched a partnership with Overstock.com.

by connie gelb ’78 Connie Gelb ’78 teaches English for Academic Purposes at the George Washington University .

52 CLASSNOTES

’05

Selby Nimrod was interviewed on WNPR about her project ArtSites New Haven, an interactive website that locates and describes art around New Haven, Conn.

Max Sinsteden’s studio apartment was featured in the July-August issue of House Beautiful.

Max is a partner at Olasky & Sinsteden interior designers based in New York City and Houston.

Merry Smith defended her dissertation in November 2014, and was awarded her doctorate in Chemistry from Wesleyan University in May 2015. She will start as a postdoctoral scholar at Dartmouth this fall, after serving as a postdoc at the University of Houston since defending. She is looking forward to connecting with Choate alumni in the Hanover area.

’06

Ashley Bairos writes, “After finishing my first year teaching at Thayer Academy, I traveled to the Bahamas to conduct field research for my M.Sc. I spent two months on Cape Eleuthera studying juvenile green sea turtles and diving various reef locations all around the island. As year two at Thayer begins, I will be working towards completing my master's thesis and hopefully it will all be done before our 10 year reunion!

Spencer Curtis accepted a position as a second-year associate with the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in April. He joined Morgan’s Corporate Business Transactions group where his practice is focused on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and debt financings, financial restructuring and insolvency matters, and general corporate law.

’07

Rachel Berger writes, “A show I have been devising with the Pack Theater, Future Honey, traveled to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2014.

We also had three performances in New York City at 59E59 Theater as a part of the East of Edinburgh Festival. Future Honey is a mythic journey for the Internet age. It combines game structures, cartoon visions of the near-future, and a playful skewering of internet trends to investigate how humans are shaped by the use of connection technologies.” Check out their website www.thepacktheater.com/future-honey/ Nick Grava and his brother, Chris ’10, helped found a non-profit organization, Intsikelelo, a platform to help orphans and vulnerable children by developing and supporting community-driven initiatives in South Africa and connecting them to the people all over the world. From March 2013 to this past May, Nick was managing director of the Home of Safety orphanage, where he attended parent-teacher conferences at school, arranged medical checkups, and brought dozens of volunteers to the home to provide individualized attention and academic tutoring. Chris joined him for 10 weeks in the summer of 2013. Their parents, Joan and Derick Grava ’80, soon joined the cause. Check out their website. www.intsikelelo.org/

1 3

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1 Shanellah Verna ’05

2 Graham Murphy ’06, Eliot

4 Choate Tokyo Reunion:

5 Ryan Tveter ’12 at the 2015

graduated from The George Washington University Law School on May 17, 2015 along with Vanessa Dube ’05 and Gwendolyn Coleman Wilson ’04.

She looks forward to beginning her legal career in the Washington, DC area.

Jia ’06 (and former CRH tennis captain), Alec Murphy ’06 and Frank Hamilton ’06 played tennis together on the 4th of July in Seal Cove, Maine.

3 Rachel Berger ’07’s show, Future Honey, traveled to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

Eleven alums including Miki Ito ’07, Sadaaki Numata ’61, and Takashi Murata ’93 attended a small gathering in July. Says Miki, “It was truly amazing to hear the history of Choate, how things were so different decades ago and how some things hadn’t changed at all.”

FIA Formula 3 European Championship in Pau, France in May. Ryan set the fifth-fastest time in practice in Pau.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 53

’08

Myco Huynh recently moved to Boston to join Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management.

After graduating from Wellesley College in 2012, Myco worked in North Carolina for the past three years. She is excited to be back in New England and is looking forward to reconnecting with Choaties.

Victoria M. Steffes has been awarded a 2015 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

’09

Kevin Melendez recently began working as a technical support specialist in the IT department at the headquarters of Tishman Speyer Properties at Rockefeller Center. He writes, “I am happy to be back in New York, where I was born and raised, after working at Henkel Corporation in Bridgewater, N.J., as a business planning analyst. I graduated from Lehigh this past spring.”

’10

Ian Chan has been thankful for the opportunity to connect with Choate alums in New York City this past year after graduating from Stanford and starting as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company. He relocated to London starting in August, and is looking forward to meeting new alums in London and attending Choate events.

Elizabeth Ottens graduated with a BS in electrical and computer engineering, with honors, from Carnegie Mellon University, in May. Elizabeth also was a research fellow at the Center for Neural Basis of cognition at CMU, an intern for robotics at NASA and a robotics technology company and previously was a fellow of the Blue Brain Project at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). Liz will be working for Apple in Silicon Valley.

Choate 2010 classmates Jack Vaughan, Chris Grava and Taylan Alpan are working for Intsikelelo, a non-profit in South Africa started by Chris and his brother Nick Grava ’07.

Maximize Your Legacy Choate makes it easy to increase your income while also making a gift to the School. A Charitable Gift Annuity allows you to maximize your income and tax benefits while simultaneously supporting Choate for years to come.

Example of a Single Life $25,000 Charitable Gift Annuity*

Age

Payout Rate

Guaranteed Lifetime Income

Tax Deduction*

65 70 75 80

4.7% 5.1% 5.8% 6.8%

$1,175 $1,275 $1,450 $1,700

$8,408 $10,004 $11,257 $12,413

*Based on August 2015 Applicable Federal Rate of 2.2%

’12

Russell Bogue, a Jefferson Scholar at UVA, is a recipient of a Truman Scholarship and will receive $30,000 toward his graduate education. Russell is interested in pursuing two areas of research: the intersection of politics and economics and the political opinions of Taiwanese youth.

What will be your legacy? To learn how you can create and maximize your legacy, contact the Planned Giving Office today. We make it simple to give!

Join the Society … The Choate Society.

LEGACIES THAT LAST FOREVER Rick Henderson Director of Planned Giving rhenderson@choate.edu (203) 697-2117

54

IN MEMORIAM | Remembering Those We Have Lost Alumni and Alumnae

’40 He moved to Cuba in 1952, where he was friends with Ernest Hemingway; the writer and his wife were witnesses at Joe’s wedding in 1956.

–JOSEPH F. DRYER JR. ’40

’39 C George Greeley Wells, 94, the retired owner of a real estate mapping company, died September 22, 2014 in Bellevue, Wash. Born in Chicago, Greeley, as he was known, came to Choate in 1937. He was a cheerleader and in the Current History Club and the Glee Club. After graduating from Columbia, he joined the Marines and fought on Iwo Jima during World War II. He then started a construction business in New Vernon, N.J., and later was President of the Sanborn Map Co. in New York state.

Greeley enjoyed ballroom dancing, painting in watercolors, and politics. He leaves four children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. ’40 C

Joseph F. Dryer Jr., 94, a retired agriculturalist and entrepreneur, died March 30, 2015, in Palm Beach, Fla. Born in Rochester, N.Y., Joe came to Choate in 1937; he lettered in soccer, was a Campus Cop, and was in the French Club and the History Club. After graduating from Dartmouth, he joined the Marine Corps and fought on Iwo Jima during World War II; he was seriously wounded and was awarded the Purple Heart. He then earned an MBA from Columbia and began a life of enterprise and innovation. He moved to Havana, Cuba, in 1952, where he was friends with Ernest Hemingway; the writer and his wife were witnesses at Joe’s wedding in 1956. When Fidel Castro took over, Joe and his wife moved to Palm Beach, where he supervised agricultural interests in Central and South America. In 1970, he and a partner established the Pulitzer Hotel in Amsterdam, and owned it for 22 years. He held several positions with Wall Street firms and was president or director of several emerging technology companies. He leaves his wife, Nancy Dryer, 80 Middle Rd., Palm Beach, FL 33480; three sons, Joseph F. Dryer III ’75, James Dryer ’76, and Gregory Dryer ’77; four grandchildren; and a brother, Tyrrell Dryer ’42. Another brother, the late Peter Dryer ’44, also attended Choate.

W. Henry Russell, 94, a retired physician, died May 13, 2015 in Redding, Conn. Hank came to Choate in 1938, where he was in the Engineers Club and the German Club and lettered in basketball. He then earned degrees from Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. For more than 30 years he was a physician partner in the Mount Kisco (N.Y.) Medical Group, retiring in 1989. He leaves his wife, Frances Russell, Meadow Ridge, 100 Redding Road, Redding, CT 06896; three children, including James Russell ’66; and four grandchildren. A daughter predeceased him. Hank was a member of the Choate Society, those alumni who have left a bequest to the School.

’41 C

Carroll C. Cook Sr., 91, a retired petroleum industry executive, died May 28, 2015. Born in Austin, Texas, Carroll came to Choate in 1939; he played league football, hockey, and tennis, and was a Campus Cop. He then attended the University of Texas in Austin, but left to enlist in the Army. During World War II, he was a machine gunner in Europe, rising to the rank of First Lieutenant and being awarded a silver star, a bronze star, and two purple hearts.

After the war, he finished his bachelor’s degree, then earned a master’s from Harvard. For 40 years he worked in the oil industry, mostly in the South; he ended his career after 18 years with Pennzoil in Houston as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Carroll enjoyed travel, hunting, fishing, and spending time at the family ranch near Mason, Texas. He was a member of the National Petroleum Association, now American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, for many years. He leaves four children, including Virginia C. Hickson, 377 Mountain Creek Rd., Marble Falls, TX 78654; and eight grandchildren. A son, the late Clarke Cook ’66, also attended Choate.

Andrew Perrine Monroe Jr., 91, a retired executive of several printing equipment companies, died April 10, 2015 in Sarasota, Fla. Born in Orange, N.J., Perry came to Choate in 1937. He lettered in track; won a School prize for excellence in mathematics; was in the Cum Laude Society, the Choir, St. Andrew’s Cabinet, and the War Relief Committee; was an Associate Member of the Student Council

and Advertising Manager of the News; and was voted “Best Student” by his classmates. During World War II, he was in the Navy V-12 program at Princeton.

He then worked for the Web Offset Division of ATF, Uniweb International, and Hantscho, Inc., at various times in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, California and Connecticut. He was in the Army Reserve during the Korean War. Perry retired to Longboat Key, Fla. He was active in the community, volunteering in many organizations from United Way to Meals on Wheels and the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Commission.

He enjoyed tennis, squash, golf, skiing, dancing, and playing bridge; he was also a sculptor. He leaves his three children: Bill Monroe ’68, 2511 Hickory Ave., Sarasota, FL 34234, Steve Monroe ’72, and Meg Zellinger ’74; and nine grandchildren. Perry was a member of The Choate Society, those alumni who have left a bequest to the School.

’44 C Walter K. Kilbourne Jr., 90, a retired real estate broker, died May 6, 2015. Born in Washington, D.C., Walter came to Choate in 1942; he lettered in crew. After graduating from the Merchant Marine Academy, he served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War. He earned a degree from Penn’s Wharton School of Business and operated a manganese mining operation with his father in Chihuahua, Mexico, for several years. He was then a commercial real estate broker in the Washington, D.C., area for more than 50 years. He leaves his wife, Carolyn Kilbourne, 5200 Ventnor Rd., Bethesda, MD 20816; four children, including Walter Kilbourne III ’74; 10 grandchildren; and a sister. ’45 RH Aileen Doolittle Hemingway, 87, active in community life, died May 29, 2015 in Houston. Born in Los Angeles, Aileen was at Rosemary Hall for 1½ years. She was in the Kindly Club and Hospites, was on the Fire Squad and the Grounds Committee, and was General Sports Captain. After attending Bradford Junior College, she married and lived in California before moving to Houston. Aileen was a longtime volunteer at Planned Parenthood of Houston and the Town and Country Garden Club; she enjoyed spending summers in Maine. She leaves four

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 55

children, including Richard Hemingway Jr., 2908 Midlane St., Houston, TX 77027; 12 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

’49 C Dudley M. Baker, 83, a retired orthopedic surgeon, died July 2, 2015 in Bennington, Vt. Born in Brattleboro, Vt., Dudley came to Choate in 1947; he was in the History Club and St. Andrew’s Cabinet. After Choate, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams and his M.D. from Vermont Medical School, completing his training at Boston’s Children’s and Massachusetts General hospitals. He served several years as a Lieutenant Commander on the staff of the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, moving to Bennington in 1964, where he was in private practice for 32 years. Dudley was active in the Bennington community, serving as a town selectman. He was also a trustee of the Bennington Museum and revived the local chapter of the Jaycees. He enjoyed golfing, gardening, and reading. He leaves five children, including Catherine Baker ’81, Michael Baker ’83, and Stephanie Baker ’85; two brothers, including Stephen Baker ’48; and five grandchildren. Two nephews, James Baker ’77 and Jonathan Baker ’78, also attended Choate. ’50 C

Alvin B. Lewis Jr., 82, an attorney, died March 16, 2015 in New Holland, Pa. Born in Pittsburgh, Al came to Choate in 1946; he was business manager of the Press Club, Chairman of the Radio Club, President of the Orchestra, Secretary-Treasurer of the Band, and he played saxophone in the Golden Blues. He then earned degrees from Lehigh and from Dickinson Law School, where he was president of the student body. In 1961, he was named district attorney of Lebanon County, Pa., the youngest DA in Pennsylvania; six years later, he became the youngest president of the Association of Pennsylvania District Attorneys. In 1976, he was appointed special counsel to the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations, which examined the deaths of John F. Kennedy ’35 and Martin Luther King Jr. Returning to Pennsylvania to practice law, he was co-prosecutor in the 1978 trial of W. A. “Tony” Boyle, the United Mineworkers president who had killed Joseph

Yablonski, a union rival. Al served on the boards of many professional, civic, and charitable boards, and took a special interest in the preservation of historic buildings. He also enjoyed flying his plane, travel, and the symphony. He leaves his wife, Elizabeth Lewis, 2840 Mimosa Lane, Lancaster, PA 17601; three children, including Alvin Lewis III ’75; five grandchildren; a sister; and a brother.

’52 C

Stephen R. Wilcox, 81, a retired investment researcher, died April 30, 2015. Born in Middletown, Conn., Steve came to Choate in 1949.

He was manager of varsity soccer, was a drum major in the Band, and was in the Glee Club. After graduating from Colgate, he was a cryptographer in the Army, then became a financial advisor and insurance consultant. Steve worked many years with Conning & Co. in Hartford; he also had offices in London, New York, and Londonderry, Vt. He leaves his wife, Barbara Wilcox, 100 Dudley Ave., Unit A5, Old Saybrook, CT 06475; seven children, including Mark R. Wilcox ’82; and 19 grandchildren. Steve’s father, the late William W. Wilcox ’20, also attended Choate.

’58 C

James H. Heroy III, 72, an otolaryngologist, died March 13, 2013.

Born in New York City, Jim came to Choate in 1955. He lettered in crew and won a School rowing award; was associate editor of the News; and was in the Dramatic Club. After graduating from Yale, he earned an M.D. degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. During his two-year service in the Navy as a medical officer, he became interested in otolaryngology, and after he returned to civilian life he began a private practice in Baltimore.

He was also an assistant professor of otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins for 23 years, president of the medical staff of Good Samaritan Hospital, and president of the Maryland Society of Otolaryngology. In 1984, he and his wife moved to Las Vegas, where he continued in private practice until his death. Jim was an avid fly fisherman, traveling to Canada annually to fish; he was also an artist and photographer, and enjoyed target shooting and birdwatching. He leaves his wife, Karen Heroy, 8360 Los Monteros St., Las

Vegas, NV 89129; three children; and four grandchildren. His father, the late James H. Heroy Jr. ’30, and an uncle, the late William Heroy ’29, also attended Choate; Jim’s cousins Rosamond Heroy ’62, Jane Heroy ’64, Helen Heroy ’66, Mary Heroy ’68, and Christina Heroy ’73 attended Rosemary Hall.

’60 C

Thomas F. Doolittle, 73, the retired president of a chemical company, died of cancer April 4, 2015 in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Born in White Plains, N.Y., Tom came to Choate in 1957. He lettered in football, was co-captain of basketball, and was in the Altar Guild, St. Andrew’s Cabinet, and the Press Club. After graduating from Rollins College, Tom worked briefly for Procter & Gamble, was the owner of Rainbow Farms in Boca Raton, Fla., then was president of the chemical division of the Pittston Co. He enjoyed golf and was an avid boater.

He leaves his wife, Virginia Doolittle, 3620 Gardens Parkway, Unit 1101-B, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410; two children; five grandchildren; and two step-grandchildren.

’61 C

Lee Van Voorhis Dauler Jr., 71, the chairman of a chemical company, died of cancer April 19, 2015. Born in Pittsburgh, Van came to Choate in 1958. He was co-manager of the Band, on the Sixth Form Tutoring Committee, in the Cum Laude Society, and won a School prize for excellence in science.

He then graduated from Yale and the Wharton School of Business. Van was at first a health care consultant for Coopers & Lybrand and Peat, Marwick, Mitchell, and later a vice president of Merrill Lynch, before returning to Pittsburgh, where he joined Neville Chemical Co. The firm, which had been founded by his two grandfathers, produced hydrocarbon resins; he eventually rose to be its chairman. Active in the community, he served on the boards of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Shadyside Hospital, and the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. He enjoyed computers, astronomy, cooking, backgammon, and trap shooting. He leaves his wife, Randi Dauler, 230 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Apt. 25-C, Pittsburgh, PA 15222; a son; and three grandchildren.

’63 C

Cornelius Searle Whitney, 70, a philanthropist, died March 27, 2015 of Hodgkins lymphoma. Born in New York City, Searle came to Choate in 1959; he was in the Glee Club, the Debate Senate, the Art Club, and the Current History Club. After graduating from Yale, he did pioneering work in computer science at Harvard. Searle then moved to Berkeley, Calif., and did philanthropic activities, later starting the Institute for Population Studies. He enjoyed music and creating untraditional gardens. He leaves a son.

’69 C Floyd Wallace III, the retired head of technology companies, died April 1, 2015 in New Haven, Conn.

Born in Meriden, Conn., Floyd came to Choate in 1965; he lettered in football and baseball, was on the Board of the News, and was in the Rod and Gun Club. After earning degrees from Bucknell and the University of Hartford, he worked for Cooper Instrument Corp. of Middlefield, Conn., eventually becoming its president, and later as head of Tera-Flex Technologies in Wallingford, retiring in 2011. Floyd enjoyed sports, particularly paddle tennis, golf, baseball and softball, and he also liked hunting, fishing, and hiking. He leaves his wife, Christine Wallace, 130 Long Hill Road, Wallingford, CT 06492; three children; and four sisters, including former Trustee Carol Wallace Jewczyn ’73. His father, the late Floyd Wallace Jr. ’40, also attended Choate. ’70 RH Susan Robertson Machulak, 62, a lawyer, died April 29, 2015 in River Hills, Wis., of a brain tumor. Born in Mount Kisco, N.Y., Susan came to Rosemary Hall in 1967. She was editor of the Question Mark, class Treasurer, in the Choir and the Current Events Club, and on the Library Committee. She graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, then earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin. After working for the firm of Michael Best & Friedrich, she joined the law practice of her husband, John Machulak; John and Susan worked together for more than 25 years. Susan was active in school parent associations and in organizations serving low-income and mentally disabled people. She also hosted foreign exchange students from Colombia, Chile, Norway, Egypt,

56 IN MEMORIAM

and Russia, and volunteered as a literacy teacher. Besides her husband, of 1400 W. Good Hope Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53209, she leaves three children. Her sisters, Edythe Robertson ’67 and Jean Robertson ’68, also attended Rosemary Hall, and her brother, James Robertson ’65, attended Choate.

’70 C

William Bickford Huber, 63, died of cancer April 10, 2015 in Arlington, Va. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Bick came to Choate in 1966. He was in the Art Club, the Glee Club, and the Military History Club, and was secretary-treasurer of the Coin and Stamp Club. He then graduated from Georgetown and lived in Washington, D.C. Bick enjoyed world travel, sailing on Chesapeake Bay, and cooking. He leaves a brother.

’79 Patricia C. Robertson, 54, a public relations executive, died June 134, 2015 in Griffin, Ga. Born in Nashville, Tenn., Patty came to Rosemary Hall in 1975. She lettered in hockey, was in Gold Key and the Spanish Club, and participated in several dramatic productions, either on stage or behind the scenes; she was the co-winner of a School dramatics prize. After attending Southern Methodist University, she earned a master’s degree from Western Kentucky University. Patty then had a lengthy career in public relations; her clients included Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the singers Lee Greenwood and Andy Williams. She leaves her mother and two brothers.

’89

Raphael D. Sagarin, 43, a marine biologist, died May 28, 2015 in Tucson, Ariz., after he was hit by a pickup truck while bicycling. Born in New Haven, Conn., Rafe came to Choate Rosemary Hall in 1986. He was captain of Varsity Cross-Country, co-captain of Cycling, in the Cum Laude Society, and President of the sixth form. He then graduated from Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, Calif.

He later earned a doctorate from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Rafe was an expert on warming ocean temperatures, and in 1993 he and a Stanford classmate were the first to reveal the effects of climate change on the intertidal ecosystem. In 1998, he led then-President Bill Clinton and then-Vice President Al Gore on a tour of Pacific Grove’s tide pools, an event

’90

Derek B. Ordway, 42, the former owner of a computer company, died May 7, 2015. Born in Michigan, Derek came to Choate in 1987; he was in the Chorus and was captain of the sailing team. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Derek owned and operated Geek Dog Computers of Hartland, Wis. He leaves his wife, Nina Ordway, 31172 Chequamegon Dr., Hartland, WI 53029-9780; two daughters; his father; and his sister, Kirstin Forman ’91.

’09

Aryeh A. Stein-Azen, 24, died March 24, 2015 of cancer. Born in Philadelphia, Aryeh came to Choate in 2005. He lettered in volleyball; was President of the Alternative Religions Club; won School prizes in psychology, philosophy, and history; and was

Rafe was an expert on warming ocean temperatures, and in 1993 he and a Stanford classmate were the first to reveal the effects of climate change on the intertidal ecosystem. In 1998, he led then-President Bill Clinton and then-Vice President Al Gore on a tour of Pacific Grove’s tide pools, an event featured in a front-page photo in the New York Times. –RAPHAEL D. SAGARIN ’89

’73 RH Alison Field Mickelson, 60, an educator and businesswoman, died June 9, 2015 in Taunton, Mass. Born in Flushing, N.Y., Alison was at Rosemary Hall for one year. She was on the staff of the Wild Boar, was a Student Guide, and was in Junior Achievement. After graduating from the University of Connecticut and Babson College’s graduate school of business, she held various positions in education and business.

Alison was active in the Preparatory Rehabilitation for Individual Development and Employment organization and was past President of the Professional Women’s Club in Taunton. She leaves her husband, John Mickelson, 59 Linden St., Unit 1613, Taunton, MA 02780-3666; two brothers; a sister, and several nieces and nephews.

’87 Christopher D. Olson, 47, a financial advisor, died June 28, 2015 in Encinitas, Calif. Born in Duluth, Minn., Chris was at Choate for one year.

He had been a star hockey player at Madison (Wis.) West High School, and at Choate he also lettered in hockey.

He then graduated from Notre Dame, where he was co-captain of hockey in his senior year. After earning an MBA from the University of WisconsinMadison, he was a financial advisor in Chicago, New York, Nevada, and California. Besides sports, Chris also enjoyed travel. He leaves his parents, David and Sharon Olson, 5305 Lacy Rd., Fitchburg, WI 53712; a daughter; and a sister.

featured in a front-page photo in the New York Times. He was formerly an adviser to U. S. Rep. Hilda Solis, and from 2003 to 2006 he led the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. He also trained military personnel, corporations, and emergency responders. He leaves his wife, Rebecca Crocker, 3645 N. Cactus Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85716; two daughters; his parents; and two brothers, Joshua Sagarin ’83 and Mark Sagarin ’85.

’89

in the Cum Laude Society, the Russian Club, and Hillel. Aryeh spent a summer volunteering in Ghana with the American Jewish World Service, another working with a congressman in Harlem, and another working for a lawyer in California who defended inmates on death row. He graduated from Princeton in 2014. Aryeh leaves his mother, Rabbi Margot Stein, 101 Llandberris Rd., Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004; his father, Rabbi David Wechsler-Azen of Carmichael, Calif.; five siblings; and his grandparents.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 57

Faculty, Staff, and Trustees Harold G. Albert Jr., who taught mathematics, music, and computer science at Choate Rosemary Hall for six years, died May 27, 2015 in New York City of cancer. He was 58. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Hal studied at the University of Michigan and earned a degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston. He first taught part-time at Choate in 1982, and the next year became a full-time faculty member. His wife, Cheryl Morgan, taught Spanish at Choate. Hal played guitar professionally in the New Haven area while he lived in Wallingford, and later in Clinton, N.Y. After leaving School in 1988, he had a long career in information technology and financial data management with various firms, including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and Quantbot Technologies.

He enjoyed world travel, fine food and wine, and skiing. He leaves his wife, Cheryl A. Morgan, 3777 Griffin Rd., Clinton, NY 13323; a daughter; and three sisters.

Vincent B. Bonito, a School Community Safety officer for 13 years, died July 19, 2015 in Meriden. He was 92. Born in Minori, Italy, Vincent earned degrees from Columbia and Syracuse, and was a foreign language professor at Southern Connecticut State University for several years. He also taught languages at Hamden High School, Trumbull High School, and elsewhere in Connecticut. He came to Choate Rosemary Hall in 1984 as a security officer at the Paul Mellon Arts Center, retiring in 1997. He was a member of the choirs of Most Holy Trinity Church and Ss. Peter and Paul Church. Vincent enjoyed playing the piano and guitar, singing, and cooking. He leaves five children, including Damian P. Bonito, 2 Wayne Rd., Wallingford, CT 06492; a granddaughter; and a sister. His late wife, Rose Gagliardi Bonito, was a switchboard operator at Choate Rosemary Hall for 20 years.

David Connell, who was Choate Rosemary Hall’s medical director for 10 years, died May 31, 2015 in Exeter, England, of atypical motor neuron disease. He was 85. Born in Sunningdale, Berkshire, England, David completed his national service in the Royal Artillery, then earned a medical degree from St. Thomas’s Medical School in London.

He practiced in the UK for 20 years, but in 1975, frustrated with the way the government was handling its national health system, he decided to work in the United States. The next year, he was offered the job as Choate’s medical director, but first he had to pass several exams qualifying him to practice in the United States. “He was a clear cut above any [other candidates] we had attracted for interviews,” Choate President and Principal Charles F. Dey later wrote. “Not only has he exceeded our expectations in areas of student health, but he has proven to be a skillful and reassuring presence for faculty and staff.” In 1986, he and his wife returned to Britain, where he became the director of a community mental health center in Devon. He leaves his wife, Sue Connell; three children; 11 grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

Glen C. Dean, who taught mathematics at Choate Rosemary Hall for two years, died June 29, 2015 in Meriden, Conn. He was 81. Born in Littleton, Maine, Glen earned degrees from the University of Maine and Boston College. He was a longtime math teacher at North Haven High School, and was head of that school’s math department for several years.

Glen taught part-time at Choate from 2001 to 2003. He enjoyed golfing. He leaves three children, including David Dean, 50 Broad View Dr., Wallingford, CT 06492; 11 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

Marion Resta DeAngelo, who taught mathematics at Rosemary Hall for 12 years, died January 17, 2015 in Stratford, Conn. She was 88. Born in New York City, Marion earned degrees from the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York, and from Fairfield University. She then taught math for three years at a junior high school in Norwalk, Conn. She started at Rosemary Hall in Greenwich in 1962, and when Rosemary Hall moved back to Wallingford, Marion came too, leaving in 1975. Marion is “a serious-minded, no-nonsense teacher,” then-Head of School Joanne Sullivan wrote at Marion’s departure. “She can challenge and bring out the best in the able students, and she is fully prepared to give endless special attention to the lesser brethren.” Marion then taught at Ridgefield (Conn.), High School and Fairfield Prep. She leaves her husband, Matt

DeAngelo, 101 Creek Lane, Stratford, CT 06614; four children; 13 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Constance Cheney Larsen ’60, a Trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall for nine years, died March 27, 2015 in Vero Beach, Fla. She was 72. Born in New York City, Bonnee, as she was known, came to Rosemary Hall in 1957. She was a Marshal; on the Dance Committee; in Hospites; on the hockey squad, the basketball team, and the softball squad; and was voted “Most Reliable” by her classmates. She then attended Marjorie Webster College in Washington, D.C. Bonnee was a Trustee from 1992 to 2001, and was Vice Chair of the Board for several years. A summer resident of Nantucket, she was a volunteer at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital and the Audubon Society. She enjoyed golf. She leaves her husband, Robert R. Larsen, 450 Center St., Apt. 4, Southport, CT 06890; three stepdaughters, including Wendelle Burdick ’74; a stepson, Timothy Larsen ’78; two step-granddaughters; two stepgreat-granddaughters; and a sister, Deidre Cheney McGurk ’62. Connie was a member of The Choate Society, those alumni who have left a bequest to the School.

James A. Paradise, head equipment manager and building supervisor at the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center, died of cancer July 13, 2015 in New Haven. He was 62.

Born in New Haven, Jim operated his own painting and contracting business for several years before coming to Choate Rosemary Hall in 1997.

Director of Athletics Ned Gallagher called him “the consummate professional.” Within weeks of his arrival at School, Ned said, Jim “revolutionized our system of keeping inventory. He worked hard to ensure that Wild Boars teams looked sharp, and our studentathletes had access to state-of-the-art uniforms and equipment.” Jim also coached varsity and JV Choate football, and the School’s summer youth football program. Coach John Connelly recalled Jim’s “unflappable demeanor, gentlemanly dignity, and the quiet satisfaction he gleaned from coaching young men.” Active in the community, Jim was president of the East Haven Football League in the 1980s, and later was commissioner of the Shoreline Youth Football League. He was a

member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association and a volunteer EMT and CPR instructor. He leaves two sons, including Michael J. Paradise, 18 Kimberly Ave., East Haven, CT 06512; two grandchildren; and a brother.

Our sympathy to the families of the following alumni, whose deaths are reported with sorrow: Thomas L. Maker ’49 December 28, 2014 Lou H. Hoover ’61 December 14, 2012

“Jim Paradise revolutionized our system of keeping inventory. He worked hard to ensure that Wild Boars teams looked sharp, and our student-athletes had access to state-of-the-art uniforms and equipment.”

–NED GALLAGHER, DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

58

SCOREBOARD | Spring Sports Wrap-up

Girls' varsity water polo team took the momentum they created in the regular season right into postseason play, defeating Suffield in the final to secure the New England Championship title.

Varsity baseball won the Walker Tournament for the third consecutive year, but fell short of the League Championship after losing to Avon. Boys’ crew finished 4th overall. Boys' tennis hosted the New England singles tournament, but it was girls’ tennis star Coco Kulle ’16 who stole the show, winning the Boys’ B Division New England Tournament. The boys’ and girls’ track and field teams finished strong, with boys' placing 6th at the New England Championships, while the girls' finished 3rd.

BASEBALL Varsity Season Record: 14-6 Captains: Jack J. Bohen ’15, John E. Vaughn’15, & Joel J. Stevens ’15 Highlight: Beat rival Deerfield 5-1; Walker Tournament Champions defeated Deerfield in final CREW Boys Varsity Season Record: 2-0 Captains: Noah A. Freeman ’15 Highlight: Beat Taft and Berkshire in first Regatta; Finished 4th at New Englands Girls Varsity Season Record: 3-4 Captains: Gabriella Bradley ’15 & Catherine Browne ’15 Highlight: Placed in the top 10 at the New England Championships.

LACROSSE Boys Varsity Season Record: 7-8 Captains: Forrest C. Hunt ’15 & Turner W. Uppgren’15 Highlight: Beat Salisbury to close season Girls Varsity Season Record: 8-8 Captains: Caitlin P. Farrell ’15 & Allison P. Williams ’15 Highlight: Finished with win over NMH SAILING Varsity Season Record: 6-4 Captain: Mehvish Khan ’15 Highlight: Finished 7th at Herrishoff Cup SOFTBALL Varsity Season Record: 1-9 Captain: Christina G. Casazza ’15 Highlight: Beat Hotchkiss in final game of season

GOLF Boys Varsity Season Record: 6-15 Captain: Curtis H. Bennett ’15 Highlight: Finished 9th Founders League Championships; 11th overall at KIT Tournament

TENNIS Boys’ Varsity Season Record 7-7 Captain: Brandon E. Rosenbluth ’15 Highlight: Beat Avon and Loomis to close season

Girls Varsity Season Record: 7-6 Highlight: 3rd at Founders League Championships

Girls’ Varsity Season Record: 9–6 Captain: Ashley E. Barrett ’15 Highlight: Girls’ tennis earned a bid to the NEPSAC tournament as the 7th seed.

TRACK AND FIELD Boys Varsity Season Record: 7-3 Captains: Sean P. Banda ’15 & Mikel Zemborain ’15 Highlight: Finished 6th overall in New Englands and Founders League Championships Girls’ Varsity Season Record: 9-1 Captains: Chibuzor C. Biosah ’16, Samantha A. Harney ’15 & Chelsea A. Swift ’15 Highlight: Finished 3rd at Founders League Championships; 4th at New Englands ULTIMATE FRISBEE Captains: Noah M. Hastings ’15, Thomas J. Canna ’15, & David Shan ’15 Varsity Season Record: 7-10-1 Highlight: Finished 2nd in New England, losing to NMH in the final GIRLS WATER POLO Captains: Eliza D. Romeyn ’15 & Katherine M. Moeller ’15 Varsity Season Record: 15-5 Highlight: New England Champions BOYS VOLLEYBALL Captains: Benjamin Chiaravanont ’15 Varsity Season Record: 2-6 Highlight: Lost in first match of Founding Four Tournament

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 59 Nick Sanchez ‘ 15

1

3

4

2 7

5

6

8 11

9 1. Boys’ tennis captain-elect Scott Ji ’16.

2. Allison Williams ’15 rips a shot past the Hopkins goalkeeper.

3. Boys’ volleyball captain Trevor Dow ’15 spikes the ball.

4. Faisal Al Saif ’18, an up-and-comer on the Boys’ varsity golf team.

10 5. Tri-captain and Boston College recruit #33 Jacob Stevens ’15.

6. Girls’ crew placed in the top 10 at New Englands.

7. Charles Atangana ’15 flying high against NMH in the long jump.

8. Katherine Moeller ’15, two-year girls’ captain and league MVP.

9. Nick Katz ’15 dodges past a Loomis Chaffee defender.

10. Haley Williams ’18 striding strong in the 400 meters.

11. Girls’ varsity tennis team with coaches Craig Johnson

and Kevin Rogers.

60

BOOKSHELF

In this issue, a research director at the National Security Archive provides a historical narrative of the Iran-Contra affair; a seasoned lawyer gives guidance to those looking to enter the legal profession and those who are practicing and trying to avoid burnout; a memoirist looks back on her younger self with a critical eye; and a golf writer writes about the sport of golf as a vehicle for discovery.

My Paris Dream Kate Betts ’82 | Reviewed by Andrea Thompson

MY PARIS DREAM Author: Kate Betts ’82 Publisher: Random House About the Reviewer: Andrea Thompson is the co-author, with Jacob Lief, of the book, I Am Because You Are.

In 1986, Kate Betts ’82 set out for Paris with excitement and trepidation. Newly graduated from Princeton, she had dreams of becoming an international correspondent and a need to set herself apart from her WASP family and her college boyfriend (who always seems to be playing golf in Greenwich). Through family and friends, she arranged an internship and a room to rent in a French family’s apartment. Though a series of bombs in the capital rattle her, she sails off with her mother’s encouragement and a sense that she is as well prepared for life in a new country as one can be.

Of course, nothing at first goes exactly as planned.

The internship suddenly falls through. Betts struggles with loneliness and a sense of her difference as an American – her nicknames range from Quéquette Bite (a vulgar pun on her name) to La Grosse Américaine.

But her landlords, a couple named Bibiane and Antoine, and their small children, provide a sense of family.

Armed with increasingly fluent French and a growing sense of ambition, Betts slowly settles into Parisian life: an internship finally appears, then a full-time job at Fairchild Publications; she falls in love with a Frenchman and finds a beautiful, spacious apartment to share with him; and she begins to feel conversant in the other language of the French, their sense of style. Her friends typify “what the French call BCBG, bon chic, bon genre. Good style, good family,” she writes: a uniform of black leggings, velour sweatshirts, and floppy hair bows. As she rises through the ranks at Fairchild, she begins attending runway shows, and her vocabulary for fashion expands.

A defining moment in her career comes when John Fairchild taps her to accompany him to a preview of a Yves St. Laurent collection. The designer, a favorite of Fairchild’s, “understood better than anyone that style was not simply about appearance. Style was about gestures, experiences, and taste. Style was about context. Style told a story: It began with a time and a place.” Watching the designer concoct a story, a setting, and a mood from a single gown galvanizes Betts. “Saint Laurent was living proof that putting yourself in a foreign context – real or imaginary – is often the best way to see yourself more clearly. Everything about my life and my place in Paris crystallized that day in Saint Laurent’s studio.”

Betts looks back on her younger self with a critical eye, noting her awkward attempts at finding a personal style (undermined by her lack of selfconfidence), her immaturity, and her overbearing ambition. She finds herself pulled in two directions: the laid-back French way of sacred Sunday sleep-ins and long lunches, or the zealous American drive in which personal time becomes discretionary.

After five years as an expat, Betts returned to New York for a job with Vogue; John Fairchild, for whom business is personal, stops speaking to her. Yet Paris, and Fairchild, remain a touchstone, and advice the publisher gave her resonates throughout her life and her book. “‘Run through the lavender fields,’ he barked at me once when I asked him what exactly I should be doing on assignment in Provence. Just go!”

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 61

Iran-Contra: Reagan's Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power

By Malcolm Byrne ’73 | Reviewed by Joel Backon

IRAN-CONTRA: REAGAN'S SCANDAL AND THE UNCHECKED ABUSE OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER Author: Malcolm Byrne ’73 Publisher: University Press of Kansas About the Reviewer: Joel Backon is Director of Academic Technology and a member of the History, Philosophy, Religion and Social Sciences department.

The issue of executive power in the face of national security issues has often been cloudy. While the President is the Commander-in-Chief, funding for military and intelligence operations is the domain of Congress, and the constitutionality of our behavior in carrying out these operations is decided by the Judicial Branch.

The Iran-Contra affair, during the Reagan administration, was a clear and poignant example of breaches regarding those checks and balances.

Malcolm Byrne, Deputy Director and Research Director at the National Security Archive, does an excellent job of telling the story in logical and concise detail while expressing incredulity about the ability of key members of the Reagan administration both to operate with unchecked power and to endure four independent investigations during the aftermath without serious reproach.

Byrne begins his story in late 1986 with two seemingly unrelated news events: the shooting down of a small cargo plane carrying weapons to the Nicaraguan Contras and the revelation that National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane was negotiating with Iran to exchange U.S. hostages for missiles. Both stories were denied initially, but in November 1986, President Reagan and Attorney General Ed Meese reported on national television that both stories were true. They explained the diversion of profits from Iranian arms sales for hostages to Nicaraguan rebels (Contras). Byrne describes the account of the diversion of funds as a diversion itself.

The Reagan administration believed that by coming clean and scapegoating two bureaucrats – Oliver North and John Poindexter – they would bring the matter to a close for the public while hiding the sheer breadth of this international funding and trading

operation. The Reagan team then examined potential legal repercussions, and concluded that there were several possible outcomes, including impeachment.

Disagreement forced an official opinion from the Attorney General, who concluded that a narrow view of Reagan administration activities suggested that no laws were being violated.

The remainder of the book focuses on the aftermath that included the four investigations. Byrne provides a bird’s-eye view of the stonewalling and delaying tactics carefully executed by members of the Reagan team in an effort to protect the President.

Because the Senate Committee and Independent Council had so much difficulty obtaining documents and direct testimony, the hearings and investigations dragged on for several years. By the time indictments might have been delivered, George H.W. Bush was President and had pardoned six of the defendants, and Ronald Reagan was an ex-President. The incident was no longer on the public radar; the media focused on the first Gulf War, and the Iran-Contra Affair became just another piece of U.S. history.

While Byrne’s account and analysis are highly detailed, he writes the story as a significant historical narrative that was never fully understood by the public. Part of the reason for lengthy investigations was the sheer complexity of the operation. He consistently invites the reader to continue turning the pages of this fascinating inside look at how presidential staff members addressed several foreign policy needs that were opposed by Congress, carried out clandestine operations around the world, and made loyalty to their boss the highest priority. Executive power was exercised in grand fashion during 1986 and 1987, and the question of legitimacy still remains.

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BOOKSHELF

From Turnberry to Tasmania: Adventures of a Traveling Golfer

By John Steinbreder ’74 | Reviewed by Eric Stahura

FROM TURNBERRY TO TASMANIA: ADVENTURES OF A TRAVELING GOLFER Author: John Steinbreder ’74 Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing About the Reviewer: Eric Stahura, Senior Associate Director, College Counseling, is an accomplished amateur golfer and the Head Coach of the Boys’ Varsity Golf Team. Over the years, he has been fortunate to tee it up on many of the world’s most famous and historical links, including several of those documented in From Turnberry to Tasmania.

At what point does a hobby become a way of life?

For John Steinbreder ’74, author of 19 books about the sport of golf, the word hobby simply doesn’t fit.

Nor does it for many ardent golf enthusiasts. In what other “activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure” will a person travel around the world in order to fulfill one’s relaxation?

For the knitter, reader, or gardener, such a hobby is often confined to a simple place. For the golfer, however, the spirit of its pastime often moves beyond just the hobby itself – sure, it’s partially about the sport: the challenge of whacking a ball into a hole measuring a tad more than four inches wide. Yet, it is even more so about the mental obstacles, the companionship along the way, the beauty of the natural surroundings, and the sport’s storied history.

Steinbreder puts it well: “(Golf) is a sport, to be sure, and serious good fun. But golf is also a vehicle for discovery.”

From Turnberry to Tasmania is John’s latest in a long line of successful literary works about golf. This time, John explores the journey. More specifically, each of the book’s 26 chapters details a region from nearly every nook and cranny across the globe. True to its name, it uncovers magically “hidden gems,” golf courses found in the most far-reaching of locales, like Fiji and Morocco, and at a place called Barnbougle Lost Farm, in (yup!) Tasmania. There are also the usual suspects of notoriety: from Pebble Beach (“California Dreaming”) and Pinehurst (“America’s St. Andrews”) to the links of Scotland – the Old Course itself (“At the Home of Golf”) and the “title track” Turnberry (“Open Gems” along with Muirfield and Prestwick) – and, quite literally, hundreds of golf courses and moving experiences in between.

Part memoir and part travel journal, Steinbreder’s book enchants the reader with his personal tales of camaraderie. We meet strangers who become our friends. We raise pints at the 19th hole as we listen to stories of heroism and woe on the golf course. We feel the anguish of long iron shots misfired at tucked pins. And we smile with conviction when the lucky bounce (or perfectly read putt) leads to birdie. We also learn about culture – about each region’s cuisine and its history, and how so many things are interwoven into the sophistication of golf.

In the end, From Turnberry to Tasmania delights.

As with any wonderful read, Steinbreder is able to transport the booklover to a fantasyland of wonder and awe. Only here, the fantasylands are real places: golf courses. Amazing golf courses. Places of splendor.

Places that inspire the golf hobbyist to be much more than that. Perhaps to the hobbyist, some of these stories may be lost in translation. But to that person who has made the sport a way of life, who has traveled to find the next hidden gem, or who has made a lasting friendship with a stranger from a new foursome, Steinbreder takes us along for the adventure. And, rest assured, he is more than just a “traveling golfer.”

He is the ultimate golf hobbyist: that rare breed of golfing connoisseur.

BULLETIN | FALL 2015 63

Three Degrees of Law

By Harlan York ’87 | Reviewed by Dave Desjardins ‘02

THREE DEGREES OF LAW Author: Harlan York ’87 Publisher: Motivational Publishing About the Reviewer: Dave Desjardins ‘02 is legal counsel for the Connecticut House Democrats.

ROUNDTRIP TICKET HOME Author: Kalimah Fergus Ayele ‘93 Publisher: Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Devote yourself to your chosen craft.

If you are unhappy with your current situation, change your perspective.

And, like the fictional character Rocky Balboa, when you face a setback or take a “hit,” get back up and keep moving forward.

Harlan York’s new book Three Degrees of Law is full of such helpful advice, as well as entertaining anecdotes and personal observations from his years as a top immigration lawyer. This book abounds with quotations and stories from colorful fictional and real-life characters, ranging from Harry Potter’s Dumbledore to Neil Young to obscure (but fascinating) 1960s professional wrestler Karl Gotch, each carefully selected by the author to make a larger point.

However, it is the vignettes giving us a small window into the relationship between the author and his late father and hero, “Duke,” that are often the most powerful.

While York has written this book with lawyers and people considering law school (and their parents) in mind, the basic concepts he expresses are equally relevant to non-legal professionals looking for some inspiration and good old-fashioned mentoring.

Three Degrees of Law isn’t so much a how-to guide as it is a series of mini-lectures and pep-talks. He has organized this collection into three broadly defined chapters, or “degrees”: “I want to be a lawyer,” “running the best practice you can,” and “being the best lawyer you can be.” However, none of the chapters is so rigidly defined that the reader feels that only a certain set of pages is relevant to his or her life and

career situation. For example, York’s first degree contains guidance for those looking to enter the legal profession, but is also full of meaningful advice for attorneys who have been practicing for years and are looking for ways to avoid burnout and keep their passion for the law (or whatever professional goal they are pursuing) fresh.

At 120 pages, Three Degrees of Law is a quick read, but as York lays out his philosophy on how to succeed in a career that is both professionally productive and personally rewarding, you may find yourself pondering passages long after you’ve put the book down for the night, and that’s what the author wants.

Whether or not you agree with York’s ultimate conclusions, the real value of this book is in using his thoughts and experiences as a lens through which to re-evaluate your own career and life choices.

Socrates has been credited with the phrase “the life which is unexamined is not worth living,” and, much in the same spirit, the philosophy expressed by York in this book may be best summed up as “the career which is unexamined is not worth pursuing.”

Through his prose in Three Degrees of Law, York can be a helpful companion to guide readers down the path of critical professional self-re-evaluation.

It is important (and often a neglected exercise) to routinely ask oneself questions such as “am I fulfilled in my career?” “how can I improve myself?” and “am I happy?” As the author pointedly reminds us, “[t]here are no wrong answers to most questions. You have to figure out what’s right for you.”

A PLACE TO STAND: THE BEAUTY OF LANDON Author: Jamie Kirkpatrick ’66 Publisher: Landon School

ALWAYS A CATCH Author: Peter Richmond ’71 Publisher: Philomel Books

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END NOTE |

Making Judgments t h e h o n . k at h e r i n e b . f o r r e s t ’ 8 2

The story of how I came to be here has many pieces – as all stories of people’s lives do. You all have stories. They are important stories, your story is your life. And your parents have stories: their lives. For me, the end of the story, how I got here, is where we should begin.

asked them to send me an application. I came to the school for the interview with Monica St. James. Choate made its judgment: I was accepted, and so opened a new chapter in my life. I had a small scholarship, and somehow my parents paid a small amount for the very first semester.

The rest of the tuition went unpaid. During the summers, I worked two jobs during the week and one on the weekend to pay for the clothes I needed so that I didn’t look different. No one knew I was poor; I had whales on my turtleneck like everyone else.

One day, during my college years, I found a letter from Choate stating, in ever so gracious terms, that there never had been any payment by my family other than that first small one. That’s when I realized that, but for someone’s judgment to allow my odd situation at Choate to continue, someone’s ability to look beyond the business office at me, I would have been sent home before the first snow had fallen.

I took the letter off my father’s desk. I never told my father I had taken it. I remember calling Choate and saying I will pay you back, but it will take some time. I paid the School back sometimes in $10 increments.

I then became a lawyer. When I was a second-year associate at the firm, I wrote the last check for the last payment, and a letter to go with it. I thanked the School for the gift of allowing me to attend Choate, and for the grace to allow me to continue when we had not met our basic obligation.

When I make judgments now, judgments about who wins a case or who loses, about who goes to jail and who goes free, I am humbled.

Judgments about people are like no other, because the potential for harm is so great. But so is the potential for good. Well-exercised judgment breathes potential into life, and poor judgment can destroy it.

In quiet moments, when I am walking in the woods with my golden retriever, I think about what it means to judge other people. I have tried always keep in mind that I am not sitting on the bench as “Katherine Forrest.” I sit as a designated representative of our society, someone who is tasked with representing our values as expressed through our laws. I have to determine what is acceptable, and what is not; if an action is unacceptable, what penalty should be imposed.

You will go through life making judgments about yourself, about opportunities presented to you, and about people. You will make judgments about many people. And no matter who you are, what

In your judgments, you will have the chance to change the course of someone’s story.

And their story changes the story of all of those around them. Judge wisely.

–THE HON. KATHERINE B. FORREST ’82 I was born in New York City in 1964. My father was a writer. That sounded somewhat interesting, but it came with a harsh reality: I grew up poor. I had four siblings. There were times when we didn’t have enough to eat; when we lived in a house in which the electricity was often turned off for non-payment; where I learned to detest the winters because neither I nor my siblings had a decent winter coat and our house usually didn’t have any heat. For a time we were on food stamps and were homeless, living in a motel paid for by the state and given two vouchers a day for meals.

In the midst of this, I decided I wanted to go to boarding school.

I called up Choate, which a friend of my brother had attended, and

position in life you have, others will make judgments about you.

Some of your judgments may be wrong, and some will undoubtedly be right. You should be humbled always by the possibility that when you make a judgment, you do not know at that moment whether your judgment is one of the right ones, or one of the wrong ones.

But in your judgments, you will have the chance to change the course of someone’s story. And their story changes the story of all of those around them. Judge wisely. Judge with humility and with compassion. These are words I try to live by, but they are guidance for us all.

These remarks are excerpted from Judge Forrest’s address at the School’s 125th Commencement on June 7, 2015.

Thank you for being part of it!

Thanks to the generosity of our alumni, parents, and friends who gave to the School during the 2014-2015 year, we are thrilled to announce that we received more than $5.25 million for Choate Rosemary Hall’s Annual Fund!

Your support provides the financial resources necessary to ensure today’s students benefit from an education full of opportunity and transformative experiences. You make a difference in their lives and your participation is deeply appreciated. On behalf of the entire School community, thank you for being part of it!

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COMMUNITY C E L E B R AT I N G 125 Y E A R S

October is Community Service Month!

October is our first Choate Community Service Month. Students and faculty will kick off the effort on October 2 on campus by packaging 150,000+ bags of ready-to-heat food for disaster victims around the world. Alumni Clubs are organizing service activities too; we hope you'll serve too. Don't live in a Regional Club area? Use the EverTrue app to locate fellow Choate alumni in your area.

Join community service efforts in your hometown and let us know at alumnirelations@choate.edu. Send in a photo so we can post it on Facebook.

CHICAGO October 7 Greater Chicago Food Depository

D.C. October 14 D.C. Central Kitchen

HOUSTON October 17 Houston Food Bank

NEW YORK October 31 The Meatloaf Kitchen

Check the Alumni Portal at www.choate.edu for additional locations.

The Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin is printed using vegetable-based inks on FSC-certified, 100% post consumer recycled paper. This issue saved 101 trees, 42,000 gallons of wastewater, 291 lbs of waterborne waste, and 9,300 lbs of greenhouse gases from being emitted.