Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin | Spring '20

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SPRING ’20

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Sleep in. Up early. Learn something new.

Catch up and get ahead. Why choose?

FROM SOCIAL DISTANCING TO DISTANCE LEARNING

Choate Summer Programs Online’s new mix-andmatch style programs give you the flexibility to make your best summer a reality. Classic programs, new classes, and a customizable schedule let you create the path that’s right for you!

find out more at www.choate.edu/summer

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:

A LIFETIME OF FINDING OUT A Tribute to Charles F. Dey

ALL IN THE FIGHT Alumni Doctors on the Front Lines of the Coronavirus

THE OKIES

by Louis S. Barnes II ’67

departments

2 3 4 28

Letters

32

Classnotes Profiles of Suzanne Gebelein ’75, CEO, The Great American Rain Barrel Company; Nicholas Wolff ’85, climate change scientist, The Nature Conservancy; Walter Parrs III ’95, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy in Namibia; and Tochi Onyebuchi ’05, science fiction writer and civil rights lawyer

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In Memoriam Buck Henry ’48 Remembered by Geoffrey S. Fletcher ’88

Remarks from the Head of School On Christian & Elm News about the School Alumni Association News

Dr. Heather York demonstrates atmospheric convection cells for students in her Global Issues in Environmental Science class.

CONTENTS | Spring 2020

features

56 60 64

Scoreboard Winter Sports Wrap-up Bookshelf Reviews of works by James Mehegan ’70, Richard Lee Turits ’78, Matthew Zavod ’90, Ian Lendler ’92, and Emily Oster ’98 End Note A Symbol of Hope by Rev. Allyson Brundige

8 12 20

A Lifetime of Finding Out A Tribute to Charles F. Dey

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Nostalgia: The Okies Students from all over the world … even Ponca City, Oklahoma by Louis S. Barnes II ’67

From Social Distancing to Distance Learning Helping Students Succeed Online All in the Fight Alumni Doctors on the Front Lines of the Coronavirus

SPRING ’20

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. CRH200325/18.5M

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 Cheryl Bardoe Louis S. Barnes II ’67 Allyson Brundige Dr. Miriam Cohen Lorraine S. Connelly James Davidson Geoffrey S. Fletcher ’88 Dr. Katie Jewett G. Jeffrey MacDonald ’87 Dr. Yaser S. Robles Brianna St. John David McKay Wilson Corey Wrinn Photography Alison J. Cady Danielle Capri Deron Chang Heather York Jim Stout

Illustration Stephanie Dalton Cowan Choate Rosemary Hall Board of Trustees 2019-2020 Alexandra B. Airth P ’18 Danya E. Alsaady P ’17, ’19, ’23 Kenneth G. Bartels ’69, P ’04 Samuel P. Bartlett ’91 Caroline T. Brown ’86, P ’19 Marc E. Brown ’82 George F. Colony ’72 Alex D. Curtis P ’17, ’20 Borje E. Ekholm P ’17, ’20 David A. Fraze ’84 Gunther S. Hamm ’98 David R. Hang ’94 Linda J. Hodge ’73, P ’12 Jungwook ”Ryan” Hong ’89, P ’19, ’22 Daniel G. Kelly, Jr. ’69, P ’03 Vanessa Kong Kerzner P ’16, ’19 Cecelia M. Kurzman ’87 James A. Lebovitz ’75, P ’06, ’10 Takashi Murata ’93 M. Anne Sa’adah 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

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Letters WINTER ISSUE KUDOS The Bulletin arrived today and I have just finished it cover to cover. Amazed at the building changes - have made note to visit next time we go to West Hartford to visit our daughter - but don’t hold your breath!

I owe much of my life’s successes to my 4 years at Choate (1954–58). Don’t know how many times I’ve thanked Choate for lessons learned. I went to work for the family printing company and reversed its downward trend. I bought another competitor that was [losing] money and showed a profit of $600 in the first month. And never looked back. … The four years at Choate were instrumental in all of my successes, especially my senior year in Mr. Gutterson’s house. We sometimes talked until 2:00 in the morning!

He and Dorritt were like family!

Thomas Cornell ’58 East Boothbay, Maine

I so admire and enjoy reading the Bulletin.

D. Dodge Thompson ’66 Washington, D.C.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 3

Remarks from the Head of School

Dear Alumni and Friends of Choate Rosemary Hall, In this issue we pay tribute to the life and many contributions of Charley Dey – a great former leader of Choate Rosemary Hall and a personal friend and mentor to me. As President and Principal, Charley was instrumental in the process of turning The Choate School and Rosemary Hall into the one outstanding educational institution we celebrate today. In our many conversations over the years, he modeled for me how to be a good leader, especially during difficult times. So, as we find ourselves now, in a very difficult situation, I will draw inspiration from the way I know Charley would have led – by remaining calm, keeping the core values of the School at heart, and charting a clear course.

I write to you from a changed educational landscape. COVID-19 has significantly altered how students around the world are being educated and the same is true at Choate Rosemary Hall.

In these pages you will read how the School moved swiftly to a distance learning model. I am grateful for our dedicated faculty who, in addition to being the caring, knowledgeable teachers they have always been, have grown their digital prowess. I am also awed by the resiliency of our student body, and heartened by the words of one Student Council member, Ava Maha ’23, “While the transition to a virtual learning experience has been a difficult shift, the community has come together to adapt and create the best online curriculum possible. [The School] has done an excellent job of fostering a positive and innovative environment. There is no doubt in my mind that we will return to campus stronger than we left it.”

This present health crisis has forced the world to look for innovative solutions. In this issue of the Bulletin we meet four alumni in the medical field who are on the front lines treating COVID-19 patients, as well as specialists in the field of infectious diseases who are working on strategies to promote vaccination campaigns when they become available at home and abroad.

Dr. Dan Carucci ’72, our 2012 Alumni Award recipient, suggests that the crisis could bring a “renewed confidence in the health-care sector, with increased knowledge of the importance of vaccinations, and a greater sense of common purpose in American society.”

To that end, here at Choate we also find ourselves completely united in common purpose during these challenging times. Although this pandemic is forcing us to face many difficult situations and decisions, this is not the first time the School has navigated through the impacts of external crises. Both Rosemary Hall and The Choate School have had delayed openings and delayed returns from vacations in our distant past due to outbreaks of serious illnesses – diphtheria, scarlet fever, and the great influenza pandemic of 1918. Our school endured the aftermaths of World War I and World II, the Great Depression, and the 2008 financial crisis. There is no doubt in my mind that we will come out of this current crisis as well. To help us plan both for what we can predict and for that which is inevitably unpredictable, I have created a COVID-19 Planning Task Force to look into various models and implementation plans for the reopening of the School.

This planning process will allow us to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic in the strongest position possible.

As we navigate this challenging time, I remain ever grateful to be part of this extraordinary community. The strength, grace, and warmth of the Choate Rosemary Hall family unites us even as we must be apart.

With all best wishes from campus,

Alex D. Curtis Head of School

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ON CHRISTIAN & ELM | NEWSWORTHY

Robotics Team Wins Industrial Design Award Choate’s Robotics Team competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition in March at Wilby High School in Waterbury, Conn. The team was a semifinalist in the competition and also won the Industrial Design Award, sponsored by General Motors, for their unique tilting shooter design.

The team is composed of students in the signature Advanced Robotics Program. This is the second year of competition; last year, the team qualified for the New England Championships and won the Highest Rookie Seed award.

Students in the signature Advanced Robotics Program were semifinalists in the FIRST Robotics Competition in March.

Diversity Day Encourages Conversations at Choate On January 20, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Choate community welcomed Dr. Liza Talusan as the Diversity Day keynote speaker. An activist and educator dedicated to strengthening cultural competence skills, Dr. Talusan is also a consultant featured in I’m Not Racist, Am I?, a documentary presented during last year’s Diversity Day program.

Dr. Talusan’s address was titled “Engaging in Difficult Conversations.” She discussed why having conversations about diversity is important and how to manage them skillfully and thoughtfully. Along with her keynote, Dr. Talusan joined student workshops throughout the day, designed to support many uncomfortable topics and turning such discussions into actionable practices.

The Office of Equity and Inclusion also invited Robin DiAngelo, a consultant and trainer on racial and social justice issues and author of White Fragility, to address faculty. DiAngelo has become one of the foremost white antiracist thinkers and helps educators navigate, sit with, and move past the discomfort that often occurs when issues of race arise.

Several Choate faculty members have coordinated a local chapter of White Antiracist Educators, started by a network of 150 white educators working in more than 25 independent schools in the New York City area. The goal of participants is to deepen their understanding of their own white identity, while striving to develop skills to create more equitable antiracist communities.

Activist and educator Dr. Liza Talusan was this year’s Diversity Day keynote speaker.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 5

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

ANSWERING THE CALL TO COVID-19 During our present global public health emergency, many alumni in the private sector have responded to the crisis with astounding speed, rolling out products and ideas in their various fields of endeavor that could help mitigate the pandemic and save lives: MARIETTA LEE ’87, Executive Vice President, The Lee Company, Westbrook, Conn., has partnered with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to help mass produce tens of thousands of ventilators.

Lee, a manufacturer of miniature precision fluidcontrol products, has begun turning out precision orifices and check valves that the company says are critical to the operation of the ventilators. www.newhavenbiz.com.

COLM RAFFERTY ’93 is Vice President – Asia at Vermeer Corp. The Iowa-based company’s team members – at work and at home – are working together with RP America to make face shields

for health-care workers at Pella Regional Health Center in Iowa. Employing cutting-edge 3D printing technology, Vermeer worked with hospital officials to determine the best design of a visor piece for use on the face shield. The company’s operation in Tianjin, China was forced to shut down earlier this year as part of a lockdown in the region. In order to reopen, Vermeer officials were required to implement several measures, from distribution of face masks and PPE to coordination of employee temperature readings. Vermeer was one of the first companies in Tianjin to open up once government officials lifted the lockdown. www.vermeer.com/na TED BAILEY ’99, CEO and Chairman, Dataminr: The company is using its artificial intelligence platform for risk detection. Dataminr helps organizations that range from the United Nations to the World Health Organization and the largest hospitals and emergency response organizations in New York with their critical COVID-19 first response efforts

We’re All In This Together Two alumnae are helping patients navigate the “new normal” during the COVID-19 crisis.

Charlotte Fraser ’05, R.D. IBCLC, is a lactation consultant in the mother-baby unit at NYU Langone Hospital. In late March, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order mandating that hospitals allow partners in delivery rooms. “In no hospital in New York will a woman be forced to be alone when she gives birth,” said Cuomo. “Not now, not ever.”

It is important for mothers-to-be, who are already anxious, to have one support person – a spouse, partner, or family member – with them throughout labor and delivery. Says Charlotte, “Some added precautions have been taken during the COVID NYU Langone Hospital employees Charlotte Fraser ’05, R.D. IBCLC, crisis. No guests are allowed, partners are allowed and Caitlin Dwyer ’06, R.N., pause from their daily routines during but must get temperature checks, and if a partner the coronavirus crisis. leaves the premises they can’t come back.” Caitlin Dwyer ’06, R.N., a member of the oncology staff at NYU Langone Hospital, has recently had to adapt her nursing skills to the new COVID crisis. Says Caitlin, “My floor was an oncology floor that then turned into an acute COVID floor that has just been made into another ICU floor since more ICU beds were needed.”

Caitlin is still receiving and treating COVID patients.

If you are an alumnus working in the health-care field during this crisis, we’d like to acknowledge you and hear your story.

by monitoring where new coronavirus cases might flare up next. www.dataminr.com.

JANE MOSBACHER MORRIS ’04, Founder and CEO of ethically sourced apparel company To The Market, was featured in the Vogue Business article “The brands helping their most vulnerable partners during crisis”. She continues to work with her suppliers instead of cutting or canceling orders: “I’m just upholding my end of the deal, which was to buy the goods. I gave them my word that I would buy this product, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal... To them it’s the difference between paying the workers and not.”

NATALIE BALL ‘06, a nurse practitioner in Community Health Center, Inc., in Norwalk, Conn., was interviewed by actor/comedian Kumail Nanjiani on a podcast called Funny You Should Mask, an effort that pairs entertainers with health-care workers to raise money for Project C.U.R.E.

Choate ConnectsUs WEBINAR SERIES

COVID-19: Responding to a Global Crisis On April 22, the Alumni Office held a conversation about the U.S. response to COVID-19, the spread of the virus, and prediction models for the future of the pandemic.

Featuring Tom Bossert, ABC News Homeland Security Analyst & former Homeland Security Advisor, and Jon Samet ’63, Dean & Professor, Colorado School of Public Health.

The conversation was moderated by Geoff Cowan ‘60, University Professor & Director of the Center on Communication Leadership and Journalism, University of Southern California. Check it out here: www.choate.edu/alumni

6

ON CHRISTIAN & ELM | On Campus A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Blanca Payne ’20 as Oberon in the winter production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Directed by Tracy GinderDelventhal, with set design by Sparks Mellon, and lighting design by Mark Gostomski, this collaborative effort was an exploration of gender roles and the search for identity, says Choate News reporter Angel Guo ’22. “To enhance the contrast between the confining, constricting palace and the mythical creatures in the forests, Mr. Gostomski designed distinct color palettes for each world. Toward the end of the show when the palace and the woods merge, he created another palette that blended the two worlds together.”

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 7

8

Feature

Charley Dey A Lifetime of Finding Out b y k a t i e j e w e t t, p h . d .

Charles Frederick Dey, a former head of Choate Rosemary Hall, passed away at home on April 16, 2020. His full obituary is posted on choate.edu.

As I stepped onto the snow-covered driveway of their home last December, carrying my iPad, a near-essential accessory at Choate Rosemary Hall that would not exist today without their early leadership, my heart was both light with anticipation and full of many stories of Charley and Phoebe’s graceful kindness. The school to which the three of us have devoted a combined total of nearly four decades is a place where Charley’s positivity and commitment to service are regularly invoked, and stories of Phoebe’s contributions to school life are as abundant as her beautiful watercolors, which decorate campus interiors.

Prior to that day, Charley and I had met only once or twice. Our initial connection was forged, mostly in written correspondence, through both our Choate ties and a shared interest in contributing to public education.

Before I could worry that the connection we had established in letters might not transfer to

this face-to-face December meeting, Charley was standing outside his front door, arms outstretched with a warm and welcoming grin on his face. Smiling back, I thought of the countless people at Choate who have told me that Charley always made you feel as if you were the only other person in the room.

After offering me a cup of tea and helping me get settled, it was Charley’s turn to reveal a schoolboy-like anticipation of our meeting.

His home office was filled with family photographs, Phoebe’s watercolors, and framed evidence of his commitment to service. I was there at his behest (and as part of an 89th birthday gift from his four adult children) to help him record his history, and he was excited to get started. During more than three hours together, we shared laughter, tears, and many stories, deepening our initial connection. I left that day with some notes, a hard drive full of video files from an oral history project begun with Charley’s son Tom, and a promise to return monthly, a pledge we kept up for two more visits until Charley fell ill in February.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 9

Charley and Phoebe Dey as a young married couple.

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Back on campus, watching the recorded interviews made it clear that there were two characteristics common to just about any conversation with Charley. The first is that he began with an affirming acknowledgement of his conversation partner, often a thank you.

The second lies in the numerous references to his wife and life partner, Phoebe. Even in describing the most professional of situations, he was quick to point out that she was his North Star. There really was no him without her. Although I was in Walpole to interview Charley, crossing paths with Phoebe in their home was always a highlight and, in those last months of Charley’s life, some of the most inspirational moments I witnessed were when she made him laugh, when he went upstairs to kiss her before her nap, or when they held hands. They are a testament to the way the small things in life and love are actually the big ones.

chose to call himself not by the gendered term “Headmaster,” but rather President and Principal. And it was Charley who worked with the School’s first (and thus far, sole) female Chair of the Board of Trustees, Beezie Brownell.

Looking back now, it comes as no surprise that in 1989, toward the end of his tenure, Charley hired Director of Multicultural Affairs Connie Matthews, charging her with diversifying the school’s curriculum, faculty, and student body.

These actions were of a piece with his tireless commitment to transforming lives through inclusivity, which had begun with his first job as a teacher.

In each of his professional roles, Charley worked to ensure that young people understood their responsibility to address what his own mentor, Dartmouth president John Sloan Dickey, called “the unfinished business of society.” To Charley that phrase meant taking responsibility for other human lives, not just

made them feel.” In his humble, self-effacing way, Charley Dey ably created a spotlight for whoever stood before him, regardless of their rank or stature in the world.

Moreover, he left us with a common thread of brilliant advice woven through three wonderful anecdotes from his life. First, as Charley began his career in teaching at Phillips Academy Andover, he was assigned to teach Ancient History, which at the time he knew nothing about. When he mentioned this to Phoebe, she told him with great practicality, “Well, find out!” Later, in the early 1960s when Charley told Phoebe about the possibility of heading to the Philippines to oversee the newly established Peace Corps program, he mentioned that they probably couldn’t go because “What would it be like there with two small children?” To which Phoebe replied, “Let’s find out!” And finally, when Charley retired from Choate, his former Dartmouth

The scope of his work demonstrates that while he was indeed a gift to us, and we at Choate Rosemary Hall like to claim him as our own, Charley Dey was not ours. He was a public servant through and through and ended his career as he wished, committed to the young people who needed his advocacy in the public sector.

My conversations with Charley revealed a compelling life story. Although the fullness of his contributions to the world cannot be reduced to numbers, Charley’s role in establishing the A Better Chance (ABC) program while a dean at Dartmouth led to opportunities and achievement for more than 14,000 (so far) young people of color in America. Moreover, it was at least in part his experience with ABC that led the boards of trustees of Choate and Rosemary Hall to choose Charley as the ideal person to combine their schools and move them forward. The roots of the progress that Choate Rosemary Hall has forged in the realm of equity and inclusion today were planted

by Charley and Phoebe. Charley knew what a difference opportunity could make in part because he himself had been a first-generation college student at an Ivy League school. He brought with him a commitment to race and gender diversity and to introducing new voices at the leadership table. It was Charley who

doing something to make oneself feel a little better. It was a mantra to live by, and so upon leaving Choate, Charley addressed more of society’s unfinished business when he built the Start on Success (SOS) program, which made a difference in the lives of thousands of young people with disabilities by creating opportunities for them to join the work force.

The scope of his work demonstrates that while he was indeed a gift to us, and we at Choate Rosemary Hall like to claim him as our own, Charley Dey was not ours. He was a public servant through and through and ended his career as he wished, committed to the young people who needed his advocacy in the public sector.

Over the course of our meetings, it was not the titles or public accolades of Charley’s life that came to the fore. Rather, he conveyed a sense of humor and a spirit of adventure and love. He reminded me of Maya Angelou’s belief that “people will never forget how you

roommate Alan Reich asked him to take on a leadership role at the National Organization on Disability. Charley responded, “But I don’t actually know much about the world of disability.” To that, Alan said with friendly exasperation, “Well, find out!”

“Finding out” encapsulates in a single phrase the admirable resourcefulness and adventurous spirit shared by Charley and Phoebe Dey. How easily they seemed to reinvent themselves and venture into the unknown, always in service of a new community that needed their energy, spirit, and care. May they forever inspire us all at Choate Rosemary Hall and beyond to find out how to be of service and bring new voices to our table.

Katie Jewett, Ph.D., teaches English and French and is a newly appointed Dean of the Class of 2023.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 11

TOP The Dey family in the

Philippines, where Charley was serving as an in-country director of Peace Corps volunteers.

BOTTOM Charley and Deval

Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts, an ABC graduate.

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Caroline Ruutz-Rees, 2nd from left, next to Mrs. Katharine Hepburn in white. Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Association, 1912.

Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library & State Archives. Purple, white, and gold were the colors of the American suffrage movement.

i l l u s t r at i o n s by s t e p h a n i e d a lt o n c o w a n

Cover Story

FROM SOCIAL DISTANCING TO DISTANCE LEARNING How Choate’s Helping Students Succeed Online by l o r r a i n e s. c o n n e l ly

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ver the past four months, COVID-19 has significantly changed how students around the world are educated.

At Choate Rosemary Hall, traditional in-person classroom learning is now being complemented by new learning modalities as we suddenly engage in distance learning allowing us to truly embrace the “learning anywhere, anytime” concept of digital education in a range of formats.

As of March 27, students now join their teachers and classmates in a virtual Zoom Room, instead of in various spaces across the campus. In order to pivot to online learning, students and faculty took advantage of training sessions and video tutorials presented

by Information Technology Services and Academic Technology teams. Students use their school-issued iPads for remote work while practicing their best Netiquette. In a communication to faculty, Head of School Dr. Alex Curtis both rallied and reassured: “Our students are fortunate to have you as their teachers and advisers, and you will remain the wonderful, caring, knowledgeable teachers you have always been, even as you navigate an unfamiliar new video conferencing platform and deal with inevitable snags and unexpected challenges.” The Bulletin shares with its readers some of the rationale and thinking that went into building the distance learning model.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 15

faculty training Administrators went into swift action after the School announced that spring term classes would be conducted online.

They had four days to pivot to online learning. What were some of the challenges in getting faculty and students operational?

Tom White, Director of Professional Development: The first step was creating

a framework for what this new paradigm would look like: a daily schedule, basic expectations of faculty, and how to support students with resources so faculty could begin to think about ways in which what they had planned could transfer to remote learning. Parallel to these efforts was providing the necessary guidance and support for faculty.

We put together a number of supports for faculty. Some of those were digital resources and guides compiled to assist faculty as they moved their classes online. One week of professional development was consolidated into the four days before classes began on March 27. There was also a required faculty training on using Zoom to run synchronous classes. Optional training sessions were offered throughout the week on various learning management systems, screencasting, netiquette, discussion boards (written and video), words of wisdom from Choate faculty with experience with online teaching, Microsoft Teams, Google Docs, and follow-up sessions on Zoom.

“Faculty and staff stepped forward to lead professional development sessions, share resources, offer encouragement, and lend support, all in the midst of tremendous change not only to their classes, but to their own lives. It was an exemplary moment of what the Choate community means.” T O M W H I T E , D I R E C T O R O F P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E LO P M E N T

Morgan Harris, Director of Academic Technology: It’s amazing what changes

a crisis will motivate. We have tried to get everyone on Microsoft Teams for years, and this situation forced adoption across the entire school in under a week. Now all academic departments have created their own teams for their central hubs of communication outside their regularly scheduled synchronous Zoom meetings. Because we have many students currently in China, we had to scramble to find alternatives for these services that we’d taken for granted (e.g. all things Google – Classroom, Drive, and even YouTube!).

Tom White: The process has been a truly collaborative effort. Faculty and staff stepped forward to lead professional development sessions, share resources, offer encouragement, and lend support, all in the midst of tremendous change not only to their classes, but to their own lives. It was an exemplary moment of what the Choate community means.

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academic schedule What was the thinking behind the creation of the new academic schedule?

Deron Chang, Director of Curricular Initiatives: There were five key priorities:

First, to make it as similar to the normal schedule as possible – one less thing to get used to. In this case, keep the number of meetings the same, keep the block rotation the same, and keep which classes land on which day of the week the same. The creation of 50-minute classes did two things: kept classes starting at a predictable time and shortened the classes. Next, we added Office Hours and Faculty Collaboration, anticipating that students would need more outside-of-class help from teachers and advisers and that teachers would need more time to retool their classes for a whole new teaching paradigm. Building in a break for students and faculty from what will inevitably be a lot of screen time in the day was essential for our teachers’ and students’ well-being. Furthermore, it provided a consistent break time for teachers who are parents of younger children (all currently home from school). It is worth noting that we did shift this break to later in the day to better accommodate our students in distant time zones when it became obvious that we would be teaching remotely for the whole term. Doing so, ensured that more of the class meetings started at times that students in Asia could attend synchronously.

Teachers were asked to record all classes and post their recordings to their learning management system to allow students who have missed a live class to watch a recording of it. Office Hours are an analog to Conference Block but are longer and can be used for significant teacher time for students unable to make it to a class due to time differences. For example, a student in Hong Kong can reasonably meet with a teacher during the early Daytime Office Hours or the Evening Office Hours slots (9:00 p.m. or 8:00 a.m., respectively, in Hong Kong during those scheduled blocks). Similarly, a student in California can meet during the afternoon Daytime Office Hours or the Evening Office Hours (12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively, on the west coast of North America during those scheduled blocks). We acknowledge that the remote learning daily schedule does not work perfectly for all students, but we feel that the vast majority of students and faculty are well served.

Tom White: In addition to what Deron notes, it was important to stay true to our premise that the pedagogy needs to fit the learners and the goals of the course. Maintaining flexibility in the schedule and our expectations for synchronous and asynchronous work was important for allowing teachers to meet their students where they are. Faculty were given a framework within which they could tailor their pedagogy to what is going to work best in the context of remote learning. They determine the right balance between face-to-face work and asynchronous work, and that’s going to look different depending on the course and the students.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 17

Connecting with students becomes that much more difficult when working remotely. Our students may now be spread across different time zones or lack access to Wi-Fi and laptops. How is the School supporting students and faculty?

Deron Chang: In terms of the time zone issue, there is no way to accommodate every student in every time zone with a daily schedule. Instead of trying to fix the problem entirely through the daily schedule, we decided to fix the problem by offering asynchronous options for all of our classes and to create daily and evening Office Hours.

In terms of technology differences, the fact that all students were issued an iPad has greatly simplified, though not eliminated, the access issue. We could not have predicted when the 1:1 iPad Program was instituted that this would be one of the benefits and yet, here we are!

digital learning outcomes The School decided to use Zoom to transition to a remote work environment. What are some of the advantages of that?

Andrew Speyer, Director of Information Technology Services: Zoom is

the de facto standard used in higher education and K12 schools. It allows a teacher to see all students’ video

feeds at the same time, create breakout rooms and essentially replicate the small group work used in face-to-face teaching, and record the class. Zoom also offers most accounts for free.

What are some ways that teachers are allowing students to participate in discussions and complete assignments that work best for students’ individual situations? Can they stream classes and save audio files so students can download it later? How are lab courses being conducted online?

Kelsey Wiegert, Academic Technologist: Through Zoom, faculty can

record class sessions for students who are unable to attend due to the circumstances they face. The class sessions are shared with students. Because each student is in a unique situation, faculty are in communication with students to find what ways class might need to be adapted to help them. Assignments and discussions are shared through Microsoft Teams, Canvas, and Google Classroom. Faculty members are using what they find will best substitute for their classrooms. There are many additional tools they are using, like Kahoot!, pHet for physics simulations, Flipgrid, Nearpod, JigSpace, and Google Expeditions for augmented reality biology and chemistry labs and to assist in providing context-based activities in a virtual environment.

In the science department, for instance, Dr. Selena Gell has designed a new unit for her cell and molecular biology class on the molecular biology of testing for SARS-CoV-2. Students have been using virtual labs and interpreting data sets. They have also been reading journal articles and news stories about the problems (both technical and regulatory) encountered with designing and implementing different types of tests.

Teachers were advised to start simple, to get basic readings and activities into their campus learning-management system and to go low-tech and asynchronous, given that students may have varying levels of tech and internet access wherever they are at, away from the campus. Why was “go slow” the best advice?

Kevin Rogers, Director of Studies:

Going slow gave both instructor and learner a chance to acclimate to the remote learning paradigm and iterate as they go. Choate has always focused on crafting classrooms that are defined by rigor, creativity, and energy. Capturing those elements in the face-to-face classroom means being careful not to let technology become an obstacle to the partnership that is the essential ingredient for the challenging work that we do. The same is true now that we’re working to deliver a similar experience via our remote learning paradigm. A balance must be struck to provide the right technologies at the right time to facilitate the desired learning.

“Choate has always focused on crafting classrooms that are defined by rigor, creativity, and energy.... The same is true now that we’re working to deliver a similar experience via our remote learning paradigm. A balance must be struck to provide the right technologies at the right time to facilitate the desired learning.” KEVIN ROGERS, DIRECTOR OF STUDIES

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“‘Don’t I have to be perfect since I am recording myself?’ The answer is an unequivocal ‘no!’ In the same way that no class is ever perfect, these online recordings do not need to be perfect, and no one expects them to be. In fact, as always, it helps our students to see us as human beings.”  DERON CHANG, DIRECTOR OF CURRICULAR I N I T I AT I V E S

Tom White: The one note of clarification I would add is that we advised faculty to start “small” not “simple.”

When one looks at traditional online courses, those can have approaches that take several months of planning, extensive faculty training, and considerable resources to create. These are great courses, but unrealistic models for moving to remote teaching in four days. We wanted to convey to faculty that they should not start out planning to build those types of online courses.

Rather, they should start with what they know, and then build as they go.

Starting small means that faculty can start where they are. Some folks were ready to get right into screencasting, video discussion boards, and so forth. Others were not, and trying to learn all those skills at once and shift their courses didn’t seem fruitful.

So, a part of this was about building confidence amongst faculty and then growing from there.

Moving face-to-face courses online presents a challenge for those teaching at home with kids and pets. When a faculty member records a class what happens if their dog is barking? Should they stop and re-record or can they be authentic and say “hey, we’re in class today with my dog in the background.

Guess he wants to chime in!”

Deron Chang: This is a great question because it lets me get on my soapbox. I was often asked the same question years ago when I first began to flip my classes: “Don’t I have to be perfect since I am recording myself?”

The answer is an unequivocal “no!”

In the same way that no class is ever perfect, these online recordings do not need to be perfect, and no one expects them to be. In fact, as always, it helps

our students to see us as human beings.

I leave in all the juicy mistakes (I correct them on the fly, of course) and goofy stumbles because, as you say, it adds authenticity. Furthermore, it also helps reinforce to my students that learning is not about perfection.

Grades this term are pass/fail. Does that lessen the pressure of this new online teaching environment for students and faculty?

Kevin Rogers: We know that feedback is a critical learning tool. Our shift to a P/D/F system means that the faculty can emphasize narrative feedback and the growth it engenders. When a grade is affixed, some students will stop the moment that they see what they got.

Now, they need to work harder, in a good way, to understand what went well in an assignment and what they might have done better. We know that timely, detailed feedback can do much to help the learner achieve the intended goals. Avoiding the challenge of translating nuanced feedback into a letter grade can be empowering for both the student and the teacher.

Tom White: Some teachers have enthusiastically embraced the new grading model. English teacher Dr. Stephen Siperstein posted this on Choate’s Reflective Educators online forum: “I feel freed up with the feedback I offer my students on their writing, and since we’re doing more ‘low-stakes’ writing this term (such as journaling), that freedom has been particularly helpful.

I think that similarly, students feel freed up to write more honestly (as many of them are doing) given that I’m not grading them on it. It’s amazing the kinds of human connection that become more possible without traditional power structures in place.”

Regarding the Central Qualities of a Choate Education document: In the age of COVID-19, how do these qualities remain true? How are we able to strike the “dynamic balance” preparing our students for a world filled with challenges and opportunities? How do we balance “perseverance and resilience with humor and joy” in this very serious time?

Kevin Rogers: Echoed in this document is the sentiment that I think is well put by a Chinese proverb, “prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child.” I think many of us have emphasized the importance of adaptation when counseling our advisees about the challenges and opportunities presented by this unfamiliar remote learning paradigm. As we regularly do, we have daily opportunities to urge them to persevere when they find a lesson challenging because they are working on it remotely. We promote collaboration, between students and faculty and between students themselves, emphasizing the importance of clear, timely communication.

Now, perhaps more than ever, we count on both students and faculty having a sense of humor about the inevitable technological and practical issues that have come along with this shift to remote learning. Learning a new piece of software or having the patience to play with an app to get more out of it takes perseverance. A seemingly small hiccup, like a failed download, or an inconvenient update, can be immensely bothersome when you’re also trying to keep up with what’s going on in class. We count on both students and faculty to maintain perspective and to accept that new and different kinds of mistakes are going to come along with this new context.

students weigh in At a virtual Student Life and Athletics Subcommittee Meeting with Trustees on April 16, Student Council members were thoughtful, articulate, constructive, and authentic about sharing their experiences with the new normal. Said Ava Maha ’23, “The transition to a virtual learning experience has been a difficult shift, however the community has come together to adapt and create the best online curriculum possible. By working collaboratively with the Student Council during this unprecedented time, the School has done an excellent job of fostering a positive and innovative environment. There is no doubt in my mind that we will return to campus stronger than we left it.” And senior Blanca Payne ’20 shared this bittersweet reflection, “What hurts most is our separation from Choate. You’ve all been to campus. You know what it feels like. You’ve experienced that vein of energy running through campus from Memorial Circle to Hill House, to Athletics and to Colony Hall. That energy often brings me to tears.

On one hand, we are lucky to have access to technology and teachers who make an effort to see our faces every day to make sure we’re doing okay. On the other, we’re missing the very best parts of being a student at Choate: community, change, and a great learning environment. These stressful, anxiety filled times are even stronger reminders that Choate is at its strongest when we’re all here living, breathing, and learning what it means to be a Choate student. I thank faculty, staff, and the administration immensely for trying their hardest to preserve our Choate experience.”

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A L L I N T H E F I G H T Cover story

A L U M N I F R O M T H E

D O C T O R S

T H E

F R O N T

R E P O R T I N G L I N E S

C O R O N A V I R U S

by david mckay wilson |

David McKay Wilson is a freelance writer based in New York.

O F

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 21

Dr. Paul Lantos ’92’s fascination with infectious disease dates back to 1991 at Choate, when he completed a research project on the Black Death in Charlie Tierney’s medieval history class. Lantos, associate professor at Duke’s School of Medicine, and a specialist in pediatric infectious disease, is among four Choate Rosemary Hall alumni interviewed in late April by the Bulletin as the world grappled with a disease that by then had infected 2 million worldwide, with 200,000 deaths. Lantos deployed his expertise to help the Duke community.

Dr. Kitty Garza ’97, a psychiatrist and assistant professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, addressed the emotional needs of hospital patients and staff. Dr. Dan Carucci ’76 worked on strategies to promote vaccination campaigns at McCann Health while Dr. Amy Lehman ’91 prepared to return to sub-Saharan Africa, where the coronavirus has cropped up in cities as well as in rural villages in four nations on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

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paul lantos ’92 “The nexus was always the Black Death,” says Lantos.

“History repeats itself. Today’s crisis is the least surprising global emergency we have ever faced. It happened 17 years ago with SARS, which began in China but was more easily contained. In 2003, we were wondering when the next one would hit.”

For Lantos, who helps oversee employee health for the Duke community and conducts research in the spread of COVID-19 in the Raleigh-Durham area, the coronavirus crisis has brought him deep into the pandemic.

With 40,000 employees at Duke and its three affiliated hospitals in Durham, N. C., Lantos and his staff do daily check-ins with employees who tested positive for COVID. While their primary care physicians address immediate medical needs, Lantos’ office works with employees to figure out when it’s safe for them to return to work.

Duke uses protocols set up under federal guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some can return at least seven days after the onset of symptoms, and three days after they are free of fever. But some aren’t ready that soon. Yet other hospital workers stay home in self-quarantine for at least two weeks if they work with immune-compromised patients.

’92

“Coming through our employee health office centralizes the decision, rather than having individual physicians making the decision,” he says. “We understand the scope of the burden on our employees.”

Lantos, who also sees non-COVID patients at a hospital clinic, says the pandemic has changed the health-care system. All hospital personnel, for example, wear masks, and he gets screened upon entering the building by an official who asks if he has had a fever or flulike symptoms.

“Everything about working in the hospital environment is abnormal,” he says. “We don’t know who is exposed. We are at a higher risk. We are leaving our houses and entering a workplace.”

By late April, he participated in discussions about what protocols will be followed on Duke’s campus, hospitals, and research labs, once campus opens again.

“What happens when the labs open and the students return requires a lot of attention and thought,” he said.

“It’s not easy. If you contain too much, you hurt people’s mental health and financial life. We need to find the right balance.”

“Everything about working in the hospital environment is abnormal.

We don’t know who is exposed.

We are at a higher risk. We are leaving our houses and entering a w o r k p l a c e . ” – Paul Lantos ’92

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christina kitt garza ’97 As a hospital-based consultant psychiatrist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, Garza works with patients having trouble dealing with their disease – be it cancer, congestive heart failure, or COVID-19.

Garza, who grew up in Bakersfield, Calif., is the daughter of physicians. Her brothers – Dennis Kitt ’99 and Dr. Arthur Kitt ’01 – both attended Choate as well.

Her first brush with infectious diseases came at Choate, when she volunteered at AIDS Project New Haven, doing HIV/AIDS prevention education in a New Haven soup kitchen.

Garza has found that many COVID-19 patients have considerable anxiety. “Some don’t know what it means to have the disease,” says Garza. “They may have heard that people die from it. They don’t know how it will impact life going forward. And if patients have a pre-existing depression or anxiety disorder, the added stress from being diagnosed with COVID-19 may cause these symptoms to flare up.”

When medical personnel appear fully garbed in protective gear, with gowns, masks, and face shields, some patients who are elderly or cognitively impaired may not understand what’s happening. With family members barred from visiting the hospital wards, they can grow agitated.

“Typically, they’d have family members to reassure them by their bedside,” Garza says. “Some may not even understand that they have coronavirus.”

Interviewing a patient in full personal protective equipment raises its own issues, with the gear creating barriers for therapists to make a connection with a patient.

“I wonder about the message it communicates to the patient,” she says. “We have to be cautious, but the appearance the gear creates is not an inviting one. I’m asking the patient to tell me all these emotionally vulnerable things about themselves and in the meantime I am literally in there with gloves and two masks on.”

Many of Garza’s visits now are done remotely, with the patient, alone in isolation, holding a tablet, and Garza speaking from her office.

“I don’t love the tele-consults, but at the same time, it helps to maintain some sense of humanity,” she says. “With the visitor restrictions in place it can be really lonely for these patients. Many are starved for a normal human interaction. With the tablet, we can look each other in the eye.

We see each other’s facial expressions. There are pros and cons of working this way, but our training allows us to be flexible, to figure out what a patient needs in the moment and to try to meet them where they are at.”

’97 “We have to be cautious, but the appearance the gear creates is not an inviting one. I’m asking the patient to tell me all these emotionally vulnerable things about themselves and in the meantime I am literally in there with gloves and two masks on.”

– Christina Kitt Garza ’97

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“ T h e r e ’s g o i n g t o b e a n e w a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r t h e importance of vaccination. At the same time, we n e e d t o d e v e l o p e f f e c t i v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n , s o w h e n i t ’s available, we’ll be able to position it as a valuable proposition to the population.”

– Dan Carucci ’76

’76

dan carucci ’76 Dr. Dan Carucci, an international public health expert, found himself in the studios of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson in April, discussing issues involved with promoting vaccination in a world where pockets of resistance remain to immunizations.

Carucci, global medical director and chief medical officer for McCann Health, was participating in J&J’s online series, “The Road to a Vaccine,” to explain the importance of promoting the vaccine to stop the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“Everybody is waiting for the vaccine,” Carucci said.

“There’s going to be a new appreciation for the importance of vaccination. At the same time, we need to develop effective communication, so when it’s available, we’ll be able to position it as a valuable proposition to the population.”

Carucci, who was given Choate’s Alumni Award in 2012, gained an appreciation for immunology while at Choate, with his sixth form spring project conducted in a laboratory at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

He came to McCann Health, a global communications network, two years ago, following a career in public health, which included stints running the US Navy’s malaria vaccine program and leadership positions at the United Nations Foundation and a $200 million Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation global health project.

He sees the importance of cultural sensitivity when a public health intervention is proposed. He recalled that during the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014, most received the vaccine, but there were some people who refused and actively pushed against it.

He had that in mind when he designed what he called the “immunity charm” for mothers in Afghanistan, to encourage inoculations for their children. In South Asia, mothers put a black bracelet on infants to ward off evil spirits. Carucci’s charm adds a colorful bead to the bracelet for each vaccination they receive.

“The children wear their history of immunization,” Carucci said. “It’s a powerful visible symbol for that child.

It was wildly successful in Afghanistan.”

Once a COVID-19 vaccine gets approved, new issues will arise, Carucci says. It’s clear that there won’t be enough doses for everyone in a community.

“Who gets it first?” asks Carucci. “There aren’t going to be 300 million doses available on June 1 next year. How do we appeal to people’s sense of community to prioritize parents, grandparents, and first responders? How do we create an environment where that’s acceptable? We’re going to have to think hard about it upfront.”

He said the coronavirus crisis could bring a renewed confidence in the health-care sector, with increased knowledge of the importance of vaccinations, and a greater sense of common purpose in American society.

“Despite our physical distance, we are all facing a collective enemy,” he says. “There’s a sense of common purpose. Our planet is healing, with cleaner air and water.

The planet is taking a deep breath, and exhaling.”

Since the outbreak began, Carucci has worked from his home office in Washington, D.C. Staying put in DC has provided a needed respite from his regular travels. “I travel so much for work that it has actually been a nice break,” he said. “I’m usually coming from one place or going to the next. My garden is nice this spring.”

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 25

amy lehman ’91

”Things are easy to take for granted here. Imagine what it means to rip through places in Africa without the infrastructure we h a v e . Yo u s e e h o w unprepared we are h e r e . ” – Amy Lehman ’91

’91

Dr. Amy Lehman, founder and CEO of the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic in sub-Saharan Africa, was making plans in March for a major meeting with her public health team and government officials in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, when the coronavirus struck the region. Lehman’s team has a plan to digitize medical records in the nation, replacing an unwieldly paper-based system designed in the 1970s with a digital application that would more easily make available the medical records of millions of Congolese.

“As the caseload grew in Kinshasa, a two-week quarantine was put in place for visitors,” Lehman said. “We just couldn’t go.”

Lehman’s proposed digital transformation of the Congo’s medical records would have been useful as that nation – and the rest of Africa – addresses the pandemic with a health-care system strained by pressing structural needs.

Lehman’s project involves bringing health-care to people living on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, the world’s second largest lake, with 1,100 miles of shoreline in four nations – the Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

What has shocked Lehman about the COVID outbreak is how health-care systems in the developed world have fallen short.

“I’m familiar with weaknesses in the African context, with the DRC a hotbed for emergent diseases,” she says.

“What was shocking to see was how not on the ball more developed systems have been. It points out how if you don’t invest in infrastructure and longitudinal health-system strengthening, you can find yourself in a very defensive position, sticking your finger in the dike.”

Instead of traveling, Lehman has stayed home in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood with her son, his roommate, her husband, and a longtime friend.

“I’ve maintained my medical license in Illinois if they need to press me into service here,” she said. “As hard as it is for everybody here, at least we have water to wash our hands. Things are easy to take for granted here. Imagine what it means to rip through places in Africa without the infrastructure we have. You see how unprepared we are here. Imagine what it’s like in Kinshasa, one of Africa’s mega-cities, with very dense slum-like circumstances, with no piped water and no plumbing.”

Making matters worse were the spring floods near the border of Congo and Burundi, where 2,500 homes were destroyed by the overflowing river, rising lake levels, and mudslides.

“The floods will increase cholera and malaria,” Lehman said. “Then there’s COVID. It’s a recipe for disaster. We just don’t know how bad it will get.”

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NOSTALGIA |

The

Okies by louis s. barnes ii ‘67

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 27

Cad, Roy, Gene and Don by the car they drove to Choate in 1934.

students have come to Choate Rosemary Hall from all over the world, and some strange places.

None stranger than Ponca City, Okla. Founded in 1893 on the first day of the last great “land rush,” 8.1 million acres of Indian territory opened to settlement, and tens of thousands of people ran for land. They ran on horseback, by train, wagon, carriage, and on foot. The first to a corner marker got 160 free acres, a quarter-section, one quarter of a square mile. Oklahoma would not become a state for another 14 years.

Ponca City sits beside the Arkansas River (“a mile wide and an inch deep”), just south of the Kansas line surrounded by the Ponca, Kaw, Otoe, Tonkawa, Pawnee, and giant Osage reservations. Ponca City is the birthplace of Marland Oil, now ConocoPhillips, whose refinery is the principal support of a population of 24,000, about the same as 100 years ago.

Barnes and the two Arrendells were, politely, ringers. $900 of Don’s tuition was forgiven as scholarship, the other $800 paid by his dad. A story still told when I got to Choate 30 years later: When these three ran out for their first pre-season football practice they stopped dead, unable to speak. The great coach, J.J. “Black Jack” Maher asked them, “Boys, boys – what is the matter?” They replied haltingly that it was the first football field they had ever seen that had grass on it. In Okie dialect, an especially fast player was known as a “dust blower.” Gene, the big center, was voted captain of the ’37 team. Don was a quarterback, mostly a blocker in the single wing formation of the day, also punter and place- and drop-kicker. Cad was a rangy lineman. Maher’s teams in these years were among the best Choate has ever fielded.

In August 1934, these four young men, just 16 and 17, set out for Wallingford in a bank-repossessed Model A Ford nicknamed Phoebe Fenimore, which the four later swore that they pushed halfway to Connecticut.

By the 1920s, the son of the town founder had become its principal banker. He figured out how to get that bank through the Depression, one of a handful of successful banks on the Great Plains. Like most of his peers, he had an 8th grade education, and wanted the best for his three sons. All three were fine athletes who went east to school on scholarship; the youngest, Donald Barnes, came to The Choate School.

As word of the plan spread through town, the leading physician decided to send along his two sons to Choate: Cad and Gene Arrendell, large fellows, football and baseball players. And another businessman sent his son, Roy Stephenson. Cad and Roy would be at Choate for their sixth form years, class of ’35; Don ’36, and Gene ’37.

In August 1934, these four young men, just 16 and 17, set out for Wallingford in a bank-repossessed Model A Ford nicknamed Phoebe Fenimore, which the four later swore that they pushed halfway to Connecticut.

Upon arrival at Choate, the car was immediately impounded by the formidable and horrified Dean, George Steele. In that day in upper-crust New England, boys never drove themselves to school, and everyone knew the corrupting influence of automobiles.

The following spring, Headmaster George St. John attended a baseball game – as a duty, not a fan. Choate was behind late in the game but had runners on base.

The batter hit a pop fly foul, down the third base line, the opposing catcher in pursuit and about to make the catch.

Don Barnes yelled from the Choate bench: “Watch out for the bicycle!” The catcher pulled up short, the ball dropped, and Choate was still alive. There was no bike. St. John was horrified by such bad sportsmanship, and hauled Don aside to tell him he would be suspended from school, at a minimum. Masters intervened, explaining roughneck baseball ethics.

Don’s Choate nicknames were “Huck” and “Senator,” and his class voted him Best Disposition and Class Politician.

The Okies were embraced by the top-drawer Yankees: Gordon Barlow and Jack Kennedy were friends for life.

Roy was frail and died young. Don became a banker, educator, and investment adviser, and lived until age 87.

Gene was a family physician and made it to 96 in 2014.

Cad was a surgeon and outlasted them all, to age 98, in 2015. Whenever Choate came up, these men smiled softly, a cowboy glint in the eye, and began to tell stories not possibly real.

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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 to build pride, spirit, and community.

OFFICERS President David Hang ’94

London Ed Harney ’82, P ’15, ’17 Elitsa Nacheva ’08

Vice President John Smyth ’83, P ’20

Los Angeles Alexa Platt ’95 Wesley Hansen ’98

Past Presidents Susan Barclay ’85 Chris Hodgson ’78, P ’12, ’14, ’17 Woody Laikind ’53 Patrick McCurdy ’98 Parisa Jaffer ’89 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Susan St. John Amorello ’84, P ’15 Melissa Barrett ’88, P ’21, ’23 Jaques Clariond ’01 John Glanville ’73 Elizabeth Alford Hogan ’82 Dewey Kang ’03 Jack Kingsley ’87 Lambert Lau ’97 Shanti Mathew ’05 David Sack ’75 Alexandra G. Smith ’09 Jessy Trejo ’02 REGIONAL CLUB LEADERSHIP Boston Lovey Roundtree ’97 Sarah Strang ’07 Kristine Yamartino ’10 Chicago Samantha Carney ’00 Maria Del Favero ’83 Connecticut David Aversa ’91 Katie Vitali Childs ’95

New York Sheila Adams James ’01 Jason Kasper ’05 Rosemary Hall Anne Marshall Henry ’62 San Francisco Samantha Vaccaro ’98 Ian Chan ’10 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 Hong ’89 Shanghai Michael ’88 and Peggy Moh P ’18, ’23 T.C. Chau ’97 Thailand Pat Sethbhakdi ’85, P ’18, ’18, ’20 Isa Chirathivat ’96 Tokyo Robert Morimoto ’89 Miki Yoshida ’07

Alumni Gatherings and Celebrations EQUITY & INCLUSION EVENTS

In mid-January, alumni and parents gathered in five cities across the U.S. to celebrate the School’s ongoing commitment to Equity and Inclusion. At each event, Director of Equity and Inclusion Keith Hinderlie and Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations Dan Courcey ’86 spoke alongside alumni, who shared their experiences. In total, 140 alumni attended events in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Wallingford.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 29

PALM BEACH GATHERING On March 3, Head of School Alex Curtis shared an update on the School today with parents and alumni in Palm Beach, Florida.

KENNEDY CENTER The Choate Rosemary Hall Symphony Orchestra had the honor of playing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on February 17. Alumni and parents enjoyed brunch before attending the early afternoon concert. Pictured here: Kennedy Center Trustees Jacqueline B. Mars GP ’18 and Buffy Cafritz, Director of the Paul Mellon Arts Center Kalya Yannatos, and Elisa Glazer ’79. In the photo to the right are Reggie Bradford, who narrated a piece during the concert, and Phil Ventre, who conducts the Choate Orchestra.

D.C. PRESS CLUB Congresswomen Suzan DelBene ’79 and Stacey Plaskett ’84, spoke with Lee Hockstader ’77, an editorial writer for the Washington Post, during the annual student trip to Washington D.C. Alumni and parents joined for a lively evening of conversation.

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION | Recognition

“I never left Choate.

I stayed in touch with people. There is such a bond.”

SUSAN BARCLAY ’85

2020

DISTINGUISHED

SERVICE AWARD

’84 The Distinguished Service Award is traditionally presented during Reunion Weekend. We are making plans to honor Susan’s service at an alternate time.

Susan Barclay ’85 spent just four years of her life on the Choate Rosemary Hall campus, but like so many alumni preceding and following her, her heart never left. In her early years after Choate, she kept in touch with friends and used mostly informal ways of staying connected to the School. At that time, the mechanisms for keeping alumni engaged were just that, informal.

When Executive Director of Development & Alumni Relations Dan Courcey asked her to spearhead the formation of a true alumni association in the early 2000s, Susan jumped at the opportunity.

Their collective idea was to create a group by alumni and for alumni. They would build branding and presence around a consistent and dedicated alumni base.

And, they succeeded. For her integral role in building the Choate Rosemary Hall Alumni Association we know today, Susan is awarded the 2020 Distinguished Service Award.

Recalling her former student, Frances O’Donoghue comments, “She is the sort of person who understands and recognizes that we all have contributions to make. She is not afraid to make her own contributions and to challenge others to do the same.”

Susan gives back because she attributes so much of who she is as an individual to her formative years at Choate. As Susan reflects, “I grew at Choate. I had experiences that broadened my world view.

I developed critical thinking and writing skills that contribute to work every day. I love the Choate community and I am grateful for all the community gave me.”

As a result of Susan’s work, alongside equally dedicated peers, alumni today are more engaged than ever as the Alumni Association continues to flourish. As the first President of our modern Alumni Association, Susan had several key objectives.

First, create a schedule of consistent events. Second, share alumni stories publicly. Third, formalize the organization with by-laws.

Finally, create consistency in leadership, with a succession plan to allow for smooth transitions.

More than 15 years later, her work has paid off. In conjunction with the Development & Alumni Relations office, the Alumni Association helps to engage more than 5,000 alumni annually through events, social media, volunteerism, and so much more.

“I still get excited when I open emails for events and when I see the Alumni Association pages in the Bulletin. It’s gratifying to see the many accomplishments we achieved, carrying forward what we learned on campus to make a difference in our adult lives. This is the sense of community we envisioned when we founded the Alumni Association.”

HELPING AT-RISK POPULATIONS DURING COVID-19 Since July 2019, Susan has been working in business to business marketing for Livongo, a digital health platform that empowers people with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, to lead healthier lives. Livongo aggregates and interprets patient health data and information to create actionable, personalized, and timely outreach that empowers people to better manage their health. The company’s approach to remote monitoring helps keep people with chronic conditions away from the hospital and ER. Enter COVID-19. The necessity of keeping at-risk populations out of the ER becomes paramount, and the work of health-care businesses essential. Susan’s work has become even more relevant and important, and working life is far busier! As COVID-19 has limited in-person doctor and hospital visits, virtual care through remote monitoring has become vital. Health-care plans, Livongo’s primary customers, are relying on the company as their members with chronic conditions – who are at greater risk of serious illness from COVID-19 – can continue to monitor their health from the safety of their home through personalized digital and phone or text-based health coaching. In addition to providing tools and support for managing diabetes and hypertension, Livongo is also offering evidence-based behavioral health resources to help people cope with the stress of the pandemic. Livongo’s model was already in place, making it well-positioned for this new normal. Susan is proud to advocate through Livongo’s model, particularly for populations at high risk for this new virus.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 31

2020 ALUMNI AWARD

MARIA SEMPLE ’82 Each spring, Choate Rosemary Hall presents the Alumni Award to an alumnus or alumna for outstanding achievement in his or her chosen profession. This is the highest award the School bestows upon a graduate. The 2020 Alumni Award is presented to Maria Semple ’82 for her distinguished career as a novelist and screenwriter. Ms. Semple is perhaps best known for her novels, Today Will Be Different (2016), Where’d You Go, Bernadette (2012), and This One Is Mine (2008).

Upon graduating from Choate Rosemary Hall, Ms. Semple went on to pursue an undergraduate degree in English at Barnard College in New York. With her English degree, Maria started writing screenplays and scripts for television shows. Her first successful screenwriting job was in 1992, for the television show Beverly Hills, 90210. Then, in 1997, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy, Outstanding Television Series, for her work on Mad About You. In 2006 and 2007, she was nominated for a Writer’s Guild of America award for Arrested Development.

In 2008, just after she published her first novel, This One Is Mine, Maria and her young family moved to Seattle. Maria’s difficult adjustment to life in Seattle became the inspiration for her second novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, about an agoraphobic architect, mother, and wife who is struggling to adjust to life in Seattle and goes missing just before a family trip to Antarctica. Where’d You Go, Bernadette spent a year on the New York Times bestseller list, won the American Library Association’s Alex Award, and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. In 2013, Annapurna Pictures and Color Force acquired the rights. Cate Blanchett starred in the film adaptation, directed by Richard Linklater and released on August 16, 2019.

For her remarkable career and many successes as both a novelist and screenwriter, we are pleased to honor Maria Semple with this year’s Alumni Award.

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CLASSNOTES | News from our Alumni

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Celebrating Earth Day, 1994!

34 CLASSNOTES

1940s ’46 C

Cliff Cowles writes, “I’ll be a happy 92 this year, in good health and living in a wonderful life care community in Peoria, Ariz.”

Joe Stafford writes, “I continue to try aging as gracefully as possible. Both Barbara and I are thankfully in good health. “

’47C Walter Blass was invited to Wheaton College in Illinois last October to speak about his experiences as a Holocaust refugee, as well as to visit classes on assimilation and cross-cultural experiences. He says it was a shock to them to hear a Quaker and liberal in a self-identified evangelical and conservative school.

Fortunately, Walter says, his experiences as a Jewish refugee from Germany at Choate in 1944–47, including Dr. George St John’s sermons, stood him in good stead at Wheaton. He adds that he sees Igor Sikorsky Jr. a couple of times a year, and both of them are in touch with Putney Westerfield in California. ’49 C John Baay writes, “Besides bridge and dog walking, life has assumed a quiet pace, which is rather nice. With four children, 13 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, all of whom we see in the summer on Squam Lake in New Hampshire, we are

Mickey Suarez ‘52, first on left, moved back to Havana after graduating Choate to go to law school and row for the Habana Yacht Club in 1953, ’54, and ’55. Mickey writes, “In ’53, we won four regattas: Novice and Junior (in fours), and two Senior eights. I was fortunate to Stroke those four crews.”

enjoying this chapter! Our grandson Gray Rodgers is currently playing baseball for TCU, so we try to watch every game, either in person or on TV. Very exciting!

Go Horned Frogs! Among the others we have a nurse, a lawyer, a Marine who is working in the product engineering business, two computer data analysts, and a commercial construction engineer. Proud grandparents.”

1950s ’50 C Robert C. Lanphier III writes, “This spring the Class of 1950 will celebrate 70 years since our graduation. Our family will also celebrate the graduation of Lillie MacHarg Lanphier, another fourth-generation Choate student from our family, our 11th alum.

Edward Oliver Lanphier graduated from Choate in 1919. ’52 C

Robert Marion Gordon Jr. writes, “My sister Ann Gordon Bain and I went to San Miguel de Allende for a week vacation. It was a lot of fun and interesting.

There was dancing in the streets and music and tacos.

We visited an archaeological site, a small pyramid called ‘Canada de la Virgin.’ It was a long walk in the desert.”

John Houx had a cameo role in Calendar Girls, opening at Pineapple Playhouse, Fort Pierce, Fla. on March 19. He writes “My role is playing John. Easy to remember. Doubtful it’ll even open but at 85 you gotta keep trekking and it’s still fun.”

’56 C Jon Dickinson writes, “Having finished my intellectual property law practice in Portland, Ore., about three years ago, I have since then been engaged, among other things, in my many-years-long interest in filmmaking – now focused on completing the shooting of two, new, original-narrative-story, short films, one entitled Delta 9.2, and the other, Traces in the Wind. These two follow the completion, about two years ago, of another, short, narrative film, Joker (not in any way related to the recent feature film of the same title). Additionally, I am within a very few months of completing, having worked on this over a handful of years with a professional luthier, the making of a full string quartet of instruments (two violins, a viola, and a cello) – instruments which my wife Marlene and I will celebrate with the giving of a concert and dinner party probably sometime later this year. In response some time ago to what happily turned out to be the successful resolution of a family cancer matter, I continue to add to a now large series (perhaps 200-plus) of watercolor and pencil drawings,

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 35

all part of a collection which Marlene and I call Normal Cells – The Anti-Cancer Series of Drawings. The drawings in this series, which began over 20 years ago, have been created with the intent for them to be used as positive-focused, good-health-supporting, anti-cancer visualization tools.”

’57 C Jan Beyea, Ph.D., writes, ”The February 11 front page of the New York Times carried a story about veterans exposed to plutonium in 1966 and linked it to a journal article by me and Princeton University nuclear physicist Frank N. von Hippel. The article was published in Health Physics in 2019, with the title, History of Dose, Risk, and Compensation Assessments for US Veterans of the 1966 Plutonium Cleanup in Palomares, Spain. It is timely because the exposed veterans recently won the right to sue collectively for health benefits following this Cold War era atomic accident.”

Luis Roche writes, “I see Carlos Hellmund ’55 and Luis Sánchez ’57 often. They are well. Carlos is living in Caracas and New York. Luis is living in South Florida and Caracas.I have had lunch with Carlos and have visited, together with his wife Mariela Blohm, Oswaldo Vigas’ atelier where he worked. My children Beatriz, Nadine, and Alvaro, are all living in Madrid.

Beatriz is a writer of children’s books and a noted photographer. Nadine sells art through the internet.

Alvaro is a costume designer who graduated from Bennington College. Alonso, the youngest, lives in Bethesda, Md., and is a chef. My wife, Marie-Françoise Barré de Roche, lives with me in Caracas and we share interests and voyages. I continue to write novels that are all available on Amazon. My new web page is: www.luisroche.com. Abrazos and saludos to all our old friends from Choate.” ’58 C Peter Goldmark writes, “I now spend 80 percent of my time advising foundations on their strategy, mostly in the climate change area. My generation has done a lousy job of facing the climate challenge, and is leaving a disaster coming down the rails to the next generations. I will spend my last years doing what I can on that front. I spend the other 20 percent of my time mentoring young people who are trying to change something important in the world - wherever they are (many are not in the U.S.). This sounds generous – it’s not; it’s selfish. It’s to help me understand, and stay in touch with, what’s really going on in the world. When I was growing up there were two generations – the ‘older’ one and the ‘younger one’; and a generation was about 25 years long. Now there are four or five very different generations active, and a generation is about eight or nine years long. If you don’t know what members of each one are doing, how they think, what their values are, it’s like trying to navigate a complicated ocean with nautical maps that are 200 years out of date. A fascinating – and not

entirely reassuring - moment in history we all inhabit.”

Don Yates writes, “I have finally retired from higher education instruction and administration after having taught and administered in secondary education until 15 years ago, and am now presently involved with the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, New Jersey branch. I have recently taken part in a program at Monmouth University with a visual presentation of my Peace Corps experiences while in the Philippines from 1962 to 1964, just after my graduation from Notre Dame. Also, I am very involved with the Notre Dame Club of the Jersey Shore and have been a Senior Delegate, returning to the ND campus for a senior leadership conference. Even though I just turned 80, I participated in this year’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Rumson, NJ, a neighboring town, with other members of the club.”

’59 C

Ivan Light is co-author of a new book Entrepreneurs and Capitalism since Luther: Rediscovering the Moral Economy (Lexington Books, 2020).

1960s ’61 RH Sue Sayles writes, “I have a part-time job working with special needs kiddos and love what I do. I moved to the Vineyard three-plus years ago and have a tiny apartment. Love being here with family and lifelong friends. My ex-husband passed away Dec. 8, 2019, which was a blow to all of us. He was my best buddy and we chose to remain the best of friends all these years. Our grandkids are getting way too old and way too fast. Two are out of college, two are in college and the youngest is finishing his junior year at the high school here on the island. Their ages range from 16 to 24. Doesn’t seem possible. Our oldest is a filmmaker with a BFA in Fine Arts. Next one is pursuing her entrepreneurial desires, next one is studying communications journalism, next one is in design school in New York and the last one, at 16, is exploring the college scene. An avid football, track and lacrosse player and will be captain of the lacrosse team this spring.” ’63 C

Donald McDonald Chambers writes, “After more than 30 years in and around the fire service, I am no longer responding to fires, and have traded in my role as a trainer/instructor to revisit the world of a student: I’m studying quantum physics, neuroanatomy, neurocardiology, epigenetics and meditation.

This journey began with the thought-provoking 2004 movie What the Bleep Do We Know?”

Cliff Ransom writes, “I joined my girlfriend, Pam Chang, for a two-week exploration of northeast India in mid-January. Pam and I had alighted previously on all quadrants, west, north, east, and south, of the Great Indian Subcontinent (meaning

Uzbekistan, China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Madagascar), but this year’s visit brought my lifetime tally of different countries to 57. Most engagingly, our Indian journey exposed us to more different (and related) religions than any previous overseas jaunt: multiple, overlapping, and interwoven strains of Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, and animist beliefs. We witnessed the sunrise near Darjeeling lighting up the 28,000-foot summit of the third-highest mountain in the world before it ‘rises’ locally. From the same, ‘tiny’ (9,500 foot) peak, you can see mountains numbers one and two simultaneously on a distant horizon. Kolkata was enthralling, particularly for someone with my own long-held political, historic, and economic interests in the East India Company, which are themselves eclipsed only by my 40-year fascination with the still-relevant power of The Great Game. Kolkata informs all those subjects. On our third day in Kolkata, however, I asked, only half-rhetorically, ‘Can anyone ever hope to solve this country?’ Western visitors should never even contemplate driving in India, unless your composure permits serenity in absurd city driving and passing on blind curves in the Himalayas.

Sikkim, for reasons of politics, religion, political geography, ethnicity, and crafts, was as fascinating a locale as we had hoped.”

Rosemarians at a recent gathering, from left, Anne Marshall Henry ‘62, Susan Mountrey ‘61, Joan Pearson Grainger ‘61, Jessica Loring ‘61.

36 CLASSNOTES

’63 RH Donna Dickenson reports, “I’ve only been writing a few articles, not a full book. The articles have mostly been on genetic ethics, particularly some work I’m doing with a Berkeley group on the tricky subject of heritable gene editing, passing down through future generations. I’ve also been working with a pair of Native American geneticists on ways in which the tribes are affected by genetic tests. All this is satisfying and, I think, important, but not as heavily time-consuming as books – of which I’ve probably penned my last, 26 being enough for any sane (or not-so-sane) person. Chris and I are studying Scottish Gaelic together, bonding over its fiendish grammar and enjoying the exercise for the little grey cells; learning a new language is supposed to be one of the best ways to keep the mind active. I hope to be able to read some of the ancient and beautiful literature, particularly the poet Sorley MacLean of Raasay, one of our favorite places in Scotland. This May we’re going to a different part of the country, though: the East Neuk of Fife and the North Sea coast, with its high cliffs, as well as the Borders with their abbeys.”

Alice Chaffee Freeman is preparing for a one-person exhibit of her paintings in December; continuing painting, Spanish and French classes; and enjoying having both kids close by.

Doreen McClennan Gardner has a visitor arriving on the Central Coast of California from Vermont for three weeks in March. She reports that Ki Mcclennan, RH ’65 needs a break from the snow and will be renting an Airbnb in the area to entertain friends and family from Arizona, enjoy the Pacific Ocean, and visit with Doreen and her husband, Michael.

Angela Treat Lyon writes, “I’ve been busy teaching authors my secret system that helps them focus and write faster, save time, and self-publish on Amazon. It’s amazing how many authors there are out there who have really fantastic books, but don’t know how to build or publish them. Check out WritePublishNow.com. I also have been illustrating and producing books for authors who don’t want to do the inside work. I have had the great fortune to do several lately. More good books! People need to read more! And, of course, I have two books in the works, myself – one for my author system, the other for those of us wild women over 50 who are not ‘just’ grannies!”

Margo Melton Nutt continues with volunteer work for the church and the library, although much of that has come to a screeching halt this Spring on account of the Coronavirus.

Cindy Skiff Shealor writes that all is good in Texas. Cindy and Bob’s 50th wedding anniversary is in April.

’64 C

Geoffrey Clarkson writes, “Still upright and residing in Greenwich, enjoying retirement for over 10 years now. Quite happily married with three offspring by previous wives and three grandchildren ranging in age from four months to 27 years old.

Collecting guitars and regularly participating with the Greenwich Acoustic Music Circle. Tinkering with a couple of vintage race cars but no longer envisioning any competition. Exercising various firearms at a nearby range. I’m having a damn good time.”

Jeff Gould writes, “Just had the wonderful opportunity to have lunch with Jimmy Baldassari ’66 after 58 years here in Florida to reflect on our Hockey Team, our Red Line, great memories of our coach, the Vah, and just plain catching up. Later I plan to have lunch with Curt Tobey ’64 who centered the Red Line. I live in St. Petersburg now so would appreciate catching up with any classmates cruising by.”

’65 C

Rusty Ford writes, “During a recent vacation in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, my wife Karen posted a Facebook selfie of the two of us in front of a local landmark church. I had no way of knowing that Bill Barnes (Choate ’66) and his wife Edith have been living in San Miguel for the past 8 years. Bill and I hadn’t seen or spoken with one another since 1965.

When Bill saw Karen’s Facebook posting, he contacted her to ask if I was the same Rusty Ford who attended Choate. We connected and we had a blast hangin’ out with Bill and his wife, Edith.”

’65 RH Joan Andrews writes, “I am enjoying my employment as a tour director for leading groups of 45 to 50 tourists on trips in New England and New York City … and small groups of four. I’m also enjoying my three grandchildren, ages 3, 1, and 7 months. I spend a lot of time, as well, with my twin sister, Jane ’65, and her five grandchildren. I also enjoyed travel last summer to Africa, Dubai and Italy.” ’66 C John Arthur shares this from his Twitter bio: “Washed up editor. Out to pasture. Formerly, large cheese at the LA Times, Bakersfield Californian, etc.

Living in Santa Monica, on the Ring of Fire, patiently awaiting The Big One. Currently: cleaning out the garage.” John is the former Executive Editor of the LA Times.

Henry A. Rüsch, III writes, “I am currently a one-on-one teacher of French, from total beginner to business French in management, marketing, negotiations, finance, and law.”

Jeff Sturges writes, “I recently retired after 10 years as president and CEO of ResoluteRacing Shells.

The Choate men’s and women’s crews race Resolute boats! The Worcester Telegram also recently did an article about my retirement as vice president of the Quinsigamond Rowing Association after 32 years.”

TOP Bill Barnes ’66 and Rusty Ford ’65 in front

of a landmark church in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Rusty, who was vacationing, and Bill who is now a resident, hadn’t seen or spoken with one another since 1965.

BOTTOM Ann ’65 and Herb Sears and Leslie Blake

Kotiza ’65 and Ken gathered on Marco Island on Midnight - Ann and Herb’s boat and home for the month of February. Three weeks were spent cruising the southern west coast of Florida.

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’66 RH Connie Fisher writes, “Life continues in Seattle, living next door to my twin Susie and her husband Bill Thorness. Susie was at Miss Porter’s School while we were at Rosemary Hall. She remembers walking on campus, asking, ‘Where’s Jessup Hall?’ and this reply; ‘You’ve been here 4 months and don’t know where Jessup is?!’ I had avoided revealing I had a twin. Now we’re in a twin world and enjoying it every day. I became a yoga instructor, then a yoga therapist before moving from Santa Fe. Here in Seattle I teach Yoga for Osteoporosis, Gentle Yoga, a class for a memory loss group, and sometimes sub for a Parkinson’s yoga class. Late last fall I biked in Vietnam with my sister Susie and husband Bill while guest teachers took over my classes. Also last year I tagged along on a research trip to Italy with my brother-in-law who was finishing a book about his dad’s experience during the World War II liberation of Italy. Also, I’m volunteering and gardening. My sister and her husband, master gardeners, deal with me, a slow learning neophyte, interested in herbs. I am retired from acupuncture but maintain a deep interest in its concepts and practice as well as herbal traditions. Susie and Bill have what will be their new primary residence in Chimacum, Wash., where they’re planting an apple orchard. Someday, I’ll build a house next door with an herbal garden and yoga mats.”

Gusty Lange writes, “Weird to be in 70s (and approaching my 50th college reunion!). My two children are Chelsea (25) and Dylan (30). Chelsea works for CitiHarvest in NYC and has been lead singer in a band twice now, actually a great band class which ends with a gig in the city; Steve (husband and dad) is the drummer. Dylan lives in Portland, Maine, and works for Goodfire, a brewery, and is the drummer for a jazz band. I am still teaching at Pratt (35 years) Professor of Design Writing, Seminar in Design, Thesis Research, and Visual Perception. I am very Jungian-oriented and just did a lecture at the CG Jung Foundation in NYC called The Archetypal Construct: Creative Synthesis in Visual Communication. (You can find it on YouTube under my name. Feedback always welcome). I try to enjoy all aspects of my life: especially in relation to Nature, in New York, Maine, and Connecticut.” ’67 C Selby Hinkebein writes, “Pam and I took a river cruise on the Rhine last summer. I highly recommend it. The cruise ended in Amsterdam and once again I have to tip my hat to J.P. Cosnard and Art 5-6. I can remember seeing a slide of van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters and I got the chance to see the real thing.

Plus seeing the Rijksmuseum, was a thrill, particularly Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. Who would have guessed that a noncredit course, that I probably got a D in, would have had such a lasting effect on me?”

’68 RH Susan Kraus Nakamura lives in North Salem, N.Y. with her husband, Tak, and her champion and hunting Suzu Vizslas. They have three grown children living in LA, Ann Arbor, and Goldens Bridge, N.Y. Susan and Tak enjoy taking care of the two grandchildren and their dogs. ’69 C

Jeff Wieler writes, ”Back when I was working, I worried how I would keep busy during retirement.

That hasn’t been a real problem. I retired about 10 years ago. I had planned to keep myself busy gardening, walking around Piedmont, California, the city where I lived and where I served on the City Council.

However, about a month afterwards, we went out to dinner and my wife ordered me to pull over because she was going to drive home. I asked why and she told me I was acting peculiarly – I asked her what was unusual about that. But when we got home, she called 911 and I wound up in the hospital for a stroke. About a month later I was released from the rehab center with a paralyzed left arm and hand.

California suspended my driver’s license because of my neurological event. I had to take Driver Ed again and take the road test, which made me feel 17 again.

My political career progressed and in 2016 I was elected mayor. The following summer some left-leaning people in town learned that I was a Republican and a conservative and started a recall movement against me. I learned that people who claim to support diversity are appalled whenever there is diversity of thought. Things got ugly and I got tired of being pursued by TV and newspaper reporters. I would hate to describe some of my emails. Jean and I decided that despite the good weather, we were fed up. My wife and I bought a house in Athens, Georgia, home of the University of Georgia, and started remodeling it. We were in the process of packing and moving during our 50th, which I regret missing. Georgia is very pleasant and economical. My property tax bill is just one quarter of what I used to pay in California, our home is larger, and our backyard abuts a greenway for the Oconee River. The streets are better paved than what we were used to, and the neighbors are very friendly, despite their peculiar religion. They worship a Bulldog, with services every Saturday during the fall.

Post Coronavirus, if any classmates are wandering through this stretch of Dixie, I encourage you to give me a shout-out at JSWieler@gmail.com.”

’69 RH Vicky Spang writes, “I continue to enjoy my career as CMO of a major law firm (900 attorneys).

Since I spend a lot of time in our LA office, my hobby of getting selfies with celebrities has mushroomed and my friends now expect to see me posing with stars. I recently went to the Grammy Awards and got some fun pics with David Crosby of Crosby Stills & Nash, Heidi Klum, and Billy Porter. How’s that for variety? Fun!”

Small Engine Repair, a film produced by Rick Rosenthal ’67 and Peter Abrams (Deerfield ’66), had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival Online.

’67

38 CLASSNOTES

1970s ’70 C

Todd Staub writes, “My brother Jack Staub III ’69 died this past January. How much we miss him – the first of six Staub children to go. He attended his 50th last year when he was well – and was grateful to have spent that day with his classmates. I am having a great career as a physician – a primary care doctor with 32 years of patient care in the trenches.

I helped to establish a large primary care group here in Connecticut, ProHealth Physicians. ProHealth joined OptumCare five years ago, and my new role is to grow OptumCare across the country. We now have over 50,000 physicians and 18 million patients, and we are working hard to change health care from the bottom up for the better, while empowering physicians to lead this transformation. I am married to my wonderful wife, Dale, with whom I have three great children, all now grown and living their lives. We live in Litchfield and I still take my rowing shell out on Bantam Lake, thanks to the great coaching and friendship of Steven Longley back in the day at Choate. Be well and enjoy this life we are blessed to have.”

’71

C David Clarke, M.D., writes, “I’m well into my second career running a nonprofit and teaching psychophysiological medicine to health-care professionals. Our new textbook, Psychophysiological Disorders: Trauma Informed, Interprofessional Diagnosis and Treatment, just came out a few months ago.”

Peter Richmond writes, “After meeting at the Washington Post in 1981, and getting hitched the following year, and each pursuing our own writing careers, Melissa Davis and I have finally – 38 years later – found a way to collaborate on a writing project! ”randomroadfood.com” combines our love of backroad travel (our winter odyssey covered 6037 miles) and our love of the amazing American food served in the places no one’s ever heard of outside the towns and villages we discover. Mostly we love meeting people we’d never ever meet if we stayed home and grew old and boring and wondering why we’d missed

LEFT Choate ’77 classmates

celebrated Lee Hockstader’s 60th birthday in New York City. From left: Josh Wall, Duby McDowell ‘78, Lee, Kalen Hockstader Holliday ’82, James Cott, and Bruce Herzfelder.

RIGHT Buffalo River Rowing

Club, Men’s E-I Coxed Fours at the Canadian Henley Masters Regatta; we placed 5th of 7.

From left, Terry McClenahan ‘79, Paul McCarthy, and Robert Grant.

out on the amazing fish sandwich at Walsh’s in Martinsville, Va., and the rib tips at Flavor Hot Wings in Palatka, Fla. and the insane barbecue at Bunn’s in the former gas station in Windsor, N.C. Not to mention the fried clams at the Exmore Diner in Exmore, Va. Back roads rock! See you online!”

’71 RH Katherine Tyson McCrea, a professor at Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work, just finished a five-year project funded by the Department of Justice, demonstrating how helping youth mentor community children builds positive social networks in impoverished urban communities of color, and showcasing youths’ strengths. Check it out here: savinglivesinspiringyouth.weebly.com ’72 C

Hovey Kemp writes, “After attending public schools in Denver, I more or less blindly followed in my dad’s footsteps (Frank Kemp, Choate ’38, Yale ’42) and came to Choate, sight unseen, for my last two years of high school. I lived in Logan Munroe, which was comprised mostly of all of us ‘new boys’ who were coming to Choate for the first time. I somehow got into Harvard, and then three of Choate’s real studs, John Roberts, Terry Neff, and Rick Floyd, needed to find a fourth roommate for their dorm application to Harvard. They were great roommates and it was in college that I may have peaked, at least athletically. I had never even seen the Choate boathouse, but went out for crew after having been hounded by the Harvard coaching staff to give it a try given my size. Despite my questionable athletic background, I made the freshman eight by the skin of my teeth and went on to row in two undefeated varsity and national championship crews, including my senior year when I was captain. I was on the USA rowing team in 1975, where I think the highlight of that experience was best captured in a story I wrote 40 years later: www.row2k.com/features/966/The-Boyson-the-Roof--or--The-Real-Cuban-Missile-Crisis-/. I married in 1981 to Mary Ellen whom I met in D.C. and I think we love each other as much or more now than

ever. We have two wonderful sons, who live too far away in Austin and Baltimore. As a lawyer in private practice in Denver, Washington, D.C. and lastly in San Francisco (where we still live), much of my career was spent representing private equity funds in their buyout activities, mostly in the tech sector. I retired at 64 in September of 2017 and, frankly, I am having such a wonderful time that I can’t even see my legal career in the rearview mirror.”

’73 C

Bruce Burnett writes, “Lori and I welcomed our first grandchild, Ava Rose Burnett, on January 12, 2020. Having sold my property management company in 2017, I’ve continued divesting and have sold our commercial real estate portfolio and am now, theoretically, retired. Yet it seems that I’m working harder and longer now that I’m ‘unemployed’.”

Jim Campbell, host of the nationally syndicated “Business Talk with Jim Campbell,” has a new book on Bernie Madoff called Madoff Talks: Uncovering The Truth Behind the Most Notorious Ponzi Scheme in History to be published by McGraw-Hill at the end of 2020.

Stanley Ross writes, “I moved with the family to the UK in August 2016. Both daughters graduated from an international school in Surrey and are now studying at university in the UK, the elder at Plymouth, in the Devon seaport from which the Mayflower sailed, and the younger at Portsmouth.

Hopefully, the negative effects of Brexit won’t greatly hinder their chances of gainful employment postgraduation. After nearly three years renting a house in London’s ‘stockbroker belt’ at fairly exorbitant prices (Brexit and the decline of expats has had but a modest impact on rent in this area), am renting a Victorian terrace house in Portsmouth.”

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CLASSNOTES | Profile

’75 Suzanne Gebelein

WHEN RUNOFF PAYS OFF The career of Suzanne Gebelein ’75 suggests she could be a superstar environmentalist. As founder and head of a pioneering company that makes rain barrels, she keeps 30,000 plastic drums out of landfills every year and teaches homeowners how to make water conservation a way of life.

But Gebelein didn’t set out to save the world. She just needed to solve a business problem: how to dispose of an ever-growing mountain of 55-gallon plastic containers.

The awkward cylinders are constantly piling up on the tight Boston lot where she and her husband run Orleans Packing, a specialty food packaging business they acquired in 1988. Trucks deliver an endless stream of barrels full of capers, olives, maraschino cherries, and other foods. After line workers move barrel contents into jars for distribution, something needs to happen with all those empty barrels – and fast.

“I just sort of fell into this business,” said Gebelein, who’s run The Great American Rain Barrel Company (TGARB) since 1992. “We have to find ways to move these barrels out of here.”

Gebelein seems to have found everyone who might ever have use for a big ol’ plastic barrel. Fishermen use them for bait. Farmers like them for storing feed. Immigrants use them to ship clothing to family members back home.

About 20,000 of the barrels she sells each year go to various purposes other than rainwater catchment.

Selling them as rain barrels, i.e., equipped to catch and pour rainwater for uses that range from watering plants to washing cars, became a concerted enterprise for Gebelein in 1992. Most of her early customers were avid gardeners who preferred rain to municipal water for their plants. In those days, she sold about 1,000 barrels a year.

Catering to a small niche in a not-yet-mature market had advantages.

Gebelein developed a prototype design that has endured as an industry standard.

“Anybody out there who does rain barrels has copied The Great American Rain Barrel,” Gebelein said.

Now TGARB sells about 10,000 barrels a year. At greatamericanrainbarrel.com, they fetch $110 unpainted; $119 painted. It’s a business that packs an environmental benefit. Rather than spend eternity in landfills, Gebelein’s barrels help drought-stressed homeowners conserve a crucial resource. When sold in bulk, they help big cities to handle deluge effects of climate change.

She got to this point by watching cultural milestones in America – moments when Americans started seeing rainwater in a whole new way – and seizing on the opportunities each one afforded.

The first big demand surge came in 1999. Fearing potential disaster from the Y2K bug, Americans flocked to buy Gebelein’s rain barrels ahead of an expected collapse of municipal water systems on Jan. 1, 2000.

“We just had a banner year” in 1999, Gebelein said. “Sales just went through the roof. We probably sold 4,000 after doing 1,500 the year before.”

Sales got another boost in the mid-2000s as Al Gore raised awareness of global warming with his book, An Inconvenient Truth. People wanted to do something, and rain barrels provided an avenue.

“That’s when cities and towns started to really wake up to the whole water problem that they were having,” Gebelein said, and began regarding rain barrels as part of the solution.

Volumes really took off when municipalities started buying in bulk. Once again, concern for environmental issues was driving customers to beat a path to her door.

“New York City – they would buy 1,700 and 2,200 at a time to give away in Queens, the Bronx, or Brooklyn,” Gebelein recalled. “They would give them away to people with downspouts because they wanted to stop runoff.”

Runoff causes problems because overflow can pollute an urban water supply, Gebelein said. Smaller cities and towns have gotten into the market because they see water usage spike in hot months when rain levels drop.

“If they can get residents to use a barrel and not be using water from the tap, that’s helping them cut that spike in demand,” Gebelein said. About 140 Massachusetts cities and towns now get barrels from TGARB through a state conservation program.

The marketplace is constantly changing but always in ways that reflect current, sometimes fickle environmental sensibilities. Markets for recycled plastic have dried up, for instance, which means TGARB can no longer sell barrels to scrap dealers. But other markets have sprouted. Example: as soon as Colorado lifted its prohibition on rainwater catchment in 2016, new orders from the Rocky Mountains started pouring in.

As demand continues to evolve, Gebelein keeps adapting to make sure her barrels go where they’re valued. That keeps plastic out of landfills and takes pressure off municipal water systems. It also makes her a sustainability entrepreneur – and a popular figure at the plant with too many barrels. by g. jeffrey macdonald ‘87 Jeffrey MacDonald covers religion, ethics, and social responsibility among other subjects for national news outlets. His stories have appeared in TIME magazine, The Washington Post, and many other publications.

40 CLASSNOTES

Dede Griesbauer ’88 competed in the three-day 2020 Ultraman Florida with an overall win in the women’s race, a second-place finish overall, and a new world record for the distance.

’75 C George Bradt writes, “It’s a big year in the Bradt household. Our first grandchild, Everett Morris Ku Bradt, was born January 20. In February, our younger son, Peter, married Elle O’Sullivan; I attended Bruce Gelb ’45 ’s 93rd birthday party on February 24.

A bunch of Choaties present included Bruce himself, John Gelb ’72, Jody Gelb ’74, Richard Gelb ’76 and others. In March, I published my ninth book on executive onboarding and leadership. In June, my new musical, ‘The Yachting Class,’ will premiere at Curtain Call theater in Stamford.”

James Hitselberger writes, “The March 2019 issue of The Smithsonian contained a feature story about the controversial archeologist Wendell Phillips.

It reminded me of his visit to Choate at the beginning of the fall of 1971 when the entire school attended his lecture and slide presentation at the Mellon Arts Center. It was probably the first big event to be held there and it was followed by an invitation-only reception. Later events that fall included the appearance of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.”

Chip Lamb was awarded the Scripps Endowed Chair for the Arts at Pomfret School, where he has led the Arts department and directed the theater program since 2006. ’76 RH Bette Ann Sacks Albert writes, “My early public art landscape paintings are documented by the Western States Public Arts Federation in its Public Art Archive (www.publicartarchive.org) for the State of Colorado. I am currently represented by Mary Williams Fine Arts in Boulder.”

’79

Terry McClenahan writes, “Since late last August our family has been hosting Chris Winter, a fantastic exchange student sponsored by international Experience. As a fellow rower, he and I have a lot to talk about! He’ll return home in late June at the end of the 10-month program. Last summer and fall I competed in nine rowing races – we did pretty well, with three medals.”

1980s ’81

Tom Colt writes, “I have been working in China for the past three years at the Shanghai American School as a college counselor. My wife (Megan) and I have been able to do a lot of traveling, with recent trips to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Fiji. At the time of this writing, the COVID-19 virus has temporarily closed down schools in China, but hopefully we will be back up and running soon.”

’82

Kyle Holt Hopkins writes, “Updates on how to handle COVID-19 change by the minute, including from our school, Buffalo Seminary, an all-girls’ independent day and boarding school in Buffalo, where Doug and I teach. In the meantime, we are finally selling our boat, Estrela, the Westsail 32 who took us around the world from 2003-2010. She’s for sale on the www.westsail.com website (where you can also find links to some YouTube videos I posted). We still maintain our voyage website: www.sailingestrela.com.

I’m grateful that Doug and I got to give a talk about our seven-year voyage at reunion in 2012. Stay well, dear Choatie friends and your families.”

’83

John Smyth was named to the team of managing directors and wealth managers at First Republic Investment Management in South Florida.

Based in Jupiter, the team will provide investment management, retirement planning, investment consulting, and other wealth management. Before joining First Republic, John was an Executive Director and Portfolio Manager at J.P. Morgan Securities.

He is Vice Chairman of the Choate Rosemary Hall Alumni Association’s Executive Committee and is also Chairman of the School’s Annual Fund. John is a Honda Classic Ambassador and an investment committee member of the Lost Tree Village Charitable Foundation.

’84 Claudia Saunders Bourke writes, “While I grew up knowing nothing about Boy Scouts, I have become a big fan since my son made his way into its program and ultimately became an Eagle Scout last year. This was a particularly big accomplishment for a boy with Asperger’s. As a result of my son’s success, I came to lead a group of Girl Scouts for several years, and now that BSA accepts girls, I’ve founded one of Manhattan’s first Scout troops for girls, Troop 1G. I still have my advertising day job, but get the most joy out of the time I spend with this group.”

Tom Kline writes, “I have just started www. bettervantagepoint.com, which specializes in Dealership Dispute, Compliance, and Risk Mitigation Solutions. “

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 41

2

3

1 4 1 The Harney family, Ed ’82,

Sam ’15, Morgan ’17, and wife Kathy had a blast exploring New Zealand with Emily Coven’s ’92 husband Adrian Fogg, of New Zealand Adventure Guides.

2 Elyse Singer ’85, left, directed a

new play in San Francisco, Mimi’s Suitcase, and was delighted to spend time with classmate Erika Kindlund ’85 (right) and Penny Jennings ’84, both of whom came to see the show!

3 Claudia Saunders Bourke ’84

5

along with the inaugural members of Manhattan’s first Scout troop for girls, Troop 1G. 4 Stephen Ko ’89 and his wife

welcomed their first child, James Alexander Ko, on February 27, 2020 in Daejeon, Republic of Korea.

5 Melina Haeussler Byers ’86 and

Sara Moorin Lang ’86 got together in Tampa, Fla. 6 Joseph Settipane ’84 married

6

Dr. Athari AlYazidi in December 2019 in Las Vegas.

42

CLASSNOTES | Profile

CLIMATE SCIENTIST When international leaders say climate change warrants urgent action based on science, they’re referring to the work of highly trained and deeply concerned experts like Dr. Nicholas Wolff ’85.

A climate change scientist with The Nature Conservancy, Nicholas studies how some of the earth’s best natural defenses against climate change effects – e.g., tropical rainforests and coral reefs – are being weakened by human behavior just at the time they’re needed most.

But his job doesn’t end with doing research or publishing papers. He equips The Nature Conservancy’s policy team with the hard science it needs to be persuasive when its members sit down with policymakers from Washington to Brussels, New Delhi, and Jakarta.

“I just wanted to make a difference because I felt that things were so dire,” Nicholas says. “This job was an opportunity to do that. I can at least lay my head down at night and say I’m doing my darned best.”

An oceanographer by training, Nicholas’s large-scale analyses draw on data gathered from space to identify patterns, seek causes of ecosystem destruction, and suggest which factors could lead to remedies.

What he finds sometimes shapes policy. Example: his work documenting pollution at the Great Barrier Reef, which protects shorelines from superstorms that feed off a warming atmosphere, has helped fuel new policies limiting fertilizer runoff and other destructive pollutants.

Nicholas’s skill set has proven transferable beyond oceanic ecosystems. So when The Nature Conservancy needed someone to work with big data and complex models, he was ready – even when it took him far from his watery comfort zone.

“I never would have guessed that I’d be tromping around in the forests in Indonesia,” Nicholas chuckles. “But it’s like being a kid again in the sense that you’re learning brand-new systems and having all the excitement that comes from that.”

By this point, Nicholas is used to taking unexpected detours.

After Choate, he majored in art history at Bowdoin, which prepared him for thinking critically across disciplines, he says. A semester at sea convinced him that he should become a scientist and launched his trajectory to becoming an expert on coral reefs.

In 2011, Nicholas moved with his wife and two elementaryaged children to Australia for a chance to do research on the Great Barrier Reef and earn a Ph.D., without quitting his day job. Moving Down Under caused some nervousness in the family, he recalls. But the family thrived abroad and the doctorate, which he earned in his late 40s, paved the way to his current position.

Though much of Nicholas’s work these days involves crunching data at his computer in Brunswick, Maine, he’s ever mindful of communities he’s visited and people he’s met on research trips from the Caribbean to Oceania. Those communities depend heavily on endangered coastal ecosystems for their livelihoods.

’85 Nicholas Wolff

“Nations that have very little responsibility for climate change are bearing the brunt because they’re so much more dependent,” Nicholas says. “The climate that we’re changing through all of our activities as Americans, Australians, and Europeans is affecting all of these poorer nations and communities. That really drives me. I find that so unfair.”

By stretching into what is for him new research territory, Nicholas is able to make a contribution on a range of timely issues.

For instance, palm oil harvesting in Indonesia exacerbates climate change as carbon-absorbing rainforests disappear. When he shows locals the benefits they’re losing, such as the cooling effect of local rainforests, he equips them to make choices when companies seek permission to clear-cut.

When new environmental crises literally flare up, Nicholas is able to shine light on possible solutions. Australia’s devastating wildfires in 2019 have stoked debate about how to prevent a repeat in years ahead. Nicholas’s work on savannah landscapes suggests that early, controlled burning can go a long way toward managing combustibles so they don’t become infernos.

Nicholas doesn’t know from year to year exactly where his analyses will be brought to bear. But he knows this much: his research won’t go unnoticed. It will be part of policy debates because that’s why he does it.

“It’s a tough battle,” Nicholas says. “Every day I’m reading about climate change and its impacts. It’s pretty devastating … I feel a lot of fear and sadness for the next generation, and I also get a lot of power from a sense of duty and obligation to them.”

Nicholas’ father, Geoffrey Wolff, is a graduate of Choate’s class of 1955 and his daughter, Rosemary Wolff, is currently a 3rd former at school. by g. jeffrey macdonald ’87 Jeffrey MacDonald covers religion, ethics, and social responsibility among other subjects for national news outlets. His stories have appeared in TIME magazine, The Washington Post, and many other publications.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 43

’85 Courtney Barton writes, “I am now working at Marriott International as vice president and senior counsel, privacy and data security and I’m so happy to be back in hospitality.”

Elyse Singer directed a new play in San Francisco, Mimi’s Suitcase, and was delighted to spend time with classmate Erika Kindlund ’85 and Penny Jennings ’84, both of whom came to see the show. Elyse is currently a Ph.D. candidate in theater and performance at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and is working on a new documentary about Mae West. She teaches at the NYU Tisch Department of Dramatic Writing and the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.

’87 Kathryn Good writes, “I am the head of the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service at UNHQ in New York. I want Choate and all alums to engage with the UN: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This year, gender equality and climate action are key areas on the UN agenda. If your organization is working to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, we want to hear from you. Ngls@un.org.”

’86

’88

Peter Frinfrock writes, “I am getting used to my new normal of living with MS, after its appearance in my life suddenly at the age of 42, with a couple of clues that it was coming along the way. I am so grateful for all the blessings in my life: traveling ‘disabled class’ (going to the front of the line and getting a hot Latin male assist from the TSA). It’s been a learning curve for us, learning about alternative therapies that work better than conventional ones, Gilenya, which is like a miracle, a single pill that replaces daily injections. This disappointing development has counterintuitively enabled me to fulfill many lifelong dreams.

I know that I am very, very fortunate in ways that few people are, to have the resources available to me that I do. We have been going to Chautauqua and the Shaw festival in the summers and falls (chasing the cool, sunny weather). I’ve seen a lot of members of

my Choate family along the way. David Dinielli, Helen O’Rourke, Emily Whitmore, Chris Taylor, Adrienne Neff ’87, Mike Nesi, Pam Brown ’87, John Coughlan ’87. I’m grateful for that too!”

Dede Griesbauer competed in the 2020 Ultraman Florida, a three-day, 321.6-mile triathlon; day 1 was a 6.2-mile swim and a 92-mile bike, day 2 a 171-mile bike and day 3, a 52.4-mile double marathon. She writes, “While I entered the race looking for a new challenge across this massive distance, somehow in the end, I managed to come away with not only the overall win in the women’s race, but a second-place finish overall, beating all but one male in the competition. My finish time of 22:48:51 established a new world record for the distance by 1:18:40.

Records aside, it was a phenomenal experience shared with a crew of 6 who supported me along the way and with my parents, John and Linda Trimble ’54, who made the trip to surprise me at the finish line.”

Dede is back home, now, in Boulder, Colo., where she is still racing as a professional triathlete.

Amy Talkington was a co-executive producer and writer on the limited series Little Fires Everywhere, based on the best-selling book by Celeste Ng. The female-driven drama, set in 1997, stars and was executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. It premiered on Hulu on March 18.

And her feature script “Undercover” is in production, starring Zachary Levi and Cole Sprouse, to be released next year.

’89 Sarah Ransom McKenna is CEO of Sequentum, a Worldquant Ventures-backed startup focused on web data collection. Sequentum automates 95 percent of what would otherwise be manual engineering work necessary to collect, structure, and enrich data from multi-structured sources such as the web, files, databases, or apis. Sarah lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Paul McKenna, and children Shane and Leila.

Keith Sauer and Heather Wilding-White are still living in southern New Hampshire. Their daughter is a freshman at Quinnipiac University, majoring in nursing, so they frequently drive through Wallingford.

Heather is a business analyst for Clarks Shoes in Waltham, Mass., and Keith is Department Chair of the Paramedic Emergency Medicine program at NHTIConcord’s Community College, in Concord, Mass.

On September 7, 2019, Brooke Perkins ’92, right, wed Dr. Eliza Zingesser of Manhattan in a joyous weekend celebration in Litchfield County. Classmates in attendance, Laura Busch Noonan, Barclay DeVeau, Jen Brunn Boger, and Lacey Tucker.

44 CLASSNOTES

1990s ’90

Stephanie Copelin writes, “About a year and a half ago I moved to Cincinnati - and would love to connect with any local Cincy folks (stcopelin@hotmail. com). I was able to ‘take my job with me’ so get back to New York almost every month. Often on those trips I see Suzanne Darmory, which is a major plus! My 12-year-old daughter is loving 7th grade and my husband is living his best life as a semi-retired person, following his dream of cooking in a restaurant.”

Mark Feiner writes, “Last spring, I had the chance to spend a couple of hours with old friends Seth Fleisher ’89 and Ray Javdan ’89. As teenagers the three of us traveled the country and a small chunk of Europe together, but we hadn’t been in the same place at the same time in more than 20 years. On a rainy March afternoon, we wandered the halls of the Museum of Natural History with Seth’s family, annoying the dinosaurs and Seth’s kids with old jokes and memories. To all those Choate friends who let us crash at your homes in the summer of ’89, what were your parents thinking?”

Joanna Hershon writes, “My fifth novel, St. Ivo, is being published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.”

’91

TOP Brad Robie ’91 and

daughter Maya ’23. She is in her first year as a Freshman at Choate, and really enjoying her time there.

CENTER Lindsay Walsh ’88 and her family, sons Duncan, Bayard, and Theo, and husband Richard, live in San

Francisco. Lindsay is a life coach with a private practice after recently retiring from over a decade of leading a sales team at Stella & Dot. BOTTOM Rachel Self ’95 is a legal analyst for CNN and the Fox News Channel.

Plana Lee matriculated at the Boston University School of Law as an LLM Scholar in September. She earned J.D. and M.B.A., degrees 20 years ago.

Brad Robie writes, “I am currently working at Robie Properties, where we own and manage our own real estate portfolio in greater Boston and Southern New Hampshire. My daughter Maya is a freshman at Choate, and really enjoying her time there so far. It has been so much fun coming back to the campus and seeing all of the wonderful changes there have been. We had a great visit with Maya and her Thirds Squash Team at Deerfield, where they played a three-team match with Andover and Deerfield. It was so nice to catch up with Maya’s coach Amy Foster, whose husband Tom was my coach when I was at Choate. It’s amazing how things come full circle in life sometimes.”

’92 Ian Lendler has just published a new picture book, The Fabled Life of Aesop: The Extraordinary Journey and Collected Tales of the World’s Greatest Storyteller. This is the first picture book to tell the longforgotten story of Aesop, who was born into slavery but won his freedom through the power of his fables. ’93

Sarah Campbell Johnson writes, “My passion for history began in Mr. Generous’s fourth form U.S. History class at Choate. I am so grateful to him for inspiring me to pursue a career in teaching history.”

Last June, Sarah, a teacher at the Iolani School, was named the 2019 Hawaii History Teacher of the Year, an award presented annually by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation’s leading

organization dedicated to K-12 American history education. Sarah began her career in 2000, teaching U.S. History and American Studies on the East Coast before moving West to work in schools in California, Colorado, and Hawaii. Her passion for international relations and global politics led her to develop a variety of elective courses, including Modern China, the Modern Middle East, Central American Revolutions and Rebellions, and Global Politics.

’94

Grace Beason writes, “I’m excited to share that just after our 25th reunion in May, I was trained in Authentic Leadership and became a professional coach. I focus primarily on coaching women in midlife to shift mindset, reach goals, and love life. As many of us know, it can be a particularly challenging time of life that includes a lot of change and powerful coaching helps. I do most of my coaching via phone and video and my website is www.gracebeasoncoaching.com.”

Jessica Hughes Karnes and her husband, Michael, welcomed a son, Harrison Holden Karnes, on January 23, 2020.

’95 Emily Demarchelier, whose father, Eric, was owner of the Upper East Side classic French bistro Demarchelier, plans to open her own version on the North Fork of Long Island in Greenport. Said Emily in a recent interview, “I’ve always worked for my father and his businesses, and I’m excited to do it on my own and feed the people in the community and bring a relaxed, French vibe to the town.” Emily’s goal is to open in the spring before the seasonal crowds and tourists arrive.

Karen Goldstein was honored with the prestigious Jerry Giesler Memorial Award and named 2020 Trial Attorney of the Year by the Criminal Courts Bar Association. The award, one of the highest honors a trial lawyer can receive in the Los Angeles criminal defense community, was presented on March 28.

Karen is the fifth female attorney to be given this acknowledgement in the organization’s history.

Rachel Self writes, “I stay in close touch with Cintra Pollack ’95, Leah Tuttle ’95, and Jamie Aivalikles ’96. We do our best to meet up in random cities around the globe. New Orleans is probably still recovering from our visit there in 2017 and Jamie and I spent 10 days in Tuscany last spring drinking ALL the wine and eating ALL the pasta. I am in my 16th year of practice at my Boston-based law firm, Rachel M. Self, P.C., which specializes in immigration law and criminal defense. I appear regularly as a legal analyst for CNN and the Fox News Channel. It has been a challenging time to practice immigration law, but I find the work incredibly rewarding and I absolutely love my clients. When I am not traveling for work or meeting up with fellow Choaties in random cities I spend my time relaxing with my two Airedale Terriers at home on Martha’s Vineyard.”

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 45

CLASSNOTES | Profile

Seeing the World Through a Diplomat’s Lens BULLETIN: You did a term abroad in France as a Choate student. Did that expe-

rience whet your appetite for diplomacy?

PARRS: That semester abroad in France with Choate – which to this day is

one of my favorite life experiences – encouraged me to keep on studying and learning French. In college, I kept up with the language and studied abroad for a summer, also in France. When I graduated from UVA, I took a ”gap year” and got a job in Tunis so that I could do a full year of French immersion. It was in Tunis where I learned about the Foreign Service by meeting American diplomats over drinks at the Marine Bar at the U.S. Embassy! I heard these amazing stories of travel and adventure from folks who had been in the Foreign Service for years. Four years later, I took the State Department Foreign Service exam, then packed out on assignment to Rangoon.

BULLETIN: At Choate you were elected to the Student Council all four years, had

an editorship with the Choate News, a prefectship in a fourth form dorm, and were a peer counselor. Did any skills learned during those experiences prepare you for your diplomatic career?

PARRS: Working for the News taught me some about writing, proofing, and deadlines. Running for Student Council, I had to get up and do public speaking for the first time, something that still makes me groan. None of those is as helpful as whatever skill it takes to get a dormful of rowdy fourth formers to go to bed, turn out the lights, and keep them out. So, serving as a prefect was probably the most valuable experience of all of those.

BULLETIN: How is your family adjusting to life in Namibia? Have you had to

with Walter Parrs III ’95

BULLETIN: You’ve had a two-decade career in diplomacy and now serve as the

Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia. What has been the common link in your various posts?

PARRS: I’ve been a diplomat with the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer for almost 16 years, and my family and I have lived in Burma, Oman, Egypt, Belgium, and now Namibia. When I joined years ago, Alex, my wife, and I wanted to go to the farthest-flung, most adventurous place we could - and we got pretty close: two years in Rangoon, Burma. That’s the side of the Foreign Service that makes you feel like you’re living in an issue of National Geographic, and it motivated us to see as many different parts of the world as we could.

Many Foreign Service Officers try to focus their career in one region of the world, but Alex and I have gone the other route. Along the way, the family has grown to four: Eva is now 13 and Max, nine. You see the world through your own lens, and trying to see it through the lens of our children is equally amazing. As a Public Affairs Officer, my official engagement is with foreign publics.

It puts me in direct contact every day with Namibians, from students to civil society leaders to aspiring entrepreneurs.

learn a new language?

PARRS: We moved to Namibia last August, and I love it. It’s one of the most

beautiful places I’ve ever been. Adjusting was tough for us, but it has been for every place we’ve moved, no matter how good the life is wherever we land. We have a new dog adopted from the SPCA, two used 4x4s that are tough as hell, and we go off-roading and safariing on weekends. So, things have been good. As of this writing, COVID is picking up speed in Africa, and we’re planning to ride it out here. English is the official language of Namibia, and I haven’t picked up any Afrikaans or Oshiwambo yet. I did learn Arabic in Egypt, and at one point I had pretty solid Burmese, but that’s a hard language to keep up.

BULLETIN: Your great-grandfather was a Russian immigrant who settled on

the Lower East Side. Does this make you more empathetic to the immigrant experience in Africa where populations are in flux?

PARRS: I think my family’s immigration story had a big impact on my perspective as a diplomat. My father’s family moved to the East Village from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. When we were home in New York City last summer, our family visited Ellis Island, and we found in the archives my great-grandfather’s signature from his arrival at Ellis Island. Even though it was over a hundred years old, his signature on the famous Registrar made his story feel still present and relevant for me today. When I hear the tough stories from migrants in the course of my work, I think about my great-grandfather writing his signature at Ellis Island at the age of 18 after having traveled alone across the ocean in 1906.

46 CLASSNOTES

1 Dr. Sean A. Thomas ’99

4 Class of ’99 and Class of

celebrated the launch of his new book Be More Today: A 40Day Guide to a Better Version of You on Saturday, November 23.

Fellow track stars and Choate alumni in attendance were Dr. Stephen Haskins ’00, Shantell Richardson ’99, and Ali Fenwick ’00. The book is available on Amazon and on www.bemoretoday.com.

’98 alumni got together for impromptu dinner in Denver in February. From left, Brad Holmes (Risa Turetsky’s husband), Andrea Wolff ’98, Ricardo ’99 and Courtney Behrens ’99, Justine Sanger ’99, Alex Porfirenk ’99, and Risa Turetsky ’99.

2 Lovey Roundtree Oliff ’97

was the first African American woman to be voted as a Select Board member of the town of Exeter, NH on March 10, 2020.

Lovey pictured here with NH Senator Jon Morgan at the election thank you celebration.

5 Chris Holinger ’96 writes, “My

wife Ashely and I welcomed our first child, Rory Drake Holinger, on October 23! Everyone is happy and healthy – we’re all getting situated in our new home in Orinda, Calif.”

3 Austin Igleheart ’03 and wife

Erin welcomed their second son, Charles Tate, on February 4, 2020. Charlie joins big brother James (age 2).

’96 Peter Weir Clarke writes, “For 15 years, I’ve been creating practical (as opposed to computergenerated) special effects in Los Angeles. My focus is on building the animatronic inner workings of stateof-the-art puppets, which I often puppeteer as well.

I’ve made and performed key characters in dozens of commercials, international art exhibits and expositions, TV shows and feature films. I’m one of the lead mechanical designers at Legacy Effects in San Fernando, Calif., where I’ve built pieces for movies like Pacific Rim, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Captain Marvel, among others. Most recently, I was lead mechanical designer and puppeteer for the animatronic dinosaur character ”Old Lace” in Marvel’s Runaways on Hulu and for the ”Baby Yoda” (yes, that one!) on Disney’s The Mandalorian. I also built and performed Tom Hanks’ robotic co-stars in the upcoming movie BIOS. Over the past year, I’ve been developing a concept for an original TV show that will put a satirical, socially-aware twist on the zombie genre (check out killzotus.com).” ’97

Samuel Butt writes, “I have been made a partner at Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP, a boutique litigation firm in New York City. My practice includes complex commercial litigation as well as business divorce litigation, copyright and trademark matters, real estate disputes, and securities litigation.”

’99 Dr. Sean A. Thomas celebrated the launch of his new book, Be More Today: A 40-Day Guide to a Better Version of You, in November. The book is available on Amazon and on www.bemoretoday.com.

2000s ’00 Kristy Allenby Catsouphes loves living in Denver. She moved in September 2019 with her husband, two daughters, and dog and now runs consumer insights at online interior design startup Havenly.

David Kestnbaum was recently promoted to senior managing director in the private equity group Blackstone. He is currently responsible for the firm’s investing activities in a variety of industries, including media and communications, entertainment and leisure, business services, and transportation. David works in NYC and lives in his hometown of Greenwich with his wife and two children. ’02

Jon Winter writes, “I was promoted to Partner at St Onge IP, a boutique Intellectual Property law firm Stamford, Conn.”

’03

Wylie Robinson lives in Portland, Ore., with his wife, Krissi. The two welcomed the arrival of their first son, Rylan Parker Robinson, on October 29, 2019.

1

2

3 5

4

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 47

CLASSNOTES | Profile

’05

Tochi Onyebuchi

The Unshakeable Humanity of Speculative Fiction For Tochi Onyebuchi ’05, it started with a shattering city and an explosion of light.

This visceral image, seen in the groundbreaking dystopian anime film Akira, laid the groundwork for Tochi’s appreciation for fiction with teeth. Though the social cultural underpinnings of Akira went over his head at the time (he laughingly admits that he saw the film far too young), the visuals imprinted on him, planting the early seeds of what would later bloom into a remarkable career as a speculative fiction novelist. “It was like staring at the sun,” Tochi recalls. “I found the images so stunning. That story showed me what it can look like when a city falls out of the sky, and I’d never seen anything like that before. That is the perfect embodiment of what I’ve looked for and what I try to engender with my own writing, that sense of wonder – that sense of ‘Oh, I’ve never seen this before’.”

Tochi’s work has appeared in anthologies like Asimov’s Science Fiction, Omenana, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, Uncanny Magazine, Nowhere Magazine, Tor.com, and the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. In his writing, he cultivates a sense of wonder, beauty, and power in his own unforgettable characters, who hold unshakeable significance. Characters like Taj, the sin eater in Beasts Made of Night and Crown of Thunder, who carries the wrongdoing of others as tattoos on his skin, are equally necessary to and reviled by society. Or Onyii and Ify in War Girls, sisters torn apart by a futuristic imagining of the Nigerian Civil War, where humans fight their battles in mech suits with tech embedded in their skin. Or Ella in Riot Baby, Tochi’s adult fiction debut, as she both experiences and bears witness to systemic racism, police brutality, and mass incarceration as her astronomical telekinetic powers begin to manifest.

That is to say, Tochi’s characters may live in fantastic worlds, but their circumstances are infinitely familiar and relevant. He explains, “Speculative fiction as a whole allows us to expand not just our actual imagination with regards to aliens and spaceships, but also [our] moral imagination.” For Tochi, the genre proves to be the perfect vehicle for exploring the elements of humanity, weaving them together with issues of race, gender, class, and the power structures surrounding them.

Tochi’s academic career speaks to this drive for both creativity and social justice: after Choate, he earned a B.A. from Yale, an M.F.A. in screenwriting from the Tisch School of the Arts, an M.A. in global business law from L’institut d’études politiques in France, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

He took a job with the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office, working with juveniles in the New York County jail system.

He then moved to the Legal Aid Society, working with their Parole Revocation Defense unit.

“I basically lived in Rikers [Island, New York’s main jail complex] for the duration of that job,” he says. “Every single day I was being confronted with these issues of crime, punishment, and guilt, and the ways in which [prisons] act upon the humanity of the people inside. I think there’s a tendency to look at incarceration as the throwing away of someone … but there’s so much humanity that happens in these places. And I wasn’t seeing that in the fiction that I was reading.”

That exploration of imprisonment and humanity manifested in the writing of Riot Baby, but the undercurrent of social justice courses through the stunning images and characters across Tochi’s portfolio. He shines a light on the evergrowing need for deep, structural changes in society, reflected in the opening up of the literary world beyond the perspectives of straight white men.

“You have a young protagonist who’s struggling with all these issues of humanity and violence and family … and he’s a dude, a heterosexual cisgendered dude, [and I wanted] to see something different.” Through his characters, Tochi reveals the true, beating heart at the source of speculative fiction: deeply human experiences reflected from a range of perspectives: women, queer characters, and characters of color all embark on their own heroic (or antiheroic) journeys. Magic, mech suits, and mayhem are the dazzling backdrops against which these perspective shine. They are Tochi’s own explosions of light, sending up an unmistakable beacon calling for more of these shifts in perspective, in fiction and in publishing.

It’s a shift that, in Tochi’s hands, feels like flying. by brianna st. john Brianna St. John is a Communications Assistant in the Communications Office.

48 CLASSNOTES

’05

Maximilian Sinsteden and Jordan Rundell were married on November 2, 2019. They married with their families in attendance at a friend’s apartment in New York.

1

2010s ’11

Jarry Lee writes that she recently starred in an AT&T commercial as herself. Jarry is a NYC-based model, actor, and journalist. www.jarrylee.com

2

’12 Catherine McClure is finishing her M.S. in ecology from Penn State studying emerging contaminants and their effect on smallmouth bass. She will start a Ph.D. program in ecology at Utah State in August. In addition to her academic pursuits, she has recently started running ultramarathons, at the 50k and 50 mile distances, and looks forward to her first 100k in May. ’14 Ashley Kim, an MFA Candidate in poetry and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Florida, had two poems published, ”The Son” and ”Parable of Fig Tree,” in Faultline Journal of Arts and Letters, a Pushcart prize-winning journal. ’17

Christian Hakim and his team of senior engineering students at Fairfield University made it to the finalist round of the 2020 Fairfield StartUp Showcase competition. To learn more about their business idea, Priority Route, a smart waste pickup solution where the waste bin calls the truck, visit Fairfield.edu/startup.

3

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 49

4 1 Molly Biddiscombe ’06 married

Balša Čavlović in Montenegro in June 2019. They were joined by classmates, from left, Miriam Bischoff Brisbin, Emily Lovejoy White, Lena Gayraud Oliveros, Kate Biddiscombe McKillop ’03, Molly West Dearing, Lexi Bohonnon, and Caroline Luby.

2 Nihal Eisa ’03 married Nathan

Laird in Tulum, Mexico, November 2019. In attendance was Naila Eisa ’05. The couple now live in the suburbs of Atlanta.

5

3 Charlotte Rocker ’02 married

James Stoloff at the Angel Orensanz Center in New York, NY, on January 25. In attendance were, from left, Kathrin Schwesinger ’02, Anna Fisher-Pinkert, Stefanie FisherPinkert ’02, Barrie Kreinik ’03, and Lauren Montgomery ’02.

4 Christopher Yu ’01 and his wife

6

Vivian just celebrated their first wedding anniversary. Classmates and Choaties in attendance at his Hong Kong wedding last year, from left, Albert Lee ’02, Simone Chao ’00, Kristal Hui, Elissa Gaw Chao ’00, Wei U ’99, Roland Yau ’00, Christopher, Jennifer Yu Cheng ’99, Benjamin Li ’03, Jacobo Chiu ’02, Justin Choy, Simon Ng, Constantine Wuisan.

5 Matt Millman ’09 married

Kristen Spillane on January 18, 2020 at the Palms Hotel in Miami Beach. Officiating the wedding was classmate Rohit Shankar ’09.

Matt’s sister Jessica Millman ’07 was the maid of honor, and Wes Marcik was one of the groomsmen. Also in attendance were Alyssa Gruen, Andy McComas, and Nikki Collins.

6 Alexandria Bautista ’06 married

Christopher H. Chu on Oct. 12, 2019 in LA, California. Classmates in attendance: Akeem Frett, Avion Tai, Roderick Mobley, Choate chemistry teacher and volleyball coach 2001 – 2007, Chijioge Nwogu, Alex, Peggy Ekong Jaleesa Murrell, Kevin Walker, Laura Kao, and Melissa Diaz.

50

IN MEMORIAM | Remembering Those We Have Lost Alumni and Alumnae

’37 C

James David McGaughey III, 101, a retired physician, died January 12, 2020. Born in Wallingford, Dave came to Choate in 1932; he was on the Student Council and was in the Dramatics Club. His father, the late James D. McGaughey II ’01, was Choate’s School Doctor from 1919 to 1950. After earning degrees from Dartmouth and Jefferson Medical College, Dave served in the Navy Medical Corps during World War II. After the war, he was for many years in the medical underwriting department of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. (now CIGNA). Like his father (and for a time serving with him), Dave was the School Doctor from 1948 to 1952. A volunteer firefighter, he was appointed the department’s Fire Surgeon, a post he held for 60 years. He helped establish Connecticut’s Emergency Medical System. He leaves three children, including James D. McGaughey IV ’68, 184 Browns Rd., Storrs, CT 06268; and four grandchildren.

’40 C James J. McTernan Jr., 98, a retired corporate executive, died September 2, 2019 in Pinehurst, N.C. Born in New Haven, James came to Choate in 1938. He lettered in football and baseball, winning a football trophy; was in the Cum Laude Society; and was Secretary-Treasurer of his sixth form class. After graduating from Yale, he had a long career in finance, including positions with Studebaker-Packard Co., the New York Central Railroad, and Comsat Corp., where he was Vice President of Finance. He leaves two children, including Kevin McTernan ’71, 2609 Rigel Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80906; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Robert O. Preyer, 97, a retired literature professor, died November 15, 2019. Born in Greensboro, N.C., Bob came to Choate in 1937; he was on the board of the Choate News; a Campus Cop; and in the Art and German clubs.

He went to Princeton, but left to serve in the Navy from 1943 to 1945. After the war, he earned degrees from Princeton and Columbia and taught at Smith, Amherst, and finally at Brandeis, where he was Professor of English and American Literature until

he retired in 1987. Bob was in the boards of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU. When he retired, he established the Wellington Prize at Brandeis, which goes to young faculty, with the restriction that it not be used for research, but simply “creatively to play.” He enjoyed travel, sailing, skiing, and tennis. He leaves his wife, Mandy Preyer, 1010 Waltham St., No. 17, Lexington, MA 02421; three daughters; four granddaughters; and seven greatgrandchildren. A brother, the late Frederick Preyer ’46; a nephew, Norris Preyer ’71; and a cousin, the late Carl Carlson ’33, attended Choate; another cousin, the late Laurinda Schenck ’38, attended Rosemary Hall.

’41 C

Kibbey M. Horne, 94, a retired linguistic anthropologist, died May 20, 2019. Raised in Tucson, Ariz., Kibbey came to Choate in 1939; he contributed witty cartoons to the Choate News, was the cox for the Tappen Four, and was in the Art Club and on the Library Committee. After graduating from West Point, he was in the Army; for several years he was the Commanding Officer of a cavalry regiment at Fort Meade, Md. He earned a Ph.D. from Georgetown, and became a linguistic anthropologist, studying how language influences social life. In the late 1960s he served in Vietnam with the Army. He later was Director of International Programs for the California State University system. A world traveler, Kibbey wrote books about language typology, the Presidio of Monterey, and Chinese food.

’42 RH Adelaide Marshall Donnan, 95, active in the community, died November 4, 2019. Born in New York City, Adelaide came to Rosemary Hall in 1937. After graduating from Vassar, she was a volunteer for a wide range of nonprofits, particularly in Jackson Hole, Wyo. She leaves two daughters; four granddaughters; and six greatgrandchildren. Her stepmother, the late Margaret White Marshall ’01, also attended Rosemary Hall.

’43 RH Mary Kennedy Plant, 95, active in the community, died December 11, 2019. Born in St. Paul, Minn., Mary came to Rosemary Hall in 1939; she was in the Kindly Club. She spent much

of her life volunteering, especially for causes involving health care and children: the Mayo Clinic, the Red Cross, the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, the United Way, and the YWCA. She was on the board of the Children’s Hospital of Minnesota and she established the Mike Plant Fund, in memory of her late son, which lets children of diverse backgrounds learn sailing. She leaves four children; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

’44 RH Anne Kock Montgomery, 93, active in the community, died February 27, 2020 in New Orleans. Born in New Orleans, Anne came to Rosemary Hall in 1941. She was a Prize Day Marshal, on the Grounds Committee, the Air Raid Squad, and the Fire Squad, was Treasurer of the Athletic Association and Sixth Form Gardener, and won a prize for excellence in History. After graduating from Barnard, she worked in Washington, D.C. for the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA. She then moved back to New Orleans, where she was prominent in community service and active in that city’s celebrations of Mardi Gras.

At one time Anne was President of the Junior League of New Orleans and led the boards of social service organizations. For more than 40 years she volunteered at the Oschner Medical Center’s neonatal intensivecare unit. She leaves three children, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

’46 RH Allis Ferguson Edelman, 92, a retired researcher and printer, died December 19, 2019. Born in Chicago, Allis came to Rosemary Hall in 1942. She was head of the Chapel Committee, President of the Kindly Club Council, Treasurer of Philomel, Alumnae Editor of the Question Mark, Chair of the Rules Committee, and she earned 10 bars on the Committee.

She then graduated from Connecticut College for Women in New London and worked with famed photographer Edward Steichen, then Director of Photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Later, she was with Time magazine as a picture researcher. After moving to Connecticut, she and her husband opened a printing concern, Rainbow Press, in Torrington, which

they ran for more than 25 years. Allis enjoyed travel and genealogy, and was formerly on the board of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. She leaves her husband, Erwin Edelman, 700 John Ringling Blvd., No. E-211, Sarasota, FL 34236; and a brother. A sister, the late Rae Reasoner ’49, and a niece, Beth Reasoner ’76, also attended Rosemary Hall.

’47 C

Richard N. Coffin, 90, a retired professor, died November 4, 2019 in Falmouth, Maine. Born in England, Richard came to Choate in 1945; he was in the French and Radio clubs.

After earning degrees from Bowdoin and Harvard, he served in the Army for two years, then earned a Ph.D. from Boston University. Richard taught English at Curry College in Milton, Mass.; Tufts; the University of Maine; and the University of Southern Maine.

In the 1960s, he went to Laos to create a Laotian phrase book for the Army, and also to develop a similar guide in the Vietnamese language. In the 1980s, he studied filmmaking in Los Angeles.

He leaves his wife, Rose Coffin, 118 Mast Rd., Falmouth, ME 04105.

Daniel B. Silliman, 90, a retired independent insurance agent, died December 5, 2019 in Augusta, Ga. Born in East Orange, N.J., Dan came to Choate in 1945; he played league sports. After graduating from Union College, he served in the Air National Guard. Dan sold insurance for 46 years, mostly in Augusta, and was a past Treasurer of the Independent Insurance Agents association there. He enjoyed jazz, sailing, sports cars, experimental aircraft, and building intricate cabinets.

He leaves his wife, Joan Silliman, 3518 Nassau Dr., Augusta, GA 30909; three children; a stepdaughter; seven grandchildren; and a brother. His father, the late Sherwood Silliman ’19, also attended Choate.

Daniel W. Taylor, 90, a retired public information officer, died January 29, 2020, in Willow Street, Pa. Born in East Haven, Conn., Dan came to Choate in 1943; he lettered in soccer and was Editor of the Literary Magazine. After graduating from Washington and Lee, he served in the Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Dan then worked for newspapers, including the Hartford Courant and Washington

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 51

Evening Star, before turning to public relations. He headed the public information branch of the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the National Center for Health Science Research, among other agencies. He enjoyed fishing, photography, classical music, and opera. He leaves three children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

’47 RH Maude Adams Ziesing, 90, died December 3, 2019 in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Born in New York City, Maude, known as “Sis,” came to Rosemary Hall in 1945; she was Assistant Head Marshal, School Recorder, on the boards of the Dramatic Club and the Answer Book, in the Kindly Club and Choir, captain of 2nd Team hockey, and she earned three bars on the Committee. For several years she worked as a medical technician in New York City, and was later a docent at the Philadelphia Zoo. Sis enjoyed playing bridge, world travel, animals, gardening, golf, and tennis. She leaves five children and six grandchildren.

’48 C

Buck Henry Zuckerman, 89, a screenwriter and actor known professionally as Buck Henry, died January 8, 2020 in Los Angeles. Born in New York City, Buck came to Choate in 1946; he was Associate Editor of the Choate News, Managing Editor of the Literary Magazine, and in the Cum Laude Society. He graduated from Dartmouth and served two years in the Army. He then began a lengthy career as a writer, first for TV programs such as The Garry Moore Show, The Steve Allen Show, and That Was the Week That Was, and later for Get Smart, which he co-created and which earned him an Emmy. He wrote for, and acted in, Saturday Night Live frequently. He wrote the screenplays for many films, including The Graduate, Catch-22, What’s Up, Doc?, and To Die For. Buck also appeared in more than 40 movies, and received two Oscar nominations, one for writing and one for directing.

More recently, he appeared in 30 Rock.

He leaves his wife, Irene Ramp. His father, the late Paul Zuckerman ’17, also attended Choate.

’49 C

Edward A. Davies, 88, a retired pediatrician, died December 4, 2019 in Redding, Conn. Born in Greenwich, Conn., Edward came to Choate in 1946.

He was in the Cum Laude Society; Associate Editor of the Choate News; Vice President of the French Club; and in the Choral and Rifle clubs. After earning degrees from Harvard and the New York University College of Medicine, he served in the Air Force.

He was then Director of Pediatrics at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and on the faculty of Weill Cornell and NYU. He founded a newborn intensive care unit at Lenox Hill, which was named in his honor. Edward was also a founding trustee of International Preschools.

He enjoyed opera, gardens, and trees.

He leaves his wife, Suzanne Davies, PO Box 429, Redding Ridge, CT 06876; four children; and nine grandchildren. His mother, the late Helen Eastwick Davies ’12, attended Rosemary Hall, as did a sister, the late Helen Davies Simpson ’43. A brother, the late William Davies ’46, attended Choate.

Barrant V. Merrill, 89, an executive of financial firms, died January 5, 2020. Born in New York City, Barry came to Choate in 1946; he played bass with the Golden Blues, was Associate Editor of the Choate News, Chair of the Dance Committee, and in the Western Club. After graduating from Cornell, he was in the Air Force for 13 years, attaining the rank of Captain.

He then was an executive with several companies, including Merrill Turben & Co., Morgan Stanley, Pershing & Co., and Dakota Partners. Barry was also a director of First Republic Bancorp for 24 years. He leaves his wife, Patty Merrill, 3525 Polo Dr., Delray Beach, FL 33483; four children; and nine grandchildren.

’50 C

Carleton F. Loucks, 87, the retired owner of a direct-mail firm, died January 12, 2020 in Hamden, Conn. Born in New Haven, Carl came to Choate in 1945; he lettered in baseball. After graduation from Yale, he worked for many years in radio and was an executive of the Radio Advertising Bureau. Starting in 1978, he was the owner of Connecticut Direct Mail in North Haven, Conn. A railroad enthusiast, Carl collected railroad memorabilia, including thousands of

timetables. He leaves his wife, Barbara Loucks, 200 Leeder Hill Dr., Apt. 200-B, Hamden, CT 06517; two children; and a granddaughter.

Nathan G. Pond, 87, a retired commercial pilot, died November 3, 2019 in Andover, Vt. Born in Cambridge, Mass., Nate came to Choate in 1946.

He lettered in football, wrestling, and track; won the Harvard football trophy for scholarship and sportsmanship; and was on the Student Council and Honor Committee. After graduating from Cornell, he served four years in the Air Force. He then co-founded the Orange Sport Parachuting Center in Orange, Mass., to teach the new sport of skydiving. He later flew for Buker Airways, Precision Airlines, and other private and commercial airlines. Nate and his wife retired to Vermont, where he raised beefalo cattle, sold hay, and flew his own small plane. He also enjoyed skiing. He leaves his wife, Jill Pond, 2209 East Hill Rd., Chester, VT 05143; four children; 11 grandchildren; 13 greatgrandchildren; and a brother, former Choate teacher J. Lawrence Pond ’55.

’51 C John E. Benzel, 86, a retired physician, died February 13, 2020. Born in Milwaukee, John came to Choate in 1948; he was in the Cum Laude Society, the Glee Club, and the Maiyeros, and won a School prize for excellence in science. After graduating from Yale, he earned his M.D. degree from Penn, then served in the Army Medical Corps for two years. He completed a residency in hematology at George Washington University Hospital, then joined a medical practice in Delaware, retiring in 1993. John enjoyed the opera, and taught an opera-appreciation class in Kiawah Island, S.C., for many years. He also enjoyed tennis, golf, swimming, and choral singing. He leaves his wife, Betsy Benzel, 4031 Kennett Pike, Apt. 69, Wilmington, DE 19807; two children; six grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. ’51 RH Adeline Sandylee Weille Maccoby, 86, a retired teacher, died November 4, 2019. Born in Boston, Sandylee came to Rosemary Hall in 1949. She was a Marshal; Captain of 1st Team tennis; in the Choir; and on the Kindly Club Council. After graduating from Smith, she taught French and

Spanish at Georgetown Day Middle School in Washington, D.C. Sandylee was a champion figure skater, artist, and novelist. She leaves her husband, Michael Maccoby, 4825 Linnean Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008; four children; and seven grandchildren.

’53 C

Roert E. Alford, 84, a retired newspaper executive, died February 25, 2019 in Dover, N.J. Born in Montclair, N.J., Bob came to Choate in 1950; he was Associate Editor of the Brief; was a Campus Cop; and was in the Choral and Glee clubs. After graduating from Princeton, he was Circulation Manager for the New Jersey Herald for many years, retiring in 1981. He leaves two children, a granddaughter, and two sisters.

’54 C William H. Miller, 82, a retired restaurateur and stockbroker, died January 7, 2020. Born in New York City, Bill came to Choate in 1948; he lettered in football and baseball and was in the Cum Laude Society. After graduating from Cornell, he managed the familyowned restaurant, Miller’s, in the Woolworth Building in New York. He later was a broker for Kidder Peabody and The Fiduciary, and owned his own firm, Crucible Securities. Bill coached soccer and wrestling in Westfield, N.J., and later was active with the Latin America Coalition in Charlotte, N.C. He leaves his wife, Sandra Miller, 1030 River Oaks La., Charlotte, NC 28226; three sons; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. ’56 C Alexander Douglas Whittemore Jr., 81, a banker and software developer, died November 1, 2019. Born in New Rochelle, N.Y., Doug came to Choate in 1953; he was in the Glee Club and the Maiyeros.

After earning degrees from Yale and Columbia, he was a banker for 20 years with Citicorp in New York City. He later moved to Naples, Fla., where he was President of Fischer-Innis Syetems, a software development firm. Doug was later the Director of the Naples Medical Center. He enjoyed woodworking, antique boats, golf, tennis, skeet shooting, singing in choirs, and playing the piano. He leaves his wife, Kimberly Whittemore, 1433 Butterfield Court, Marco Island, FL 34145; two children; and two grandchildren.

52

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 53

’48

Buck Henry

Remembered

by geoffrey s. fletcher ’88

Buck Henry ‘48 left us in January. His indelible voice belongs to the vanguard that ignited and fueled American counterculture, along with the astonishing creativity that accompanied it. His talent propelled the careers of some of our greatest artists. As a member of those ranks, he also accomplished what so many aspire to do now – work both sides of the camera.

Somehow, it seems fitting that I experienced much of Mr. Henry’s filmography completely out of order. As a boy, I felt the rapture of Heaven Can Wait.

As a young man, I marveled at The Graduate and grew further astonished that his cameo was among the funniest in a film of raucous, pitch-perfect performances. His character in Short Cuts is as humorous as it is unsettling. His spellbinding script for Catch-22 makes you think, smile, and worry all at once.

Mr. Henry’s television work spanned nearly six decades. He was a member of Steve Allen’s ensemble, co-created the slyly subversive smash-hit series Get Smart, hosted Saturday Night Live (a then-record 10 times), and played a recurring character on 30 Rock, with many other notable credits in between.

Perhaps the longevity of Mr. Henry’s creative energy stemmed from a life lived adventurously. He repaired military helicopters in West Germany during the Korean War, played it cool when John Belushi inadvertently lacerated him by sword on live TV, and perpetuated a years-long hoax so convincingly that even Walter Cronkite aired a credulous interview of Mr. Henry’s absurd alter ego.

Any time is a good time to enjoy Buck Henry’s brilliance. However, it’s hard to imagine a better time to do so than now. His work is both an escape and a clear-eyed look at reality.

Geoffrey S. Fletcher ’88 is a screenwriter and film director.

In 2010 his screenplay for Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire received an Oscar for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is the first African American to win an Oscar for writing, directing, or producing a feature film.

54 IN MEMORIAM

’57 C

Robert E. Morin, 80, a retired lawyer, died February 14, 2020 in Naples, Fla. Born in New Haven, Bob came to Choate in 1953; he lettered in baseball and was in the Band and on the Board of the Brief. After graduating from Tufts, he served in the Navy, then was a legislative assistant to a Connecticut congressman. He earned a Master’s degree in Latin American studies from American University and a law degree from George Mason University, then practiced estate and elder care law in Maryland and Virginia for many years. Says Larry Morin ’58: “From our high school days at The Choate School we knew each other as ‘Namesake.’ We are and were the only two students named Morin to have attended Choate and we valued and treasured that common denominator. While we knew of each other during our student days, we really reconnected in May 1983 when I was there for my 25th Reunion and we crossed paths. Over the years that followed, we’d see each other at many more on campus reunions. Bob was effusive, and he lit up the room with his warmth, humor, friendliness and personality. Wherever and whenever we crossed paths, each succeeding time was ‘better’ than the one before.”

Bob was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Italian American Foundation, and was on the Board of the Montgomery Hospice in Maryland.

He leaves a sister. A nephew, Michael Regan ’86, and a cousin, Benjamin Pascale ’08, also attended Choate Rosemary Hall. Bob was a member of the Choate Society, those alumni and alumnae who have left a bequest to the School.

’58 C John G. Fergusson, 80, a retired advertising executive, died August 12, 2019. Born in Middlesex, England, John and his family immigrated to America after World War II. He came to Choate in 1956, where he lettered in football, wrestling (co-captain), and lacrosse, winning trophies in football and wrestling; he was President of the Art Club and Art Editor of the Choate News. After graduating from Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., he served in the Army,

attaining the rank of Captain. John then worked in the advertising industry for such companies as Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborne; Johnson & Johnson; Bristol-Myers; and Ralston Purina. He also created several startup businesses and produced patented products. He leaves two children, including Brian Fergusson, 821 Lakeglen Dr., Suwanee, GA 30024; and five grandchildren.

’59 C

Newcomb D. Cole Jr., 78, a retired financial planner, died February 5, 2020, in Lowell, Mass. Born in New York City, Newk, as he was known, came to Choate in 1955. He was a cheerleader; was in the French Club and the Gold Key Society; and was on the Altar Guild and the Board of the Brief. After graduating from Cornell, he had a long career as a financial planner.

Newk enjoyed foreign travel, skydiving, reading, and sports. He leaves his wife, Sally Cole, 537 Wellman Ave., North Chelmsford, MA 01863; three children; and seven grandchildren. His father, the late Newcomb Cole ’29, also attended Choate.

’60 C Robin Reeder Valentine, 76, a retired advertising copy editor, died November 2, 2019 in Baltimore. Born in New York City, Robin came to Rosemary Hall in 1959; she was Assistant Head Day Boarder, a Fire Captain, and in the Debating Society. She started in advertising at McCann Erickson in New York, then moved to Richmond, Va. In 1969, while working for the firm Martin & Woltz, she created the longtime state tourism slogan “Virginia is for lovers.”

She later was a freelance speechwriter for First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Robin enjoyed horses, dogs, books, and gardening, and she served on the board of the Hill School in Middleburg, Va. She leaves two daughters, four stepchildren, 10 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and a brother. ’65 C

Eric S. Paloheimo, 71, a retired manager of a living history museum, died March 6, 2019. Born in Helsinki, Finland, Eric was raised in Pasadena, Calif., where his father was the Finnish Consul. He came to Choate in 1961, where he lettered in soccer and track and was in the Rod and Gun

and Ski clubs. For years he was the Operations Manager at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, a living history museum in Santa Fe, N.M., that had been started by his parents. For a time he was on the professional motorcycle racing circuit, where he was known as the “Flying Finn.” He leaves a brother and two sisters.

’66 RH Lynne Bourne Swanson, 72, died December 19, 2019 in Sarasota, Fla. Born in Greenwich, Lynne came to Rosemary Hall in 1962; she was on the Chapel Committee, in Gold Key, and played softball, basketball, and field hockey. She then graduated from Marjorie Webster Junior College. Lynne leaves her sister, Muffie B. Swan ’62, 2045 East Mountain Sage Dr., Highlands Ranch, CO 80126; two children; a stepson; four grandchildren; and a stepbrother. Her mother, the late Nancy B. Gray ’36, also attended Rosemary Hall. ’67 C Clinton “Mac” Johnson, 70, an executive of financial firms, died of cancer January 10, 2020 in Naples, Fla. Born in Manchester, Conn., Mac came to Choate in 1963. He was President of the Glee Club; on the board of the Choate News; and in the Altar Guild, the Automobile Club, and the French Club.

After graduating from the University of Stockholm, Sweden, he earned degrees from Tufts and the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota. He was an executive with Manufacturers Hanover, Deutsche Bank, the National Australia Bank, and SMBC. He lived three years in Sweden, where his children were born, and where he opened an office of Manufacturers Hanover. He retired in 2015 from Sumitomo Bank. Mac was a noted expert enthusiast on the sport utility vehicle Jeep Wagoneer; his cars – there were many over the years – were used in catalogue photo shoots and for special occasions. He leaves his wife, Molly Johnson, 1837 Pondside La., Naples, FL 34109; and two children.

A brother, Steven Johnson ’61, also attended Choate. ’68 RH Patricia Laing Stone, 69, died July 22, 2019 of cancer in Dayton, Ohio. Born in Dayton, Tricia came

to Rosemary Hall in 1965. She was Head of the Kindly Club Council, a Marshal, and on the Self-Government Committee, the Library Committee, the Dance Committee and the Fire Squad, and in Hospites and the Outing Club.

After attending Denison University, she studied in the test kitchens of Betty Crocker and General Mills and took culinary arts classes at Cornell. Tricia created several successful businesses.

She leaves her husband, Mark Stone, 1185 West Alex Bell Rd., Apt. R, Dayton, OH 45459; three children; nine grandchildren; a brother; and two sisters.

’69 C

John H. Staub III, 68, a horticulturalist and author, died January 22, 2020. Born in Washington, D.C., Jack came to Choate in 1966; he was co-editor of the Literary Magazine and in the Gold Key Society and the Glee Club. He graduated from the University of Virginia. Jack pursued many enterprises, and for a time was an actor, an advertising executive, and a playwright. But he is best known for developing Hortulus Farm in Wrightstown, Pa., a horticultural destination in Pennsylvania Dutch country. He was the author of seven gardening books, including Private Edens. He leaves his partner, Renny Reynolds, 62 Thompson Mill Rd., Newtown, PA 18940; his father, John H. Staub II ’45; and five siblings, including Charles Staub ’70. An uncle, the late James Staub ’51, and a cousin, the late Nicholas Staub ’45, also attended Choate.

’75 RH Christine Pemberton, 63, died January 24, 2020 in Burlington, Vt. Born in Rio de Janiero, Christine grew up in New York City and came to Rosemary Hall in 1972. She later studied art, literature, and journalism at Syracuse University and Barnard, earning a BA from Burlington College and an MFA from Goddard College. She was a writer and a painter, and was on the Board of Directors of the Spring Lake Ranch Therapeutic Community in Cuttingsville, Vt. She leaves a sister, Anne Pemberton ’77, 2515 North 30th St., Boise, ID 83703; her parents, and a stepmother.

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’85

Donald E. Rosenthal, 53, an entrepreneur, died February 21, 2020, in Denver. Born in New York City, Buddy, as he was known, spent one year at Choate Rosemary Hall; he was in the Russian, Current Affairs, and Outing clubs. After earning degrees from Bates and Penn’s Wharton School, he spent more than two decades in the technology sector, including executive positions with AOL, Yahoo, and RealNetworks. He was the co-founder of several early-stage technology companies and was named Entrepreneur-in-Residence by Charles River Ventures. Buddy also worked closely with nonprofits, serving on the boards of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the AOL Foundation, Minds Matter, and others. He leaves two children, two siblings, and his mother.

’94

Brian G. Shifrin, 43, an attorney, died November 16, 2019 in Fayville, Mass., of ALS. Born in Lynn, Mass., Brian came to Choate Rosemary Hall in 1991; he was active in dramatics on the Tech Crew and was on the Student Activities Committee.

After earning degrees from Fitchburg (Mass.) State College and Suffolk Law School, he started a real estate appraisal company before opening his own law firm. Brian was active in Southborough, Mass., serving on the Board of Selectmen and on several town committees. He enjoyed baseball, and for more than 15 years was Commissioner of the town’s men’s softball team. He leaves his wife, Kristine Shifrin, 79 Oak Hill Rd., Fayville, MA 01745; two children; a sister; and his mother.

’98

Erik S. Fleming, 39, a university researcher and professor, died January 1, 2020 of cancer. Born in Washington, D.C., Erik came to Choate Rosemary Hall in 1994. He lettered in football, basketball, and track; won the Wild Boar Award for athletics and the John Fowler track award; and was a National Merit Scholar.

He earned degrees from Brown and Walden University in Minneapolis.

At Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Willowbrook, Calif., Erik was a Systems Analyst

and Assistant Professor, focusing on disease management and prevention in underserved communities. He competed on the L.A. Rugby Team and the USA Touch Rugby Team. He leaves his wife, Starr Fleming, 2118 Grant Ave., Apt. 6, Redondo Beach, CA 90278; a son; and his parents.

Faculty, Trustees, Staff Deborah Sze-Tu Chin, a retired Manager of Human Resources at Choate Rosemary Hall, died March 7, 2020. She was 66. Born in Hong Kong, Debbie immigrated to New York City when she was 5 and was a graduate of Queens College. She started at Choate in 1990, first in the Summer Programs Office and later in the Human Resources Department as Payroll Administrator, Benefits Administrator, and finally as the department’s overall Manager.

“When Debbie takes on a task,” her supervisor noted in 2004, “it will be done in detail. She is well organized, thorough, and reliable.” Debbie retired in 2008 and spent several years cruising the world with her husband, Steven Chin. Besides Steven, of 80 Fair St., Wallingford, CT 06492, she leaves two children, including Kelly Lorraine Chin ’99, the Assistant to the Director of the Arts in the Paul Mellon Arts Center; two grandchildren; three siblings; and her parents.

Edward V. Greco, the retired Assistant Director of Choate Rosemary Hall’s former Physical Plant Department, died February 22, 2020 in North Haven, Conn. He was 87. Born in New Haven, Ed attended Hillhouse High School and earned a degree in horticulture from the University of Connecticut.

After serving in the Army, he founded a landscaping company. Hired at Choate in 1974 as a member of the grounds crew, he was soon promoted to Grounds Foreman, then in 1984 was named Assistant Director of the Plant (now Facilities Services). In 1993, he was put in charge of the School’s regulatory and safety compliance matters. At his retirement in 1998, it was noted that Ed was “meticulous, soft-spoken, and polite on the job.”

He “cut a dignified, almost dapper,

figure, even when standing in a muddy trench, sleeves rolled up, working with a shovel.” His wife, Ruth, who retired in 1992, worked in the School’s Financial Office for eight years. His son-in-law, Robert Kovach, is a longtime member of the School’s Information Technology Services office. Besides his wife, of 511 Elm Street Ext., No. 9-1, North Haven, CT 06473, Ed leaves two daughters; six grandchildren, including Robert Kovach Jr. ’01 and Elizabeth Kovach Wasilewski ’02; three step-grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and a brother.

Jean Caldwell Kashgarian, a former Trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall, died December 4, 2019. She was 85.

Born in Matapedia, Quebec, Jean grew up in Norfolk, Conn., and graduated from the Gilbert School in Winsted, Conn., and Jackson College for Women, a part of Tufts University. She then worked at Yale as a research assistant for a professor studying marine mammals. Later, also at Yale, she was the Managing Editor of the American Journal of Pathology. She was on the Board of the Rosemary Hall Parents Association from 1975 to 1977, and then Chair of the combined Choate Rosemary Hall Parents Association; as such, she had an ex officio seat on the School’s Board of Trustees. An avid gardener, Jean was an award-winning member of the Garden Club of New Haven. She was also on the boards of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Friends of the Grove Street Cemetery. She leaves her husband, Dr. Michael Kashgarian, 200 Leeder Hill Dr., Hamden, CT 06517; two daughters, Michaele Kashgarian ’79 and Thea K. Obstler ’81; and four grandchildren.

Paul Leo Lufkin, who coached men’s ice hockey at Choate Rosemary Hall for three years, died January 10, 2020, on Dataw Island, S.C. He was 78. Born in Gloucester, Mass., Paul graduated from Deerfield and Boston College, playing hockey at both schools, and in 1965 was on the U. S. National Hockey Team. He then served in the Marines in Vietnam for two years, achieving the rank of Captain. Before coming to Choate in 1976, he coached at Princeton and Yale. He coached the

1977-78 Choate Rosemary Hall men’s hockey team to an undefeated season and a Number 2 national ranking, a feat not accomplished before or since.

“Coach Lufkin had big shoes to fill after legendary Coach [William] Pudvah retired in 1976,” said teammates Chip Clark ’78 and Chris Hodgson ’78. “He emphasized hard work and discipline, but he had a great sense of humor too. We were lucky to have him, and he always shared our pride in being part of that historic team.” In 1979, Paul entered the world of Formula 1 and NASCAR motorsports, developing programs for race teams. He served on the USA Hockey Marketing Council for more than 17 years, retiring in 2019.

He leaves his wife, Marylou Lufkin; five sons; four grandchildren; and a sister.

Roberta Jean Novak O’Byrne, who worked in the School’s Facilities Service office for 11 years, died January 14, 2020 in Wallingford. She was 85. Born in Bridgeport, Bobbie worked at Dime Savings Bank before coming to Choate Rosemary Hall in 1985. In what was then known as the Plant Office, she coordinated vendors, handled work orders, and managed other parts of keeping the School’s facilities in working order. She was a key person in handing the response to a 1996 blizzard and various floods. At her retirement in 1996, it was noted that Bobbie “does her work in a personal way and keeps our collective heads above water – literally and figuratively.”

She leaves three children, seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

Our sympathy to the friends and families of the following alumni, whose deaths are reported with sorrow: G. William Sheldon ’49 January 18, 2020 Chris A. Swindells ’62 January 12, 2020

56

SCOREBOARD | Winter Sports Wrap-up

Morgan Skoda ’22 celebrates one of two goals adding to Choate’s 5–0 victory against Hotchkiss School on February 26. Photo credit: Jim Stout

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 57

Girls varsity hockey qualified for the NEPSAC Large School Tournament for the first time since 2015. They beat Milton Academy in the semifinal round at home after a first-round bye, but lost to St. Paul’s School in the championship game. Girls varsity swimming earned 2nd place at the Founders Championship and 4th place at the NEPSAC Division I Championships. Boys varsity swimming also earned 2nd place at the Founders Championship and 7th place at the NEPSAC Division I Championships. Girls basketball qualified for the NEPSAC Tournament, but were defeated by Marianapolis Prep in the quarterfinals. Senior captain Jordan Obi ’20 added her name to the 1,000-point club this season. Boys varsity squash finished as runners-up in the NEISA Class C Tournament. Girls varsity squash finished their season 7th in New England and 15th at the National High School Championships.

ARCHERY Varsity season record: 2–1 Captains: Charis K. Kim, Jonathan M. Geller ’20 Highlight: Choate archers avenged an earlier loss to the Boys and Girls Club in Meriden beating them on their home range.

BOYS BASKETBALL Varsity season record: 8–16 Captains: Hayden T. Peek ’20, Ryan Z. Zambie ’20 Highlight: Won in overtime against South Kent with a buzzer-beater 2-point basket.

GIRLS BASKETBALL Varsity season record: 15–10 Captains: Jordan A. Obi ’20, Elizabeth A. Overstrum ’20 Highlights: Senior captain Obi added her name to the 1,000-point club. Qualified for the NEPSAC Tournament, but were defeated by Marianapolis Prep in the quarterfinals.

BOYS ICE HOCKEY Varsity season record: 4–17–4 Captain: John G. Russo ’20 Highlights: Three exciting OT tie games.

GIRLS ICE HOCKEY Varsity season record: 14–11–1 Captains: Gina L. Driscoll ’20, Delaney K. Dill ’20 Highlights: This season was the first time since 2015 that the team qualified for the NEPSAC Tournament.

They won their first tournament game (in the second round, with a first-round bye) against Milton Academy at home. They lost to St. Paul’s in the Championships.

BOYS SQUASH Varsity season record: 12–15 Captain: Samuel J. Curtis ’20 Highlights: Big wins over Loomis, Hopkins, K-O, and Squash Haven in the regular season. The boys finished as runners-up in the NEISA Class C Tournament.

GIRLS SQUASH Varsity season record: 12–3 Captain: Aurelie J. Temsamani ’20 Highlight: Finished their season 7th in New England and 15th at the National High School Championships.

BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Varsity season record: 6–2 Captains: George C. McCabe ’20, Parker H. Scott ’20 Highlights: Earned 2nd place at the Founders Championship and 7th place at the NEPSAC Division I Championships. Scott recorded school records in both the 100 breast stroke and butterfly.

GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Varsity season record: 5–3 Captains: Samantha H. Scott ’20, Isabelle Y. So ’20, Sarah G. McAndrew ’20 Highlights: Earned 2nd place at the Founders Championship and 4th place at the NEPSAC Division I Championship. School records were set by Sam Scott in the 50 and 100 free. Sam also was the NEPSAC champion in both events. The 200 medley relay team of Martha Chessen ’22, Zoe Tray ’21, Isabelle So, and Samantha Scott placed 2nd at the NEPSAC championships.

WRESTLING Varsity season record: 1–9 Captains: Cameron J. Polemeni-Hegarty ’20, Holden A. Zerega ’20 Highlights: Choate had three athletes place at the Rumble on the Hill tournament: Holden Zerega, 2nd; Spencer Bowle, 6th; and Dominic Young-Smith, 4th.

Holden Zerega ’20 placed 6th at the New England wrestling tournament.

58

SCOREBOARD | Winter Sports Wrap-up 2

1

3

4 1 Hayden Peek ’20 reaches for a lay-up.

2 Spencer Bowles ’22 works hard to pin his Hotchkiss opponent.

3 Tiffany Xiao ’23 swims 200-meter individual medley at home meet against NMH.

5 4 Audrey Kaye ’22 performs 1-meter dive at home meet against NMH. 5 Boys Varsity Hockey Captain John Russo ’20 digs the puck out.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 59

7

6

9 6 Jordan Obi ’20 driving to the basket against Loomis Chaffee – Christian Lucas is setting a screen for her.

7 Nina Hashmi ’22 winds up for her trademark backhand rail.

8 Choate archers Luis Romero ’20, Ralph Reyes ’21, and Andrew Lee ’21 are poised to release their arrows.

8

10 9 Derek Son ’20 swims 100 butterfly as Sarah McAndrew ’20 cheers him on at home meet against NMH. 10 Eric Li ’20 retrieves a backhand during a match against Taft.

60

BOOKSHELF

In this issue, a clinical psychologist explores the challenges of parenting in the digital age; scholars challenge the centuries-old Eurocentric perspectives of the history of the Caribbean and its people; two children’s book authors respectively address a child’s fear of the vaccine shots and the chain of fossil discoveries and advances in science that led to recognition of the Megalosaurus; and an economist uses published research and scientific evidence to allay parenting fears.

Cribsheet

By Emily Oster ’98 | Reviewed by Corey Wrinn

CRIBSHEET: A DATA-DRIVEN GUIDE TO BETTER, MORE RELAXED PARENTING, FROM BIRTH TO PRESCHOOL Author: Emily Oster ’98 Publisher: Penguin Press About the Reviewer: Corey Wrinn is Director of Institutional Research at Choate Rosemary Hall and a parent of an 18-month-old.

As a parent, you worry about doing the right thing, every step of the way, for your child. As a new parent, you worry that every decision will deter the course of your child’s life. The stakes are so high! How do I ensure 12 hours of sleep per night in order to develop proper brain development? Will my kid develop a sweet tooth if she eats fruit too much? Will I deter his growth with too much (or not enough!) TV? Emily Oster ’98 is here to equip you with a guidebook for parenting, and ease your fears through scientific evidence. Using published research from medical professionals, she provides insight into common challenges, answers questions, and debunks myths of the early years of childhood. The book uses research evidence to show that breastfeeding likely leads to lower breast cancer chances for mom, and does not affect a child’s potential for obesity; marriages are more likely unhappy after the birth of a child (for a few years); early introduction of allergens does reduce likelihood of food allergies; daycare does build immunity in the long-term; and there is value in reading to your children, even from infancy.

Oster uses her training as an economist, and experience as a mother of two, to provide information in a practical, easy-to-understand way that is both relatable and endearing. In a reassuring way that reads like a letter from a friend more than a journal article, Oster lays out a few key things for which new parents should be prepared in the next few years. The book also includes a number of her own personal stories of parenthood, and its quirks, but is quick to remind readers that “anecdote is not data.”

While Oster’s first book, Expecting Better, focuses on pregnancy, Cribsheet begins with the new reality as a caretaker of a tiny human. As the father of an 18-month-old myself, I’m quick to do an internet search on a problem or ask friends what they did in the same situation. Oster takes a bit of stress out of the process, sharing examples of the most common obstacles a new parent will face along with reliable, research-based recommendations on how to raise your little one.

Today, “big data” and the analysis of this information is everywhere, from nonstop primary election projections to weather reports four weeks out. It would be easy to pick a few key pieces of information and declare broad statements of parenting fact. But Oster is more like that well-read friend you trust who is both smart and nonjudgmental. She’s providing parents the framework to make their own decisions based on data that comes from empirical studies and how it fits into their lives.

In a chapter about childcare, Oster shares her findings from a number of studies about the impact of daycare for children relative to nannies, when there isn’t an adult staying at home. Like most things in life, and this book, it’s a bit complicated and nuanced. Daycares are associated with better child development of language, but only those daycare centers considered “high quality.” The same can be said of nannies; the one-on-one attention allows families to be specific about their needs, but it may be intrusive to their lifestyle. Oster reflects that the choice is not just about your child, “ultimately, you have to figure out what works for your family.”

Above all else, Oster notes that a caring parent and loving household trumps many of these decisions you might think are vital throughout the child’s young life. Concerned about your child’s reading when under the care of others? Stock the house with books and carve out time to read.

After reading Cribsheet, parents may reflect on how it’s almost silly to see each decision as such a turning point in a child’s life. Use this information, Oster is suggesting, to do what fits with your family.

Her real achievement here is not making the variety of choices that comes with parenthood a little more data-driven, but rather making parents feel like they aren’t alone in this journey.

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Freedom Roots: Histories from the Caribbean

By Laurent Dubois & Richard Lee Turits ’78 | Reviewed by Yaser S. Robles, Ph.D.

FREEDOM ROOTS: HISTORIES FROM THE CARIBBEAN Author: Laurent Dubois & Richard Lee Turits ’78 Publisher: UNC Press About the Reviewer: Yaser S. Robles, Ph.D., is a history teacher and Dean of the Class of 2022. Dr. Robles teaches courses in Colonial Latin America, World History, 20th Century U.S. History, Contemporary Issues, and a new course, LatinX in the U.S.

The history of the Caribbean has mostly been written by those who ruled over its Islands and inlets. A Eurocentric perspective prevails in academia, which in part explains why we know very little about the people of the Caribbean, their social complexities, cultural values, and the critical roles they have played in understanding global history.

It is, therefore, refreshing to see a book by scholars Laurent Dubois and Richard Lee Turits that elevates the people and cultures of the Caribbean and breaks away from established scholarly works. They challenge centuries-old Eurocentric perspectives, including the notion that the indigenous communities of the Caribbean were entirely wiped out and replaced by the Europeans.

Scholars have claimed that this eradication took place in the early stages of colonization, making it difficult, if not impossible, to find traces that they ever existed. Dubois and Turits provide evidence to prove otherwise. According to Dubois and Turits, from the very beginning Europeans got it wrong about the people of the Caribbean and the Americas. Take, for instance, Columbus’ diary, where he recorded his perceptions about the people he encountered, described his cultural observations, compared his own values to those of the locals, and portrayed what he thought was a full picture of a people. we know that there are fundamental flaws in his writings, starting with what he understood in his interactions with the natives without speaking their language, having no knowledge of the local cultures, people’s behaviors, and his unfamiliarity with the geography.

Europeans immediately recognized the economic potential of the region, primarily because of the abundance of natural resources, including gold and silver. Of equal value to them were the vast amounts of pristine land. Very quickly, the Americas became an economy of extraction and the main supplier of goods to European markets.

To the authors, in order to understand what truly happened in the Caribbean, it is essential to understand the economics and politics of slavery.

Slavery has been a part of human history, but what took place in the Caribbean and the Americas was the most brutal system ever implemented. The book details the entire enterprise, in which Europeans were in control at every stage. The plantation system,

brutal in its entirety, especially in the Caribbean, served as a model to be applied to the rest of the Americas. It was not easy for the Europeans to fully dominate the natives through brute force. For instance, they failed to dominate the Garifuna people who currently populate countries in Central America.

The collective resistance against the brutal plantation system eventually succeeded and led to the revolts and even revolutions, the Haitian case being the most important.

Unfortunately for the people of the Caribbean, their efforts to emancipate themselves from the shackles of colonial rule did not lead to total freedom. A group of small British colonies would eventually unite and grow to become the most powerful nation in the world. Post-colonialism, the United States has been the hegemonic force in the region and its foreign policies, particularly the Monroe Doctrine, had devastating effects on the development of the Caribbean.

The American military, but primarily the big American corporations like Del Monte, Dole, and Chiquita, spearheaded occupations. These companies remain powerful forces today. However, the local people have found ways to push back on this system as well.

The authors highlight the Cuban Revolution as another example of successful resistance. Similarly, the people of Jamaica, Grenada, and the Dominican Republic have confronted American hegemony. The authors’ analysis sparks new questions, but more important, sheds light on many hidden, yet valuable realities of the Caribbean people.

The history of the people of the Caribbean merits attention and recognition for their contributions to the world, and this book makes a genuine effort to do just that. Dubois and Turits give voices to those who have never had one, particularly in scholarly works.

They celebrate the richness in their cultures and contributions to the world. The native people of the Caribbean have not vanished as some scholars have made us believe.

On the contrary, and as the authors demonstrate throughout this book, their legacies remain, and it is up to us to revisit the past and re-learn history.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the Americas and the Caribbean, as well as U.S./Caribbean relations today.

62 BOOKSHELF

The First Dinosaur

By Ian Lendler ’92 | Reviewed by Cheryl Bardoe

THE FIRST DINOSAUR: HOW SCIENCE SOLVED THE GREATEST MYSTERY ON EARTH Author: Ian Lendler ’92 Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books About the Reviewer: Cheryl Bardoe is an award-winning children’s book author.

Her most recent book, China: A History (Abrams), has been praised by reviewers at School Library Journal, Booklist, and The Washington Post.

The First Dinosaur takes readers on a sweeping journey from 168 million years ago to the present, in terms of geological time. The first chapter actually zooms in on 1676 in Oxfordshire, England, where mining workers unearth an unusual rock that looks like a leg bone, but obviously did not come from any creature then ambling around Britain. For millennia, people around the globe had explained similar fossils by conjuring up visions of giants, dragons, and other mythical creatures. What differed in this moment, in this place, with this find, was that an Oxford scholar created a meticulous illustration and scientific description of the discovery, starting the paper trail that, 200 years later, would allow scientists to introduce the public to the first known dinosaur.

While marketed for middle-grade readers, this work offers much to delight any age. Author Ian Lendler ’92 challenges modern readers to see that the wealth of knowledge, which we often take for granted, is the cumulative result of centuries of human inquiry. By tracing the chain of fossil discoveries and scientific advances that led to recognition of the Megalosaurus, Lendler opens a window into the Scientific Revolution as a whole, with its emphasis on observing, recording, hypothesizing, and experimenting to seek out universal laws of nature.

Engaging anecdotes show how groundbreaking discoveries built upon each other, spawning new disciplines of study from astronomy to anatomy, from zoology to geology. The scrapbook design style is rich in historical images, photos, maps, diagrams, and lively illustrations made especially for this book.

The text and imagery work together to bring historical settings and ideologies to life so that readers may witness the significance of each key moment. Thus, readers empathize, as well as chuckle, when old ideas fall away. For example, when the theatrical dissection of a giant shark head leads to the realization that people were wearing fossilized shark teeth – not magical dragon tongues – around their necks to ward off plagues, poxes, pustules, and bad breath.

This story is driven by scientific luminaries who are distinct personalities. Some were wealthy; others were not. Some gained fame; others did not. Some were wildly charismatic, while others were recognized as perennial grumps. Yet all had the passion, dedication, and vision to persevere in their pursuit of knowledge, despite objections from religious leaders and often general befuddlement from family and friends.

Lendler emphasizes that science is a truly human enterprise, which is driven by curiosity, imagination, and steady work.

Step-by-step, the scholars in this book piece together the understanding that the Earth’s history stretches back for eons, with a series of prehistoric animals and ecosystems dominating the planet and then going extinct. What is most impressive, Lendler points out, is that what these early scientists found often shocked themselves: “You can’t search for something if you don’t even know it exists. But for thousands of years, humans groped blindly in the dark, trying to understand what the bones underground could possibility mean. They guessed, and got things wrong and got things right, and bit by bit, they put their ideas together.” The culmination of the story is the exhibition of life-sized dinosaur models at London’s Crystal Palace, which attracted more than 2 million visitors annually, making it one of the world’s most popular tourist sites of the 1850s.

Lendler’s ninth book for young readers, The First Dinosaur has garnered well-deserved recognition as an Outstanding STEM Book from the National Science Teachers Association and as an Orbis Pictus Recommended Book from the National Council for the Teachers of English. It is a welcome narrative to introduce a reader to, or deepen a reader’s perspective on, the scientific exploration of natural history.

BULLETIN | SPRING 2020 63

Dr. Ridiculopickulopot and the Shot

By Doc Zavod ’90 | Reviewed by Miriam Cohen, M.D.

DR. RIDICULOPICKULOPOT AND THE SHOT Author: Doc Zavod ’90 Publisher: Amazon.com About the Reviewer: Dr. Miriam Cohen is the School’s physician.

As a child, Doc Zavod, now a practicing ear, nose and throat doctor and facial plastic surgeon, dreaded getting shots. Children are often frightened about going to the doctor’s office because they know that is where they receive “shots.” Despite our best efforts to mitigate the discomfort, “shots” can hurt. Even parents sometimes dread the appointments because they don’t want to see their child experience discomfort. But, vaccines are essential to good health.

Thankfully, Doc Zavod (Matthew B. Zavod, M.D. ’90) has written a book in verse with whimsical illustrations

by Orsolya Orbán to lighten the mood surrounding vaccinations.

Dr. Ridiculopickulopot is a lovable, bumbling doctor who is having a really bad day. Once he finally manages to arrive at his office, he encounters a young boy

who is very frightened of being at the doctor’s office because he may need a vaccination. Through musical verse and silly antics, Dr. Ridiculopickulopot is reminded about how difficult it can be to be a patient, and the boy moves past his anxiety and bravely faces his flu shot.

This entertaining and informative book will afford preschoolers and early grade school children and their families a means to decrease the anxiety caused by vaccinations.

A versatile musician and lyricist, Doc Zavod has also composed a theme song for the book which can be heard at www.doczavodbooks.com

Adrift in the Digital Age

By James Mehegan Ph.D. ’70 | Reviewed by James Davidson The title does not really do justice to the comprehensive nature of this helpful book. James shares many practical insights into parenting and family that he has gathered as he has worked with kids during his varied career as a clinical psychologist. He grounds the book with some basic behavioral principles that he presents in accessible language in the opening chapters. He proceeds to the vital topic of helping kids manage the realities of social media, with an emphasis on bullying and being aware of how one presents oneself in the cyber universe. His points are practical for parents as they work with their kids and

ADRIFT IN THE DIGITAL AGE: A BRIEF LOOK AT PARENTING IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM Author: James Mehegan Ph.D. ’70 Publisher: Amazon.com About the Reviewer: James Davidson is a longtime member of the history, philosophy, religion, and social sciences department.

as they feel their way through what they want for their children, particularly when their hopes do not match the desires of their kids. Luckily, he does not stop there, but ends the book with two well-crafted chapters that cover a range of critical topics – drugs today, the challenges of college, letting your kids go, and being ready for them to return home if they need to. James writes with a style that is clear and reassuring and the book is organized in a helpful structure, with distinct sub-sections within chapters that make it easy to pick up, read, put down, and return to as needed.

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END NOTE |

A Symbol of Hope b y r e v. a l ly s o n b r u n d i g e The simple science of the rainbow is profound. Clouds and rain meet sunlight at a particular angle. Water particles reflect and refract the light, bending the visible spectrum – red to violet – for us, here on earth, to see as an arc or, from air, as a circle. How incredible. No wonder this natural phenomenon holds power for so many of us now, as it has throughout history, in both secular and spiritual traditions.

In Jewish biblical tradition, the rainbow is offered in covenant to all of creation as a sign and promise that total destruction would never again occur. Christians share with their Jewish brethren the belief in the rainbow as a covenanted symbol of God’s abiding love for all humanity and all creation. In Islam, it is a safeguard.

For Buddhists, the rainbow constitutes the state of embodied light.

When asked to describe what it was like to find himself on free soil for the first time after escaping enslavement, Frederick Douglass, the 19th century abolitionist, described the experience “like the rainbow,” in that its joy defied paper and pen.

In World War I, the 42nd infantry regiment that gathered troops from across the states would call itself the Rainbow Division – it’s the same division that in World War II would liberate Dachau. In the 1960s, beginning in Italy, peace movements throughout Europe adopted the rainbow flag as their symbol.

In the 1970s, Ntozake Shange would write the powerful play for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf which she intended to celebrate the rainbow of black sisterhood and humanity. She wrote this play after she had driven beneath the arc of a double rainbow and realized, having survived several suicide attempts, that she wanted to live and had to live and love. “In that moment of seeing the double rainbow,” she later remarked, “I felt connected to the delicacy and irrepressible majesty of life.”

The rainbow flag was also embraced in the 1970s by the LGBT community when Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay people elected to public office, had asked fellow activist and drag queen Gilbert Baker to create a symbol, “something beautiful, something from us.” There’s something, indeed, beautiful, in the rainbow flag’s joyful celebration of wholeness and its invitation to be and celebrate our fully nuanced, beautiful, and intricate selves.

And, of course, the rainbow centered in the now famous song, “Over the Rainbow.”

Composer Harold Arlen, born of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, and lyricist Yip Harburg, born to poor Russian Orthodox parents who had escaped pogroms to come to the United States, together composed the song in 1938 as part of the score for the film The Wizard of Oz. Arlen was a spiritual person who saw composition as a miraculous mystery and way of breathing freedom into the world. For Harburg, too, the musical endeavor was significant “We work … in our songs, [for] a better world, a rainbow world.”

Strikingly, MGM executives cut “Over the Rainbow” from the film’s preview print three different times, citing the song’s “gloominess and intricacy,” yet it made the final cut in the end and has spoken to listeners ever since. Experts point to the way the song “leaps and circles and yearns” – with that octave leap and the refrain’s question “Why, oh why?” that leaves you hanging textually, but reaches resolution in that high C – harkening, indeed, to our complex human experience, longing, and hope. “Over the Rainbow” would win all sorts of awards and be covered by an array of artists across the globe, all who found resonance in that impossible hope and impossible peace that can and do emerge out from our very human need, fear, and longing.

The rainbows of life are sources of hope and joy available to us right smack in the midst of the rain and clouds – and even a pandemic. The late poet Maya Angelou said that we can all ”be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud,” no matter who they are. I offer this rainbow reflection to you, then, as reminder of the many rainbows of your lives, both those you have encountered and those still to be discovered, and as an invitation to consider how you might seek to be rainbows for others, not just these days of COVID-19, but all your days.

Rev. Brundige is Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life at Choate Rosemary Hall. This is adapted from a Choate Talk she gave at school meeting in 2017.

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Classnotes Profiles of Suzanne Gebelein ’75, CEO, The Great American Rain Barrel Company; Nicholas Wolff ’85, climate change scientist, The Nature Conservancy; Walter Parrs III ’95, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy in Namibia; and Tochi Onyebuchi ’05, science fiction writer and civil rights lawyer

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In Memoriam Buck Henry ’48 Remembered by Geoffrey S. Fletcher ’88

Remarks from the Head of School On Christian & Elm News about the School Alumni Association News

WHAT’S COOKING ONLINE AT CHOATE Your generosity is the key ingredient that allows Choate students to learn and thrive.

Dr. Heather York demonstrates atmospheric convection cells for students in her Global Issues in Environmental Science class.

A NEW TWIST ON A CLASSIC RECIPE This spring we are all improvising. Whether we are creating favorite family meals without the exact ingredients or recreating the vibrancy of the classroom experience online, we are all adapting our recipes. Working with new tools and utensils, some different from those in a traditional classroom, Choate teachers – masters of their craft – are connecting in meaningful ways with their students. They are making the most of exciting technologies and also pushing their students to engage with the outdoors and their communities. Faculty are indeed writing new recipes for the Choate classroom.

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Sleep in. Up early. Learn something new.

Catch up and get ahead. Why choose?

FROM SOCIAL DISTANCING TO DISTANCE LEARNING

Choate Summer Programs Online’s new mix-andmatch style programs give you the flexibility to make your best summer a reality. Classic programs, new classes, and a customizable schedule let you create the path that’s right for you!

find out more at www.choate.edu/summer

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:

A LIFETIME OF FINDING OUT A Tribute to Charles F. Dey

ALL IN THE FIGHT Alumni Doctors on the Front Lines of the Coronavirus

THE OKIES

by Louis S. Barnes II ’67