NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
NEW HAVEN, CT PERMIT #1090
333 Christian Street PO BOX 5043 Wallingford, CT 06492-3800
BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL
FALL ’18
Change Service Requested
Play the video to find out how SRP student Vincenzo DiNatale ’19 spent his summer interning at the Yale School of Medicine.
The Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin is printed using vegetable-based inks on 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.
In this issue:
FASHION FORWARD Alums in the world of fashion
SIGNATURE MOVES Choate's Signature Academic Programs
SKYLAR HANSEN-RAJ ’20 Reflections from Choate's Global Programs
CONTENTS | Fall 2018
f e a t u r e s
10
Fashion Forward Alums put their stamp on the world of fashion and style
18
Signature Moves A closer look at Choate’s Signature Academic Programs
departments
2 3 4 28 32
Letters
Remarks from the Head of School
On Christian & Elm News about the School Alumni Association News
Classnotes Profiles of former federal prosecutor Robert Rust ’46; Lothar co-founder Rusty Ford ’65; Restaurateur Michael Bohlsen ’88; young adult novelist Abdi Nazemian ’94; and playwright Francisca Da Silveira ’10
52 58
In Memoriam Remembering Those We Have Lost Scoreboard Spring Sports Wrap-up
60
Bookshelf Reviews of works by Richard Beach ’63, Caroline Preston ’71, Abdi Nazemian ’94, and Joanna Cantor ’01
64 OPENING DAYS Drone footage of Playfair as students are welcomed to campus.
End Note #ChoateMoment of My Life by Skylar Hansen-Raj ’20 ON THE COVER Dr. Kerri Cahoy ’96 and Haeyoung (Chloe) Choi ’19 on the roof of MIT Building 37, setting up the telescope. Chloe designed and built a new instrument backplate to track the International Space Station. Chloe’s work improved the tracking capability of the telescope for use in a future laser communications downlink experiment.
BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL
FALL ’18
Letters
Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin is published fall, winter, and spring for alumni, students and their parents, and friends of the School. Please send change of address to Alumni Records and all other correspondence to the Communications Office, 333 Christian Street, Wallingford, CT 06492-3800. Choate Rosemary Hall does not discriminate in the administration of its educational policies, athletics, other school-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices on the basis of age, gender, race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, genetic predisposition, ancestry, or other categories protected by Connecticut and federal law. Printed in U.S.A. CRH180613/18.5M
Editorial Offices T: (203) 697-2252 F: (203) 697-2380 Email: alumline@choate.edu Website: www.choate.edu Director of Strategic Planning & Communications Alison J. Cady Editor Lorraine S. Connelly Design and Production David C. Nesdale Classnotes Editor Henry McNulty ’65 Communications Assistant Brianna St. John Contributors Lorraine S. Connelly Skylar Hansen-Raj ’20 Rhea Hirshman Alexander Kveton ’09 Henry McNulty ’65 Peter Richmond ’71 Stephen Siperstein Brianna St. John Andrea Thompson Gil Walker Photography Jenny Anderson Wendy Carlson Jessica Cuni Julia Discenza ’10 Al Ferreira Richard Howard Sara Krulwich Ross Mortensen Angela Pham/BFA.com
Choate Rosemary Hall Board of Trustees 2017-2018 Alexandra B. Airth P ’18 Kenneth G. Bartels ’69, P ’04 Samuel P. Bartlett ’91 Peggy Brim Bewkes ’69 Caroline T. Brown ’86, P ’19 Marc E. Brown ’82 Michael J. Carr ’76 George F. Colony ’72 Alex D. Curtis P ’17, ’20 Borje E. Ekholm P ’17, ’20 Gunther S. Hamm ’98 Linda J. Hodge ’73, P’12 Ryan Jungwook Hong ’89, P ’19, ’22 Parisa N. Jaffer ’89 Daniel G. Kelly, Jr . ’69, P ’03 Vanessa Kong Kerzner P ’16 Cecelia M. Kurzman ’87 James A. Lebovitz ’75, P ’06, ’10 Takashi Murata ’93 Tal H. Nazer P ’17 ’19 Peter B. Orthwein ’64, P ’94, ’06, ’11 Anne Sa’adah
KATHERINE CARLEBACH ’68 TRIBUTE What a fine, moving, inspiring piece in the Spring 2018 Bulletin! Katie Carlebach’s work would be welcome now, perhaps even more so than in her brief lifetime. Nice job on this tribute. Makes me proud. Seth Hoyt ’61 Long Lake, Minnesota
ROSEMARY HALL CAPTAINS IDENTIFIED Over the summer, School Archivist Judy Donald ’66 received a very special gift from Jamie Wreden – a scrapbook created by his grandmother Rosemary Hall alumna Jean Derrick, RH 1908. Jean carefully affixed names and dates to every photo in her 142-page scrapbook. As a result, we now know the names of the previously unidentified sports captains that appeared in the Fall ’14 issue of the Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin. They are Marion Ely (left), Helen Deshler (center), and Margery Mason (right), all in the Class of 1904. If you are in possession of school memorabilia that you would like to donate to the School Archives, please email Judy Donald at jdonald@choate.edu. 333 Chris
tian Street
, Wallin
gford,
CT
06492
-3800
Chang e Servic
e Reque
Life Trustees Bruce S. Gelb ’45, P ’72, ’74, ’76, ’78 Edwin A. Goodman ’58 Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. ’57, P ’84 Cary L. Neiman ’64 Stephen J. Schulte ’56, P ’86 William G. Spears ’56, P ’81, ’90 Editorial Advisory Board Judy Donald ’66 Howard R. Greene P ’82, ’05 Dorothy Heyl ’71, P ’08 Seth Hoyt ’61 Henry McNulty ’65 Michelle Judd Rittler ’98 John Steinbreder ’74 Monica St. James P ’06 Francesca Vietor ’82 Heather Zavod P ’88, ’90
Follow us!
Network with other alumni! Download the ChoateConnect mobile app in iTunes or Google Play.
Like us! www.facebook.com/GoChoate
Tweet us! twitter.com/gochoate
Watch us! www.youtube.com/gochoate
Share! instagram.com/gochoate
View us! www.flickr.com/photos/gochoate
BU LL E
NON-P
sted
U.S.
ROFIT ORG. POSTA GE
PAID
NEW HAVEN , CT PERMI T #1090
!
TH E c o m m o n r o o t s
36
CLASSNOTES | News from our Alumni
s h a r e d
then
A ZIN
E OF CH OA
TE RO SE
MA RY
TIN
HA LL
FA LL
BULLETIN | FALL 2014 37
For genera we've tions been our teams cheerin g agains to victory t our GO CHOATrivals. BEAT E! DEERF IELD
ision leavd beliefs, & my love of singing, literature, history, ershand and ipathletics, and it lead me to a career in 1 8 9music, 0–1 91
Choate was the basis of my education, of my religious
tra
149942
_Fall_B
ulletin_
1
The Choate Rosem inks on ary Hall FSC-ce saved Bulleti 101 trees,rtified, 100% n is printed waste, post and 9,300 42,000 gallons consumer using vegeta lbs of recycle ble-ba greenh of wastew ater, 291 d paper. This sed ouse gases issue lbs of from waterb being orne emitte d.
com
In this
mon
roo
issue: 100 YEAR
S OF CREW
ts
diti
ons
ta k e
roo
t
5 medicine. It established my mores and social life in my teens and allowed me to move onto meaningful relationships later on. –HERMAN s h a F. FROEB red pur po
VOYA GE OF Retra DISCO cing Carol VERY : ine’s Footsteps
1930s ’38 C
’42
se
UPDA TE: WHA T'S THE
BIG i.d.EA
?
Tom McMorrow reports that “as I knock wood that I am at 93 and in good health here in the Actors’ Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., as is 9/12/14 my wife, Joan, one 2:46 PM of the pictures on our wall is of Tom Yankus’s ’52 class all holding up copies of my book, Having Fun with Words of Wit and Wisdom. Here's my e-mail address in case anyone wants to contact me. It is tmagga@aol. com, and thereby hangs a tale: In my fifth form year, 1936–37, there were three of us in side-by-side single rooms on that great man E. Stanley Pratt’s corridor in the Hill House, Bob (Robert Scarlett) De Sousa, Art (Arthur R.) Bell ’39, and me. We called ourselves the Three Waggas: the Magga, the Da, and, keeping it alliterative, the Basher. The following year’s copy of The Brief referred to our “playful violations” of the Steele Law, ever alert for violations of the code: ’We don’t do that at Choate.’ One other reminiscence, pertinent here: On a day when my father, a prominent author, came up to school to speak, we were walking into the dining hall when a boy was heard to say ’There goes the Magga, with Mister Magga.’ Thus, tmagga@aol.com.”
1940s ’42 C
Herman F. Froeb, and his wife, Helen Kiddoo Froeb, recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. See photo on this page.
’44 C
Congratulation to the 70th Reunion Class (all 26 members) for 100 percent participation to the Annual Fund!
Unidentified photograph, from a 1906 scrapbook donated by Zeda Thompson Dean, Courtesy of the Choate Rosemary Hall Archives.
’14
ate…
Join Us Deer to Kick field of Day, f the Ce more Nove le detail mber bratio s at www.c n hoate.e 9, 20 14 du C.indd
MA G
for Cho
p u r p o s e
Send Us Your Notes! We welcome your submission of classnotes or photos electronically in a .jpg format to alumline@choate.edu. When submitting photos, please make sure the resolution is high enough for print publication – 300 dpi preferred. If your note or photograph does not appear in this issue, it may appear in a subsequent issue, or be posted online to Alumni News on www.choate.edu. To update your alumni records, email: alumnirelations@choate.edu or contact Christine Bennett at (203) 697-2228.
Cheer
Bill Weigle writes, “If any Choaties come to Great Barrington or Egremont, Mass., my wife, Jamie, and I would love to have them stop in and share their stories about Choate with us.”
’46 C
Congratulation to the Class of 1946 for the 20th consecutive year of 100 percent giving to the Annual Fund!
1950s ’50 C
Jay Davis writes, “After many happy winters in New England, which included teaching skiing, we’ve moved full time to Sarasota, Fla., a city we’ve been visiting and enjoying for many years. Now to go skiing, I’ll have get on a plane. Next year is our 65th Reunion and I look forward to being there and hope that other ’50s will make the trip back to Wallingford.”
’52 C Dick Boynton writes, “After serving as President of Space Electronics, Inc., for 46 years, I have finally retired. My wife Nancy died of cancer in 2010. We had been married for 52 years. I then met a Canadian woman, Layne, while I was on a trip to Borneo in 2011, and fell in love. We got married in December 2013, and now split our time between our houses in Connecticut and Vancouver, Canada. It’s an amazing experience to have a new wife, a new country, and many new friends.”
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 3
Remarks from the Head of School
Dear Alumni and Friends of Choate Rosemary Hall, As the school year begins, it is a time to reflect on what we do well, and of course, what we could do better to serve and shape the young lives that are entrusted to us for a few brief years. I am reminded of what Headmaster George St. John presciently noted in his book Forty Years at School: “Only by strengthening good tradition and establishing new, could we hope to make the present-day Choate a future-day Choate that we could take pride in.” Each school year offers another opportunity to accomplish just that. When I reflect upon “strengthening good tradition and establishing new,” I find myself returning to a document that we produced in 2014. The Central Qualities of a Choate Education speaks to the purpose and outcomes of our educational enterprise as manifested in our students’ lives. “Dynamic balance characterizes the Choate Rosemary Hall experience. It is at the core of what we value and teach, both in and out of the classroom, preparing our students especially well for success in a world filled with challenges and opportunities.” Indeed, it is this approach to learning that keeps us relevant. The Signature Programs you will read about in this issue exemplify one approach to learning as outlined in The Central Qualities: “Choate’s extensive resources inspire curiosity and allow the pursuit of interests in almost any direction. In this process of exploration, our students come to appreciate the value of taking intellectual chances and realize that learning is fun, often a source of joy. They identify interests and passions that form the intellectual playground where they will be active for the rest of their lives.” Creating the fertile ground for a passion to take root is the foundation of each of these academic programs, whether it be science research, environmental or language immersion, Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, or the newly introduced concentrations in robotics and public service. Each program exhibits a seriousness of purpose and demands a level of inquiry and creativity that gives students agency. When we create programs that are best suited to our students’ needs, we allow them to take charge of their learning in the most satisfying and productive way. Whether or not our students choose to participate in a Signature Program, as they get ready to head off into the world, they will be especially attuned to nuances of “dynamic balance,” in which individual effort is balanced with productive collaboration; self-advocacy is balanced with a commitment to serve others; and where the journey counts as much as the destination. They will echo senior Shade Mazer’s sentiment: “I’ll be more aware of not only what I want to study, but also how to go about it. And for a high school student, that’s pretty cool.” It certainly seems to me that this is a future-day Choate that we can all take pride in. With all best wishes from campus,
Alex D. Curtis Head of School
4
ON CHRISTIAN & ELM | NEWSWORTHY
2018 Year End Celebration On June 6, the entire Choate community gathered to celebrate the retirement of 12 members of the community. Honorees were Gordon F. Armour ’76, Tim Bradley ’73, Frank S. Cacioli, Charlotte L. Davidson, Jane D. Gustin, Nijole M. Janik, Zmara Knoll, Vicki LiPuma, Irma M. LiVigni, Colleen E. O’Brien, Richard E. Saltz, and Ann D. Votto. The program also recognized four faculty and staff members for their 25-year milestones: Paula A. Barrows, Elizabeth A. Droel, Megan P. Shea, and Jeffrey R. Ward.
128th Commencement At the 128th Commencement Exercises on May 27, Head of School Alex D. Curtis and the Board of Trustees of Choate Rosemary Hall awarded diplomas and certificates to 238 graduates. Olympic gold medalist and equal pay activist Hilary Knight ’07 delivered Commencement remarks to the Class. In her remarks, Knight attributed her Choate education with giving her the necessary preparation for life’s next steps, but the challenge, she told graduates, is to be prepared for life’s curveballs. She stressed the need for honing a mentality of consistency, staying the course with hard work and determination, and above all, making an investment in one’s self. In his valedictory remarks, Dr. Curtis invoked a passage from Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1958 book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story: “Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each
other; they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated.” He praised Dr. King’s masterful skill of working across difference, noting, “[He] well understood that it’s pretty easy to hate and to inflict hurt when we are separate and don’t know each other; but that once we do know one another, it’s far more difficult.” Dr. Curtis urged graduates “to make a commitment to get to know people, to engage positively with others. If you can do that, I promise that you will be better for it – and so, too, will everyone around you. Walls will come down; tensions will lessen; and divisiveness will diminish.” At the ceremony, three students were awarded the School Seal Prize: Donessa Jenae Colley of Bloomfield, Conn.; Richard Lopez of Inglewood, Calif.; and Scott Mullaney Romeyn of Durham, Conn.
Faculty Chairs Awarded at 129th Convocation On September 4, students and faculty gathered for the School’s 129th Convocation. At the ceremony Dean of Faculty Katie Levesque announced the awarding of four faculty chairs to veteran teachers (above, from left): English and History, Philosophy, Religion, and Social Sciences teacher Amy E. Salot; language teacher Nancy S. Burress; HPRSS teacher James P. Davidson; and language teacher Carol Chen-Lin. In his Convocation remarks, Head of School Alex Curtis challenged students to grow and evolve during their time at school: “The person you are today is not who you will be when you receive your Choate diploma. As you prepare to embark upon or renew your Choate journey, are you ready to grow? Are you willing to evolve? We believe you are.” He urged students to embrace core strengths for healthy development, such as self-regulation, tolerance, and respect, in their efforts to build a healthy community.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 5
Book signing with author Matthew Quick at Wallingford’s inaugural One Book, One Town program.
Walt Schaeffler Appointed CFO Walt Schaeffler has been appointed Chief Financial Officer at Choate Rosemary Hall beginning July 1, 2018. A 1997 graduate of Boston College, Schaeffler arrives with more than 20 years of experience, more than half of that in education administration. Most recently, he served as Associate Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer at Amherst College. At Amherst, Walt oversaw the college’s budget and planning activities, balance sheet management, construction funding, and a team of more than 20 professionals. Prior to this position, Walt was part of the endowment management teams at Williams and Colby colleges, living in Boston and Waterville, Maine. Early in his career, Walt held a variety of analytical roles at investment firms located in New York and London. As Choate’s CFO, Walt has primary responsibility for the School’s finances, budget, planning, human resources, facilities, property management, and additional areas of oversight. Walt will work closely with school leadership and the Audit, Finance, and Buildings and Grounds Committees of the Board of Trustees, plus a professional staff of approximately 50. Schaeffler lives in McBee House with wife Amy, children Ella (13) and John (12), and dog Scout. They are busy making themselves part of the Choate community.
CLASS of ’76 FIELD During Convocation, Head of School Alex Curtis announced to the School community that after discussions between the Board of Trustees and Dr. Edward Shanahan the field, donated in honor of Dr. Shanahan, Headmaster of Choate from 1991 to 2011, will now be known as Class of ’76 Field. Said Curtis, “The Trustees felt the time was right for this change and are pleased to honor the lead donor of the field and an extraordinary class at Choate Rosemary Hall. The large granite wall will soon bear the school motto, Fidelitas et Integritas which will serve as a meaningful gateway to our playing fields – a fitting reminder of our foundational principles to our players, coaches, and fans as they head out to competition.”
2018 CASE Excellence Award Exceptional performance in fundraising earned Choate Rosemary Hall a 2018 CASE Excellence in Educational Fundraising Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). While 83 colleges and universities received CASE Excellence in Educational Fundraising distinctions in 2018, only eight high schools were selected. Choate was selected within its appropriate peer group, “Independent Schools with Endowments up to $500 Million.” Judges recognized schools for overall performance and significant program growth across three years of data submitted to the Voluntary Support of Education survey and based on these demonstrated criteria: “solid program growth, breadth in the base of support, and other indications of a mature, well-maintained program.” For the period July 1, 2014–June 30, 2017, Choate demonstrated continued growth with contributions totaling $69,636,207, including a total of more than $18 million for the Annual Fund. Though the award only considered gifts through the end of fiscal 2017, it is important to note that Choate’s community of donors topped these years by contributing more than $38 million in 2017-18, the single best fundraising year in the School’s history. Choate was the recipient of this award in 2012, at the tail end of the School’s largest capital campaign in its history.
6
ON CHRISTIAN & ELM | NEWSWORTHY
Alumni Participate in Alan Jay Lerner ’36 Centennial Celebrations Two productions on Broadway and Off-Broadway celebrating the centennial of librettist and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner ’36 have Choate connections. Tony-nominated actress Lauren Ambrose ’96 (pictured top left) appears in the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center through October 23. Tony-nominated actor Stephen Bogardus ’72 (pictured bottom left) appeared in the role of Dr. Mark Bruckner in the Irish Repertory Theatre’s production of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Lerner, along with longtime collaborator Frederick Loewe, brought to life some of our favorite Broadway classics, including Brigadoon, Camelot, and My Fair Lady. In total, the Tony Award librettist and his collaborators brought 21 productions to Broadway.
College Office Hosts Screening of The Test and The Art of Thinking On July 9, the College Counseling Office hosted a screening of a new documentary, The Test and the Art of Thinking, in Getz Auditorium. The film takes a critical look at the use of standardized testing in college admission, with a focus on the history of the SAT in college admission, the expansive test-prep industry, and the increasing testoptional movement. In the film, director Michael Arlen interviews dozens of exasperated students, academics, and others who declare that the SAT (and the ACT) fail to accurately gauge potential, ability or creativity. About 30 individuals, including admission officers from Yale, Wesleyan, Trinity, Connecticut College, UConn and school counselors from a range of local public and independent schools, attended the screening. Says Director of College Counseling Marcia Landesman, “We were delighted to host our colleagues from both sides of the desk for a candid discussion about standardized testing. This is an important film, and it is being viewed by college counseling and admission professionals around the country; a screening is planned for the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual conference in September.”
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 7
Choate
WALLINGFORD
The “bridge” in a Girl Scouts “bridging ceremony” is often referred to as the “Rainbow Bridge.” Second grader Leila Blasczyk sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as her Daisy Troop bridges to Brownies. She is accompanied by Tim Kinser, music teacher at Pond Hill Elementary School. Leila’s mother, Dana, a fourthgrade teacher at Pond Hill, is at the far right. Photo courtesy of B. Cadett Photography.
Bridging Ceremony @ the KEC Brownie Troop 60182 returned to the Kohler Environmental Center for their Bridging Ceremony. Last fall, they completed their unit on insects, trees, and woods to earn their Naturalist proficiency badge.
Rotary Club of Wallingford Honors Choate Students At the 31st Annual Wallingford Rotary Club Award Ceremony on June 6, two students from each of the town’s secondary schools, Sheehan, Lyman Hall, and Choate Rosemary Hall, were chosen as this year’s High School Citizens of the Year. Students were selected based on demonstrating the Rotary Club’s motto: “Service above self ... Distinguished service to school, to community and humanity.” In addition to being recognized, each student received a $100 scholarship from the organization. The Choate students were Senen Joaquin Antunez Tierney ’19 (pictured here), an active member of the volunteering community, who is a member of Choate for Women, South Asian Association, and Helping Hands, and is the rising co-president of the Adapted Swim Program. Joaquin has volunteered to help maintain the Butterfly Garden at the Senior Center and has worked on a mural at the Ulbrich Boys and Girls Club in town. The other honoree, Ethan Wedge ’19, has served at local river clean-ups, animal shelters, preparing a home for a refugee family, Teach Wallingford at Moses Y. Beach Elementary School, and the Connecticut Food Bank. Ethan’s contributions to the Wallingford community through Rotary include establishing the Interact Reading Buddies Club that meets with local children once a month to help them improve their reading skills through educational activities and mentorship.
8
ON CHRISTIAN & ELM
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 9
Faculty Perspectives
LEFT Panel 1 of 4, Dyad suite.
DYAD AFTER KAHLO Choate visual arts teacher
Jessica Cuni’s photographic work, “Dyad After Kahlo” was among nearly 150 artworks selected by jurors for “The World of Frida” exhibition at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, Calif. Works selected feature Frida Kahlo as the subject as well as artworks inspired by her life and art. Says Cuni, “My interest in duality has always manifested in my creative practice. Recently I have felt compelled to explore my personal identity and experience in my artistic practice. Through such self-visualization I have begun to understand and describe the dualities I embody as a mother and a person in this world. Frida Kahlo’s double selfportrait, in this light, has challenged and inspired me to envision my own dyad.”
10
FASHION FORWARD By Rhea Hirshman
While “fashion influencer” is probably not the first description that comes to mind when thinking of the School’s array of accomplished alumni and alumnae, a significant number of alums have put their stamp on the world of fashion and style. Born Mary Phelps Jacobs in 1891, and known at school as Polly, Caresse Crosby graduated from Rosemary Hall in 1910. After divorcing her first husband, Richard Peabody, with whom she had two children, Polly married Harry Crosby. The couple led an extravagant and sometimes scandalous expatriate lifestyle. After Harry’s death, Caresse (as she was known by then) returned to Paris, where she continued Black Sun Press, the literary press she and Harry founded, which published works by Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, and Ezra Pound, among others. As World War II loomed, she returned to the U.S., married again, and divorced – but also founded Women Against War and worked to establish a center for world peace after the war ended. Caresse lived out the rest of her life in Rome, where she purchased a castle that served as an artist colony. She died in 1970. But the reason Caresse Crosby belongs in the pantheon of Choate’s fashion influencers is that she received the first patent for the modern brassiere.
CORSETS, BEGONE!
Although fashionable dress for women was beginning to change, stiff, unyielding corsets were still in style when Polly was attending dances and meeting eligible young men. Before a debutante ball in 1910, Polly found herself with a dilemma: her corset showed from under her dress’s low neckline and sheer fabric. Working with her maid, she stitched together two silk handkerchiefs and some ribbon and cord. Friends and relations began to ask her to make the garment for them. The story goes that when a stranger offered her a dollar for one of her creations, Polly realized that she had a business opportunity. In November 1914, the U.S. Patent Office issued her a patent for the “backless brassiere.” Within a few years, she sold the patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company. In her later years, she commented, “I can’t say the brassiere will ever take as great a place in history as the steamboat, but I did invent it.”
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 11
Feature
Caresse Crosby RH 1910, inventor of first patented brassiere, in Castello di Rocca Sinibalda, Italy, mid 1950s. Photo credit: The John Deakin Archive.
12
FROM SCULPTURE TO LADIES’ HATS Eric Javits Jr. ’74 didn’t plan to start a hat business after studying painting and sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design. But a scheme to get into New York’s famous Studio 54 turned out to be the beginning of a career. “My friend Mimi and I knew that people were handpicked at the door because of their celebrity status or because of how they looked,” Eric says. “From scraps of velvet and silk I handmade a stunning pillbox that Mimi wore, along with her black Yves Saint Laurent dress. I threw on a white dinner jacket. And we got in ahead of hundreds of others queued up that night. I had so much fun creating that hat that I made more. When Mimi and my sister Jocelyn wore them, women started asking where they got their hats. Before I knew it, I found myself in business.” That business has since turned into an internationally celebrated brand. In 1995, Eric’s company introduced the Squishee hat, the product with which he is most closely identified. Recognizing the need for straw sun hats that could be packed for travel without losing their shape, Eric developed a braid material that resembles straw but is lightweight and flexible. A few years later, the company introduced Shenia braid, a leathery textile that is the coldweather version of Squishee. Although he views himself more as an artist than a CEO – “Inspiration comes sometimes when I least expect it,” he says – he still must pay attention to everything from sales to production to public relations. “Today the fashion business is completely dominated by big brand luxury conglomerates, which is the greatest challenge for a small company like mine,” he explains. “There are work days when very little or none of my time is devoted to design.”
Still, the design process remains Eric’s first love, and if he has not had time to spend on it during the week, he will often devote his weekends to it. “I believe creativity is a divine gift,” he says, “and it is a gift I am grateful for every day. Although fashion is often criticized for being external or superficial, I disagree strongly. Fashion can lift people up and allow them to express who they are.” FASHION MEETS TECHNOLOGY Even as a young girl, Sylvia
Heisel ’80 wanted to be a fashion designer. “I’m not sure why,” she says. “No one in my family does anything remotely related to the field. But I always liked the idea of creating things that can make people look and feel beautiful.” After leaving college, Sylvia began a freelance design career, with her first independent collection appearing in 1988. Her line was particularly noted for its evening wear. Over the past decade, Sylvia’s career has evolved away from mainstream fashion design and business ownership toward exploring new ways to design and make clothing – particularly new technologies for more individualized and more sustainable manufacturing through the use of 3D printing. “My brand and the clothes we produced began to feel less interesting to me, and to seem less relevant to the world we’re living in,” she says. Traditional manufacturing structures meant limited creativity because of their reliance on a small range of fabrics and sewing techniques. Her current company, Heisel (heisel.co), works with fashion brands and apparel manufacturers to develop smart wearables and integrate 3D printing into their product development and collections. While e-commerce and social media have transformed how we find and buy clothes, Sylvia notes that fashion is far behind other global industries in its use of technology. “It’s crazy,” she says, “that we can 3D print airplane parts and human organs, but not wearable clothing.” Sylvia envisions zero-waste clothes printed to order in compostable materials. That technology is coming along, but is not yet available at a commercially viable scale. The technologies that Heisel is working with also hold promise for creating “smart clothes” that can shed water, warm up or cool down (her company is working on a 3D printed solar heated vest), and monitor health conditions. “We – ERIC JAVITS JR. ’74 can make clothes that are better for the people who wear them, the people who make them, and the planet,” Sylvia says.
“I BELIEVE CREATIVITY IS A A DIVINE GIFT. FASHION CAN LIFT PEOPLE UP AND ALLOW THEM TO EXPRESS WHO THEY ARE.”
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 13
“WE CAN MAKE CLOTHES THAT ARE BETTER FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WEAR THEM, THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THEM, AND THE PLANET.” – SYLVIA HEISEL ’80
BELOW One of Sylvia Heisel’s
3D printed designs. Heisel was named to the ”Top 100 Women in Wearable and Consumer Tech.” On October 31, Sylvia and her husband, Scott, will be on campus for a costume creation workshop for Halloween.
14
“STYLE AND SUBSTANCE ARE NOT TWO SEPAR ATE WORLDS. STYLE IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN WHAT YOU WEAR. IT IS ABOUT THE TOTALITY OF HOW YOU PRESENT YOURSELF IN THE WORLD.” – KATE BETTS ’82
When Kate Betts ’82 landed in Paris shortly after graduating from Princeton, she arrived with no job, but fluent in French and Spanish, and with dreams of becoming a foreign correspondent. After freelancing for a while, she landed a position at Women’s Wear Daily, hoping to cover food and travel. But publisher John Fairchild insisted that she cover fashion. Kate remembers: “I went to an Yves Saint Laurent preview with him and thought, ‘There are amazing characters here – and fashion is one of the most important motifs of French culture.’ And I decided, yes, I want to write about these people.” She covered everything fashion-related, from parties to fabrics to finance. “WWD,” she says, “is where I learned how to get a story. It’s where I became a real reporter – and I think of myself as a reporter more than anything. You can use fashion as a way to tell the stories of what is going on in a culture.” Kate has been an influential voice in the fashion world. She became associate bureau chief for WWD in Paris, then returned to New York, where she wrote for, and took over as, fashion news director of Vogue. In 1999, she was appointed editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar at 35, the youngest editor ever at the country’s oldest fashion magazine. Four years later, she was named editor-at-large at Time, where she created the magazine’s first globally published style supplement. Her articles on fashion, lifestyle, travel, and culture have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Glamour, New York, Elle, Travel+Leisure, and The Wall Street Journal. For the past four years, Kate has run her own company, KateBetts+Co, which develops communications strategies and creates print and online content for luxury brands such as Estee Lauder, Chanel, and DFS. My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine, her 2015 memoir detailing her love affair with the City of Light, was a New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of a critically acclaimed book on Michelle Obama: Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style. “Style and substance are not two separate worlds,” she says. “Michelle Obama intrigued me because she embodied both seamlessly. Style is about much more than what you wear. It is about the totality of how you present yourself in the world.”
FASHION INFLUENCER
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 15
FASHION INSIDER For Caroline Tulenko Brown ’86, it’s the business side of fashion that is the most intriguing. As someone who has held senior executive positions with some of the industry’s best-known brands – Giorgio Armani, Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan International – she made the deliberate choice, she says, “to join businesses that were either in meaningful growth mode or at a point of disruption and change.” In her most recent position – chief executive officer for Donna Karan International at LVMH – she was credited with gracefully managing the departure of founder Karan, bringing in new creative leadership, repositioning the brand, and leading the business through a sale of the company. Her prior position was as president of luxury fashion house Carolina Herrera, a global company that she also led through a period of significant change. “When people ask how I ended up in fashion after getting my undergraduate degree in psychology,” Caroline says, “I tell them that my passion has always really been about people, and that fashion is a beautiful creative field in which to solve problems and motivate individuals and teams to do their best work.” She also loves the adventure and variety. “I could be in any part of the globe in any given week, visiting partners, retail stores, or wholesalers. We could be working on strategy, marketing, product development, legal issues, or financial planning. The public sees the glamour of the industry, but the inside requires great discipline and hard work in a highly competitive landscape.” For Caroline, that landscape keeps the industry interesting as it responds to changing consumer needs and values, and determines how best to embrace new technologies. “Companies need to adjust to a business model that prioritizes direct-to-consumer contact and an embracing of new data science,” she says. Currently, Caroline is an adviser to the MIT Martin Trust Center supporting entrepreneurship; to Alante Capital, which invests in solutions for sustainability in the fashion industry; and to LOOK Optic, an eye‑wear startup. She was recently appointed to Choate Rosemary Hall’s Board of Trustees. As she looks toward her next professional challenges, she offers this advice: “Whenever I saw an opportunity to improve the business, I raised my hand! I think this is the most important strategy for growing your career: Find the empty space that needs to be filled to help the business, and take the initiative to go there.”
“I THINK THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STRATEGY FOR GROWING YOUR CAREER: FIND THE EMPTY SPACE THAT NEEDS TO BE FILLED TO HELP THE BUSINESS, AND TAKE THE INITIATIVE TO GO THERE.”– CAROLINE TULENKO BROWN ’86
16
FINDING A SEAT AT THE TABLE If you were a student at Choate
Rosemary Hall 15 years ago, wondering what to wear around campus, you might have had the guidance of LeAnne Armstead ’04, who wrote about fashion and style for the News. “I was telling students, wear this, don’t wear that,” she remembers. LeAnne continued writing about fashion while a student at Villanova, where she did a fashion internship with Esquire magazine and wrote fashion columns for the student newspaper. After graduating with a major in communication and a minor in Spanish, LeAnne took a paid internship at Time, Inc., then spent three years as an advertising specialist for Lord & Taylor, coordinating marketing for sportswear, cosmetics, and dresses. There, she had her first significant experience with the business end of fashion. It was also, she says, “the first place where I had to think about who I am, how to present myself, and how to fit in while maintaining my own sensibility. I am a tall, curvy African American woman. There are not a lot in the industry who look like me. And you have to be especially smart and diligent when operating in a space where people don’t look like you.” Two years as associate manager for marketing operations with Shiseido Cosmetics followed her time at Lord & Taylor. Her next position was as a marketing manager for Ralph Lauren, where she was responsible for a $4 million budget. It was a job she loved, and at which she had great success both personally and professionally. “I definitely had a seat at the table,” she says. But, after four years, the company’s internal challenges – including a major restructuring – began to take a toll. For LeAnne, as a woman of color, the toll was magnified. Longer hours and harder work were not recognized or compensated. She decided to leave Ralph Lauren and the fashion industry. For the past year, LeAnne has been digital marketing senior manager for the Hearst Corp. But fashion is where her heart is, and a field she hopes to return to. “I love being able to work with clothes, to think about how one piece will look with another – putting together simple garments to produce a sense of confidence and style. If you can create a look for someone and make it come alive, you can see it in their eyes. They feel like they can conquer anything.”
“I LOVE BEING ABLE TO WORK WITH CLOTHES, TO THINK ABOUT HOW ONE PIECE WILL LOOK WITH ANOTHER – PUTTING TOGETHER SIMPLE GARMENTS TO PRODUCE A SENSE OF CONFIDENCE AND STYLE.” –LEANNE ARMSTEAD ’04
“WE’RE A GOOD FIT NOT ONLY FOR PERFORMERS AND CELEBRITIES, BUT FOR THE BRIDE, THE MOTHER OF THE BRIDE, OR THE YOUNG WOMAN GOING TO HER PROM. WE MAKE PRODUCTS THAT ARE BOTH BEAUTIFUL AND COMFORTABLE.” – GREG GIMBLE ’01 THE BRA REINVENTED It didn’t take long for Greg Gimble ’01 to decide to join the family business. After majoring in political economy at Tulane and spending two years as an analyst at a startup bank, Greg came on board at Va Bien, a high-end women’s lingerie company founded by his parents, Richard and Marianne Gimble, in the late 1970s. “My parents had just patented a new kind of bra cup that would keep strapless bras from sliding,” he says. “I was intrigued by the idea of bringing that design breakthrough to market.” Now, as Va Bien’s creative director, Greg oversees the company’s overall design development and marketing strategies. Va Bien’s creations, sold in about 500 hundred boutiques and specialty stores as well as online, include “everyday bras,” body suits, panties, loungewear, and specialty bras designed for wearing with, for instance, low-cut or backless garments. Wardrobe departments in film, television, music, and dance turn to Va Bien to help dress their celebrities, and Va Bien shapewear is a (discreet) staple during awards show season. “We’re a good fit not only for performers and celebrities,” Greg says, ”but for the bride, the mother of the bride, or the young woman going to her prom. We make products that are both beautiful and comfortable.” Bringing a new bra design from concept to successful prototype, and then to the manufactured product, is not easy. Knowing something about physics – about tension and resistance – helps. “Bras require enormous precision in both the design and the manufacturing,” Greg says. “All the components – the materials themselves, the cutting, the sewing, the molding – have to be just right, or even the best design will not work.” Greg predicts changes in manufacturing with the rise of 3D printing – “probably fewer big factories and more local producers,” he says, “and greater options for creating custom fits.” As those changes unfold, Va Bien will be there. In the meantime, what continues to matter most, he says, “is that when any woman puts on a Va Bien design, it helps her to feel her best.”
Rhea Hirshman is a freelance writer based in New Haven. She also teaches women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of Connecticut in Stamford, and is a former member of the Choate Rosemary Hall English Department.
18
intensive
collaborative
immersive
cumulative
Ovid que pla nuscia quas eos ut eaqui offic tendignatur. Aximus, quo que ium, nimus ma debis ma sedit quis dipsant estionseque pa parum quibusaperum corporum nusandi dolorem
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 19
reflective
Cover Story
Signature Moves A Closer Look at Choate’s Signature Academic Programs B y l o rr a i n e S . C o n n e l l y
experiential
Scores of alumni remember the tradition of adding their signatures to the Register as new students at the School’s Matriculation Ceremony. But recently the term “signature” at Choate Rosemary Hall has acquired a new depth of meaning, especially in terms of academic offerings. In the past 20 years, the School has developed programs in several disciplines under the umbrella of Signature Programs. Participation in one of these programs has helped many Choate students differentiate and distinguish themselves among the more than 20.4 million students expected to attend American colleges and universities each year. Since 2002, more than 1,050 students have enrolled in one of Choate’s eight Signature Programs: the Advanced Robotics Concentration (ARC, new this fall), Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES), the Arts Concentration (ArtsCon), the Capstone Program, the Environmental Immersion Program (EIP), the John F. Kennedy Program in Government and Public Service (also introduced this fall), the Science Research Program (SRP), and Study Abroad. While each program is unique in its set of academic expectations, they have similar defining elements and components – all are immersive, experiential, intensive, collaborative, cumulative, and reflective.
20
ARTS CONCENTRATION The first Signature Programs appeared on the
academic horizon in the 2001-2002 school year. Artistically inclined students could take a series of prescribed courses and be exempted from afternoon athletics to devote time instead to practice, rehearsal, or studio work. At the time of its creation then-Director of the Arts Paul Tines said of the Arts Concentration, “No other independent school in our league offers this kind of program that rivals those of the premiere performing arts academies in the country.” In the inaugural year, five students were selected in theater, visual arts, and music. Today there are 50 students in the program, and a concentration in dance has been added. Says Director of the Arts Kalya Yannatos, “In recent years, we have worked hard to create an afternoon curriculum that supports the development of these emerging student artists who have identified as serious practitioners in their chosen discipline.” Current concentrator Jeanne Malle ’19 uses the two-hour period after class for independent visual arts and portfolio projects. Says Jeanne, “Due to the strong emphasis put on individual work, students are pushed to understand who they are as artists, or if ‘artist’ even describes who they want to be. This is extremely rare for high school art students, and results in graduating from the program with a much clearer idea of one’s artistic identity – something not normally discovered until college.” While not all students in the program apply to arts schools, most plan on either applying to art schools or majoring or minoring in art in college. Notes Jeanne, “We are well prepared for college level art due to the simultaneous rigor demanded from us and independence given to us in the program.”
Madison Epstein-O’Halloran ’18 (left) was the first dance concentration graduate; she joined the program in 2015-16. Max Patel ’19 (right) is a current music concentrator.
“Due to the strong emphasis put on individual work, students are pushed to understand who they are as artists, or if ‘artist’ even describes who they want to be.” – JEANNE MALLE ’19
Rebecca Faulkenberry ’03, one of the early ArtsCon students, continued her music studies at Indiana University and earned a master’s degree from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has performed on Broadway in Groundhog Day, Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, and Rock of Ages and, in the U.K., at the Royal Court, the Hammersmith Apollo, and West Yorkshire Playhouse. She came back to perform at Choate’s 125th Celebration. The Arts Concentration at Choate, Faulkenberry notes, came as close to what a conservatory training program could offer while also providing an extraordinary education. “I looked at conservatory options for boarding school, but ultimately wasn’t ready to give up rounding out my education with history, sciences, etc. Choate was the top school I looked at, for giving me the best of both worlds. The facilities available to the students were remarkable. The PMAC is the same quality as a lot of regional theater houses, and being able to have a black box space also really rounded out the experience.” The School’s commitment to the signature program in the arts has been reaffirmed in the plans for Ann and George Colony Hall, opening in 2019. In addition to a performance hall, the building will have dedicated spaces for dance and music, making it a premiere arts facility among our peer schools. CAPSTONES – PLANTING THE SEEDS FOR INDEPENDENT STUDY
Also initiated in the fall of 2001, the Capstone Program allows students to delve into an area of interest beyond the scope of the standard curriculum. It has averaged 29 students a year, all of whom complete a Capstone project during the spring of their senior year under the supervision of a faculty adviser. Says Jim Davidson, program coordinator: “Capstone projects are student-initiated, independent projects that link a student’s class work to support exploration of an area of interest that the student may want to pursue in depth.” Shade Mazer ’19 will study the influence of American political journalism from 1968 to 1974 as her Capstone project. She notes: “It wasn’t until my fifth form year that I realized that the Capstone Program provided me with a platform where I could fully invest myself in a singular topic far beyond the confines of a classroom and syllabus.” Shade is taking history and political science courses along with an interdisciplinary course, Journalism and Nonfiction Storytelling. In view of the current relationship between the government and the Fourth Estate, she is hopeful that “by studying the era almost 50 years later, my project could possibly provide a new perspective.” One student’s Capstone project became the basis for his life-long research. Glen Weyl ’03, a political economist and principal researcher at Microsoft Research, is the author, with Eric A. Posner, of Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society (reviewed in the Spring Bulletin). He recalls, “Just before coming to Choate, I read Ayn Rand and became an extreme libertarian. My first serious attempt to reckon with the internal contradictions of ideologies and the incoherent way they play out in politics was at Choate in my Capstone paper, ‘Conservative Liberalism.’ I think the work I have done since then has been a series of revisions of the underlying idea of market-based solutions to inequality that has stuck with me through the years of becoming an expert in the economics of mechanism design during my Ph.D. So, in an important sense, my Capstone laid the groundwork for everything I am doing today.”
reflective
“Capstone projects are student-initiated, independent projects that link a student’s class work to support exploration of an area of interest that the student may want to pursue in depth.” – JIM DAVIDSON, PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Sojeong Lim ’16 Capstone Project on Dadaism. Every year at least one-third of the graduating class have participated in one of Choate’s Signature Programs.
22
In 2016, Choate’s Arabic language students came in second nationally in the “I Speak Arabic” Campaign sponsored by the Qatar Foundation International.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 23
SRP student Se Ri Lee ’19 (right) studied water purification at Stony Brook University in Long Island.
Play the video to check out Se Ri’s summer vlog.
SCIENCE RESEARCH PROGRAM This past summer, 16 students in Choate’s signature Science Research Program fanned out across the States and around the world to complete internships working under the guidance of a mentor scientist at a research facility. Chloe Choi ’19, of Seoul, South Korea, engaged in cutting-edge research at MIT’s STAR laboratory, where she was mentored by Kerri Cahoy ’96, Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics (see p. 25). When the SRP was initiated in 2003, it was unique among our peer schools. The genesis of the program was an effort to introduce scientific research into the Choate curriculum. Associate Head of School Kathleen Lyons Wallace, who was head of the science department at the time, and science teacher Deron Chang attended a workshop given by the late Dr. Robert Pavlica, who had pioneered a highly successful Authentic Science Research course in the early 1990s in Armonk, New York. Chang, now Director of Curricular Initiatives and former SRP faculty director, says, “We liked many features of the program but knew that our boarding students could not commute to research labs as an after-school activity. So, we streamlined the process.” In addition to four academic terms to prepare students for what it is like to do real science, the SRP includes a summer component at the end of the fifth form year – a 10-week mentorship at a university lab. Chang notes, “Our intention was never to manufacture junior scientists. We began by asking, what are the higher-order thinking skills and deeper learning that we want to impart to students that would prepare them for laboratory work?” Says former SRP student, Dr. Lauren Provini ’08, now in her second residency in pediatrics, “These skills were so important in the basic science and clinical research endeavors that I pursued after Choate. Today, they are essential to my practice of medicine; having the ability to ask relevant clinical questions and to answer them in a timely and focused manner certainly impacts how I care for my patients. More broadly, these skills are necessary in a variety of disciplines, biomedical and beyond.” Chang estimates that of the 200 graduates of the program, about half have chosen careers in the medical field, but, Chang says, “I would guess that there are as many economists or computer scientists as there are doctors, because the program emphasizes the same skill sets necessary for a variety of disciplines.” In the 15 years since its inception, the program has doubled in size. In 2012, a physical science section was added. Says Dr. Chris Hogue, current Co-Director of SRP, “Prior to 2012, almost 100 percent of the projects were purely biological or medical. Now we’re closer to 60/40.”
INTENSIVE LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL STUDIES
The Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies Program was established in 2010 in response to a growing interest in both Arabic language and the study of the cultures and history of the Middle East and the larger Arab world. (Arabic was first introduced to the Choate curriculum in the mid-1960s by former history and philosophy teacher Mounir Sa’adah.) Arabic is the fifth most commonly spoken language of the world, and it is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Says Georges Chahwan, the AMES director, “The program is unique among high school programs in the U.S. because Modern Standard Arabic is taught at the college level, and it includes courses in history, art, culture, and architecture of the classical Arab world and of the history and politics of today’s Middle East.” In 2016, Choate’s Arabic language students came in second nationally in the “I Speak Arabic” Campaign sponsored by the Qatar Foundation International. Since 2010, 40 students have studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at Choate and have gone on to continue the study at college and beyond. Gabriel Davis ’15, a senior at the University of Chicago, says studying Arabic at Choate “was perhaps the most consequential decision of my high school career. It led me to pursue Arabic studies throughout my entire undergraduate career.” He employs Arabic extensively in his extracurricular activities. Twice a week, he helps tutor two Syrian refugee families in English through the Hyde Park Refugee Project. He currently serves as the undergraduate representative to the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. After six years of Arabic study, Gabe is now considering a wide range of possible careers, from working at a think tank, to joining the Foreign Service Office of the State Department, to serving as a consultant abroad, to helping out in the African Union. Rather than focusing on contemporary affairs and international relations, Noah Hastings ’15, a senior at Princeton, has delved into medieval Middle Eastern history and archaeology. Noah says his time in AMES at Choate contributed to his chosen specialization in Princeton’s Department of Near Eastern Studies. “Studying Arabic at Choate allowed me to identify and pursue that interest early and dive immediately into more advanced offerings in college.” Meghan Musto ’19, a rising Choate sixth former, plans to continue studying Arabic in college as a minor as she pursues a major in global health. “My goal,” she says, “is to become fluent by the end of college and work and live in the Middle East.”
24
IMMERSIVE LANGUAGE STUDY
“Students gain a level of independence and cultural competency in learning to navigate a city in a target language. And for many, just stepping away from Choate life in Wallingford for a term is immensely valuable.” – SARA BOISVERT, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL PROGRAMS
Elizabeth Kundolf Chahine ’99, the newly named principal of the Silvermine Dual Language Magnet School in Norwalk, Conn., had a rocky start to language study. It wasn’t until she was able to travel to Spain through Choate’s Study Abroad program that she began to get a handle on the language, and the seeds of her educational philosophy were sown. “That was where it all happened for me,” Chahine recently told a local newspaper, The Hour. “Sitting in a classroom and studying grammar, memorizing vocabulary lists, it doesn’t stick. You have to be comfortable, you have to be motivated, you have to have tangible, real-life experiences and you have to have a reason to communicate and people to communicate with.” And that is exactly what Chahine gained from her two homestay experiences with Choate’s programs in La Coruña, first during the summer between her sophomore and junior years and again on a term abroad program her senior year. “It really was a life-changing experience for me,” says Chahine. “I went from being a C student to an A student after participation in Choate’s language immersion program.” She also earned enough AP credits to place into advanced Spanish at George Washington University, where she majored in economics and Latin American Studies and minored in Spanish. As an undergraduate, she also studied at the University of Buenos Aires through a GW program. She worked eight years at the Inter-American Magnet School in Chicago, and two years as Silvermine’s dual-language program coordinator, before being named principal. After taking some time to be at home with her children four years ago, Chahine marvels at her lightning-speed trajectory in school administration. “I went from being a part-time teacher to principal. The only reason I was launched was because of my early Spanish background opportunities. It literally changed the course of my entire life.” Chahine’s journey is a familiar one for many alumni. For more than 40 years, Choate’s flagship Study Abroad programs in Spain and France have allowed students to spend an academic term overseas and includes a family homestay that expands students’ geographical, historical, linguistic, and cultural knowledge base. Other academic language immersion programs have since been established in China, Italy, and Jordan. The School offers shortened versions of the academic term programs in France and Spain during the summer, as well as a four-week Arabic language and cultural immersion program in Morocco. Choate students can also participate in the U.S.-Japan Toin International Exchange Student program in the summer, or a 10-day exchange with the High School Affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, during March break. This summer, two 12-day global excursions offered Choate students a behind-the-scenes look of the burgeoning fields of finance, technology, and entrepreneurship in China, and a glimpse of Bhutan, the only carbon negative country in the world (see End Note p. 64). Says Sara Boisvert, Director of Global Programs, “We know that immersion study in high school can set the stage for a much bigger experience in college and beyond. Students gain a level of independence and cultural competency in learning to navigate a city in a target language. And for many, just stepping away from Choate life in Wallingford for a term is immensely valuable.”
Play the video for more on Chloe Choi’s summer internship.
SRP @MIT Chloe Choi ’19, of Seoul, South Korea, is one of 16 students in Choate’s signature Science Research Program. She completed a 10-week internship under the guidance Dr. Kerri Cahoy ’96, Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. BULLETIN: STARLab is part of the Space Systems Laboratory in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. The Lab usually accepts advanced graduate students who are enthusiastic about space exploration and advanced satellite technology. Kerri, what has it been like to have students, like Chloe, from Choate’s SRP, work with you for the summer?
BULLETIN: Choate’s SRP began in 2003, so you missed the opportunity to be a participant. Do you think if SRP had been available when you attended it would have spurred your interests in aeronautics sooner? KC: Having strong math, physics, and computing skills definitely help when working with my lab. However, good reading and communication skills (writing, presentation) are also necessary. It also helps to be able to self-organize and plan and take initiative. Having the SRP earlier in my career would definitely have been stimulating; my first similar experience working in a research lab was in the beginning of my sophomore year in college, and it really was transformative.
Even if your SRP match is not exactly your life passion, working with academic researchers who are solving societal challenges and getting to do a quick deepdive into one of those challenges, can be really eye-opening. –DR. KERRI CAHOY ’96 KERRI CAHOY ’96: It’s fun to have Choate students as part of the lab and contributing to our projects. Chloe learned some mechanical engineering design software called SolidWorks quickly, and helped design and machine some new parts for our telescopes that we are using as laser communications ground stations. BULLETIN: In addition to developing nanosatellite laser communication systems, weather sensors, and infrared telescopes to image exoplanets, the lab is also developing a CubeSat to test mirror technology. How important was it that Chloe became fluent in CubeSat design and function before entering your lab? KC: Chloe clearly put a lot of time into reading and studying the materials that we sent her in advance of her arrival, and I think that helped to make her experience less about the learning curve and more about the result. We can work with enthusiastic, smart students even if they don’t come in prepared, of course, but Chloe really went above and beyond in preparation, and I think that contributed to her successful experiment.
BULLETIN: Chloe, how did delving beyond the basics of information theory and signal processing help you in the lab this summer? What projects did you get to work on? CHLOE CHOI ’19: When I first started reading about all of Kerri’s achievements, I was immediately fascinated, and I couldn’t stop myself from digging even deeper. I learned a lot of new technical terms prior to the lab. From the moment I got to the lab, people started spewing out all these acronyms, and I was happy, because the things I’d read about on paper were finally becoming real. I used SolidWorks to design and machine parts for MIT’s Portable Telescope for Lasercom, which is a ground station that will be used to communicate with nanosatellites. I also used a software called AGI STK to orbit model and track stars for MIT’s upcoming mission. BULLETIN: What does it mean to have a mentor who was once a Choate student who is now conducting critical explorations in her own lab and was part of the lunar mission team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center? CC: It feels great to have Kerri as a mentor! I was lucky to have started lab on the week of commencement at MIT because our lab had this end-of-year BBQ party, and Kerri and I were able to sit down and talk about Choate life. I’d call that a cross-generation bonding moment.
26
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME
Whether your frame of reference is Noah and the Ark or Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come” aptly describes the Environmental Immersion Program at the Kohler Environmental Center. The KEC was built as a living classroom and laboratory. It opened in 2012 with 14 students and is home to the EIP, a year-long residential and interdisciplinary program open to fifth and sixth form students who have a passion for understanding and preserving the natural environment. The full-year residential commitment makes the EIP experience different from any other academic experience at Choate. Three students in the first EIP class are pursuing careers focused on the environment. Recent Stanford graduates Aitran Doan ’13 and Courtney Pal ’14 were both part of the Stanford Coalition for Planning an Equitable 2035, a student group holding Stanford accountable for its development and mitigating the effects that expansion might have on marginalized communities and their living environments. Aitran plans to continue “working with movements and people committed to racial, class, and environmental justice.” Says Courtney, who is hoping to pursue a career in environmental advocacy, “My Choate experience at the KEC provided me a broad introduction to sustainable choices that I continue to make in my own life: using local supply chains, reducing personal waste, and reducing my carbon footprint. My time at the KEC also taught me that I need to elevate these personal choices to a societal frame.” For Zachary Berzolla ’14, participation in EIP fueled his interest in renewable energy and energy efficiency at Middlebury College. This fall he will complete the fifth year of a dual-degree program with Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering. At Middlebury, Zach developed a feasibility study to turn the campus into a microgrid that can operate independently if the larger grid goes down. Zach was one of 12 students and key faculty and staff at Middlebury to identify ways to transition Middlebury to 100 percent renewables by 2026. The group presented the plan to Middlebury President and Choate alumna Laurie Patton ’79 and to Middlebury’s Board of Trustees. Zach also used his skills to realize energy efficiency for the greater community. He led a team of Middlebury students in the Department of Energy’s international Race to Zero Student Design Competition. This year’s competition was the first to feature a contest for elementary school design. Zach’s team won for their energy-efficient re-envisioning of Mary Hogan Elementary School in Middlebury. Since its inception, 86 students have completed the program. In 2017, the KEC was recognized with an Education Facility Design Award by the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture. Program Director Joe Scanio and Associate Head of School Kathleen Lyons Wallace have traveled around the country presenting the program and facility at national educational conferences as a model for sustainable living and learning. Members of the inaugural class of EIP students, from left, Aitran Doan ’13, Courtney Pal ’14, and Zach Berzolla ’14. All three students had transformative experiences at the Kohler Environmental Center that have led them to pursue careers in environmental advocacy and design.
“My Choate experience at the KEC provided me a broad introduction to sustainable choices that I continue to make in my own life: using local supply chains, reducing personal waste, and reducing my carbon footprint.” –COURTNEY PAL ’14
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 27
2018 Robotics Tournament hosted at Choate
FROM ARK TO ARC
The Cameron and Edward Lanphier Center for Mathematics and Computer Sciences’ new Shattuck Robotics Lab has spawned a growing interest in robotics. In response, the mathematics and computer sciences department has reorganized and expanded its offerings, both curricular and extracurricular, to better serve a growing number and wider range of students. The program now includes the Advanced Robotics Concentration, started this fall, which provides an intensive, year-long experience for dedicated students. The heart of ARC is participation in the national FIRST Robotics Competition, an immersive experience that combines both academic and extracurricular time ramping up to the FIRST competition. Says Andrew Murgio, Co-Director of ARC, “Choate’s robotics program has been carefully designed to meet the needs of all students with an interest in the subject, progressing from an introductory course to the intermediate level, and culminating with an intensive signature program.” This fall, 14 students were selected for the new concentration. LASTING SIGNATURE
The latest program, introduced this fall, has the most recognizable signature, that of President John F. Kennedy ’35. Since 1985, the School has run the JFK Institute in Government as part of its Summer Programs. Says Program Director Ned Gallagher, “It made sense to create a full-year immersion program modeled on the summer program with an added hook—a prescribed set of courses that combine study from three disciplines of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, much like the Oxford University undergraduate model of PPE.”
Thirty-five fifth formers applied for 12 spots in the program this fall. Students will take three courses in the first year and, during the summer between their fifth and sixth form years, will either pursue an internship in Washington, D.C. or work on a political campaign. Says Gallagher, “This is an opportunity for students to distinguish themselves in politics and government.” The program will tap into the 30 to 40 alumni in the D.C. area, including Choate’s two congresswomen, Suzan Del Bene ’79 from Washington State and Stacey Plaskett ’87 from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Before enrolling in the program, students are required to read JFK’s Last Hundred Days by Thurston Clarke to acquaint themselves with Kennedy’s legacy. Although they vary in length and requirements, Signature Programs remain crown jewels in Choate’s academic offerings. Students benefit greatly from independent study and collaborative, project-based learning. A 2016 Review Report gives this imprimatur: “Each of the Signature Programs has significant value. Within our institution, they offer a diverse set of opportunities to students.” For students like Shade Mazer, participating in a Signature Program is more than a credentialing exercise in preparation for the college process; it’s an illustration of true academic passion. “This program allows us to delve wholeheartedly into one issue, for an entire year. As I get ready to go to college, I’ll be more aware of not only what I want to study, but how to go about it. And for a high school student, that’s pretty cool.” ◼
28
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The Choate Rosemary Hall Alumni Association’s mission is 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 t.o build pride, spirit, and community Connecticut David Aversa ’91 Katie Vitali Childs ’95
David Hang ’94 Vice President, 1890 Society
London Ed Harney ’82
John Smyth ’83 Vice President, Regional Clubs and Annual Fund
Los Angeles Alexa Platt ’95 Wesley Hansen ’98
Susan Barclay ’85 Chris Hodgson ’78 Woody Laikind ’53 Patrick McCurdy ’98 Past Presidents
New York Sheila Adams ’01 Jason Kasper ’05
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Sheila Adams ’01 Carolyn Kim Allwin ’96 Susan St. John Amorello ’84, P ’15 Alatia Bradley Bach ’88 T.C. Chau ’97 Jaques Clariond ’01 Alexandra Fenwick ’00 Michael Furguesen Margaux Harrold ’06 Elizabeth Alford Hogan ’82 Dewey Kang ’03 Kreagan Kennedy ’10 Lambert Lau ’97 Shanti Mathew ’05 Shantel Richardson ’99 Michelle Judd Rittler ’98 Kathrin Schwesinger ’02 Ally Smith ’09 Jessy Trejo ’02 Mary Liz Williamson ’94, Faculty Representative REGIONAL CLUB LEADERSHIP Boston Lovey Oliff ’97 Sarah Strang ’07 Chicago Maria Del Favero ’83
Rosemary Hall Anne Marshall Henry ’62 San Francisco Volunteer needed Washington, D.C. Dan Carucci ’76 Tillie Fowler ’92 Olivia Bee ’10 Beijing Gunther Hamm ’98 Hong Kong Sandy Wan ’90 Lambert Lau ’97 Jennifer Yu ’99 Seoul Ryan Jungwook Hong ’89, P ’19 Shanghai T.C. Chau ’97 Michael ’88 and Peggy Moh P ’18 Thailand Pirapol Sethbhakdi ’85 Isa Chirathivat ’96 Tokyo Robert Morimoto ’89 Miki Ito Yoshida ’07
Justin Graham ’98 and his wife Diane
R E U N I O N
Choate Class of ’83: Emilie Coulter, Debbi Jayne Seaver, and Kelly Farmer Rostad
2018
OFFICERS Parisa Jaffer ’89 President
On May 11-13, more than 700 alumni and their guests returned to campus for Reunion 2018. The weekend festivities kicked off with the annual induction ceremony for the Choate Rosemary Hall Athletics Hall of Fame. This year, Jim Dwinell ’58 (hockey), Gavin Jeftha ’88 (tennis) and Allison Kessler Vear, M.D. ’03 (crew) were recognized for their achievements at Choate and beyond. Athletic Director Roney Eford presided over the ceremony attended by teammates and friends of the inductees. Saturday morning alumni were invited to tour the new student center St. John Hall, with Alex Curtis, Head of School, and learn about how the building is enhancing our community. On Saturday afternoon, alumni from across generations presented on a variety of topics. Novelist and screenwriter John Burnham Schwartz ’83 shared stories of his background and his approach to writing in a conversation with Louise Betts Egan ’73. Amateur genealogists of all levels found Tom Wilcox ’63 a wealth of information that would take their research beyond ancestry.com. Public servants Kristen Clarke ’93 (law), John Roache ’93 (public safety) and Nico Dalton, U.S.M.C.(aviator) spoke about their commitment and the rewards of their professional lives. A perennial favorite, this year’s StartUp//CHOATE panel included innovators Carolyn Royston ’83 (Cooper-Hewitt’s digital museum experience), Alexis Boateng ’98 (U.S. Patent Office), Allison Lami Sawyer ’03 (CFO Rebellion Photonics) and Wesley Hansen ’98 (ShadowBid) who spoke about cultural shifts in the entrepreneurial world. On Saturday evening, the Distinguished Service Award was presented to Lee Sylvester in recognition of her work preserving the history of the School by establishing the Choate Rosemary Hall archives. The weekend wrapped up with dinner and dancing on Saturday evening, followed by brunch and alumni games on Sunday morning.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 29
Choate Class of ’08: Caroline Shumway, Jill Mastroianni, Erin (Grajewski) Williams, and Lily Ackerman
For more class photos and highlights from the weekend go to: flickr.com/photos/gochoate/albums
Joan Hewson RH ’68 (facing) catches up with Susan Nakamura ’68
Award Recipients
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENT LEE SYLVESTER
HALL OF FAME RECIPIENT JIM DWINELL ’58
30 30
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION | Rosemary Hall Club
Ann Rippin Rae ’61, Caroline Ruutz-Rees Stafford ’62, and Susan Sayles ’61
On June 28, more than 40 Rosemarians with class years ranging from 1951 to 1975 gathered at St. Bede’s Chapel to marvel at its design and recall the many happy hours spent there.
Priscilla Stevens Goldfarb ’61, Georgia Brady Barnhill ’62, and Anne Marshall Henry ’62
Anne Marshall Henry ’62, Davyne Verstandig ’62, Georgia Brady Barnhill ’62, Joyce Barton Bertschmann ’62, and Mary McDonough Jalonick ’62
Appreciated now even more than when they were students, St. Bede’s and its gorgeous stained glass windows visually celebrate iconic women representing intellectual, artistic, and cultural endeavors. The alumnae shared memories and life experiences that were impacted by their years at Rosemary Hall. In addition, they remembered many classmates who have since passed away. Following a chorus of the Rosemary Song, the group gathered at the Belle Haven Club for a dinner with friends old and new. Recent
graduate Lily James ’17 and faculty member Ashley Bairos ’06 spoke about the empowering female experience at Choate Rosemary Hall and thanked Rosemary Hall graduates for creating such a strong legacy. Anne Marshall Henry ’62, the new chair of the Rosemary Hall Club, has heard from many alumnae who enjoyed the evening and others who wished they could have attended. Stay tuned for details on the next Rosemary Hall gathering, which is already in the works!
Summer Events
UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Be part of it! October 2018
18 – Hong Kong Reception
November 2018
7 – Chicago Head of School Reception 10 – Deerfield Day at Choate 10 – Shanghai Alumni Club Event 25 – London Head of School Luncheon 29 – D.C. Head of School Reception ANNUAL RED SOX OUTING AT FENWAY
December 2018
19 – NY / Alumni Holiday Party
May 2019 SAVE THE DATE! REUNION WEEKEND MAY 10–12 Classes ending in 4s and 9s and all post 50th alumni 26 – Commencement To learn more about our upcoming events, visit WWW.CHOATE.EDU/ALUMNI CHOATE ALUMNI CLUB OF THAILAND LEFT Chali Sophonpanich ’79 and Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda ’64 RIGHT Tee Mahatharadol ’98, Pat Sethbhakdi ’85,
Salin Nimmanahaeminda ’96, Srobol Subhapholsiri ’02, Isareit Chirathivat ’96, and Pavin Sethbhakdi ’18
CHOATE vs. DEERFIELD Deerfield Day 2018
Saturday, November 10 Choate has homefield advantage this year! Bring your family back to campus to catch some fierce athletic competitions and enjoy camaraderie with fellow Choaties of all ages. Gather your friends and classmates and make plans to attend. CHICAGO MUG NIGHT
We hope to see you there!
32
CLASSNOTES | News from our Alumni
’52
From the Archives DEERFIELD DAY 1952
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 33
Send Us Your Notes! We welcome your electronic submission of classnotes or photos in a .jpg format to alumline@choate. edu. When submitting photos, please make sure the resolution is high enough for print publication – 300 dpi preferred. If your note or photograph does not appear in this issue, it may appear in a subsequent issue, or be posted online to Alumni News on www.choate.edu. To update your alumni records, email: alumnirelations@choate.edu or contact Christine Bennett at (203) 697-2228.
34 CLASSNOTES
1940s ’46 C
Cliff Cowles writes, “I am in good health. All the children are in Arizona, and I would imagine they’re planning now for my 90th.” John Russell reports that the Class of ’46 has reached 100 percent participation for the 30th consecutive giving year. In 1988, John honchoed 65 members of the class to fully participate in annual giving. Today, the remaining 23 members of the class have kept the momentum going. John encourages other classes to FIRST reach 50 or 60 percent participation and then see where you can go from there – it all starts with classmates participating! Joe Stafford has self-published his autobiography. Joe moved from his native Romania to the U.S. in the early 1940s, speaking no English. He credits the welcoming surroundings of Choate and especially the interest of English teacher, Pete Caesar, with helping him master the English language.
’48 RH Jacquie Pitcher Neff writes, “I can’t believe it’s been 70 years since we left Rosemary Hall. Some of my memories seem much closer. I went to Pine Manor in Wellesley, then to Katharine Gibbs College for a year so I could join the workforce in New York. I got a job with Businessweek magazine and married one of the editors. We had two children, a boy and a girl. We divorced, and my children and I moved to south Florida. My happiest memory was having my Arabian horse farm with six national championship mares and several foals every year. What a wonderful life. Also met and married my second husband. My son has two boys; my daughter has a boy and a girl. My brother’s daughter and my granddaughter will be making me a great-grandmother in September. I’m knitting as fast as I can. One of my memories of Rosemary was the night we had three fire drills, only one of which was caused by Freed. She said we came real close to breaking the record, so we’d have to have another soon. Three or four hours later,
Woody Laikind ’53 and Chip Robie ’78 at 2018 World Masters Squash Tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia.
in the middle of the night, was the next one. She was really angry because she didn’t start it. Back to bed. An hour later there was another alarm, and no one wanted to leave the building. The runner to the cook came back and told us he had pulled the alarm because there was a fire in the kitchen! The firemen came because they heard the chapel bell (thanks to my roommate). No serious damage, but we got only cold cereal for breakfast. My other favorite memory was our softball team. Nancy Katcher was our pitcher and I was the catcher – we had a lot of laughs when we gave our lineup to other coaches. I’m living in a retirement home now – many new friends and we get waited on whenever we want. Please write and let me know how you have spent the past 70 years.”
’54 C
1950s
’55 C Jere Buckley writes, “Caryl and I have started a new chapter in our lives by joining Birch Hill, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Manchester, N.H. However, we are not abandoning our log home and lakeside camp in nearby Webster, N.H. The Webster properties will remain a gathering place for kids, grandkids, and friends. We shuttle between the two places in accordance with our whims and the weather.” Peter Elebash writes, “My book, The Last Resort, has just been re-published with a new section entitled ‘The Fourth Quarter.’ It covers the time between the first publication in 2014 to date. When I told my wife, Jane, the title for this new section, she opined, “Perhaps you should call it “Overtime.” Anyway, it contains some interesting suggestions on how to make the twilight years some of the best years of one’s life! If you order the book, be sure that you are ordering the 2018 version, published by LegaiaBooks. All reviews and comments greatly appreciated! We were in Newport for the summer, enjoying the cooler climate and good friends.”
’51 C
Rick Smith writes, “I have just completed filming and editing a one-hour documentary film for MSNBC on grassroots citizen movements winning political reforms at the state and local level called The People vs The Politicians. It is break-the-mold television about what I call the missing story of American politics. Today’s media is hypnotized by Trump, either pro or con, with television in particular pouring out torrents of verbiage about the hyperpartisan conflicts in Washington or, sadly, about individual corruption and conflicts of interest. But the new media are uninterested in reform – the battle for gerrymander reform, exposing the use of dark money, the battle for voters’ rights, the impact of public funding on politics and the policy agenda of state legislatures that benefit from it. Those are the largely unknown stories that you’ll find in our documentary, which MSNBC says it plans to run multiple times between now and September 2019. Some segments of the film are posted on our YouTube Channel, https:// goo.gl/DqHX19. Please take a couple of minutes to watch the videos and spread the word about it.”
Pulitzer Prize winner Hedrick Smith ’51 has completed filming and editing a documentary film for MSNBC called The People vs. The Politicians.
Bob McIntyre and his wife recently got together with classmates Tom Schwarz and Jack Nordeman and their wives. Says Bob, “After college (Stanford, Williams, Colgate) the three of us served in the Navy from approximately 1959 through 1962 during which Jack and I were roommates for 3 years on the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea, which served as part of the Pacific Fleet. Tom was in Intelligence stationed in Bermuda. Shortly after that Jack, Tom and I got our business school degrees together at Harvard, class of 1964. We’ve remained really good and close friends ever since Choate, even though I am in California and they live on the East Coast. Fortunately, we’ve been able to see each other fairly frequently throughout the years.”
Choate 1954 classmates and wives (Sook and Bob McIntyre, Ann and Tom Schwarz and Jack and Anne Nordeman) got together recently at Tom Schwarz’s beautiful Cape Cod home for a micro class reunion.
Friends and classmates from Choate and then in 1964 from Harvard Business School, Tom Schwarz ’54, Bob McIntyre ’54, and Jack Nordeman ’54 get together on The Cape to reminisce.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 35
CLASSNOTES | Profile
’46
Robert Rust
A Seldom-Told Story Robert Rust ’46 never met John F. Kennedy ’35. But nearly 58 years ago, the lives of the two Choate alumni intersected in an important way: Robert helped prevent Jack, who was then the president-elect, from being killed by a suicide bomber. The incident received scant publicity. Other, more urgent news that day – the collision of two planes over New York – kept the would-be bomber mostly off the front pages, and the story has seldom been told since then. But Robert, now 90 and living in Coral Gables, Fla., recently told the Bulletin about the neardisaster, and his part in preventing it. After Jack Kennedy won the presidency in November 1960, a New Hampshire man named Richard P. Pavlick, who was determined that a Catholic should not inhabit the White House, bought 10 sticks of dynamite, copper wiring, and a trigger, and assembled a car bomb. He wanted to get close enough to the president-elect to blow up himself, the car, and Kennedy. In December, Pavlick traveled the country in his bomb-car, following Kennedy as he made pre-inauguration speeches in various cities. He also sent postcards back to friends in Belmont, N.H., telling them to watch the newspapers for something he would do that would make the news “in a big way.” This alarmed the postmaster, who happened to read some of the cards. He noted that they came from cities recently visited by Kennedy, remembered that Pavlick had a history of mental illness, and notified the Secret Service. Soon the word reached Florida, where Jack was soon to arrive. “They put out a BOLO [be on the lookout],” Robert recalls. “And within hours Pavlick was pulled over in Palm Beach for a traffic violation – crossing a double white line.”
At the time, Robert was Assistant U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. But for three years he had been a police officer, so the Secret Service asked him to drive to Palm Beach to be part of the investigation and arrest. When the agents confronted Pavlick, “I pulled out my consent forms,” Robert says, “and he signed, letting us search the car and his motel room.” The car was discovered to be, in essence, a rolling bomb, and in the motel room Robert found a letter (labeled “last will and testament”) giving Pavlick’s reasons for wanting to do away with Kennedy. That sealed the case. In the end, Pavlick was found to be incompetent to stand trial, so he was never convicted. He spent years in a series of mental institutions, but was eventually released and died in 1975. For his role in helping to prevent the suicide bombing, Robert was given an Award of Merit by the Secret Service – in 1964, after Kennedy had been assassinated. More valuable to him, however, is a signed photo Jack sent to him in late December 1960. “And it was really signed by him, too,” he says, “not by one of those robot pens.” Robert’s story was featured in a 2013 Smithsonian Channel TV movie called Kennedy’s Suicide Bomber. By Henry McNulty ’65 Henry is a frequent contributor to the Bulletin.
36 CLASSNOTES
Joe Tonetti writes, “We have moved to West Palm Beach. We travel often to Beltway, Stockbridge and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Five grandchildren. Pastimes include reading, watercolor, swimming, medical visits and travel. A Rousing Song to Our School upon the Hillside! Roger Vaughan writes, “The documentary Of Rails & Sails that Joe Daniel and I made on Arthur Curtiss James, the forgotten man of the Gilded Age, who helped run America in the 1920s and ’30s, is being followed up by a full biography of this engaging railroad baron, philanthropist, and yachtsman. I’ve been working on the manuscript for more than two years. It’s done, and all the pre-publication work has begun. We’re looking at a February 2019 release. One of America’s 10 wealthiest men in the 1930s, James owned one–seventh of all the railroad track in America when he died in 1941. In addition to his success at putting together a transcontinental line in the northwest, he found time to sail three legendary yachts a combined distance of 270,000 miles. He believed the wealthy should ’give until they feel it.’ His extraordinary degree of philanthropy proved his point. James is ’forgotten,’ relatively unknown, because he wanted it that way. He worked hard to avoid celebrity, specifying that his gifts not be used for publicity. Both film and biography seek to illuminate this colorful, brilliant, good-natured impresario of the Gilded Age, and afford him his well-deserved place in history.”
TOP Peter Elebash ’55 with his youngest grandchild, Maverick, and his daughter Stephany, at lunch in Palm Beach. BOTTOM Scott Whitlock ’59 and Victor Colantonio are co-founders of the annual Home and Home Fishing Contest between Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
’55 RH Pam Bisbee-Simonds writes, “I had fun dogsledding with family at Sundance last winter where my son, Brad Anderson, premiered his film Beirut. On a nostalgic visit to Philadelphia, I found my WW II home in Germantown and visited the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Museum where my daughter Brooke Anderson is the new director, and where her grandmother, my mother, took art classes in the ’30s! Serendipity! This fall Bruce and I will travel to Japan and go on safari in Tanzania. Our Shoreline Greenway Trail continues to grow, and we still love biking.” Cinda Paddock Day writes, “I had total knee replacement and am getting back on my feet and catching up on the computer. It’s been only four weeks, but I am driving, off all narcotics, off those awful compression stockings, off the blood thinner, etc. And I can now have cocktails! I’m still tired but moving around without a cane or walker. Never used crutches. It’s not an easy surgery, but I apparently moved along very fast, probably due to both motivation and PT that I had been doing for the past 1 ½ years.” Maude Dorr writes, “This year has been full of travel: France, Australia, and now England for a few days. Have been in good health and that is a blessing … the best one. Hope all is well with my classmates of ’55.” Lu Fields writes, “I am enjoying retirement and have been living at an assisted living facility for two years now. In art class I got introduced to the glue stick and collage! A whole new passion has opened up for me and it is a lot of fun, even with my arthritic limitations. By some sort of accident, I started to make the birthday card for each person which everyone then signs. It has become a mini-occasion.” Landa Montague Freeman writes, “We are in the midst of the third Yale International Choral Festival, four days of lectures, concerts, and singing. There are choruses from Germany, Sri Lanka, Mexico, and a youth choir from NYC. Very interesting!” Gail Sullivan Garon writes, “It has been a hard year for me and all. Last June is a year since my second back surgery. We had hoped the surgery would have reduced the pain – but it was not so. I still have much pain. Fortunately, I have been well. We were thinking about selling our apartment and moving to Tucson for the weather. For a short time, we stayed in the guest suite of a large mansion. It had been refurbished for extended living. We love the flowers, the beautiful swimming pool and the clear blue sky. Cleveland is overcast much of the time. I worked on the Hillary campaign in 2016 for four months and we know how that turned out! Otherwise, I still grieve for my son Tim who died two years ago. My granddaughters live in Grand Rapids, Mich., which is seven hours away by car. So different when they lived so very close here in Cleveland. My best wishes to all my Rosemary Hall friends. It was a happy period in my life.”
Pat Davis Gondelman writes, “We are feeling better after some health issues. My granddaughter just graduated from business school and now works in NYC with UBS. We are still living in Long Boat Key for seven months and Quogue for five months.” Debbie Day Leeming celebrated 51 great years with her husband, El. Lyn Foster McNaught writes, “We planned a family reunion with both kids (now 49 and 46!) and the three grandkids in Sonoma; this will celebrate my 80th seven months too late, and Michael’s 80th seven months too early! My eyesight is pretty bad, and I can’t drive any more, and reading is very difficult thank goodness for Audible books.” Francie Abbott Miller writes, “I’m a tiny bit farther along in my retirement planning. Pretty sure I’m heading ultimately for the West Coast, where three of my children and their families are, although I will be leaving my fourth family in New Jersey. That’s the plan so far. In the meantime, I am keeping myself and the house repaired and maintained, loving my dog, continuing to host meetings of various inspiring groups like the League of Women Voters, The Democratic Club of Kent County, our mystery book club, helping put out CommonSenseEasternShore.org (a bimonthly online newsletter), and providing weekly movie and opera nights. Relatives and friends pass through on a regular basis, and there’s the occasional march in DC as well. I hope a year from now I will be able to report to you that I finally stopped waffling around and embarked enthusiastically on yet another of Life’s journeys. Wish me fair winds.” Barbara Mitchell Murray writes, “We continue winters on St. John and summers in Fairbanks. Same husband, same dog, same house or condo. A routine we like and hope to be able to continue for some years more. Must admit the travel between homes is less fun each time.” Sally Soper Neenan writes, “Still enjoying my life in the Adirondacks although last winter seemed to go on forever. Snowing April 29 was hardly a way to welcome spring. Luckily, the past two springs I’ve managed breaks to warmer and sunnier climes. I enjoyed traveling with friends to Spain in ’17 visiting Madrid, Barcelona, and staying on an olive farm in Andalusia. Last spring it was Africa to go on several photo safaris in Kenya and to experience the magnificent Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Looks like my wanderlust may take me away to Paris and who knows where after that. I am loving it. My paintings, sometimes watercolor and sometimes acrylic still provide lots of challenges and enjoyment. I’ve several in shows locally.”
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 37
Morris Everett Jr. continues to pursue his passion and work with vintage movie memorabilia, which he has turned into a successful business: The Everett Collection (www.everettcollection.com).
’59 Verena Topke Rasch writes, “Enjoying my country, enjoying my beach house and always busy, busy! In June I headed to Santa Clara University for Jacqueline’s graduation. She will become an international criminal lawyer. On June 18, my 80th, my whole family and I celebrated on a boat around San Francisco Bay!” Liz Pathy Salett writes, “We are spending much of our time in Chestertown. One of the best parts of being here is seeing Francie Abbott Miller woman-ing the Democrats’ booth at the weekly farmers’ market. She has also crafted all sorts of energizing buttons reflecting the issues of our times! Traveled to Japan along with my brother and cousins for a brief visit. Stan is doing well, but not quite up to the long travel. It is hard to believe that it has been 63 years since graduation!” Alibel Wood Thompson writes, “We took a month-long trip to visit our daughter in Maine. She drove us down to Providence, R.I., to see our youngest granddaughter graduate from college. Then we took a train down to N.J., and stayed with Trav’s sister. Oh, such beautiful flowers were blooming in her yard. We don’t get rhododendrons and azaleas in Maui. Off to Germany for two weeks and returned to N.J., where Trav had his 65th high school reunion, a fun occasion. But it sure was great to get home! And by the way, Maui is not affected by the Big Island’s lava flow – except when the trade winds stop, and the winds blow up towards Maui and the other islands which gives us “vog.” Aloha to all of you!” Betsy Angle Webster writes, “The past six months have been quite our usual fare. We went to Boston for the holidays, stayed in Rochester for most of the colder months, worried about our lovely Maine beaches after four nor’easters hit Kennebunk, took a fun trip to Scottsdale, Yosemite National Park and Seattle in late March and early April and to Kennebunk for the entire summer. The welcome mat is always out for Rosemarians of the Class of ’55. Last summer we were thrilled to welcome Cinda and Henry and Pam and Bruce. None stayed long enough, but it was good to see them. We had a lovely time with son, Charlie, his wife, Katy, and grandson,
Bennett in Seattle and the Oregon coast. Mr. B is an incredible guitar player who attends The School of Rock on weekends. He plays in a band there and is usually the one who plays the melody. And he’s not quite 12 and most of the students are much older. The rest of the family are growing up and turning into rather favorable young adults. Three are out of college, one will be a senior, one a freshman and the others (except for Mr. B) are all in high school. I don’t see any great-grandchildren on the horizon so being 81 isn’t so bad at all.” Anne Warner Whiting suffered a stroke in the retina and lost sight in one eye while she was enjoying a game of golf. She is having a lot of tests done. There is a possibility of driving in the future. She and husband Tim recently returned from a 2½-week trip on the Baltic Sea to various Scandinavian capitals.
David Y. Wood writes, “I had a wonderful visit with Bob Ackerman and his lovely wife, Meg, in Chicago this past spring at a Yale 1960 Class minireunion. Bob and I were roommates all four years at Yale. We were in each other’s weddings over 50 short years ago. Jim Metzger’s son, Jimmy, lives in Louisville. Jim and his wife, Agnes, visit from time to time and have become loyal supporters of a new Louisville systemic public parks project, encompassing 3,800 acres and four separate but connected parks in which yours truly has been heavily involved for the past several years (www.theparklands.org). Frederick Law Olmsted designed our original park system in the late 1800s.”
continues to buy, sell, trade, and auction vintage original posters, stills, lobby cards, and other movie memorabilia. He would be interested in hearing from any classmates on this topic! He lives in Hunting Valley, Ohio, on 23 acres and in a wonderful home built back in 1830, happily married to his wife of 27 years, Diana. He has six grandchildren with one on the way in December, and five of those six (so far!) are following the family tradition of attending Hawken School, as he did before Choate. Morris continues to play tennis competitively. He enjoys antiquing and has found some great posters while doing so! He is looking forward to seeing everyone at the 60th reunion in May of 2019. J. Robert Ransone writes, “I continue to provide oil and gas consulting services to a limited number of clients. I currently am Senior Energy Advisor to a client in Houston; and with partners I am providing advisory capital services to two Fort Worth clients and two Dallas clients and serve on the advisory board of one Austin client – all here in Texas.” Scott Whitlock and Victor Colantonio are co-founders of the annual Home and Home Fishing Contest, or Inter-Island Fishing Tournament – an annual surfcasting showdown between Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. The event requires competitors from different islands to rely on one another, something both men learned as they helped each other survive the 9/11 ordeal which found them at a meeting, across the street from the World Trade Center, when the Twin Towers were hit.
’57 C
’59 RH Anne Carter Bossi writes, “After working
’56 C
Mason Morfit was elected to the board of directors of the League of Women Voters of Maine.
’59 C
Morris Everett Jr. continues to pursue his passion and work with vintage movie memorabilia, which he has turned into a successful business. His photo leasing company in New York City, The Everett Collection (www.everettcollection.com), which leases images to books, magazines, newspapers, and digitally all over the world, handles three million of his own images and represents another 10 million images for colleges, archives, and museums. He also
as a field rep for Heifer Project International for 23 years, working directly with livestock and training for low-income recipients in the Northeast U.S., and Canada, I retired in 2000 to become a full-time goat farmer and cheesemaker. My husband and I currently milk 100 goats and make and sell cheese every day year-round. Have five wonderful grandchildren and a great-grandson. How did we get so old? I am in touch periodically with classmates Judy Wilson Nessa, Patti Deutsch Winter and Barbara Brittain Edgerton.”
38 CLASSNOTES
1960s ’60 C James M. Hobbins writes, “After getting my BA from Cornell and my MA in American history from Temple, I had the pleasure of working for the Smithsonian Institution for 40 years, where I served as a historian for the Papers of Joseph Henry for nine years and Special Assistant to the Secretary for three years. Then, for 28 years, I served four Secretaries (Dillon Ripley, Bob Adams, Mike Heyman, and Larry Small) as Executive Assistant, the head of his office and primary liaison with the Board of Regents. I loved working there, and, after retiring in 2007, I co-founded the Smithsonian Alumni Program, which now has 450 members who relish visiting our old colleagues. But my passion has surrounded our house, which in 1980 we reconstructed from the timbers of a 1790 home from Brooklyn, Conn., on five lovely acres in Potomac, Md. In my retirement, I have taken special delight in its period furnishings and the upkeep with the yard! I’ll happily give one and all a tour!” Jo Johnson visited Bill Barrett and his wife, Penny, last March at their home at Bray’s Landing in Sheldon, S.C. Says Jo, “Bill and I roomed together freshman year at Princeton with Jim Clarkson who has since passed away.” Jo and Bill hope to attend their 60th Choate Reunion in just two years! ’61 C Dallas Dort writes, “Sharon and I still love Ann Arbor, where I’ve lived for 15 years after a lifetime in my hometown of Flint. We bought a second cottage near our original one overlooking Lake Michigan, and our kids and grandkids are all coming and using it as we’d hoped. We are healthy and happy, and very conscious of how fortunate we are.” Maurice Heckscher II, writes, “I’m proud to say that last October I was inducted into the United States Squash Hall of Fame.” Seth Hoyt writes, “Nancy and I were at a funeral recently. She was paying attention, I was dozing off. When the pastor read: ‘I will lift mine eyes unto the hills … ’ I almost jumped out of my pew. I could almost hear Seymour St. John saying those exact same words in Chapel, some 60 years ago. It was Psalm 121, and it meant FREE DAY for Choaties. The memories came flooding back. How settled and grateful I felt.” Clip Kniffin writes, “Ellie and I have been living in Seattle now for more than two years. It’s a long way from the East Coast and the Midwest but very agreeable. We now have six grands in the Seattle area with more in Colorado. Hiking and boating are major activities here, and we’re doing both. Happy trails to all!” Ken Phillips writes, “For the past six years Pauleitta and I have entertained our Atlanta grandchildren during the summer, watching them grow, creating memories, building experience and passing
S. Davis Phillips ’61 enjoys visiting grandson Pierre Davis Yared in New York City.
John Siebel ’61 and Hardy Jones ’61 and his wife, Deborah Cutting, at an annual dinner in St. Augustine Fla., in June.
along our family history and values. We have spent time reading ancestor’s headstones; built a primitive rock shelter; learned to measure, saw and hammer; struggled with bikes on hills; and felt the power of a backhoe as it digs and lifts. We’ve put flags on veterans’ graves; swam in icy mountain streams; visited the birthplace of our nation in Philadelphia and the birthplaces and resting places of many of our family in Georgia, Florida and New York. We have shared time with nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles, spent too much time on computers, really mastered Legos, and driven many miles through some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere. This soon-to-end-toosoon summer, we witnessed the power of flooding in Helen, GA., started fires with flint and steel; snorkeled and dove in clear, cool Florida springs; learned port and starboard; developed a deeper understanding of our republic’s separation of powers; paddled a canoe from the stern; surfed in the Atlantic; and mastered the art of returning an open pocket knife to its owner. I have listened as ‘Thank you, Granny’ and ‘You’re welcome’ became expected responses and ‘Remember when …’ renews a family memory. We are blessed.” John Siebel and Hardy Jones continue an annual dinner tradition that began sometime in the 80s. Writes John, “Hardy and I would have dinner every year in November to celebrate meeting in Gummy McCabe’s 4 Honors Latin Class in 1958. Not diligent students, we took advantage of the statistical reality that only two or three people would be called to translate Caesar’s Gallic Wars in any class, making non-preparation a reasonable risk. One day McCabe called upon me. From that day, Hardy decided we had something in common and we have been friends all of these years, roaming the world together.”
“It was a heartfelt gathering when Rosemary Hall alumnae met at St. Bede’s Chapel to share memories and connect with the newer Choate Rosemary Hall life. Brilliant and touching!” –MARY LOU LANGE
’67
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 39
Andrew Sordoni III continues his involvement in the Sordoni Art Gallery at Wilkes University, established in 1973, and named for his late father, Andrew J. Sordoni, former state senator from Northeastern Pennsylvania and influential businessman. The gallery was founded on a gift of art, specifically a group of paintings from the Senator’s private collection. Included in this gift were funds earmarked for the acquisition of additional works, ensuring that the gallery would be able to continue to expand and enrich its holdings. The gallery has amassed a permanent collection of around 1,300 objects, including European and American works on paper from the 17th century to the present; European art from the 19th century; a small collection of American decorative arts; and American paintings from the 19th century to the present. Stan Trotman writes, “Our news is that we’ve decided to sell our house in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, and move to Beverly, Mass., on the North Shore. This move brings us closer to our children in the Boston and southern Maine area, as well as a chance to downsize.”
’63 RH Alice Chaffee Freeman writes, “At this point, my social life seems to consist of medical appointments and physical therapy for the several joints that have been replaced and the ones yet to be. My two aims in life are to be totally bionic by age 80, as well as never to have to cook another dinner as long as I live. I participate in two French conversation groups and take language and art classes; best of all, I’m able to paint frequently in my studio and with a group I started that meets once a week.” Doreen McClennan Gardner and her husband, Michael, recently had a wonderful road trip from the Central Coast of California to the Portland area to visit their oldest daughter and her family. Mary McGee Graf is moving to the farm she owns in Amenia, N.Y. Jean McBee Knox, Dabney Park, Alice Chaffee Freeman and Margo Melton Nutt gathered in mid-July at Margo Heun Bradford’s house in Kittery, Maine for three days of catching up and reminiscing. Polly Ashman Goodyear joined them for lunch in Portland one day. A grand time was had by all. Jean McBee Knox writes, “After 40-plus years in Boston, my husband and I are still transitioning to the frantic pace of retirement life in rural New Hampshire. Never good at saying ‘no,’ I’ve joined two boards and several committees, and attend regular writing and painting workshops. Trail maintenance for our local hiking group, plus aerobics class at the town hall, keep my knees working. Travel this year has been limited to family visits: my sister Hetty in Cornwall, England, and our daughter Sarah in Oakland, Calif. Plus frequent trips back and forth to Boston. The sweetest part of my 70s is our grandson Maxwell, now almost two. Thankfully, he’s just two hours away in Bedford, Mass.”
Margo Melton Nutt has fully recovered from her broken hip and hip replacement surgery last November. The hip is doing fine; the arthritic knees not so much. Travels have been limited to Maine, the Berkshires and Mount Washington. Volunteer-wise, she’s president of the Friends of the Norwich Library, and does publicity for her church. Cindy Skiff Shealor had an early June visit with three grandchildren in California (10, 8, 4), then husband Bob had a huge back surgery in late June. All went well. Reeve Lindbergh Tripp has a new book of essays recently published: Two Lives about her life as the public keeper of the Lindbergh flame versus her quieter life as a Vermont farm wife and writer. She’s been doing readings around New England this summer.
’64 C
David Gens reports that his son Ryan (35)
was married to Luci Mazzullo on July 7, 2018 in Easton, Md. Brother John Gens ’63 attended the wedding. It is with sadness he also reports that his wife, Rose Marie Ver Elst, passed away peacefully on July 19 as a result of injuries sustained 15 months ago. They were married for 41 years.
’65 RH Wesley Cullen Davidson writes that her good friend Lesley Hencken Starbuck is a certified Professional Life Coach and is working on an advanced degree in psychodrama. Wesley is currently working on an advice book for parents regarding opioid abuse. Jan Scott Perrault writes, “I’m working to unseat Ted Cruz in the upcoming Texas election for state senator, by a better candidate Beto O’Rourke. Never too old to get involved. I also support Planned Parenthood. Thanks go out to my fine education at Rosemary Hall and Trinity University in San Antonio. Margaret Atwood spoke on Women’s Day for two sold out meetings. (Not really sold out, because there was no fee, but full). Thank you, Rosemary Hall, for my fine education, wonderful teachers and memorable friends.”
’67 C
Dan Hunt and his wife, Jodie, have moved to Vero Beach, Fla., while still spending time in Sun Valley, Idaho and Cambridge, Mass. Rick Rosenthal’s indie pilot Halfway There won Best Drama and the Audience Award at the SeriesFest in Denver. The film stars Matthew Lillard and Blythe Danner.
’67 RH Mary Lou Lange writes, “It was a heartfelt gathering when Rosemary Hall alumnae met at St. Bede’s Chapel and later at The Belle Haven Club to share memories and connect with the newer Choate Rosemary Hall life. I passed along much news to others who could not be there. Brilliant and touching! I am on my 31st year at Rockland Psychiatric Center outpatient clinic where I enjoy the challenges and the rewards!
The same goes for recent travels to hike The Dolomites in Italy and ski Valles Nevada in Chile. Lola, my Australian Shepherd, is always at my side at home.” Barbara Medina is excited to say that her husband Dennis’ book The Madness of the Brave was recently published.
’68 C Andrew Berry writes, “Reunion was a meaningful weekend, catching up with folks I have not seen for half a century. Just didn’t manage to catch up with everyone. We’re expecting grandchild number four in February and our youngest, Emily, is getting married in Hood River, Ore., in September. Mason (USNA ’04) is still flying helicopters for the Navy; his squadron is aboard the Carl Vinson carrier in the Pacific out of San Diego. He will be transferred to the Pentagon in November where he apparently will be working for the Joint Chiefs. He is screening for Commander. If, in 1968, you told me this would be happening and that I would be goose bumpy proud, we would have had a good laugh! Marcie, the middle one, is a mother of two living in Bel Air, Md. I’m enjoying retirement on Martha’s Vineyard, having finished as Assistant Principal at the regional high school. My career in education started at Choate in 1973 when John Hubbell invited me back to coach the 3-4 lacrosse team. Jere Packard then asked if I was interested in teaching a spring U.S. history class. And the rest is literally history. I am grateful to the school for all the guidance and for taking a risk on a serious rookie! I’m spending lots of time on the water racing sailboats and driving the harbor launch. Got my captain’s license after retirement. I could do chartering and launch work. Very nice to be on the water. I’m easy to find on the Vineyard if classmates find themselves here.” Vernon Glenn writes, “I have published a book, Friday Calls. It has been very well received. I am now working on its sequel. I am working on a children’s book which should be ready to go in a couple of months. I have recently been traveling out west for a month, mostly in Montana and RV-ing back to the Carolinas. I absolutely hated to miss our 50th reunion but I had to have a very rotten hip replaced.” ’69 William Woolverton writes, “I am currently General Counsel of DMS Governance, dividing my time between Boston and New York.” ’69 RH Vickie Spang writes, “I’m still the CMO at a large (800+ attorneys) law firm in California. Call me crazy. I stay in closest touch with Helen Halpin who lives in Provence. I was so sad to lose classmate Janice Klumpp – a great person.”
40
CLASSNOTES | Profile
Still Jammin’ After All These Years Rusty Ford ’65
In a 2017 book about the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, writer Gillian Gaar said that the unusual title “referenced the current penchant for whimsical band names, like … Lothar and the Hand People” … like what?
’65
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 41
Like the 1960s band co-founded by a Choate alumnus, Russell “Rusty” Ford ’65. Lothar and the Hand People, though never a commercial smash, are still fondly remembered half a century after their heyday. Rusty had learned to play the bass guitar while a fourth former at Choate. For nearly two years, he was in a group at School called The Incidentals, which specialized in what he describes as “East Coast surf-rock.” After Choate, he went to the University of Denver. The mid-1960s was a time when anyone who could play an instrument was likely to be asked to be in a band; that happened to Rusty before he had been at college two weeks. The group had no name yet; they considered “Dismal Seepage” before settling on Lothar and the Hand People. Soon, the quintet had placed third in a “Battle of the Bands” contest in Denver, which led to weekend engagements. By early 1966, Lothar & Co. were regulars at clubs in Denver and Aspen. “We were a bunch of scruffy, long-haired knuckleheads,” says Rusty, who is now an almost-retired advertising consultant living in Connecticut. “But we enjoyed playing.” Besides the usual drums and guitars, Lothar used a theremin, an electronic instrument played by moving one’s hands around a charged antenna. (The mysterious “oo-wee” outer-space sounds on the Beach Boys’ famed “Good Vibrations” were made with a theremin.) At the end of the school year, the members of Lothar quit college and moved to New York City to seek fame and fortune. That would not prove easy. The band’s first gig was at Trude Heller’s, a popular Greenwich Village discotheque that featured dancing go-go girls. It lasted two nights. “They wanted something slick,” Rusty says, “and we were anything but slick. Our instruments went out of tune so much, half the act was us tuning up again.” It’s not easy to describe exactly what kind of music Lothar did play. Sources have described it as “experimental rock,” “electronic rock,” “space music,” “psychedelic,” and memorably, in a Rolling Stone review, “good-time music played by mad dwarfs.” Still, the group found plenty of work in New York, appearing both on their own and with the Byrds, Canned Heat, the Lovin’ Spoonful and others. They jammed at Café Wha? with Jimi Hendrix, then appearing as Jimmy James.
Their club work brought them to the attention of Capitol Records, which recorded several of the band’s compositions. None came close to being a hit, but “they did well enough for Capitol to get behind an album,” Rusty recalls. The first LP, 1968’s Presenting … Lothar and the Hand People, was followed the next year by Space Hymn. Even in the anything-goes late 1960s, Lothar’s music was too outré for AM radio, but the rise of FM, with its reliance on experimental, seldom-heard material, meant that the group got considerable airplay, especially for the title song “Space Hymn.” They frequently performed in Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal (with Tiny Tim and the Blues Project), Denver (with the Doors), and at the Atlantic City Pop Festival, in addition to their usual rounds of New York venues. Besides the theremin, Rusty recalls, their act used the first portable Moog synthesizer, sold to them by inventor and entrepreneur Robert Moog himself. But in 1970, after nearly five years of trying to become a huge act and pretty much not succeeding, the band called it quits. Rusty stayed in the music business, eventually joining the Beach Boys’ enormous entourage, living in the compound owned by Beach Boy Mike Love and doing some recording and touring with the group. Then for more than 25 years he produced thousands of TV commercials, including some for the IKEA furniture chain and for several car manufacturers. Now, nearly retired (“with nine toes out the door”), Rusty is an advertising consultant. His wife, Karen, is a ceramic artist. Their son, Nick, is a New York-based web developer who created the Lothar website lotharandthehandpeople.com. Rusty often plays bass with a New York group called the Madison Avenue Jammers, which raises money for charities. A half-century after its birth, Lothar and the Hand People is now considered the very definition of a “cult band.” It still has its fans; the website hears from them frequently. Recently, a pristine copy of the first Lothar LP was offered on eBay for $48.95. That’s about 10 times what it cost when first released. By Henry McNulty ’65 Henry is a frequent contributor to the Bulletin.
Even in the anything-goes late 1960s, Lothar’s music was too outré for AM radio, but the rise of FM, with its reliance on experimental, seldom-heard material, meant that the group got considerable airplay, especially for the title song “Space Hymn.”
Rusty, from the cover of Lothar’s 1968 debut album.
42 CLASSNOTES
1970s ’70 RH Sallie Groo is abandoning Tinsel Town after 37 years for a simpler life in Longmont, Colo., where she plans to teach mindfulness meditation. She’d like to hear from any classmates in the area via Facebook. ”Namaste, y’all!”
’71 C
Matthew Carroll was appointed Assistant Department Head, Department of Marine Engineering Technology, Texas A & M University in September 2017.
’71 RH Judy Geer has joined the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy. Judy and her husband are owners of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, which they restructured into a non-profit with a mission that includes lifelong outdoor sport, sustainability and land/lake stewardship. Judy has previously served on the boards of New England Nordic Ski Association, the Vermont Natural Resources Council and Sterling College.
’73
Hank Randall ’70 is in his 40th year working as a freelance photographer. He recently traveled to the Hebridean Islands in Scotland. Pictured here: Iona Abbey, Isle of Iona.
“One of the most gratifying and fulfilling aspects of my career at Choate has been connecting with so many, and representing one of the most special and unique classes in the history of the school.” –TIM BRADLEY ’73
Caroline Preston’s fifth novel, The War Bride’s Scrapbook, was published in December by Ecco/HarperCollins (see review on p. 62). She writes, “It is a scrapbook kept by a young bride while her husband fights in Europe during WWII. My fourth novel, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, is also recently out in paperback from Ecco. Both are graphic novels in the form of period scrapbooks, which I created from my own extensive collection of vintage ephemera. My website, www.carolinepreston.com, has more information about the novels and collections.” Caroline lives in Charlottesville, Va., with her husband, the writer Christopher Tilghman.
’73 C Tim Bradley writes, “After returning to Choate 21 years after our graduation, and then serving the school for 24 years, primarily through the Admission Office, but in many other ways as well, I
want to express my deepest gratitude to all of the talented, dedicated, and incredible colleagues, students, families, and admission and education constituents I have been blessed to have encountered during what has been a most amazing, fantastic and fulfilling journey. I leave with a full heart as I begin my retirement from the most incredible community and experience I have been blessed to have. I have been very, very lucky. I especially want to thank my classmates, those men and women of the Class of 1973. One of the most gratifying and fulfilling aspects of my career at Choate has been connecting with so many of you; refreshing and renewing friendships, creating more wonderful memories, gaining wisdom from those experiences with you, assisting parents in their children’s educational advancement, helping bring fellow alumni back into the fold and find their way back to Choate, and representing one of the
most special and unique classes in the history of the school. I’m incredibly proud to have been one of you then and to be one of you now. Your kindness and your friendship have inexorably changed the life of that skinny, shy boy from the south side of Chicago, and he will forever be beyond grateful. To each and every one of you: Thank you for everything, then and now. I wish you all the very best and look forward to seeing EVERYONE at our 50th reunion in 2023! Until then, let’s keep it going! I’d love to hear from you! I can be reached by email at tbradley2020@gmail.com.” Basil Hero writes, “My book, The Mission of a Lifetime: Reflections From The Men Who Went to the Moon, will be released by the Hachette Book Group next April, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. I’ve spent the past year interviewing the remaining 12 astronauts who either walked or orbited the moon. Most of them are either in their
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 43
John deGarmo ’76 and his wife, Sanja, made the trek to Kenya in June for a 2-week safari. The entire trip was flawlessly arranged by classmate Dominique Callimanopulos and her Elevate Destinations agency.
90s, or approaching, and they gave me their final reflections on courage, what constitutes a good life, and the future of space travel. They have opened up in ways that would not have been possible from their younger selves of 10 to 20 years ago. The details of the book can be found on my website, basilhero.com.”
’74 C Dr. John de Jong was installed as President of the American Veterinary Medical Association on July 17 at the annual convention held in Denver. ’75 C
Doug Buck attended the 12th Annual Policemen’s Ball on January 6 at The Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach. President Trump was in attendance. Funds raised from the ball go directly to The Palm Beach Police Foundation. He has co-written a book with Iain Dey, The Croyton Files: How the Inventor of the Microchip Put Himself in the KGB’s Sights. Dudley Buck, Doug’s father, was a scientist who developed several early pieces of now-common technology (e.g., microchips, flash drives) in the 1950s. At the age 32 he died of a mysterious heart attack, just after a high-profile group of Soviet scientists visited his lab on a Cold War-era tour of the USA. Douglas had privileged access to his father’s diaries, associates and papers. John R. Parziale, M.D. received the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in June and was promoted to Professor at the medical school in July. Dr. Parziale is a specialist in physical medicine and
Rod Fletcher ’76 and his son Jack, (seated, second and first from left) and several former Stanford men’s varsity volleyball players and their sons traveled to Dallas TX last Memorial Day weekend to compete in the USAVolleyball Indoor National Championships A Tournament, which featured 62 teams from all over the country. The team took the Gold medal.
rehabilitation, and has been a member of the Brown faculty since 1986. His brother, P.J. ’73, and sister Patricia ’89 are also Choate Rosemary Hall alumni. John Arthur Peverill writes, “I am currently in my hometown of Des Moines, having spent the past year at a family farm simply messing about in boots with my Border Collie, Cosmo, while writing a journal, Mariner’s Log, of life experience stories. The Log will contain several personal experience stories while I was at Choate.” John goes on to say that he has formed a non-profit corporation “focusing on interactive fundraising programs for youth organizations.” He is also in the design phase of “a proprietary insurance product to enhance donor-giving and endowment programs.” He welcomes any classmates to share their Choate experiences with him on Facebook at John Arthur Peverill.
’76 C
Rod Fletcher and several former Stanford men’s varsity volleyball players (along with fathers and sons from several other Division 1 volleyball programs) traveled to Dallas with their six sons on Memorial Day weekend to compete in the USAVolleyball Indoor National Championships A Tournament, which featured 62 teams from all over the country. Although the team had never played together before, every team member had a deep history of volleyball experience, from high school and club programs through Division 1 collegiate and the USA national team. The Fathers and Sons Team defeated Team Bear Claw from Iowa 2 sets to 0 in the Gold final.
’77 C
Sam Otis writes, “My roommate and brother from another mother, Thomas McGivern, spent the night at the Otis household in Chicagoland after a long delay in Cedar Rapids en route from San Francisco. The visit was highlighted with some stimulating surfing safari discussions with my youngest, Tommy Otis, who recently returned from exploring and surfing in Portugal thanks to a recommendation from Tommy. The more things change, the more they stay the same … I’ll leave it at that. Looking forward to planning an extended visit next summer.”
’78 Phil Squattrito writes, “This fall I will begin my 30th year as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Central Michigan University. This is a long enough time that I am now teaching some of the children of former students. I remain professionally active in my scholarly field of crystallography as well as performing a lot of work on behalf of our faculty union (negotiation, grievances, etc.). Outside of the university, I continue to serve on the Planning Commission for my local township. Life in the Midwest is good. Was sorry to have missed the reunion, but I’m connected with a few classmates on social media. Would be happy to hear from others.” ’79
Brad Welch won The USTA National Cat II, Raymond James Tennis Tournament in St. Petersburg, Fla., last March. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the state of Florida and the USTA 55 doubles.
44 CLASSNOTES
1980s ’80
Holly Tippett moved back to Washington, DC after 14 years in Vermont. She is the Foundation Relations Manager at Alliance for Justice, working on Supreme and federal court nominees.
’81 Tom Colt writes, “I am back for a second year working as a college counselor for Shanghai American School. I attended a conference in May in New Hampshire where I had the good fortune to connect with Eric Stahura from Choate’s college counseling office. Megan and I continue to travel as much as we can; we recently visited Inner Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. A one-week trip to India awaits in the fall.” Charles A. Tierney III was appointed interim head of Northfield Mount Hermon on July 1. Tierney has served NMH for nearly two decades as a history teacher, coach, dorm advisor, dean, accreditation coordinator, associate head of school, and for the
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: 1 Phoebe Dey, daughter of Tom Dey ’83, poses in
front of Phoebe House, named in honor of her Grandmother, Phoebe Dey.
second time, as interim head of school. From 2014 to 2016, he was head of Tatnall School in Wilmington, Del. Tierney also taught at Choate and the Berkshire School.
’83 Jane Dietze, formerly managing director, took on the role of vice president and chief investment officer at Brown University effective July 1. Joseph Dowling III, Brown’s current chief investment officer, took on the newly created role of chief executive officer of the Investment Office. Both will work directly with Brown’s Investment Committee. Bobby Stark sold his company, Parthenon Publishing, to Bohan, a full service marketing agency in Nashville. Bobby has joined Bohan as senior vice president of content business development. ’84
Liam Considine had a wonderful lunch with former drama teacher and Paul Mellon Arts Center Director, Paul Tines at the Union League Cafe in New Haven. Said Liam, “We happily reminisced about the arts at Choate Rosemary Hall and caught up on news
about old friends. Paul is currently the Assistant Head of School for Advancement and Dean of Arts at The Marvelwood School in Kent, Conn.” Stacey Plaskett, USVI Congresswoman, was listed as a change agent in Essence magazine’s “Woke 100 Women” List. She was hailed for keeping the plight of the citizens of the U.S. Virgin Islands front and center following hurricanes Irma and Maria, Plaskett took the emotional stories of her constituents to Congress, mainstream media and anybody willing and able to lend a helping hand.
’88
Janelle Piccone Styles writes, “I enjoyed reunion weekend and seeing all the amazing additions to Choate’s campus. Visiting with classmates, laughing and reminiscing is always a blast. I was fortunate to be able to watch my son Graeme, Hotchkiss Class of 2021, play Choate in lacrosse at Choate during reunion. Of course, my loyalty was split!” Marianne van Pelt married Stuart A.W. Leach in Castletownshend, Cork, Ireland on May 26.
2 Adrienne Neff ’87 and her husband Gavin
3 Michael Furgueson ’80, Elizabeth Goulian Kahle
welcomed son, Ayler Wallace Maloney, on January 10, 2018. They feel very blessed to have him.
’80, and Jeff Kahle ’80 enjoyed a beautiful sunset while visiting Mike’s house in Lonelyville, Fire Island, over Fourth of July Weekend.
4 Class of ’88 celebrated Reunion Weekend.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 45
CLASSNOTES | Profile
’88
Michael Bohlsen
Third-Generation Restaurateur In June 1986, third-generation restaurateur Michael Bohlsen ’88, then attending high school in East Islip on Long Island, was eager to attend a New England boarding school. After a whirlwind consideration of the top 10 schools, he enrolled at Choate Rosemary Hall. Michael, who earlier this year brought his 13-year-old niece to Wallingford to check out Choate as his 30th Reunion approached, cherished his years at the School and credits them with preparing him to take advantage of the opportunities that would later present themselves. Choate taught him skills he uses every day – time management, how to communicate, and specifically how to write. In the process he learned a great deal about himself. After Choate, Michael attended Duke as a history major. After graduation, he toiled in the family restaurant business for a couple of years. Still ambivalent about working with family, he left and earned a business degree in just 14 months at the University of San Francisco. Living in Northern California expanded his consciousness in the areas of wine and fine dining, seasonality and sustainability. He finally returned to the family business after assurances he could influence its direction. The first generation of Bohlsen restaurateurs – Michael’s grandparents, Herman and Hilda – opened a small eatery in Yaphank, Long Island, in 1938 followed by the Pine Lake Tavern in West Islip in the early 1940s. Second generation John, with his wife Linda, opened an Arby’s in Deer Park in 1969, accumulated 53 fast food restaurants that they later sold, then moved into banking, but kept their toes in the business with the purchase of Beachtree Café in East Islip in 1983. With father John semi-retired now, the family business rests squarely in the hands of Michael and his younger brother, Kurt ’91, a Boston University School of Hospitality graduate with a strong background in commercial real estate. The brothers strategize together, with Kurt primarily responsible for scouting and building the restaurants and Michael for new restaurant concepts, marketing and service. In a June 8, 2008 New York Times article, the brothers expressed their desire to have 10 restaurants, and now, the Bohlsen Restaurant Group numbers eight, plus a wedding venue.
A number of the Bohlsen restaurants are dining palaces where the architecture or setting alone is worth the price of admission. Tellers was born of an old bank in Islip in July 1999, with a 32-foot ceiling, gold bar, fireplace lounge, wine vault and chophouse fare. Sleek H2O in Smithtown, which opened in October 2001, surprised with superior seafood and sushi. Perched on Huntington Harbor, flagship Prime, unveiled in November 2006, offered a custom-designed glass wall, wood lounge, fantail deck, cabana bar, seasonally enclosed porch, 1,000-label wine list, raw bar, sushi specialties and contemporary menu. Opening down the street from Tellers on New Year’s Eve in 2009, extravagant Verace offered a modern interpretation of Italy. In February 2012, Monsoon began offering highly stylized Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese and Japanese fare in the old Bank of Babylon. Adjacent to Prime, the brothers purchased and remodeled the Harbor Club special event space in October 2013. In March 2016, they filled a space in a building they owned in Islip with more downscale Pizza Parm, which served pies and parmigiana dishes. Finally, a second Prime debuted at Harbor Point in Stamford, Conn., in July 2016. Michael describes running a restaurant today as “equal parts creativity and business, because the margins are so thin. Really, you have to be good at both, and it has to be about both. If you don’t feel you’re impacting the creative side, it’s difficult to drag yourself out of bed for 16–18 hour days, when as the owner you don’t get a steady paycheck.” For Michael, the commitment to hospitality is paramount. There’s a lot going on “behind the curtain” of their restaurants. Mistakes will happen; it’s how you handle them that defines your relationship with your customers going forward. “At the prices we charge, we’re in the entertainment business,” says Michael. “It’s our job to read our guests and anticipate their needs. Our competition is the New York Yankees. Our customers come to our restaurants to take a three-hour vacation from life.” The restaurant business is demanding, but for a third-generation professional its pull was too great to resist. “I find it a privilege,” Michael enthuses, “that all these people are paying to come to a party we’re throwing.” By Gil Walker Gil Walker is a longtime freelance writer based in Connecticut with an endless appetite for food, wine, travel, and adventure.
46 CLASSNOTES
1990s ’90 Penny B. Evins has been appointed Head of School at Collegiate School, Richmond, Va., beginning in July 2019. Penny brings extensive experience in the independent school arena. She has been Head of School at St. Paul’s School for Girls in Brooklandville, Md., since 2013. ’91
Anne Glass was recently appointed Head of School at Purnell, located in Pottersville, N.J. It is a 9-12 boarding school for girls with learning differences and girls who benefit from a small, nurturing, student-centered learning environment. Daniel Langenthal lives in Cambridge, Mass. He is the Director of the Leadership Development Institute at the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston – an organizational consultant to Jewish organizations, helping them with such issues as strategic planning, conflict resolution, board development and change management. He is on the boards of MABAT (the non-profit he founded in Israel) and City Sprouts, which involves urban gardening in local public school education. He spends his free time hanging out with friends, seeing live music and playing outdoors. Geoff Tracy of Chef Geoff’s Restaurant Group and Clover Restaurant Group have announced a joint venture combining four Washington restaurant brands and nine total restaurants, including Chef Geoff’s, Lia’s, Cafe Deluxe and Tortilla Coast. All of the family-owned restaurants will now be operated by Chef Geoff’s Deluxe Hospitality. Geoff founded Chef Geoff’s in 2000 after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America. Geoff and his bother Chris Tracy will lead the day-to-day management while their partners, Brian and Jim Sullivan, will lead the company’s strategic growth efforts.
Josh Barrow ’94 and Spencer Penhart ’95 discovered they were Choaties after a year of coaching softball together. Josh and Spencer are coaches for their daughters’ Hailey (Josh) and Jaynie (Spencer)’s Redmond Heat team.
’92 Courtney R. Baker with historian Erica L. Ball co-founded the program in Black Studies at Occidental College. She will serve as its first chair. She assumed the role of associate professor in American Studies at Occidental in June 2016, following 11 years in the English department at Connecticut College, where she relaunched its program in Africana Studies. Her book, Humane Insight: Looking at Images of African American Suffering and Death was issued in a paperback edition in 2017 by the University of Illinois Press. The press recently published her thoughts on Childish Gambino’s music video, This Is America, which, she explained, ”is an example of a fresh challenge to our thinking about images of violence and the role of black masculinity.” ’95 Jeff Adler and Nick Cipolla scaled the walls of Kotor, Montenegro, in March 2018. Nick was visiting Jeff, who works at the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. Kimberly Burke has accepted a position as an Investment Production Manager with Fidelity Investments in Boston. Jen Binder Capasso is living in Seattle with her husband and two children. She works full time for Expedia Group. She writes, “Over the past three years, I have become involved in work to support the global refugee crisis, specifically those fleeing war, violence, and persecution in Syria and Afghanistan. I have taken two aid trips to work with children in refugee camps, and I’m heading on another in late September. I also manage aid distribution and serve on the board of a small non-profit, Allied Aid. The refugee crisis rages on, even when not covered in the media, and part of our mission is to help people understand the magnitude of the crisis and how easy it is to help.” Erica DeRosa is living in the Boston area and is in her fifth year as Beaver Country Day School’s Director of Philanthropy and Engagement. She and her husband, Andrew, have two children, Violet, age 4, and Winn, age 1.
Anne Glass ’91 was recently appointed Head of School at Purnell, a 9-12 boarding school for girls with learning differences located in Pottersville, N.J.
’96 Carol Thorstad-Forsyth was recently recognized as legal leader in intellectual property law. Carol, who is a partner at Fox Rothchild LLP in West Palm Beach, Fla., provides guidance on the protection of intellectual property to clients that include major defense contractors and market leaders in global communications, consumer goods and software. An attorney with a degree in electrical engineering, she handles all stages of patent work – application preparation and prosecution – related to software, electronic and mechanical innovative ideas or inventions. ’98
Michelle Judd Rittler recently relocated back to Connecticut from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania with her husband, Steve, and two children, Caroline (3) and Jonathan (1). She started her new position as Advancement Associate at Rumsey Hall School in Washington, Conn., in July. Prior to joining the staff at Rumsey, Michelle was the Development Officer at the Allentown Art Museum in Allentown, Pa.
’99 Elizabeth Chahine, a veteran language educator, has been named principal of the Silvermine Dual Language Magnet School in Norwalk. In a recent article she credits her Choate term abroad study in Spain as the place she was able to get a handle on the language and where the seeds of her educational philosophy were sown. Silvermine’s immersive dual language program uses a 50-50 model, in which half of the classes during the day are taught in Spanish and the other half in English. Lauren Oakes reports that her first book, In Search of the Canary Tree, will hit the shelves in bookstores across the country on November 27. An ecologist, Oakes set out from California for Alaska’s old-growth forests to hunt for a dying tree: the yellow-cedar. The death of this species meant loss for many Alaskans. In the book, Lauren and her research team chronicle how plants and people can cope with their rapidly changing world.
Jen Binder Capasso ’95 is involved in work to support the global refugee crisis, specifically those fleeing war, violence, and persecution in Syria and Afghanistan. She recently traveled to the northern part of Greece near Thessaloniki on a mission.
Courtney R. Baker ’92 co-founded, with historian Erica L. Ball, the program in Black Studies at Occidental College in April 2018. She will serve as its first chair.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 47
CLASSNOTES | Profile
A True Authentic Abdi Nazemian
’94
To call Abdi Nazemian’s portfolio eclectic would be an understatement. As a novelist, he’s delivered personal stories that reflect his Iranian heritage in The Walk-In Closet (winner of the 2015 Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Debut) and the young-adult novel The Authentics (see review, p. 63). As a screenwriter, he’s taken on the Menendez brothers, a girl’s first trip to New York, beauty pageants, and, soon, a love story between two Iraqi men. As a producer, he’s contributed to projects from drama, The Price, to romance, the critically acclaimed Call Me by Your Name, to comedy of errors, It Happened in L.A. But Abdi sees a common thread woven through these disparate projects. “I’ve always been interested in telling stories about new perspectives or unique people whose stories aren’t usually told,” Abdi says. For instance, he points to the TV movie he wrote about the Menendez brothers (which aired last summer on Lifetime). “After I did my research, I realized it was almost irrefutable that they were abused by their dad. The idea that two strong athletic boys could be abused seemed laughable because people didn’t understand the psychology of abuse.”
His penchant for storytelling – in the form of books and old movies – emerged as a means of escape during his childhood, especially after his family located to the suburbs of New York City when he was 10. Before that move, his family had lived in urban areas – after leaving Iran when Abdi was two, they spent time in Paris and Toronto – surrounded by other Iranians. In New York, and later, when he arrived at Choate, Abdi felt culturally isolated. “There were a common set of references that weren’t mine,” he says. (Abdi was preceded at Choate by his brother, Al, who graduated in 1991.) At Choate, he was allowed to move in with a faculty host family, which gave Abdi the space to feel more at home. “I don’t know if the really positive things that happened at Choate would have happened without that,” he says. Connections with faculty helped, too, particularly an influential relationship with English teacher Stephen Farrell. (An English teacher named Mr. Farrell plays a pivotal role in The Authentics.) “From the moment I met him, I felt seen by him,” Abdi recalls. “I don’t think I knew yet that I was a creative person, someone who had an ability to tell stories. I remember Mr. Farrell giving me the ability to step into myself in a different way.” “I have very fond memories of Abdi as a student in my class and as someone whom I enjoyed talking to out of class,” Farrell recalls. “He was funny, lively, perceptive, rebellious, and always entertaining.” “The first time I came out in terms of my sexuality in a clear way was to Mr. Farrell in a paper,” Abdi says. “Looking back, I must have felt very safe to have done that. For context, this was a time when the straight-gay alliance was founded, but not a single one of the students was out.” Abdi went on to Columbia, where he majored in English. A week after graduation, he bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, where he attended the premiere of Can’t Hardly Wait, starring a former Choate student, Lauren Ambrose ’96. After that dose of Hollywood glamour, reality set in: He didn’t have a job, a car, or an apartment. Luckily, he landed a job quickly as an assistant to a TV movie producer. “LA is a hard place to penetrate,” Abdi recalls. “It really was the Choate community that immediately gave me a group of friends here – and still, many of my closest friends are from Choate. Choate was where the person I am now came to life, and the friends I made there saw that change, and know me in this deep way.” Abdi still lives in Los Angeles, now with his fiancé, Jonathon Aubry, and his twins, Rumi and Evie. As the head of development at Water’s End Productions, he champions movies that tell the underrepresented stories he loves – “kind of a dream job,” he says. And, as a writer of fiction aimed at teenagers, he hopes to write the stories he would have liked to have read as a young man. “When I was a teenager, there weren’t many Iranians in literature, and the ones that were there were often the villain,” he says. “I want to show the diversity of the culture.” b y A n d r e a Th o m p s o n Andrea Thompson is a freelance editor and writer and the co-author, with Jacob Lief, of the book, I Am Because You Are.
48 CLASSNOTES
1
2
3
4 6
5 1 Catherine Tarasoff ’03 married Taylor Burroughs
on September 30, 2017 in New York City. Choate classmates (and bridesmaids), from left, Julia Fraser Washington, Rachel Attias Senio, Catherine, Shannon DeVore, and Chrissy Leach Anderson. 2 Jessica Hughes ’94 married Michael Karnes on April 7, 2018 in New Haven, Conn. Other Choaties
in attendance from left, Jaime Santa, Celeste Paulsson, Susan Kimball, Jessica and Michael, Amanda Arcand, C.J. Hughes ’88, Andy Arcand, Susan Brown, Serena Roosevelt. 3 Erin Bradbury ’96 married Bryce Gilmer on June 16, 2018 in Waitsfield, Vt. Classmates Sarah Hubbell Hoff and Abby Campbell Rowe attended.
4 James Kaiser ’95 married Andrea Viviana Rincon
6 Nicolás G. Valdés-Fauli ’98 married Amy Horton
in Cartagena, Colombia this past February. Fellow Choate ’95s Carlo Portes, Walter Parrs, John Lancefield, Derrick Raptis and Andrew Gerber were all in attendance. 5 Alexandra Tenney ’11 married Max Katzenstein ’11 on May 26, 2018 at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
on June 9, 2018 at American Cut in NYC. Classmates in attendance, Boom Flores, Josh Dolin, Pedro Palma, Nick, Candace Tischer Wilcocks, John Meadow, and Dan Romanow.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 49
1
3
2
2000s
4
’00 Sarah Dunagan DeVan and Stuart DeVan ’99 recently opened an inn, farm and restaurant in midcoast Maine. They couldn’t be happier about living in Maine, and they welcome Choate friends and family to come check out ”the way life should be” at The 1774 Inn. Otessa Ghadar launched her newest multimedia project, ”She So Crazy,” which incorporates web series, photography, and podcasts. The project focuses on the female experience in toxic work cultures in tech and traditionally male-driven industries. She also just wrapped the first part of a new TV show, hardDCcore. It’s the first scripted show about the rise of DC/DMV’s punk/hardcore scene, from a female point of view. ’01
5
Jessica Fong, a pre-K teacher with Chicago Public Schools, is working on providing nature play for young, low income students. Nature play is how children react to natural environments versus more traditional playgrounds. Her work was recently written up for Chalkbeat. Through a grant from the Chicago Foundation for Education, she began a yearlong research-based education project on the value of nature play.
6
’02 Amy Hellman is a co-author of two Amazon #1 bestsellers: Heal Thy Self, released in June 2017, and Empower Your Life, released last March. Yaminette Diaz Linhart has started a Ph.D. program at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. She is an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Fellow and a Health Policy Research Scholar. In September she was awarded a Boston University School of Social Work alumni award for outstanding contributions to the field of social work.
8
7 1 Julia Fraser Washington ’03, and her hus-
4 Nicole Fleming Pearson ’01 and her hus-
band, Andrey, welcomed a daughter, Willa Rose Washington, on May 30, 2018. 2 Lydia Hawkins ’03, Reiko Okazaki ’03, Lydia’s wife Debbie, their son Oliver, and Debbie’s mother Marise. 3 Erica DeRosa ’95 and her husband Andrew enjoy seeing the world through the eyes of Violet, age 4, and baby, Winn, age 1.
band, Darrin, welcomed a son, Titus James, on July 18, 2017. 5 Jennifer Pupa Schwartz ’98 and her husband, Andrew, welcomed a daughter, Isla Dene Pupa Schwartz, on May 30. 6 Katherine Lucy Yared and Pierre Davis Yared, 11-month-old twins of Lucy Phillips Yared ’01, and her husband, Pierre.
7 Hugh Patrick ’02 and Megan Keefe wel-
comed Hugh John Keefe in January. Hugh is covered in kisses by his big sister CC. 8 Danapat ’99 and Thippawan Promphan welcomed a son, Markapat Promphan on May 22, 2018!
’03
Dr. Shannon DeVore and Lane Carpenter welcomed their second daughter, Cecilia Catherine Carpenter. Julia Fraser Washington and her husband, Andrey, welcomed their first child, Willa Rose Washington, on May 30. Matt DeSantis and Brian Partridge ’02 have been operating MyBhutan (www.mybhutan.com) a travel operation, technology and foreign advisory service – with His Royal Highness Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck ’03 to sustain the philanthropic activities of its nonprofit partner, Tarayana Foundation. As Bhutan’s longest residing foreigner (living in Bhutan since 2013), Matt has also been appointed the U.S. Warden to Bhutan by the U.S. State Department. Choate offers student summer programs to Bhutan (with the support of MyBhutan). This summer, Matt and his fellow Explorers Club colleagues spent three weeks in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert in support of Mongolia’s Institute of Paleontology and Geology.
50 CLASSNOTES
Matt DeSantis ’03 and Brian Partridge ’02 have been operating MyBhutan – a travel operation, technology, and foreign advisory service. MyBhutan hosted a Choate student group this past summer.
Caroline Wilson ’09 (left) and Ayaka Okawa ’10 (right) graduated together from the Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies master’s program at Stanford Graduate School of Education.
James Gong ’15 interned at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., this summer and met two fellow Choate alums working there as well, Robert Tapella ’94 and Patrick Kage ’16.
Their expedition introduced a pioneering approach to paleontological methodology through advanced mapping technology that is currently being tested by NASA for use on Mars. Discoveries from the expedition were historic; including 250 new likely fossil locations, and three new potential species and the excavation of hundreds of fossilized bones.
’08
2010s
’05
Jason R. Kasper is head of financial planning
and analysis for Pretium Partners LLC, a boutique investment manager in Midtown Manhattan. He joined the firm last fall, shortly before marrying his wife Elizabeth, with whom he lives on NYC’s Upper East Side.
’06
Octavio Sandoval writes, “I recently gradu-
ated from MIT Sloan with an MBA in June 2017. Since then, I have partnered with David Lighton on building his start-up, which aspires to revolutionize the way money is transferred. In August 2017, I joined MassMutual Financial Group as a director within investment management. From a limited partner perspective, I am charged with conducting due diligence on private equity funds as potential new investment ideas or as ongoing monitoring. At the start of the year, I earned my CFA charter, which is the gold standard in investment management.”
Marla Spivack has spent the last decade
working in international development, first at a think tank in Washington DC, then as a consultant to social agencies in Zambia and India, and most recently as a graduate student. In May she earned her master’s in public administration in international development from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She’s recently relocated to D.C., where she’ll be taking on a new challenge as the assistant director of strategy and planning for the RISE Programme, an interna-tional research initiative examining how school sys-tems in developing countries can effectively deliver education to all children.
’09
Kelly Greenwood writes, “My big news of the
year is earning my 100-ton captain’s license! I have been working on educational tall ships for the past few years, particularly for an organization called Gray’s Harbor Historical Seaport Authority on their vessels Hawaiian Chieftain and Lady Washington. Gray’s Harbor provides year-round sail educa-tional programming, and just launched Sea School Northwest, a maritime workforce training program. I will step into the role of First Mate aboard Lady Washington this fall and sail her down the California coast, and would love to take interested alumni out for a sail if they are in the area.” Reach out to Kelly at kellydeckergreenwood@gmail.com. Kelly would like to connect recent graduates who are interested in the maritime industry, teaching, outdoor education or who are just looking for a good adventure with the Sea School Program (applicants must be between 18 and 30 years of age).
’10 Shep Bryan reports his startup Beaumonde just got accepted into a startup accelerator in North Carolina. ’11
Lyra Olson, a member of the new women’s semi-professional Ultimate team under the Raleigh Flyers banner, the Raleigh Radiance, was featured in a video profile on Ulti.world.com. Lyra captained the U23 USA Women’s National Team, among other achievements and accolades, and is now at the forefront of the movement for gender equity within professional Ultimate.
’12
Last July, Formula 1 racer Ryan Tveter of Oyster Bay, N.Y., stood on the podium at Silverstone, England after finishing third in the GP3 Series race there. It was his first podium finish of the season with his No. 7, which carries the colors of The Disruptive, Stilo, and his charity partners, Right To Play, MTV Staying Alive, and the Lessons for Life Foundation.
’14 Alisha Kapur recently graduated from UCLA magna cum laude and is currently working full-time at Capitol Records in Los Angeles. She would love to talk to any students interested in the recording industry.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 51
CLASSNOTES | Profile
Dramatizing the Past to Dramatize the Present Francisca Da Silveira
’10
Somewhere in the back of her closet, Francisca Da Silveira ’10 has a folder, stapled shut, of the plays she wrote at Choate Rosemary Hall. No other copies exist, electronic or otherwise. Why lock them away? Did they embarrass her? Did she plan on revisiting them when she felt ready, or was famous? Francisca herself cuts to the heart of the matter with good humor: “High school Fran really needed to get over herself.” Thankfully, her current work refuses to stay in a folder. B Y A l e x a n d e r K v e t o n ’ 0 6 | Alexander Kveton ’06 is a playwright and host of the podcast Playwright to Playwright. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Francisca’s journey to becoming a playwright is marked by familiar yet peculiar landmarks. She wasn’t an actor; she worked in tech behind the scenes. She wrote fiction as a child, but what inspired her turn to drama was not Harry Potter, or the fan fiction she wrote; rather, she was inspired by history. Francisca’s family immigrated when she was four to Boston from Cape Verde, a group of islands off the west coast of Africa, with education for their children as their primary reason. She read fiction avidly, but when she engaged in history, specifically of World War II, she became fascinated by the war’s narrative. Learning became entertaining, and it thrilled her. “I wanted to do that same thing,” she says, “to teach but also be able to grab people.” She began playwriting in third form for the Student Playwriting Festival, and she would later hone her craft during a summer at the Dramatic Writing Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her plays oscillated between her fascination with history and the theatrical form. In her fifth form year, instilled with a techie sense of rebellion, she and best friend Sonia Hayden ’10 mounted their own productions, first on the Student Activities Center stage, and then in the Black Box for Francisca’s sixth form Capstone. As Francesca describes each production, they were ambitious, thorough, and daring, even by college standards, let alone those of high school. She chalked this up to being “just weird kids [who] wanted to impress people,” but clearly she had already begun to take playwriting as a craft more and more seriously. Returning to NYU Tisch for college, she double-majored in dramatic writing and history. A term abroad brought her to London, a city rich in history, where she returned to live post-graduation and contemplate her next step. An expired visa cut the time too short, so she decided to continue her self-discovery working on a Florida farm. It would turn out to be the exact inspiration she needed. With inspiration came revelation: whereas before she wanted to share history, now she wanted to share herself. With history, she searched for the story, but with her farm experience, the story found her. She discovered that she didn’t simply want to write a story; she needed to write one. And with that, she found the writer’s mindset, and it has carried her to her Boston debut Heritage Hill Naturals. It is clear that Francisca processes the world around her through her playwriting. Caught between family and friends and between a life in one country and life in another – these are experiences immigrants and many other people share. Recognizing the privilege of her Choate and NYU experiences, she strives to put stories onstage for people like herself who may have never seen their own represented before; something that showcases their stories. She creates characters going through the Millennial struggle, grappling with their identities and mental health in a world that constantly belittles and mocks their efforts. She hopes to show the problematic commodification of mental health, and re-contextualize it to create “threads and points of connection to show these issues [do] not just pop out of nowhere.” Francisca hopes her plays spark discussions and engage audiences long after leaving the theater. She wants to create opportunities to bring in people and organizations that want to have conversations about the themes and characters, and to relate to them as real people. As the literary manager at Company One in Boston, with an inclusion in ArtsBoston’s “10 Contemporary Black Playwrights You Should Know,” and a production in the works, Francisca is on her way to starting many conversations.
52
IN MEMORIAM | Remembering Those We Have Lost Alumni and Alumnae
’36 C
Louis Daily Jr., 98, a retired ophthalmologist, died March 4, 2018. Born in Houston, Louis came to Choate in 1933; he was on the Board of the Literary Magazine. He then earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and an M.D. from the University of Texas at Galveston. In the 1940s, he was a medical officer on a Navy destroyer. He was a resident at the Mayo Clinic until 1950, when he earned a Ph.D. in medicine from the University of Minnesota and began an individual practice of ophthalmology at the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston. He was also a professor of ophthalmology at Baylor Medical School. Louis was active in ophthalmic organizations, traveling the world lecturing with his mother, also an ophthalmologist. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, he was formerly on the editorial board of several medical publications and a Chairman of the Texas Society of the Prevention of Blindness. He leaves a son and two grandchildren.
’42 C
Thomas R. Brooks, 93, a retired physician, died May 31, 2018 in Wilmington, Del. Born in Scranton, Pa., Tom came to Choate in 1939; he was Associate Editor of the Choate News, was in the Glee Club and the Cum Laude Society, and won a School prize for excellence in Latin. He then went to Princeton, and during World War II served in the Navy V-12 program as a pre-med trainee. After earning his M.D. from Jefferson Medical School, he was a doctor in the Army during the Korean War. He had a private practice of obstetrics and gynecology for 34 years, and in retirement was Medical Director for Planned Parenthood in Delaware and Chair of the Credentials Review Committee at the Medical Center of Delaware. Tom enjoyed golf, tennis, needlepointing, and reading, working for many years for Literacy Volunteers of America. He was a past Class Agent for his Choate class, and a School scholarship is named for him. He leaves four children, including Peter Brooks, 14201 51st Ave. NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
’43 RH Ruth Sutherland Hall, 94, the retired owner of a clothing store, died April 24, 2018 in Vero Beach, Fla. Born in Washington, D.C., Ruth was at Rosemary Hall for one year. She attended Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., and worked during World War II as a nurse’s aide. Ruth lived for many years in the Rochester, N.Y., area, where she was active in the community, serving on the board of the Rochester Children’s Nursery. Ruth and her husband ran a women’s clothing store for many years in Pittsford, N.Y.; they eventually sold it to the Talbots chain and retired to Vero Beach. She leaves three children, including Stew Hall ’65, 595 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
’45 C
John B. Shepardson, 91, a retired aerospace engineer, died June 29, 2018. A son of Choate English master Douglas A. Shepardson, John was born in Wallingford and entered Choate in 1939; he was in the Glee Club and Choral Club, and was a counselor at St. Andrew’s Camp. After earning degrees from Williams and RPI, he worked for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Conn., for 35 years. In retirement, John continued to work for the Naval Underwater Warfare Center. He was a lay minister of communion at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Niantic, Conn., and served on its vestry. He leaves two children and five grandchildren. A brother, the late Douglas A. Shepardson ’37, also attended Choate.
’45 RH Gale Minton Critchlow, 90, a retired environmental official, died April 22, 2018. Born in Philadelphia, Gale came to Rosemary Hall in 1942. She was in the Kindly Club, the Music Club, and Hospites, and was on the Fire Squad, the Grounds Committee, and the Question Mark board. She also won a School Science Prize and twice won the Art Prize. Her classmates voted her “Most Likely to Be President.” After graduating from Bryn Mawr and marrying, she at first managed a retail gourmet shop, and then was hired by New Jersey’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. She rose to be chief of the Bureau of Shellfisheries,
retiring in 1989. Gale originated the clam and oyster relay programs and oversaw the development of the Haskin Shellfish Research Lab in Port Norris, N.J. She enjoyed the natural world, especially the beach and the woods, and she was an active gardener and floral arranger. She leaves four children; five grandchildren; four greatgrandchildren; and her sister, Claire Minton Peisch ’48, of Chenango Forks, N.Y. Her mother, the late Alice Gale Dinsmore Minton ’22, also attended Rosemary Hall.
’47 C
Edmund Jackson Batchelar Jr., 89, a retired microbiologist, died April 22, 2018. Born in Jersey City, N.J., Jack came to Choate in 1943; he lettered in crew and wrestling, and was a Campus Cop. After graduating from Rutgers, he served in the Army in the Korean War. He was then a microbiologist for A&P, Revlon, and Charles of the Ritz. He enjoyed carpentry, building a vacation home in southern Vermont and crafting pieces of furniture; he also helped renovate the Growing Stage Children’s Theatre of New Jersey in Netcong. Jack also enjoyed swimming, fishing, sailing, boating, and reading. He leaves his wife, Gretchen Batchelar, 1136 Lockhart Ln., Point Pleasant, NJ 08742; four daughters; nine grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; and his brother, Robert Batchelar ’44. Bradley P. Noyes, 90, a retired executive of an auto dealership conglomerate and a yachtsman, died June 1, 2018. Born in Swampscott, Mass., Bradley came to Choate in 1943; he lettered in soccer. After serving for two years in the Navy, he earned a business degree at Bryant & Stratton Commercial School in Boston and joined the family’s Buick franchise, which had begun in the early 1900s. He remained connected with Buick motor cars until 2008. Bradley’s big passion, however, was sailing. He won several championships, including the Eastern Yacht Club’s Puritan Cup, and was involved in two America’s Cup competitions. After earning his pilot’s license at age 16, he was also an enthusiastic aviator, and partnered with groups that performed emergency medical flights. He supported dozens of nonprofit organizations, mostly
anonymously, in the areas of health, veterans’ affairs, art, culture, and education. He leaves his wife, Gail Noyes, P.O. Box 40, Marblehead, MA 01945; four sons; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a sister. John Waterman, 89, a retired stockbroker, died May 12, 2018 in Warren, R.I. Born in Providence, John came to Choate in 1943. He lettered in crew, was President of the Press Club and Business Manager of the Literary Magazine, was in the Choral Club and won two School prizes in public speaking. After graduating from Amherst, he joined the Navy and served on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War. He then was a stockbroker for many years in New York City. An avid gardener, John also volunteered with the Rehoboth, Mass., Samaritans suicide prevention hotline. He leaves two children and three grandchildren.
’48 C
Arthur R. Rosenberg, 87, a retired language teacher, died May 18, 2018 in Palm Beach, Fla. Born in Long Island Beach, N.Y., Art came to Choate in 1945; he lettered in soccer, was Editor-in-Chief of the Literary Magazine and on the board of the Choate News, was a Campus Cop, and won a School essay prize. He then went to Yale, where he was Co-Captain of varsity soccer. He taught for decades in Westchester County, N.Y., and retired as a director and a teacher at Berlitz International Schools. Art liked running, and competed in 26 marathons worldwide. He also enjoyed camping, hiking, classical films, collecting books about James Joyce, and opera. He leaves his wife, Caroline Chapin; a daughter; a stepson; and three grandchildren. Two brothers, Alburt Rosenberg ’45 and Allen Rosenberg ’54, attended Choate; a nephew, Scott Rosenberg ’85, attended Choate Rosemary Hall.
’51 C William M. Boyd, 84, a retired publisher, died April 17, 2018. Born in New York City, Bill came to Choate in 1947; he was on the boards of the Brief and the Current History Club, was Sports Editor of the Press Club, and was in the Choral and Automobile clubs. After earning degrees from Stanford and Harvard Business School, he was
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 53
Chairman, President, and Publisher of the Home News Publishing Co. of New Brunswick, N.J. Bill belonged to several news associations, including Copley News, the Associated Press, and the Ad Council; he was also involved with the local humane society. He leaves his wife, Nancy McCandless, 8686 Cliffridge Ave., La Jolla, CA 92037; two children; 10 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; two stepchildren; and two half-siblings. His father, the late Hugh N. Boyd ’30, also attended Choate. Robert Peter Brown, 86, a retired insurance and banking executive, died March 21, 2018. Born in Louisville, Ky., Rob came to Choate in 1948; he rowed crew and was in the Automobile Club and the Southern Club. He then went to Princeton, but left to join the Marines during the Korean War. After the war, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. Rob started as an agent in the family firm, Atlas Insurance, in Sarasota, Fla., and 10 years later owned the company. In the 1980s he was a co-founder of West Coast Bank in Florida. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, skeet shooting, field-training dogs, and playing tennis. He leaves his wife, Mary Brown, 1101 Verna Rd., Sarasota, FL 34240; four children; six grandchildren; and a sister. Charles A. Krause III, 85, the retired President of a milling company, died June 1, 2018 of cancer. Born in Milwaukee, Charlie came to Choate in 1948. He lettered in football and track, was on the boards of the Brief and the Literary Magazine, was in the Glee Club and the Cum Laude Society. His true talent, however, lay in public speaking; he was Captain of the Debate Council and won School prizes in debate, public speaking, and English. That talent continued to inspire him, and in 2001, on the occasion of his 50th reunion, he established a fund at Choate Rosemary Hall “to encourage and train young people to speak in public with clarity of thought, confidence, and enthusiasm and to use this talent throughout their lives.” He also helped revive the School’s public speaking program. In addition to supporting the student PrattDeclamation Contest, the Krause Fund also provides a Fellowship giving an
academic department the opportunity to bring to campus an excellent public speaker who has made a distinguished contribution in his or her field. Krause Fellows at Choate have included former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Powers; forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee; oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard; deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie; environmental activist Bill McKibben, and this year, moral philosopher Dr. Peter Singer. A graduate of Yale, Charlie ran the Krause Milling Co. in Milwaukee. He later was CEO of a Milwaukee-based strategic planning and business consulting service. Active in the community, he was a past President of the Milwaukee Symphony and worked with the Milwaukee Urban Soccer Collaborative and Kids from Wisconsin. He leaves his wife, Roslyn Krause, 12491 Royal Ln., Mequon, WI 53092; four children; 10 grandchildren; two greatgrandchildren; and two sisters. Two stepbrothers, the late Willis G. Sullivan Jr. ’48 and the late Robert C. Sullivan ’49, also attended Choate, as did a nephew, Robert C. Sullivan Jr. ’75.
’52 C
Clifford G. “Bud” Allen Jr., 84, a retired life insurance executive, died June 26, 2018. Born in Akron, Ohio, Bud came to Choate in 1947. He was Captain of the Campus Cops, Vice President of the Glee Club, and in the Altar Guild, the History Club, the Press Club, the Mineral Club, and the Stamp Club. After graduating from Dartmouth, he spent four years with Procter & Gamble and six years with General Tire before joining the Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. (now Cigna) in Philadelphia. In retirement, he and his wife, Judy, started a business that provided independent secondary schools with student health insurance plans. Bud was active in several national and local insurance associations and a member of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. He leaves two children, including Clifford B. Allen, 1 Bowline Bay Ct., Hilton Head Island, SC 29926; and six grandchildren. Cleveland D. McCarty, 85, a retired dentist, died July 3, 2018 in Louisville, Ky. Born in Denver, Cleve came to Choate in 1950; he lettered in football, was in the Chess Club and the
Camera Club, and was President of the Western Club. He then earned degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He was a Captain in the Air Force for four years, then practiced dentistry in Boulder until he retired in 2007. Cleve was an avid outdoorsman. In 1959, on a bet, he became the first person to climb all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks in 54 days. He also compiled the first-ever guide to climbing the mountains around Boulder. He was a national director of the American Alpine Club and a former president of the Colorado Dental Association. He also enjoyed magic, and would put dental patients at ease by performing sleight-of-hand tricks. He leaves five children; 11 grandchildren; and a step-grandchild. Peter J. Sellon, 83, a retired executive of insurance, real estate and financial serves companies, died April 2, 2018 in Rye, N.Y. Born in New Rochelle, N.Y., Peter came to Choate in 1950. He was in the Cum Laude Society, the Glee Club, and the Maiyeros, but his specialty was athletics: He lettered in baseball, hockey, and football, and won the Harvard Football Trophy and a
School prize for Excellence in All Sports. His classmates voted him Most Versatile, and he was among those named Most Popular, Most Athletic, and Most Influential. After graduating from Princeton, he served in the Navy, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant. He founded Sellon Associates, a reinsurance intermediary, and was a founding member of Municipal Issuers Service Corp. Active in philanthropy, Peter was an advisor to the Theosophical Society of America and several other organizations. He enjoyed golf and world travel. He leaves his wife, Carol Sellon, 949 Forest Ave., Rye, NY 10580; three children, including Christopher Sellon ’77 and Mark Sellon ’87; eight grandchildren; a great-grandson; and two brothers, Michael Sellon ’56 and Jeffrey Sellon ’57. His father, the late John Sellon ’28, also attended Choate.
’53 C
Arnold Van Hoven Bernhard, 83, a financial analyst, died March 7, 2018. Born in New Rochelle, N.Y., Van came to Choate in 1948; he was in the Choral Club, the Glee Club, and the Art Club, and was Vice President of the Model Railroad Club. After graduating from Colby College, he
On the occasion of his 50th reunion, Charles Krause III established a fund at Choate Rosemary Hall “to encourage and train young people to speak in public with clarity of thought, confidence, and enthusiasm and to use this talent throughout their lives.”
’51
54 IN MEMORIAM
served with the Air Force in England. He then joined Value Line, a firm started in 1931 by his father, and was instrumental in computerizing the company; he later was Vice President of Value Line Securities. An entrepreneur, Van started Printing Services Inc., which computerized mailing lists; Hummingbird Farms, a hydroponic tomato farm; and Bernhard Link Theatrical Productions, a fashion and event production company in New York. His philanthropic activities included funding a library at Quinnipiac (Conn.) University, a professorship at Colby, a gymnasium and a science wing at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, Conn., and a teaching program at Tufts. A sculptor and pastel artist, he also supported the arts financially. In the Bahamas, he sponsored bonefish, sting ray and lionfish research, and established a conch hatchery. He leaves his wife, Dianne Bernhard, 15 Gramercy Park South, No. 12-C, New York, NY 10003; five children; eight grandchildren; a great-grandson; and his twin sister, Jean B. Buttner ’53, who attended Rosemary Hall.
’54 C
George Gordon Morgan Jr., 82, a retired mechanical engineer, died May 30, 2018. Born in Bayside, N.Y., Gordon came to Choate in 1948; he was manager of the Band and in the Automobile Club. After graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he worked for Johnson Controls, later spending 25 years with Austin Associates, a manufacturer of control systems in Northvale, N.J. Gordon enjoyed boating, and spent summers on Indian Lake in the Adirondacks. He leaves his wife, Lisa Morgan, 10555 Southeast Terrapin Pl., Apt. 204-F, Tequesta, FL 33469; two children; and three grandchildren.
’55 C William John Bryan III, 79, a retired operations manager for IBM and later a rancher, died April 22, 2017. Born in Tulsa, Okla., John, as he was known, came to Choate in 1951. He lettered in football, hockey, and baseball, winning a baseball award; he was also in the Press Club, the Southern Club, and the Glee Club. After graduating from the University of Tulsa, he worked for IBM for 33 years, living
in Iran, Lebanon, Taiwan, and Japan, retiring as the operations manager for IBM China. John then moved to Austin, where he became a rancher and later turned his ranch into a hunting preserve for conservation of quail. He was an avid golfer. He leaves his wife, Patricia Bryan, 3300 Bee Caves Rd., No. 650-241, West Lake Hills, TX 78746; four children; two grandchildren; and a sister. David D. Helprin, 81, a retired teacher and innkeeper, died April 28, 2018 in Stowe, Vt. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., David came to Choate in 1951. He lettered in track and football and was in St. Andrew’s Cabinet. He was also Literary Editor of the Literary Magazine and President of the Dramatic Club, and later united these two interests by teaching literature and theater. After Choate, he graduated from Williams and joined the Navy; in 1962, he earned a citation for heroic conduct when he rescued a sailor who had gone overboard. David taught at the Sterling School (now Sterling College) in Vermont, chaired the English Department at Northwood School in Lake Placid, N.Y., and then taught at St. Margaret’s-McTernan School in Waterbury, Conn. (now Chase Collegiate School). In 1983, he and his family relocated to Stowe, where they purchased and ran the awardwinning Ten Acres Lodge. He enjoyed skiing, mountain climbing, opera, and religious studies. He leaves two children and three grandchildren. A brother, the late William Helprin ’49, and a cousin, the late Theodore Helprin ’47, also attended Choate.
’55 RH Dorothy McGowan Myles, 82, died June 15, 2018. Born in White Plains, N.Y., Dorothy came to Rosemary Hall in 1953; she was Manager of the Athletic Association, a Marshal, and in Philomel and the Fire Squad. She was a member of the American Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, and the Storm Trysail Club. She leaves her husband, John Myles, 66 Hillair Circle, White Plains, NY 10605; five children; three stepchildren; 14 grandchildren, including Taegan Blackwell ’15; and five step-grandchildren.
’56 C Robert S. Hopkins Jr., 78, a retired high school teacher, died April 2, 2017. Born in Hartford, Conn., Bob came to Choate in 1953; he was in the Cum Laude Society, the Automobile Club, and the Radio Club, and was a Campus Cop. After graduating from MIT, he taught science at South Windsor (Conn.) High School for many years. Bob enjoyed sailing and wooden boats, music of many types, writing, and vintage automobiles. He leaves his former wife, Jean Hopkins; two children; two grandsons; and a sister. Daniel A. Phillips, 80, a retired banker, died April 26, 2018. Born in Boston, Dan came to Choate in 1954. He was Business Manager of the Literary Magazine, in the Cum Laude Society, and in the Band and Orchestra, where he played flute. He won Honorable Mention for School prizes in English, French, and public affairs, and his classmates voted him “Class Scholar.” After earning degrees from Harvard and its Business School, he served in the Army Reserve. He then joined Fiduciary Trust Co. of Boston, where he remained for the rest of his professional career, rising to be President and Chairman. Dan was active in Harvard alumni groups and other organizations in the Boston area, serving as President of Family Service of Greater Boston, Chair of Family Service of America, a Director of the United Way of Massachusetts, and Vice President of Frederick E. Weber Charities. He also served, for 40 years, on the board of the American Hospital of Reims, France, and in 2003 was awarded the French Legion of Honor. He enjoyed travel and gardening. He leaves his wife, Diana Phillips, 975 Memorial Dr., Apartment 903, Cambridge, MA 02138; two children; and seven grandchildren. ’57 C
David L. Jones, 79, a writer for the former Tulsa (Okla.) Tribune, died May 14, 2018 of leukemia. Born in Tulsa, Dave came to Choate in 1954. He was manager of varsity baseball, Literary Editor of the Literary Magazine, a Campus Cop, and in the Projectionists’ Association. After graduating from Denison University in Ohio, he served with the Army in Ethiopia, then joined the staff of the
Tribune, where his father was Editor and Publisher. Over the years Dave was the newspaper’s Washington correspondent, entertainment editor, editorial writer, and political columnist. He was President of Theater Tulsa, worked with Big Brothers and Sisters, and when in Washington coached the Reston (Va.) Little League team. He enjoyed music, movies, and Sherlock Holmes. He leaves his wife, Martha Jones, 11312 South Erie Ave., Tulsa, OK 74137; three children; a sister; and a brother, Jenk Jones ’54. John A. Whitney, 79, a retired executive of a roofing company, died June 10, 2018. Born in Boston, John came to Choate in 1955. He lettered in football, basketball, hockey, and baseball, and was President of the Athletic Association. He then went to Williams, where he was also an outstanding athlete. After briefly teaching history in Weston, Mass., he worked in the commercial roofing industry for Bradco in Hartford, Conn., United-Carr in New York City, and elsewhere. John enjoyed the outdoors, and taught skiing in Vermont for 20 years. In retirement, he hiked the Appalachian Trail and was a whitewater raft guide in West Virginia and New York state. He enjoyed music, especially blues, rock and roll, and Sousa marches. He leaves his wife, Patricia Whitney, 13890 Chelmsford Dr., No. 109, Gainesville, VA 20155; three children, including Vittoria W. Bush ’87, four grandchildren; and a sister. Robert M. Zavell, 78, a retired trader on the Chicago Board of Trade, died December 28, 2016. Born in New York City, Bob came to Choate in 1952; he lettered in football, hockey, and lacrosse, and was in the Southern Club. He graduated from St. Lawrence University, served in the Marine Corps, and became a stockbroker in Chicago with White Weld and, later, Lehman Brothers. He then joined the Chicago Board, trading financial futures. He was a member of St. Andrew’s Church in Mount Pleasant, S.C. He leaves his wife, Karen Zavell, 3100 Tradition Circle, Apt. 2133, Mount Pleasant, S.C., 29466; two sons; and two grandchildren. His brother, the late Marty Zavell ’48, also attended Choate.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 55
’56 C Christopher Hutchins, a Trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall for 20 years, died July 18, 2018 in Sarasota, Fla. He was 80. Born in Boston, Christopher – known as Chris at School – was raised in Bangor, Maine, where his father was President of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. He spent his eighth grade year at school in Cuba, where he met his future wife, Sandra Manée. Christopher came to Choate in 1952; he was President of the Art Club, on the Board of the Brief and the 6th Form Committee, was a Campus Cop and was in the Choral Club. His classmates voted him “Wittiest.” He then graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., and later from a program for management development at Harvard. He served two years in the Army, mostly in Germany, as a 2nd Lieutenant.
IN 1962, Christopher returned to Maine to join another family firm, the Dead River Co., which had started as a lumber business but later expanded into petroleum distribution and commercial real estate. He also developed Reddington North, a neighborhood near Sugarloaf Mountain. In 1975, he left Dead River to found Alternative Energy, which became the largest biomass electric-generation
developer and operator in the country. He also developed several areas in Bangor and owned Snow and Nealley, which for many years made high-quality axes, and the Maine Times. Christopher became a Choate Rosemary Hall Trustee in 1984 and was on the Board for 20 years; he also was Chair of the “A Shared Commitment” capital campaign that raised more than $100 million for the School. He was a
significant donor to the 2001 expansion of the Andrew Mellon Library. In 2004, he was awarded the Alumni Seal Prize, the highest honor given to an alumnus or alumna. He was a board member and Chair of the University of Maine Foundation, a trustee of Husson University in Bangor, and a director of the Merrill Trust Co. Christopher also supported the YMCA/YWCA of Bangor, the Maine Seacoast Mission, United Way of Eastern Maine, and other causes. He served the city of Bangor on many committees. He enjoyed sailing, collecting fine art, opera, the symphony and attending the Ringling Brothers circus in Sarasota. His wife, Sandra, died in 2016. Says Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations Daniel J. Courcey ’86, “A fierce advocate for and generous benefactor of our School, Christopher Hutchins was a larger-than-life, endlessly loyal friend of Choate Rosemary Hall. His devotion to his alma mater, family and friends was truly inspired and we remain deeply grateful for all the many acts of thoughtful kindness he bestowed upon our School. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of Choate alumni Chip and Brit Hutchins on the loss of their beloved father and family patriarch. Chris will be dearly missed by us all.” He leaves two sons, Charles M. “Chip” Hutchins ’81, 132 Clover Ln., Brewer, ME 04412 and J. Britton “Brit” Hutchins ’83; two grandchildren; and two sisters. Christopher was a member of the Choate Society, those alumni and alumnae who have left a bequest to the School.
56 IN MEMORIAM
’59 C James H. Franklin III, 76, an investment banker and teacher, died April 6, 2018 of cancer. Born in Baltimore, Jim came to Choate in 1957; he lettered in basketball and lacrosse and was a cheerleader and in the Rod and Gun Club. He graduated from the University of Virginia, where he was an All-American lacrosse player, and served with the Navy in Vietnam as a Captain of a Swift Boat. Jim started his investment career in Baltimore with Alex Brown & Sons, and later worked in London, England. Moving to Seattle, he became an eighth grade history teacher, assistant basketball coach, and Athletic Director at Bush School, played for the Seattle Men’s Lacrosse Club, and was on the board of the Washington State Lacrosse Association. In recent years, he lived in Mystic, Conn., where he enjoyed kayaking. He leaves his wife, Kathleen Franklin, P.O. Box 206, Old Mystic, CT 06372; four children; three stepchildren; 11 grandchildren; and a sister. Alfred Edison Jackson Jr., 76, a retired land developer, died April 2, 2018. Born in Memphis, Tenn., Eddie came to Choate in 1959. He lettered in football and track, setting a School record in the javelin, and won a School poetry prize. One of his Choate teachers sent his poetry to a professor at Oxford, where it was highly praised. After graduating from Georgetown, he helped run the successful campaign of Ted Stevens to be a Senator from the new state of Alaska. Eddie then lived in the Washington, D.C., area, heading up land sales development in the planned city of Reston, Va. In his later years he enjoyed sports and riding his motorcycle. He leaves his wife, Susan Jackson, 6698 Northwest 25th Court, Boca Raton, FL 33496; two children; a grandson; and two brothers, Charles B. Jackson ’60 and John G. Jackson ’69. Another brother, the late George T. Jackson ’71, also attended Choate. ’68 C
In the Spring 2018 Bulletin, Rene Carrillo Jr. was inadvertently listed as Choate ’67, he was a member of Choate ’68.
’68 RH Cathleen Asch Goss, 67, a retired technology executive, died of cancer July 31, 2017. Born in New York City, Cathy came to Rosemary Hall in 1965; she was a Marshal, co-head of the Art Club, and in the Math Club. After earning degrees from Bryn Mawr and Penn’s Wharton School, she worked for AT&T before moving to Indianapolis and co-founding the computer graphics firm TrueVision. She then joined Ameritech as head of its Electronic Commerce division, and later pursued entrepreneurial ventures. Cathy enjoyed travel, archaeology, collecting glass, and making beaded jewelry. She leaves her husband, Jan C. Goss, 361 So. Bateman Circle, Barrington Hills, IL 60010; a son; two stepdaughters; seven stepgrandchildren; a sister, Amanda Asch Halle ’74; and a brother.
’06 Benjamin J. Neighbor, 31, an executive of a data analytics firm, died June 3, 2018 while on a business trip to India. Born in Dallas, Ben was at Choate Rosemary Hall for one year; before that, he was captain of the varsity football team and earned all-state academic honors at J. J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas. At Choate, he lettered in football and baseball. He then graduated from Cornell, where he was also an outstanding athlete. He had recently accepted a management position at the San Francisco office of Mu Sigma, a firm specializing in big data analytics and decision sciences. He was training in Mu Sigma’s India office when he died. Besides sports, Ben enjoyed hunting and all sorts of outdoor activities. He leaves his wife, Beth Neighbor, 2660 No. Haskell Ave., Apt. 1160, Dallas, TX 75204; his parents; two siblings; and a grandmother. Trustees, Faculty, Staff Margot Mayer Burwood ’62, a Choate Rosemary Hall Trustee in the 1970s, died March 30, 2018 in Harwinton, Conn., of cancer. She was 74. Born in Rockland, Maine, Margot came to Rosemary Hall in 1958. She played hockey and basketball, was captain of the track team, and won a School
science prize. She then earned a degree in zoology from Smith, and pursued graduate studies at Columbia. Starting in 1970, for many years she was an occupational therapist in Newington and Torrington, Conn., specializing in disabled children. She was a School Trustee from 1976 to 1979. Margot was an accomplished equestrian and dog trainer. She was widowed twice, and leaves seven stepchildren; two sisters, including Sandra Zinman ’56, 23 Hillcrest Ave., Ardsley, NY 10502 and Carlie Mayer Feldman ’65; two brothers; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Veronica Z. “Vera” Charron, an accounts receivable bookkeeper at School for 13 years, died March 25, 2018. She was 93. Vera was born in New Haven. During World War II, she assembled rifles for Winchester Repeating Arms Co. in New Haven. She was then an executive secretary for many years before coming to Choate Rosemary Hall in 1974. She retired in 1987, and lived with her family in Hamden, Conn. During summers, Vera and her late husband, Tom, vacationed on Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Oquossoc, Maine. She leaves a son; four grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren. Roger Coulombe, who taught history at Rosemary Hall for three years, died February 22, 2018 in Amherst, Mass. He was 80. Born in Northampton, Mass., Roger graduated from Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., and earned a master’s degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He then joined the Peace Corps, teaching English in Thailand. When he returned, he taught briefly at Northampton (Mass.) High School, his alma mater, then joined the faculty at Rosemary Hall in 1965. When he left in 1968, Headmistress Alice McBee wrote that “he has been a thoroughly popular and most successful teacher, inspiring his students to do their best work through the use of creative methods.” Roger then spent years in senior administrative positions at several independent schools, including Charlotte (N.C.) Country Day School; Lake Forest Academy in Illinois; and the
Chadwick School in Palos Verdes, Calif. From 1995 to 2004 he was Headmaster of the Steward School in Richmond, Va., retiring to South Hadley, Mass. He leaves his wife, Cathy Coulombe, and two sons, including Jason Coulombe, P.O. Box 2006, Kent, CT 06757.
Raymond J. Gervais, a security officer at Choate Rosemary Hall for 13 years, died May 12, 2018 in Wallingford. Born in Meriden, Raymond served in the Army during World War II and worked for International Silver Co. for many years. He came to Choate as a security officer in 1978, retiring in 1991. He leaves four sons, including Allen Gervais, 15 Wayne Rd., Wallingford, CT 06492, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Peggy Lee Henderson, who was in the Athletics Department at Rosemary Hall for three years, died March 30, 2018. She was 79. Peggy was on the faculty of Rosemary Hall from 1961 to 1964, and was the head of the Athletics Department in 1963-64. When she left, Headmistress Alice McBee wrote, “Miss Henderson was very popular with the students, and they worked hard for her.” She enjoyed art, and created many southern face jugs, which she sold at festivals in Knoxville, Tenn. She leaves her partner, Linda Smith, 12612 Lovelace Rd., Knoxville, Tenn. 37932; and two sisters. Ronald W. Hill, who was head of the Science Department at Choate Rosemary Hall for seven years, died May 3, 2018 in Tilton, N.H. He was 85. Born in North Conway, N.H., Ron graduated from Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg, Maine, earned a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire, then spent three years in the Air Force as a jet fighter pilot. He then earned a master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University and completed coursework for a Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut. In 1974, he returned to Fryeburg, where he was Headmaster until 1979. He was at Choate Rosemary Hall from 1982 to 1996, first teaching chemistry and physics and, after one year, chairing the Science Department until 1990. When
“Special success has lain in Marjorie E. Harvey Purves’s ability to make mathematics clear and interesting to students who, before they entered her classes, had found the subject neither intelligible nor fascinating.” –FORMER HEADMISTRESS ALICE MCBEE
Ron retired, he was described as “the linchpin in establishing the School as a leader in science education.” It was during his tenure as Chair that the I.M. Pei-designed Science Center, funded by Paul Mellon ’25, was built; it is now named for financier Carl C. Icahn. “Deeply involved in its planning and building from the outset,” the tribute said, “Ron made an everlasting contribution to future generations of science students on this campus.” He enjoyed skiing and spending time with his family. He leaves his wife, Alice Hill, 53 Hilltop Place, New London, NH 03257; four children; nine grandchildren; a great-grandson; and a brother. Sarah A. Nardi, an administrative assistant at Choate Rosemary Hall for 10 years, died April 4, 2018 in Southington, Conn. She was 80. Born in New Haven, Sarah worked at School from 1978 to 1988 in a variety of secretarial venues, including the Word Processing Center, the Registrar’s Office, the Library, and the Paul Mellon Arts Center. She also worked for the American Heart Association and for Cuno, Inc., a water desalination company in Meriden. Known for her baking skills, Sarah liked making cakes for family celebrations; she also enjoyed sewing, knitting, and playing the piano. She leaves her husband, Ralph Nardi, 170 Walnut St., Southington, CT 06489; three children; seven grandchildren; a great-grandson; and a sister.
Donald Terence Netter, Director of the Paul Mellon Arts Center for five years, died June 27, 2018 in Setauket, N.Y. He was 89. Born in New Rochelle,
N.Y., Terry trained for the Jesuit ministry and was a member of the Jesuit Order from 1947 to 1968. During those years, he earned degrees from Fordham University; the University of Innsbruck, Austria; and the George Washington University. Before coming to Choate, he taught at St. Joseph’s Prep School in Philadelphia; the University of Scranton; Georgetown; Fordham; and the University of Santa Clara in California, where he was Chairman of the Fine Arts Department. In 1974, two years after the PMAC opened, he became its Director. In the first year Terry taught art history at School, enrollment in his class grew by more than 50 percent as students spread the word about the course. He also helped open the PMAC to community events, and was one of those who established the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra in residence there. “Terry was a legend at Choate,” remembers Paul Tines, PMAC director from 1997 to 2008 and now Assistant Head of School for Advancement at the Marvelwood School in Kent, Conn. “He was such a kind and generous soul, always interested in whatever you were doing.” Terry’s paintings are in many private and university collections. Terry left Choate in 1979 to become the founding director of the Stony Brook University Fine Arts Center, now named the Staller Center, on Long Island, and held that position for 18 years. He and his wife, Therese, divided their time between living in the United States (25 Old Coach Rd., East Setauket, NY 11733) and in France. He also leaves a son, Dylan Netter.
Marjorie E. Harvey Purves, who taught mathematics at Rosemary Hall for three years, died of cancer March 27, 2018 in Worcester, Mass. She was 81. Born in Hartford, Conn., Marge graduated from the Oxford School (now Kingswood Oxford), then earned degrees from Radcliffe and Brown. She came to Rosemary Hall in 1959; despite having been an English major in college, she taught math. “Math is an underdog subject,” she wrote at the time. “Many students dislike it, some more passionately than others. Practically everyone has trouble with it, myself included.” When she left School in 1962, Headmistress Alice McBee wrote that Marge’s “special success has lain in her ability to make mathematics clear and interesting to students who, before they entered her classes, had found the subject neither intelligible nor fascinating.” She then married and moved to Worcester, where she ran the volunteer program of the palliative care unit at UMass Medical for 10 years. She later was Executive Director of Daybreak, a shelter for abused women, and for the Battered Women’s Coalition in Boston. She leaves two daughters; two “honorary daughters;” a grandson; and a sister. Her mother, the late Marjorie Brampton Harvey ’21, was a Rosemary Hall Trustee for whom a School prize is named. Doris H. Lufbery Riotte, who worked in many office positions at Choate and Choate Rosemary Hall for 25 years, died April 9, 2018. She was 97. Born in Wallingford, Doris graduated from Lyman Hall High School. A Wallingford park and the local VFW post are named
for her uncle, Raoul Lufbery, a World War I flying ace. During World War II, she made munitions at the American Cyanamid plant in Wallingford. After the war, she and her husband, Joseph, raised their children, and she came to Choate in 1965. At her retirement in 1990, a tribute said that in her many years at School Doris “has been a veritable Jill-of-All-Trades. Among her posts are these: Development Office; Infirmary; telephone operator; Word Processing Center in the morning, afternoons back down to the Infirmary; Registrar’s Office; School Service; Alumni Office; Dean’s Office; Financial Office, and now, finally, the Copy Center as relief operator. About the only place she hasn’t worked is the Athletic Office.” Her supervisors called her “a superb secretary: polite, resourceful, and hard-working.” She enjoyed animals, gardening, travel, baking, and braiding wool rugs. She leaves five children, including Erich Riotte, 134 East Main St., Wallingford, CT 06492; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Our sympathy to the friends and families of the following alumni, whose deaths are reported with sorrow: David W. Fay ’47 December 16, 2017 William W. Lewis Jr. ’50 May 15, 2018
58
SCOREBOARD | Spring Sports Wrap-up
New England Champion, Lily Dumas ’19
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 59
Although the spring season had a slow start due to inclement weather, once the season got underway teams began to heat up. Boys varsity tennis completed the season beating Avon Old Farms to claim the Founders League title. The varsity baseball team finished the season 11-8 and had great play from several team members. Boys and girls varsity track and field had strong seasons. Boys finished 3rd at New Englands while the girls finished 8th. Lily Dumas ’19 was a New England Champion in both the high hurdles and high jump. Sailing had a fantastic season, winning the Division A Connecticut State Championship.
BASEBALL Varsity Season Record: 11-8 Captains: Jack Fuchs ’18, Will Eichhorn ’19 Highlights: Beat Hotckiss, Kent, and Taft
GIRLS LACROSSE Varsity Season Record: 8-9 Captains: Emily Clorite ’18, Julia Mackenzie ’19 Highlights: Beat Hotchkiss and Taft in last second
BOYS CREW Varsity Season Record: 5-2 Captain: Tristan Jamidar ’18 Highlight: Solid showing at NEIRAs
SAILING Varsity Season Record: 4-2 Captains: Joseph Coyne ’19, Ariel Zhang ’18 Highlight: Tagan Farrell ’20 and Tommy Styron ’20 won the Division A CT Championships
GIRLS CREW Varsity Season Record: 5-2 Captains: Stewart Egan ’18, Lila Kirchoff ’18 Highlights: 4th overall points at NEIRAs; 4th boat won their final BOYS GOLF Varsity Season Record: 5-9 Captain: Carter Prince ’18 Highlight: Placed 13th of 23 teams at the Kingswood Oxford Invitational Tournament GIRLS GOLF Varsity Season Record: 7-7 Captain: Anne Miles DeMott ’18 Highlights: Finished 4th at Founders League; Mia Scarpati ’21 placed in the Pippy O’Connor Invitational Golf Tournament BOYS LACROSSE Varsity Season Record: 9-6 Captains: Robinson Armour ’18, Patrick Gallagher ’18 Highlights: Wins over Lawrenceville, Hotchkiss, and Andover
SOFTBALL Varsity Season Record: 4-8 Captains: Anna Deitcher ’18, Mint Sethbhadki ’18 Highlights: Beat Porters; Bella Morizio ’20 was named to the Western New England All-League team; home runs by Morizio ’20, Kali Lawrence ’20, and Hadley Rogers ’21 BOYS TENNIS Varsity Season Record: 9-5 Captain: Andres Ballesteros ’18 Highlights: 2018 Founders League Champions; New England Tournament Semi-Finalists; 2nd place, Kingswood Oxford Invitational Tournament; Choate team of Andres Ballesteros ’18 and Alex Coletti ’20 won the New England doubles championship GIRLS TENNIS Varsity Season Record: 5-6 Captains: Angelina Heyler ’18, Madison Mandell ’18, Caroline Quinn ’18 Highlight: Beat Sacred Heart
BOYS TRACK Varsity Season Record: 9-2 Captains: Jackson Elkins’18, Adolphus Lacey ’18, Lloyd Williams ’18 Highlights: Wins over Hotchkiss, Avon, and NMH; a balanced team effort (11 athletes scored points!) led to a 3rd place finish in the New England Championship GIRLS TRACK Varsity Season Record: 6-6 Captain: Shamari Harrington ’18 Highlights: Finished 8th in the New England Championship, with Lily Dumas ’19 a New England Champion in both the high hurdles and high jump BOYS VOLLEYBALL Varsity Season Record: 2-8 Captains: Sam Grabowski-Clark ’18, Nils Lovgren ’18 Highlights: Beat Wilbraham and Monson twice GIRLS WATERPOLO Varsity Season Record: 6-9 Captains: Nina Hastings ’18, Sydney Klakeg ’19 Highlights: Beat Staples to open the season; two honorees on the Second Team All-New England team ULTIMATE FRISBEE Varsity Season Record: 8-9 Captains: Adedamola Adeyemi ’18, Caleb Hastings ’18, Katie Lee ’18 Highlights: Significant wins, including against Deerfield, Avon High, and Concord Academy. Both games against Deerfield were close, but Choate was able to eke out well-deserved wins
60
BOOKSHELF
In this issue, a coming-of-age tale by a debut novelist examines a daughter’s grief after the loss of her mother; a university professor provides a roadmap for middle school and high school teachers who want to address climate change in their classrooms; a veteran novelist crosses genres to create a scrapbook novella about a wartime romance; and a young-adult novelist explores identity through the character of a perceptive Iranian-American high school student in search of true authenticity.
Alternative Remedies for Loss By Joanna Cantor ’01 | Reviewed by Brianna St. John
ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES FOR LOSS Author: Joanna Cantor ’01 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing About the Reviewer: Brianna St. John is a Communications Assistant at Choate Rosemary Hall.
Joanna Cantor ’01’s Alternative Remedies for Loss stings before it soothes. Cantor understands that grief is messy. There is no clear path through it; grief cannot be mapped, because there are no boundaries containing it. The author writes about loss with a frankness that feels both intensely personal and universal, and it is made all the more poignant when set to the tune of a coming-of-age tale. The death of her mother sends 22-year-old Olivia into a tailspin. Loss punches a hole in Olivia’s life that awakens her to a bitter reality: she has no idea who she is without her mother, and if she were honest, she was none too clear about who she was before her mother died, either. Olivia’s grief is vast and sharp, her sense of self fractured, and she employs every method she can think of to stall the spin. She rages as her father begins dating a mere three months after her mother’s death. She hides herself in a toxic relationship with a man she barely knows and likes even less. She allows her family to bring her to India (with dad’s new girlfriend in tow), a voyage her mother had dreamed of – sharing with them the sights and experiences that should have been savored with her mother. Olivia’s grief is all-consuming, a miasma of anger and hurt that refuses to clear. It is in the depths of her sorrow that Olivia makes a staggering discovery: love letters to her mother, written by a stranger identified only as “F.” The mystery of these letters ignites a need in Olivia to know
who her mother really was, and in turn, a need to understand herself in the wake of her loss. Her search for “F” uncovers a path out of grief – a path marked with pitfalls and setbacks but lit with hope. It takes her back to India, where the memory of her mother serves as her companion, and where she can finally begin to unravel the knot of her mother’s absence. In sharing Olivia’s journey, Cantor tells a story that is raw and powerful, shining with just as much beauty as it does heartache. Olivia’s doubts, her anguish, and her reality of being a young woman adrift all feel familiar. Cantor makes Olivia’s pain our pain, building her story around the pillars of truth that make up the grieving process: that it is messy, immense, and heavy; and that it hurts just as much to realize that you can survive it. The elegance of Cantor’s novel lies here, in the ache. As Olivia returns home, more grounded and self-possessed, she realizes that she can make room for loss in her heart without being defined by it, learning more about who she is in the process. Cantor perceptively navigates the emotional toll of hitting rock bottom and then surging upwards, demonstrating the many efforts it takes to grow and heal from a loss. Olivia’s journey is one we all make, but Cantor does not strand us in hopelessness. Rather, she leaves us with a feeling of resolve and a sense that the pain of the past has finally lost its sting.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 61
Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents By Richard Beach ’63, Jeff Share, and Allen Webb Reviewed by Stephen Siperstein
TEACHING CLIMATE CHANGE TO ADOLESCENTS: READING, WRITING, AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE Authors: Richard Beach ’63, Jeff Share, and Allen Webb Publisher: Routledge and the National Council of Teachers of English About the Reviewer: Dr. Stephen Siperstein teaches in the English Department and in the Environmental Immersion Program at the Kohler Environmental Center. He co-directs the summer Environmental Literature Institute at Exeter.
Climate change is the defining problem of our time, affecting every aspect of planetary function and human life. Due to rising average global temperatures, cascading shifts in ecological systems cause unpredictable social impacts, from rising sea levels along coastal U.S. cities to childhood malnutrition in Arctic communities. As such, it’s no surprise that for young people around the world, including students at Choate Rosemary Hall, climate change is not about future generations: it’s about their own lives and livelihoods. This is why Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents is such a timely and important volume. In it, co-authors Richard Beach ’63, Jeff Share, and Allen Webb present a persuasive argument for why humanities-based climate education matters, and offer strategies and values for English Language Arts teachers who want to address climate change in their classes. The book is divided into nine easy-to-navigate chapters, offering points of entry for teachers with varying experience – whether novices to climate change or already environmentally-minded educators looking to innovate. For instance, an English teacher who wants to weave climate change into already existing curricula can begin with the chapters on “Getting Started in Teaching About Climate Change” and “Creating a Climate Change Curriculum,” in which the authors impart accessible suggestions for addressing climate change alongside often-taught works such as Shakespeare’s The Tempest or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The book is also useful for teachers already immersed in climate change education, particularly the latter chapters that focus on novel ideas like using drama, gameplay, and hip-hop to increase student engagement. Every chapter includes discussion questions, reading lists, classroom activities, writing prompts, and even specific assignment sequences, which teachers can adapt to different contexts. A wiki website that accompanies the book provides even more resources. The authors encourage their readers to contribute their own materials to the wiki, an invitation that echoes refrains throughout the book about the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.
The book also includes mini-case studies that offer illuminating glimpses into what teachers are doing in classrooms around the country. One of the most interesting and inspiring facets of the book is the inclusion of quotes and testimonies from the students in these classes. Hearing their voices foregrounds the fact that it is students who must drive both the content and methods of climate change education. The authors stress that teachers should employ both a “critical-inquiry approach” and “democratic student-centered pedagogy.” In describing their own work, they explain that “instead of telling students what climate change means or what to do about it, we want to empower them to investigate, collaborate, develop their own conclusions, and devise ways to make a difference, drawing on their knowledge, their concerns, and their emerging literacies.” Ultimately, the goal of climate change education in the humanities is to help students take action in local communities and contribute to the global movement for social and environmental justice. Underpinning the book’s focus on the practical, the authors develop a powerful conceptual case for why English teachers have a responsibility to teach climate change. The authors assert that “by not teaching about climate change, we are allowing our silence to normalize unsustainable systems and ideologies with disastrous consequences for everyone and everything.” Those of us who are committed to teaching climate change know that it is more than just an obligation; it’s an opportunity. The authors explain that teachers “can play an essential role in the struggle against climate change because they understand the power of literacy to critique multiple sources of information, to comprehend various perspectives, to create alternative discourses, and to generate possibilities for hope and activism.” Humanities classrooms are spaces of possibility, and together, teachers and students shape futures that are more sustainable and more just, and ones in which the most catastrophic impacts of climate change might be mitigated.
62 BOOKSHELF
The War Bride’s Scrapbook By Caroline Preston ’71 | Reviewed by Peter Richmond ’71
THE WAR BRIDE’S SCRAPBOOK Author: Caroline Preston ’71 Publisher: HarperCollins About the Reviewer: Peter Richmond ’71 is the author of seven books and an adjunct professor in the Education department of Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., where he earned a Master of Arts in teaching in 2015.
How many authors can claim that they’ve created their own genre? Well, Caroline Preston, for starters. And it’s a good thing she can. Otherwise, there’d be no one bringing us these wonderful scrapbook novellas. The War Bride’s Scrapbook is Preston’s second offering of this unique literary form, wherein image meets word, the two intertwine, and the reader is taken into a whole new storytelling place. Following the critically acclaimed The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, Preston’s latest story lives up to the considerable promise of the first … and then some. Reading this book is like being immersed in a multi-media museum show about Forties wartime America, while being treated to a terrific tale about love and life that puts the whole time and place into delightful focus. Not incidentally, Preston is also an accomplished novelist who happens to have the sharp, humorous eye of a true social historian. In Jackie by Josie, her acclaimed first novel (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), she brought the Kennedy era to life through the lens of a researcher working on a Jackie Kennedy bio. Gatsby’s Girl, her second, entertainingly evokes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s America. In The War Bride’s Scrapbook, she brings another era to life. By using World War II-era images from magazines, postcards and her own private collections to illustrate a delightful word-tale of a wartime romance, Preston has found a way tell a story in a way that jumps off the page. Then, no surprise: if a born storyteller happens to also have a passion for collecting delightfully engaging scraps of the past (both Preston’s grandmother and mother kept scrapbooks, and she collects antique ones), why shouldn’t they come together in an original way? In The War Bride’s Scrapbook, Preston marries her deft literary styles with her unerring eye for visual style.
One of the most engaging results of Preston The Writer partnering with Preston The Curator is the way that her cutout scrapbook images quickly become more than ancillary illustrations. This is no graphic novel where a single artist’s illustrations begin to numbingly augment the text. Under Preston’s caring eye, images become as effective at telling a tale as the words. The result is a delightful journey for both a reader and a lover of American ephemera. Distilled to its graphic-novella essence, this is a love story, pure and simple. Lila Louise Jerome, a Charlottesville “townie” growing up in the shadow of the imperious campus of the University of Virginia, falls in love with a soldier on furlough about to be shipped out to action. Lila is a most compelling and likeable character: a wartime gal who’s expected to cleave to the old gender roles while harboring yearnings to be heard for her own ideas about art and architecture, True to her novelist voice, Preston doesn’t allow her wartime romance to wrap up neatly as we’ve expected. Spoiler alert? Nope. I’ll save it for the reader. Trust that it’s the storyline plot of a true novel, not a graphic one. But why would we expect a story told by a writer who straddles genres to pay attention to the prescribed rules? Caroline Preston is a lover of expression in all its modes: verbal and visual. Roam this world where word and image intersect (and do it twice; swept up by the story the first time around, you’re bound to miss some of the coolest stuff in the illustrations) and you’ll find yourself in very specific time and place, feeling a very powerful set of emotions. It’s a land that Caroline Preston’s distinctive voice and eye own. It’s worth a lot of visits.
BULLETIN | FALL 2018 63
The Authentics By Abdi Nazemian ’94 | Reviewed by Andrea Thompson Daria Esfandyar is a proud Iranian-American high school student who loves “ancient Persian poets, and turmeric, and underground Iranian rap.” She dubs her group of friends “The Authentics,” convinced that they are “more concerned with being who they were than with who others wanted them to be. We weren’t the coolest kids in school, or the most popular, but we were the realest.” By contrast, Daria calls her former best friend, Heidi, and her clique of surgically enhanced Persians “The Nose Jobs.” As she observes, dismissively, at Heidi’s Sweet 16 party: “Basically, she looked like a cross between Kylie Jenner and Hello Kitty, and by the way, she was the kind of girl who would’ve taken that as a compliment.” What happens when that firmly held, righteously expressed sense of self is yanked away? Nazemian’s young-adult debut (he previously published a novel, The Walk-In Closet, which received the 2015 Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Debut is an effervescent and affecting look at one young woman’s search for her identity. Spurred by an English class assignment to investigate her roots, Daria discovers through a genetic test that she isn’t 100 percent Middle Eastern, as she expects, but 50 percent Mexican. Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about herself is wrong – her beloved father and her charming-but-annoying mother aren’t her parents after all.
THE AUTHENTICS Author: Abdi Nazemian ’94 Publisher: Balzer + Bray About the Reviewer: Andrea Thompson is a freelance writer and editor and the co-author, with Jacob Lief, of I Am Because You Are.
FRIDAY CALLS: A SOUTHERN NOVEL Author: E. Vernon F. Glenn ’68 Publisher: www.vernonglenn.com
FIREBIRD: A SPY STORY OF THE 1960’S Author: Noel Hynd ’66 Publisher: Red Cat Tales, LLC
Daria’s search for her biological mother takes her across Los Angeles, and she finds herself wobbling under the fear that everything might be taken from her: her family, her heritage, her friends. Along the way, she slowly realizes that she’s been hewing to a very narrow vision of authenticity – and that perhaps her judgmental perspective blinded her to the true nature of her relationships. Daria’s voice is fresh and funny (she describes Heidi’s nose as transforming “from a double black diamond to a bunny slope”), and her perceptive observations propel this coming-of-age journey. Nazemian has a clear mission to depict the complexity of the Iranian diaspora – Daria’s Seinfieldwatching, luxury-loving mother tends to be more conservative than her chador-wearing sister who remained in Tehran – but he wears it lightly. Above all, he’s concerned with a universal story: the search to understand who we really are and how to both be true to ourselves and still find a place to belong.
An Insider’s Guide to Orthopedic Surgery Author: Elizabeth Kaufmann ’72 Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
64
END NOTE |
SKYLAR HANSEN-RAJ ’20
(third from left) The highlight of the trip was when we met the queen mother (center) in a shopping mall.
#ChoateMoment of My Life Skylar Hansen-Raj ’20 KUZUZONGPOLA! That’s how you say hello in Bhutan’s national language. It is also the first word we learned when we arrived in Bhutan, after our guides greeted us with tashi kahdar – long white scarves that promise safe returns back home. It was the perfect start to our journey, because this compassionate hospitality followed us to the last day. From the warmth of the queen mother all the way to the generous shopkeepers, everyone was welcoming, open, and kind. This summer was Choate Rosemary Hall’s first program in Bhutan. Located between China and India, and bordering with Tibet across the Himalayas, Bhutan is remote. I had no idea what to expect before we arrived. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Paro, I could immediately sense the air was different – it was so pure and clear, courtesy of the seemingly neverending trees on the mountains surrounding us. I was astounded by how beautiful and green the landscape looked. Bhutan is the only carbon-negative country in the world, because all its carbon emissions are absorbed by its abundant forests. The preservation of these forests can be traced back to the fourth king who, besides implementing the Gross National Happiness program, also declared that 60 percent of Bhutan’s forests must be protected. As a Conservation Proctor on campus, I was eager to learn new ways of encouraging sustainability within a community. We met with several environmental conservationists including Dr. Karma Tshering, who recommended first spreading awareness, because “education about environmental issues is vital to creating change.” We also visited Bhutan’s biodiversity center, where we studied the process of preserving and documenting seeds essential to rural villages’ food supply. During our last days in Paro, we were able to contribute our own impact on the country by planting trees outside our hotel: saplings that will one day grow into cypresses and bottlebrushes. One of my favorite memories is from our last day in Punakha, when we hiked to a stupa dedicated to the fifth king. Because the fifth king was born in an unlucky year, the stupa was built to house 108 deities to ward off evil and bad
luck. The hike itself was breathtaking, filled with lush rice paddies and plenty of friendly cows. We climbed to the roof of the stupa and were rewarded with a wonderful view of the city and river. After a picnic lunch, we went rafting, and although the journey was more peaceful than thrilling, it offered a great scenic view of the riverbank. I felt truly at peace. On the last day of our trip, we made the six-hour hike to Tiger’s Nest, a monastery nestled into the side of a sheer mountain cliff. The hike was long and brutal and exhausting. But the view of the beautiful monastery gave me the strength to push through. The best part of Bhutan, however, was the people. We met so many fascinating and passionate people from all walks of life: government officials dedicated to creating change, student leaders taking initiative within their schools and communities, a musician dedicated to preserving Bhutan’s culture, our wonderful soft-spoken bus driver, and countless monks and nuns devoted to education and self-exploration. The highlight of the trip, though, was when we met the queen mother by chance in a shopping mall. We patiently waited until the queen mother herself approached us and asked us where we were from. When we responded Choate, she immediately lit up and exclaimed, “Choaties!” Her son, Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck ’03, graduated from Choate. It was the best #ChoateMoment of my life. I was astounded by the generosity and wisdom of the people we met. Their willingness to share their stories was moving. For me, the biggest takeaway from our experience was being able to connect with people in a place that had originally seemed so different from my own home country. Skylar Hansen-Raj ’20, from San Mateo, Calif., is one of six Choate students who participated in a Global Program to Bhutan this summer. The program used MyBhutan, a travel company run by Matt DeSantis ’03 and Brian Partridge ‘02.
You’ve made a difference in a number of ways… 2017-18
3,710 $6. 5 ALUMNI, PARENTS, AND FRIENDS INVESTED IN CHOATE'S FUTURE LEADERS
MILLION IN TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ANNUAL FUND
230 850
MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2018 PARTICIPATED IN THIS YEAR'S SENIOR CLASS GIFT
STUDENTS ARE THE BENEFICIARIES OF YOUR COMMITMENT TO A CHOATE EDUCATION
Thank you for your continued support of Choate Rosemary Hall
NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
NEW HAVEN, CT PERMIT #1090
333 Christian Street PO BOX 5043 Wallingford, CT 06492-3800
BULLETIN THE MAG A ZINE OF CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL
FALL ’18
Change Service Requested
Play the video to find out how SRP student Vincenzo DiNatale ’19 spent his summer interning at the Yale School of Medicine.
The Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin is printed using vegetable-based inks on 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.
In this issue:
FASHION FORWARD Alums in the world of fashion
SIGNATURE MOVES Choate's Signature Academic Programs
SKYLAR HANSEN-RAJ ’20 Reflections from Choate's Global Programs