far PLACES FRIENDS
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NEWS FROM FRIENDS
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s p ot l i g h t o n a l u m n i a r t
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Katherine Kiviat ’94 captured the image above of two young Afghan girls playing on an abandoned Soviet tank in Faisabad, Afghanistan on June 10, 2005.
International assignments have taken Katherine Kiviat ’94, an award-winning photojournalist, to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Oman, India, the West Bank, Gaza, and Europe. She has covered diverse subjects, including American Gypsies, Indian sex workers, the first free presidential elections in Afghanistan, the Palestinian elections that brought Hamas
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to power, Christians in Pakistan, and the internal refugees from the fighting in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. In 2007, Kiviat published her first book, Women of Courage: Intimate Stories from Afghanistan, with international television journalist, Scott Heidler. For almost three years, she based herself in Kabul, where she taught photojournalism to Afghan women and girls, and
focused her photography on the changing role of Afghan women. She currently lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with her husband, son and Afghan dog. To view more of her work, visit www.katherinekiviat.com
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[
features
]
11 | Graduation 2011
Friends in Far Places
13 | Commencement Address
21 |
Monica Witt 15 |
Educating For Global Citizenship
Class of 2011
27 |
by the Numbers
29 | The Gift of Agency
Alumni In Far Places Willie Bloomstein ’72
17 | College Destinations
31 | Back to his Roots
19 | An Examination of
Lexton Moy ’03
Faith & Practice
33 | The Lost Art of Pioneering
20 | The Teacher Learns a Lesson: Coming Out in
Abigail Calkin ’59
35 | Reunion 2011
Class
38 | Faculty Emerita: Debbie Ferretti
[
departments
]
1
| Mission Statement
39 | Class Notes
2
| A Word From Bo
60 | Tributes
3
| Opening Shots
64 | Back In The Day
9
| Buzz On 16th Street
Editor John Galayda
Director of Development Selena Shadle
Major Gifts Officer Patty Ziplow
Director of Communications John Galayda
Design Anna Pipes
Development + Special Events Manager Amanda Perlmutter
Director of Alumni Relations Katherine Farrell
Graphic Designer + Communications Assistant Anna Pipes
Photography Nancy Chomitz Mark Cristino John Galayda Johnathon Henninger Deanna Yurchuk
Director of Annual Giving Jenny Nichols
Database Manager Valerie Delaine
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OUR MISSION Friends Seminary educates students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, under the care of the New York Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Through instruction and example, students follow their curiosity and exercise their imaginations as they develop as scholars, artists and athletes. In a community that cultivates the intellect through keen observation, critical thinking and coherent expression, we strive to respond to one another, valuing the single voice as well as the effort to reach consensus. The disciplines of silence, study and service provide the matrix for growth: silence opens us to change; study helps us to know the world; service challenges us to put our values into practice. At Friends Seminary, education occurs within the context of the Quaker belief in the Inner Light – that of God in every person. “Guided by the ideals of integrity, peace, equality and simplicity, and by our commitment to diversity, we do more than prepare students for the world that is: we help them bring about the world that ought to be.”* * This last sentence is adapted from Faith and Practice: The Book of Discipline of the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (1974).
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The Society of Friends is founded in the belief that there is that of God in every person and that truth emerges as new voices are heard and incorporated in our understanding. We believe that the quality of the truths we know is enriched and deepened by welcoming people with diverse experiences of the world into our community.
DIVERSITY
We want to foster a community that addresses the challenge of valuing difference and making every individual feel welcome, supported, and safe: a community in which each person is asked to make the rigorous commitment to recognize the Light within every other, to hear that piece of truth each person brings to the continuing dialogue which is the foundation of our community. We want our daily interactions to demonstrate that maintaining respect and pursuing the hard work of understanding difference creates strength as we work to define and move toward common goals. Our mission as an educational institution is to prepare our students to participate in an increasingly interdependent world and, by graduating an increasingly diverse group of students, to help build a more effective citizenry and representative leadership for the future. We seek to develop the skills and discipline necessary to communicate effectively and to learn from a rich variety of experiences and points of view. This work is central to valuing diversity, to the purpose of education and to the Quaker ideals of integrity, peace, equality and simplicity. In a world in which people continue to suffer profound inequalities of opportunity, we dedicate ourselves to stretching what we have and are capable of: to working to become a community more representative of the city in which we live and to improving our ability to support a diverse student body. The gap between our ideals and the possible creates struggle to which we commit ourselves with energy and joy. Service is integral to Friends Seminary’s educational mission, along with the disciplines of study and silence. Our Community Service Program strives to instill a sense of stewardship of school community and respect for responsibility to our urban neighborhood and beyond. By providing opportunities within the curriculum and in other relevant activities for students to witness and understand the needs of others, we hope to prepare them for a life that includes service. Our goal is to integrate knowledge and undertaking with compassion and social responsibility. Only through reflection and understanding the need to put our values into practice will students be able to grasp the importance of the gift of caring for each other, for all humanity, and for the natural world.
SERVICE
A
Dear Friends,
WORD
As a member of the Friends community, I’m sure you are quite familiar with the last line
FROM
BO
of our mission statement: “we do more than prepare students for the world that is: we help them bring about the world that ought to be.”
While this tall order, comprised of 22 words, is often emphasized and echoed in our
communications and publications, I want to focus on a single word that carries so much
of the statement’s weight: world—a word that stirs the mind with associative words like colossal, planetary, vast and even daunting.
To prepare our students and provide them with the tools to change the world for the better,
the administration and faculty have established the Friends in Far Places program at Friends, to provide students with diverse opportunities to experience world cultures and to help
them achieve a more international perspective. This is an effort to collect current travel and services programs in a more intentional way while also exploring other such opportunities that might benefit our students.
Our vision is for all Friends students to become global citizens, who think globally while acting locally. With Friends in Far Places, and with an overhaul of our language program
that will begin next fall, we believe this is possible. Students should be leaders in resolving
the most important global challenges of our times including energy security, environmental sustainability, climate change and adaptation, food security, global health, global poverty,
and migration and immigration, just to name a few, and it is our responisibilty to prepare them.
In the following pages, you’ll read about the many globally-focused educational endeavors
our students and faculty are undertaking this year. You’ll also read about three alumni who are truly embracing the Quaker values they acquired during their time at Friends, and are now practicing them in far reaching corners of the globe.
Goods, services, finance, people and ideas cross borders every day, and Friends—in its 226th year—is proud to inspire students to broaden their horizons and transcend borders.
Let us bring the world to Friends Seminary and project the School on to the world stage. Sincerely,
Robert “Bo” Lauder Principal
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opening shots
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Experiential Education students kayak along the Hudson River in October 2011.
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opening shots
THE 2011-2012 CROSS COUNTRY TEAM CELEBRATES SUCCESS The boys placed first in the ACIS Championship Meet on October 24, while the girls placed second. Beaux Mitton ’13 and William King ’12 finished first overall in their races.
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Beaux Mitton ’13 runs in the New York State Federation Championship meet in Poughkeepsie, New York in November 2011. She finished 105th out of 299 in a field that featured the most competitive high school runners in the state.
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opening shots
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Orphaned children in Haiti enjoy soccer uniforms donated by Friends Seminary that were hand-delivered by sisters Sophie ’16 and Raina Milling ’14 during Thanksgiving weekend. Last year, the Millings, along with 80 students at Friends, raised close to $6,000 to establish a tutoring center for the children.
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Z Z BU 1
S H 6T
ON
T E E TR
partnered
aired lectured
2011-2012
JUNE 24
M AY 9
Science teacher and former department chair Fred Schubert, Ph.D. presented the 2011 Art of Teaching lecture, The Atom: A Subtle and Fruitful Idea. During the lecture, Fred explored structure, symmetry, masquerades, disease, tragedy, evolution and the all out war in the atomic and molecular domain.
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As part of their Morning Edition, NPR aired an interview between Samantha Liebman ‘94 and English teacher John Byrne. During the interview, Byrne reflected on his experience of coming out to his students in class. See page 20 for NPR’s original article on the interview or visit http://www. friendsseminary.org/storycorps to hear it for yourself.
This school year, Friends Seminary commenced its partnership with the acclaimed Vineyard Theatre. This partnership, made possible through funding from an anonymous $2 million gift to the Performing Arts Program, allows the drama and music department access to a professional performance space (including a larger stage, changing areas and even a green room). From December 2‒4, the Upper School production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It marked the inauguration, followed by the Winter Concert on December 5. The performers and the audience alike enjoyed state-of-the-art stage and professional ambiance. In 2012, the Vineyard will also host the All-School Play, a dance concert, and various concerts and recitals.
visited
AP R I L 6
AP RIL 12
Dave Isay ’83 spoke to grades seven through twelve about StoryCorps, the non-profit oral history projects he founded.
Nick Bruel ’83 visited with Linda Chu’s third graders to talk about being a children’s book author and read a yetto-be released book from his Bad Kitty series to the Lower School.
M AY 24
M AY 2 5
Erika Sommer ’88 talked to history and journalism students about her work at The New York Times, where she is Senior Editor of Newsroom Operations, giving them an insider’s view of the coverage of Osama bin Laden’s death.
David Zirin ’92 talked to Upper School students at an assembly about the interaction between sports and politics throughout history, specifically civils rights in America. Zirin has published a number of books of Mohammad Ali, and more recently John Carlos.
A PR I L 13
Michael Bachrach ’92 spoke about his work as a criminal defense attorney to Josh Silver’s (’93) eighth grade history students who were researching prison reform as part of their Freedom Movements Research Project.
SEPTEMB ER 28
Neil Blumenthal ’98 visited Middle and Upper School students to speak about the non-profit social enterprise, VisionSpring, he founded. He also discussed his vintage-inspired eyeglass company, Warby Parker, which donates a pair to someone in need for every pair sold.
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commencement
2011
On June 13, 2011
69 proud seniors graduated in the Fifteenth Street Meetinghouse
19 L I F E R S
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SPEAKERS
faculty
Eva’s speech
Eva Townes, front desk receptionist and the School’s unofficial gatekeeper, has stood watch over students as they come and go from campus over the past 16 years. Prior to the graduation ceremonies, she shared a few words with the students. The following is an excerpt of her speech.
Monica Witt, physics teacher See page 13 for her commencement address
students
“
I challenge you to give voice to the unpopular truth when others dare not speak it.
Alison Weiss
Andrew Ghalili
Cleo Gordon
I challenge you to follow your heart, to take action for a cause that you believe in when needed and/or necessary. I challenge you to hold yourselves and the company you keep to a higher standard.
Cooper McLane
Harry Pellicoro
Jared Stern
I challenge you to gain all that is good in the world and accept it with grace. I challenge you to leave these hallowed halls, to go forth and bring about the world that ought to be. And when life’s fierce winds begin to blow and it seems that defeat is eminent, remember that there is a place where you are thought of fondly and often, and come home for we will always be Friends.
”
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s p o k e n wo r d
2011
monica witt [commencement
G
address]
ood evening parents, colleagues, and the Class of 2011. I almost cannot express what an honor it is to stand before you this evening. It is a privilege to give the 225th commencement address in this hallowed room. Let me say first, congratulations to both the seniors and their parents for surviving a college application process that makes wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics look downright easy. But with as much pressure as I know all of you faced your senior year with finishing high school and selecting and applying to colleges, I want to brazenly say that writing and giving a commencement speech is about a million times as stressful. I wanted to write something funny, something pithy that you will remember in your adulthood. Something that would be repeatable, Tweetable, and authentic. What I have come up with today is based only upon my own experiences and how those experiences have brought me to a place where I feel happy and productive. I graduated high school under similar economic and political conditions to those today. In 1983 the country was sluggishly
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coming out of a recession. The unemployment rate was 9.6%; congress was being urged to balance the budget and “give backs” became an all too common term in labor/management negotiations. At the same time, like today, there were many hopeful events; millions of Filipinos marching for Marcos’ resignation, Lech Welesa fueling the fight to lift martial law in Poland and NASA sending the first women and first black man into space. In my freshman year in college, we tailgated prior to basketball games since, Villanova University didn’t have a football team. All around me I saw signs saying, “will do your taxes for a meal” or “overeducated unemployed b-ball fans” and “Class of ’84 enjoy the bread lines.” That was not what I expected. All I could think was-geez, good thing I’m in the Chemical Engineering program-which was known for 100% job placement prior to graduation. That made my parents happy, and seemed to me to be the sensible route. But that spring, second semester, I took a course called Chemical Processes and Calculations. Taught by Dr. Robert E. White. Believe
me, he was a total original … a crusty old sailor type, weaned and weathered on oil rigs in Texas. We called him the “weeder” because he found pleasure in cutting class enrollment from 100+ to 30, and the fewer girls the better. His idea of a test was to give one question … and maybe two on the days he was feeling frisky! And, did I mention … he believed in no partial credit and no curve. This meant you either got a 100%, 50% or 0%. After all if a reactor blows up on your watch do you get any partial credit for that? I ended up failing Doc White’s class not once, but twice (and FYI: my mom thought it a bad idea that I share this fact with you).I could cope with the first failure, but the second was devastating. I suddenly had thoughts like: what should I do with my life? Study mathematics and become a math teacher? I wasn’t sure, but I ended up taking several art history courses, some extra mathematics classes and running an Oxfam Hunger Awareness outreach program. Failing and derailing opened a new window for me. It gave me a bit of time to explore other sides of myself. At the end of the semester I nervously called my parents to tell them that I applied to another school’s art history program. Their disappointment was palpable. My dad responded, “Vell, good luck paying for it.” He felt that art classes and math classes were simply to help me raise my crushed grade point average. I should stick to engineering-a better job then being a math teacher and “Vhat the heck would you ever do Vith an art history degree?” Don’t get the wrong idea here. My dad is a good, solid, loving man. He’s just “old school” German practical and wanted me to have a stable, comfortable life. Flash-forward: in December of 1987 with a Chemical Engineering diploma and minors in Mathematics and Art History, I landed a job with a chemical company. Needless to say, my parents were greatly pleased. Picture me … on the late afternoon shift as an engineer intraining in West Memphis, Arkansas. The sun was setting over the surrounding soybean fields and the Mississippi River was off in the distance. It was then I experienced first-hand why Doc White was so tough on us. A 20,000-gallon exothermic chemical reaction became runaway. The operator hadn’t followed standard operating procedures. There was a sudden build up of pressure and there wasn’t any time to call for help. No cell phones, no Internet, no nothing. Sometimes safety devices need to be turned on sooner then any emergency systems can figure out. Thankfully, the plant forman saved us by opening up the valves to the cooling system and the reactor didn’t blow. But, it was far too close a call. I learned that day that Doc White was right: making calculations quickly while under extreme pressure is a skill that requires training. I called Doc White the next day and told him I had seen the light; the whole gig of process engineering was not in any way for me. Soon after I headed into the more lucrative field of chemical sales and marketing. At the tender age of 25, I took a job with a billion dollar company that sold pigments to paint, paper and plastic manufacturers. I peddled titanium dioxide (TiO2) a chemical that is used to make things white. For a while it was really cool to fly around from city to city, wine and dine folks, and play golf at places like Pebble Beach. My travels also allowed me to visit art museums and baseball stadiums around the country. But it was my interest in art history that
so impressed a paint company executive that he rewarded me with 6 million dollars worth of business. Remember, this is the art history course my dad felt would not be helpful to my future. A year and a half later I signed a 15 million dollar deal with a plastics company and a 25 million dollar deal with a paper company… Success was mine. So, there I was at age 29 with a healthy bank account and a nice tan. But, I was having doubts about this life. Then one evening I was sitting at dinner with 12 businessmen in a 4 star Michelin restaurant in Cincinnati. I looked around and it hit me, “Is this really it? Do I want to spend the rest of my life this way?” Three months later I cut my ties and took off for Tibet. My parents were truly perplexed, and again I could feel the disappointment and confusion well up in the people I had known, loved and surrounded myself with. But it didn’t matter, I traveled through Asia and the Indian subcontinent for two years. I almost died when I sailed with an Aussie across the South China Sea. We faced unexpected monsoons, but we made it through.
today is only the history of you: part one At the end of these adventures, I stopped and looked at my life. My college friends were happy with their corporate careers. It would have been easy for me to please my parents and go back to the corporate world. And I was getting many offers, but I knew this is not what I wanted to do. I needed to do something that was closer to who I really was. I moved to New York, got an apartment and took a job teaching regents algebra at a public school. After a week of teaching I was utterly hooked. Every day was a new challenge and each day I learned something new from my students. Believe it or not, I found out that teaching and working with teenagers is almost as exciting as navigating a sail boat during the monsoon. Six years later I arrived here at Friends Semimary. So what am I saying? I am not suggesting you cut ties and go to Tibet, nor am I saying that the corporate world is unfulfilling. What I think you can learn from my life story is that I found the greatest sense of satisfaction and happiness when my path followed my inner life. And believe me, it is sometimes truly a struggle to find and keep and actually do that which makes you most happy, what keeps you fresh, what keeps you delighted with who you are. But it is important to do this. At times, you might disappoint people who care for you; you might make less money or you might make more. Sometimes on your journey you find your voice and sometimes you lose it again. As you can see my path to this podium was a bit jagged but each event has proved meaningful. So to you, class of 2011, I hope your path through life will be jagged too. I hope with all my heart that you will be able to find a place where the desires, challenges and pleasures you experience inside your head can see the light of day outside. Remember, today is only the History of You: Part One. Go forth and be jagged!
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2011
numbers BY THE
Our graduates are much more than just statistics, but here’s a few interesting numbers about the Class of 2011
A P P L I C AT I O N S
of students applied early
different colleges to which seniors applied
Largest number of applications to any one college {Wesleyan University}
Average number of applications per student
ACCEPTENCES
of students admitted to their first, second or third choice college
different colleges to which seniors were admitted
Largest number of acceptances to any one college {Boston University}
of students received merit scholarships
ENROLLMENT
of students rated “fit” as the most influential factor in their enrollment decision
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Largest number of students enrolled in one college {NYU}
of the class headed off to college with at least one peer
students are attending a Quaker college
SCHOOLS
students are attending college in New England
of the class are attending college in New York State
students are attending college in the Mid-Atlantic
students headed to sunny California for college
enrollment of the smallest school students are attending {Pitzer College}
enrollment of the largest school students are attending {U. of Colorado}
schools have enrolled two or more Friends students this year { Bowdoin · Brown · Carleton · Colgate · U. of Colorado Hamilton · Haverford · Middlebury · NYU · Pitzer U. of Rhode Island · Tufts · Vassar }
69 seniors,
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c o l l e g e d e s t i n at i o n s
2011
E G E L COL
s n o i t a destin
Max Bienstock Tufts University
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Mohammed Aftisse Dartmouth College
Danielle Bennett Tufts University
Catherine Berman Carleton College
Vitto Bisin New York University
Mark Boltres Lehigh University
Brooks Borden Boston College
Charlie Burlingham Carnegie Mellon University
Andrea Cetra Sarah Lawrence College
Max Cohen Arielle Cooper University of Colorado- New York University Boulder
Andrew Creed Tulane University
Julia Daly Boston University
Carter Davis Rhode Island School of Design
Myles Davis Colgate University
Gabrielle DeBenedictus Vivian Deng University of Michigan Wesleyan University
Gabriella Dishy Northeastern University
Adam Eichen Vassar College
Phoenix Eisenberg Connecticut College
Imogen Fairbairn Pitzer College
Nick Fascitelli Brown University
Sydney Feinstein Hamilton College
Hugo Fetsco Colgate University
Julia Fitzgerald Vassar College
Lydia Fujimura Roanoke College
Natalie Garland Syracuse University
Andrew Ghalili Johns Hopkins University
Cleo Gordon Skidmore College
Anna Gudnason University of St. Andrews
Alexandra Hall Brandeis University
Quinn Harding Haverford College
Eda Herzog-Vitto University of Virginia/ Jefferson Scholar
Andrew Hinkle American University
Taylor Hodges New York University
Nicole Holobof Whitman College
Soren Hope Carleton College
Grace Huson University of Southern California
John Kallen New York University
Ellie Kiernan Hamilton College
Harry King Pitzer College
Molly Knox Bowdoin College
Amanda Maisel Bowdoin College
Domenico Marzovilla Pitzer College
Cooper McLane Trinity College
Josh Moss University of Rochester
Spencer Mossack University of Colorado- Boulder
Benjamin Oreskes Northwestern University
Ikenna Osuoha University of Rhode Island
Zane Pais Lewis & Clark College
Christol Patterson Haverford College
Harry Pellicoro Claremont McKenna College
Helen Pierson Washington University-St. Louis
Alexandra Pollak Yale University
Alexander Pouschine Princeton University
Morgan Powell Spelman College
Natalie Raymondi Southern Methodist University
Parker Saling University of Rhode Island
Miles Schuck Swarthmore College
Natasha Serrano Brooklyn College of the CUNY
Evan Shor University of Pennsylvania
Jared Stern Brown University
Macklin Stern Bates College
Emily Stuchiner Grinnell College
Travis Wantchekon Muhlenberg College
Alison Weiss Chapman University
Nora Yawitz College of Wooster
Afi Yellow-Duke Middlebury College
Harry Zieve-Cohen Middlebury College
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an examination of
Faith & Practice “For the last two and a half years, the Committee of Faith and Practice has been engaged in the creation of a Faith & Practice. We hope this document will give our community a more explicit sense of the ways in which Quaker beliefs express themselves in the context of our life together. Our intent is that it be both inspirational and aspirational.” – Pamela Wood, Quaker Liason & Faculty Emerita
What is Faith & Practice? Quakers have a long tradition of creating guides
known
as
Faith & Practice.
Historically, these have been developed by regional Yearly Meetings as a way
of explaining beliefs and practices of
the Society of Friends in that region or
country. As Friends have no formal creed, these documents may vary from place
to place although often there is more agreement than one might expect. The process of creating a Faith & Practice may
be as important as the final product. It is a time when the community reflects on its
beliefs and practices. In recent years, a few
Friends’ schools have begun to create similar documents.
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Our Process Our goal is for our process to give the community time to reflect together on the Quaker nature of the School. We began about two and a half years ago by asking the faculty to consider what might be important about the Quaker aspects of the School and what information would be helpful for people to know. There was clear agreement on the centrality of Meeting for Worship in the life of the School. A committee of six people, two faculty members, two members of the School Committee, the Quaker-in-Residence and a former parent were appointed to write the first draft of the document. Five of the six are Friends. To gain input, Quaker Liason and Emerita Pamela Wood met with most departments to discuss Quaker content and Quaker process within the different disciplines.
Our Progress The document, now in its second draft, includes explanations of traditional Friends’ testimonies, such as Integrity and Simplicity as part of the Faith section. We identified practices that we felt exemplified Friends’ testimonies in action in the School, such as Service and Respect for Diversity. Both teachers and students throughout the school have developed queries that will be included. It was our hope that these discussions engendered reflection and that the queries will be an important component of the text. A questionnaire for parents was sent out so that the Faith & Practice Committee may gain some insight into the parent perspectives on their children’s experiences. We have presented our draft to the faculty, staff and administration for feedback. There were requests for a more extensive glossary of Quaker terms and concepts. The School Committee will have opportunities to give feedback shortly and the committee is responsible for the approval of the final document. EXAMPLE QUERIES
“How do we know when to stand up for something we believe in?” generated in a Lower School classroom
“How can a simple act of kindness contribute to the world at large? generated in a Middle School advisory
As a high school teacher at Friends Seminary in New York, John Byrne has taught hundreds of students. Recently, he spoke with a former student, Samantha Liebman, about the years before he became the teacher he is today. For one thing, his classrooms were very regimented. “I would make the kids line up before they came into class,” he says, “and then they would stand by their desks and I would say, ‘You may sit down when I sit down.’ They said, ‘Good morning, Mr. Byrne.’ “I was very strict, because I was afraid the kids would discover I was gay,” he says. Byrne, 56, taught English, a subject that proved to be a minefield for a teacher who was trying desperately to keep a secret from his students. As he recalls, “some gay scene or character would come up, and I would start to blush.”
TH E T E ACH E R LEA R N S A L ESS O N coming out in class
On June 24, 2011, the Morning Edition on National Public Radio aired the StoryCorps interview between teacher John Byrne and his former student, Sami Liebman ’94. To listen to the interview that aired, along with other Friends interviews, visit www.friendsseminary.org/storycorps.
Pubished on NPR.com June 24, 2011
He was always frightened, Byrne says. But then, in 1991, “I decided to march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade,” he says. “Because they refused to let the gays march, and I thought, ‘I’ve got to take a stand.’ I just wanted to be myself. So I went and marched with them.” Back in class the day after the parade, Byrne’s tenth grade students wanted to know how he had spent the day. Teasing their teacher, they accused him of going out and getting drunk. “I said, ‘I was not!’” he recalls. He told them, “I was marching in the parade.” That led to the next question: Who had Mr. Byrne marched with? “And I said, ‘With the Irish Gay and Lesbian Organization.’ And they said, ‘Well, why were you marching with them?’ and I said, ‘Because I’m gay!’ And they were so kind. They saw that I was nervous, and they helped me along,” he says. That day changed Byrne’s life, and his career. He says it made him a better teacher. “You know, it had hurt me to live in the shadows,” he says. “And then when I came out, it freed me to teach. It made me better at helping kids who had their own particular secrets.” And the students repaid him for his trust, as well. “Two years later, that class that I came out to, they asked me to be their graduation speaker,” Byrne says. “And I talked to the parents about how proud they should be of their children, for having taught me and helped me through a really difficult time in my life. It was a wonderful turning point.”
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HOW FRIENDS
IMPACTED
ME
“Friends discreetly and almost mysteriously made me socially, mentally,
NICOLE HOLOBOFF ’11 freshman at Whitman College
Your support ensures that the tradition of a Friends Seminary education continues for students today. Make a gift today at www.friendsseminary.org/give
or contact the alumni office about volunteer opportunities at kfarrell@friendsseminary.org
and academically prepared for college. I can’t quite pin-point when it happened, but at some point during my time at Friends I became ready for the next step. While you’re there you don’t see the changes and transitions happening but they are. And then you get to college and things aren’t scary. You’ve been ready the whole time. I never thought I would be grateful for the stubborn and unyielding ways of the English department, who give out A’s like they’re the last water bottle in a drought. But I am. When things aren’t handed to you freely, you learn what it means to learn.”
FRIENDS FUTURE
FOR THE
“Having spent my working life as a teacher, I
CARL PIKE ’62
value education highly. I credit the education I
Professor of Biology at Franklin & Marshall College
received at Friends for providing an excellent
For more information on
foundation in all subjects. I chose to include
making a planned gift, please
Friends in my estate plan so that future
contact Selena Shadle,
generations of young people from diverse
Director of Development 212.979.5035 ext. 180 sshadle@friendsseminary.org
communities can share the same opportunity that I experienced.”
If you have made a provision for Friends in your estate plans, please share this information
FRIENDS FOR THE FUTURE, our
their generosity provides a source
with us so that your generosity
Planned Giving Society, honors
of income which the School can
can be acknowledged.
those members of our community,
depend upon and use to plan for
like Carl, who have arranged to
generations ahead.
support Friends Seminary through a planned or estate gift. These
We hope you will consider Friends
donors have helped provide for the
when writing your estate plan.
School’s future through a variety
In so doing, you know your gift
of gift planning vehicles including
will be stewarded carefully and
bequest intentions, testamentary
responsibly by a School steeped
trusts, gifts of real estate, and
in Quaker values with a 225 year
other deferred gifts. Their vision
history of offering students a
and wisdom extend beyond the
unique and exceptional education.
immediate needs of the School, and
educating for
L A B GLO citizenship
Although a wrought-iron fence surrounds much of our 16th Street campus,
Friends has
never thought of itself
as a gated community.
We encourage students, faculty, and staff to
participate in and shape our complex and changing world.
Friends believes that such preparation is most
effective when the outside world is not held
at bay. This same principle holds true as
Friends establishes a global program that is both “in
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and of the city” and
“in and of the world.”
global on campus LANGUAGES Friends Seminary’s mission calls for preparing students for today’s diverse world, as well as helping them bring about a world that ought to be—not a small task by any means. But, to educate the next generation of global leaders, Friends must first teach students how to speak the language of the world that they wish to change. Exposure to French and Spanish begins in the Lower School at Friends through cooking, singing, reading, and many other enrichment activities that train children’s ears and opens them up to cultural diversity. In the Middle School, students are introduced to Latin, which is mandatory, along with the study of either French or Spanish. By ninth grade, students will have completed the equivalent of two years of high school French or Spanish. In the Upper School, French, Spanish, Latin, and Arabic are offered. Friends’ Arabic language program, heralded in The New York Times in 2008 and 2010, and the forthcoming addition of a Mandarin program in 2012, provides instruction on two of the world’s most relevant languages today. To further adapt to the dynamic shifts in language trends and to reexamine the current language curriculum, Friends has established a Language Working Group comprised of faculty members representing the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. For the past year, this group, which is co-clerked by Academic Dean Karen Jernigan and Language Department Chair Micah Morris, has been busy creating recommendations through community feedback. Jernigan said recommendations to increase the Upper School language requirement from two years to three, or possibly four, are being discussed. This proposed requirement increase would not affect many students as 83% of current students are already studying a language
for four years. Furthermore, 32 Upper School students are currently studying two languages at the same time. “Our students understand that the world is very complex and interdependent,” Morris said, “and the Working Group’s proposals support programmatic initiatives that will increase our students’ awareness of and direct participation in multiple languages that not only include modern and classical languages, but relevant languages of today’s world.” The Language Working Group will submit its final recommendations to the administration in early 2012.
CURRICULAR + EXTRACURRICULAR PROJECTS
In addition to its robust language program, Friends has established a wide range of initiatives both in the United States and abroad to facilitate the exchange of knowledge across international boundaries and prepare students to live in a globally interconnected world. Currently this academic year, the School offers four international study abroad locations, fully staffed trips to three countries, several service learning projects and partnerships with some of the world’s most relevant non-profit organizations, prestigious universities, and exciting exchange programs. The following are just few of the globally-focused educational endeavors our students and faculty are attending this school year. Model United Nations Students in Pamela Boehm’s International Relations Class participated in Brown University’s fifteenth annual Simulation of United Nations this past November. Fifteen Upper School students at Friends, acting as delegates representing modern African nations, worked with approximately 800 other students in 35 subcommittees. During the three-day event at Brown, students aggressively debated and negotiated in a United Nations-type setting in hopes of achieving international resolutions of some of the world’s most complicated problems.
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Millennium Development Project to End Poverty Ninth graders in Jaime Lieberman’s and Dana Krein’s World History classes are participating in a global service learning initiative that is designed to eradicate poverty by 2015. This is the historic promise that 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they agreed to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight goals are a commitment to work together to build a safer, more prosperous and equitable world. The goals range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education. By participating in the project, students are learning about the global poverty crisis and its impact on the lives of millions of people. Students are also learning about the global efforts to eradicate poverty and are working together to raise awareness of this issue within the Friends community, and to find ways to make a meaningful local contribution to the global effort. In connection with this project, the ninth graders are communicating via Skype and email with students from the Mansoman Secondary 23 | n f f
School in Manso Atwere, Ghana. Manso Atwere is one of the 79 Millennium Villages supported by a project supported through Earth Institute at Columbia University. The Millennium Villages project offers a bold, innovative model for helping rural African communities lift themselves out of extreme poverty. The Millennium Villages themselves are proving that by fighting poverty at the village level through community-led development, rural Africa can achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and escape from the poverty trap. By applying this scalable model to give them a hand up, not a hand out, people of this generation can get on the ladder of development and start climbing on their own. Meeting Places: Reflections on a Sense of Place Drawing inspiration from a faculty trip last winter to the Jordan River Valley in the Middle East, a small group of teachers have created a joint oral history and photography project with the Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank to explore the meaning of place and home in both communities. An Upper School oral history project is woven into the language, history and experiential education curricula this year. Students at
Friends are recording interviews of each other as they reflect on the culture, geography and environment of New York City. In March, 19 students and six faculty/staff members will travel to Ramallah to present the Upper School interviews and to launch the project at the Ramallah School. The archives of the Palestinian interviews will be managed through a shared website and will be present to both communities at the end of the school year. Second graders are also participating in the Meeting Places project through photography. Students are photographing aspects of life in New York to share with the Ramallah community. Upper School photography students are working with the second graders in editing and compiling their images so they can be shared with the Ramallah students during the trip in March. The Palestinian students will then photograph their community and images from both New York and Ramallah will be presented online. The project is named Meeting Places to honor the Quaker tradition of Meeting for Worship and to describe the goal of the project, which is to meet another community. If this project is successful, Friends is looking to invite other Quaker communities in such places as Japan, Costa Rica, and Tasmania, to participate in a similar exchange. Library Programs Director of Library Services at Friends Constance Vidor, who also serves as the State Ambassador for the International Board on Books for the Young, opens students up to the spectrum of human experience through books about children coping with war, poverty, or just living completely different lifestyles. This year, students were offered a rare, vivid and personal glimpse of Brazilian street life when Roger Mello, Brasilia native, writer and illustrator, visited Friends to present his picture books (written in Portuguese and unavailable in the US.) Beyond learning through books, students learn about the world by examining the literacy rates of children around the world.
make a difference. Students, alarmed to learn that over 300 million children around the world do not own a single pair of shoes, decided to partner with Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization that is working to change these alarming statistics. The students designed a shoe drive campaign that had a literacy component that helped teach younger students about this issue. They used a children’s book, New Old Shoes, to help raise awareness in the Lower School. Students also designed a digital media campaign that was showcased in the Middle School assemblies and on the flat screen hallway monitor in the School’s main lobby. Their efforts paid off, as they inspired many from the Friends Seminary community to get involved. Over 780 pairs of gently-used shoes were donated. As the students sorted and packed these shoes for shipment, the seventh graders imagined the many different faces that would light up as they received their first pair of shoes. Middle Eastern Club The Middle Eastern Club, organized by Arabic teacher Anna Swank Bothwell, is in its second year. The student club currently has 14 Upper School members and is busy this year with facilitating the Meeting Places project partnership with the Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank. During the 2010-2011 school year, the club held an Arabic film festival fundraiser at Friends and collected $2,000, which was awarded as a scholarship to a deserving student attending the Ramallah Friends School.
Eating Our Way Around the World While Friends’ organic dining service Flik is known for their dedication to providing local organic food, they are equally as ambitious when it comes to keeping a worldly attitude to cuisine. Each month, Flik selects a different country for their “Food Focus” around which they center their lunch menus. Lower Schoolers learn about the different cultures as they sample their food, and keep track of their culinary travels by decorating passports.
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Wajari Sandals Seventh grade art students, inspired by the resourcefulness of the Waraji villagers of Japan, followed their traditional technique for making straw sandals. During the project, students began to wonder about the number of adults and children who are shoeless in today’s world. Their teacher, Andrea Aimi, and the Director of Service Learning and Public Purpose at Friends, Leitzel Schoen, encouraged the students to find out more and consider ways that they might
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[1 & 2]Students reading Arabic [3 & 4] Seventh graders learn how to make Wajari sandals.
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voyages abroad
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SCHOOL YEAR ABROAD
SUMMER OF SERVICE
Each year, a maximum of four juniors and seniors in good standing embark on their own independent adventures in their choice of four different foreign countries: Spain, France, Italy or China. In the School Year Abroad program, students learn the local language and stay with a host family to learn the culture from the inside out. They also travel within their country for school-led trips relating to their curriculum. Last year, Sally Rabinowitz ’12 studied in Virturbo, Italy. Reflecting on her year abroad, she says, “honestly, so far, it was one of the best years of my life and I am so happy that I went. Before leaving I was incredibly nervous, but I soon learned that there was nothing to be nervous about! It was an amazing experience and program and although it could be stressful at times (including learning a new language), it always paid off. In risk of being clichè I really did become more independent and more self-confident.” This year Kevin Ensuncho ’13 is also studying in Viturbo and Simone Fillion-Raff ’13 is studying in Rennes, France.
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Students are given the option to fulfill their yearly service requirements by volunteering a minimum of 40 hours to an organization or cause of their choice during the summer break. The proposals, which must be approved by the Director of Service Learning, take students to many international destinations. (Students and their families are responsible for funding international trips.) During the summer of 2011, student service projects include trips to Ghana, Nepal, Costa Rica, and Dominica. It is also important to note that many students opt to fulfill their service requirement locally in New York City, working with food banks, health clinics, and other partnering organizations. The following is a sampling of three Summer of Service trips in 2011: Nepal Zoe Gaffney ’12 and brother Jack Gaffney ’10 volunteered at Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in Surkhet, Nepal this past summer, where they taught English, coached soccer, schooled the kids in Friends-style dodge ball and immersed themselves in the local community. Founded by Maggie Doyne, Kopila is a home, school and community base to over 250 orphans, street children, child laborers and abused children. At the end of the summer, Jack and Zoe met up with Friends Seminary science teacher Monica Witt and the children of Ghar Sita Mutu, a home for destitute children and women’s training center in Kathmandu that Monica has been involved with for ten years. “My time volunteering in Nepal was not only some of the hardest work I’ve done,” Zoe said, “but it really opened my eyes to completely different lives than those of anyone I’d every met before.” [5] Student snorkles in the Bahamas [6] Sally Rabinowitz ’12 gives a Latin presentation in Sicily [7] Christel Johnson and students contemplate Rome’s masterpieces.
Ghana Max Friedlich ’13 spent 10 days building a schoolhouse in Goviefe Kowu, Ghana, where he helped mix cement by hand, build a foundation, paint, and carry cinderblocks down a mountain. When finished, there was a fully erect and painted school building with two classrooms. Max also taught two days of eighth grade biology to students ranging in age from 13 to 27. During his time in Ghana, Max lived as a member of a Ghanaian family for 14 days in the village of Akosombo. “The most rewarding part of the service for me,” Max said, “was getting a chance to connect with the people of the village. My trip has inspired me to devote more of my time, and possibly my career, to service.” Dominica Lindsey Feinstein ’14 traveled to Dominica in the Caribbean and worked with a local library planning and teaching an ecology summer program for grade school students. She also worked with visiting Northwestern University students and local youth from Portsmouth in the cleaning of artifacts from an archaeological dig site. Next, she traveled to the town of Castle Bruce, where under the direction of the local Parliamentary representative, she joined students in the painting of an elderly woman’s house and assisted a Peace Corps volunteer in teaching the local youth about natural disaster awareness, health and nutrition.
MARCH 2011 TRIPS Each March, Friends offers an average of three international trip options during spring break. Faculty and staff supervise the trips, and an average of 15-20 spots for the trips are filled on a first-come firstserve basis. Each student must cover the trip cost, however financial aid is available. Israel and the West Bank Nineteen students and six faculty and staff chaperones will visit Israel and the West Bank, and will stay with families from the Ramallah Friends School community. For the majority of the trip, students will be attending the Friends school daily to work with the Ramallah students on Meeting Places, a joint oral history and photography project. Students will also visit Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jericho, Nablus, and Jaffa. Modern and Classical Rome As part of the Modern and Classical languages program, Christel Johnson will lead a group of Latin students on a trip to Rome. The students will stay in an apartment in the city center and explore the ancient streets and culture, and visit the Forum, Colosseum, the Vatican City and ancient baths. Bahamas The Experiential Education and Science Departments are teaming up to bring students to the Bahamas to assist graduate students in researching environmental and sustainability issues at the Cape Eleuthera Institute. Of course, when not researching, they make the most of their island time by snorkeling, kayaking, taking overnight camping trips, and scuba diving.
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9 [8] Zoe Gaffney ’12 and brother Jack Gaffney ’10 with their students in Surkhet, Nepal [9] Lindsay Feinstein ’14 (back, right corner) with students in Dominica [10] Max Friedlich ’13 has a laugh with young Ghanians.
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Each June, when Friends graduates exit the Meetinghouse following commencement exercises and re-enter the world as adults, many embark on adventures that bring them far, far away from the schoolhouse on 16th Street. Many stay in the northeast, while others move south or west. And for a few, exotic lands in the far corners of the world beckon them. The following are the stories of three alumni who decided to live and work abroad—a small sampling of our globetrotting alumni.
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far PLACES ALUMNI
IN
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agency the gift of
Willie Bloomstein ’72 started the Turimiquire Foundation to help families in a remote Venezuelan rainforest.
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TURIMIQUIRE VALLEY, VENEZUELA
i
n the early 1980s, William “Willie” Witt Bloomstein ’72 found himself living on an organic fruit farm with no electricity and no running water in a remote Venezuelan rainforest—a four-hour-hike from the nearest road. He was in love—in love with the exotic land and its people—so much so, he co-founded a non-profit foundation that has transformed the lives of more than 70,000 low-income women and families in that remote rainforest.
brother and I devote our efforts to helping the poorest of the poor.”
The Turimiquire Foundation, started by Willie, his brother, Steven, and friend Bob Albert, provides access to basic services that many take for granted: the ability to control one’s fertility and educate one’s children.
“I went down to visit and I instantly fell in love with the land and its people,” Willie said. “Sucre is a region known for its beautiful weather, passionate people, Caribbean beaches, and gorgeous mountains—the Turimiquire mountain range.”
The Foundation’s primary focus is on lowincome women and families—providing safe, reliable family planning and reproductive health services so that women can control their fertility. The Foundation also provides sex education workshops for the exploding teen population to help them avoid premature pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. “We believe family planning is the first line of defense to help families climb out of poverty,” Willie said. “Our secondary focus is on education. We are proud of our role in reviving the public education system in the valley. This is the second line of defense for defeating poverty.” Growing up in New York City, Willie attended Friends Seminary, along with his younger brother, Alex ’74. Steven, the oldest brother, attended school in Boston. The boys’ father, Charles Bloomstein, was a lifelong Quaker, pacifist, civil rights activist, and was very active in the New York Friends Group on multiple levels—programs, operations, etc. The New York Friends Group (1958-1997) was a funding agency, which granted financial aid to U.S. peace and anti-nuclear groups. “I have countless memories of dinner parties with civil rights leaders like Bayard Rustin— these amazing thinkers sitting around our table, talking about the Quaker tradition and its role in modern political activism,” Willie said. “It is in my father’s name that my
After attending Humboldt State University and graduate school at University of California—Santa Barbara, Willie worked for the city of Santa Barbara. In 1982, Willie planned a trip to Venezuela to visit Steven and Bob, who had settled in the state of Sucre on the eastern coast to start an organic fruit farm.
In the following years, Willie, Steven, and Bob began helping their local farmworker friends informally with basic literacy lessons, medical supplies, and other assistance as requested. “These are the poorest of the poor, subsistence farmers living day-to-day, so whatever we could do was hugely appreciated,” Willie said. “And the results were palpable.” Word soon spread to neighboring rural valleys and the urbanizing barrios of nearby towns, and demand grew quickly for their modest services. In the mid-1990s, they realized that the project had so outsized them-and the positive results were so quantifiable-that there was only one thing to do: formalize their assistance and see if others outside of their circle might want to support their efforts. The Turimiquire Foundation was incorporated in the state of Massachusetts in 1996. Willie is proud to say that over the past 14 years, an average of 92-94 cents of every dollar has gone directly into the field. All officers and board members donate their time, and no one takes compensation of any kind. “Our donors are blown away by how far their contributions can go towards changing lives. This focus on efficacy comes out of my years at Friends, where I remember all too well how my feet were held to the fire. Not a dollar is wasted-and not a minute is wasted-
if I can help it. Our supporters love it!” Willie, who also has his own creative marketing agency, said that running a nonprofit in the less developed world is not for the weak-hearted. Neither is working with a CEO to get inside her/his head to understand their vision and help them execute on it. Both require great instincts, an appetite for moving fast, and an unwavering passion to do the right thing. Willie says that it’s all worth it. “The most rewarding experience is watching a teenage girl journey into adulthood without the burden of having had multiple children way too young. Watching her go off to high school as the first person in her rural family to get a high school diploma (rather than being mired in an endless cycle of child-rearing and poverty). Seeing her graduate and tackle the challenge of getting into the local college— an idea simply unfathomable in the valley just 15 years ago. And knowing Turimiquire helped in her journey.” And Willie credits Friends Seminary as being seminal in his personal growth. “Two big takeaways from Friends: first, the joys of being personally involved in philanthropy in whatever form it may take (the helping of others), and two, the need to be accountable for how your actions impact others (the efficacy of your contribution). Both of these have played directly into the Turimiquire Foundation.” No one more than Friends teacher Phil Schwartz, Willie said, taught the importance of accountability to him. “Phil would look you in the eye and force you to examine your work for what it was. Not what you wanted or hoped it would be, but what it actually was. A huge lesson.” William invites all Friends alumni to join the Foundation’s community of supporters. To learn more about the Turimiquire Foundation or to contribute, visit www.turimiquire.org. Today, Willie lives in Cambridge, Mass., where the Foundation is headquartered. He also runs Witt Creative (www.wittcreative. com), a boutique creative marketing agency. f all + w inte r 2 0 1 1 | 3 0
BACK TO HIS
ROOTS Lexton Moy ’03 uses his love of soccer to explore China and the Philippines, and help children find their own passion for sports.
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rom the crowded playing fields in New York City to the manicured pitch at Long Island University to fan-filled professional stadiums in China and the Philippines, Lexton Moy ’03 has used his love of soccer to traverse cultures around the globe—fitting for a man who has always had an interesting relationship with his cultural identity. Raised by a Chinese father and Filipino mother, Lexton grew up in Manhattan’s Chinatown. His father, Way, taught him how to play soccer, and his skill and passion for the sport blossomed at Friends Seminary. During his playing days at Friends under head coach Warren Salandy, Lexton was an Independent School Athletic League all-conference selection in 2000, 2001 and 2002. “In my 12 years of coaching at Friends, I have never had a player more focused and disciplined than Lex,” Warren said. “And when your best player is also your hardest worker that quality becomes infectious. He was our inspirational leader during those formidable years and his accomplishments hold credence to the saying, you reap what you sow.” Following Friends, Lexton continued playing soccer at Rutgers and then Long Island University, where he was awarded LIU’s Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2008 for his performance on the field and in the classroom; Lexton graduated summa cum laude from LIU with a Bachelors of Science in Physical Education. “I went to Hong Kong in the summer of 2009 seeking trials with a few clubs,” Lexton said. “Being that I am half Chinese and I speak Cantonese, I figured Hong Kong would be a good fit and I could revisit my family heritage.” Although socially-captivating and interesting, Lexton said his American-born Chinese status really hurt his playing opportunity in China. “My foreigner status became an issue when teams looked to sign me, he said. “Since I was an American citizen, I would have to sign as a
foreign player. Unfortunately, the league only sanctions eight foreign players per team and only five can play in each game.” Following tryouts with several teams, Lexton found a home with Tai Chung, a new team with spots available for foreign players. Lexton soon found that his more complex identity was an asset to the team. Fluent in Cantonese, he became the team translator for the coach and the English-speaking players. His insider/outsider status positioned him as the perfect liaison between teammates of different nationalities as well as the liaison between Tai Chung and the media. He also took on the responsibility of running the team’s website, establishing him as the voice of the team. After returning to New York City following the completion of Tai Chung’s 2009-2010 season, an urgent desire to explore the other half of his heritage beckoned him. Again, he packed up for Asia to play soccer, but this time in the Philippines. Although he was always connected to Filipino culture through his mother, he was raised with a more dominant Chinese awareness attending a Chinese school as a young child and speaking Cantonese at home with his family. His goal in coming to the Philippines was to embrace a culture that was truly foreign to him. He desired to learn, experience and embrace the Filipino language and tradition.
and lifestyle. “I feel Friends has definitely instilled a great sense of commitment to social responsibility that I cherish and value greatly,” Lexton said. “I always hold Friends close to my heart as the values have really allowed me to broaden my views and take me to new heights in my career.” “Playing internationally was the only option for me. To stay local and not experience other parts of the world using my profession would only go against what I was shown, what I have learned and what had been instilled in me. I am glad that my diverse family values, as a Chinese-Filipino American, coincided with Friends’ values creating a combination that would propel me to seek possibilities beyond my immediate surrounding.” To read more about Lexton and his charity work with the Fair Play For All Foundation, visit his website, www.soccerpirrs.com, and click on “charity.”
MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Today, Lexton plays midfielder for Kaya FC in the United Football League, and also plays for the Philippines National Team in Manila, the country’s capital. The Philippines are relatively new to the soccer world; however, both teams have attracted passionate fans. Much more than a profession, playing soccer has become a means of creating self-identity for Lexton. Through reaching out to children who don’t ordinarily have the opportunity to play, Lexton said he could help others to cultivate a similar sense of self. He coaches children as a part of the Fair-play For All Foundation (FFA) which brings together children from Payatas, Manila’s garbage dumpsite, to play soccer, build relationships and learn to become passionate about something despite their difficult background f all + w inte r 2 0 1 1 | 3 2
Abigail’s two-story home built with lumber milled from nearby spruce trees.
From an aluminum boat in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, Abigail harvests kelp to make pickles for her family.
art THE LOST
OF PIONEERING
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To watch a short video tour of Abigail’s home in Gustavus, Alaska, visit www.friendsseminary.org/gustavus.
Abigail Calkin ’59 finds inspiration in the rugged simplicity of rural Alaska.
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or most, their first glimpse of Gustavus, Alaska is a small asphalt landing strip etched into a patch of fresh earth—so fresh that the town’s land was still covered by a retreating glacier when Friends Seminary opened its doors in 1786. Once their small plane— usually by way of Juneau—breaks the lowlying clouds that seem to perpetually blanket the sleepy little town, they’ve entered a surreal world of wilderness and wonderment. Gustavus, a town bordered by the cold ocean waters, daunting glaciers, and vast ice fields, is home to roughly 350 year-round residents, veteran practitioners in the lost art of pioneering. One of those residents is Friends Seminary Class of 1959 alumna Abigail Calkin, a birthright Quaker who moved to Gustavus in 1997. “The most silent meetings I ever attended were outdoors in Gustavus,” Abigail said referring to her intimate Meeting for Worship gatherings with another Quaker resident in Gustavus. “I now realize it was the search for inner peace that led me to a place as lovely and remote as Gustavus and Glacier Bay.” Calkin said Gustavus’ rough, but beautiful terrain, also provides the perfect backdrop for her to practice her passion—the art of writing. She is the author of several novels, educational books, articles and poems, and just finished her latest book, The Night Orion Fell: A Survival Story. It is of no coincidence that the theme of survival is a central theme in many of Abigail’s writings. “Life here can be primitive at times,” Abigail said. “We spent the first four years drawing water from our outdoor hand pump and 13 years with an outhouse. I like that because two-thirds of the planet’s people live without running water. It puts us in touch with how most of the rest of the world lives—simple and basic.” Gustavus, in many ways, is the embodiment of simplicity: one paved road, one gas station, one small school, one coffee shop, one general store, and one restaurant (actually two if you
count the small canteen near the airstrip that keeps nimble hours). But then again, the simple life in Alaska can quickly turn not so simple when Mother Nature complicates transportation and communications, and even basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Besides intermittent air travel, a ferry service, which was established just this past summer,
Prior to adulthood, Abigail said her years at Friends provided her with an atmosphere of inner peace amongst the chaos of the city. “As seniors, we studied on the benches upstairs in the Meetinghouse,” Abigail recalled. “There I felt my soul expand and I probably focused as much on that as I did on the history book in my lap. That, First Day
The most silent meetings I ever attended were outdoors in Gustavus. runs sparingly (once a week) during most of the year due to a smaller number of passengers and rough seas. Law enforcement resides 50 miles east in Juneau and state troopers must fly in if assistance in Gustavus is needed. Postal service can be sporadic due to no-fly conditions and it’s commonplace for mail to be halted for up to five days at a time. And, electricity to the 28-square mile community is all in the hands of a small hydroelectric company, owned by the same man who owns the gas station. But dealing with these unpredictable elements is par for the course; Abigail and her husband, Robert, visited the land, experienced the lifestyle, and instantly fell in love with it. Today, they live in a two-floor house built by their son, Seth, using wood from the towering spruce trees that surround the house. Sprawling green moss (when snow isn’t around) carpets the forest floor around the house, while trails forged by brown bear and moose zigzag the property. On most days, you can find Abigail either writing, gardening, kayaking, camping, or shooing away bears (from a safe distance) from her garden.
Meeting, and museums on weekends were my escape from the confines of pavement and tall buildings.” After moving to Gustavus, Abigail said that she thought that she’d miss the museums and concerts. “What I learned soon after arrival,” Abigail said, “is that art is the aurora borealis, the ocean’s phosphorescence, a bear’s shoulders as he swims a river or routs for mushrooms outside my window, the path of the moon in the winter sky, swans as they winter in the muskeg. I’d have never learned the source of the arts if I hadn’t left cities and chosen to live remotely. One night camped near an eagles’ nest, I was awakened to the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Who knew that those notes came from the cry of an eagle?” To learn more about Abigail and her writings, visit her website at www.abigailbcalkin.com.
This adventurous and pioneering spirit started early in Abigail’s life. In 1965, Abigail set up the first learning disabilities classroom in Oregon. Prior to her move from the lower 48 states, she worked as a faculty member at Western Oregon College, a school psychologist, and a public school principal.
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reunion! On May 21, 2011, alumni spanning seven decades returned to 16th Street to reunite with classmates, teachers and staff. Here’s a list of activities from that day.
THE GO GAME After a spirited gathering in the Outer Courtyard, alumni participated in The Go Game, a technology-fueled urban game that weaves together actors, creative stunts, trivia and location-based clues. The activity was led by Finn Kelly ’91, creator and founder of the game.Visit www.thegogame.com for more information.
BACK IN THE CLASSROOMS Following the game, alumni and their families took to the classrooms for facultyled seminars. Judy Adams Anderson ’66 led Children’s Story Time, Phil Schwartz led Marathon: More Than Just a Race?, Fred Schubert led Distance Learning: How a Class at Friends is Taught From New Hampshire, and Charlie Blank led The Present Now Will Later Be Past: Evolving Political Views From Your Graduation to 2011. Above: John Byrne and Johnathan Bender ’86 embrace during reunion.
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REUNION 2011
LUNCHING AND LISTENING For lunch, alumni enjoyed a barbeque in the Outer Courtyard while performing arts teacher Bob Rosen and the student Jazz ensemble entertained them. After lunch, alumni moved into the Meetinghouse for the Faculty/Staff Emeritus Ceremony and Meeting for Worship. Physical Education teacher Warren Salandy paid tribute to his colleague, Debbie Ferretti, the year’s Emeritus recipient and recent retiree. See page 38 for more on the emeritus ceremony. ALUMNI GALLERY Throughout the day, current students led tours of the School, including a visit to the Rosenquist Gallery showcasing the talents of alumni artists Richard Wedeen ’51, Stephen Chinlund ’51, Jordan Doner ’86, McKendree Key ’96, Doria Santlofer ’01, Eliza Koch ’06 and Penn Sultan ’06. The curatorial prowess of Sabrina Blaichman ’05, Caroline Copley ’05, Andrea Crane ’86, Genevieve Hudson-Price ’05, Jordan Doner ’86, Akaash Mehta ’01 and Martina Yamin, parent of ’83 and ’85 alumni, brought this unique show together. STORYCORPS This year, for the first time ever, alumni had the opportunity to participate in an oral history project organized through a partnership with StoryCorps, a nonprofit founded by Dave Isay ’83 which provides Americans with the chance to record, share and preserve their stories. Assisted by a professional recording crew, reunion attendees interviewed one another and relived memories. The conversation between English teacher John Byrne and his past student Samantha Liebman ’94 was aired on NPR’s Morning Edition on June 24, 2011. See page 20 for that story. Visit www.friendsseminary. org/storycorps to listen to excerpts from the 40-minute conversations recorded thus far. WRAPPING UP Reunion festivities concluded with cocktails at Brother Jimmy’s BBQ on East 16th Street, along with several individual reunion class gatherings throughout the weekend.
Class of 1991: Lee Shapiro, Nick Testa, Dave Sellars, Oliver Freundlich
REUNION CHAIRS
Karen Jernigan, Dorothy Sandler Meyer ’94 and Raoul Meyer ’88
Phil Schwartz and faculty emeritus Paul Poet
Tomas Rua ’06 catches up with classmate at the Reunion Luncheon.
1946
Stuart Robinson
1951
Linda Frankel Cahill
Stephen Chinlund
Richard Wedeen
1961
Barbara Hertz Burr
1966
Judith Adams Anderson
Stephen Shriver
1971
Mindy Fischer
Laura Ward
1976
Suzanne Telsey Bennett
Emily Hubley
William Webb
1981
Elizabeth Powell Gorai
Victoria Masi Pryor
1986
Schuyler Allen-Kalb
Rachel Shapiro Axinn
Matthew Breitman
Nathaniel Caldwell
Andrea Crane
Lida Moore Musso
Nancy Burkhardt Pelton
Larissa Thomson
Everett Ware
1991
Finnegan Kelly
Aara Kupris Menzi
Joy Rivera
Tristen Gottlieb Sturm
1996
Eric Jelin
2001
Ashley Herriman
Andrew Ousley
Joanna Shapiro
2006
Cory López
Cameron McCully
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REUNION 2011 Rachel Dorin Jones and former staff Ed Randolph
Faculty John Byrne welcomes back former student Nicole Bongiorno ’86.
Member of the Class of ’71 Berry White, Richard Horwitz and Jack Arning attend Phil Schwartz’s seminar in the Library.
Elizabeth Ward-Cuprill ’88 and Christine Jimenez Johnson ’88 celebrate their former coach Debbie Ferretti as the newest Faculty Emerita.
50 YEARS FOR THE CLASS OF 1961
AL PEO NNN EPC T I O N C
On May 20, it was the Class of 1961’s turn to celebrate their 50th reunion with a private luncheon in the Alumni Room followed by dessert with their 4th grade pen pals in their classroom. For over a decade, the Pen Pal Program has been a personal and unique way for fourth graders to explore topics in American history by asking questions to alumni who experienced the events covered in their curriculum. In turn, alumni are able to learn more about what’s happening at Friends today.
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REUNION 2011
[ 2 0 1 1 FAC U LT Y E M E R I TA ]
DEBBIE FERRETTI
Friends’ beloved athletics instructor retires after 31 years of service
F
about the EMERITUS PROGRAM The faculty and staff at Friends Seminary are the School’s single most valuable resource. Their influence is a continuing gift to the community, and is felt long after their departure. Each year, the Friends Seminary Emeritus Program recognizes the legacy of an individual who exemplifies the giving and passionate involvement of those who make this community so unique.
riends Seminary is deeply appreciative of the many contributions Debbie Ferretti has made over her 31 years of service to the School. From her first day on the job as a physical education teacher in September of 1979, Debbie has displayed an absorbing interest in the good of student athletes at Friends, which has been a gift of incalculable value.
most accomplished athletes—winning two basketball and four volleyball championships. Through persistence, high expectations, and many hours of drills, Debbie cultivated her athletes’ passions for their sports and commitments to each other. According to a former athlete, Debbie’s “ability to bring out the ‘teammate’ in me has served me every day of my life”.
During her first year teaching at Friends, Debbie’s PE students immediately warmed to her. Her classes were rich with friendly banter and playfulness. Larry Carter’s homeroom students, in particular, had fun with this green teacher, making a game of switching their names in class and creating their own dismissal schedule at a time before bells signaled the changing periods. At the end of the school year, Debbie’s playful students paid tribute to her, buying her a watch to monitor the school schedule and better equip her for joking students to come.
In addition to nurturing the development of her own athletes, Debbie worked hard to elevate the overall athletics program at Friends and was a driving force for advancing our teams up from the B League. Debbie managed to successfully bridge the noncompetitive philosophy of our Quaker school with athletic achievements. In the words of a former athlete, “there was a palpable shift when Debbie joined the sports staff ”; our current athletics program continues to benefit from the trail Debbie blazed 30 years ago.
As a coach, Debbie maintained her approachable spirit but took great care to impart an attitude of accountability and perseverance among her athletes. She recalls a certain freshman who did not make the volleyball team one season; she returned the following season to make the team and eventually became the team’s captain. This student later graduated as one of the School’s
As a teacher, department chair, athletics director and coach, Debbie’s generosity of time, attention, encouragement, and support have been precious gifts to hundreds of student athletes at Friends and her legacy continues still. We express heartfelt gratitude for the breadth and depth of service Debbie has given to Friends Seminary and are proud to honor her as Faculty Emerita.
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the
alumni council is back! We are pleased to announce the re-establishment of our Alumni Council this fall. Aimed to reflect our diverse alumni community, this group of volunteers will work together to strengthen ties within the alumni body, identify ways to better serve our alumni, and communicate opportunities for alumni to stay involved with Friends.
clerks
jordan barowitz ’89 sandra jelin plouffe ’93
stephen chinlund ’51 elizabeth peale allen ’60 david hirst ’75 alvin mack ’77 jin lee ’82 schuyler allen-kalb ’86
joshua wachs ’89 michael bedrick ’90 boji wong ’92 samantha liebman ’94 joanna hunter ’02 eric obenzinger ’03
class notes A WO R D F R O M KAT H E R I N E FA R R E L L
[director of alumni relations] While sitting in the library this fall among alumni spanning more than 50 graduating years, it was impossible to ignore the distinct ties that bind our community. Over the decades, Friends Seminary has consistently educated conscientious, service-minded, generous, and passionate alumni. Simply put, our alumni community is rich in “good human beings.” In times when the news is saturated with political and economic discord, juxtaposed with reality star drama, it is comforting to be a part of a community with values that transcend this noise. As you read through this issue, I urge you to consider the many ways you can take advantage of the incredible resources within the Friends alumni community. Contact someone from another class who is doing something that inspires you. Join the Friends alumni group on LinkedIn and connect with fellow alumni who can offer you networking opportunities. Start a conversation about current events with members of the alumni group on Facebook. Make a date with your classmates to join you at an upcoming alumni event.
KNOW YOUR REPS
class secretary collects Class Notes ca class agent fundraises for the Annual Fund rc reunion chair coordinates reunion cs
To volunteer as a class representative, please contact Katherine at kfarrell@friendsseminary.org or 212.979.5035 ext 106.
To submit a Class Note, contact a class secretary from your graduation year. Contact information is listed on the following pages.
The resources within your alumni community are tremendous and they are at your fingertips. Get involved. Get your Friends involved. I guarantee you’ll find connecting rewarding.
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1935 Richard Hanau cs & ca
1938 Alexander M. Watson cs Alexander Watson writes, “We are glad to report a very gracious letter from Helen Tripp Davies, representing the Class of ’38! An active lady in her church and women’s club, and one who has also been an active golfer and a world tourist. Her family is Helen’s great sense of joy, including eleven grandchildren ranging in age from 16 to 28! However, they are located as far away as in the Middle East, Brazil, and Australia! Not a dull world, she says, and hopefully they will do what can be done to make this a better place! Helen has warm memories of Friends, our principal Mr. Messner, the faculty, and the prominent speakers who visited. One special recollection includes even the dirt backyard where we could ice skate, when it was frozen!! Does anyone else recall that?”
1939 ca
Barbara Valentine Hertz
Marie Borroff, Sterling Professor of English, Emeritus, at Yale University, reports that The Gawain Poet: Complete Works, which she edited, will be published by W.W. Norton this year. Her verse translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was first published in 1967; it appeared together with her translations of Patience and Pearl in 2001. She is the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Stylistic and Metrical Study and of Traditions and Renewals and Chaucer, the Gawain-Poet, and Beyond (Yale University Press, 1962, 2003).
1941 Barbara Kugel Herne cs c/o Mary Herne J. Richard Hunter
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cs & ca
Danforth Cardozo, Jr. writes, “E. Hunter, Madame Carmen, Hermine Ehlers, ‘Tiny’ Nordstrom, S. Archibald Smith, et. al. shaped my life for the better.”
1942 Margaret Dorkey McCormick cs Richard T. Scully cs & ca
1943 Eugenie Grey Laidler cs Alison Smith Hannan writes, “Spending six months in Sarasota, Florida and six months in Vermont enjoying the best of both worlds. In good health, except for RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis), which curtails my activities substantially.”
1944 Hope Franz Ligori cs & ca Hope Franz Ligori writes, “Recently, I spoke to some members of our class. Tim and Audrey Chamberlain Foote are still in Washington, DC, though Audrey is not well and they may be leaving Washington. Janet Davidson Caulkins is well. Her daughter lives with her in Madison, CT. Teddy Oakes O’Hara has had a problem with her hip, but does have support from her family and good neighbors in Little Compton, RI. I missed Joan Hitchcock Rich who lives in Lyme, CT. She was gardening—a testimony to her good health! Mary Ann Willson Logue, a retired minister in Hamden, CT, wins an award for perserverance having had two hip replacements and two knee replacements. Jean Haney Hoagland lives in Clarksville, NY. Her husband, John, passed away recently and she hopes to sell the house and move to smaller quarters. Stay well.”
1945 Marion Hausner Pauck cs Sylvia Colt de Almeida writes, “I am just off
on a trip to Portugal and England. Maybe my last as quiescent cancer in my bones has suddenly become active. Happily have no pain and feel quite well.” Marion Hausner Pauck writes, “Jill Underhill Ligenza continues to work her farm, swim every day in her lovely pond, read contemporary literature, and work hard on behalf of liberal causes through a Quaker church. She and I keep in touch with one another and cheer one another on to long life. We miss Anne Thomas Stevens very much indeed. Marion Hausner Pauck is very active in the University Episcopal Lutheran Church at Stanford. Marion is chairperson of Adult Education and teaches adult classes. She is Secretary to the Church Council that meets once a month. The church is involved in progressive politics and social action as well as biblical study. Marion translates long scholarly manuscripts, mostly from German, to English and has been invited to lecture on Paul Tillich in May of 2012 at the University of Vienna, in Vienna, Austria.”
1946 Stuart Robinson cs Joan Maitland LaPrade Cannon writes, “My latest book, a collection of short stories entitled Peripheral Vision, came out this month from March Street Press in Greensboro, NC. Available from the usual places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, it is distributed by Baker & Taylor, and thus can be ordered anywhere. FYI, one of those stories began life as an assignment in English class at Friends. Many will remember the redoubtable Rowse B. Wilcox. I think he could probably have taught Archie to write.”
1947 Jean Taylor Kroeber
cs
1948 Anne Codding Tonachel cs
1949
1953
Jean Allen McCardell cs
Nora Palen Roberts cs
1950 Henri P. Caldwell cs
1951 Stephen J. Chinlund cs
1952 Martha Manheim Green rc Peter A. Rona rc
Bob DeMaine ’46 and wife Ann at the 65th Reunion Supper
Joyce Walsh Ware ’46 and Al Handy ’45 at the 65th Reunion supper
Debby White Andersen and husband Arthur are wintering in the Sarasota area on Siesta Key fleeing from the wind and snow on Cape Cod. They have enjoyed many outings with Jeanne Seebe Manser and her husband, George, who live on Sarasota Bay. Jeanne and George have called Florida their home for 15 years. Both Jeanne and Debby are looking forward to returning to Friends for their 60th reunion in Spring 2012. They hope that there are as many classmates returning as there were in 2002.
& ca
Joan Parker Wofford ca
1954 Constance Black Engle cs Judith Owen Bates Lopez cs
1955 Jackson R. Bryer cs Gail Richards Tirana cs Compiled by Gail Richards Tirana and Jackson Bryer: Anne Carriere writes, “I am the proud alpha dog of a ten month old (as of September 1) labradoodle, who’s so smart and so charming I can barely stand it. Figaro (as in “Marriage Of ”) has just been accepted into Good Dog Foundation class one training, which will allow me to take him to visit patients in nursing homes and hospitals. The “Great American Novel” is on hold while I deal with this wonderful development. John De Pauw writes, “I have a thesis talking about An Odyssey: Man’s Dialogue With His Father and Perspective on Moral Courage; “External things happen - but dialogue with the Father continues, solutions are “internal.” Arthur Goldschmidt writes, “Louise and I have found a buyer for our house and plan to move to a Quaker-managed retirement community called Foxdale in November. Paul Allersmeyer and wife Isa visited us recently and toured Foxdale. We have also talked on the phone with George French, who continues to work despite some health issues, and with Steve Mittenthal, who enjoys seeing his three grandchildren in the DC area. Events in the Middle East have tied me to my computer to rewrite A Brief History of Egypt, for Checkmark Books, and A Historical Dictionary of Egypt, for Scarecrow Press.” Ellen Friendly Simon writes, “Just started doing English Country dancing. Think Pride and Prejudice. Not as hard on the body as it is on the mind. You
don’t need a partner, just comfortable shoes and a willingness to feel a bit foolish. Don’t know how long I’ll keep at it. I find it hard to keep my spirits up in the misery of our time. I’m sure many of you feel the same.” Anne “Nan” Krulewitch Socolow writes, “Still love living on Cayman Brac after 25 years, this tiny (12 sq. miles, pop. 1,500 souls) last bit of the British Crown Colonies that time forgot. No traffic, no traffic lights. No fast food franchises or billboards. Somewhat like a Brit-flavoured Martha’s Vineyard of last century, but tropical... not upscale—kind of Key Westy and funky.” Peter Schrag writes, “We are well and busy. Life in Manhattan is great, plus all the usual stuff that goes with having five children, five children-in-law, and 10 grandchildren. Keeping track of the names and birthdays and ages is a good mental status exam. Three days a week, I work for the NYC Human Resources Administration. I evaluate applications from people on Medicaid and provide Home Attendant Services to people who could not live at home if they did not have help. My job is to approve or reject cases depending on appropriateness, and I also determine how many hours of service a week the person gets. Gail Richards Tirana writes, “Status quo-enjoying teaching, family, friends, the city. Like Ellen, I am dismayed by our times, but hearing everyone’s news gives joy.“ Jackson Bryer writes, “On March 12, 2011, my 44-year-old daughter Elizabeth gave birth to her first child and my fourth grandchild, the lovely Alice Deborah Bryer Muller, in Los Angeles.
1956 Peter Filene cs
1957 Stephen G. Rostand ca John M. Schwartz cs David E. Wartels cs Wendy Weil cs
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Steve Rostand ended his clinical practice of Nephrology on June 30. Steve is Professor of Medicine, Emeritus, at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and in that capacity will continue to have an office, share a secretary, and be involved in the non-clinical activities of his division. He hopes to spend more time with photography, writing projects and spending more time with wife Kathy and their grandchildren. John Schwartz reports that he enjoyed a fun reunion he and wife Sandy had with Steve Rostand and wife Kathy in Northampton, Massachusetts, after which they all joined Liz Lynes Hollander and husband Carl at a concert at Tanglewood. John is still litigating constitutional cases for the New York State Attorney General and enjoying it immensely.
1958 Nicholas D. Etcheverry cs Thomas C. Munnell cs
1959 Frederic J. Buse ca Helen Davis Chaitman cs
1960 Catherine Munnell-Smith ca Elizabeth Lyons Stone cs & ca Derek E. Van Hoorn cs Compiled by Elizabeth Lyons Stone: Cathie Munnell-Smith writes, “In June my husband, Ras, and I went back to Turkey for the first time in 32 years. Turkey was my first assignment as a foreign service officer, and my husband Ras’s third, and it was wonderful to finally return. We stayed with the U.S. Consul General in Istanbul high above the Bosphorous. Thanks to Google, we were able to find many former contacts from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, like us all now retired, and writing for newspapers or working as political commentators. One old friend gave us an inside look at CNN
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Turk and a really interesting debrief on the recent Turkish elections. I was able to remember just enough Turkish to speak in short, declarative sentences (although in one memorable instance I cheerfully informed the immigration official at the airport that my husband and I were dead together instead of saying we had arrived together). Anyway, the trip brought back many memories, reestablished ties with old friends, and reminded us how much we had enjoyed our life overseas, although our host’s ever-present bodyguards reminded us also of the everpresent security issues. We then spent some weeks in France. After Turkish, speaking French seemed almost like rattling along in English. Provence was sunny and Paris rainy and it was lovely to be back. Other than that, we travel mainly to New York to see our son, Carter, who is at Credit Suisse and whose son, Nicholas, is adorable and who likes to discuss cars, trucks and Curious George.” Bronwen Cunningham writes, “I am a volunteer Citizen Teacher with Americorp and teaching middle school girls a class called ‘Girls Empower Hour.’ We will be talking about creating appropriate social networks, decision-making considerations, self-defense and how marketing affects decisions regarding body image, health and eating choices. In November, I will take a cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.” Jane Edelsten Rosenbloom writes, “I wish I had something fascinating to say, although maybe it’s good that my life is just rolling along. My husband is still working, and that’s mainly because I am not getting any cheaper. I love the variety of spending six months of the year in New York City, and six months in Scottsdale, AZ. Lots of shows and museums in the city, and lots of golf, tennis and hiking in Arizona. Our daughter graduated in May with a MSW from Howard University and has a job in DC. Our son lives in Scottsdale where he is in the air purification business. I am in the process of planning a family trip to celebrate the big birthday most of us have coming up. I’ll tell you all about it in the next alumni bulletin!”
1961 Barbara Hertz Burr cs
1962 Jean A. Seligmann cs
1963 David Lowry cs Stephanie E. Van Hoorn ca
1964 Barbara Carey cs Valentine Hertz Kass ca Compiled by Barbara Carey. Susan Localio writes, “Summer lasted two weeks here on the Olympic Peninsula. That said, we managed to time it right for a five-day backpacking trip into Olympic National Park in early September. Sun and incredible wildflowers and a well-behaved bear who passed through our campsite. Our garden is still producing (the inevitable Northwest kale) and life putters on. I knock wood when I write that. We seemed immortal for so long. Ana Rose, our granddaughter, loves the story I tell her which features Angus, our dog back then, the house on 66th street, grandpa and Harry Harding in adventures with Eensie Beensie (a mouse) who lives with the shoemaker and his wife. I get to revisit our old haunts of the duck pond, the boat pond, and the zoo in Central Park if only in my imagination.” Jeff Shelby writes,
Ben, grandson of Robert Rostand ‘64 is an aspiring doctor
Geoff Scott and Judy Adams Anderson represent the Class of 1966 at Reunion 2011 this past May
“Alive and well in Albany, NY; general practice in a clinic in Troy; swimming at the ‘Y’, playing mandolin in pubs. Best wishes to all.” Jonathan Nareff writes, “Back working at Bank of America after a brief stint as a retiree.” Barbara Carey writes, “Working hard managing my little group of attorneys at Con Edison. Many lovely summer weekends in Sag Harbor, have been visited by a family of turkeys in our yard on many mornings; Allie is off to Geneva for an internship with the polio eradication project at the World Health Organization. I’m still sorting through photos and letters left behind by my parents, some very funny, some very touching, some very ancient. Speaking of ancient, a weekend or so ago, I attended a bizarre but lovely old timers’ day in Washington Square Park, where a bunch of old geezers who used to be those cute boys with banjos and guitars came together to play once more, when a vintage friend of my husband’s suddenly mentioned his childhood friend, Vicki Cooper. Yes, one and the same of the Class of 1963—small world. Anyone interested in a three-class reunion? ’62, ’63, ’64?” Robert Rostand writes, “This has been a year of travel for me and Susan culminating in a trip to Scotland (after a 40+year hiatus) to be with my friend, Keith, with whom I went to Woodstock. We were both in Boston at the time, he was doing child psychiatry (now, he’s a social worker in Edinburgh) and I was working in one of the labs at the med school. Anyway, after two interruptions necessitating that I put off the trip, it finally came to pass and it was as if we had seen each other yesterday. We made it out as far as the island of Iona! Remarkably, the weather
was clear for the entire time! Grandson Ben has stolen our hearts. He wants to be a doctor/fireman… so I am enclosing a picture of the future Dr. Q.T. Patuttee. By the way, if you are in search of interesting literary courses/gatherings, the Mercantile Library has lots of them including a Proust course in English and French and a Proust birthday party. They also have very notable speakers. I wish I could go.” Arthur Fink writes, “I continue to document that work and energy that goes into dance—not just the final performance. Being in the studio as dances are created feels like being in the delivery room as children are being born. Amidst pain or anguish, tempered with rhythm and support, and bolstered with faith, new life emerges. It’s physical, sometimes sensual, often spiritual. Too often this process is ignored, as image makers look only at the final result—the dance. Along with this, I’m offering coaching on creativity and communication, consulting on the social side of technology, and am working on two books—one on listening, and another on recognizing the lives of short lives children (who may be still-born, or die in the NICU). I run workshops on art and spirit, and sometimes forget that I also need sleep! Christine Hehmeyer Rosso writes, “David and I have retired and officially moved to Florida. We love the outdoor life and lack of snow and ice. We still have a home in Chicago, where the kids live.”
1965 Scott Garren cs
Richmond Kelly ’66/’67, Pierre Lehu ’67 and Bill Berry ’67 hold a mini-reunion in Boston this past July
Pierre Lehu ’67 snapped this photo of classmates Ann Henderson and Joanna Redfield Vaughn at the South Street Seaport in September
1966 Anne Shapero Adler cs Geoff Scott and Judy Anderson represented the Class of ‘66 for its 45th reunion. They enjoyed reminiscing, catching up, as well as the delicious luncheon at Friends.
1967 Pierre A. Lehu cs Pierre Lehu writes, “I have to start with sad news, which many of you in the class already know, which is that our classmate Jan Baum passed away at the end of May. When we first heard about this, the idea was brought up that we should make a contribution in her name, and as her sister Sandy ’68 had created a scholarship fund at the University of Chicago, many of you made a donation. I think getting together in this way made it a little easier to accept that the first of our small group has left us. In July, while on a trip to Boston, Richmond Kelly, Bill Berry and I held a mini-reunion at Legal Seafood, with plenty of good food, drinks and conversation. Bill has retired from his practice of medicine and he and his wife moved to a house on the water so he can engage in his passion for sailing on a daily basis. Rick is still working but only four days a week. In September I was part of another mini-reunion, also held on the water’s edge, this time at the South Street Seaport, with Ann Henderson and Joanna Redfield Vaughn. Ann is working as hard as ever as Associate Director for Co-op Preservation
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at UHAB, complaining that while she’d like to slow down, there’s no one else on board who can take her place. Joanna, on the other hand, just retired from teaching. She’d come to New York while waiting to hear of the imminent arrival of her first grandchild. And I’m waiting for similar news from my son, Peter, which won’t be coming until March, however. Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible this spring for our 45th.”
1968 Sandra Baum
ca
Penny Craven cs Barbara Kates-Garnick ca
1969 Michael Beckerman cs
1970 Belinda Broido cs
1971 Mindy Fischer cs Laurence Seegers cs Laura A. Ward cs Richard Barry White ca
1972 Jay Goldman ca
Jack Arning ’71 shows his school spirit with Jessica Amelar ’73 and David Medine ’71
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last time before entering the great frontier beyond high school. Our 35th Reunion Pamela Perkins cs attracted classmates from all over the US and abroad, and during the day we transported Cynthia Fissel ca some in virtually via video chat from California (Mike Hirst and Scott Sklar), Lynda Godkin rc Oregon (Rowan Baker), Nebraska (Steven Robb), and Berlin (Marjorie “Sonia” Mawby Didriksson). We coerced others to appear live during the various events of the day, from as far away as Germany Barbara Michelson cs (Capers Rubin Kuhnert), London (Tina Wilkinson), Michigan (Susan Collins), Lisa Ernest Mierop cs and Massachusetts (Nanci McCarter Worthington). The rest of us came from the NY area: Jon Fabricant, Emily Hubley, Nate Ranger, Amy Stoller, David Vigliano, Kenneth Grossman cs Frances Walton, Bill Webb, Jane Weinman and me (Suzanne Telsey). Not a bad turnIvy Baer Sherman cs out, we think. We also heard via email from some other far-flung classmates who were unable to make it to the reunion: Michael Kimmelman wrote that he regrets that he Francesca Bruno cs couldn’t join in the festivities, but he’s still in Berlin (he’s on foreign assignment for The Diane Gordon ca New York Times). Ali Silvert writes (from Hawaii), “I’m still plugging away as the First Cella Irvine cs Assistant Federal Public Defender here in Honolulu which is a great gig if you can get Susan Jones, director and supervising it. Hard life when your commute to work attorney of GW Law’s Small Business and is either through a rain forest or around Community Economic Development Clinic, the coast and great white sand beaches received the Washington Area Lawyers for like Makapu and Sandy Beach. Some very the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award for interesting cases here, and we also cover distinctive service to the greater Washington, American Samoa, and used to cover Guam DC, creative community and for 20 years of and Saipan. Eight-hour flights just to do service on the wala Board of Directors. investigations, glad that’s over with. And if you’ve ever been to those islands, they ain’t Tahiti! I am currently representing a defendant in the largest involuntary Suzanne Telsey Bennett cs servitude case in U.S. history...yep...a Jewish lefty representing a slave owner! My mother Scott R. Sklar cs is rolling in her grave. On the flip side, I’m representing Mr. Christie, the head of a William Royse Webb cs marijuana “church” which is much more my style! I’ve also started a second career as an Compiled by Suzanne Telsey Bennett: Well, our 35th Reunion has come and gone, and we importer of South American wine two years are pleased to report that (as far as we know) ago. My partner, who is 87, has a daughter not one member of the Friends Class of 1976 married to a man in Argentina named Carlos Basso. His family owns a very good imploded from the shock that it’s been three small winery in Mendoza and we obtained and a half decades since we sat in a steamy the exclusive rights to bring his wines into Meetinghouse on East 16th Street one Hawaii (Carlos Basso wines, also known as Emily Medine cs
1973
1974
1975
1976
Former faculty Paul Supton (top row, second from left) flew in from California to celebrate the 40th reunion of the Class of 1972 (David Medine, William Fiosk, Barry White, Jack Arning, John Crawford, Richard Horwitz, John Tolleris and Laura Ward)
“Dos Fincas”). Now we are bringing in other Argentine wines, some from Chile, and some organic wines from Oregon. Look us up at silvertsaibene.com. Kal, my oldest son, created the website and Diana, my wife, took all the photos. We just did a wine tasting at my house for 175 people with food pairings that was a great success. How can it not be when you’re drinking wine! Kal is finishing up college and still figuring out what he wants to do. Even though he is in a wheelchair due to having SMA since birth, he has great spirit, is the brightest person in the world according to him, and wants nothing more than to move to a big city and out of Hawaii. My other son, Che, is 17, and we just started the college search stuff. He wants to go to a college on the West Coast because he’s never seen snow and has never been in weather colder than 50 degrees (that’s because we could never vacation with Kal under such conditions). We’ve taken vacations to the East Coast several times but always in the summer, so both Kal and Che have this very unrealistic view of what living in the real world is like! Diana, my wife, retired as a family court judge years ago (she was one of the youngest judges ever appointed and one of the youngest ever to retire) and is doing all sorts of stuff...mediating, performing weddings, and some medical healing work. Check out her wedding website at <www. wix.com/dianawarrington/toesinthesand. She went from divorcing people to marrying them, so it’s a lot more fun. She performs
most of her weddings outside, usually on the beaches. It’s interesting seeing who marries whom, some very strange couplings.” Mike Hirst passed along the following update: “We live in Davis, CA, a college town where our kids grew up riding their bikes everywhere. It’s not exactly NYC, but it’s a very cool little city and you can’t beat the weather! I worked for many years, since 1990, as a supervisor at the U.S. Attorney’s office, and then started my own law firm in 2005. Having a small firm was stressful at first and has become more fun than I ever anticipated. We represent whistleblowers who know that the federal or state government has been defrauded. I met my wife, Sally, in college (though when we later went back and showed our children the exact spot in the cafeteria where mom and dad first saw each other, they were highly underwhelmed). Sally works as a part-time librarian in Winters, CA, which is a town about 20 minutes away and a beautiful drive from Davis. She loves it. We have three kids and a cat (Lina). Caroline, 21, is a junior at UCLA majoring in English. Rachel, who just turned 19, is also at UCLA, majoring in math (what?!). Aaron, 13, is in 8th grade. One of my greatest joys is how close my children are to each other, and always have been. They also seem to abide mom and dad surprisingly well. It’s hard to capsulate the many years after high school. In thinking over that time, I’ve been unjustly happy. I think a big part of that is derived from my
early experience at Friends, and the feeling of acceptance that I enjoyed, and hope I repaid, with my classmates. I’ve stayed in touch with a few, including you three [Suzanne Telsey Bennett, Emily Hubley, Bill Webb], Rowan Baker, Scott Sklar, Chris Hyams, and a few others. Not as many as I would have liked. But I will always feel a bond with my classmates, and a true sense of appreciation that together we shared our childhood.” Donald Swinton, from Connecticut, wrote that he married Shareen Hertel in 2001, and sent in this update: “Shareen is now a tenured professor of Political Science and Human Rights at the University of Connecticut at Storrs (25 miles east, northeast of Hartford). Her research focuses on food protests—that is to say protesting against the high cost of food in many countries. (Have a look at the current issue of Foreign Policy.) This coming winter break, we will be in some of the poorer parts of India where malnutrition and protests are growing. You haven’t met our daughter, Jo, who is now six and a half. We adopted her in southern China six years ago and she is our pride and joy... as well as being smarter than her parents, outgoing and always pushing the envelope. What is really great is that Jo travels with us and has become completely engaged in the idea of community activism, as well as making friends everywhere. I work for the School of Engineering at UConn, raising money. It doesn’t sound cool, but it allows me to be in on industry and academic scientific research, startups and a lot of environmental projects, all of which I enjoy. You cannot believe some of the technologies that are coming. We would love to see all of you. So if you ever long for some time in the country, in a 275-year-old house surrounded by stone walls, flowerbeds and a forest, drop me a line. As Norman Pritchard, Friends’ resident poet in the late 60s and early 70s, used to say, ‘Bwease’ (Bliss and Peace to you).” We heard the following from Barbara Gittleman Hainline, who wasn’t able to attend the Reunion because her son, Ian, was graduating from Tufts that same weekend: “My husband and I are still living in Chapel Hill, and after years of missing the big city, I
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have come to love it. Mark works for Cisco, and I have recently resumed a full-time career, working in grants management for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This is an NIH institute that is located in Research Triangle Park, NC, and I’m really enjoying being a part of NIH and doing whatever I can to promote the scientific research. I was initially hired to work on the Recovery Act and then transitioned to career staff. Following is a link from an institute publication from about 18 months ago: www.niehs.nih.gov/news/ newsletter/2009/october/science-extramural. cfm. On the home front, we’re about to become empty nesters, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve been told that it is just fine.” And for news from your not-too-prompt, but ever earnest Reunion Co-Chairs: Emily Hubley is living in NJ with her husband Will Rosenthal and is still a devoted animator, churning out some really creative independent films and providing animation for various movie and TV projects. Her daughter, Leila, is a sophomore at McGill University in Montréal, and her son, Max, is a senior at Hampshire College. Bill Webb is currently living in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, working for a small marine supply company nearby having left NYC after two frustrating-but-worth-it efforts to improve NYC public sector operations and is starting to think about what’s next. He has for 10 years shared a 1924 old wooden boat, the Klang2, with three others loosely affiliated with the Ear Inn on Spring Street. His Friends friends are still among his closest friends. As for me (Suzanne Telsey),
I’m still in NYC and working midtown as an Associate General Counsel at The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., where I practice publishing law, and love it. I’ve been working as an in-house lawyer at publishing houses for over 20 years, and feel lucky to have found an area of the law that I still find challenging and fun (yes, a lawyer who is having fun, go figure). Steve (Bennett) and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this July (hard to believe that milestone). Steve’s a litigator at Jones Day, and we have two girls, Dani (Danielle), 18, who actually just graduated from Friends in June and is now a freshman at Tufts, and Nicki (Nicole), 16, who’s in 11th grade at Friends. As a parent as well as an alumna, I can tell you that 35 years later, Friends is both exactly the same as, and completely different from, the school we left. Same basic spirit and vibe, but you probably wouldn’t recognize the place. You’ll have to come visit to see what I mean. Stay in touch, all-email me or Bill with more news for the next bulletin, or just to say hi.
1977 Deirdre Murphy Bader ca Suzanne Gluck cs Ruth Pomerance cs Being five-feet-half-an-inch tall herself, Suzanne Gluck gets the biggest kick out of her high school football player! She is happy to report that her son, Nicholas Dyja, is a captain of the football team at Dalton.
David Bragdon reports that he moved back to NYC in 2010, 39 years after leaving the city and sixth grade at Friends in 1971.
1978 Andrew Owen ca Barclay Palmer ca Antonia Torres-Ramos cs Matthew Hupert reports that his first full length collection of poetry was published. Ism is a Retrovirus (Three Rooms Press) is a rock solid collection of 87 poems that examine life, lust, love, religion and politics in a word play phantasmagoria in which, according to poet Dean Kostos, “sound is meaning and syntax is thrummed like strings on a guitar.” A native New Yorker, Hupert probes his subjects like an true urbanite-in short, accessible works that seem like passing glances, yet resonate and bring increasing pleasure on multiple readings. Mondo 2000 editor R.U. Sirius raves, “Matthew Hupert had me at ‘shell my pistachio eyes.’” Beat Generation and Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally enthusiastically applauds Hupert’s writing: “He sees how the words work, listens to them working, feels their meaning and spits ‘em out. I love his poetry.” Funny, insightful and to the point, Matthew Hupert’s Ism is a Retrovirus is a song in a true modern American style praising beauty and grit of life with new insights in a determined, fresh voice. His poetry has been published in The Formalist, the contemporary dada poetry and art journal, Maintenant, and the anthology 150 Contemporary Sonnets. He is also a multimedia artist and has done extensive work with musicians to create psychedelic visual environments. He currently lives with his son in Manhattan.
1979 Darcy Flanders cs Victoria Wightman Pierce cs Members of the Class of 1976, Emily Hubley, Suzanne Telsey Bennett, Susan Collins, Nanci McCarter Worthington, Bill Webb, and Jessica Weisner Fieber, celebrate their 35th this past May
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1980
1983
Karen Gross Fittinghoff cs
Jason Ablin ca
Michael Golden cs
Martha Ehrenfeld cs
Sarah Edmunds Goodwin cs
Keith A. Smith cs
Steven B. Lowen
Compiled by Martha Ehrenfeld: Keith Smith writes, “In late May, Jim Infantino, Matthew Annenberg, and myself gathered at Jeremy Yamin’s house in Belmont, MA to celebrate Jim’s impending fatherhood. We spent a wonderful evening dining on Jeremy’s porch, enjoying beer, wine, and food off the grill (it turns out that Jeremy’s son, Sam, is already a better cook than his dad!) As I recall, most of the evening was spent talking about fatherhood, Friends Seminary, and (no surprise when Jeremy is present) cars. Shortly after this get together, Jeremy and his family moved to his new State Department posting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. And Jim is now a new father; Zoë Sophia Infantino was born on July 26, 2011.” After spending part of the summer with her husband’s family in Greece, Susan Lowen Maniatis returned rested and ready for new challenges. She signed on to coclerk the PA community service committee this year at Sidwell Friends middle school where her daughter Daphne attends. She writes, “I’m working with a good friend and we’re trying to start a whole bunch of new things to make community service more accessible for families and to keep parents involved. It’s really fun to be in on the ground floor of something and to be able to craft it the way we want to.” Paula Miranda McKeever is doing some volunteering too. She assists with the instruction at a Tae Kwon Do school where she studies with her 6th grade son, Bryan. She writes, “Hands
ca
1981 There are currently no representatives for the Class of 1981. Want to get involved? Contact Katherine Farrell, Director of Alumni Relations at kfarrell@friendsseminary.org or 212.979.5035 ext 106.
1982 Elizabeth Baer cs & rc Elizabeth Brownrigg rc Sarah Halley Finn cs Melanie Roth Gorelick
rc
Jin Lee ca & rc Marc Rachman ca & rc Elizabeth Brownrigg reports that she is living full-time in New Mexico now. She has updated her website, www. elizabethbrownrigg.com. She is also getting ready to launch her retreat center for art and healing, www.vistaverderetreat.com. Susan Elvers LeBlanc is living in Natick, Massachusetts, with husband Lew, two children (Emily, 12 and Andrew, 10), three grown step-children, two step-grandchildren (Daniel, 5 and Lily, 19 months). She is looking forward to spending much of the summer on Cape Cod, trying to grow a vegetable garden without feeding the groundhog who lives under her shed. She adds that she is using Facebook to stay in touch with some FS friends (listed as Sue LeBlanc).
Nicholas Dyja, son of Suzanne Gluck ’77, is the captain of Dalton’s football team
down, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences at this stage in my life. What a kick it is (pun intended) to see these kids conquer some fears, develop confidence and achieve something they might never have thought they were capable of doing. There is great diversity at this school, so it’s always a new experience for me too, with each student. More important than learning how to perform a required technique are the lessons they learn in respect, trying one’s best, not giving up.” And talk about not giving up, Susan Bronzaft Santoro is one race shy of qualifying for the 2012 NYC marathon. Run Susan run! Kipp Stroden writes from on the road in Lima, Peru, “I just finished visiting eight farms throughout the Andes and the Amazon where my company sources Superfoods. I hope you are all doing great. If you are interested you can ‘friend’ my company Essential Living Foods on Facebook. Anyway sending you all my love and I am so grateful for the benefits we experience as Americans. Life is rough down here and my stomach is feeling the lack of hygiene. Travel is brutal, but Peru has many nutritious treasures and its botanicals contain solutions to people’s health challenges. I am so grateful to have shared our experience at Friends with you all. Back to Los Angeles on a red eye tonight then back to selling supercharged nuts and berries to the world.” Back in NYC, Charles Bender reports, “I am still living in Brooklyn. I occasionally work with Pete Millerman and am bad Facebook friends with other Friends Seminary folk”. Tim Barry writes, “My wife Mayu, son Kai, and I are expecting our daughter this 11/11/11! Baby life all over again! Can’t wait to see her face! Also about to give birth to two big projects gestating during the past three years; the GlassRock 0.house—a prototype for an ultra-modern zero energy home in Cold Spring NY, and 6w9—a minimalist uber-lux townhouse in the Village. I designed and contracted both of them and am extremely pleased with how they’ve turned out—photos soon to come. Next up we’re opening a big Belgian Beer Garden (with a Japanese twist) on 8th Street near 5th Avenue. We’re expecting building permits any day, and I’ll be posting progress photos as soon as we break ground. f all + w inte r 2 0 1 1 | 4 7
(Sounds a great place for an impromptu reunion to me!) I had been living in a teepee in the middle of an avocado grove in Ojai, California the year before I arrived at Friends Seminary in 1980. Morning meetings were a wonderful cocoon in the midst of Manhattan’s madness. I will forever be grateful to all of you and Friend’s faculty for easing my extreme culture shock.
1984 Suzanne Gottlieb Calleja cs Alexandra D. Levinsohn cs Rebecca Moore cs Compiled by Rebecca Moore. The wedding bells haven’t rung for our class lately. I am happy to report that Phil Ross was married to Monica Martinez in San Francisco where they both live. He writes, “I am three years into my position as an assistant professor at the University San Francisco, offering courses on art, technology and the environment. In the coming year, I will be working on the design of some furniture that will be grown almost completely from fungal materials. My studio looks like it is full of weird mutant cheese. I don’t know how else to describe it.” Karen “Beth” (Lopez) Roche is living in northern Virginia with husband Tom and their three children, now in 10th (Tommy), 8th (Emily) and 5th (Sophia) grades. In addition to substitute teaching, she says that she “spends an inordinate amount of my time watching them play soccer.” Arlyn Eames Turner reports that “Life is good here on Long Island. My kids are 13 (Ryan) and 10 (Bennett and Grace). Happy to be working for a successful economic development agency. When I’m not at work, I am a very busy Hockey Mom. (And football, and softball, etc.) It’s all about the kids these days!” Meanwhile, Yi Zhu Wright reports that her nest is emptying out. Her oldest daughter, Lydia, graduated from Cornell in May, 2011 and is working in Mumbai, India for Tata Consultancy Services on a project for Pifzer. Yi and her husband are planning a trip to visit her there this winter. Their two sons are a junior and 48 | n f f
Faculty Emerita Debbie Ferretti visits with her former student-athelete AJ Berman Zabriskie ’84 at her home in Woodstock, NY.
a sophomore in college and their youngest daughter just turned 15 and is a freshman in high school. Yi is still involved with many ministries, church-related work, “not getting paid a cent, but feeling very privileged and blessed!” Daisy Mayer is living in Los Angeles with her husband, David, and two daughters, Ava (8) and Colette (5), directing for TV and “enjoying life but always a bit nostalgic for NYC/home.” Daisy, if you come back to NY, you never know who you will run into. Laurie Shapiro was excited to run into Cameron Dunnaville in a downtown supermarket by the Fancy Feast, and then immediately lassoed him into doing a BMW Guggenheim Lab event about growing up in New York City. Laurie is writing fiction and making documentaries. She has a book and film in progress. Cameron was living in Europe for a while involved in the fitness field as well as the food industry, but home will always be NYC. He is now involved in film and media production. When he ran into Laurie, he only realized it was her when he heard her laugh. He adds, “I always have fond memories of Friends and hope you are all doing well.” Alan Rosenberg is curating an exhibition Image and Abstraction: American Color Prints of the 1950’s that opens on November 1, at Good Design, 1305 Madison Avenue at 92nd Street, For more information call 212.989.4061, email info@arwoa.com or visit www. imageandabstraction.com. Charles Rosenberg writes, “I have a hobby/business sewing new scarves from vintage fabric. But scarves aren’t too useful in Los Angeles so I applied to sell at Bazaar Bizarre, Dec. 3-4, in San Francisco, and was accepted. If you are in SF, look for me there. If not, check
out the scarves at www.thescarfmoment. blogspot.com. Suzanne Gottlieb Calleja wrote in from Miami, where she lives with her husband, Jose, and their 8.5-year-old son Carlos. “I used to speak French fluently, but am now speaking Spanish fluently.” Suzanne is the Director of Communications and Community Relations at Palmer Trinity School, a private Episcopal day school. She has been working on a few different documentary projects as well. She says she would love to host anyone who wants to come for a visit in sunny Miami. Newly relocated to Florida is Stasha Hughes. She and her husband, Sotiris, and their daughter, Iliana, 3 and a half, moved to Tallahassee in August. “Sotiris is getting his Ph.D. in music composition at Florida State, Iliana is pursuing preschool and I’m just pursuing. Yes, it’s hot. Yes, there are too many mosquitoes. But we’re up for the challenge!” Lucas Miller is running a precinct detective squad in Riverdale, which is exciting and fun. It seems like just yesterday that he and Jen were announcing the birth of their daughter, Alice, but now she is almost two. Yes, Lucas, tempus does fugit. Michele Johnson Ashley recently left her Principal position and is now an Assistant Superintendent. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Maurice Ashley, a Chess Master, and, Nia, 17 and Jayden, 9. Nia is a senior at LaGuardia HS, a drama major and Jayden is in 4th grade, in love with baseball and Legos.
1985 Linda G. Baer cs Nina J. Christopher
ca
Anne E. Kner cs
1986 Schuyler K. Allen-Kalb cs & ca Rachel Shapiro Axinn ca Nat Caldwell c s Lida Moore Musso ca
Larissa Thomson ca
1987 Ellen Deutsch Diamond cs Robin Weiswasser Markus cs & rc Leslie Werthamer Rottenberg cs & rc Cassandra Dragt Stafford rc Paul Testa rc
1988 Cory Diamond ca Alexander Kriney cs Wyeth McAdam cs Alexandra Mairs Tart ca Susannah Friedman Vickers ca Alexandra Waks writes, “I was appointed Chef at Delicatessen, a modern Jewish deli in Philadelphia, in April. Having a fabulous time giving my Bubby’s recipes some updated twists. Hoping some FS alums will stop in and visit when they’re in town! I taught my first cooking class on October 25, my first published recipes will be out in Amanda Hesser & Merrill Stubbs’ newest book Food52!”
1989
1990 Lateef Bost ca Daphne Dufresne ca Nicolo Marcellino cs Todd Solomon ca Belkis Rodriguez Talarico cs Compiled by Belkis Rodriguez Talarico and Nico Marcellino: We find ourselves at the close of 2011 with fond memories of months gone by and hopes of more fond memories to come. From South of the Border, Nina Pozzi sends us un saludo grande from Oaxaca, Mexico. Not only does she live there with her children Inoa (10) and Ciao (7), but she teaches English to children between the ages of 5 and 11. However, she will be returning to the East Coast just in time to exchange her sombrero for an unattractive head sock in late December. She expects to stay around through next August, or long enough to potentially experience an earthquake and a hurricane. Perhaps we will have an impromptu Friends gathering so please remove us from your spam blocker or you will miss out. From the Left Coast, Amie Steir wants us to know that she has had a very busy year in Venice, CA. She spent the spring writing and directing a short film, called Perfect, for USA Networks and RSA Films as part of their Character Project. You can peep it online @ http://characterproject. usanetwork.com/#!/perfect?mid=15. After
all of her hard work, you would think Amie then spent her summer basking in the limelight but she did not. Instead, she renovated her new house in Venice, which her and the family just moved into. Then the kids, Oak (5) and Zella Danniella (2), started kindergarten and preschool, which left Amie thinking that: “Although their schools are pretty great and they’re loving it, I wish someone would start a Friends school in LA!” You can take the girl out of Friends.... Not to be left behind is Matthew Aulicino in L.A. who will finally marry Veronica in the spring. By the time you read this, he should have purchased a new house. He is set to close in a couple of weeks but you know how those attorneys can be. Matt is still working in Venice as an architect, and also seems to be doing well professionally as his office had a house on the last Dwell on Design tour. Finally, in case any of you were wondering, Maisha Yearwood is still living it up. Matt Aulicino hung out with her at her birthday party. Back in New York, Karen Sicher Jordan recently celebrated her 11th anniversary with her husband, Travis. Their son, Oliver, is now 8 years old and in the third grade at Collegiate. Karen still works at the Gateway School as their Learning Specialist and also runs the reading and math programs. Finally, last but not least, can I get a drum roll? Nicole Davis and her partner, Colleen Heslin, welcomed baby girl Leila (pronounced Lee-la) Louise Heslin Davis to the world on September 23, 2011. She arrived at 9:36 p.m. weighing 6 lbs., 4 oz. and measuring 19” long. We should have known
Bess D. Abrahams ca Jordan D. Barowitz ca Weston Konishi ca Amy R. Leshanski ca Joshua Wachs ca Indira Wiegand cs Class of 1991 at Reunion 2011
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that Nicole would not have voluntarily given up this gig. She is Putin and we are Medvedev. It is only a matter of time before she asks us to step aside. Your comrades, Bel and Nico.
1991 Michael Martinez ca Nicholas E. Testa cs
1992 Jessica Wapner cs Alexandra C. Zissu cs Compiled by Jessica Wapner. Hello, Class of 1992. You know that by the end of this news update, we will have to spend some time discussing our 20 year reunion. But seeing as that comes with a bit of a sting— that’s right: 20—I’ll save it until the end. First, the headlines: Ben Needham recently attended Rob Specker’s wedding on Long Island, along with William Lara (who was the best man) and Noah Gaynin. And, one of the Jewish-Quaker ceremony officiants was none other than Rich Eldridge, Principal Emeritus. “It was awesome,” says Ben. “It also made me miss my friends and family on the East coast.” Ben is living in San Francisco with his wife and 11-monthold daughter. Obviously, the 20 year reunion is a perfect opportunity for Ben to make another trip, although that will mean taking
Members of the Class of ’92 Anna CraftonWalker, Jessica Wapner, Lexy Zissu and Lila Margulies reconnect
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a break from futsal, otherwise known as indoor soccer, which he plays twice a week at the University of California, San Francisco (though he admits that nothing beats playing soccer outdoors in Central Park in October). Mandla Nkosi continues to run a successful health and fitness business in the Boston area that now specializes in movement restoration, chronic pain, weight loss, and athletic breakthroughs. He and his wife were married at the beginning of this year and will soon be traveling to Argentina and South Africa. He has recently taken up archery, is considering some advanced driving courses, and is also pursuing dance lessons with his wife. A recent favorite book of his is The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle, and he has been listening to a lot of Cuban Jazz and old school rhythm and blues. And, he says, “I hope to be at the reunion.” The New York Times recently ranked Michael Bachrach as one of the top young lawyers in New York, which means that, according to The New York Times, we are still young, a fact that we can celebrate at our 20th reunion. Michael also reports that now that his puppy is seven months old, he and his wife Amy are planning their next trip to a secret Caribbean island. He also shares the news of Ben Levitzky’s recent relocation to Williams, MA, and of Paul Falkenstein’s happiness in Philadelphia. Shaka Greene says that life in San Diego is very happy. “There is nothing better than watching a California sunrise after a seven-mile run,” he says. (I think I got a little paler just writing that.) His children are 9 and 7. His son says he wants to be an engineer and his daughter is considering becoming a quarterback. He’s not so sure, but says he supports “anything that makes them smile.” He’s currently building a new greeting card business (sendoutcards.com/ marine-challenge), and will be at the 20-year reunion. “Time has flown so fast and given us so many gifts,” he says. Lila Margulies was about to give birth to her second child when she wrote, and she’ll be taking the remainder of the year off from her work at Friends to be with her new little one and her adorable older daughter, Maggie. “Other than work and family, my latest obsession is The Wire,” she says. She is planning on attending our upcoming reunion and hopes
that you will do the same. Or as she put it, “C’mon!” Thor Garcia has two children, Odin (4) and Gigi (2.5), and has just begun a PhD in nanotechnology and material science (go, Thor!). He is living on the Upper East Side and closed his update with these words: cyberpunk superhero. After six years in Chicago, Gabrielle Nidus recently moved to Berkeley, where her husband, Boris, has a two-year fellowship in public policy. In addition to raising her two children, she works as a literacy coach and reading specialist in public and private schools, and has written a book about developing schoolwide literacy programs called The Literacy Coach’s Game Plan. She’s published several articles about literacy education, and is currently working on a children’s book. Her children are Isaac (3) and Aaron (8 months). “We are loving the West Coast, but miss our friends and family back East,” she says. I think she might be able to come up with a good reason to visit New York this coming Spring. Boji Wong continues to work as a lawyer at Cahill Gordon, and to raise her children, Lily (3.5), Jake (2), and a third child due this November. She’ll soon be moving to Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, where she and her husband, Ben Berkman, are renovating a 19th century row house. This means she will probably be able to take the F train to the reunion. Jon Jacoby is also working as a lawyer in New York where he lives with his wife of two years, Janna. They honeymooned in Bali and Tokyo (where, Jon is happy to report, he appeared on the Jumbotron during a baseball game). They live across the street from Friends and have frequent brunches at the Gramercy Diner, where he probably does not see Judd Nelson or try to drink from Judd Nelson’s water glass. “I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with everyone through Facebook,” says Jon, who caught up with Ben Needham as they watched World Cup Soccer on a recent trip to Oakland. “I look forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming reunion.” Reunion? What reunion? Cara Cibener is teaching middle school in the East Village and lives in Brooklyn. She recently started taking improv classes, which she’s enjoying, and is working on her second masters degree in Adolescent Literacy at Hunter College (go, Cara!). In her spare time she enjoys traveling to various
neighborhoods in search of good Thai food and looking at pictures of your babies on Facebook (guilty!) Daisy Ho and her Argentine husband, Hernan, gave birth to their son Storsh, on December 30, 2010. She invites any alum to look them up if they happen to be in Paris, where they live. Maybe reunion via Skype? I am pleased to report that Lexy Zissu is thrilled that Jess Wapner is a “news compiling queen.” She’s been spending lots of time at Friends lately because her daughter, Aili, just started kindergarten there. “So much is the same, so much has changed,” she says. “I love seeing her shake hands with her teachers and especially adore being able to go to Lower School meeting.” Aili is in class with several other children of Friends alumni, including Nico Marcellino (’90)’s son and Larissa Thompson (’86)’s son. “When not loitering around Friends, I’m continuing my work as an author/green living expert,” Lexy writes. Her two most recent books are Planet Home and The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat, and is now working on future book ideas, articles, speaking, and eco-consulting. She had a great time catching up with Anna Crafton Walker, Lila, and me over the summer, even though the summer heat left us at our most unglamorous (see photo). Anna who lives in Brooklyn, has been busy tutoring and enjoying her son, Wyatt, begin preschool. She’s looking forward to upcoming trips to Amish country, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the British Virgin Islands. Of course, we all hope she can manage to squeeze in a trip to 16th Street for our 20 year reunion, which she says she will probably do. It was also great to hear from Daniel Srebnick, who is still in NYC. He’s
Phoebe Kay Plouffe, dauther of Sandra Jelin Plouffe ‘93
writing and recording music, mostly for TV and indie films, and has a 3.5-year-old son. “How did we all become grownups with kids?” he asks. This is a good question, one that we should discuss at length you-knowwhen. As for me, I’ve been learning way too many children’s songs now that my son, Lukas, is in kindergarten at a school with 90 minutes of music every day. I’m still writing, still living in Jackson Heights, still adjusting to waking up way too early, and still spending way too much time picking up very tiny things, like toys and children. In short, life is very good, filled with challenges and opportunities, and not at all like I thought it would be. Now, about that 20 year reunion... I hope everyone can come. We’ll have to do some advance planning for a weekend of festivities. So, if you’d like to be in touch about that, please feel free to e-mail me at jessicaw@nyc.rr.com. And if I don’t hear from you, don’t worry, you’ll hear from me. In the meantime, wishing everyone a colorful autumn and a cozy winter. All the best!
1993 Sandra Jelin Plouffe cs
I decided to go freelance doing cookbook and lifestyle book PR after the arrival of my son, and formed Gypsy Lovett Public Relations. And the other bit of big news would be that my family all packed up and moved to Seattle as my husband has taken a position as in-house council at Amazon. We are settling in and loving having a bit more grass and blue (if sometimes rainy) skies!“ Sandra Jelin Plouffe welcomed the birth of second daughter Phoebe Kay Plouffe at 8:20 on September 15th with husband Justin and daughter Sylvie. Little Phoebe arrived early by three weeks, weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces.
1994 Jodyann Blagrove cs Stephanie Davis Hazelkorn cs Samantha K. Liebman ca Compiled by Samantha K. Liebman: Marianne Miller married Gregory Baird in a beautiful 17th Century Quaker meeting house on Cape Cod September 17. In attendance were fellow alums January Massin, Vivian Rosenthal, and myself. It was beautiful! Dorothy Sandler Meyer and Raoul Meyer ‘88 welcomed their second daughter, Calliope Rose Meyer (Callie), this summer. They live, along with big sister Clio, on the Upper West Side and both Dorothy and Raoul now teach at Columbia Prep. As for me, I left NY1 in June and started a blog for budget-conscious—mostly female—New Yorkers called Bloggains, which features ways to get good, sometimes even luxury items for free or at deep discounts. I was featured locally on My9 as a bargain expert, as well as many Fox-owned stations around
Helen Rhim cs
Daisy Ho ’92 with husband, Hernan, and son, Storsh
Gypsy Lovett writes, “My husband and I welcomed the arrival of our son, Hickory Crane Coates, on July 26th, 2010. He is now nearing his first birthday, which I can hardly believe! On the work front, after over a decade of working in-house at book publishers on cookbook and lifestyle PR,
Marianne Miller ’94 and husband Gregory Baird
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is now the Associate Account Director at 360i working on the Diageo account. Adam Honig is now the Senior Account Executive at IMG College working in the St. John’s University Athletic Dept. in corporate partnerships.
the county. Please check it out at bloggains. wordpress.com. I also want to thank those from the Class of ’94 who gave to the Annual Fund. You will hear from me again soon!
1995
2000
Benjamin Ensminger-Law cs Seth Goldberger ca
Jack Andrew Laird, son of Andrew Laird ’99 and wife Katie
Sarah Greenbaum cs
Jessie Chaffee earned her MFA degree in Creative Writing from the City College of New York, where she is now teaching and working as the MFA Coordinator. This September she got married to another teacher and writer, Brendan Kiely, and was thrilled to have Friends alumni Georgia Elrod and Jessica Savage at the wedding, along with her longtime mentor from Friends, Faculty Emerita Christina Moustakis.
Bonnie Bucknell Morris cs
1996 Sarah Cox cs Natalie Nymark cs Alice Keeran-Ward writes, “My husband, John Ward, and I welcomed our first child, Keeran David Ward into this world on August 19th. He was 7 lbs 11 ounces and is doing wonderfully.”
1997 Jessie Chaffee r c
1998
Fred T. Isquith, Jr. cs Russell Labiner cs Greer Raggio received her Masters in Public Health from Columbia and is now a first year Ph.D student at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
2001 Ashley Herriman cs Joanna Shapiro cs
Robin McKinney ca
Compiled by Joanna Shapiro: Following a great turnout at our 10th reunion in May, the Class of 2001 had an eventful summer, including the wedding of Friends “lifer” Doria Santlofer, who was married on August 20 in Bangall, NY to Drew Reilly, a photographer and director. The newlyweds are living in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn where Doria works as a freelance stylist, styling video shoots for Barney’s New York and magazines such as Nylon and Dossier Journal. Doria’s fellow “lifer,” Andrew Ousley, recently moved back to New York
Lee Rothchild cs & ca Melanie Russi Sackheim ca
Lynne DeSilva-Johnson ca
1999
Janelle Garrett c s
Adam J. Honig cs Andrew M. Laird cs
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David Gilbert cs
Sam Hofstetter cs
Brian P. Davis c s
Jessie Chaffee ’97 and husband Brendan Kiely
Lisa Hofstetter Frank cs
Compiled by Adam Honig: Andrew Laird and his wife Katie Laird welcomed their first child, Jack Andrew Laird (7 lbs. 8oz. 21 in.), on February 12, 2011. Sophia Marie Colon was born on June 24, 2011 (8 lbs. 7 oz. 21 in.) to proud parents Lindsay Greene Colon and Ricardo Colon. Brooks Upham and Fletcher Haulley were married on August 20, 2011 in Hillsdale, NY. The wedding party consisted of Friends alums Justin Haulley, Matthew Hedge, Carishma Mehta and Jessica Wildman. Jacob Wolper-Gosler
Newlyweds Brooks Upham ’99 and Fletcher Haulley ’99
2002 Alex Agnant c a Richard Barbieri cs & rc Joanna Hunter cs & rc City after spending a little more than a
Sophia Marie Colon was born on June 24, 2011 (8 lbs. 7 oz. 21 in.) to proud parents Lindsay Greene Colon ’99 and Ricardo Colon
year in Australia. He’s busy working in the music business, making his own music, and generally having a jolly old time. Andrew’s new Manhattan apartment is just blocks from Joey Shapiro, who recently began working in publicity at SoulCycle, the indoor cycling studios that are sweeping the City. The two enjoyed a BBQ at Thomas Gilliland’s house in June with fellow 01-er, Fahima Ahmed. She reports, “I am fortunate to say I am at an incredible turning point in my life—my professional and personal goals are in harmony. I am the Operations Manager for the NYC Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and I am grateful to contribute in my way to the mission. Beyond the professional development ‘on the clock’, I am also involved with Society Ties, which is a volunteer committee of young professionals who fundraise on behalf of LLS. Their activities, most of which you can drop into without being a member, include service nights each month and a black tie casino night fundraiser in February (stay tuned for more details!). Anyone who wants more info for Society Ties, Team in Training (training for marathons, triathlons), volunteering or giving should feel free to reach out to me at Fahima.Ahmed@lls.org.” Ashley Herriman was, unfortunately, unable to make Thomas’ backyard festivities, but continues to work in media relations at the New York Racing Association and encourages any Friends alums, teachers and other members of the community to visit her at the track!
Nicolaas van der Meer cs Richard Barbieri, fresh off completing his second half-marathon off the year, checks in to report that fellow Class of 2002 alumnus York Bergin-Pugh has recently joined him in the ranks of New York City civil service. York is working at the World’s Fair Marina. Lee Hingula recently completed trips to India and Peru and will be completing his residency next year at Yale. Jennifer Conta was married on November 5, 2011 to Timothy Lam at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It was a bi-cultural affair with an American reception at the BBG followed by a traditional Chinese feast in Chinatown. The bride wore both a traditional white wedding gown for the afternoon reception and a traditional red Chinese dress for the evening feast. Tim and Jenny met in college. Tim is in his third year of medical school and Jenny continues to work for Social Security Administration. Jenny’s brother Anthony Conta ’04 was a groomsman. The bride’s mother is beloved Friends’ Nurse Chris. Annie Dressner is proud to report that her debut album, Strangers Who
Knew Each Other’s Names, is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, CDBaby, Bandcamp, etc. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter and learn more on her website, www.AnnieDressner.com. The New York Daily News recently featured an article on Benjamin Preston-Fridman and his college classmate Tom Booth, who have started The Buffet of the World, a company that sells reusable shopping bags. Each bag features a fork with tines, each designed to match famous landmarks of great cities: the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa to name a few. “The fork represents the idea that you should reach out and try everything that’s offered in your city,” said Booth. The idea came to them after a conversation between Tom and Ben, in which they reflected on their time spent living in the city since graduation. A native New Yorker, Ben’s transition was as easy as a trip home, whereas Booth’s was less seamless. During one of his first trips to the city, Booth was held at knifepoint in broad daylight in Manhattan. Disillusioned about the city, Booth ultimately resolved to give the city a second chance, and learned to appreciate and celebrate what makes New York great: that it’s a buffet of almost every cuisine, culture and experience he could think of. Preston-Fridman was drawn to the idea, and proposed they start a brand. To help their home, and promote a sustainable future, ten percent of the proceeds from each product they sell is donated to a charity of the buyers choice: East Side Settlement House, Grow NYC, and God’s Love We Deliver. Booth and Preston-Fridman have sold 700 bags in their first year and plan on expanding to T-shirts and canvas totes. Check out their website at www.thebuffetoftheworld.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/TheBuffet-of-the-World/119324734798394.
2003 Talisa Anderson ca Hallie Davison cs & ca Doria Santlofer ’01 and husband Drew Reilly
Eric Obenzinger ca
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Daniel Willner cs
2005
Jackson Sinder cs
Danny Willner celebrated his wedding to Emily Wellman of Durham, NC on July 3, 2011. The wedding and reception were held at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC, where the bride and groom are both medical students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Max Willner ’08 was bestman and Luca Fiore and Henry Prince were groomsmen. Friends Eric Obenzinger, Chris Bohorquez, Colin Winkelman, Lexton Moy, Gabe Hernandez, Christine Fulton and Erica Marcus all helped Danny and Emily celebrate in Chapel Hill.
Cole Blumstein cs
Alex Winter cs
Phillip Brest cs
Dylan Ettlinger spent his summer in Portland, ME looking for a job and playing ultimate Frisbee. He will spend the fall of his Senior year doing a semester abroad in India. James Kerson, a rising senior at Carleton College, was named to the 2011 Gilder Lehrman History Scholars Program. One of thirty students in the nation selected for this honor, Kerson participated in a one-week intensive history program in June in New York City where he visited museums and historical sites and met with distinguished historians, writers, editors, museum curators, to discuss major issues in American history and careers in the field.
2004 Mary Gaynin Agnant c a Jennifer Conrad c s Jesse B. Mark ca Legacy Russell cs James Sumers cs & ca Moira Kerrigan is living in San Francisco and working for Chronicle books. Legacy Russell will be attending Goldsmiths starting in the Fall of 2012, pursuing a Master’s in Visual Culture and Art History. In the interim, she will be working on various projects. She currently is working on a year-long durational project titled Open Ceremony, showcased by public arts presenter Trust Art. In October 2011 she will be curating a group exhibition titled “American Idolatry” at the Invisible Dog in Brooklyn, New York. The exhibition will feature eighteen artists on the rise, including among them paintings by Kaitlin Kylie Pomerantz. Legacy was recently commissioned by the Brooklyn Arts Council to do a performative work that was presented in the BAC’s September 11th “Rethinking Memorial” project. Legacy was recently appointed as the new Art Editor for BOMB Magazine’s online journal BOMBlog. For more information, please visit www.legacyrussell. com or email legacyrussell@gmail.com.
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Nusrat Chowdhury cs Sam Rabinowitz
cs & ca
2006 Aaron Bloch cs Zuzanna Drozdz cs Cory López cs Cameron McCully cs Nestor Bailly writes, “I am helping to set up a start-up company called ethikus. We’re the first online community of ethical consumers & businesses. Our core values are sustainability, ethics, and community, and we aim to help people with these same values make conscientious purchases by highlighting businesses that have sustainable, ethical, and local practices. I invite my fellow alums to check out our website, www. ethikus.com, as well as www.facebook.com/ ethikus and twitter.com/ethikusNYC to learn more.”
2007 Rachel Colberg-Parseghian cs Taylor Owens cs Molly Seegers cs Emma Quaytman graduated from Barnard this year. “She was beautifully prepared by Friends,” her mother Margaret (Peggy) Moorman, says, “I’m still so glad she was there”.
2008 Hayden Hatch ca
2009 Claire Brennan c s Lauren Chin cs Allison Hartel cs Cristian Lopez-Balboa ca Lauren Chin is studying abroad in Paris through IFE (Internship in Francophone Europe), where she is taking classes in French and is interning at the government ministry in immigration. Neo Sora is taking this semester off to continue his internship at a film production company in London. Travis Bogosian writes, “I recently earned an Adobe Design Achievement award for my short film, Adrift. I am heading the video team for www.maingreen.tv and am the Co-Executive Director of the Ivy Film Festival. I am working on two documentaries currently, one on Brown University’s physics department’s research on bat flight and one on the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda.” Samantha Tharler is keeping busy as the president of the French club and, as an Apparel Design major, making a reversible jacket at the moment! Henry Lachman wrote for minyanville.com over the summer, and now is trying to make some money
on stocks (with extremely limited success). D’Meca Homer writes, “I interned this summer at a public relations firm, Goodman Media International, in Times Square. I also went to China for three weeks to compete in the World University Games for fencing -representing the Virgin Islands!” Emma Weinstein writes, “I’m studying abroad at the University of Sydney. Also interning at the NG Art Gallery while I’m here. About to go to Tasmania for Spring Break 2011 Round II.” Sophie Golomb writes, “ I’ve recently created a Graphic Design service for student clubs and organizations on campus, I’m the department representative for my major, Studio Art, I’m a campus tour guide (prospective! Come visit me!), my a cappella group is releasing a CD next semester and most excitingly, I’m going abroad to India for 5 months on a National Identity and Arts program in January.” Alexandra Heiman writes, “I am now a yoga teacher at Malibu Sun Yoga teaching hot vinyasa yoga.” Julia Dratel writes, “This summer, I worked for a documentary filmmaking company called Arts Engine, doing a little bit of everything as a production intern/assistant and on-set photographer. I am still doing my radio show from 6-7pm every Wednesday on UChicago’s radio station WHPK, which you can hear online! Some other exciting news is that several poems I wrote will be published in a forthcoming issue of Denver Quarterly, and Friends teacher Maria Fahey’s book Unchaste Signification, for which I was a research assistant, is going to be released very soon. I’m also excited to study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa from January through March this winter. I haven’t heard of anybody else from our class studying abroad there, but let me know if you are and we can have an adventure! I’ve pretty much settled on Cinema and Media Studies as my major and Human Rights as my minor, and I’m still sound-designing and sound-consulting for lots of plays in the Chicago theatre scene. I directed my own translation of a Camus play in the spring, which was a lot of fun. And last but not least, please let me know if any of you are ever in Chicago—I live in an off-campus apartment, and there is plenty of room on my couch for you guys!”
2010 Nathaniel Chumley ca Kate Fisch ca Ellen Mayer cs Alexander Shepherd cs Kim Clancy was recognized as best new disc jockey at KUPS, the award-winning student radio station at UPS University of Puget Sound.
2011 Myles Davis cs Andrew Ghalili ca Cooper McLane ca Alison Weiss cs
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tributes
eugenia sellenings rice ’23 gently passed from this life on December 18, 2009, at the age of 104 at Aynsley Place in Nashua, New Hampshire. She was born on April 28, 1905, in New York City, the daughter of Dr. Albert E. and Florence (Corner) Sellenings. Mrs. Rice was a student at Friends from kindergarten through high school, and then went to Smith College graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1927. Married to Willard Rice in 1930, they lived in Manhattan until shortly after WWII, when she moved with her family to their summer home in Belle Terre, New York and lived there year-round until relocating to Nashua in 2005. Genie served as clerk of Belle Terre village during the 50s and taught third grade at the Terryville Elementary School in Port Jefferson Station. She had the honor of being elected the first president of The Port Jefferson Station Teacher’s Association. After retiring in the late 60s, she took pleasure in traveling to England, Australia, Europe, the Caribbean and cruising around the world on the maiden voyage of the Queen Elizabeth 2. She had a lifelong love of learning, reading widely and participating in the Port
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Jefferson Study Club for many years as well as the American Association of University Women. She was also a member of the Historical Society and the First Presbyterian Church in Port Jefferson. Nearly every summer afternoon she enjoyed the Belle Terre beach on Long Island sound, sitting in front of her yellow cabana with a book in hand. She knew the history of people and places connected to her community and willingly shared her knowledge. Her social graces were legendary and she loved gatherings at her home and at those of her many friends. A friend to many and an inspiration to all in Belle Terre, her memory will live on. She is survived by daughter Eugenia Bartell of Montauk; son and daughter-in-law, Willard K ( Jr) and Linda Rice of Hollis, N.H.; grandchildren: Caran Markson of Mount Sinai; Timothy Caraftis and wife, Melissa of Port Jefferson; Eugenia Murphy of Henderson, Nev.; Melinda Van Boskirk and husband, Craig of St. Johns, Fla.; and Willard Rice III of Chattanooga, Tenn.; seven great-grandchildren and niece, Victoria Bassant of Lyminge, Kent, England. A memorial service was held in the Port Jefferson Presbyterian Church. Donations may be made in Eugenia’s loving memory to Three Village Meals on Wheels, PO Box 853, Stony Brook, NY 11790. Arrangements are in the care of the Davis Funeral Home, One Lock St., Nashua, NH 03064. An online guest book is available at www.davisfuneralhomenh.com - Originally published in the Nashua Telegraph. Linda (Wolff ) McBroom writes, “I am sorry to inform you that my mother, miriam cummin wolff ’37, passed away on January 24, 2011. She was 90 years old and lived a long and happy life. She had many fond memories of Friends Seminary.”
gloria ann morch doohen ’43 passed away on July 11, 2010 of heart failure but is now at peace. She was 84. Glo, as she was fondly called, was born Gloria Ann Morch on December 11, 1925, in New York City, the only daughter of a well-respected businessman Edward John Morch and her mother Marion Egbert Morch. Gloria grew up in New York City, attending Friends, graduated from the Northfield-Mount Herman School in Massachusetts and then moved on to Wellesley College. In 1945, she married William E. Fraser, then an intern in medical training, and the couple embarked on their lives together as a Navy family. Glo’s husband Bill served as a Navy physician during and following WWII, leaving the service briefly to practice medicine in Cody, Wyoming. Heeding the call for the Korean Conflict, Bill returned to active duty. Bill and Glo served at numerous duty stations, including Charleston, South Carolina; Portsmouth, Virginia; Jacksonville, Florida; and Bethesda, Maryland. Bill retired in 1966 after 20 years of active duty to join a medical practice in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In Kenosha, Glo became active in fundraising for the GOP, served as president of the Kenosha Symphony League, and was an active member of the Kenosha Hospital Auxiliary. Glo and Bill retired in 1975 to Dunedin, Florida, near friends who had preceded their moving to Florida. Glo eventually recruited many more of her Wisconsin friends to join her in enjoying retired life in beautiful Dunedin, continuing her very active civic, church, and social involvement. She served in the Altar Guild for thirty-three years at
The Church of the Good Samaritan. She was an active bridge partner at the Dunedin Country Club and happily joined her family and friends in many of their ventures, which included belly-dancing, cultural events, and travel. Gloria put down deep roots in the Dunedin-Clearwater area, of which she was very proud and loved dearly. During the 35 years she lived in Dunedin, Gloria delighted in family, good friends, concerts at Ruth Eckert Hall, meals at the many local eating establishments, trips to area museums and attractions, and travel to exotic places and climates. Bill, her first husband of 40 years, preceded her in death in Dunedin in 1984, as did her second husband of eleven years, Dr. Donald J. Doohen, also a Navy physician. On the eve of her death, her family awarded her the “Order of the Loving Heart,” for courage, generosity, love and patience in the face of adversity, greater than that ever expected of even a healthy 84-year-old. Gloria expressed her pleasure in the way she typically conveyed her joy—with a broad smile, a slight tilt of her head, a tear in her eyes, a “princess wave,” and a heartfelt “Thank You.” She is survived by her three children, Pamela E. Leeming of Rhinebeck, New York, W. Jeffrey Fraser of Scottsdale, Arizona, and John E. Fraser of Clearwater, Florida; six step-children, Cheryl, Donald, Pat, Alex, Jared, and Terence; seven grandchildren, Jason, Jeremey, Margaret, Juliet, Paul, Ian, and Sean; six step-grandchildren, Lauren, Patrick, Katie, Jared, Lauren, and Isaac; and six great-grandchildren, Morgan, Brooklyn, Alexis, Trinity, Alayna, and Kinleigh, as well as numerous extended family. She cherished each and every one. All Glo ever wanted was to be loved, and she was. The family received friends for a viewing at Sylvan Abbey Funeral Home in Clearwater. Gloria’s was held the following day at the Church of the Good Samaritan. Flowers may be sent to Sylvan Abbey or memorial gifts sent to The American Heart Association as her preferred charity.
of military history, and read extensively on both the Revolutionary War and World War II, during which he lost his only sibling over Tokyo during the final months of the conflict. He will be greatly missed by his loving family and friends.
Hope Ligori ’44 writes: “albert degolier burlen ’44 grew up in Boston and New York City, where his parents were prominent radio actors. He attended the Peddle School and graduated from Friends Seminary in New York in 1944. Upon finishing high school, Al volunteered for the United States Army Air Force, where he served at the end of the war. He was one of the first students enrolled in Princeton’s new Humanities Program and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating Princeton, Al worked in the early television industry before joining the consumer products division of the Union Carbide Corporation as an advertising executive. He continued working for UCC in New York and Connecticut until his retirement in January 1986. In 1952, Al married Georgina Risjk of Garden City, New York. In 1998 they moved to Edgewater Pointe Estates retirement community Boca Raton, Florida, where he became admired for his wonderful singing voice. Al passed away on August 16 after a three-year struggle with dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Georgina and their two children, Katherine, a fixedincome trader in Boca Raton and Bruce, a business consultant in Miami survives Al. In addition to his love of his family, Al is remembered for his enthusiasm in pursuing his many interests, including a life-long devotion to the Boston Red Sox, the music of Frank Sinatra, and visiting any and all historical sites. His passion was collecting edged weapons as well as military books and memorabilia. He was an avid student
patricia kimball nembrotti ’53,
of Toms River, NJ, died at age 76 on April 7, 2011 in her home. Born in New York City, Patricia was a longtime resident of Montclair before moving to Toms River. She was a homemaker, an active part of the lives of her grandchildren, and loved spending time with family and friends. Mrs. Nembrotti is survived by her husband of 54 years, Robert F. Nembrotti; a son, Stuart F. Nembrotti and his wife Carol of Randolph; a daughter, Carolyn Martin and her husband Gary of Belleville; two sisters-in-law, Adriene Hawkes and Erma Flynn; and two grandchildren, Katharine Martin and Michael Nembrotti. A funeral service was held in Lakewood, New Jersey. Interment was at Green Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105. For online condolences, visit www. deliafuneralhome.com. Originally published in The Montclair Times.
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private memorial service in Los Angeles. The family requests that remembrances be contributions to Portland Center Stage. Originally published in The Oregonian.
john b. wingate ’54 died peacefully
at his home in Audubon, PA on August 31, 2011, after a long illness. He was a long-time resident of New York City and Long Island. John was born on June 12, 1937, in Elizabeth, NJ. He graduated from Lehigh University and received an MBA from City College. Loving husband and soulmate of Constance; devoted brother of Elaine Wingate Conway ’52; loving father of Jennifer Schott of San Pedro, CA, John W. Wingate of Cumming, GA, Jeffrey B. Wingate of Chatham, NJ; proud grandfather of Julie and Janey Scott and Emily and Jake Wingate. John had a long and successful career in health and human services, retiring as Commissioner of Social Services for Suffolk County in 2001. He was a member of various boards in the New York City area, including Greenwich House and the Queens Botanical Garden. After retirement he became an inveterate traveler with his wife, Connie, visiting seven continents and becoming a member of the Circumnavigators Club. A memorial service was held at the Penn Club. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be sent to the Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main St. Flushing, NY 11355. Originally published in The New York Times.
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Anne Fitchen Burton ’61 writes: “My sister, ellen fitchen tappan ’56 attended the 50th reunion events of her class, and at the same time enjoyed walking around the familar neighborhood. Although widowed in 1997, in recent years she had become a kayaker in international waters, particularly around Tasmania, Australia. She spent half the year there, and half at her home in Wolferboro, New Hampshire. On the 3rd of Feburary 2011, she was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in Tasmania. Despite being very fit and responding to an initial course of chemotherapy, she died peacefully on the 10th of March. Her three children had flown out from the States to be with her, together with her sister, Anne Fitchen Burton ’61, from London.”
darnay hoffman ’66 passed
away on May 2, 2011. Darnay was born and raised in New York City, and was a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He also had a master’s degree in marketing, and he was a television producer before studying law. His mother was the actress Toni Darnay. His stepfather was the Variety theater critic Hobe Morrison. He is survived by a sister, Toni Felice Hoffman, and two children.
nancy kuehner chernoff ’58 passed away peacefully January 19, 2011, in San Pedro, CA, surrounded by family. Nancy enjoyed her life, family, friends and local art community. Her passion for the arts was shared with her husband, Daniel, who passed away in 1995. Born and raised in New York City, Nancy became a resident of Portland 40 years ago. Nancy is survived by her sons, Scott of Palos Verdes, CA and Graham of San Francisco. The family held a
janice “jan” michelle baum ’67 passed away suddenly on May 23, 2011 in Jensen Beach, Fl. Jan was a member of the Friends Seminary Class of 1967. She also graduated from the uptown campus of NYU and the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Jan was a social service administrator in Milwaukee for many years and for the
past 8 years in Fort Pierce, Florida. She was predeceased by her father Werner Baum. Survivors include her mother Shirley Baum, sister Sandy Baum ’68, brotherin-law Michael McPherson, nephews Ben Schwerin, Daniel Schwerin and Josh Schwerin, and niece Rachel Schwerin. Her funeral was held on Friday, June 3 in Chicago, IL. If desired, contributions may be made in her name to the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, 1427 East 60th Street, Suite 120, Chicago, IL 60637, or online at http:// alumniandfriends.uchicago.edu/makeagift. Please note that your gift is for the “School of Social Service Administration in memory of Jan Baum.”
jackson j. vandeberg ’00, a student at Friends Seminary in 1995-96, died at his home in Manhattan on March 30, 2011. While an eighth grader at Friends, Jackson excelled on the soccer team, and went on to earn his high school diploma at Stuyvesant High School. He graduated from the University of Miami in 2004. At the time of his death, following an epileptic seizure, Jackson was a designer and emerging film editor.
ruth thomforde seegers passed away at the age of 92 at Orchard Park Rehabilitation and Living Center in Farmington, ME on May 13, 2011. Ruth, daughter of the late Margaret W. and Charles F. B. Thomforde, grew up on Marwood Farm near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania in the beautiful Brandywine Valley. As Quakers, the family attended the London Grove Friends Meeting. The six siblings shared the challenging yet rich experience of learning how to be selfsufficient and to cleverly make do with what they had through the Depression. If you wanted something you made it. Ruth loved to sew and designed her own patterns. One summer she invented ‘shorts’ which her mother forbade her to wear in public. Her father taught her many life skills—to drive a tractor, to fix things on the farm and to enjoy playing the cello. Her mother passed on her love for nature, teaching and her creative spirit. As a teen, Ruth developed a passion for art. Her father drove her with her portfolio over to the neighboring town of Chadds Ford to visit N.C. Wyeth to ask his opinion of her talent. The answer was, “If it is in her, it will come out.” And so it did! She attended The Philadelphia School of Industrial Art and became a very accomplished painter. She married Ernest ‘Jim’ Seegers at London Grove Meeting House on Dec. 26, 1942. The service was held in candlelight as the power had gone out. Of course she sewed her own dress. Ruth designed and built a large part of their first home in Newtown, Pennsylvania with only hand tools. Wherever they lived she would
redesign the space, build furniture, make pottery, paint, garden, cook (lots and lots of rhubarb, because it was free!), do taxidermy and sew, sew, sew. In 1946, Ruth and Jim volunteered their help to a village in Mexico through the American Friends Service Committee. Ruth and Jim taught together at a number of Quaker Schools, she as an art teacher and he a history teacher. They worked at George School in Newtown where they had their two children, on exchange for a year at the International School in Geneva, Switzerland, Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie and Friends Seminary in New York City. In 1970 they retired to Ogunquit, Maine, “a beautiful place by the sea.” Ruth opened her art gallery, Piece of Cake, painted and sold countless watercolors capturing the essence of Ogunquit. The couple walked the Marginal Way, gardened, enjoyed the beach with their grandchildren, picked raspberries for half the town, hosted the Breakfast Club, designed and built a solar house and traveled all over the world. All who knew Ruth remember she was always on the lookout for four leaf clovers, could spot them anywhere and collected them to pass on for ‘good luck.’ She considered herself to be very lucky. She loved nature, finding beauty in shells, leaves, feathers, stones… always collecting these treasures and giving many away. Jim passed away in 1991. Ruth moved to Sentry Hill in York in 2007 and then to Pinewood Terrace in Farmington in 2009. At Pinewood she gardened, did her crossword and jigsaw puzzles, visited family, amused folks with her quick wit and joined in games and activities. She will be buried with Jim at the London Grove Friends Meeting cemetery. She is survived by her sisters Esther Gally of Cuernavaca, Mexico and Mary Lewis of Callicoon Center, NY; her children, Dona Seegers of Mt. Vernon, ME and Larry Seegers ’71 of Katonah, NY; her grandchildren, Adrienne Seegers of Sonora, CA; Erin Seegers of Industry, ME; Thierry Seegers of Sunnyvale, CA; Jesse Seegers of NYC and Molly Seegers ’07 of Philadelphia, PA. Donations in her memory can be made to Pinewood Terrace, 136 Rosewood Dr. Farmington ME 04938 –please enclose a note that it is a donation for the Activity Program. f all + w inte r 2 0 1 1 | 5 9
BACK IN THE DAY
The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay... Peter Austin-Small ’48 remembers his French class with Madame Marie Louise Carman on the day that Paris fell to the Germans.
The year was 1940. The day was June 14, a month to the day before Bastille Day. The door to our classroom opened. Our French teacher, Madame Carman, walked in. It was obvious that she had been crying. Her eyes were red. She was doing her best to contain her emotions. We were kids. We did not understand. And then we did. “I just learned that my city, my Paris, has fallen to the Germans.” She sobbed briefly and quietly, shook her head as if dusting herself off from some unknown fall, straightened her modest, but impeccable dress and stood tall and firm in front of us, for all of her perhaps five feet two inches in height. “Class, we have work to do.” We all liked Madame Carman. She was a nice person, and she treated each of us ten-year-olds, as not just the kids we were, but as real people, her students. Her round Gallic face was set off with dark flattish curls, soft brown eyes and an always-pleasant smile. There was nothing ostentatious about her. No pretenses. And she was always kind and helpful. We liked to do our best for her. That day we were uniformly distressed by her words. We all knew she loved her country, loved Paris and had lots of 64 | n f f
Peter Austin-Small with clasmates in 1942
family and friends over there. We were all at least somewhat aware about what was happening in Europe, and especially in France. I am sure that on that one day we worked harder for her than we would ever work for any one teacher again. We had no idea how she maintained her presence learning what she must have learned just before she entered our classroom. If there is any one class on any given day that I can recall almost as it actually was, it was French class in the Fourth Grade at Friends Seminary on June 14, 1940. I do not know what the pacifist Quakers running or teaching at Friends Seminary or sitting in their classrooms
Madame Madame Louise Carman
thought about the fall of Paris, but I do know what everyone in the School thought about Madame Carman that day and for at least as long as she remained a teacher in the School. Two years later, my last year at Friends Seminary, the then Senior Class dedicated their yearbook to her with the words, “To Madame Carman, in appreciation of her generous help and unparalleled kindness…” When those words appeared, I do not think there was a dry eye among students, faculty and all the others who were involved at Friends that day. Everyone just knew and felt good about why that dedication was there.
meet your new
ANNUAL FUND
CO-CHAIRS! RACHEL SHAPIRO AXINN ’86
As I watch my own children grow up, I can’t help but think about my childhood. Often, I think about my teachers, Charlie Blank, Ron Singer, John Byrne and others. Their lessons and friendship changed my life. As a volunteer at Friends, it’s my chance to thank them. RICHARD BARBIERI ’02
I volunteer because Friends was a major part of making me into the person I am today with the values I have. And because it will help others have the same chance to develop as a person and to develop those values.
MANY THANKS TO RETURNING ALUMNI ANNUAL FUND CO-CHAIR JOSH WACHS ’89
FOUNDED
KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 12
FRIENDS SEMINARY 222 EAST 16TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10003
SAVE THE DATE ALUMNI BASKETBALL GAME January 6
PE ACE
PEACE WEEK February 6-10
WE E K
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GUEST SPEAKER M ICH AE L AR AD
CHINESE NEW YEAR January 20
AUCTION March 8
February 9 at 7 pm | Reception at 6:15 pm Michael Arad, the architect and designer behind the National
ALUMNI GATHERING: LOS ANGELES February 2
SPRING FAIR May 5
9/11 Memorial, will deliver a public lecture in honor of this year’s Peace Week theme, Peace Like a River: Water as
ALUMNI GATHERING: SAN FRANCISCO February 6
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ALUMNI REUNION May 18-19
Metaphor and Matter.
RSVP to aperlmutter@friendsseminary.org