Fall '13 Bulletin by Choate Rosemary Hall

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BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL

FALL ’13

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Get In the competition off the field!

DEERFIELD CHALLENGE

Choate vs Deerfield Calling all young Alumni! Classes of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Join in the rivalry and help Choate beat Deerfield for the third year in a row! The Deerfield Challenge is an annual young alumni participation challenge with our biggest rival and is now in its 6th year. Any gift to the Annual Fund – small or large – made by a member of one of the above classes, counts as a point toward the challenge. The competition is tight each year and our record stands at 2-3. This is the year to even the score! Watch for more information about the Deerfield Challenge and how you can help defeat Deerfield ... Again. No athletic ability needed.

Challenge Officially kicks off: October 1, 2013 ENDS: Deerfield Day, November 9, 2013.

The Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin is printed using vegetablebased 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.

a Year of iPads ➔ Special Insert: 2013 Strategic Plan: A Unifying Vision for the School

Choate Rosemary Hall Strategic Plan 2013

A big victory for us all T h e A n n ua l F U n d

– dedicated and valued alumni, parents and friends – who invested in Choate Rosemary Hall during the 2012–2013 year, we are proud to announce the Annual Fund surpassed $4.98 million, making it the largest Annual Fund in school history. Through your collective support, Choate Rosemary Hall delivers an education that nurtures the intellect and critical thinking, as well as the character and compassion, of today’s students – and tomorrow’s leaders. On their behalf, we thank you for your support of the Annual Fund. Thanks to the generosity of more than 4,300 of you

Strategic Plan Committee Strategic Plan CommitteeHerbert V. Kohler, Jr. ’57

Joel Backon Matthew Bardoe Cecelia M. Kurzman ’87 Samuel P. Bartlett ’91 Edward O. Lanphier ’74 Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. ’57 Matthew Bee Joel ’13 Backon William Laverack, Jr. Matthew Bardoe Cecelia M. Kurzman ’87 Reggie Bradford Gretchen Cooper Leach ’57 Samuel P. Bartlett ’91 Edward O. Lanphier ’74 Julia Brown ’83 Kewsong Lee ’82 Matthew Bee ’13 William Laverack, Jr. Carolyn Buckholtz ’14 Kathryn Levesque Reggie Bradford Gretchen Cooper Leach ’57 John Burditt ’70 Katrina Linthorst Homan Julia Brown ’83 Kewsong Lee ’82 Alison Cady Carolyn Buckholtz ’14 Vicki LiPuma Kathryn Levesque Michael Carr ’76 Colin Lord Katrina Linthorst Homan John Burditt ’70 Deron Chang Alison Cady Jeffrey Miller Vicki LiPuma Daniel J. Courcey III ’86Carr ’76 Robert A. Minicucci Michael Colin Lord’71 Jeffrey Miller Todd Currie Deron Chang Andrew Murgio Robert A. Minicucci ’71 Alex D. Curtis Daniel J. Courcey III ’86 J. Trent Nutting Andrew Ellen Devine Todd Currie Elizabeth M. PeardMurgio AlexIIID. Curtis J. Trent’79 Nutting Raymond Diffley Linda H. Riefler Sonja Eliason Ellen ’15 Devine Marshall S.Elizabeth Ruben M. Peard Raymond Diffley III Linda H. Riefler ’79 Stephen Farrell Amy Salot Sonja Eliason ’15 Marshall S. Ruben Candace Fields ’13 Richard Saltz Stephen Farrell Amy Salot Amy Foster Megan Shea Candace Fields ’13 Richard Saltz David Foster ’72 Benjamin Small Amy Foster Megan Shea Ned GallagherDavid Foster ’72 Henry K. Snyder ’85 Small Benjamin E. Benjamin Gardner M. WindowHenry Snyder ’93 Ned Gallagher K. Snyder ’85 Bruce S. Gelb ’45 E. Benjamin Gardner Andrew Speyer M. Window Snyder ’93 Robert B. Goergen, James Stanley BruceJr.S.’89 Gelb ’45 Andrew Speyer Robert B. Goergen, Jr. ’89 James Stanley Tina Segalla Grant Jeanette Sublett Tina Segalla Grant Jeanette Sublett John F. Green ’77 Grace Sullivan Sullivan Linda J. HodgeJohn ’73 F. Green ’77 Thomas M.Grace Viertel ’59 Linda J. Hodge Thomas M. Viertel ’59 Christopher Hodgson ’78 ’73 Kathleen Lyons Wallace Kathleen Lyons Wallace Rosa C. HolavaChristopher Hodgson ’78 Thomas White Rosa C. Holava Thomas White Katharine Jewett James Yanelli Katharine Jewett James Yanelli Brett M. Johnson ’88 Kalya Yannatos Brett M. Johnson ’88 Kalya Yannatos Warren B. Kanders ’75 Warren B. Kanders ’75

Strategic Plan Timeline Strategic Plan Timeline

august 2011

The Board of Trustees commits august 2011 to a comprehensive strategic

The Board of Trustees commits planning process. to a comprehensive strategic planning process.

april 2012

Strategic april 2012Planning Steering

Committee prepares for the

Strategic Planning Steering year-long process. Committee prepares for the year-long process.

september 2012

Input from trustees, september 2012 faculty,

staff, students, alumni and Input from trustees, faculty, parents is collected staff, students, alumni andthrough surveys, focus groups, parents is collected through interviews and conversations. surveys, focus groups, interviews and conversations.

december 2012

december 2012 state-of-theA comprehensive

A comprehensive state-of-theschool briefing book is compiled school briefing book is compiled for retreat participants. for retreat participants.

january 2013

january Trustees,2013 faculty, staff and

Trustees, faculty, staff for and a two-day students gather students gather for a two-day retreat to discuss, debate and retreat to discuss, debate and envision our priorities. envision our priorities.

march 2013

An on-campus Writing Committee

An on-campus Writing Committee begins to distill themes and begins to distill themes and articulate strategic initiatives articulate strategic initiatives outlined at the winter retreat. outlined at the winter retreat.

FPO/

Choate Rosemary Hall

Not final copy

Strategic Plan 2013

june 2013

Board reviews final strategic plan

Board reviews final strategic and implementation outline. planand implementation outline.

september 2013 september 2013

Strategic is shared Strategic Plan Plan is shared with school community. with the the school community. Implementation the 2013 Implementation of theof 2013 Choate Rosemary Hall Strategic Choate Rosemary Hall Strategic Plan begins. Plan begins.

Student art work—a color study using pigmented markers

BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL

FALL ’13

Editorial Offices

Design and Production

Lindsay Whalen ’02

T: (203) 697-2252

David C. Nesdale

Tom Yankus ’52

F: (203) 697-2380 E-mail: alumline@choate.edu

Class Notes Editor

Photography

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.

Web site: www.choate.edu

Henry McNulty ’65

Nancie Battaglia

Director of Strategic

Contributors

Emily L. Bierman

Planning & Communications

Joel Backon

Deron Chang

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, national origin, sexual orientation, or non-job-related handicap.

Alison J. Cady

Lorraine S. Connelly

Allison Farley

Amy Foster

John Giammatteo ’77

Editor

Noel Hynd ’66

Patrick McMullan

Lorraine S. Connelly

Courtney Pal ’14

Ian Morris

Kevin Mardesich ’87

William Morris

Michelle J. Rittler ’98

Laura K. Morton

Printed in U.S.A. 1314-011/17.5 M

Donald R. Bennett

Contents | Fall 2013 features

departments

On Christian & Elm 6 News about the School

14 20

Forever True The evolution of Choate Rosemary Hall’s visual identity

A Year of iPads How a trip to Silicon Valley is changing the way we think about teaching

Alumni Association News

Classnotes

Nostalgia: Choate in the Fifties In the 1950s, Choate’s enrollment included 490 boarders and 10 day boys, including Tom Yankus ’52

Profiles of Geoffrey Cowan ’60, President, The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands; Noel Hynd ’66, Author and Volunteer; Cody Harrington ’73, FX Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios; Benjamin C. Feldman ’86, Tony Award-winning Producer; and Amanda Hearst ’02, Fashion Philanthropist

In Memoriam Remembering those we lost

Scoreboard

Bookshelf

Sports Wrap-up

Reviews of works by Rebecca Miller ’80, Susanna Sonnenberg ’83, Joanna Hershon ’90, and Katie Davis ’96

End Note 60 Courtney Pal ’14 recounts her experience living at the Kohler Environmental Center

Choate Rosemary Hall

Brett M. Johnson ’88

Life Trustees

Editorial Advisory Board

Board of Trustees

Vanessa Kong- Kerzner

Charles F. Dey

Christopher Hodgson ’78

2013-2014

Cecelia M. Kurzman ’87

Bruce S. Gelb ’45

Judy Donald ’66

Samuel P. Bartlett ’91

Edward O. Lanphier ’74

Edwin A. Goodman ’58

Howard R. Greene

Michael J. Carr ’76

Gretchen Cooper Leach ’57

Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. ’57

Jeein Ha ’00

George F. Colony ’72

James A. Lebovitz ’75

Cary L. Neiman ’64

Dorothy Heyl ’71

Alex D. Curtis

Kewsong Lee ’82

Stephen J. Schulte ’56

Henry McNulty ’65

Thompson Dean

Sara Katz Mercer ’00

Edward J. Shanahan

John Steinbreder ’74

David R. Foster ’72

Robert A. Minicucci ’71

William G. Spears ’56

Monica St. James

Robert B. Goergen, Jr. ’89

Marshall S. Ruben

Francesca Vietor ’82

John F. Green ’77

Henry K. Snyder ’85

Heather Zavod

Linda J. Hodge ’73

Jeanette Sublett

Christopher M. Hodgson ’78

Thomas M. Viertel ’59

Watch us! www.youtube.com/gochoate Share! instagram.com/gochoate Pin! pinterest.com/choaterosemary

Letter from the Editor

A New Look for the Bulletin NoN-ProFiT org. U.S. PoSTAge

PAID

NeW HAveN, CT PermiT #1090

BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL

FALL ’13

off the fIeld!

LLENGE

erfielD

7, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

d Challenge is an annual young alumni participation mall or large – made by a member of one of the above record stands at 2-3. This is the year to even the score! feat Deerfield ... Again. No athletic ability needed.

eerfield Day, november 9, 2013.

a Year of iPads ➔ Special Insert: 2013 strategic Plan: A Unifying Vision for the School

8/28/13 11:50 AM

In 2010, the Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin won a Bronze Award from the Council for Advancement and Support in Education in the independent school magazine category, followed by a Silver Award in 2011. But like an Olympic athlete in training, we need to stay motivated to keep our magazine at the top of its game. With every single issue, we must ask what our goals are and how we are going to achieve them. With this issue, we are happy to introduce a new look for the Bulletin – understanding that no one likes change just for the sake of change. The last time we changed the physical look of this magazine was five years ago, when an outside firm helped with the redesign. Serendipitously, our new look debuts with the rollout and implementation of the 2013 Strategic Plan for Choate Rosemary Hall – a five-year plan with specific recommendations for implementation in four areas of school life. We focused on the goals for the Communications and Outreach portion of the plan which state, “Choate will capitalize on traditional media and emerging technologies to communicate the exciting and innovative nature of campus life with constituents and the broader world.” True to our mission, our redesigned print magazine hopes to communicate this same excitement and spirit of innovation that predominates our campus. For starters we invite you to read our article about the most ambitious programmatic development to date “A Year of iPads” (p. 14). In each issue we hope to bring our readers more news of the latest teaching methodologies. This time, we did not employ an outside firm for design, but have used talented in-house resources. We have a sharper, cleaner, more dynamic look, while not altering the fundamental foundation of the publication. This issue also introduces readers to an updated Choate Rosemary Hall visual identity with a refreshed crest and shield variation (p. 12). Some of the traditional departments have been revamped. “Campus Connection” has been renamed “On Christian and Elm” to give readers the more palpable sense of being here. We have also introduced a nostalgia corner that will reflect on the storied histories of both Choate and Rosemary Hall. Who better to launch this department than legendary teacher Tom Yankus ’52 with his recollection, “Life in the Fifties” (p. 20). As we continue to evolve, we hope to introduce more dynamic forms of print communication in the revamped publication – large moments captured in photography and illustration, infographics and maps, shorter browsable items, and linked content to online resources. This is the beginning of what we hope will be a more satisfying journey, and we thank our loyal readership for staying with us every step of the way.

Lorraine S. Connelly Editor of the Bulletin

Snapshot During ecology class, students in the

Environmental Immersion Program collect samples from a stream near the Kohler Environmental Center in order to assess aquatic invertebrate diversity and water quality.

on CHRISTIAN & ELM | Faculty News

2013 Dean of Faculty Appointments

Clockwise/from bottom left Director of Studies Kevin Rogers, Director of Curricular Initiatives Katharine Jewett, Director of Faculty Development Thomas White, Director of Global Programs Sara Boisvert, and Dean of Faculty Kathyrn Levesque.

Jewett has been Language Department head Katie Levesque, a 14-year veteran of Choate for the past five years, leading both an internal Rosemary Hall’s teaching faculty, was appointed department review and a school-wide review of Dean of Faculty, effective July 1. Katie has served international programs. Working with her colas English Department head since 2010, with leagues, she has introduced 10 new courses to prior experience as a mentor and form head. She the department and helped develop the School’s has also devoted considerable time to curriculum interdisciplinary Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies development, including initiating an ongoing Program. White recently completed a five-year departmental review of writing that yielded a new term as head of the History, Philosophy, Religion course, Intensive Expository Writing. and Social Sciences department. In his new role, Levesque has coached interscholastic and his primary responsibility will be to hire and train intramural teams and has lived in both single and new colleagues and guide the professional developmulti-adviser houses, serving as Head of House in ment of the faculty. Rogers, a 13-year veteran Bernhard since 2008. Former Chair and member of the faculty, is in his second year as Director of the Faculty Committee, she has been an active of Studies. His primary responsibilities include member of the Workload and Compensation monitoring, implementation and oversight of Committee, Strategic Plan Writing Committee, academic policies and academic advising, the iPad Steering Committee, and others. “An acSchool’s speaker programs, the Teaching and complished teacher in her own right and a tireless, Learning Center, and the Andrew Mellon Library. compassionate colleague and friend, I have every Boisvert, who joined the faculty this July, recently confidence that she will make a notable, positive left her position as Director of Global Programs impact in terms of leadership and vision on the at The Pingry School, to serve as Choate’s new academic life of our extraordinary school,” says Director of Global Programs. She will collaborate Headmaster Alex D. Curtis. with Choate faculty to support existing global Joining Katie in the newly reconfigured Dean programs and develop new global learning and of Faculty’s Office is Katharine Jewett, Director service opportunities that extend the Choate of Curricular Initiatives; Thomas White, educational experience beyond the borders of Director of Faculty Development; Kevin our campus. Rogers, Director of Studies and Sara Boisvert, Director of Global Programs.

Co-Director of College Counseling Office Appointed Marcia L. Landesman, of Woodbridge, Conn., has been appointed Co-Director of College Counseling Office effective July 1. Landesman, who was previously Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale from 2001 to 2013, has 14 years of university administration experience. A graduate of Swarthmore, she began her career as Assistant Dean of Admission there. She then took a hiatus from admission work, earning a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1996, after which she worked as a litigation associate at two major international law firms, Sidley Austin and Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts. At Yale, Landesman coordinated the Yale Alumni Schools Committee Program which oversees approximately 10,000 alumni interviewers throughout the world. Says Associate Headmaster Kathleen Lyons Wallace, “Marcia’s experience and expertise complement those of her colleagues in the College Counseling Office, and the resultant collaboration will ensure the steady evolution of an already-strong office.”

Bulletin | Fall 2013 7

2013 Year End Celebration Honors Retiring Teacher Zack Goodyear

Headmaster Alex D. Curtis and the Choate community gathered on June 6 to celebrate the retirement of six people and honor them for their years of service to the School. Former Dean of Faculty Ed Maddox read a citation in honor of veteran faculty member Zack Goodyear, hired in 1969 by then-Headmaster Seymour St. John. Goodyear’s tenure at Choate spanned four administrations. Zack’s wife, Julie RH ’65, was Admission Coordinator for the Icahn Scholars Programs.

Excerpted remarks by Ed Maddox:

In September, 1969, America was fighting in Vietnam, student protests rocked college campuses, the Woodstock festival had just ended, and Americans still celebrated the moon landing two months before. On September 8, Zack and Julie Goodyear danced to the music of Duke Ellington’s Orchestra at their wedding reception at New York’s St. Regis Hotel. Five days later, they moved into their “bridal suite” on Hill 3 which, though it lacked a full kitchen, came fully equipped with 28 fourth, fifth, and sixth form boys. It was a different Choate. Though conversations between the two schools had begun, Rosemary Hall had not yet moved back to Wallingford for “coordinate education.” As a faculty spouse, Julie was expected to pour after-dinner demitasse in the Faculty Room for the faculty (all but one of whom were male) and the sixth form (all of whom were male). Zack and Julie spent 27 years living in dormitories: Hill House, Woodhouse, Bungalow, East Cottage, Logan Munroe. Their door was always open to students, who were treated like part of an extended family. One student wrote when he graduated that the Goodyears, “provided the combination of guidance and love which bonded us to one another as well as to you.” As Director of Summer Programs, Zack doubled the size and funding for the Connecticut Scholars Program. As adviser to the Icahn Scholars Program, he guided scores of sixth formers through the college application process. As form dean, he balanced the virtues of respect and adherence to the rules with compassion and understanding.

But Zack’s passion was the classroom, especially his two classes of American Political Institutions and Effecting Political Change. He has been an outspoken guardian of academic rigor and curricular excellence, a cautionary voice against the undercurrents of creeping grade inflation. Over the 16 years that he was adviser to The News, Zack sought to instill in the News masthead and its reporters the highest standards of journalism while maintaining a student newspaper like that of our most distinguished peer schools. It should come as no surprise that one of Zack’s projects in retirement is to work for the Municipal Arts Society of New York. This is the organization that, under the leadership of Jackie Kennedy, successfully preserved Grand Central Station from the developers wrecking ball in 1978. Zack has often spoken out against building or re-decoration projects that go against the grain of the historical architecture and design of the School. He’s lost some battles with Headmasters and he’s won a few, none more momentous, perhaps, when in the early ’90s a new Headmaster developed plans to plow under and plant over the softball diamond on Mem Field. Today, the softball field stands because Zack had the temerity to express his outrage at the administration’s threat to tamper with an important piece of school history. For those of you who follow in their footsteps, I urge you to view Julie and Zack as the ideal to which members of this faculty should aspire. For 44 years of service to this school and to the thousands of young people whose lives have been touched and enriched by theirs, we thank them.

top Julie and Zack Goodyear Bottom Zack Goodyear and Dan Courcey ’86 from the mid-1980s. Other Year End Honorees included mathematics teacher Robert J. DeMarco, Administrative Assistant to the Headmaster and Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees Rosa C. Holava, Admission Campus Visit Coordinator Elizabeth M. Mitchell, librarian Marie L. Morch, and history teacher and Head of Campus Ministry Rev. Marc J. Trister. The program also recognized faculty and staff reaching their 25-year milestones: Susan M. Atwater, John S. Cobb, Elisa V. Currie, Nijole M. Janik, Masako O. Miller, Frank Peters, Linda C. Read, John G. Russell, and James J. Yanelli, Jr.

on CHRISTIAN & ELM | Commencement

c o mme n ceme n t 2 0 1 3

Bulletin | Fall 2013 9

Seth Meyers, Head Writer and Weekend Update Anchor of NBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Saturday Night Live, delivered remarks to the Class of 2013 on Sunday, June 2. Headmaster Alex D. Curtis and the Board of Trustees bestowed diplomas and certificates to the senior class comprising 265 graduates from 27 states and 22 countries. Photos courtesy of the Johnathan Henninger and The Hartford Courant.

C o n g r at u l at i o n s !

on CHRISTIAN & ELM | Newsworthy

50 Anniversary of JFK Assassination th

The approaching 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy ’35 has prompted a slew of documentaries and docudramas. Among them is JFK: Seven Days That Made a President, produced by Blast! Films, an award-winning British independent production company for the National Geographic Channels International. From his early days at The Choate School to the Cuban missile crisis, the film explores seven defining moments that made the man, drove his presidency and changed the fate of the world. This past April, Blast! Films spent a day on campus filming for the two-hour special, which will air in November.

Three Alumnae Named to U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team USA Hockey has announced the 25-player roster for the U.S. Women’s National Team that will train together in Lake Placid, N.Y, and participate in various competitions in the build-up to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Among the 25 players on the final roster are three Choate Rosemary Hall alumnae: three-time Olympian Julie Chu ’01, who at age 31 is the oldest member of the team; Olympian Hilary Knight ’07; and Harvard defenseman Josephine Pucci ’09. The final 2014 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team, will be announced in late December.

KEC Shortlisted for World Architecture Festival 2013 The Kohler Environmental Center is among the more than 300 projects from almost 50 countries that have been shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival 2013 to take place October 2 to 4 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. The Center was designed by RAMSA Partners Robert A.M. Stern, Graham S. Wyatt, and Kevin Smith, who led the design. The new LEED Platinum 31,325-square-foot academic and residential facility, which opened in September 2012, was designed to achieve net-zero energy usage, and can accommodate up to 20 students for a total-immersion environmental living experience. In June, the KEC received an Award of Honor from the Connecticut Green Building Council.

Paul Giamatti ’85 Returns to Campus On April 3, Paul Giamatti ’85 came back to campus to accept the School’s Alumni Award for his accomplishments in theater, television and film. The presentation was made at a school meeting on April 3, where Giamatti was also interviewed by James Gong ’15 and Will Born ’15, members of Choate’s Film Society. Following school meeting, Giamatti joined his former dean, Ed Maddox, in a question-and-answer session in the Arts Center gallery.

Ryan Hong ’89 visits with News masthead Chairman of the Herald Corporation , Ryan Hong ’89, who was a former editor of The News, visited campus on July 26 and met with with three current members of the News masthead, Editor-in Chief Courtney Pal ’14, News editor Sneha Saha ’14 and Arts & Leisure Editor Alisha Kapur ’14. The Herald Corporation is a leading media and education group in South Korea, which publishes The Korea Herald and The Herald Business, among others; operates Donga TV; and manages a nationwide language institute and English village network. Hong is also the founder of Olje Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting classics education. Between 2008 and 2012, he served as a representative in Korea’s National Assembly, working on the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee. His memoir, Seven Acts Seven Scenes, has sold over 1 million copies in Korea.

To Infinity and Beyond! Choate Goes West From July 10 to 12, a contingent of Choate administrators and faculty traveled to the West Coast and visited the Institute of Design at Stanford and The Nueva School, and met with alumni at Pixar Animation Studios, Google, Oracle, and Twitter to learn about the newest advances in education and technology. Says Associate Headmaster Kathleen Wallace, “The creative, collaborative, innovative, ‘go get ’em’ environment and culture of the West Coast and of the enterprises we visited mesh well with the Choate of today and tomorrow.”

Charles Krause ’51 Fellow in Rhetoric Yale Professor Alice Kaplan Alice Kaplan, the John M. Musser Professor of French at Yale, and the 2013 Charles Krause ’51 Fellow in Rhetoric, spoke to students and faculty April 8 at an all-school special program. Kaplan, best known for her 1993 memoir French Lessons, discussed her most recent book, Dreaming in French: The Paris Years of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag, and Angela Davis. The book explores how a year in Paris in each of these women’s lives “changed their relationship to their bodies, to their words, and strengthened their sense of being in the world.” Kaplan was joined by a panel of five Choate students and alumni who shared their own experiences as participants in Choate’s Study Abroad Programs. The Krause Fellowship is made possible by the Charles A. Krause ’51 Fund which provides an academic department the opportunity to bring to campus a public speaker who has made a distinguished contribution in his or her field and whose personal example may inspire others. The Language department hosted Dr. Kaplan during her visit to campus.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 11

2 3

5 7 6 1 Paul Giamatti ’85 and former Dean of Faculty Ed Maddox in a questionand-answer session for students at the Arts Center Gallery on April 3. 2 Headmaster Seymour St. John ’31 with Senator John F. Kennedy ’35 in 1958.

3 From left, panelists at the Charles Krause ’51 Lecture, Tochi Onyebuchi ’05; Bella Crane ’15; Professor Alice Y. Kaplan; Katie Jewett; Kenny Oliveira ’13; Ify Ozoma ’11 and Headmaster Curtis.

4 The 25-player roster for the U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team includes three alumnae: Back row, first on left, Josephine Pucci ’ 09 and second row 5th and 6th from left, Julie Chu ’01 and Hilary Knight ’07. 5 Cody Harrington ’73, Special Effects Director at Pixar Animation Studios, gave a Choate delegation of adminis-

trators and teachers a tour in June. See profile on Cody on p. 39. 6 From left, adviser to The News, Trevor Peard, Editor-in-Chief of The News Courtney Pal ’14, News Associates Alisha Kapur ’14 and Sneha Saha ’14, and Ryan Hong ’89.

7 The Kohler Environmental Center, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP., has been shortlisted to be juried in the schools category at the World Architecture Festival 2013.

Forever True The Evolution of Choate Rosemary Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Visual Identity

As with all aspects of Choate Rosemary Hall, the Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visual identity has evolved over time. Reflecting a rich history, while remaining contemporary, each iteration of the School logo has had its time and place. A recent update of the crest maintains visual consistency for Choate Rosemary Hall, yet introduces a new, modern variation appropriate for reproduction in the digital age.

Visit www.choate.edu for a video version of this story.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 13

1907

1890 rosemary hall

the choate school

Rosemary Hall adopted the motto “I seek higher things" and the wild boar from the Ruutz-Rees family crest.

Three swords, the helmet, the shield and the broken sword were symbols taken from the 18th century Choate family crest. The School chose the motto “Fidelity and Integrity.”

1981

1932

choate rosemary hall

the choate school

The first crest designed to reflect elements from both The Choate School and Rosemary Hall.

The crest was updated in 1932, maintaining many of the core elements. In 1940, the motto was changed to “I have sought to do thee good,“ as referenced here.

1987

1997

choate rosemary hall

In honor of the centennial

In 1997 the School returned to

celebration of the schools, the

using the crest and the original

beech tree logo was introduced

motto “Fidelity and Integrity.”

with the supporting motto “I am old, yet I am forever young.”

2013 choate rosemary hall

choate rosemary hall

The original hand drawn crest is

The shield, a distilled version of

refreshed maintaining all of the

the crest, is developed for digital

core elements and employing clean

and graphic use. The shield will

graphic lines ideal for modern print

be used as an alternative to

production. The crest continues to

the crest and will support the

serve as the formal representation

traditional Choate visual identity.

of the School.

I L L U S T R AT I O N S B y S T E P H A N I E D A LT O N C O W A N

Bulletin | Fall 2013 15

A Year of iPads How a trip to Silicon Valley is changing the way we think about teaching B y L o r r a i n e S . C o n n e l ly

As the school year begins, we are marking a milestone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; our first year of full adoption of a program that integrates new technology with best teaching practices. This article takes a look back at the implementation of the program and how the device is making inroads both inside and outside the classroom while challenging educators to rethink how they teach.

Changing Chang

Biology teacher Deron Chang, who was somewhat skeptical before the trip and reluctant to hop on the technology bandwagon, returned a convert. Based on what he heard and saw, he was convinced that the iPad had the ability to significantly enhance the classroom experience. Says In spring 2012, a year after feedback from a successful iPad Pilot Program Chang: “It is not about the iPad per se, but its power as a transformative across all academic departments, and with enthusiasm for iPads growing, the School made the bold decision to distribute iPads to all faculty with teaching tool. It has allowed me to change the way I teach my Biology the anticipation that students would be required to bring an iPad to 400 class: pushing students to find solutions on their own, getting them school the following fall. The iPad would become the newest tool in the to engage their classmates in collaborative learning, and giving them st 21 century educational toolbox, which has included the laptop and the opportunities to create something new.” A 17-year veteran of the classroom, Chang’s previous goals for his graphing calculator. students were mostly content-driven. Students needed to learn scientific Remember those basics, pencils and protractors? The No. 2 pencil literacy: how to evaluate, take notes, and work in teams. His new goals? has been subsumed, in some instances, by the stylus. And the protractor? To get students excited and passionate about the material they were Well, there’s an app for that now. studying; to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses; and to In May 2012, Headmaster Alex D. Curtis and a cohort of Choate collaborate, create, and innovate. He explains, “This new student-centered teachers and administrators attended a two-day executive briefing session approach to learning, with the iPad serving as a source of content and a at Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., and observed a K-12 school canvas for creativity, gives students confidence, real-world application, that was conducting its own pilot program. and a new perspective on how to define success.” Chang had already achieved success with a student-centered approach to learning. For 10 years, he was coordinator of the Science Research Program, one of Choate’s signature academic experiences, where highly motivated science students engage in independent research, develop their own projects and then partner outside of the classroom with mentors at university research laboratories. He notes, “The SRP classroom pilot began for me the student-centered approach to a classroom experience where students learn by creating.” Instead of being a unique experience for a few highly-motivated students, what if there was a tool that enhanced student-based learning, allowing all students to step up and tap into strengths they didn’t know they had? The iPad held such possibilities, and more. After the trip to Cupertino, and two weeks before the end of spring term, the veteran teacher decided to change his syllabus and not give a traditional assessment. Instead, he had students create video presentations to distribute to other class members. He saw immediate results. An average B student, who was not particularly motivated to do more in a traditional classroom setting, suddenly became one of the best students in the class. Says Chang: “We found that he was really good at creating screencasts. He began engaging his classmates and creating something different. This exercise gave him enormous confidence, and in the end he was learning better biology.” Last October, Chang gave a well-received presentation to faculty about his iPad conversion experience. He now mostly uses the “flipped” classroom, reversing traditional teaching methods: New material is delivered online outside class time, while individual and group instruction is done in class. This approach allows teachers to spend more time providing context for the content that students have immediate access to, and allows time for greater interaction with students. Of the 120 lessons he taught last year, only six, says Chang, were traditional lectures. Whereas before he might have lectured students on a fundamental concept such as building

Bulletin | Fall 2013 17

up and breaking down biomolecules, he now has students problem-solve by creating, for example, a stop-motion video that explains the dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis of sucrose. Classroom projects are mostly interactive and hands-on; all of his homework assignments are submitted electronically through iPad apps Notability and Dropbox. Group quizzes and everyday classwork all require notetaking and Internet access. Even some tests were completed on the iPad. Says Josh Huttler ’14, a biology student in Chang’s class, “Access to the iPad definitely made me a better student. Although there was some adjustment period to get comfortable with the technology, I worked much faster and effectively in biology than in any of my other classes by the end of the year. I learned to work more efficiently and study with greater ease thanks to the iPad and the apps associated with it.” Adds Chang: “In the end, while students certainly learn biology, more importantly, they become aware of their strengths and weaknesses, more effective teammates, and better creative problem solvers. This, perhaps will be their first set of baby steps towards being true innovators and leaders in their fields.”

A Tool for Thinking & Teaching A year into the iPad program, teachers and students use iPads when it makes the most sense for teaching and learning. The advantages of portability, instant-on, thousands of apps, and long battery life are making the iPad a much less intrusive and more spontaneous tool than laptops or computer labs. Says Associate Headmaster Kathleen Wallace, “the greatest advantage so far has been the iPad serving as a catalyst for discussion and deep thinking about how we teach.”

The onslaught of new technology has almost forced this conversation. In a recent online feature for Independent School Magazine, Lisa Bostwick, a teacher of art and design at Drew School in California, wrote, “The most important thing a school can do at this amazing moment in the history – with the world of information at our fingertips, more places for information storage than ever before, more ways to create content, network, collaborate, observe, and share each other’s work – is promote thinking.” She cautions that with the territory of technology “so vast, and with so many of us learning as we go, we need to help students shift from being enticed users to being self-aware interpreters of their digital lives. And, of course, there is only one app for that: the mind encouraged by meaningful opportunities to think deeply.” Building a culture of reflective thinking and promoting deep thinking across the curriculum is at the heart of the School’s new strategic plan and ensures that our use of technology will connect directly to our mission and desired outcomes. Director of Academic Technology Joel Backon attributes our seamless transition to new technology to Headmaster Curtis’ vision for the School’s future. “Dr. Curtis has made sure that the School’s culture includes innovation,” says Backon. ‘‘The fact that there was no mandate for faculty to employ the iPad in the classroom created a safety net for faculty to try new things without negative consequences.” He adds: “The timing was right. Teachers were ready to rethink the way they teach and restructure their courses.” For the past seven summers, Backon has run the Technology and Learning Institute (TLI), a week-long workshop designed to educate faculty about technology. This past summer, 56 participants from the Eight Schools Association and The Taft School enrolled in workshops including eBook Creation and Delivery, Introduction to Instructional Technology, Mastering Technology Tools in Mathematics, and Teaching with Technology in the 21st Century. And during the school year Backon and the most savvy technology educators on staff offer a series of ongoing workshops called iPad University. Susan Forsythe, a math teacher and a participant in this summer’s TLI says, “At St. Paul’s School, we are watching Choate’s iPad program with great

This new student-centered approach to learning, with the iPad serving as a source of content and a canvas for creativity, gives students confidence, real-world application, and a new perspective on how to define success.

The greatest advantage so far has been the iPad serving as a catalyst for discussion and deep thinking about how we teach.

interest. We’re experimenting with iPads in a few classrooms this year across various disciplines. We’re eager to learn from Choate – what worked well, what didn’t, and what could be improved as they gain experience with iPads in the classroom.” Although Backon says, “For the most part our peer schools have been intrigued by Choate’s iPad program, he notes, “Some peer schools think we may have jumped into iPads too quickly, and others don’t like the messiness of multiple devices.” “One of the iPad’s greatest strengths,” says Backon, “is that it creates learning pathways for students having trouble with a concept or a principle.” He explains, “With the iPad, teachers and students are no longer faced with waiting for the test to determine whether a student has grasped a concept. A screencast is a powerful way to explain a concept, and a student can listen to it and view it again and again until that concept is assimilated.” Backon sees the iPad’s greatest long-term potential is for individualized and adaptive instruction.

Of iPads and Microwaves When one hears about the iPad’s efficiency and its ability to deliver information quickly, one can’t help make a comparison to another new fangled device that debuted in 1967: the microwave oven. It could heat food faster, use less energy – and cost just under $500. Says tech writer Michael Guay, “Looking just at the specs, a microwave didn’t make sense to many. In the store, a microwave didn’t seem like a must-have item to many, but once you incorporated it into your daily life, it was irreplaceable.” Math and computer science teacher Matt Bardoe thinks the analogy is a good one. Matt, who grew up in Ohio, said his grandmother was one of the first purveyors of the microwave. “Everything went into the microwave for a while,” Matt recalled, “until we realized it wasn’t good at certain things.” Indeed, a true gourmet won’t give up his Viking stove

Bulletin | Fall 2013 19

for a microwave. So too, the iPad: it offers efficiency and quick delivery, but it won’t ever replace the high-functioning laptop – or the human brain. Says Matt: “We are figuring out what the iPad does well and what it doesn’t do well. Certain disciplines such as English and history and the sciences have embraced iPad technology more readily.” Chris Hogue, who came to Choate in 2011 after eight years as a graduate student instructor in engineering at UC Berkeley, and is one of the coordinators of Choate’s Science Research Program, is still exploring how best to incorporate the iPad into classroom instruction. “Homework help has been transformed by the ability to post screencasts,” Hogue says, “and the evolution of eBooks and the capacity for embedded videos, simulations, and multimedia is yet to be determined.” “Ironically,” says Bardoe, “math has been not an early adopter. One reason for that is we have a technology that we currently teach: the graphing calculator, and it’s 30 years old. You can’t be quantitatively literate without knowledge of how a calculator works.” Yet notes Bardoe, “the world has passed the calculator by. There are a lot of other reasons we have held on to calculators; the main one is standardized tests such as the SAT and AP. We want to embrace modern technology, but there are pieces that we are responsible for, such as standardized testing, that have not embraced the modern.” To keep up with the latest advances in mathematics and computer science, Bardoe is taking advanced computer science courses with Coursera, an educational technology company offering massive open online courses (MOOCs), and staying current with the evolution of “Big Data,” a cutting-edge field of statistics. In his advanced computer science course, Bardoe has his students make screencasts of difficult material as they hit problems so that students can work on them together. This past July, Bardoe returned from another school-sponsored trip to Silicon Valley, this time to Oracle, Google, Pixar Animation Studios, and Twitter. Says Bardoe: “We asked business executives that we met what they are looking for in terms of future employees to broaden our own view. It’s very easy to get caught up in the college process and its end result, but we really want to prepare our students for the world beyond college. We heard the same thing over and over: Employers value those who have had an overseas experience, have empathy for others, and are able to work together collaboratively.” The fact that the quality of empathy came up is especially interesting since you can’t really be empathetic unless you have failed at something. Notes Bardoe, “One of the things I love about teaching computer programming is that it doesn’t work the first 15 times and you really have to get students used to that. I want students to ask themselves, ‘How do I figure out what’s not working?’ I love getting students into the problemsolving process. In order to get away from the right or wrong mode in mathematics; we have to teach students about the design process where feedback and revision are encouraged.” Every math problem has a design process and a mathematical process, says Bardoe, and it’s important to learn both. Recently Bardoe, along with Choate math teacher Andrea Sorrells, had their students create their own visual designs, based on the work of 1960s British op-artist Bridget Riley, who grew up on the coast of England observing water ripples and sparkles

and then transmuted these geometric shapes into contemporary art. Using the software products Grapher and Photoshop, students created similar works of art. Encouraging students to make connections across the curriculum is at the heart of teaching and learning at Choate Rosemary Hall. Says Associate Headmaster Kathleen Wallace, “Choate and its curriculum have steadily changed over the years and we continue to seek ways to evolve that suit our students and the times during which they are growing to adulthood. Learning by doing, being creative, and taking risks are among the best ways to learn.” While the 21st century classroom includes some of the bells and whistles of technology, notes Wallace, “it also involves students taking part in project-based, hands-on course work and extracurricular endeavors that require stumbling, failure, and learning from missteps.” As technology and pedagogy come together in unique ways to serve our students, they will grow and learn and eventually become the leaders and innovators in their fields.

nostalgia } from the Archives

In the 1950s… A R e t r o s p e c t i v e b y T o m Ya n k u s ’ 5 2

all boarding schools were single-sex schools. Some still are. Choate’s enrollment included 490 boarders and 10 day boys. When I was at School, there were no students of color, and only one international student … from Bermuda. Since so many schools tried to educate their students via “tough love,” creating a Spartan daily life … you can imagine what Choate was like.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 21

Hill House study hall, 1950s

When I was a wee lad of 14, I was thrust into this alien environment as a day student with no idea what lay ahead. The only tougher experience I subsequently had was in Navy flight school, where I was under the control of Marine drill sergeants who thought that “kindness” was a fourletter word.

daily schedule 34 bells, including warning bells before meals and five minutes before the end of each class. The system broke down 30 years ago, and we have lived without bells ever since. Morning, afternoon and evening study halls – 50 desks and chairs in Mem House and 100 in Hill House. Mandatory nonsectarian chapel service seven days a week; room inspection every morning; a limit of 150-watts for each single room (about two and a half light bulbs); rising bell at 6:50 a.m.; required attendance at 20 out of 21 meals – Sunday nights, you could sit with friends. Required sports all three seasons, since the school considered playing on a team a way of engendering toughness: sound body, sound mind. The theory derived from “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”

curfew at 9:30 p.m., including Saturday. Weekend

sports The entire school traveled to Deerfield by

entertainment was a movie in the basement of the Chapel. Jacket and tie to all classes and meals. You raised your hand and stood by your chair to answer a question in class. Students were required to write a letter home each week; advisers collected them on Sunday nights. There was one public telephone on campus, in the basement of Hill House. No long weekends, classes six days a week. Smoking was a dismissal offense, whether at school or on a school-sponsored trip. No food deliveries to the dorms were allowed. The work program was a massive undertaking, since every student was assigned a job on campus. There were no computers, cell phones. No locks on doors.

chartered train on Deerfield Day. On Choate Day, the entire Deerfield student body traveled to Wallingford by train and, led by their band, marched in step from the railroad station to the Choate campus carrying their raincoats on their arms. Several times a month in the winter, classes began at 10:00 a.m., so that students could skate on the hockey rink before the sun turned the ice to mush.

The entire school traveled to Deerfield by chartered train on Deerfield Day. On Choate Day, the entire Deerfield student body traveled to Wallingford by train and, led by their band, marched in step from the railroad station to the Choate campus carrying their raincoats on their arms.

privileges Afternoon permission to walk into town

fun Three times a year, girls arrived on campus for a

was based on what form a student was in: sixth form, four days a week, and so forth. No evening trips to town were allowed. Jacket and tie required for these trips. Sixth formers went to the front of all lines. Only sixth formers could walk on the lawn in front of Hill House. Students in the top academic group left for each vacation three days early. Those same students were allowed to study in their rooms during free periods. Weekends off campus were limited – grade point average once again determined the number of weekends a student could take.

weekend of dances and special events. Boys moved out of their rooms to accommodate the girls, spending Friday and Saturday nights on cots on the athletic center basketball courts. Young faculty members were also moved out to sleep on the basketball courts and act as chaperones. On Saturday evenings during dinner, the 12-piece student orchestra performed on the balcony above the dining hall. In the early ’70s, many boarding schools – not all – became co-ed. Welcoming girls, or boys, was not easy for some schools. For instance, when the Deerfield head announced in an assembly that Deerfield would admit girls the following year, the entire senior class walked out in protest. They envisioned their sacred traditions going to hell in a handcart. Choate students, on the other hand, thought they had gone to heaven when the girls arrived. Let’s hear it for the girls!

the administration One dean of students, one college counselor, whose only question was “Ivy League or Little Three (Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan)?” Sunday chapel was an hour long, followed by a formal mid-day dinner. Students were dismissed only after the Headmaster had finished his meal as well as his conversation with the guest chapel speaker.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 23

Alumni Association | News & Events choate rosemary hall alumni association's 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 Chris Hodgson ’78 President Ed McCormick ’78 Patrick McCurdy ’98, Vice Presidents

STANDING COMMITTEES Admission Colm Rafferty ’94 Chair

REGIONAL CLUB LEADERSHIP Boston Larry Morin ’58 Pat Clendenen ’84 Connecticut David Aversa ’91 Kate Vitali Childs ’95 London Alicia Forrey ’00 Kate Aquila ’92

Annual Fund Chris Vlasto ’84 David Hang ’94 Co-Chairs

Los Angeles Tom Nieman ’88 Stan Savage ’92

Campus Programming Ed Keating ’83 Chair

New York Jason Kasper ’05 Eliza Buddenhagen ’06

Communications Jeein Ha ’00 Chair

Rosemary Hall Alice Chaffee Freeman ’63

Michele Judd Rittler ’98 Vice-Chair

San Francisco John Smyth ’83 Tara Elwell ’99

Nominating/Prize Susan Barclay ’85 Chair

Washington, D.C. Anna Lindel ’03 Patrick Holley ’’90

Regional Clubs John Smyth ’83 Chair

Beijing David Barrutia ’94 Gunther Hamm ’98

Parisa Jaffer ’89 Carolyn Kim ’96 Vice-Chairs

Hong Kong Ronna Chao Heffner ’85 P. Jamie O’Donnell ’80

Student Relations Mike Furgueson ’80 Chair

Seoul Ryan Hong ’89

Shantell Richardson ’99 Vice-Chair

ADDITIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS Dan Courcey ’86 Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations Mari Jones Director of Development and Alumni Relations Monica St. James Director of Alumni Relations Leigh Dingwall ’84 Faculty Representative

Thailand Sunpitt Sethpornpong ’84 Chali Sophonpanich ’79

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PAST PRESIDENTS Woody Laikand ’53 Susan Barclay ’85

Bulletin | Fall 2013 25

A Reunion Weekend to Remember More than 850 alumni returned on Reunion Weekend, May 17 to 19, to a bustling Reunion Village on the Great Lawn. Among the highlights of the weekend were remarks given at the Chapel Remembrance Service by Edward “Ted” Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy ’35, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the President’s official school portrait. Those in attendance were privileged to hear a seldom-heard recording of President Kennedy’s from Reunion Weekend 1963 in which he reminds us that “the inheritance of wealth creates responsibilities; so does privilege in education.” These words to alumni echo the moral imperative of a landmark civil rights speech he would give just a few weeks later in June 1963 (see New York Times op-ed “Kennedy’s Finest Moment,” June 10, 2013). After the recording was played, Ted Kennedy Jr., also a Choate parent, spoke about America’s historic legacy of public service and the important role that Choate Rosemary Hall continues to play in terms of instilling public responsibility in its students. At this year's Alumni Association Annual Meeting and Distinguished Service Awards presentation, Jeffrey “Woody” Laikind ’53 and Alice Chaffee Freeman ’63 were honored for their continued service to the School. Among the full array of Saturday afternoon activities were an open house and tour of the new Kohler Environmental Center, the School’s first LEED Platinum facility, and symposiums including “50 Years of Sisterhood,” a discussion of the women’s movement, moderated by Leigh Dingwall ’84; “Filmmaking from Concept to Screen,” with screenwriters Geoffrey Fletcher ’88 and Dean Georgaris ’88; and “Entrepreneurship,” led by Khalid Itum ’98, Allison Lami Sawyer ’03, Caroline Howe ’03, Jonathan Hirsch ’03 and Charles McCurdy ’73. A farewell brunch concluded the weekend’s activities on Sunday.

Hall of Fame Inductions Making the move to Reunion Weekend Reunion Weekend will have a new featured event beginning next spring with the addition of the Choate Rosemary Hall Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday, May 16, 2014. Previously held biennially on the Friday evening of Deerfield Weekend, the change allows the Alumni Association to present the honor annually to individual alumni, as well as potentially to a team, coach or contributor. Class dinners, live entertainment and memorable moments filled the Saturday evening of Reunion Weekend.

Alumni Association | News & Events

3 4 5

1 Michael Douglas ’63 arrived on campus May 16, for a pre-50th Reunion celebration dinner with classmates. Before leaving, he took time to meet with Headmaster Alex Curtis and students in the Arts Concentration Program.

2 Ted Kennedy, Jr. P ’12, ’16 spoke at the Saturday morning Chapel Remembrance Service commemorating the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the portrait of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy ’35.

3 Alumni were given a tour of the Kohler Environmental Center, the School’s first LEED Platinum academic and residential facility.

4 Dean Georgaris ’88, Joan Bigwood King ’78 and Geoffrey Fletcher ’88 enjoyed catching up.

5 In celebration of their 40th Reunion, the Choate and Rosemary Hall Classes of ’73 raised more than $100,000 for the Kohler Environmental Center biodiesel bus. A commemorative plaque has been installed in the bus.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 27

Young Alumni Task Force Making Stronger Connections Identifying ways to better engage young alumni in the life of Choate Rosemary Hall is the goal of the Young Alumni Task Force (YATF), a group of 32 alumni who met June 1 on campus to begin this dialogue. The initial meeting opened the door to discussions on several topics, including preparing current students to be alumni, connecting students with alumni in college or graduate school, assisting alumni with launching their careers, facilitating stronger connections as younger alumni become adults with careers and families, and creating new ways for alumni to be supportive and involved with the School. During the meeting, the YATF divided into subgroups for facilitated discussions in three areas: Student Alumni, Communications, and Choate for Life. These breakout sessions were lively and generated a number of creative ideas for further discussion by the task force, and, as a result, the groups have already held follow-up conference calls to drill deeper into their ideas.

The interest, enthusiasm and dedication of these younger alumni certainly bode well for the success of the initiative. The task force plans to meet next in January, at which time its members will finalize their first set of recommendations to the School.

Extend Your Choate Experience with LinkedIn More than 2,200 alumni have joined the Alumni Association’s LinkedIn page to expand their career network. Join lively discussions, get career advice and connect with alumni from all walks of life. To get started, visit www.linkedin.com and search for the Choate Rosemary Hall Alumni Association. More specifically, if entrepreneurship is your passion, search for Start Up//Choate. In late April, Miles Spencer ’81, along with help from Choate staff members, kicked off a three-city tour to introduce Start Up//Choate. Prompted by the question of how to keep up with Choate’s entrepreneur alumni, Start Up//Choate was born, along with an associated LinkedIn group (now one of the School’s most active) and a Twitter feed. The road shows highlighted the best and brightest minds from the Choate start-up universe and included Woody Marshall ’86 and Seth Sternberg ’97, along with host Michael Fitzpatrick ’93, in San Francisco; Jeff Schwartz P ’16, Jeffrey Mullen and Michael Holthouse in Boston; and Alex Moazed ‘06 and NT Etuk ’93 in New York. The animated and informative panel discussions gathered more than 100 Choaties from three cities – and beyond – to network, learn and share experiences about starting and growing businesses. For Choaties themselves, who have a great network to begin with, Start Up//Choate is now taking it local, mobile and social! Get involved! Round two of Start Up//Choate will be back on the West Coast in September with stops in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Keep an eye out for more information, including future East Coast events, by joining the Start Up// Choate LinkedIn Group or by following the groups Twitter feed. You’ll be among the first to know, and of course, to make career connections with other influential and like-minded Choate alumni, parents, and friends.

Calendar of Events September

9/7 – Harriman Cup Polo Match - NY 9/8 – New York Yankees v. Boston Red Sox – New York 9/14 – Alumni Soccer Game – Choate Campus 9/19 – Washington Nationals v. Miami Marlins – Washington, D.C. Late September– Start Up//Choate – California

October

10/19 – Head of the Charles – Boston 10/26 – Walking Tour of Literary Sites plus Reception – Concord, MA 10/27 – New York Marathon Kickoff Road Race – New York 10/29 – American Political Institutions Students in D.C. Washington, D.C.

November

11/9 – Deerfield Day Virtual Tailgates – Regional Club and other hosted sites – Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., or Host Your Own

December

12/2013 – Holiday Party – New York 12/2013 – Holiday Party – Los Angeles

January

1/16/2014 – Post-Holiday Winterfests – Washington D.C. 1/2014 – Post-Holiday Winterfest – Boston, Connecticut, London, San Francisco 1/23/2014 – Career Connection Networking Event – New York

May 2014

“The Alumni Association Executive Committee (AAEC) and the Athletics Department agreed that since there are so many alumni worthy of consideration for the Athletics Hall of Fame, we should make this an annual event,” said CRH Alumni Association President Chris Hodgson ’78. “By incorporating the dinner ceremony into Reunion Weekend activities, we hope we will attract even more alumni back to campus to help the School honor these exceptional athletes.” Recognizing the efforts and achievements of outstanding student-athletes, teams, coaches and special contributors that have advanced the School’s athletics program and reputation is the core purpose of the Choate Rosemary Hall Athletics Hall of Fame. To this end, the Alumni Association Nominations and Prize Committee selects inductees from an alumni-nominated group of candidates. In addition, the AAEC wants to expand the nomination process for notable Choate athletes with an online form outlining the criteria for submitting classmates, coaches and/or teams. Look for a link to this new online form in September’s ENews or in the Alumni section of the School’s website. The Nominating and Prize Committee will be developing similar processes for the Annual Alumni Award and the Annual Distinguished Service Award. We appreciate – and need – your input to help us zero in on each year’s list of nominees. After all, we have so many worthy candidates among our more than 16,000 alumni!

May 16-18, 2014

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 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 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.

Rosemary Hall dormitory room, 1951

Bulletin | Fall 2013 29

1940s

1950s

’45 C

’51 C

John Mackenzie offers this recollection about his school days, “After dinner, Mark Michtom ’44 and I would adjourn to a small cottage near the main house where I kept my drums. With Mark on piano, we put forth a joyful noise that attracted many of our classmates – often drowning out the ‘call to chapel’ bells and substantially reducing chapel attendance. Until one evening when George St. John appeared in the doorway, saying, “Fellows, God has called.” I then joined the Navy and explored the Pacific. But I shall always remember the school with great warmth and affection.”

’47 C Walter Blass writes “Achieving my 83rd birthday while I was in Europe last March was a real milestone for me. I skied, sort of, in the French Alps, taught strategic planning to graduate engineers in Munich, skipped over to Vienna for 4 days, then to Amsterdam, and a week in eastern Belgium with friends. Going back to Europe where I was born was a thrill and a challenge (especially in French and German!). I was stunned by the amount of anti-American sentiment but also of antiimmigrant feelings in the countries I visited. They may dislike us, but at least we’re facing up (I hope) to the real issues in immigration and race. The next challenge as a member of Guilford College’s Board of Trustees is picking a new president. It’s never a dull life, thank God!” Arthur Rouner writes that his recent book, Being Present, his 25th, is now available through Amazon.com. It was preceded by Spirit Leadership. He recently traveled to Africa again, with a small team, to continue his work of trauma healing through forgiveness, in countries of conflict in both Rwanda and Burundi. He adds, “Our Pilgrim Center for Reconciliation is also doing healing retreats with Ethiopians and Sudanese refugees in Minnesota. A team of us also made our annual “Journey of Hope along the Trail of Tears” to the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. We go, at their request, for a healing time of prayer.” ’49 RH Lee Bagwill writes, “ I am still enjoying life on the Rhode Island coast, and activities in the Newport area. My husband John and I traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia recently, with several other family members, for the wedding of our grandson Douglas and his lovely Slovakian bride. It was a festive, colorful 12–hour event with much dancing, local customs and music – and food! Lots of fun.”

Eric Seiff was first in the 2013 National Masters 8000 meter Cross Country championships in the 75-79 age group. Hedrick Smith writes, “If you want a different kind of retrospective on the era since we left Choate – not notes about our class or about Choate, but about what’s happened to our country, take a look at my latest book Who Stole the American Dream? It’s written in the same style as my earlier books, The Russians and The Power Game: How Washington Works. Fortunately, this one has also been doing very well. It is now in its 7th printing, available as an e-book or audio book as well as hard cover, and will be coming out in paperback this fall. The book has put me on the road, taking my shoes off and on in airports and occasionally being excused because of age. So far, Seattle, Lincoln, Boston, Chicago, northern Virginia and St. Augustine are on my itinerary, and more to come. So if you are on the path, let me know, and we’ll raise a glass to the gold and blue.”

’52 C

Bob Gordon writes, “My son Paul and his wife Lisa took their grown children on a boat trip through the Hawaiian Islands. My granddaughter Jessica was married last year, and she is expecting a baby in November. I stayed home here in Colorado and took care of family business. What is the family business? Selling a house in Denver before the hot weather and the wildfires bring disaster upon us. Last spring I went to Europe traveling and sightseeing. The highlight of the trip was the opera in Palermo, Sicily. I also enjoyed seeing the Greek ruins in Agrigento.” John Seid is a longtime resident of Brussels, Belgium (since 1967). He would be most happy to hear from his classmates, and welcome any if they’re passing through Brussels. He can be reached at john.seid@skynet.be.

Bill Crosby, all of whom could not attend for various reasons. Forgive me if I missed anybody, but my short term memory is not quite as sharp as it once was. The long term memory of our years at Choate burns as bright as it ever was. I remember each one of you in special ways, and if I ever get the time I will write a class chronicle detailing my memories of each of you. Stay well, keep in touch, and if you pass through New York, let me know.” Bob Pickrell writes, “I love the comments by Dick Pell on Stan Pratt, who I also will never forget. I played Billy Budd in one of his plays and enjoyed every minute of his direction and friendship. In moving onto Amherst College after graduation, I attended open houses and was greeted by Kurt Canfield, head of the Amherst Drama department (moving the next year to head Yale Drama department) who knew of my playing Billy Budd. I suspect that eased my way in the first year at Amherst, and I went on to do a number of plays there. All of this was due to Stan Pratt and encouraged by his good friend George Steele. They will always be in my thoughts and have my everlasting thanks for pointing in the direction of the performing arts. Also a comment about Peter Reifsynder’s becoming a mold and remediation expert. I enjoyed his comments, as I too have just started a mold inspection service in Scottsdale, Ariz. Mold in Arizona? Yes, Arizona, Nevada and California are notorious for mold – and some of the most serious of strains. Anyone buying a house today would be well served to have an inspection done.” Rick Evans and Al Pittman celebrated a mini-reunion in Florida.

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Woody Laikind writes “The class of 1953 had its 60th reunion this past May. The weather was magnificent, and we all had a grand time catching up on 60 years. In attendance were the Foss's, the Lindemans, the Faulhabers, the Lowells, the Laikinds, the Leinbachs, Tim Cooper, Caspar Cronk from London, Stan Cook, Charlie Ard from California, Bill Dean, and Dickie Furgueson representing our dear late classmate, Tony. I heard from Metz, Bradshaw, Seigal, Carlson, Laros, Cowan, Kuni, Richardson, Pickrell, Barber, Evans, Short, Alford, Tips, Hecksher, Cowell who put together the reunion book, Dillon, Feuchtwanger, Bartram and

Walter Blass ’47 celebrated his 83rd birthday last March while traveling in Europe.

30 classnotes

’53

The long term memory of our years at Choate burns as bright as it ever was. I remember each one of you in special ways, and if I ever get the time I will write a class chronicle detailing my memories of each of you. –Woody Laikind ’53

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Jenk Jones writes “A form of cancer has reduced the use of my legs, but having been to all seven continents and well over 100 countries Jerri and I are determined to continue traveling. This year, if luck holds out, we will steamboat the upper Mississippi, cruise Puget Sound and visit the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado and the Texas Gulf Coast.”

’55 RH Maude Dorr writes, “I have been in Australia since December, took some side trips to New Zealand and Penang. All is well.” Landa Montague Freeman writes, “No news except for a new knee in February, just as good as the other two-year old new knee! I do recommend the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. A fine spot!” Betty Weed Foulk writes, “I managed to wrench my left leg, and I’ve been hobbling around with a cane which somewhat restricts my activity. Bill continues to go to NYC several days a week and I stay busy with garden club stuff.” Pat Davis Gondelman writes, “I had a serious incident last January. Woke up with major headache. I had a subdural hematoma and the neurosurgeon operated immediately; eight weeks total rest, and I’m now back to golf and tennis!” Debbie Day Leeming writes, “The Leeming family had an amazing celebration of love, life and family in Hilton Head for one week. Almost all of the 32 made it; renting one huge house and a timeshare...we roasted El (an early 90th) and prayed for the life of a daughter who has stage 4 colon cancer. At this stage of life, it is flying by, so grab the gold ring and swing.” Lyn Foster McNaught writes, “Spring came very late, but the flowers and trees burst forth and were beautiful. Spring brought our grandson's fifth birthday and his sister's first birthday - we went to Connecticut for both occasions and had a great time. We are getting ready for our big trip abroad, a river cruise on the Danube going from Budapest to Prague. Neither one of us has spent time in this part of the world, so it should be wonderful.”

Francie Abbott Miller writes, “I have no

more grandchildren to spend my annual travel allowance on, so I treated myself to a two-week trip to the UK with my sister Martha and a passel of friends and neighbors. Great fun, lots of free time, even the weather cooperated. I came home to 300 emails, 15 phone messages and a large crate full of snail mail. Does anyone else ever look back nostalgically on our “olden days” when all we had was the occasional letter and a weekly news magazine to keep us in touch with the universe? Among my projects is turning The Truth Trap into an e-book, and helping organize an extended family reunion at our 120-year-old cabin in New Hampshire.” Barbara Mitchell Murray writes, “Dave and I are back in Alaska after spending our usual six months on St. John. I love our place (my parents' long-time home) on St. John. Perfect climate while we are there, natural history to get to know while walking the property, and great snorkeling from our dock. I am trying to identify and photograph all plants and birds there and as many insects as possible. I enjoy exercising with friends in the water with my Squoodle (a square noodle).” Sally Soper Neenan writes, “My second shoulder was a reverse replacement and I'm doing well; physical training twice a week. Tried painting with my left hand for fun. Hope to be back paddling and snowshoeing sometime in 2013. Lake Placid had 16 inches of snow on Memorial Day weekend, and Whiteface Mountain had 34 inches. Luckily we are at a lower elevation. Lots of reading in front of the fireplace.” Liz Pathy Salett writes, “I've moved on from the organization I founded 30 years ago, the National MultiCultural Institute, which has been taken over by the person who was VP of our Board, and it's now known as the International MultiCultural Institute. They are working on more global projects and using virtual learning in many of their projects. What a relief – I'm happy to be able to move on! But work is still very much part of my life; I recently updated and re-released a multilingual web portal on human trafficking, www. humantraffickingsearch.net, and I'm working on republishing a couple of books I edited on multicultural and diversity issues along with assorted

other projects. Last December we went to Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), a very different and exciting experience for us. I fear that Burma will soon be overrun with tourists and the gentle, low key nature of the locals will change. Stan had produced a film on Aung San Suu Kyi some years ago while she was still under house arrest, so the place held special interest to us.” Pam Bisbee-Simonds writes, “It has been a major year for us. We started 2013 in paradise, literally, at the waterside villa “Golden Clouds” on Oracabessa Bay in Jamaica. Eighteen of our disparate family juggled work and school to be together again for our second all-family Caribbean vacation in seven years. Then we jumped into an exciting spring with the arts dominating our family. Sister Pat and I went to opening night at Lincoln Center of our sister Holland Taylor's amazing play, Ann, which she wrote, and stars as Ann Richards with such panache – she was nominated for a Tony. Then to LA for son Brad Anderson's film premiere of The Call, a riveting psychological drama he directed with Halle Berry. Then a NY “throwdown” party as part of my daughter Brooke's new gig as NY exec. We hear that the delightful new musical, Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, is going to Broadway in the fall, with one of the two leading parts played by Ken Barnett, partner of Bruce's son, Derek. Bruce is down to two days of work weekly, and ponders retirement, but he remains intrigued with medicine and finds great satisfaction talking with patients.” Alibel Wood Thompson writes, “We took a short trip to Dallas to attend all the many delightful festivities surrounding the dedication to the George W. Bush Presidential Center (located on the SMU campus). I was nominated for the “Outstanding Older Americans of Maui County” award, and took second place. There will be a minireunion in Chestertown, Md., from September 20 to 22, hosted by Liz Pathy Salett and Francie Abbott Miller. We hope that all of you can make it.”

Bulletin | Fall 2013 31

Betsy Angle Webster writes, “Our big news

Chap Barnes reports on a wonderful visit to the School over reunion weekend. He is gradually stepping back, for medical reasons, from some of his many local responsibilities, including serving as Executive Director of the Watch Hill (RI) Conservancy. He has received several public recognitions. The Westerly Town Council recently awarded him an Appreciation for his "generous and untiring contributions as a conservationist and author toward the preservation of the natural beauty and historical character of our community for the pleasure and enrichment of future generations." And the local Westerly Sun ran a special feature on him in its Sunday, May 26, Living Section, called "In the Easy Chair." He has been asked to participate in a television documentary (intended for RI PBS), based on his book on the history of Watch Hill, Watch Hill Through Time.

Ian Bennett started a company to help sub-Saharan farmers protect their harvested crops. www.HarvestProtectionNetwork.com Bob Harrison writes, “I and my travel mates Dock Murdock, Penn Kavanagh, and Chris Norris had a recent reunion in the British Virgin Islands. My Hawaiian wife, Chula, had never seen the Caribbean, so when I suggested that we come East and charter a sailboat and sail about a bit, Chris and Dock thought that was a great idea. We decided to start from St. Thomas, as Penn and his very talented sculptress wife, Cornelia, have a gorgeous home that hangs off the seaside cliffs there. It was a fabulous reunion. No better way to reconnect with good old friends than on a 50-foot cat.” Larry Morin writes “For nine members of the Choate School Class of 1958, this year’s reunion was a gathering to remember and cherish, thanks to plenty of planning and support from Alumni Relations. Larry Morin, Don Yates, Bob Knisely, and Hal and Kristen Krider started things off Thursday night with a reception and dinner on campus. Also in attendance was a strong contingent from Choate 1953, along with Tom Brooks C ‘42 and welcoming and gregarious faculty and staff members, including Tom Yankus C ‘52. On Friday morning, Jim and Ellen Dwinell arrived just before five of us who participate in the Adoptive Grandparents program, accompanied students to classes and shared perspectives of “Our School upon the Hillside.” After lunch, Ian and Louise Bennett arrived, and in the evening, we all gathered for a lively reception and dinner at Sally Hart, including Nancy Miselis. Chap Barnes and Cam Carey greeted us in St. John Chapel on Saturday to share the traditional memorial service;

Verena Topke Rasch ’55 celebrated her grandson Lars’ high school graduation.

Nine members of Choate Class of 1958, and their respective spouses and significant others, returned for Reunion Weekend.

is that, after all these years we are now property owners in Kennebunk Beach, Maine! We may be crazy at our age, but after looking around for many years, we finally bought a condo with four bedrooms in our ‘heaven on earth.’ We are in the process of furnishing it with whatever we can find that is free or doesn’t cost a lot. We have lots of room! If you are heading our way, let us know – we can sleep eight easily and could probably squeeze in one or two more. Otherwise, all is well. Peter and I are looking forward to this new adventure.” Anne Warner Whiting writes, “We've had a quietish 6 months I had a knee replacement in early April and am doing amazingly well. We have a three-plus-week river cruise (mostly) trip planned to France in October - Sainte Mere Eglise to Arles and Nice. We are really looking forward to it.”

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hearing the Duncan Phyfe organ and singing the long-treasured hymns provided an extra dimension to our weekend. Soon after, John Simpson and his longtime friend Dawn joined the festivities. While we missed seeing more classmates, we all commented how great it was to spend so much one-on-one time with each other and get to know one another again. It seems the older we become, the more frequently should our reunions occur.” Jim Whitters writes, “In June 2012, I received Trinity College's highest alumni award, The Eigenbrodt Cup. On June 1, 2013, I spoke at the memorial service of Jack Davison, who taught and coached at Choate from 1957 until 1964, and reflected upon Jack's years at Choate.” Don Yates writes, “Last fall I, as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, collaborated with Allen Mondell of Media Projects, Inc., Dallas, Texas, on a documentary he completed entitled “Waging Peace: The Peace Corps Experience.” I served in the Philippine Islands as a volunteer from 1962 - 1964 directly after graduating from the University of Notre Dame. Allen got in touch with me because he had read a portion of my journal and was interested in incorporating my experience in his film. The documentary weaves personal letters, journals, emails, and blogs written by Peace Corps volunteers with the profiles of four returned volunteers whose work today shows the enduring impact of these experiences on their own lives and the lives of others. The film, on CD, is available to purchase from Media Projects.”

Choate ’58 classmates Chris Norris, Dock Murdock, Bob Harrison, and Penn Kavanagh met at the St Thomas pier to set off to Tortola.

32 classnotes

’59 C

Tony Mendoza published a novel, A Cuban Summer, a coming-of-age story that takes place in Havana in 1954. The last chapter in the book takes place at Choate. This story is close to a memoir.

1960s ’61 C

Hardy Jones writes, “I will turn 70 by the time this issue goes to print. My wife, Deborah, and I will cruise the Seine from Paris to Normandy to celebrate. I continue to work on dolphin and ocean issues, most recently on the massive die-off of dolphins in Peru. It was great going back to Peru, where I’d served in the Peace Corps, though what summoned me was tragic. Best to all my classmates. I’ve seen Clip Kniffen, Ken Phillips and Dick Hull recently here in Florida.”

Susie Mountrey writes, “I have heard from so many Rosemarians as we turn (gasp) 70! BTW, it is the new 50! My birthday present is special: My son Andrew, wife Cory and two grands are taking me to the San Juan Islands for weeks of whale watching and kayaking . Come visit me in Hilton Head. Jessica Loring and I spent a wonderful day kayaking on Penny Creek, courtesy of The Nature Conservancy.” Sue Sayles writes, “I attended the reunion in May and had a grand time! Great to see the girls of 1963. I still work full time and love what I do! Our five grandkids are thriving and growing up way too fast; our oldest will be a senior in high school this fall and has already looked at four colleges. The youngest turned 10 in July and the others are in between. Me? 39 and holding! If it’s good enough for Jack Benny, it's good enough for me.”

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Deaver Brown writes, “Our pre-50th reunion weekend on Lake George with about 30 of us led ’61 RH Alice Dodge Berkeley writes, “I haven't to renewing old acquaintances and making new been a very good correspondent since leaving for ones with classmates we knew less well. Donald Europe, Africa and the Far East 43 years ago. Now Liberman and I had that good fortune at the 45th glad to be back in London, though we keep in close and met and traveled together several times since. touch with Belgium through my work in helping Since our last report we traveled to Jacksonville to organize the commemorations for the Battle by train to meet with Walmart for me, see class of Waterloo that will be held here and there in President and Charleston on the way back by train. June, 2015. In fact, events have started already in That dinner encouraged Wade and Eunice Logan to the buildup to the bicentennial of the battle that attend the pre-50th as well as the formal reunion brought 50 years of peace in Europe. Visiting our at Choate. I got to see Donald perform as defense daughter Julia in Ojai, Calif., is a sybaritic treat, and counsel in an important New Jersey trial a short having our son with his family, which includes two while ago. Just got a Kickstarter.com campaign tiny granddaughters, here in London gives life a going for Simply Magazine audiobooks and eBooks, new focus. Husband Robin is involved in Africa as so am still doing something other than travel and well as Belgium, so life is never dull.” sitting on the porch. In doing our "In Their Own Words“ series, I chuckle a bit as we quote Robert Frost, who visited Choate for a day or two in 1961, which Donald and I remember well; Eleanor Roosevelt, whom we visited with Sandy Greene, our Current History Club leader. Then JFK, Chester Bowles, and Adlai Stevenson, who also visited. ”

’62 RH Gail Greenleaf Hencken writes “All is well. We are blessed with reasonably good health and a wonderful family. Our eldest grandchild is working to be an Olympic swimmer. We are saving for Tokyo in 2020 just in case her dream comes true.” Davyne Verstandig writes, “I am preparing for classes I’ll be teaching at UConn in the fall – creative writing and modern drama (from the perspective that films are not written to be read). We’ll be viewing various film productions and hopefully attending live theater as well. I’ve been giving readings of my prose and poetry through-

out the year. Once a week I visit my 2-year-old grandson, Eric, one of the lights of my life. I will be interviewing the amazing author Roxana Robinson at The Warner Theatre in Torrington November 1. Read her novel Sparta – which deals with the cost of war and how our Veterans Administration is not taking adequate care of returning soldiers.”

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Lew Buckingham was with his daughter and grandsons at their Lake Michigan cottage, near the White Lake Channel, for all of June and July, then back to Denver. He enjoyed seeing old classmates at his 50th Reunion.

’63 RH Our 50th Reunion was awesome! Here are a few reactions to the event. From Rozzie Chubb Davis: “What a wonderful and fulfilling way to reconnect and remember our RH years together. The Choate campus is not ours, but it only took a painting or two, some names on wooden plaques, a few pictures, a boar and our combined memories to transform it in spirit to the Pink Prison of our ‘formative’ teen years.” And from Reeve Lindbergh Tripp: “I got the sense that we had grown up to be pretty decent people, with any sharp teenage edges worn off in a kind of general warm-hearted compassion and goodwill toward our classmates, mingled with a sense of shared (if different) experience over time.” Sandy Hawxhurst Conklin added: “Entering St. Bede's with the chapel bell ringing brought back so many memories, even though the old chairs are gone and the stone floor is covered up now. The names on the ceiling still look the same, as do the beautiful stained glass windows.” Tina Close summed up the idea that reunions aren’t just about seeing old friends, but about making new ones. She wrote: “We do have a special connection with a random bunch of women who were thrown together at a young age. The connection hasn't always stayed intact; it's been bent, broken, fixed, and modified, but always there. I value that more than anything. It's symbolic but also real. The random bunch turned out to be a stellar group of very down to earth people who I consider to be friends. What luck! What a treasure!” Donna Dickenson has another new book: ”Me Medicine vs. We Medicine: Reclaiming Biotechnology for the Common Good. Alice Chaffee Freeman was presented with the well-deserved Choate Rosemary Hall Distinguished Alumni Service Award at the reunion luncheon in Wallingford and gave a marvelous speech that was just the right mix of humor and poignancy.

Sue Sayles ’61 says her grandchildren are growing up too fast.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 33

Classnotes | Profile

CEo: Geoff Cowan ’60 Sunnylands When President Obama and Xi Jinping, China’s new president, met for two days in June 2013, the venue was an island of tranquility called Sunnylands, a 200-acre estate east of Los Angeles. The meeting was billed by the White House as a “get-to-know-you” retreat for the two leaders.

A native of Chicago, Geoff moved to Los Angeles in 1972 and eventually Sunnylands was once the western residence of the late publisher, philanbecame the director of UCLA's Communications Law program. In 1975, he thropist and diplomat Walter Annenberg and his wife Leonore, who had was a legal consultant to Norman Lear and the Writers Guild of America in used the estate as their winter retreat since 1966 when the main house – a their challenge to CBS' Family Viewing Hour, which affected Lear's program 25,000-square-foot Modernist mansion – was completed. “All in the Family.” In the center of Sunnylands’ atrium there is an original casting of Eve by In 1992, he won an Emmy as executive producer of the television movie Auguste Rodin. There is a private golf course that includes a pink pagoda. “Mark Twain & Me”. His books include the best-selling The People v. Clarence There are eleven lakes, some stocked for fishing. Darrow: The Bribery Trial of America's Greatest Lawyer (1993), which in 2009 Over the years, Sunnylands was the vacation site of numerous celebrities The Wall Street Journal called the best book ever written about a trial lawyer. and public officials, including presidents from Eisenhower to Reagan. But the With Leroy Aarons, Cowan also co-wrote the award-winning play Top Annenbergs dreamed that Sunnylands would find a new purpose after their Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, which explored the delicate balance deaths: a venue for important retreats for top government officials and leaders between the press, the public's right to know and the government's need to in the fields of law, education, philanthropy, the arts, culture, science and protect certain vital national secrets. medicine. It could even be a west coast Camp David, as it was this year. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Geoff to be the 19th director of Overseeing the infinite details and arrangements necessary to lay the groundthe Voice of America. (Geoff’s father, Louis Cowan, was the second director of work for a meeting between the American and Chinese leaders was Geoffrey VOA, from 1943 to 1945.) Cowan ’60, president of the Annenberg Foundation Trust. From 1996 to 2007, Geoff was dean of the University of Southern California’s “The White House called us in mid-April to ask if we could make Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. When he stepped down Sunnylands available for a meeting with a foreign leader, but we did not as dean in 2007, he was named a University Professor, the inaugural holder of know that it would be President Xi until mid-May,” Geoff recalled recently. the Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership and director of “Both men were charming. I met President Xi at the airport, and he seemed USC Annenberg’s Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. Then in delighted when I gave him a book signed by President Nixon, where he recalls 2010, he was appointed to his current position at Sunnylands, while maintaining his first visit to China. We greeted President Obama when he arrived at his professorship and directorship at U.S.C. Sunnylands – and, in effect, turned over the keys to the estate for the duration “The Sunnylands Summit (between presidents Obama and Xi) would have of his stay.” delighted the Annenbergs, who wanted the estate to be used by a president For Geoff Cowan, the path from Choate to Sunnylands was a long and to meet with world leaders in an effort to achieve international agreements,” varied one. Geoff said. “By all accounts, including our sources in the U.S. government After Choate, he graduated from Harvard College, then went to rural and in China, it was a huge success, particularly because the men developed a Mississippi to register black voters and start a farmers’ co-op. His letters home personal relationship. As National Security advisor Tom Donilon told reporters were included in the book Letters from Mississippi. after the meeting, it was truly historic – “and the setting played a key role in He graduated from Yale Law School in 1968, worked in the presidential its success.” campaign of Sen. Eugene McCarthy, then practiced law in Washington, D.C., where he co-founded the Center for Law and Social Policy and wrote a weekly legal column for The Village Voice. Noel Hynd ’66 is a contributer to the Bulletin.

34 classnotes

clockwise from left: From the Ralph Metcalfe ’66 photo archive, showing Ralph Sr. adamantly refusing to salute Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, against a backdrop of 110,000 arms raised in the Nazi salute.

Jamie Kirkpatrick ‘66 celebrated the birth of his first grandson, Jake Wildey Kirkpatrick on December 2, 2012.

Choate roommates Rob Snyder ’69 and Greg Hooker ’69 recently got together at the Golden Reef Diner in Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY.

Doreen Gardner and her husband have sold

After attending Reunion, Betsy O’Hara

their house in Dana Point, Calif. She retired in June. Margo Melton Nutt has published the biographical memoir about her father, James Melton, The Tenor of His Times. You can order it through your local independent bookstore or on Amazon. com. Margo and Margo Heun Bradford will be traveling together to England’s Lake District in October. Judy Shaw Richardson writes “Our Moldovan daughter, Dina, had a baby named Sophia Grace on March 15. We're adding a threeroom addition to the house so everything is in an uproar with workmen everywhere. Our other grandchild, Amelia, turned one in May, and is walking and trying to talk; she is a lot of fun and we spend a lot of time together.”

Stiefvater journeyed home to Germany via Hawaii and had a nice visit with Angela Treat Belknap Lyon. Reeve Lindbergh Tripp also writes of recent activities related to her mother’s book Against Wind and Tide: Letters and Journals, 1947-1986 (Random House 2012), among them a wonderful fundraiser for Therapy Dogs International at Eileen Fisher in Boston. “A touchingly unexpected, kindhearted event, full of upscale garments and elegant ladies sitting on the floor with one black lab, one Welsh corgi, one golden retriever, all dogs who had been to help after the Boston Marathon bombings.” Angela Treat Belknap Lyon writes, “My oldest son welcomed his first child, Penelope June Osborne, into the world – my third grandchild, and as precious as the rest. I was very honored to have

Bill Gaylord ’72 presented ‘Psychonautic Portal,’ a mixed-media art installation solo show at the SRG Gallery in Seattle

been invited to have two of my paintings featured in an issue of Conspire Magazine, (it's both in print and an online magazine: ConspireMagazine.com). It's gotten a lot of people going to my art sites (Lyon-Art.com and PrintsbyLyon.com) I was invited to take over the position of marketing manager for Gallery 315 here in Hawaii. I am teaching an online course called “Create Passive Income with Your Small Kindle Books,” and am pleased to say it's been quite popular and well-attended. If anyone is interested, they can see more at MonthAfterMonthMoney.com.” Angela also has a new book, Change Your Mind with EFT. It’s available on Amazon.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 35

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Noel Hynd has translated Crimes and Punishments (Crimen y Castigos), a graphic novel by Argentine artist-writer Carlos Nine, from Spanish into English. A classic noir story set in 1940s Hollywood, the work was originally published in French by Editions Albin Michel in Paris. The first English language edition will be published this fall in paper by Stuart Ng Books of Torrance, Calif., and in an e-book edition by Red Cat Publishing, Los Angeles. Ralph Metcalfe writes, “My son, Nasser Metcalfe, was nominated for best actor at the ifilmfest in Los Angeles for his work in the web series Disciplinary Actions, available for viewing on YouTube.com. He is included in imdb.com's list of the top 40 young black actors to watch.” Ralph is director of the Metcalfe Collection honoring his father – former Congressman and Olympic athlete Ralph H. Metcalfe. Rod Walker writes, “I have moved from Illinois to our ‘farm’ near Charlottesville, Virginia and bordering the Shenandoah National Park. I have retired from Hewlett-Packard after selling my company to them 6 years ago. Maggie and I are pretty well consumed for now settling into our new home and completing the landscaping around it. And I would be delighted to see any of my classmates or other Choate friends who come by this way. I can be reached by email - rwalker@alum.mit.edu”

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Rick Rosenthal was recently on location in Everett, WA, producing a micro-budget heist film, 7 Minutes, starring actor Kris Kristofferson.

’67 RH Helen Truss Kweskin writes, “I have just celebrated my 40th year of teaching English at King School in Stamford, Conn. I recently returned from my fifth visit to Rwanda, where I led a servicelearning trip for high school seniors. Our granddaughter, Sylvia, just turned one and is enchanting! Thank you for the photo collage honoring Miss McBee. I appreciated the trip down memory lane.” Terry Schaefer Severance writes, “Still a television producer and writer after 30-plus years. Freelance now, after 28 years at NBC. Live in Rumson, N.J., and South Dartmouth, Mass., married to Bruce Severance: four adult sons between us, and five spectacular grandchildren. Life delivers.”

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Philip Snyder enjoyed his Class Reunion in May and writes, “After years of being a staff editor for various TV commercial post-production companies in NYC, I have my own independent videography company.”

36 years ago, I married my husband, Takuji, and lived in Japan for 20 years where I founded the International Ladies Tea Club, which focused on introducing foreigners to Japanese culture and in turn introducing the local Japanese to the cuisine and culture of its foreign members. After returning to the states, I studied teaching ESL at Columbia University and taught at Borough of Manhattan Community College until 9/11. I now live in Goldens Bridge, N.Y., and breed Vizslas for show, hunt and therapy under the kennel name of Suzu Vizslas. My three children live in New Jersey and Los Angeles.” Jean Robertson writes, “I was named Chancellor’s Professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, the highest academic rank on my campus, where I have taught art history at Herron School of Art and Design since 1995. I fell in love with art at an early age, with a big boost from the amazing art classes at Rosemary Hall, both in studio art and art history.” Suzanne Prince Quinn Williamson has created a Facebook Page for the Class of 1968. It is named “Rosemary Hall Class of 1968”.

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’66 RH Connie Fisher writes, “I moved from Santa Fe to Seattle last fall. I live next door to my twin sister, Susie, and her husband, Bill Thorness. He has written a few gardening books with my sister as illustrator. They're teaching me to garden. I was sorry to leave my Santa Fe friend, Meredith Machen, with whom I shared many fine times. I studied with Gary Krafstow to become a yoga instructor in the Viniyoga Tradition, and went on to learn Yoga Therapy. Meredith introduced me to Peggy Van Hulsteyn who became my student. Being a writer with Parkinson's, she has now written, with a little help from me, Yoga and Parkinson's which will be published in August. I still have my acupuncture needles and keep my license current even while getting more involved with yoga. I hope to see everyone at a reunion!” Gusty Lange writes, “Our son, Dylan, who graduated from Wheaton a year ago, is embarking on a cross-country solo bike trip. He spent a year at home with a couple of jobs following his interests in food and rock climbing to earn money for his venture. Our daughter, Chelsea, just graduated from Friends Seminary (NYC) and will be a freshman at Oberlin in the fall, and is pursuing drama, education, and psychology. I am teaching at Pratt, Graduate Communications Design, in my 29th year, and Steve is working on a book about computer technology.”

’68 rh Susan Kraus Nakamura writes, “More than

I fell in love with art at an early age, with a big boost from the amazing art classes at Rosemary Hall, both in studio art and art history. – Jean Robertson ’68

Miller Williams writes, “For the past three years I have been COO of LinkBermuda, an international data communications company based in Bermuda. I am also active as a Board member of Willbros Group, an energy services company based in Houston. I plan to retire soon back to our home in Asheville, NC. Constance and I recently celebrated our 25th anniversary. She is an encaustic artist in Asheville.”

’69 rh Vicki Spang is still working as head of marketing for a large law firm in San Francisco. She recently got together with classmate Kat Bennett who was visiting her sons in San Francisco. She is the proud owner of one of Kat’s sculptures and also has a painting by classmate Janice Klumpp Allee. Vicki is still in close touch with Helen Halpin who is living the great life in France.

1970s ’72 c

Charles L. Colman writes, “On February 29, 2012, I sold my company and retired. I had managed San Jamar’s company in Food Service supplies and Paper/Tissue dispensers. It was a great 18-year run, but I was ready for a change. We have lived full time for about 10 years on the shores of Geneva Lake in Wisconsin. I am into wooden boats, sailing and restoring a 29-acre wood just across the road from our lake home. I have a single daughter, Susan, who lives in Evanston, IL and hopes to be the next great fantasy writer – a tough road. Since

Classnotes | Profile

Noel Hynd ’66

Medical

Missions I never found Spanish difficult. That was because I never took Spanish; I took French at Choate. Until relatively recently, in fact, I spoke no Spanish at all. Menos que nada, one might say: Less than none. But over the past few years, that has changed. In late 2006, I spotted a small notice in the bulletin of All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, Calif. The notice sought volunteers for a medical mission to Honduras. I discovered that each year a team of medical missionaries visits Honduras for a week under the auspices of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Public health clinics are set up in four remote communities, one day at each location. While the church sponsors the trip, there’s no proselytizing; the issue is providing medical care for people who otherwise wouldn’t receive any. The visits by this small group began following the massive destruction of the countryside by Hurricane Mitch in 1999, and have taken place every year since. I figured, okay. This might be interesting. I could see Central America for the first time, and what harm could it do these days to pick up a few words and phrases in Spanish? So I joined on the group for that year. I’ve signed on for the same trip every year since. The most recent mission was last winter. After several months of packing pills and assembling medical equipment, we left Los Angeles late on February 28. About 20 people are on the team each year; each of us travels with two 50-pound duffel bags of medicines and equipment and one carry-on of personal belongings, mostly clothing and toiletries to last one week. Our five-hour flight took us to San Pedro Sula in eastern Honduras which, due to drug trafficking, has the highest homicide rate in the western hemisphere. Our first clinic, Mission San Jose, was located in an Episcopal church, down a rutted dirt road through a shantytown overgrown with foliage and feral animals. When we arrived at 8:30 a.m., as is the case with all our clinics, there were scores of people waiting.

The next day, we traveled Puerto Cortes, a gritty seaside town also on the Gulf of Honduras. We went back to work on Monday, visiting the most difficult of our locations, Colonia Suyapa, a refugee encampment of people left homeless by Hurricane Mitch. The village is rough, rural and primitive. It might be uncharitably described as a slum in the middle of the jungle, complete with a gang presence from San Pedro Sula. Fourteen years after the big hurricane, these people are still there. Nonetheless, we always complete the clinic at Colonia Suyapa without serious incident. Our next stop was more uplifting: Barbe Celles, a village of rural plantation workers located a mile and a half up a mountain. Some of us walked up the winding road through the forest, hoping not to encounter a puma. Others traveled in a 4x4, courtesy of a local plantation owner. We set up our clinic at a one-room schoolhouse that recently acquired electricity. Our last clinic was in a modest self-sustaining village named Chachualla set at the foot of a vast hillside. If you climb the stone path up the hillside, you can look out over the Gulf and see the southern coast of Belize 50 miles in the distance. We follow the same procedure in all locations: We go into a church or school building reserved for the occasion, unpack medical equipment and supplies, prepare a front reception desk for “intake,” where two or three of us greet and register incoming patients. Meanwhile, we re-arrange the desks or pews and set up four stations where doctors will see patients. One of our doctors, Jeffrey Wasson of Santa Monica, is bilingual and sees patients by himself. The other doctors usually work with fluent Spanish speaking interpreters who are members of our team.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 37

Our next stop Barbe Celles, a village of rural plantation workers located a mile and a half up a mountain. Some of us walk up the winding road through the forest, hoping not to encounter a puma.

Top With mission founder Jeffrey Wasson M.D., Santa Monica, Calif., and patients at Chachualla. bottom Morning patients waiting at 8 a.m, Colonia Suyapa.

A makeshift three-person pharmacy is set up, usually against a far wall, with more than a hundred different medicines. Three or four other small stations areas are arranged for “dispensers,” who will act as counselors to the patients when they receive their medications to take away. Patients are seen by the doctors in the order in which they are registered, with the exception of older people or more urgent cases (anything from a fever to a gunshot wound). Patients often come in entire family units. Doctors write prescriptions for what’s needed: vitamins, ibuprofen, Vermox for parasites, Lisinopril for high blood pressure, steroidal creams for rashes. When I first started these missions in 2007, I spoke no Spanish, so I worked in the pharmacy where Spanish wasn’t necessary. Over the years, largely due to these trips, my Spanish has improved enough so that for the past two years I’ve been able to dispense medication to some of the easier and less complicated cases. Each year, we return to Los Angeles exactly one week after we left – three days for travel, four for clinics. Typically, we have seen about 1,200 patients. Temperatures are often in the nineties, insects are everywhere, and indoor plumbing is not a given. The work is busy, intense, sometimes tedious, but always compassionate and hugely gratifying. We learn to appreciate the things we take for granted back home. In most cases, the patients are wonderful. They welcome us. They appreciate what we do. We see many of the same people every year and know many by name. As I reflect on the trip each year, I marvel how trips like this are an incredible way for alumni of all ages, but older alumni in particular, to get out of our normal routines and see a new part of the world. At the same time, many of us have skills in languages or medicine or teaching that can be of use in other places if only for week or two. While the trips sound altruistic, one takes from them far more than one puts in. Some of us even learn a new language. Noel Hynd ’66 is an author living in Southern California. His translation of Crimen y Castigos, (Crimes and Punishments), a graphic novel by Argentine author-artist Carlos Nine, will appear in late 2013.

38 classnotes

she is away most of the time, Dianna and I also have 3 Labrador Retrievers - Raja, Koda and Magic. They keep us very busy. We also play and sing in a Rock Band with Rock Central in Williams Bay - not bad for 60 year olds. Hope all is well with everyone at Choate Rosemary. The school means a lot to me. It helped me grow up. I made some mistakes but did well overall and learned from the experience. I couldn't have done as well as I did without the start at independence I had at Choate.” Bill Gaylord writes, “Last spring, I presented ‘Psychonautic Portal,’ a mixed-media art installation solo show at the SRG Gallery in Seattle. In June I was elevated to the College of Fellows from the American Institute of Architects for outstanding contribution to the profession in the category of Service to Society. And in July, I began 'Sabbaticus', a one year time of study, travel, service and radical self-expression before heading to my fourth Burning Man event at the end of August. I reconnected with classmate Charlie Hoffmann for dinner in Seattle in May, and virtually with Art Sida, Susan Douthit and Dizey Lindquist.” Stephen M. Monroe writes, “Since our 40th in 2012, which was a great time, I have seen John Gelb and Belinda Winpenny. Our eldest of four graduated from St Andrews University in Scotland this past June, and then our No. 3 daughter starts there in September. Eight straight years of visiting a wonderful place. I guess I will finally have to take up golf.” The Rev. Dr. Shaw Mudge writes, “Since July 2012, as a SAMS missionary, I have begun developing 25-plus online seminary courses for the Anglican Theological Institute in the Anglican Diocese of Belize (Central America) and for faculty at Kasulu Bible College in Kasulu, Tanzania (East Africa). The name for our program is Online Anglican Theological College (OATC). In April and May I traveled to both locations, expanding our

LEFT Basil Hero ’73 with Dr. Kissinger and former Secretary of State James Baker. They were guest speakers at the Asia Society center in Houston on March 14. The photo shows them reading the script Basil prepared for them for a public service television spot for Asia Society here in the U.S. and China.

online seminary in terms of support staff, other faculty, and students. There are three bases: Belize, Tanzania, and wherever I am. Generally, I teach participants who are in both places from the U.S., and in May, I was teaching a course to students who were in Belize, from Tanzania. When I arrived in Belize, I was appointed by Bishop Philip to be Vocational Counselor and Spiritual Director in the Diocese for people in the vocational tracks of Lay Ministry and Clerical Ordination.”

’74 C

John Steinbreder is a chief travel writer for Global Golf Post, where he gets to do some pretty cool stuff. Like reporting from Colombia, where he is gets to play a course some 9,000 feet above sea level.

’73 C

Rear Adm. Townsend "Tim" G. Alexander, Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, retired in July after 33 years of dedicated service to the U.S. Navy. Said Tim, "I was very proud when I got my wings - that's a big day and a major milestone in the life of an aviator - but what I think I get the most out of is when people I've gotten to know (those) I have worked with or currently work with - and I see them succeed and accomplish things that they set out to do for themselves. If I have had the ability to influence that, hopefully in a positive way, that really makes me proud." During his current tour, Tim coordinated and oversaw crisis response efforts following Hurricanes Irene and Sandy throughout the Region; and championed energy programs. Tim and his wife, Kathleen, have plans to relocate to Northern Virginia where they will spend some quality time fixing up their home to their liking. He also plans to start networking for future career opportunities in the Washington, D.C. area, while also reserving time for travel, fishing and relaxing.

center Sara Foland ’74 participated in the 3rd Gran Fondo of NYC bike event with 7000 other participants. She completed the 107 miles in 8 hours and 30 minutes of ride time.

’75 RH

Caroline Radlow writes, “I began what has

become a second career working with the homeless population in Manchester, N.H., in early 2009. My husband passed away in November of that same year. I have continued working in my chosen field, and love helping to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Last June, after decades away from horses, I was inspired by the feats of last year's Derby winner to start riding again at a local stable. Soon after my second lesson, I started working part time as a stable lass at the same stable. I work for riding time and lessons, as well as for the opportunity to spend time with and around other horse people, and, of course, that most magnificent, and in my case most beloved of creatures, the horse.”

’76 C

David Beecher proudly celebrated his daughter Maddie's graduation from Choate on June 2. Christopher Carrozzella writes, “In June, I passed my Airline Transport Pilot check ride, which is the highest pilot certificate someone can attain in aviation. This has been a lifelong dream of mine – finally achieved! In fall 2012, I obtained my multi-engine flight instructor certificate. While I practice law here in Wallingford in my one-man attorney office, I continue to look for aviation opportunities to pursue. At the present time I am teaching students to fly and work for a small airline in Westerly, R.I.” Hans Kaiser writes, “I’m continuing to play lacrosse and competing in various tournaments around the country. Our Elder Statesmen team won the over 45 and over 50 Nationals in Florida last January and swept the Vail tournament in July winning the over 40 and over 50 divisions. I have been trying to coax Eric Propper out of retirement to join us but haven't been successful...yet. Watched the Kentucky Derby at David Parry's house in Katonah with Jim Smith, Whit Johnston, Laura Thomas, Phil Eifert and Mark Vollmer ’75. Empty nesters now with both kids off at College of Charleston where we take any opportunity to visit.”

right Herb Kohler ’57, right, and John Steinbreder ’74, at the Golf Writers Association of America dinner in Augusta this year, during the Masters.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 39

Classnotes | Profile

Cody Harrington ’73

Cody Harrington ’73 had his first glimpse of a portal into another world when the Texas native came east for boarding school. Sensing his rebellious son needed a change from Houston, Cody’s dad shared prep school brochures with him. Choate’s brochure had a film camera on its front cover. That did it for Cody, who chose to come to Wallingford and has been making films ever since. Presently, he’s FX technical director for Pixar Animation, the studio behind Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters University and many other blockbusters. But it wasn’t a straight shot for Cody, who has spent decades honing his craft. At Choate, the Houston native fell under the sway of science teacher William Ayres, who not only assured him he could do anything he wanted with his life but encouraged him to apply to an accelerated three-year multidisciplinary experimental learning college modeled after Oxford University, Raymond College at the University of The Pacific. There, prerequisites were not always required; indeed officials there let Cody teach a film class. He then was asked by the faculty at University of Houston to transfer and help start their film program. After graduating – with a degree in filmmaking, of course – Cody leaped into the physically and mentally challenging work of key grips. Throughout the 1980s, Cody worked with these electric and camera departments, using camera mounts for single-frame, inch-by-inch special effects. Using stopmotion, frame-by-frame filming, his teams slowly captured matte paintings and

miniature sets of far-off worlds, making them come live. Inspired by the work of Star Wars Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Edlund, Cody trained under Edlund for three years at his BOSS Films in Marina Del Rey, Calif. In the 1980s, Cody improved his technical and special effects practices. He carefully mounted heavy overhead lighting-packages, orchestrated dangerous pyrotechnics and firearms sequences, and filmed blue-screen optical compositing. Some of his work involved filming miniatures and backdrop paintings, projecting them, and re-filming the sequences, layering one filmed-sequence on top of the other to seamlessly blend a flying spacecraft, space station, and laser beam. During this special-effects decade, Cody recognized that computers would soon simplify the process, yet at the same time make all effects exponentially more complex. Apple arrived on the scene, and for the next 15 years, Cody freelanced with their graphics-packages teams, sculpting flying 3D logos or whatever they needed. In a prescient moment where visionaries cross paths, Apple’s Steve Jobs co-founded Pixar by purchasing George Lucas’ Computer Graphics Division. In 1989, having taught himself computer languages on the side, Cody transitioned into digital effects for Director James Cameron’s pre-Titanic water-opus, The Abyss, and soon joined Cameron’s special-effects house, Digital Domain, in Venice, Calif., followed by stints at Sony for Spider-Man 3 and later today’s effects-wunderkind, director Zach Snyder of Watchmen. In 2009, Pixar phoned. The call again changed Cody’s life, relocating him to the factory-like building of once industrial Emeryville across the bay from San Francisco. Jobs’ steel-and-wood-beamed building now uses software to spark problems and meld solutions. Problems are solved over organic bread in the earth-friendly cafeteria and fires are put out daily with splashes in the Olympic-sized pool, all part of the Pixar lifestyle. To Cody, the Pixar campus feels like Choate, where he also played guitar, sports, pored through stories, and produced films. Cody recently presented a white paper at a trade show on computergenerated rain called, in typical Pixar fashion, Rainy Rain Raining. His team created 10 or 20 million blowing raindrops for Pixar’s experimental short The Blue Umbrella. In Monsters University, the team devised ground-level fog swirling around monsters escaping through the forest. Some 30 years into his craft, Cody creates atmospheres you don’t see, but feel as part of the backdrop, like the far-off planets of Star Wars. It doesn’t matter whether Pixar produces 18 more years of unprecedented hits; instead, the remarkable studio – like Cody’s scientific and artistic skills – will wow us in ways his Astro-Geology teacher William Ayres taught him were in his stars. Kevin Mardesich ’87 teaches Story Development, PR, and marketing courses for UCLA Extension. He also runs KevinMardesich.com, a communications and storytelling company.

40 classnotes

’76 RH Melinda Pfeffer Beach lives in beautiful Rumney , NH. She writes, “I have been renovating my barn for the past two years with the intention of creating a space for creative expression in my community. I hosted the Baker River arts and music festival for the 2nd year this summer, offering music, art classes and shows, yoga, and films and celebrations.” Alexandra Bowes writes, “I am living in San Francisco with my husband, Stephen Williamson. We have three children. John Charles lives in LA and works for First Beverage company; Emma works in NYC at Christies, in the postmodern/contemporary department, and Daisy is on her way to Middlebury in the fall. I am painting and doing design work. I have seen Claudia Martin, Dru Lawton, Maria Werner (who lives in SF) and Lanny Hammer.”

’78

Jim Carpenter has joined the sales team at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga. Email him at jcarpenter@reynoldsplantationproperties.com.

Brooke Thomas Cohn and family visited Lisa Zolkiewicz-Ives in June. Robert Bamber Marshall Jr. writes, “I have been working again at Prudential for the past year and then some. Passed my seven-year mark this April.” Terry McClenahan writes, “In Manhattan’s West Side Soccer League I’m the Chief Referee for Boy's-11 division... and was my son Rory's Head Coach this spring. (Funny how little I remember from 4th Form soccer!) My 23-year-old son Matthew is a student & residence supervisor at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, VT, a 120-student school in the Northeast Kingdom that's one of the U.S.'s seven Work-Learning-Service colleges.

1980s ’80

Tom Dubin, writes, “My wife (Pam Klem, Amherst '85) and I decided to take our kids (Emma, 18; Jonah, 14; and Stella, 10) out of school to travel with them for a year before they get too old. We're near the end of the travels, which has taken us to six continents. We particularly enjoyed Malawi, where we helped build a school. The decision to travel meant that I had to resign from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where I spent 12 very happy years as Chief Legal Officer. I hope to stay somehow involved in pharmaceuticals. I hope all is good with the class of ’80.”

’81

Mark R. Shulman writes, “After nine years as dean of graduate programs at Pace Law School, I'm moving to New York University, where I will be the Associate Dean responsible for international admissions. Also this summer, my partner of twenty-plus years Diego Diaz and I will be turning 50 while on a family trip to Alaska. We continue to live in New York and Guilford.”

’82

Tammy Bronk Kerigan writes “The class of 1982 is quite active. We are all keeping in touch via our Facebook page thanks to Laurie Abel's amazing networking skills. We are planning a Class of ’82 collective 50th birthday celebration during alumni weekend 2014 - 80s themed of course. As for me, I took my daughter Callie to the Alumni brunch in LA and had a wonderful time catching up with Steve Farrell (to whom I credit any writing skill I may possess due to his English classes at Choate). Callie attended the Academic Enrichment Program at Choate this summer and loved it! I would love to see any fellow Choaties if they are out in the LA area.”

’83

Daniel H. Aronson writes, “My family and I relocated to Houston from Philadelphia this summer with our four cats. My wife, Beth, is teaching psychology and running the Masters clinic at Lamar University in Beaumont, and our five-year-old daughter, Katie, is in kindergarten. I am the education director at Congregation Or Ami in Houston and will be serving Temple Beth Sholom in Salem, Ore., as their visiting rabbi for High Holy Days and one weekend a month. As for the cats, their job is to protect us from fire ants and cockroaches. Meanwhile, my son Jacob is a sophomore at University of Maryland studying environmental engineering.”

’84

Kevin K. Dodd writes, “Much has transpired since 1984. I look back at my years at Choate with fond memories of great friendships and an incredible educational experience. I am so thankful to have been a part of this great institution. My wife, Allison, and I along with our boys (Tomas and Lucas) join in wishing you all the best of health and happiness!” Monique Gibelli accepted a three-year appointment as Board Member for University of Michigan’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. She is currently living in Florida and employed with Microsoft Latin America as a Sales Senior Director. David Mills writes, “My second book of poems "The Sudden Country" was a finalist for the "Main Street Rag Prize" and was published in June. If anyone is interested in getting a signed copy they can e-mail me at booked65@yahoo.com. I have been in touch with both Rusty Duncan and Mark Righter and they are doing well.”

’86

Peter Crumlish was recently named the new executive director and general secretary of Dwight Hall at Yale, the student-run center for public service and social justice. Founded in 1886, Dwight Hall fosters civic-mindedness in student leaders and promotes service and activism in New Haven and around the world. Peter lives in New Haven with his wife, Sara Armstrong, and their three sons, Sam, Caleb and Finn. Sara, who served in the Peace Corps with Peter in the Philippines from ’96 to ’98, is the director of admissions for Cold Spring School, a progressive K-6 independent school in New Haven. Marcia McMillan McDonough and her family recently visited New York and had a riot dining with Annabel Fan and Ben Feldman. Marcia and family live in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. She wants to congratulate Ben Feldman on multiple Tony Award wins for the Broadway show Pippin, which he produced. (See profile on p. 42).

’87

Adrienne Neff enjoyed running into Isaac Pineus, who is a Swedish mid-century modern antiques dealer.

’88

Austin Fragomen writes, “I am so sorry and disappointed that I was unable to attend my class reunion this year. Sounds like it was a great success. I will make sure to attend some of the NYC Choate events.” Lindsay Walsh writes, “I was so sorry to miss the reunion in May; My husband, Richard (devoted St. Paul's alum!), and I have lived in San Francisco since 1995. We have three boys (13, 12 and 9) and are raising them in the Presidio, the largest urban national park. So while we are officially in the city we actually enjoy a pretty bucolic existence. My sons go to a wonderful k-8 called Town School for Boys. After eight very happy years as a stay-at-home mom, I joined a startup called Stella & Dot. What was intended as a tiny little "mom job" has turned into a full-fledged entrepreneurial adventure. I'm an equity partner and lead a national sales team, mostly women in transition wanting to re-enter the workplace after staying home with children or wanting to leave a full-time, corporate job for a more flexible option. My primary focus is developing fledgling markets across the country, so if this sounds interesting to you, email me at lindsaywalsh@me.com.”

Bulletin | Fall 2013 41

1 2

3 4 7 6 1 Gary Crotty ’82 recently visited the country of Bhutan. While there he hiked to the top of Tiger’s Nest – a famous Buddhist Monastery. 2 Tom Dubin ’80 and family on a trip to Malawi where they helped build a school in a remote village last October. 3 Six members of the Class of 1987 ran the “Bluegrass Half Marathon” in Lexington, KY. Pictured from left, Nick Kappas’s shirt, Mark Kristiansen, Steve Wrinn, Patrick Cho and Joe McAndrew. Missing from the photo is Adam Bennett.

4 Chris Taylor ’86, and wife, Caitlin, welcomed a son, Benjamin C. Taylor, on October 1, 2012. 5 Monte Frank ’86 and Nessim Mezrahi ’00 were part of the U.S. delegation of over 1,000 athletes at the World Maccabiah Games in July. Both were selected to the U.S. Cycling Team and participated in the individual time trial on July 21 and road race on July 25. In the time trial, both won bronze medals in their respective categories, and a silver medal for the combined U.S. team. Monte also won a silver medal in the road race.

5 6 Michael Kazickas ’74 hosted 2005 Women’s U.S. Open Champion Birdie Kim at his home in East Hampton, NY during the 2013 Championship at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, NY. 7 Dentist David Fried ’77, on a recent mission trip to Comayagua, Honduras traveling for Miles for Smiles with UCONN dental students providing dental care to a needy community.

classnotes | Profile

Like Leo Bloom – no, not the character in James Joyce’s Ulysses, the one in Mel Brooks’ film The Producers – Ben Feldman has harbored a secret desire “to be a producer with a hit show on Broadway.” On June 9, his desire was brought to fruition as he earned his first Tony Award for the hit musical revival Pippin. There was “Magic to Do” in bringing this imaginative revival to Broadway. It garnered 10 Tony nominations and won “Best Musical Revival”; “Best Director”; “Best Actress”, and “Best Featured Actress in a Musical.” Ben, a founding member of Beigelman, Feldman, Golinski, Reedy & Senouf, an entertainment and corporate law firm, put together a consortium of 15 veteran and new Broadway investors to help get the production from Cambridge, Mass., to Broadway, where it is playing to sold-out houses at the Music Box Theatre and breaking the box office records for that 82-year-old venue week after week. Last summer, while the production was still in rehearsal at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, two of the lead producers, Ben’s clients Howard and Janet Kagan, invited him to attend a reading. Says Ben, “I was flattered that Howard and Janet allowed me to get involved. From the very first number, I knew it would be a commercial success. Pippin, a hugely popular hit in 1972, had not been back to Broadway in 40 years, so that lessened the risk of its failure. But beyond that, it was a brilliant reinterpretation of the original show – not just a carbon copy of the original.” The new production features choreography in the style of Bob Fosse and includes a collaboration with the spectacular Montreal circus troupe, 7 Fingers of the Hand. Ben, who has procured funding to a lesser (and uncredited) extent on other shows, including Peter Morgan’s 2007 play Frost/Nixon, has a sixth sense for new talent and has been tapped to serve on the boards of directors for Ars Nova, the Chase Brock Experience and the Hourglass Group.

The Producer Ben Feldman ’86

For Ben, a three-year boarding student from Worcester, Mass., his love of theater was nurtured throughout his Choate career. “I was a cast member in numerous Choate productions under the direction of the incomparable Paul Tines,” he recalls. Those included The Golden Fleece, the operetta Trial by Jury, The Real Inspector Hound, Grease, Side By Side By Sondheim and the role of Merlin in the 1985 production of Camelot. Outside of theater, there was something equally magical and engaging about his presence. Said former house adviser Zachary Goodyear, “There is no one at Choate – in the classroom, the newsroom, the Green Room, or in any room – who gives as much as Benji. He is pure joy to be with, a human energy field whose voltage charges us daily.”

A National Merit Semifinalist, Cum Laude member, Gold Key officer, Secretary of the Student Council, and Managing Editor of The News – Ben did it all and did it well. And after five terms in history, his teacher said, “Ben is quite simply the finest history student that I’ve worked with.” Ben holds fond memories of his Choate teachers and advisers, including Zack and Julie Goodyear, Lolly Hand, John Connelly, and Suzy Stevens, who said of Ben, “He was the selfappointed Pauline Kael of the class; always ready to interpret, analyze, and refute.” At Yale, he majored in English and was on the Board of The Dramat, the second oldest college theatre association in the country. Later, at New York University’s School of Law, he earned his J.D. Ben has served as production counsel for both feature films and documentary films, from Kissing Jessica Stein to the recent Rabbit Hole. He has brought a number of documentaries to the Sundance Film Festival; some favorites include Southern Comfort (which won the coveted Grand Jury Prize) and Earth Days (a Sundance closing night film). And on Broadway he was production counsel for Memphis The Musical, which won the 2010 Tony Award for “Best Musical,” and was thanked by his writer clients when they won for Urinetown. And now his producing credit for Pippin. No doubt his recent success has whetted his appetite to produce more. Says Ben, “I see myself as a wannabe entrepreneur.” He has also had success in trading stocks and has “shorted the Australian dollar, turning a nice profit.” While being a producer is a far cry from “lunch at Sardi’s every day,” Ben says of the less glamorous side of the business, “I’ve learned in high stakes situations to get along with people, to remain even–keeled and just send love to everyone. My own private ego, my insecurities, my eccentricities – these are just a huge waste of time, especially to others who are trying to accomplish something.” Lorraine S. Connelly is Editor of the Bulletin.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 43

’89

Ryan Jungwook Hong, chairman and largest shareholder of Herald Corporation, has launched a new corporate vision since he returned to the group in 2012 after four years as a lawmaker in the Korean National Assembly. The new vision, titled “Re-imagine! Life beyond Media,” is aimed at expanding the group’s presence beyond the media industry to become a unique lifestyle brand by adding eco-friendly materials and foods initiatives to Herald’s existing information and knowledge businesses. Spurred by the initiatives, the group expects to grow tenfold within next 10 years. Founded in 1953 as “Korea’s Window to the World,” Herald has continued to grow as an innovative information-knowledge company. Its information businesses include newspapers, television, magazines, and online and mobile news services, while the knowledge businesses offer customized language education via English villages, language institutes, and kindergartens. Herald and related companies were acquired by Hong in 2002 and have since achieved consecutive years of growth and profitability. In line with the new vision, Herald Ecochem, an eco-friendly materials producer, and Herald Ecofarm, an organic-natural food and beverage company, were founded in 2012. Herald Design Week, Asia’s leading design forum, and Herald Artday, Korea’s most popular online art auction service, have also been launched. Read more at www.jwhong.com/en Katie Handy Lesher writes, “I am living in Mill Valley, Calif., with my three children Eliza (12), Abby (9) and Jackson (7) and husband Andrew. I am loving my job as director of merchandising at Serena & Lily, a home decor company based in Sausalito. I just saw Nicole Clark Eades in NYC. I am looking forward to our 25th reunion next spring and seeing old friends.

Michael Minadeo ’90 and wife Lisette Pineda were united in marriage at St. Ireneaus Catholic Church on the October 20, 2012.

1990s

Elad I. Levy has been appointed Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. According to Michael E. Cain, MD, Dean of ’90 Michael Minadeo and Lisette Pineda UB’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, were married at St. Ireneaus Catholic Church on after a comprehensive national search, “Dr. Levy the October 20, 2012. Michael is a game designer rapidly emerged as our top candidate possessing based in Los Angeles. Lisette is a CPA and controller the administrative, scientific, clinical, leaderfor a large engineering firm. The couple lives in ship, and visionary skills needed to move the Anaheim, Calif. Fellow Choaties Mark Doctoroff and Department forward.” Bob Vanech ’86 were at the wedding. Robert Rubey co-founded an environmental services business located in North Dakota ’91 Last April 20 was designated Dana Lawson focused on gathering and disposal of wastewater Pounds Day in Manatee County, Fla., in recognition associated with the production of oil from the of her contributions to the local community. In Bakken and Three Forks formations. The business 2007, she and her husband, Jim Pounds, founded employs 30 individuals and handles more than Nature’s Academy, which introduces students to 25,000 barrels of wastewater per day. sustainable agricultural practices and other ecological concepts. So far, it has involved more than 25,000 students from 41 states. Dana was also recently recognized by the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation as a “Community Hero” for establishing a program to provide free annual field trips to all Manatee County fifth-grade students. Martin J. Morrison, III, MD has completed his fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. After spending six years in Philadelphia, he is moving to Redlands, Calif., to join the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Loma Linda University School of Medicine as an assistant professor. He is being joined by his wife, Bronwyn Carlson, MD, who is also joining the faculty as an assistant professor in pediatrics, and their three-year-old daughter, Lakelyn. Along with fractures and orthopedic trauma, Marty specializes in pediatric hip disease, scoliosis surgery, pediatric sports disorders, limb deformity, and clubfoot care.

’91

Last April 20 was designated Dana Lawson Pounds Day in Manatee County, Fla., in recognition of her contributions to the local community. Her company, Nature’s Academy, introduces students to sustainable agricultural practices and has involved more than 25,000 students from 41 states.

44 classnotes

1 4

3 7

9 6 1 Jon Brown ’99 married Kara Elizabeth Gaffney on June 22 at Jonathan Edwards Winery in North Stonington, Conn. From left, Vik Gautam, Ted De Barbieri, Bradley Clair (groomsman), Jon, Kara, Brendan Nemeth (groomsmen), Justin Karush, Brian Lewandowksi and Charles Pasarell. 2 Katy Oliver ‘94 welcomed a daughter, Olivia Storm Challenger, on April 27, 2012. The family lives in Carlisle, Mass. 3 Karyn Barr ’96 and husband Daniel Amin welcomed their first child, daughter Dylan Leighan Amin, on Easter Sunday (March 31, 2013) in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Shey Marin Photography.

4 Heidi Howard Allen ’95 welcomed her second son, Ryder pictured here with big brother Brooks, age 2. Heidi is Co-Founder of collEdge Field Hockey & Volleyball Camps.

7 Jessica Fritz Aguiar ‘96 and her husband, Joseph, welcomed a daughter, Regan Lucia Fritz Aguiar, on Christmas Day, December 25, 2012.

5 Marisa Jaffe Gelfand ’01 and her husband, Justin, welcomed their first child, Chase Jackson Gelfand, on May 25, 2013 The family lives in Washington, D.C.

8 Serena Torrey Roosevelt ’94 and her husband, Ted (Deerfield class of ’94), welcomed twins Anna Clare (“Clare”) and Katharine Eleanor on March 11, 2013. Clare and Katharine join big brother Nico.

6 Len Liptak ’92 and Kevin Murphy ’92 and their sons met up in California for a “father-son weekend”, visiting Disneyland, Californialand and Legoland along the way! It was a great reunion filled with wonderful memories.

9 Alex Nagy ’98 and his wife, Carolyn, welcomed James Kennedy Nagy, born May 1, 2013. Big sister Annie is thrilled to have a baby brother.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 45

’99

Severa von Wentzel writes, “Happy 40th to most of us from London, where I continue to live with my French husband and our boy (7) and girl (4). They thrive in the UK school system. I work part-time for Doctors Without Borders, run the Friends of the School events and do lots of sports and traveling. It has been nice to see Amy Lehman and Susan Espinoza here.”

Alan Felsenthal has co-edited a book, A Dark Dreambox of Another Kind: The Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton. With Ben Estes, he spent the last few years editing this collection, which is the first volume of Hamilton's work to appear in more than 40 years. See www.the-song-cave.com. Andrea Johnson, founder & president of Serra Trading Company, successfully completed the "Launch Pad" phase with the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship-Caribbean, a hub for aspiring entrepreneurs founded in September 2011 by Sir Richard Branson, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Serra Trading Company is a purveyor of superior quality, single estate green & roasted Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans. Currently operating as a distributor based in New York, Serra imports coffee beans from whom they have identified as Jamaica's most reliable and highest quality farmers. Eventually she hopes to build a vertically integrated operation from seed to cup utilizing her family's Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee farm, Radnor Estate." www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/blog/ branson-centre-reports-grow-your-company-1

’93

Whitney Asher writes, “In 2012, I moved to Lenox, Mass., and opened Brava, a small wine bar in the middle of downtown Lenox. We celebrated our first year of operation, and are looking forward to a big season.”

'94

Simone Lee Balch and her family relocated to Baltimore in February after 6 years of southern living in Atlanta. They are enjoying the vibrancy and action-packed new city. Simone writes, “We would love to get together with Choate alumni in the area.” Ashley Mason and husband, Matthew, and big sister, Lillian, welcomed Alexandra Mead, on June 18, 2013. The family recently moved from Burlington, VT to Saratoga, NY. Ashley is still working as an attorney for New York State. Elizabeth Sheppard was recently named Associate Professor of American Civilization and International Relations at the University of Tours.

2000s ’01

Marisa Jaffe Gelfand and her husband, Justin, welcomed the arrival of their first child, Chase Jackson Gelfand. Chase is a big fan of animals and looks forward to rooting for the Wild Boars. Marisa continues to live in Washington, D.C., where she is a therapist specializing in the treatment of eating disorders.

’96

Josh Cook writes, “My wife, Melinda, and I welcomed Zosia Chloe on June 7, 2012. Big sister Alenka Grace is thrilled.”

’97

Lovey Oliff was able to celebrate the release of classmate Pheroze Karai's new EP, Ennui. They were joined in New York by Jerome Parker who is still working magic in the theater world. Lovey recently joined the board of the YMCA of West Roxbury and the Choate Club of Boston and hopes to catch up with other Boston Choaties soon.

’98

Lauren Cozzolino and husband Ben Davies, and big brother, Grayson, proudly announce the birth of Evan Robert Davies on January 1, 2013. Ryan Igleheart is Evan's godfather. Kathryn Greenberg is doing well in New Haven. She was married in 2010 to Christopher Clark in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Caitlin Klevorick gave the toast at their wedding. Kathryn finished her chief resident year in Radiology at Yale New Haven Hospital and will be pursuing a fellowship in musculoskeletal imaging, also at Yale.

top Lisa Bradbury ’91 and Nicholas Webster were married on May 27, 2013 in Meads Bay, Anguilla. The couple has recently relocated from Austin, Texas to Philadelphia, and is enjoying life back on the East Coast. center Wedding of Sarah Shetter ’94 and Mark Lafferty from left: Trina Meiser, Tara Owens-Antonipillai, Lauren Wimmer, Serena Torrey Roosevelt, Sarah Shetter, Mark Lafferty, Kate Wilson ’93, and Odinn Johnson. bottom Bridget Deacon Marvinsmith ’01 and Camille Asher Berriochoa ’01 both earned their MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. They will both begin their residencies in summer 2013, Bridget in Family Medicine and Camille in Radiology.

’02

Morgan Ho has moved to Las Vegas and is working in market research at the mixed martial arts organization, The Ultimate Fighting Championship. Lissa Moses Johnson and Katie Timlin have launched a new website to change science education. Check out Mosa Mack: Science Detective (www.mosamack.org) a series of short animated science mysteries that redefines the image of a scientist. In each episode, Mosa uses critical thinking skills to solve each mystery and shows students that scientific thinking is a part of their everyday lives. Lissa’s company, Mosa Mack Animations, provides the animation.

Classnotes | Profile

Advocate for Ethical Fashion Amanda Hearst ’02

In the world of fashion , it’s easy to be swept into the alluring fantasy life depicted in the photo spreads of the newsstands’ best-selling glossies. But there’s another side to the fashion industry, a side firmly grounded in reality, that’s gaining global attention thanks to the efforts and dedication of people like Amanda Hearst ’02: fashion’s impact on the environment. Growing up in New York as a member of the high-profile media family, Amanda was exposed to fashion at an early age. It seemed only natural for her to cultivate her intimate knowledge of the industry and pursue a career related to fashion, even though she graduated from Fordham University in 2008 with a degree in art history. Amanda entered the field of journalism after interning in various capacities at “virtually every magazine possible,” including Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmo Girl. She joined the staff at Marie Claire in 2009 as an associate marketing editor and focused on environmental issues. Amanda says, “It’s important for people to understand the impact the fashion industry has on the world.” Environmentally responsible products are made from eco-textiles such as organic cotton and bamboo, or other sustainable materials. Some of these brands work with local artisans and support local communities while producing goods via ethical methods, including, above all, the fair treatment of employees. In 2012, Amanda was named a special projects editor at Town & Country, where she continues to write about ethical fashion in her monthly column, “the A.R.H. Diaries.” Here, Amanda shares details about her recent travels, makes restaurant recommendations, and features the products and brands that have earned her support.

Amanda’s passions about the environment have always been deep, and she acknowledges the crucial part her education played in her career. Her studies at Choate, particularly her classes in history and science, had a great impact on her and opened her eyes to the cultures and traditions of others, she says. The time she spent at Choate nurtured Amanda’s interest in the world and fueled her desire to make a difference. Also in 2012, Amanda founded Maison de Mode with Hassan Pierre. Their fashion pop-up promotes and sells ethical fashion and was launched at Soho House during Art Basel in Miami. After receiving an overwhelming public response, the two established similar pop-ups at the Hole Gallery during Frieze New York and the Crystals Mall in Las Vegas. When they started the project, they didn’t anticipate anything more than a one-time thing, but now they’re planning future pop-ups in London and São Paulo. While her work as an advocate for ethical fashion keeps her busy, Amanda does have time to devote to other philanthropic interests, including Riverkeeper, a nonprofit group that helps protect New York’s waterways, and the Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation, an organization that raises awareness about the castle as well as funds to restore its architecture and works of art. She also established Friends of Finn, a group (named after her dog Finnegan) affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States. Their aim is to end the billion-dollar illegal puppy mill industry in America. In just over two years, Friends of Finn has raised more than $1 million to push legislation to stop the mills’ inhumane treatment of dogs. “It can seem overwhelming at times,” Amanda says, “since there are so many problems facings us nowadays, but just focus on one issue and run with it. Make it your passion, the thing that drives you, and know that even the smallest effort makes a difference.” Michelle Judd Rittler ’98 is a freelance writer specializing in culinary and travel writing and the voice behind the food blog Taste As You Go.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 47

Bobby Grajewski writes, “I recently

graduated from Wharton and Harvard Kennedy School with my MBA and MPA. I started a company with my childhood best friend called Heritage Handcrafted, which designs and manufactures handcrafted furniture and gifts from aged whiskey, wine, and scotch barrels. Though a new venture, the company is growing rapidly and has been featured in Town & Country and Huffington Post, as well as the Wharton Entrepreneurship Blog, Thrillist, UrbanDaddy, Liquor.com, and the WinstonSalem Journal.” Sarah Allen McConnell graduated from the University of Rochester with a Ph.D. in neurobiology and anatomy. This summer, she coordinated the human anatomy course for the physical therapy department of Ithaca College (hosted at the University of Rochester), and will also serve as music director and organist at Holy Cross Church in Rochester.

’04

JB Cholnoky writes, “After two years in Wyoming, I'm heading to Brown to start my M.A. in American History and work as a Graduate Assistant to the Men's Heavyweight Crew program.” Alessandra Echeverria is the Manager of New Site Development at Teach For America. Based out of New York, she helps drive the strategy to open TFA in new regions. Alessandra completed her first 50 mile trail race on May 4 in 13 hours, 38 minutes, and 29 seconds. She has recently fallen in love with CrossFit and has decided to hang up her ultra-marathon shoes for the time being. Ariel Faulkner married Chris O'Brien on June 22. The ceremony took place in Marlboro, Vt., at the home of Andy Reichsman, an uncle of the groom. Alexandra McElwee was a bridesmaid. Ariel is the daughter of John Faulkner, a former fine arts teacher at Choate, and Debra Faulkner, who worked in the school's communications office. Ariel and Chris live in Arlington, Mass., where Ariel is the consumer marketing manager at Punchbowl. com. Chris is pursuing his undergraduate degree in government studies at Harvard. Until 2011, he was a nationally touring singer/songwriter. Benedict Fox works for Sungevity Solar, located in Oakland, Calif. The company was just recognized as one of "2013's Best for the World" organizations. Its goal is to bring solar power to the mainstream, to homeowners, making it easy and affordable. Chris Mazur led Major League Ultimate in scoring and was named the inaugural Eastern Conference Most Valuable Player in the newest professional New York sports franchise, the NY Rumble. The league focuses on promoting the sport of Ultimate Frisbee through clinics and donations to youth programs. Mazur's MVP bonus

top Ariel Faulkner ’04 married Chris O’Brien on June 22, 2013 in Marlboro, Vt. From left: Aaron Faulkner, Alexandra McElwee, Jen Huber, Lila Sandler, Ariel and Chris, Dan Wasserman, Elijah Miller, and Jaron Olevsky. l/center Dressed in their finest ’80s gear, 2006 graduates, from left, Michael Bonassar, Spencer Curtis, and Carr Lanphier hit the Utah slopes in March for the 1st Annual Choate Ski Trip.

r/center Lynn ’06 and Sara ’11 Kirshbaum had the opportunity to explore Antarctica in January 2013. bottom Elizabeth Cox ’03 married Sam Burke (Milton Academy ’02 grad) at the West Chop Club on Martha’s Vineyard on September 22, 2012. In attendance were sisters, Dalton Cox McCurdy ’99, Kendall Cox Leclerc ’01 and Colin Pagnam ’02.

classnotes

After several years of living in Wisconsin, I’m thrilled to be moving to a place where I can actually feel a part of and be more closely connected to a Choate community.

–SHANTI MATHEW ’05

was matched and donated to Choate's Varsity Ultimate Frisbee team. During the week, Mazur works for Ogilvy and Mather as a music producer in New York City.

’05

Shanti Mathew writes, “I currently work as a researcher at an innovation consultancy group in Madison, Wis. We primarily do product design and I work in the front end – doing research in order to understand user needs and pain points. I’m moving to Chicago to start the Masters of Design program at the Institute of Design. Can’t wait! Plus, after several years of living in Wisconsin, I’m thrilled to be moving to a place where I can actually feel a part of and be more closely connected to a Choate community. I’ve gotten to do a few Choate things here and there (including Beijing!) and have gotten to interview a few prospective students, but I can’t wait for that connection to be more consistent.”

’06

Sydney Lapeyrolerie joined Jonathan Fanton ‘61 and Roger B. Vincent ‘63 at a Yale minireunion in April. Jaleesa Murrell and a number of Choate alums attended the Lilac Ball on June 10, 2013. The Lilac Ball is an annual fundraising event for the Prep for Prep program, an academic nonprofit that prepares high-achieving students of color for placement at the top day and boarding schools in the country. Members of the Prep for Prep program who are also Choate alums: Chijioge Nwogu, Jaleesa Murrell, Kenny Hernandez ’05, Julianna Hernandez ’08, Alexandria Bautista ’06, Jessy Trejo ’02, Anthony White ’07, Xenia Zayas ’07, and Amara Omeokwe ’04.

Lauren Vespoli graduated from Dartmouth and began working as an associate for creative agency of the year RF Binder in New York City. She is eager to catch up with any and all '09s in the city that never sleeps! Teddy Woodhouse writes, “I was elected in a university-wide election to serve as the next director of representation (DoRep) within the University of St Andrews Students' Association. The DoRep is a paid sabbatical position – one of the five full-time leadership positions within the student government here – covering the specific remit of academic representation, student welfare, and national campaigning.”

’10

Jack Vaughan and his best friend, Harley Brown (Deerfield ’10), co-founded LAXtrainers.com which helps players and trainers partner with one another. In July the co-founders rode 400 miles to support Bridgeport Youth Lacrosse.

also work as an undergraduate research assistant for the Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture (www.ijpc.org) and as an Annenberg Ambassador for the admissions office. This spring I had a YouTube video of a former member of 'NSYNC singing to my sorority go viral, and it was covered by several news sources.

’12

Eva Kerman is working at a sleep away camp for low-income and special needs kids outside Buffalo, N.Y. Ryan Tveter made his Formula Renault 2.0 NEC debut in April at one of Europe’s most famous tracks, Hockenheim (Hockenheimring). Ryan, who is taking a leave of absence from his studies as an engineering student at Lehigh in order to race in Europe, faced a field of 37 other drivers from 17 countries who entered the 2013 opener for the 20-race NEC. He qualified 16th, just a second off the pole, at a track he’d never competed on.

’11

Elisabeth Roberts writes, “I am currently a junior at the University of Southern California, majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in cinematic arts. I work for USC's student-run news show Annenberg TV News (ATVN), entertainment network Trojan Vision, and write for USC's online multimedia website magazine Neon Tommy. I

’08

Jin Ha graduated from Columbia in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian languages and cultures. He is thrilled to have joined the NYU Tisch family this year in pursuit of his Master of Fine Arts degree in acting.

’09

Britta Roosendahl graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Southern California, with Department Honors. She was the founder and Editor-in-Chief of "Adsum," USC's literary magazine, and is now working as an analyst at a consulting firm specializing in export finance administration.

Lacrosse players Lauren Berestecky ’13, Brooke Hodgson ’14, Kate Hodgson ’12, Grace McVey ’12, Maddie Patch ’13, and Lexi Lersch ’13 cheered on Kate and Grace at the Middlebury versus Colby NESCAC semifinal game held at Trinity College.

Choate

Parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Weekend 2013

October 17â&#x20AC;&#x201C;19 Come spend a few days on campus and see how we live and learn together. For more information, visit the Parents Portal at parent s . c hoat e. edu

IN MEMORIAM | Remembering Those We Have Lost Alumni & Alumnae

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Benjamin J. Sullivan, 95, a retired paper company executive, died April 12, 2013 in Dalton, Mass. Born in Dalton, Ben was at Choate for one year; he played league football, basketball, and baseball. After graduating from Yale and then Harvard Business School, he joined the paper manufacturer Crane & Co. During World War II, he served in the Navy in the Mediterranean and North Africa. After the war, he returned to Crane and worked there for 45 years. In 1975, he was the first person not a member of the Crane family to be named President of the company, which had been founded in 1801. He was active in the community, serving for many years on the Dalton Town Finance Committee and a President of the Board of Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass. Ben enjoyed golfing, sometimes playing with (and besting) Robert Jones III, son of the famed golfer Bobby Jones; he was also active in the American Legion. He leaves a son, Benjamin J. Sullivan Jr. ’71, 267 Locust Ave., Rye, NY 10580; and four grandchildren.

’38 RH Miriam Chandler Hett, 92, died February 20, 2013 in Darien, Conn. Born in Somerville, Mass., Miriam came to Rosemary Hall in 1936; she was in the Kindly Club, the Current Events Club, and the Music Club. After graduating from Shorts Secretarial School, she returned to Greenwich to be the personal secretary to Headmistress Caroline Ruutz-Rees for a year. She later married and moved to Darien with her husband to raise their children. Miriam was a Girl Scout leader for 15 years, was a charter member of the Darien Senior Center and St. Thomas More Church, and was a committee member for the local AARP chapter. She was Class Agent for the Class of 1938 for several years. She leaves two children and a brother.

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Frank A. Kemp, 91, a retired livestock broker, died April 8, 2013. Born in Denver, Frank came to Choate in 1936. He played varsity football, winning the Harvard Trophy; was Vice President of the sixth form; was in the Cum Laude Society and on the Student Council; and was voted “Least Appreciated” by his classmates. After graduating from Yale, he became Company Commander of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion and participated in many World War II battles in the Pacific. He was highly decorated, being awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, a Soldier’s Medal, and more. After the war, he was a football coach at the U. S. Naval Academy, then moved back to the Denver area. He owned and operated farms and ranches throughout the Rocky Mountains, and served in the Colorado State Legislature for 10 years. Frank was a member and director of several cattle, ranch, and farm organizations, and was a Trustee of the Colorado State Historical Society. He leaves his wife, Polly Kemp, 2552 E. Alameda Ave., No. 81, Denver, CO 80209; two sons, including Hovey Kemp ’72; and two grandsons. Donald C. McClure, 91, a retired executive of an automobile and motorcycle accessories company, died June 1, 2012 in Memphis, Tenn. Born in Memphis, Don came to Choate in 1935; he was President of the News, and under his editorship the News won a New England scholastic newspaper award; he also played tennis. After graduating from Princeton, he spent four years in the Army Air Corps. In 1946, he returned to Memphis to work for the Arthur Fulmer Co., where he was instrumental in introducing modern data processing equipment and techniques; when he retired in 2004, he was an officer and director of several affiliated firms. He was active in the Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, and enjoyed reading, study, world travel, and family. He leaves his wife, Virginia McClure, 3437 Waynoka Ave., Apt. 423, Memphis, TN 38111; two sons, including Don McClure Jr. ’65; four grandchildren, including Katherine

M. Hershey ’92; two great-granddaughters; two step-grandchildren; and four step-great-grandchildren. A sister, the late Ruth McClure Curd ’26, also attended Rosemary Hall.

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Charles D. Randall, 89, a retired designer of large store interiors, died February 10, 2013 in Atherton, Calif. Born in Highland Park, Ill., Dick, as he was known, came to Choate in 1938. He was manager of crew and manager of the Golden Blues. After graduating from Yale, he served in the Army in the South Pacific during World War II. Dick designed large interiors for Hussman Corp., which manufactures, installs, and services merchandising equipment and refrigeration systems. He volunteered with the San Mateo County Boys and Girls Club, and also did pet therapy work. He leaves his wife, Sally Randall, 166 Almendral Ave., Atherton, CA 94027; two children; and two grandchildren. Arthur J. Sullivan Jr., 88, a retired lawyer, died January 28, 2013. Born in Passaic, N.J., Arthur came to Choate in 1938. He was Associate Editor of the News; in the Cum Laude Society, St. Andrew’s Cabinet and the Glee Club; and chair of the Debate Council. The winner of a school prize in debate, he was one of those voted “Most Wittiest” by his classmates. During World War II, he served in the Army. After the war, he graduated from Princeton and Yale Law School, and joined his father in Sullivan & Sullivan, the New Jersey law firm that had been founded by his grandfather. For many years, Arthur was a City Councilor in Clifton, N.J., and he later served as the city attorney. He leaves a daughter, three stepchildren, and two grandchildren. A brother, the late J. Quentin Sullivan ’44, also attended Choate, as did two cousins, Douglas McGrath ’76 and Alexander McGrath ’80.

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James Bartley Given III, 86, a retired anesthesiologist, died June 18, 2013 in Bloomfield, Conn. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Bart, as he was known at School, came to Choate in 1940. He was an Associate Editor of the News, was a cheerleader, and was in the Choral Club, St. Andrew’s Cabinet, and the Cum Laude Society. After graduating from Princeton, he earned his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College and completed his surgical internship at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. During the Korean War, he was in the Army Medical Corps, attaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He then was on the staff of Hartford (Conn.) Hospital until he retired in 1990. A member of several anesthesiology societies, Bart was a former President of the New England Society. He enjoyed golfing, sailing, reading, hiking, and dogs. He leaves his wife, Sarah Given, 27 Stonebridge Ln., West Hartford, CT 06107; two sons, including James B. Given IV ’71; two stepsons; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

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Michael A. deCamp, 85, a retired science teacher and art photographer, died April 9, 2013 in Edenton, N.C. Born in New York City, Michael came to Choate in 1942. He rowed varsity crew, was on the Student Council, was Editor of the Literary Magazine, and was a Campus Cop. After graduating from Princeton, he taught science at the Peck School in Morristown, N.J. for 20 years. Starting in 1956, he specialized in underwater photography, especially of sunken vessels, and was known as the “Father of Shipwreck Diving” in the Northeast. He was the first sport diver to go to the sunken Andrea Doria off Nantucket, Mass., and worked on the 1965 film “In the World of Sharks.” He often spoke of his years at Choate, especially teachers Porter Caesar and the Rices, whom he visited in Greece. He leaves his wife, Wesley deCamp, 417 S. Broad St., Edenton, NC 27932; two children; and three grandchildren. A brother, the late William D. deCamp ’37, also attended Choate.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 51

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Robert E. Elberson, 84, the retired head of the Hanes hosiery company and Sara Lee Corp., died February 26, 2013 in Charlotte, N.C. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., Bob came to Choate in 1944. He was on the Student Council and the Dance Committee, in St. Andrew’s Cabinet and the Cum Laude Society, and was a Campus Cop. He then earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a master’s degree from Harvard Business School, and served in the Air Force for two years, attaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He joined Hanes in 1954, and was named President 1968 and CEO in 1972; at Hanes, he launched the L’eggs brand of stockings. In 1983, he was named President and CEO of Sara Lee, retiring six years later. In retirement, Bob focused on philanthropic work and travel. He leaves two children and three grandchildren.

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Thomas C. Collins, 82, a retired executive of Procter & Gamble Co., died May 24, 2013 in Cottonwood, Ariz. He was known as Thomas Axelson at Choate, and adopted his stepfather’s surname in 1949. Born in Portland, Ore., Tom came to Choate in 1943. He played varsity soccer, was on the Editorial Board of the Literary Magazine, was President of the Dramatic Club, was on the Board of the Brief, and was in the Cum Laude Society. He then graduated from Penn’s Wharton School and spent two years in the Army. In 1954, he started a long career with Procter & Gamble. At one time or another he was advertising manager of P&G’s food business in the United States, general manager of P&G’s German subsidiary, Vice President of the Procter & Gamble Fund, and manager of the company’s external affairs division. He was also the first executive director of the Cincinnati Business Committee, president of the Greater Cincinnati Center for Economic Education, and a trustee of the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges and Universities. Tom later moved to New Harbor, Maine, and became involved in community activities there. He enjoyed travel and playing

bridge. He leaves his wife, Suzanne Collins, New Harbor, ME 04554; four children; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. James A. Wright III, 83, a retired financial advisor, died May 31, 2013 in Charlottesville, Va. Jim came to Choate in 1946. He lettered in soccer and track, was on the Student Council and the Southern Club, was President of St. Andrew’s Cabinet, Associate Editor of the News, and was one of those voted “Most Respected” by his classmates. After earning degrees from Princeton and the University of Texas, he was a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. Jim enjoyed music, golf, fishing, and gardening. He leaves his wife, Joan Wright, 409 Wellington Dr., Charlottesville, VA 22903; two children, including James A. Wright IV ’81; and two granddaughters.

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Dwight P. Black, 82, a retired tire company executive, died June 24, 2013 in Vero Beach, Fla. Born in Bronxville, N.Y., Whitey, as he was known, came to Choate in 1945. He lettered in football, skiing and track, captaining the ski team and setting a new school record in the hammer. He was also President of the ski club and a member of the Current History Club. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard, he was an executive with the Uniroyal and Michelin tire companies for many years. He leaves his wife, Ann-Elisa Black, 1395 Shorelands Dr. N., Vero Beach, FL 32963; three children; and five grandchildren. Hayden Mathews, 82, died December 27, 2012 in Chevy Chase, Md. Born in Rutherford, N.J., Hayden came to Choate in 1946; he was a Campus Cop, was on the varsity track team (javelin), and was in the Glee Club and Choral Club. After Choate, he graduated from Rutgers and was in the Army from 1953 until 1955. He was an enthusiastic outdoorsman. He leaves his wife, Elizabeth Mathews, 1855 Bayroad Rd., Vero Beach, FL 32963; three children, including Alex Mathews ’72 and Adam Mathews ’75; and five grandchildren.

’

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Philip C. Hughes, 80, a retired ophthalmologist, died March 16, 2013 on Hilton Head Island, S.C. Born in East Orange, N.J., Phil came to Choate in 1947. He played varsity football, basketball and golf; was President of St. Andrew’s Cabinet, was in the Cum Laude Society, and was voted by his classmates “Most to Be Admired.” After graduating from Princeton, where he was captain of the golf team, he earned his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He then served five years in the Navy Medical Corps. In 1965, he began his private ophthalmology practice in Dayton, Ohio, retiring in 1996. A passionate golfer, Phil also enjoyed other sports, travel, reading, and woodworking. He leaves his wife, Marian “Miki” Hughes, 3 Birdsong Way, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926; four children; and six grandchildren.

’57 RH Sally Denzer, 73, a retired attorney, died March 30, 2013 in Albuquerque, N.M. Sally came to Rosemary Hall in 1951; she was class President in her second, third, and fourth form years and was later Choir Mistress, Vice President of Philomel, and Prize Day Marshal. She was also a co-founder of the Whimawehs a cappella group. After graduating from the University of Colorado, she earned a law degree from Fordham and, for many years, worked for the District Attorney’s office in the Bronx, in the office of Legal Aid, Criminal Division. She then moved to Boulder, Colo. and Santa Fe, N.M., before settling in Albuquerque, where she designed her home. An animal rights supporter, she was a volunteer for the local humane society. She leaves no immediate family.

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Bruce H. Evans, 73, a retired art museum director, died May 14, 2013 in Hendersonville, N.C. Born in Rome, N.Y., Bruce came to Choate in 1954. He played clarinet in the Golden Blues and the Marching Band, and was in the French Club and the Cum Laude Society. After graduating from Amherst, he earned a master’s degree in art history from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. Bruce was Curator, and later Director, of the Dayton (Ohio) Art Institute until 1991, when he became Director of the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, N.C. He was a past President of the Association of Art Museum Directors and served on art museum re-accreditation panels. After retiring in 2001, he was on the boards of the Longboat Key (Fla.) Arts Center and the Ringling College of Art and Design. He enjoyed playing the guitar and keyboard, hunting, fishing, golf, and photography. He leaves his wife, Margaret Evans, 40 Hollyberry Lane, Brevard, NC 28712; two sons; two grandchildren; a sister, and a brother, Edward Evans ’60. Joseph “Jay” Lester Parsons III, an attorney, died March 21, 2013 in Vero Beach, Fla. Born in Orange, N.J., Jay came to Choate in 1953. He was Co-Managing Editor of the News, Literary Editor of the Literary Magazine, on the Debate Council, and in the Cum Laude Society. After graduating from Princeton, he earned a law degree from Harvard Law School, a master’s degree in tax law from NYU, and an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson. Jay was in private practice for many years in Bernardsville, N.J. He was also active in the civic life of Bernardsville, Fishers Island, N.Y., and Vero Beach, and was a private pilot and sailor. He leaves his wife, Nancy Parsons, 1865 Bay Road No. 309, Vero Beach, FL 32963; four children, including Josh Parsons ’87 and Sahler Parsons ’93; two stepchildren; seven grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; a sister and a stepsister. His late father, J. Lester Parsons Jr. ’26, also attended Choate.

52 in memoriam

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W. James Clarke, 71, a retired businessman, died May 31, 2013, in Sandpoint, Idaho. Born in Wallingford, Jim came to Choate in 1955; he was on the Rifle Team and in the Camera Club and the Astronomy Club. After graduation, he managed his family-owned Clarke’s Paint and Decorating Store, where he also became an expert with paints and color-matching. He also developed a strong interest in woodworking, and built his own two-seater kayak that he paddled around Madison and Guilford in Long Island Sound. In 1978, he and his wife moved to Great Falls, Mont., where they opened a natural food café, “The Gathering Place.” In 1985, they moved to Idaho, where he was one of the founding members of the Friends of the Library in Sandpoint, reflecting a life-long love of libraries. He leaves his wife, Judith Clarke, 1025 Alder St., Sandpoint, ID 83864. Richard D. “Bunt” McKee, 71, a retired opera singer, died April 14, 2013 in Syracuse, N.Y. Born in Hagerstown, Md., Bunt came to Choate in 1956. He played varsity football, was on the Student Council, was President of the Glee Club and Secretary of the Press Club, and was in the Maiyeros, the Altar Guild, St. Andrew’s Cabinet, and the Gold Key Society. He was one of those voted “most versatile” by his class. After earning a B.A. from Yale and a master’s in music from the University of Illinois, Bunt had a long career as a bass baritone, including a 20-year engagement with the New York City Opera; he was also Artistic Director of the Syracuse Opera for 17 years. His favorite roles were said to be Leperello in Don Giovanni, the title role in Falstaff, and Pooh-Bah and the Mikado in The Mikado. He leaves three children, including Carolyn McKee ’82, 41 Clifton Ave., West Hartford, CT 06107; two grandchildren; and a sister. His father, the late Charles McKee ’27, also attended Choate.

Samuel J. C. Townsend Jr., 71, a retired software consultant, died April 15, 2013, in Ridgefield, Conn. Born in Bridgeport, Conn., Samuel came to Choate in 1957; he was in the Rod and Gun Club, wrestled, and rowed crew. After graduating from Yale, he earned an M.B.A. from Boston University and became a systems engineer for IBM in Boston. He ran a software consulting business for more than 30 years in northern Virginia, returning to Connecticut in 2007. Samuel leaves two daughters, two grandchildren, and a sister. His father, the late Samuel Townsend Sr. ’32, also attended Choate.

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Philip H. Wade, 69, a retired physician, died June 11, 2013 in Lyme, N.H. Born in St. Louis, Mo., Phil came to Choate in 1958. He was President of the Orchestra and the Golden Blues, playing saxophone and winning a School prize for outstanding contributions to instrumental music; he was also in the Altar Guild. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth and a medical degree from Harvard, he spent 25 years with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Cambridge, Mass., and five years as a primary care physician with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He was later Assistant Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. Phil served on the boards of the Vermont-New Hampshire Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice. He enjoyed travel, summers on the coast of Maine, and the newest technology. He leaves his wife, Barbara Wade, 8 Acorn Hill Road, Lyme, NH 03768; three daughters; six grandchildren; and a brother, Stephen Wade ’63.

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David C. “Deke” Hall, 65, a former college professor and kennel owner, died March 6, 2013. Born in Balboa, Canal Zone (now Panama), Deke came to Choate in 1961. He played varsity squash and tennis, was Senior Editor of the News, and was in the Republican Club. After graduating from Princeton, he worked as a social worker for several years before earning a doctorate in

economics from Boston College. He then taught at Kenyon College before moving to Pennsylvania to own and operate a boarding kennel. He leaves his wife, Susan Hall, 1311 Old Bernville Road, Leesport, PA 19533; three children; a brother; a sister; and two stepbrothers.

Faculty, Staff & Parents Lawrence P. “Larry” Coassin, 54, of Hamden, died July 8, 2013. He was the husband of 31 years of Emily Castiglione Coassin, and the father of Polly Coassin Franzen (Mrs. Jason Franzen) and Lawrence (Rence) P. Coassin, Jr. ’06. No one was more committed to Choate Rosemary Hall over the past decade. Larry was an enthusiastic donor, a fervent supporter of Choate hockey and a constant recruiter and advocate for the School. He was the one who secured U. S. Sen. Christopher Dodd as the 2006 Commencement speaker. A lawyer and businessman, Larry was a self-made man, but he never forgot his modest roots. There is a word in the Yoruba language spoken in west Africa, “ashe,” which means “make it happen” – and no one made more things happen than Larry. He helped countless people start their careers or find new jobs, gain admission to schools, or resolve personal or career challenges. He endlessly hosted gatherings bringing people together to share his warmth and to benefit from his generosity. As Rence said, his father “had the unique ability to brighten a room and make every single person feel engaged and loved.” Larry had a simple philosophy of life: Work hard, have fun, and take care of others. Many people, at the end of their lives, look back and consider how they might have lived differently, but in Larry’s case, he seemed to live as if he knew he would die young. One might say he followed James Dean’s motto, “Dream as if you’ll live forever; live as if you’ll die today.” He got the absolute most out of each day: his energy was endless, and his time for

others unlimited, despite how much time he devoted to his busy career. His wake was the largest I have ever attended. It took more than five hours for his family to greet and receive consolation from the hundreds of visitors lined up outside the funeral home. And the funeral mass the next day was standing-room-only, attesting to the number of lives Larry had touched over the decades. The ancient Greeks believed that passing from life at the high point of one’s power and success was something to be regretted, but even more so, celebrated, for the person had transcended the mutability of life; the sudden reversal of fortune or the decrepitude of old age no longer had any hold on them. We celebrate the special life Larry led, however premature its end. Thornton Wilder said, “the greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude,” so Larry, many thanks for all you did for Choate in so many areas. –Stephen C. Farrell Jack T. Davison, who coached and taught history at Choate for seven years, died April 22, 2013 in Woodbridge, Conn. He was 83. Born in St. Louis, Mo., Jack graduated from Princeton in 1951, where he was President of the Senior Class and played both offense and defense on the football team. Written next to his picture in the Princeton yearbook is, “It’s no use denying that some people are naturally great.” After attending graduate school at Harvard, Stanford, and Wesleyan, Jack taught and coached at St. Louis Country Day School and Groton before coming to Choate in 1957, where he taught history and coached varsity football. Jack’s 1961 football team went undefeated – one of only 11 such seasons in Choate history. “Jack was the best football coach I’ve ever known, and I’ve known a lot of them,” says retired teacher Bob Williams ’49, who took over as head football coach when Jack left in 1964. “He coached the way he played – full speed all the way, and a ferocious competitor.” After Choate, Jack taught and coached at high schools in New Haven, Hamden,

Bulletin | Fall 2013 53

Lawrence (Larry) P. Coassin and son Lawrence (Rence) P. Coassin, Jr. ’06

No one was more committed to Choate Rosemary Hall over the past decade. Larry Coassin was an enthusiastic donor, a fervent supporter of Choate hockey, and a constant recruiter and advocate for the School. –stephen C. Farrell

and Darien, Conn., retiring in 1992. Many of the teams he coached won district, conference, and state championships. He and his wife also taught at Cairo American College in the 1980s and enjoyed overseas travel; at the time of his death, they had visited 72 countries. He leaves his wife, Diana Davison, 225 Rimmon Rd., Woodbridge, CT 06525; four children; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Eleanore Whitla Drury, a former Choate Rosemary Hall Chaplain, died February 21, 2013 in New Haven. She was 83. Born in Pittsburgh, Ellie was raised in Sharon, Pa. She attended Connecticut College for Women and Pratt Institute as an art major, receiving a B.A. from the University of Arizona. She then earned a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Connecticut. Ordained in 1977 in the Choate chapel as a minister in the United Church of Christ, Ellie was Chaplain at School until 1979.

She also taught a required course in adolescence. When she left Choate, then-Principal Charles F. Dey noted that “her general assignment was ‘to raise the religious and ethical consciousness of the School,’ clearly a large order. She addressed this task with energy, enthusiasm and creativity.” She organized and chaired the School’s Council for Religious and Ethical Concerns, which initiated the Day of Reflection program. After Choate, she was a social worker at Hamden (Conn.) Mental Health Services. She leaves five children, including Fritz Drury, 29½ Morton St., New York, NY 10014; six grandchildren; and a sister. Dora “Dorrit” Becker Gutterson, 89, wife of the late Choate English teacher Herbert Gutterson Jr. ’33, died May 22, 2013 in Hyannis, Mass. Born a British citizen in Malaysia, where her father was the manager of a rubber tree plantation, Dorrit was educated in London, where her family had moved before the Japanese invasion of Malaysia. She served in the British

Army as a nurse and ambulance driver in World War II, including the Battle of the Blitz, and immigrated to the United States with her family after the war. Dorrit met and married Herb, and followed him to Choate, where they lived for 30 years. She served on various faculty wife committees and also became in loco parentis with her husband for students over the years. She was accomplished in needlework and, as a member of the Embroiderers Guild of America, was nationally recognized for her expertise in the Hedebo stitch. She also excelled at flower arranging and was a past President of the Nantucket Garden Club. She also enjoyed acting in plays at Choate. She leaves two children, including Eric Gutterson ’70, 9 Salisbury Dr., Westwood, MA 02090; three grandchildren; and a sister. Herb Gutterson died in January 2013. Jean Heyl, a retired administrative assistant, died June 20, 2012 in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. She was 87. Born in Acock’s Green, England, she met her future husband during World War II, when she was in the British Auxiliary Territorial Service and Lawrence Heyl was in the U.S. Army. After the war, they married and lived in the United States; she was active in the League of Women Voters in Nyack, N.Y. and worked with the author Betty Friedan at the Community Resources Pool there. From 1966 to 1971, she worked at Rosemary Hall as an aide to former Assistant Headmistress Margaret Marshall. Afterward, she was execu tive assistant to several presidents of the State University of New York at Purchase. Jean enjoyed horticulture, art, and foreign travel. She leaves two daughters, including Dorothy Heyl ’71, 178 Garth Rd., Scarsdale, NY 10583; and five grandchildren, including Regina Heyl DiPietro ’07. Another daughter, the late Catherine Heyl ’72, also attended Rosemary Hall.

Our condolences to the following: Our sympathy to the friends and family of William J. Bingham Jr. ‘40 who died on January 7, 2013.

Edward Evans C ’60, whose brother, Bruce Evans ’57, died in May. Husband Preston Tyree C ’62, and sons, Walter ’87 and John Tyree ’91, whose mother Ann, died in January. Stephen Wade C ’63, whose brother, Philip Wade C ’62, died in June. Don McClure C ’65, whose father, Donald McClure C ’38, died in 2012. Eric Gutterson C ’70, whose mother, former faculty wife Dorritt Gutterson, died in May. James Given C ’71, whose father, Bart Given C ’44, died in June. Benjamin Sullivan Jr. C ’71, whose father, Benjamin Sullivan C ’36, died in April. Dorothy Heyl RH ’71, whose mother, Jean Heyl, died in June 2012. Hovey Kemp C ’72, whose father, Frank A. Kemp C ’38, died in April. Alex Mathews C ’72 and Adam Mathews C ’75, whose father, Hayden Mathews ’49, died in December 2012. Tim Bradley C ’73, whose father died in April. Jenny Puchta Berkeley RH ’74, whose husband died in December 2011. John Giammatteo C ’77, whose father died in May. James Wright C ’81, whose father, James Wright III C ’48, died in May. Carolyn McKee ’82, whose father, Bunt McKee ’60, died in April. Josh Parsons ’87 and Sahler Parsons ’93, whose father, Jay Parsons C ’57, died in March. Katherine McClure Hershey ’92, whose grandfather, Donald McClure ’38, died in 2012.

Scoreboard | Sports Wrap-up

Alex Newhouse ’14

Captain Candace Y.A. Fields ’13

Billy Remsen ’14

The Wild Boars had great success this past spring. Boys varsity lacrosse won the Founders League title for the first time since 1993. The varsity baseball squad placed 2nd in the Founders League and took its share of the Colonial League Championship. Varsity softball finished with only one loss to Ethel Walker and finished second in the Western New England Tournament. Baseball Varsity Season Record: 16-6 Captains: Brian D. Grasso ’13 & Anthony A. DeSantis ’13 Highlights: Share of Colonial League Title; Won Walker Invitational Crew Captains: Alastair L. Clements ’13 & Gabriel E. Knisely ’13 Highlights: 3rd in Founders Regatta; 4th at the New England Regatta (top two boats finished 2nd which qualified them for Nationals) Girls Varsity Season Record: 4-0-1 Captain: Molly T. Lynch ’13 Highlights: 5th at the New England Regatta

Golf Boys Varsity Season Record: 6-13 Captain: Jeremy Van ’13 Girls Varsity Season Record: 5-3 Captain: Allison F. Shilling ’13 Highlights: 4th in Founders League Lacrosse Boys Varsity Record: 9-6 Captains: Michael R. Shanahan ’13 & John LaViola ’13 Highlights: Founders League Champions: OT win over Westminster: Win over Avon Girls Varsity Season Record: 11-5 Captains: Briana R. Mastel ’13 & Alexandra M. Lersch ’13 Highlights: Big win over Deerfield and one goal loss to perennial powerhouse Loomis. Sailing Record: 9-2 Highlights: 3rd in New England Independent Schools Team Racing Championships

Softball Varsity Season Record: 13-2 Captains: Candace Y. Fields ’13 & Emily M. Sokol ’13 Highlights: 2nd in Western New England Tournament Tennis Boys Varsity Record: 11-5 Captain: Ryo T. Kono ’13 Highlights: Took second at KO invitational; Loss in Semi-finals of New England Girls Varsity Record: 4-10 Captains: Sophia M. Kaufman ’13 & Hannah W. Danziger ’13 Highlights: Beat NMH and Tabor to open season Track and Field Boys Varsity Record: 7-2 Captains: Jerry W. Lee ’13 & Christopher A. Chambers ’13 Highlights: 3rd in Founders League; 2nd in New England Championships

Girls Varsity Record: 7-2 Captains: Eleanor C. Kang ’13 & Margaret R. Peard ’13 Highlights: 3rd in Founders League; 4th in New England Championships Girls Water Polo Captains: Brennan N. Marczewski ’13 & Emily T. Wang ’13 Varsity Season Record: 7-10 Varsity Ultimate Frisbee Captains: Junno Tseng ’14, Noah M. Hastings ’15 & Thomas J. Canna ’15 Record: 4-12 Boys Volleyball Captains: Christopher Y. Choi & Allan R. Wang Varsity Season Record: 7-1 Highlights: Won Founding Four Championship

Bulletin | Fall 2013 55

Captain Brennan Marczewski ’13

Team(ing) with Talent Boys Lacrosse Earns Year-End Accolades After clinching their first Founders’ League title in 20 years, the Choate boys varsity lacrosse team was well represented at the Western New England Prep School Division I award ceremony. A quartet of Wild Boars was selected to play in the Western New England All Star Game, while three were named to the Division I All Western New England team. Midfielders Jimmy Coughlan ’13, Bob Collins ’13 and defenseman Steel White ’13 earned All Western New England distinction for their play. Coughlan, a postgraduate from Ward Melville on Long Island, led the team in scoring with 27 goals and 9 assists. The winner of the team’s Robert Berry Lacrosse Award for excellence, he will attend Brown. Collins, from Mahwah, N.J., finished the season with 23 goals and 7 assists, and will attend Notre Dame. White, a co-winner of the team’s Coaches’ Award for Dedication, Enthusiasm, and Team Spirit, led the team in ground ball victories. The two-year defender from Weybridge, Vt., will attend St. Lawrence University. Conor Duffy ’13 was awarded an honorable mention for the award given to the top defenseman in the league. His play earned him a spot in the Western New England All Star Game and an honorable mention for the All Western New England team. He will attend Lehigh. Michael Rastivo ’13, who notched 15 goals and 16 assists at attack this season, received All Western New England honorable mention for his play. He, along with White, was a co-winner of the Coaches’ Award for his efforts this spring. Rastivo will attend St. Joseph’s University in the fall.

Christopher Rusnak ’14

Two awards from US Lacrosse were also claimed by the Wild Boars. Andrew Mitchell ’13 was named to the Academic All-American team for his efforts on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. The senior from Hamden, Conn., will attend the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Head Coach Mike Velez ’00 was named US Lacrosse Coach of the Year for the Western New England district. The team finished with a record of 9-6 in Velez’s third year as head coach. Before the league meeting, co-captains Michael Shanahan ’13 and John LaViola ’13 were recognized by the Talon Vise Corp. for their leadership. Shanahan helped to anchor a defense, which yielded 6.4 goals per game this season. The four-year senior will attend Connecticut College. He finished his senior campaign with 7 goals and 7 assists.

Dylan Farrell ’14 and Captain Abbie Cooper ’13

Coach of the Year Mike Velez ’00 Boys varsity lacrosse head coach, Mike Velez ’00, received coach of the year at the New England West 1 Lacrosse banquet. Velez has been at the helm of the Choate lacrosse for the past three seasons. Each season his team has improved on the one before. This year the team ended up with an overall record of 9-6, beating Avon and Westminster. The team also took home a share of the Founders League Title for the first time since 1993. Velez has helped the program get back to form and continues to seek excellence from his student-athletes.

2013 Varsity Lacrosse Seniors, from left: Jimmy Coughlan, Andrew Mitchell, Steel White, John LaViola, Conor Duffy, Michael Shanahan, Michael Rastivo, Alex Choi, and Bob Collins

Bookshelf

Jacob’s Folly By Rebecca Miller ’80 | Reviewed by Lindsay Whalen ’01

Jacob's Folly

Author: Rebecca Miller ’80 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux About the Reviewer: Lindsay Whalen ’01 is an editor and a Truman Capote Fellow in the Brooklyn College MFA program.

The title character and narrator of Rebecca Miller’s free-wheeling romp through history is Jacob Serf, an 18th century Parisian Jew who, more than 200 years after his death, finds himself reincarnated as a fly in contemporary Long Island. Initially horrified by his new form, Jacob quickly comes to enjoy the privileges afforded to the fly on the wall. The ultimate observer – unnoticed, all-seeing – Jacob offers the reader a view of the world as we so rarely witness it: unguarded, intimate, electric. More than mere witness, Jacob discovers he has been reborn with new gifts. He can enter the consciousness of his hosts, gaining access to their past, their secrets, and their wants. He lands first in the home of Leslie Senzatimore, middle-aged hometown hero and devoted family man. Jacob is quickly bored by Leslie’s virtuous existence, but his interest in the man’s future, and how he might influence it, is piqued when he encounters Masha Edelman, an intoxicating young Orthodox Jewish woman who harbors dreams of the stage. Jacob determines to bring Leslie and Masha together, and uses the unique tools of influence at his disposal to ignite an encounter that will test their mostly deeply held beliefs and reveal the conflict between family and self, duty and desire. Miller revisits these timeless themes in the story of Jacob’s past from beloved observant son and struggling street peddler to louche stage performer; the parallel between Jacob and Masha is evident. Though their earthly lives are separated by centuries, Jacob’s observations of the Edelman home life reveal that the foundation of Jewish life endures. Masha is bound by the same rules that structured Jacob’s days, and the punishment for transgression is just as grave. The new experiences Jacob encounters become the stuff of high humor: Miller marks the fly’s first car ride (“Now I must describe the nauseating experience of my first ride in a horseless carriage.”) and makes him witness to the oddity of text-

messaging (“A man…played a fast paced tune with his thumbs, but no sound emitted from the shiny instrument.”) Particularly memorable are Jacob’s descriptions of fly-mating rituals (though perhaps too colorful for this publication!). The strength of Jacob’s voice, as man and fly, provide the connective tissue that allows Miller to move with impressive agility between distinct storylines. Throughout, the scene setting remains intensely visual and viscerally felt, perhaps unsurprising given Miller’s background as a painter and filmmaker. Equal to Miller’s exceptional talent for establishing place is her skillful treatment of relationship. The many secondary characters that surround Jacob, Leslie, and Masha are unusually vivid. Particularly memorable are Jacob’s meek, mentally unstable first wife; Leslie’s drunken, dependent in-laws; and Masha’s boisterous, ever-growing household. This is a novel that is committed to exploring the tension between family and self, and the particular focus given to the individuals that make up each character’s community helps to make that central conflict come alive. Ultimately, it is Miller’s exquisite attention to detail together with her ambition of scope that makes Jacob’s Folly such an unusual triumph. It is a story that sweeps centuries, crosses boundaries, and wrangles with the most challenging questions of human existence. It is all this, and it is also the story of the world through the eyes of a fly. Readers of historical fiction, champions of the strange, and adventurers of all sorts will no doubt fall for the unforgettable Jacob Serf.

Bulletin | Fall 2013 57

She Matters: A Life in Friendships By Susanna Sonnenberg ‘83 | Reviewed by Michelle Judd Rittler ‘98

She Matters: A Life in Friendships

Often, the motivating factor behind choosing to read a memoir is the desire to gain deeper insight into the life of the author or to glean something from the creative process. I have read a number of memoirs over the years, but this may be the first time one has pulled me down roads of intense self-reflection, along which it was nearly impossible to avoid analyzing the true nature of some of my own female friendships. In her most recent book, She Matters, Susanna Sonnenberg ‘83 describes with raw honesty and vivid detail the endearing tenderness and painful truths of her friendships with women over a period spanning more than 20 years. Of all these relationships, the one that has withstood the test of time and circumstance and carries the deepest significance is her friendship with Patricia. Sonnenberg introduces her to us in the opening pages of the book and makes sporadic mention of their fluctuating bond in the 20 essays that follow. It becomes achingly obvious that long-lasting friendships such as this one are not the norm in the author’s life. Sonnenberg frustratingly fumbles her way through the establishment, growth, and spectacular demise of one female friendship after another. Undeniably rooted in the traumatic relationship with her estranged mother, which is alluded to in the book and described in depth in a similarly candid fashion in the author’s first memoir, Her Last Death, these friendships force Sonnenberg to admit her own role in their failure. Her desperate need for non-toxic relationships allowed her intensity and superficiality to bubble to the surface, making her come across as needy and demanding, expecting too much from her friends too early. She gave these women no other option than to seek silent refuge by distancing themselves from her and her suffocating ways.

Author: Susanna Sonnenberg ‘83 Publisher: Scribner About the Reviewer: Michelle Judd Rittler ‘98 is a freelance writer specializing in culinary and travel writing and the voice behind the food blog Taste As You Go.

In “Aware,” the appropriately-named final section of the book, Sonnenberg learns to understand the complicated nuances of love and loyalty. She reaches peace in the mindful recognition that the most fulfilling friendships are the ones that are balanced, with both parties knowing when to give and when to receive. Although you may feel as if you’re intruding on Sonnenberg’s intimate identification of her shortcomings as a friend, this memoir is well worth reading, if not just to reexamine the friendships in your life that have fallen by the wayside but then to celebrate the friendships that have cemented a place in your own personal story.

bookshelf

The App Generation By Howard Gardner and Katie Davis ‘96 | Reviewed by Joel Backon

The App Generation

Authors: Howard Gardner and Katie Davis ‘96 Publisher: Yale University Press About the Reviewer: Joel Backon is Director of Academic Technology at Choate Rosemary Hall.

Dr. Howard Gardner, known for his definition of Multiple Intelligences, and Katie Davis ‘96 have collaborated on a new book characterizing the current crop of kids as the “App Generation.” Gardner and Davis argue that the impact of computer applications on this generation is that they enable and restrict three fundamental characteristics: personal identity, intimate relationships, and imaginative powers. While the premises of the book are not new, The App Generation frames the resulting issues in a much more individual and psychological manner than previous books that provided more social commentary. As a result of their change in approach, the book works well as a characterization of how this current generation navigates pre-adult lives. The middle three chapters, defining the App Generation in terms of characteristics drawn from the late developmental psychologist Erik Erikson, have the greatest impact: identity, intimacy, and imagination. These chapters draw from extensive interviews and research with adolescents as well as more public research from organizations such as the Pew Foundation. Apps such as Facebook help to form a carefully crafted public persona that may have little connection to an internal sense of self. The process of developing an identity can be a double-edged sword, leading a child to a false sense of identity or helping to clarify one’s identity by contrasting the public persona with an inner self. Social media apps also challenge the development of intimate relationships. Distinguishing between friendships in social media and those that have true potential for intimacy is another paradox for young people. The authors make the excellent point that the code behind apps, by definition, restricts outcomes or options due to its very nature. It defines the

rules of the game, and therefore limits creativity and imagination if one completely buys into the app or game. It may be asking too much of an adolescent to transcend the rules of the game and augment the decision tree inside the app. The App Generation makes clear how adolescents can be drawn into the paradox of being more efficient and informed contrasted with developing into persons of well-defined identities, capable of intimacy, and able to fully extend the powers of imagination. There is optimism in the book that, over time, our youth will make better use of apps and reap the benefits while reducing the impact of the cautions outlined by the authors. Their conclusions prompt the following issues: Do we know where the creation of apps is going in 10 or 20 years, and how it will impact our youth utilizing those apps? Those kids with well-developed social skills and strong intellectual confidence are more likely to benefit from the use of apps without experiencing as many of the pitfalls. Parents are key role models for children, and the challenge of parents utilizing apps in a manner that demonstrates appropriate behavior for their children may be slowing progress for the App Generation. The book does a great job of identifying the key issues associated with children using apps today and provides some thought-provoking observations and conclusions for the reader.

Bookmark

The Wig in the Window

Author: Kristen Kittscher (Fiedler) ’92 Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books 2013

The Engagement Equation: Leadership strategies for an inspired workforce

The True Story of Skylar and Snickers

Authors: Christopher Rice ’72, Fraser Marlow, and Mary Ann Masarech

Publisher: Mirror Publishing 2012

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2012

Author: Evangeline Lincoln Wollmar ’76

Bulletin | Fall 2013 59

A Dual Inheritance By Joanna Hershon ’90 | Reviewed by Amy Foster

A Dual Inheritance

Author: Joanna Hershon ’90 Publisher: Ballantine About the Reviewer: Amy Foster is head of Choate’s History, Religion, Philosophy, and Social Sciences Department.

A Dark Dreambox of Another Kind: The Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton

Editors: Ben Estes and Alan Fesenthal ’99 Publisher: The Song Cave 2013

Joanna Hershon’s most recent novel, A Dual Inheritance, is a sweeping and satisfying story of the lives of two men who meet at Harvard in the early 1960s and whose unlikely relationship continues through the lives of their daughters. Hugh Shipley, a wealthy Boston Brahmin, and Ed Cantowitz, a Jewish working-class scholarship student, become fast friends during their years at Harvard. Each young man is fascinated by the life and family of the other, and their duo becomes a trio when Hugh’s former girlfriend, Helen, reenters his life. Their post-Harvard lives follow different trajectories, as each man seeks to create a life that is in contrast to the one into which he was born. Hugh first pursues photography and filmmaking as he documents primitive cultures halfway around the world, ultimately investing his time and money in creating health clinics in Africa and Haiti. Ed stays closer to home, working to earn as large a fortune as he can on Wall Street. Ed and Hugh each achieve success in their own way, though their failures – both personal and professional--are especially important to the development of each character. The title of the book and the definition provided before the start of Part I indicate the significance of identity as a major theme throughout the novel. The definition explains that “dual inheritance theory … was developed … to explain how human behavior is a product of two different and interacting evolutionary processes: genetic evolution and cultural evolution.” Both Hugh and Ed are shaped by, and yet struggle to overcome, what they have inherited. Hugh’s genetic inheritance has provided him with striking looks, but he rejects the elitist culture of his upbringing and seeks to break

My Notorious Life

Author: Kate Manning ’75 Publisher: Scribner 2013.

free of the expectations placed on him by generations of Shipleys. Ed is driven to forge a way out of the working class, far from the bitter anger of his father and free from the limits placed on him by society because of his religion. The struggle with identity continues into the next generation when the daughters from each family find themselves at the same boarding school and become best friends. Hershon uses her Choate experience in several ways throughout the novel. Her depictions of dorm life in the 1980s ring true, as she describes having one telephone for an entire dorm of girls and characters like the ubiquitous hacky-sack-playing boys. She also uses references to locations such as the Arts Center and the water tower that clearly are based on Choate. More significantly, however, is the fact that the descriptions of Hugh’s work are inspired by the career of one of Hershon’s classmates, Dr. Amy Lehman, who has established a floating health clinic on Lake Tanganyika. While themes of identity and social class play a significant and intriguing role in A Dual Inheritance, ultimately it is the love and relationships that Hershon so effectively describes that make this such a compelling book. The characters’ lives are woven together in surprising yet believable ways, and their relationships – both successful and unsuccessful – provide an array for every reader to explore. Deep friendship, romantic love, and the strong and complex ties of family are all portrayed with sensitivity and insight, and through the depiction of these relationships Joanna Hershon has created unforgettable characters who tell us important truths about human nature.

Make it Happen in 10 Minutes a Day: The Simple, Revolutionary Method for Getting Things Done

Author: Lorne Holden 79 Publisher: Publish Green, 2012.

end note |

The Making of an Environmentalist

During the past year at Choate’s Kohler Environmental Center , we frequently discussed what it meant to be an “environmentalist.” It was a term that most of us had used to describe ourselves, yet we wondered exactly who was qualified to lay claim to the word. Did it speak to motivations, philosophy, or actions? Was there a minimum of Bill McKibben books you had to have read, or a threshold number of meals eaten organically to join the club? More important, even if we did use the term, would others see us as environmentalists? For years, scientists have warned the public of the monumental changes that will come with climate change, such as extreme weather events. Throw in the additional problems of land misuse, invasive species, industrial-

Courtney Pal ’14

ized agriculture, toxic waste, and water and air pollution, and it is clear that my generation is in for a wild ride. Yet rather than hiding those dismal facts, this was a future that those of us at the KEC acknowledged and confronted every day. Through exploring these challenges throughout an entire school year, it became apparent that we were crafting our own definition of environmentalism. Both in class and outdoors, I felt as though I had so much to learn and observe about the natural world I was fighting to protect. Never before did I ask myself which bird had called, or how many particulates were in the air I was breathing. Yet with this feeling of unfamiliarity came a sense of curiosity that I shared with my classmates. It was this fascination with the natural world that we came to recognize as true environmentalism. On one of our first days at the Center, we took a short walk down the driveway past the solar panel arrays. Our instructor, Mr. Scanio, named each plant there. Though I have lived in New England my entire life, I realized that I could identify only one or two of the species he showed us. It was then that I realized how much of the natural world I dismissed as too ordinary for further notice – an outlook that was completely changed by my experience at the Center. This close examination of overlooked phenomena continued into the classroom, where we learned about the nutrient cycles that form the basis of life, as well as atmospheric cycles that influence precipitation. In English, we read the works of Thoreau, Emerson, and other classic nature writers as we examined the common philosophical threads. Even outside of class hours, the KEC was still a classroom. We learned about the food we were eating through watching a pineapple grow in the greenhouse, making peach jam from scratch, and planting an herb garden. We watched decomposition in action after setting up a camera near a recently deceased deer, and got to see both foxes and coyotes as a result. We jotted down signs of spring on a calendar in the common room. And most important, we shared stories of the land and its animal inhabitants over dinner and in the dorms. I can picture the moment that I felt all the pieces of the program come together for me. The sun was setting as a friend and I walked through a grassy field; we had chosen to walk the scenic route back from the main campus. As we were discussing our research presentation due the next day, perhaps the most difficult and stressful academic component of the curriculum, two redwinged blackbirds flew past us, engaged in a mid-air tussle for territorial rights. The conversation stopped; we paused, and we watched. When they flew off, only one question was on our minds: “Which bird won?” In the face of daily life, athletic anxieties, emotional struggles, and of research presentations, I believe an environmentalist observes – and then wants to learn more. The KEC has taught me the value of acknowledging nature in all of its capacity, whether through active engagement in the outdoors or scholarly dedication in the classroom. In order to solve the list of environmental problems facing us, we’re going to need people with the ability to watch, witness, and wonder with passion; in short, we’re going to need environmentalists. Courtney Pal ’14 was one of 14 students in the inaugural Environmental Immersion Program at the Kohler Environmental Center.

Choate Rosemary Hall Strategic Plan 2013

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DEERFIELD CHALLENGE

Challenge Officially kicks off: October 1, 2013 ENDS: Deerfield Day, November 9, 2013.

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