7 minute read
Our Time is Now
Jere Michael ’51 has held many different titles since his time at Episcopal: student, athlete, dancer, soldier, actor, director, choreographer, restaurateur, and oenophile, to name a few. His current title? World traveler with his beloved wife of 32 years, Holly.
While at Episcopal in the late ’40s and early ’50s, Jere was a standout football player. “From the day I got there,” he told us, “the only thing I was interested in was playing football.” On the smaller side, Jere automatically was assigned to the 130-pound team as a freshman, and he had to fight his way onto the junior varsity squad. By the end of the season, he was playing varsity as the second-string running back, and was later a part of the 1950 State Championship team. His peers wrote in the 1951 Whispers that “his graduation this year is undoubtedly a great relief to our opposition.”
After EHS, Jere matriculated at Yale University to play college football. Similar to his entry into Episcopal, he single-mindedly focused on football in the beginning of his college years. “When I arrived in New Haven, my interests revolved entirely around athletics.” He suffered a career ending ankle injury his sophomore year. Fortunately, he slowly was being exposed to other passions and possible career pursuits and soon realized that “a whole new world of culture, particularly architecture, dance, and theater, had been opened for me.” Jere began to take dance lessons on a whim during his rehabilitation and went on to have a successful career on stage as a Broadway dancer, choreographer, and director.
Originally from Athens, Ga., Jere credits Episcopal for opening his eyes to the world of academia. “I became a student at Episcopal,” Jere remembered. “And I really learned to enjoy the process.” He also says, “my schooling at EHS allowed me to get to Yale and for that I will be forever grateful.”
Like many of his peers, Jere credits English teacher William Bee Ravenel for deepening his understanding of the English language and fostering a lifelong love of learning. “Mr. Ravenel was very influential in my learning process,” Jere remembered fondly. “He helped me grow up.” Holly agrees: “His parents had great plans for all their children,” she says of their decision to send Jere to Episcopal. “It was completely transformative for him.”
After a year of dancing on Broadway post college, Jere was drafted into the army and went to basic training in Colorado with the Eighth Army Division, which ultimately was sent to Germany. He called the experience “a terrific 18-month cultural exchange program, with a little soldiering on the side.” While in Germany, he was able to travel throughout Europe on the weekends, laying the foundation for a lifetime of travel ahead.
Jere’s intellectual curiosity, which began at Episcopal, directly correlates with his love for travel and adventure. When asked why he travels, he stated simply: “I have a tremendous curiosity. It’s as easy as that. I just look at a map of the world and say, ‘Why don’t we go?’”
Jere met his perfect travel companion in Holly. They were living in Aspen, Colo. in 1980, when Jere was directing “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He ended up casting Holly as the leading lady. Ten years of dating later, Holly laughs that they “rushed to the altar” and have been married and traveling ever since.
Like Jere, Holly also served our country. She was a member of the Women’s Army Corps in Belgium in the mid-seventies, working in classified communications. “It was just a wonderful way to grow up,” she recognized of her post-grad life. “I have a very distinct memory at about seventeen, pretending I was a traveler, and that was it. How could it get any better than that?”
The Michaels bucket their adventures into two decades. From 2000-10, they mainly focused on their mutual shared interests of food and wine, and “all the history, culture, and art that goes with them.” They were able to plan these trips independently with relative ease, especially when the internet burst onto the scene. “The internet, of course, was a huge boon,” Holly said of the digital world making their research and travel booking much easier. During this time, they traveled mostly around Europe — to Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, Holland, Austria, and more. “If there was a grape growing somewhere in the world, we probably went there,” Holly said of those years.
From 2010-20, Holly and Jere got the itch to explore “more far-flung destinations,” places that aren’t as easy to navigate with just Google and Airbnbs. They began to dabble in small group travel, linking up with agencies and fellow travel-lovers. “That’s when we stepped off the ledge,” they said. During this time, they traveled to Nepal, Uzbekistan, Antarctica, Slovakia, Falklands, Peru, and Tanzania, among many others.
Jere and Holly make a good team. Holly usually takes on the planning — taking into account their shared and individual interests. They mutually decide on select cities in each country, choose how many days they want to spend at each destination and what sort of activities they each are looking for, and then Holly is off to the races.
“The other side of travel is the joy of preparing, researching, and anticipating the journey,” Holly says, “which is especially important once one retires — to have focus and drive towards a goal.” They also credit their travel itineraries for keeping them young and sharp. “Physical activity really has been the key to mental acuity.”
While the Covid-19 pandemic upended their travel plans for the past two years, the Michaels still managed to fit in some travel. They were traveling back from Antarctica on February 28, 2020, just two weeks before the world shut down almost overnight. They managed to plan a river cruise through Europe during this time as well. While on a 160-person boat with only 90 passengers and daily PCR tests, Holly and Jere discovered a slower kind of travel.
The Michaels recently participated in a Class of 1951 conference call — a quarterly occurrence that keeps the Old Boys connected to each other. They told stories from their travels, reminisced about Jere’s time at The High School, and gave advice to others on the call looking to embark on adventures of their own. If any young alumni are looking for budget friendly travel tips, Holly and Jere graciously have offered to get on the phone and share hard-earned advice and lessons. If you’re interested in being connected with them, please email communications@episcopalhighschool.org.
What’s next for the Michaels remains to be seen, but they hope to continue their travels as long as possible, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Since 2000, they have traveled to 54 countries, and they’re looking forward to checking more off their list in the coming years. Next up is a trip to Italy and the Mediterranean in the fall. After all, as they’ve always said, “Our time is now, and life is not a rehearsal. This is it.”
