Kent Quarterly Spring 2015 by Kent School

Spring 2015

KENT Quarterly

KENT

CONTENTS

Quarterly

Volume XXXI.2 Spring 2015

Editor Denny Mantegani Class Notes Editor Laura Martell Contributors Kent Alley Marc Cloutier Ryan Foote Elaine Griffin Tonya Kalmes Stacy Langa Ellie Morris Kathy Nadire

Design and Production Cheney & Company

The Kent Quarterly invites all readers —alumni, parents past and present, trustees, faculty, staff and students— to contribute to the magazine. We also welcome letters to the editor and look forward to your comments on articles and issues concerning the School as well as suggestions for future articles.

Features

Memories and Milestones: Serge Schmemann ’63

Let Us Now Praise Father Patterson’s Men: Part II

Reflections on a Visit to Radley College

The Challenge of Deterring ISIS

Departments

From the Headmaster

Between the Hills and River Shore

Kent Authors

Alumni News and Events

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Class Notes

In Memoriam

Grace Note

The email address for letters to the editor is ManteganiD@kent-school.edu, and for class notes, alumni@kent-school. edu. Changes in address should be emailed to Laura Martell at Lmartel@ kent-school.edu or mailed to her at Kent School, Box 2006, Kent, CT 06757. To reach the Alumni and Development office, please call 860-927-6230.

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Kent School adheres to a longstanding policy of admitting students of any race, color, creed, religion, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan program and other school administered programs.

The combined Kent-Radley choir and chamber orchestra perform in St. Joseph’s Chapel. Photo by Simon Carr

ON THE FRONT COVER:

From the Headmaster

Partners in Education KENT HAS BENEFITTED from a number of important

partnerships over the years, the historically most important being with The Order of the Holy Cross. We owe our existence and vocation to the early partnering of the young Fr. Frederick Herbert Sill, OHC, and Fr. James Otis Sargent Huntington, OHC, Superior of the Order, who gave our Founder permission and moral support in 1906 to start a school in Kent, on the banks of the Housatonic River, “for students from families of modest means.” The Order and School are tied together by history and tradition, and our clergy, the Reverend Kate Kelderman and the Reverend Jonathan Voorhees, participate in retreats at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, on the banks of the Hudson River. Our students support the Order’s work with children at Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery in Grahamstown, South Africa, by offerings in St. Joseph’s Chapel. In the era of information, our partnerships with Dartmouth College and Microsoft helped define Kent’s role as a leader in the uses of technology in education. Alumni from the 1960s will remember the first computer terminals on campus, located in Dickinson Science Building and linked to a mainframe in Hanover, New Hampshire. The PDP-8 high-speed electronic DEC computer had three teletypes and a “time-sharing system.” It stored information on large discs and magnetic tapes and ran on BASIC, FOCAL and FORTRAN. The late Dr. Henry Syer of Mathematics and John Hinners of Science, among others, were pioneers for us in this field. In 1996 Microsoft invited Kent to become one of thirty schools to pilot its “Anytime Anywhere Learning Program.” Students and teachers were equipped with laptops loaded with Microsoft software at the factory, and financing was provided by GE Capital for the hardware purchases. Soon the entire campus was wired for the Internet and now our wireless network covers all academic and administrative buildings, the dormitories and many outdoor areas around campus. Today every department and program in the School is linked with professional associations, other schools, libraries and universities.

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In January of this year, Kent faculty members went to La Jolla, California, for discussions with scientists at the renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The outcome of these discussions is a new offering this summer at Scripps for Kent students and teachers who will work side-by-side with researchers in marine sciences. The Science Department is thrilled with this next phase in the development of Marine Science summer programs. Originating with scuba diving excursions led by Eric Houston ’80 in the 1990s, reintroduced in recent expeditions with Sail Caribbean, Intricate Bay, Alaska, and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Ft. Pierce, Florida, the Marine Science summer programs offer students an opportunity for intensive, experiential study of marine ecosystems. We are very grateful for the efforts of Adam Gordon, father of Wes ’16, who introduced Kent to Scripps and committed a tremendous amount of time and energy building a lasting partnership. This partnership will allow for a summer trip to Scripps benefitting both students and faculty. Participants will be working with researchers from two Scripps research teams. One team’s emphasis is examining coral reef ecology, while the other tracks shark populations in the Pacific. The energy and intellectual power at Scripps are tremendous, and we anticipate our students having an inspiring and potentially life-changing experience. The Science Department is also excited about a developing relationship with one of Connecticut’s newest innovation leaders, the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX). From their original base in Bar Harbor, Maine, Jackson Labs have been home to Nobel Prize winners and numerous major breakthroughs in the understanding and treatments of cancer and other illnesses. With the opening of their new genomic and bioinformatics facility in Connecticut, they are looking for partners to broaden the understanding of the role of genetics and research throughout the globe. Scott Wakefield ’56, working with Adam Fischer in our Alumni & Development Office, kindly introduced us to the leadership of the Laboratory to help further

the creativity of our biology courses, particularly our Biotechnology elective. By means of visiting lectures, student trips, teacher training, and equipment and data sharing, JAX has a great deal to offer our students. One exciting opportunity is the potential for Kent students to explore the role of computational biology and its evolving role in medicine. In February the Radley College (U.K.) Choir and instrumentalists, under the direction of Stephen Clarke (Precentor), Timothy Morris (Organist), Simon Carr,

The new Warden of Radley, John Moule, has embraced the exchange, and this June Alexandra Kelly (English) and Julie Zurolo (Science) will spend a week teaching and observing at Radley. We have Robert Wendin ’78 and Simon Perkins ’84 to thank for reviving this excellent tradition of exchanges with Radley. At Prize Day 2013 the then Warden of Radley, Angus McPhail, now a fellow at St. Andrew’s, Scotland, presented Kent with the original Letter from Buckingham Palace, dated November 9, 1927, stating

In the age of networking, Kent is connecting in every discipline and activity not only on campus, but with peers and mentors wherever the pursuit of knowledge leads. and Suzie Louise Naylor (Music), visited Kent through an exchange partnership started many years ago, but only recently revived. They were a musical sensation with their visit, which included a traditional Evensong and Sunday morning mass. The service mass provided the opportunity for the Kent and Radley choirs and instrumentalists to perform sections of the Haydn Missa Brevis. The visit culminated in a concert in the newly renovated Mattison Auditorium, featuring a 78-piece Kent and Radley combined orchestra that performed “Jupiter” from The Planets by Gustav Holst and Crown Imperial by William Walton. A combined jazz band presented three selections, including Take Five by Paul Desmond of the Brubeck Quartet, and each school’s a cappella ensembles, The Kentones & Kentettes and the Radley Clerkes, wowed the audience. Our Music faculty Jennifer Malone Hobbs (Chair & Orchestra Director), Thomas Bouldin (Band Director), Barbara Kovacs (Choirmaster) and Deborah Cardenas took great pleasure in getting to know their British counterparts and found the collaboration to be a grand success. “It was a true delight to see our students getting to know one another as they shared classes and meals, and rehearsed and performed together. We demonstrated that music truly makes lasting, memorable connections,” said Jennifer Hobbs. “We hope to continue the Kent musical connection with our new Radley friends.”

“The King thinks that an exchange of visits, such as arranged between the boys of Radley and Kent School (USA), is an excellent idea, and one that might with advantage be followed by other schools.” Kent School has enjoyed a nine-year partnership with Collège Sainte-Anne in Montréal, a leading francophone school serving 7th to 11th grades. Approximately 50 Kent students and faculty have participated in an exchange program over the years, in which they attend classes, live with a host family and learn about and experience the French-speaking cultures found merely five and a half hours away from our campus. Every year Kent welcomes Saint-Anne students as they are partnered with students and experience classroom, dormitory and extracurricular life with their Kent hosts. The new Pre-Engineering & Applied Sciences Center, housed in town in a former corporate headquarters which we have refitted for engineering purposes, is bustling with collaborative energy, thanks to the vision of Board President Waring Partridge ’62 and the leadership of Dr. Ben Nadire and Jeff Cataldo, business manager. We look forward to welcoming our visiting professionals for another summer of collaboration. Professor Keith Weigelt from Wharton will instruct students in entrepreneurship, decision making and negotiation and marketing strategies. Harvard University’s Dr. Sujata Bhatia will instruct

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Students working on a robotics design at the Pre-Engineering & Applied Sciences Center

students in the latest innovations in medical technology, specifically the use of naturally derived materials for the reduction of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Professor Daniel Schrage and his team from Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering will cover virtual resources, CAD systems, cloud computingbased collaborative IT infrastructure, and 3D printing. Trustee Calestous Juma, Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor at MIT, has played a key role alongside Dr. Nadire in developing the momentum of these programs. We are also delighted to announce our newest partnership with St. John’s University. In May, Professors Ping Wang and Al Beer will be instructing students in risk management, insurance and actuarial science. We are grateful to Trustee Emeritus Brandon Sweitzer ’60 who has been instrumental in making this connection for Kent. This year Kent was proud to be selected by the Falcon Foundation at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as one of eight schools in their post-graduate program for young

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men and women on their way to the Academy. Trustee Bruce Whitman ’51 led this path-breaking initiative for Kent. Next year four outstanding members of this year’s graduating class will be cadets at USAFA. Our Prize Day speaker on June 7 will be General Gregory S. Martin (USAF Retired), former Commander of USAF Europe and former Chairman of the Falcon Foundation. These are just a few of the key relationships that help keep Kent in the forefront of education… these partnerships are the tip of the iceberg. In the age of networking, Kent is connecting in every discipline and activity not only on campus, but with peers and mentors wherever the pursuit of knowledge leads. We value all of our School’s partnerships… especially with the alumni, parents, grandparents and friends who generously support all of this collaborative learning with your ideas and charitable giving. Richardson W. Schell ’69 Headmaster & Rector

Memories

and Milestones Serge Schmemann ’63 on His Career as Journalist and Author BY NICHOLAS WEDGE

The veteran New York Times journalist has enjoyed a career in which he has handled an uncommonly wide array of assignments. First came an apprenticeship as a small-town reporter, after which Serge joined the AP and then “grabbed the golden ring” when a spot opened for him at the Times bureau in Serge Schmemann ’63 Moscow. Since then, Schmemann has served as a foreign correspondent, bureau chief in major world cities, deputy foreign news editor and, significantly, as a member of the paper’s editorial board. All this, and Schmemann has consistently gained recognition within his profession. The author of two books, numerous magazine and scholarly-journal articles, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. He also scripted a TV documentary that brought him an Emmy, served as an adjunct college professor at Princeton, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and sits on the Board of Trustees of the European University in St. Petersburg, Russia. He served as editorial editor of the International Herald Tribune after the New York Times took full possession, and retired when it became the International New York Times in 2014. Based in Paris since 2003, the peripatetic newsman is currently writing editorials for the Times’ U.S. edition. (At the very least, this mini-CV clearly demonstrates that a Kent School education—and all that goes with it—is fundamental to world-class multi-tasking. End of digression and on with the story.) Serge’s assignment to Paris was a full-circle event,

coming 22 years after joining the Times, because he was, in fact, born in a village just outside the City of Light. The third generation descendant of White Russian émigrés who had settled in France after the 1917 revolution, Serge and his wife, Mary, were delighted at this “opportunity for renewal.” They moved into a comfortable apartment near the Sorbonne, with its local cafés and shops—and just a twenty-minute commute to the Times’ offices near La Défense. “The fact that we’re now in Paris isn’t the only thing that links us to the past,” Serge said. “In 1951, my family moved to New York, up by Columbia University, and I grew up in that part of town. I’m so fond of it that we bought an apartment there—now used by Schmemann offspring but awaiting our eventual repatriation.” That tends to keep the full-circle theme alive over the years. So, too, does the fact that the Schmemanns traditionally gather for vacations and holidays at a family retreat high in Canada’s Laurentians. Serge went on to describe the locale. “A relative of ours bought a large tract of farmland and forest on a lake sixty years ago, and since my parents were both teachers and had the summer off, we started going there soon after we landed in America. My father was an Eastern Orthodox priest, so we built a chapel, and over time many other relatives and friends pitched cottages on the lake. Now my three kids all have their own chalets.”

Circling Back into Russian History Moving on to another full-circle experience, Serge took us back to a time in the mid-1990s when he was granted a research sabbatical from his post as the Times bureau chief in Moscow. “My mother’s ancestors had been landed

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gentry under the czars, and most of them In Theological Circles escaped after the 1917 revolution. Her One of the reasons Serge enrolled at Kent family’s estate was called Sergievskoye, in was its link to the Episcopalian Church. a beautiful region south of Moscow on the He was in fact a member of what would Oka River. soon become the Orthodox Church in “They were a deeply religious, patriAmerica, largely formed from parishes archal family with deep roots in Russia, built by descendants of nineteenthand both my grandfather and greatcentury immigrants from Russia and grandfather wrote wonderful memoirs the later White Russian émigrés. In fact, Serge with this father, Alexander, an about Sergievskoye and their spiritual Serge’s father, Alexander Schmemann, Eastern Orthodox priest bond to it. So even before I went to played a central role in organizing the Russia as a correspondent in 1980, I was determined to O.C.A. and was dean of its seminary in Crestwood, New find the place and to see what had happened to it. York, St. Vladimir’s. “Soviet authorities consistently refused me permis“Growing up with a clergyman for a father is a sion to go there. I learned later that they were afraid of unique experience. My father had the gift of a deep faith what I would write about the pathetic state farm that and a remarkable appreciation of the joy of life. His diawas there now. But with Gorbachev came more freedom ries, which we published after he died, have become a to travel, and I finally started to make regular visits, to best-seller in Russia. They also reveal the depth of his share my stories and to hear about how they had surlove for America, for everything it stood for, which he vived collectivization and Nazi occupation, and how they transferred to the young O.C.A and to all of us. were now entering into a new post-Soviet era. “He loved the Anglican liturgy—and the way Father “It was a wonderful time, getting to know the people, Patterson, the headmaster in my day, intoned ‘AY-men’ digging through the archives that finally were reopened, for all to hear. So there was nothing chance about his sleeping in the former school that my great-grandfather choice of Kent for me. When he visited me at Kent, the built and feeling in me that deep bond that my ancestors first stop was always St. Joseph’s Chapel. In fact, my first had known with this lovely, tortured land.” school in America was also a church school—Corpus The result was Echoes of a Native Land, an unprecChristi, on W. 121st Street, where the teachers were edented study of a Russian village over two centuries. Dominican nuns.” No small task, this—in a mostly abandoned region of the Serge said he still attends O.C.A. services when in Russian heartland. Serge’s book was published by Knopf the United States, but is a member of a more traditional in 1997 and translated into many languages, including Russian church in Paris, where the liturgical language is Russian. It was favorably reviewed, the author being the melodious Church Slavonic and the chants include cited for sensitivity, scholarship and depth of compasmusic composed by virtually every Russian composer. sion for the villagers. Echoes stands as a tribute to a man When in England, though, Serge said he slips into every with the right DNA for the work—and a clear underold church where services are underway. “I still hold standing of the effects of political and social upheaval on dear the old Book of Common Prayer,” he explained. generations who made their homes in Sergievskoye, now called Koltsovo. Joining the Pulitzer Circle “The year I took off to write the book was actually Did Serge have another favorite among the myriad fullone of the finest of my life,” Serge reflected. “Russia was circle adventures of his career? In 1989, Serge, then the becoming free, hopes for the future were high, people Times bureau chief in Bonn, was working in West Berlin were dying to talk after the years of Soviet repression. a good deal of the time. The fall of that year was one of We no longer lived and traveled as ‘foreign agents,’ but major tumult in the East—Mikhail Gorbachev had loosed as free people in the land of our forebears. Alas, it would the chains in Russia, and cracks were forming in the Iron not last. Maybe it could not last.” Curtain, but East Germany’s Old Guard Communists were strongly resisting pressures for change.

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On November 9, Serge had spent most of the day in East Berlin, where a member of the ruling Communist Politburo had announced measures making it easier for East Germans to visit the West. But the message was garbled in transmission and it came out sounding as if the Berlin Wall was being opened. Thousands of East Berliners rushed to the Wall. “I was not aware of this, however. I had returned to my hotel room in West Berlin to write the story, when suddenly, at about 11 p.m., my East German news assistant burst in. He had never been to the West, and it took a while for me to understand that the Wall had been breached and that he had been among the first to rush through. “Soon we were rushing back, the taxi driver yelling at the ecstatic crowds to let us through to the Wall, where one of history’s greatest parties was underway. It was an extraordinary, unforgettable spectacle. My West German assistant, Tom, tried to climb up on the Wall to dance, but I dragged him back— ‘Today we work, Tom,’ I yelled. ‘Tomorrow we dance.’” From that seminal moment, the story for Serge became the inexorable drive toward the reunification Serge (right) in Vietnam of the two German states. It was a steady run of front-page stuff from a writer who’d been at its front lines and was deeply aware of the political, social and cultural dynamics of the situation. And yes, Serge nailed it. In 1991, the proud possessor of a stone he himself had hacked from the Berlin Wall received a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting—the award honoring his articles on Germany’s unification and the effects it was likely to have on world affairs. Schmemann had already won a 1990 Overseas Press Club Citation for Excellence in covering Germany. And the tireless Times man made a trifecta of the whole episode. In 2006, Serge wrote a concise, wellreceived and superbly illustrated book for high school students called When the Wall Came Down; it was published by NYT Books and Kingfisher Press. “It’s curious to go back now, and to find almost no trace remaining of a barrier that had so totally divided two conflicting worlds,” Serge says. “In fact, some neighborhoods of old East Berlin have become among the trendiest of what is again the German capital. But it 6

would be wrong to forget how that division came about, and how terrible it was.”

The Career Path Unfolds Following his graduation from Kent in 1963, Serge headed northeast to Harvard, where he emerged in 1967 clutching a BA in English Lit. Next came the Russian Institute at Columbia University to work on an MA in Russian literature and Soviet studies. Serge’s draft board interrupted his studies, and a few months later he was off to Vietnam. There, in the midst of that misguided adventure, luck came his way. A buddy who had been plucked from a job on a Baltimore newspaper awakened an interest in reporting. It had been there at Kent and Harvard, but now, Serge recalls, “Talking to Jon in our hootch, and visiting correspondents in Saigon with him, permanently infected me with the journalism bug. There was nothing else I wanted to do—except for getting out of ’Nam and getting married.” After completing his degree at Columbia in ’71, Serge strolled into the Associated Press office in Rockefeller Center to apply for a reporting job. The editor he spoke with was impressed with his background and languages but decided that Serge had too little experience in basic reporting. “He got onto the phone with the editor of the News Tribune in New Jersey, and before I knew what was happening I had a job covering local news in Woodbridge,” Serge said. “‘Come back in a year,’ the AP editor said. The News Tribune made a practice of hiring starting reporters, and it was one of the best years I had in this business. In a place like Woodbridge, if you made a mistake your phone would melt, and when you covered a strike your tires would be punctured. You learned quickly about accuracy.” A year later, as ordered, Serge reported for work at the AP, first as a city reporter, then foreign desk editor, then as a correspondent at the United Nations, South Africa, and finally Moscow, where he arrived with his family on an overnight train from Helsinki on January 1, 1980. After a few months there, the Moscow bureau chief for the New York Times called to say he’d been called back to be foreign editor, and if he was interested, Serge KENT QUARTERLY

should quickly apply for the Moscow job. “How could you not say ‘da’?” Serge grinned. “And soon after I was hired for the post by the Times executive editor, Abe Rosenthal, who was to become my mentor for many years. I’ll never forget his passion for journalism and his beloved newspaper.”

Andrew Rosenthal, NYT editorial page editor, was next up: “I don’t think I’ll ever forget what my dad confided to me when I was new at the Times and he was executive editor. It went something like this: ‘This guy Schmemann who just took over in Moscow is going to be an all-time star for us. Trust me on that and get to know

“Today we work, Tom,” I yelled. “Tomorrow we dance.” Along the way, as Serge’s career at the Times began to flourish, a variety of other assignments followed. He was promoted to Moscow bureau chief and later held the same post in Bonn. Then back to Moscow after the collapse of the Soviet Union, followed by an assignment to head the paper’s bureau in Jerusalem at a time of crisis in Arab-Israeli relations. Returning to New York, Serge headed the Times bureau at the U.N., served as deputy foreign news editor, and was appointed to membership on the paper’s editorial board. In 2003, it was back to his Paris birthplace and still other journalistic responsibilities that have continued to the present day. In recognition of all this—decades of slugging away at making sense of the world—Serge has been the recipient of major awards, citations, glowing book reviews, honorary degrees, professorships and endless invitations to join learned academic and foreign affairs groups. If all that doesn’t make him sui generis in his profession and as an individual—well, here are some personal observations about Mr. Schmemann to ponder. They may indeed reveal what the very essence of a Kent School education is all about.

Comments From All Points of the Compass David Mueller ’63 writes from California: “Since the many classes Serge and I took together at Kent, I’ve seen him off and on over the years, most notably at his home in Moscow in June, 1991. Serge was busy reporting the Russian election for the New York Times, the election that launched Boris Yeltsin onto the world stage, and I was supporting Chevron’s Caspian Sea negotiations. We had a lot to talk about. At Kent, Serge was much the same personality that we know today: serious, a little shy, a little reserved, highly focused on whatever the task at hand happened to be, with a wry and whimsical sense of humor which made his academic prowess all that more impressive.” SPRING 2015

him.’ Long story short, Abe’s advice—fatherly and from his office—was spot on. Fate must have had a hand in the way things worked out. Serge, my friend for decades and our foreign affairs specialist, is also on the editorial board where I preside. Is that a father and son act, or what?” David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, in a quote for Schmemann’s book Echoes of a Native Land, identifies what makes Schmemann so special: “Schmemann’s ‘unfair advantage’ over all correspondents was that he grasped the story of Russia with his soul as well as with his intellect. Now we know why. His family history is a gift to understanding.” Alexander “Sasha” Schmemann ’91, Washington, D.C.: “I went to Kent a generation after my father, but my class caught the tail end of his ‘classic old Kent era.’ By my senior year, Kent was full bore into modernizing. I am glad I had a glimpse into his Kent experience, with all of its inimitable restrictions, rigors, challenges and rewards. Considering we both work as editors today, perhaps our greatest shared take-away is that the grammar, style and literature we absorbed from our Kent English professors—specifically from the great O.B. Davis, academic advisor to both of us—gave us the solid foundation we both have for working on a variety of texts today. During my time at Kent, my father was stationed by the New York Times in Bonn, Germany. Halfway through my Kent years, I’ll never forget the excitement of both of us being in Berlin watching the Wall being torn down! The next thing I knew, I was back in the Kent bubble, serving second dibbs of dinner slop to imperious upperclassmen— something my dad no doubt did in the exact same way a quarter century earlier!” Nicholas Wedge is a writer whose article on Sir Richard Dearlove ’63 appeared in the Spring 2014 Quarterly.

PART II

Let Us Now Praise Fr. Patterson’s Men ROBERT F. OBER, JR. ’54

Part I appeared in the Fall 2014 Kent Quarterly CONTINUING A REVIEW of the teachers whom Fr. John

Oliver Patterson, Kent headmaster from 1949 to 1962, added to the faculty (which already bore the imprint of those appointed by Kent’s founder, Fr. Sill, and Fr. Chalmers, headmaster from 1941 to 1949), let us turn to the fourth American—after George Semler, Steve Kurtz and Lane Barton ’44—hired in the year 1951–52: Willoughby Newton of the University of Virginia, Class of 1949, who had also completed two years of graduate study at Cambridge University. Thanks to the foresight and generosity of one of the School’s first women graduates, Susan B. Strange ’64, a reference archivist who, before retiring, served for 12 years at the Archives Center in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the Kent archive has the transcript of a wide-ranging, fascinating interview she conducted with Fr. Newton in his Manhattan apartment in 2000. Like Mr. Semler, Fr. Newton’s career at Kent embraced service on both the boys’ and girls’ campuses. From 1951 to 1958, apart from one year’s leave of absence, he taught the boys, and after spending two years as rector of a church in nearby Marbledale, Connecticut, he taught the girls from 1960 to 1963, for whom he also served as chaplain. In his interview with Ms. Strange, Fr. Newton describes not only his years at Kent but his tumultuous upbringing in a family made indigent by the Great Depression, as well as the full life he enjoyed after Kent, a life devoted to promoting educational and philanthropic institutions in Connecticut and New York. While living with his mother in Alexandria, Virginia, Newton dropped out of high school in 1943 to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Force. Initially he was assigned to clerical duties at posts in the United States, and then was transferred to a base in England. There he introduced himself to a cousin who turned out to be Lady Astor, an American-born socialite who was the first woman to take a seat in Parliament, and visited her at her Clivedon

estate, and began to acquaint himself and to associate with his Virginia family’s aristocratic forebears. One month after VE Day, Newton was transferred to a military base in Germany; then, as a private first class, he continued on to Paris, with his assigned housing just off the Champs-Élysées, and with responsibility for all of the U.S. Eighth Air Force’s registered mail. As he describes, in Paris he came alive: with “more discretionary money than I have ever had since, I saw my first opera, my first ballet, and had wonderful times…” Newton left the Air Force on his 21st birthday, was awarded a certificate by his erstwhile high school, and, thanks to the GI Bill (in his words, “the greatest investment” that Washington “ever made because it changed the social structure of society”), he enrolled at the University of Virginia. He graduated in three years, making Phi Beta Kappa. He returned to England to attend Cambridge University with a stipend from a DuPont foundation, and there “read for the English tripos,” the term Cambridge uses for the course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree, which, in the field he selected, required a mastery of eighteenth century English literature, literary criticism, tragedy and the poet William Wordsworth. After Cambridge, Newton applied to Kent. “I was enthralled by Fr. Patterson, and so I accepted his offer, making $1,800 a year with room and board… He was a very intelligent, charismatic man, and like so many intelligent men, when he was with you, he focused on you. And I was overcome by his charisma, by the fact he was a priest. Kent seemed like such an interesting place, so I decided to hang my hat there.” In September 1955, after four years teaching English on the boys’ campus, Newton took a year’s leave of absence to attend General Theological Seminary. Because he had already attended two summer sessions at Union Seminary, by the winter of 1956 he had met all the requirements for ordination and was ordained by the suffragan bishop of Connecticut at St. Joseph’s Chapel.

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AT LEFT Fr. Willoughby Newton; ABOVE Fr. Willoughby Newton in the early 2000s with Anne Beach Ritter (left) and Susan B. Strange (center), both Class of ’64

In June 1958, he received the call to become rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Marbledale, a small community a half hour east of Kent. Within a year, Amherst College sought to recruit him as its Episcopal chaplain, but Connecticut’s presiding bishop, the Right Reverend Walter Gray, insisted that he remain at Marbledale, which he did. In 1960, after a further year at St. Andrew’s, and upon Fr. Patterson’s urging, he made his way back to Kent, this time to the new campus on the Hill. He stayed three years and then left to become the headmaster of Wykeham Rise School in nearby Washington, Connecticut, a school for girls founded in 1902 that had closed in 1943 due to wartime conditions. In 1964 Fr. Newton, along with the rector of Washington’s St. John’s Church, succeeded in reviving Wykeham Rise as a school for girls concentrating on the arts, with the full support of Bishop Gray, who had thwarted Newton’s appointment at Amherst, and evidently to the chagrin of Sidney N. Towle ’31, Kent’s new headmaster, who was naturally concerned about protecting the interests of his recently established girls’ school. Fr. Newton remained the head of Wykeham Rise until 1976. Fr. Newton’s subsequent career involved assisting at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Manhattan and fundraising for New York Public Television (Channel Thirteen) and for the General Theological Seminary, where he became vice president for development. Certainly a life of unceasing service that, apart from the military, had its “prelude”—as Wordsworth himself might have put it 1—at Kent, for which many of its alumni and alumnae are grateful.

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JUDGING FROM THE NEXT TWO appointments,

for the year beginning September 1952, Fr. Patterson and Assistant Headmaster Ray Ronshaugen had taken account of the relatively brief stays of several of their first appointees.2 So they searched for candidates more settled in their fields, perhaps those less inclined to depart Kent early for other opportunities. Specifically, they appointed two men with recognized credentials: Edmund Fuller, a widely published writer and editor, 40 years old, who would organize, with Fr. Newton’s help, a tutorial reading program establishing individually tailored assignments for each upper former; and James Henry Breasted, Jr., the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 44 years old, who would lecture in art and archeology. In 1923, Breasted had been in Thebes, Egypt, in the company of his father, a founder of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, when the Tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered and opened. At his hiring, Edmund Fuller was a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and a literary critic and reviewer whose articles were appearing in periodicals such as the Saturday Review of Literature and the American Scholar. He had taught courses previously at New York’s New School for Social Research and Columbia University.

1 Actually, Wordsworth’s widow gave this title to that philosophical poem that the poet was never able to complete. 2 Because of space constraints, two faculty members who briefly served in the English Department, John Adams, 1950–51, and a British national, Fr. Daniel Thomas, 1951–52, were not profiled in Part I. The information on each is scant; I’d be glad to share, however, what is available should an alumnus wish.

AT LEFT James Breasted, Jr. ABOVE Edmund Fuller

The tutorial program required that each upper former select a book to read from a list of great writers compiled by Fuller and Newton, and then write and submit a report. The list included works by such authors as Austen, Faulkner, Forster, Hardy, Meredith, Swift and Tolstoy. A true enrichment program, supplementing what the English Department, headed by O.B. Davis ’42, was itself imparting. I recall selecting works by Dostoyevsky and Turgenev, works that may have led me to the study of Russian at Princeton. Fred Sharp ’54 recalls reading Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler, and then discussing it one-on-one with Fuller after submitting a twopage report. Mr. Fuller also taught on the Hill, and Ms. Strange found that he inspired her to work hard to compose a quality paper on To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1965 Fuller went to Rome to join Fr. Patterson, who had left Kent in 1962 to found St. Stephen’s School in Rome. He returned to Connecticut a year later and joined the faculty of South Kent School, where he served as chairman of the English Department from 1971 to 1978. James Breasted arrived at Kent with striking credentials: St. George’s School; an AB from Princeton, Class of 1932, with high honors in the history of art and archeology; an MA from the University of Chicago, 1937; tenure at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, 1937–41; and a position at UCLA as assistant professor of art, 1941–46, with periodic stints in Washington advising the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) on materiel and equipment for successful desert warfare. I vaguely recall sitting with classmates in Mr. and Mrs. Breasted’s apartment in the basement of the North Dorm watching slides of art and architecture that he had acquired through his association with museums and his travels abroad. During his time on the boys’ campus he transformed the Art Department (which, upon my arrival in 1949,

was virtually secreted in an attic in the Library Building, now the Middle Dorm) into a vibrant Art and Art History Department. He also oversaw the creation of the Olcott Damon Smith ’25 Art Gallery on the main floor of the same building, a gallery that hosted many exhibitions until the girls’ campus was consolidated with the boys’ campus in the early 1990s and space for a new common room needed to be established. Mr. Breasted remained at Kent until retiring in June 1970, at which time he and his wife moved to a farm they owned in New Hampshire. Two other teachers were recruited for the 1952–53 school year: Weyman S. Crocker, Jr., to teach physics, and Nathaniel Harrison Gifford, to teach French. Crocker had graduated from St. George’s School, Newport, Rhode Island, in 1943, and entered Yale University, where he joined the Navy’s V-12 program, which soon led to his serving as a naval officer in the Philippines. Returning to Yale to complete his education, he received a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1947 and a master’s in physics at the University of Vermont. He arrived at Kent highly recommended: the School “could not find a better man” to teach mathematics and physics. After one year, however, Mr. Crocker moved on to positions at General Electric and MIT’s Instrumentation Lab. His obituary indicates he was involved in designing the country’s first satellites; then, working at Polaroid and Boeing, he helped develop precision optics and precision aerospace systems, including the Apollo spacecraft. Nathaniel Harrison Gifford, a graduate of Milton Academy and Harvard University, also arrived at Kent in September 1952. Known as Hal, he had received his AB with Harvard’s Class of 1948, having interrupted his education in Cambridge to serve in the Pacific as a lieutenant ( j.g.). Gifford studied French in Paris in 1949–50 under the auspices of Middlebury College, securing an MA degree and a personal recommendation from the director in Paris that he “would be an outstanding teacher.” Besides teaching French at Kent, Gifford coached one of the junior football teams and the wrestling squad. During the 1957–58 year, Gifford took a leave of absence to teach English at two schools in Belgium under a Fulbright program administered by the State Department. He returned to Kent for three more years, then left to head the Modern Language Department at

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Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts. In 1977 he retired to Augusta, Maine, and opened a bookstore, Kennebec Books, specializing in military history and war games. According to his obituary, he was a civil rights activist and marched in the Selma-to-Montgomery protest in 1966. Fr. Barton, as noted in Part I of this article, was also one of the marchers, but he tells me he didn’t encounter Gifford or even know that another teacher with Kent credentials had taken part. FR. PATTERSON ADDED three teachers to the faculty

for the year beginning September 1953, my class’s sixthform year. Eugene S. Olson, Class of 1952 at Beloit College in Wisconsin, was hired to teach French. He had also earned a master’s degree from the Sorbonne. After one year at Kent, he decided to look for other opportunities and received a good recommendation from Fr. Patterson. An obituary published in North Carolina in October 2013 indicates Mr. Olson had a “lifelong passion for travel and foreign languages,” and had made a career with the international division of General Motors, living with his family in Italy, Switzerland, Zaire and Tunisia. William Maillet, a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover and Bowdoin College, Class of 1953, where he edited a literary magazine, also joined the School in September 1953. He had served four years in the Navy before entering Bowdoin and was hired to teach English his first year at Kent, with the expectation he would teach German thereafter. In 1957 he left Kent and taught at Williston Academy and Choate, retiring from the latter in 1982. He was living in Florida and pursuing a doctorate in the 1990s and passed away in 2012. In the spring of 1953 Fr. Patterson and Mr. Ronshaugen set out to secure the services of a Mathematics Department chairman, and found him in the person of Robert E.K. Rourke, a Canadian citizen. After graduating in 1927 from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, with honors in both mathematics and physics, Mr. Rourke was appointed a department head at Pickering College, a Canadian secondary school, but for his further study moved on to Harvard University, where in two years he gained both a master’s degree with distinction and fulfilled the required courses for a doctorate. However, when his father died suddenly, he was forced to abandon Cambridge and return to Canada to support his family.

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He was 47 years old and serving as the headmaster of Pickering College when he came to Kent’s attention. He had already published eight books and numerous articles bearing on the teaching of mathematics, advanced algebra and trigonometry, a man obviously at the sharp end of his profession. Mr. Ronshaugen flew to Toronto in March 1953 to present Fr. Patterson’s proposal, and after Fr. Patterson followed up with a further approach (it is unclear whether he delivered it face-to-face in Toronto as he initially planned), Mr. Rourke decided to visit Kent. Fr. Patterson had already obtained the trustees’ approval to offer him $7,500 per annum, an enormous sum for Kent at the time, and Mr. Rourke accepted. I was in Robert Rourke’s class when he started teaching, and I vividly recall how dismayed he was when he encountered what we had, or had not, learned from our teachers in the lower forms. What ensued was an intense crash course to bring us to the level where he felt we ought to be; somehow we managed and met his expectations by graduation in June 1954. Schools everywhere in the United States needed expertise in the methodologies of teaching mathematics and physics. This was especially so after the Soviet Union forged ahead in space by launching Sputnik on October 4, 1957. Mr. Rourke was soon appointed executive director of the Commission of Mathematics of the College Entrance Examination Board, and took a leave of absence from Kent for the 1958–59 year. While still at Kent, he would spend some summers teaching at Columbia’s Teachers College and was often called upon to lecture at gatherings of administrators and teachers at schools and colleges around the country. In 1962, Mr. Rourke, along with Mr. Ronshaugen, left Kent to help Fr. Patterson establish St. Stephen’s School in Rome. Fr. Samuel E. West had already left the School for a headmastership in 1958. These developments will be discussed in the next Quarterly. Mr. Ober attended Princeton and Harvard Law after Kent and had a Foreign Service career. He served as Kent’s director of development and, for a period, its alumni secretary, from 1987 to 1998; then went to Beirut as president of International College, remaining three years. As the Quarterly was going to press, we learned that Fr. Willoughby Newton died on April 18, 2015, at the age of 90.

Reflections on a Visit to Radley College BY TOM HUNT

In June 2014 English teacher Tom Hunt spent a week at Radley College in England as part of a teacher exchange between Kent and Radley. The following is an excerpt from an essay Mr. Hunt wrote after returning to Kent. ONE OF THE STANDARD REMINDERS trip chaperones give their boarding school charges before they debark the bus for the theater, museum or mall is “Don’t do anything stupid. You represent Kent School.” In the days leading up to my departure to England as part of the Kent SchoolRadley College teacher exchange, I was muttering the same advice with disturbing frequency to myself. I had already done something foolish, scheduling my flight for the day after Kent’s Prize Day. I was “toast” even before I left, depleted by emotional goodbyes and stacks of paperwork. After the two-hour ride to JFK, the six-hour redeye to Dublin, the seven-hour layover, the one-hour flight to London, and the ninety-minute bus ride to Radley, I looked more like a mug shot than a respectable school teacher. At 8:00 p.m. we pulled into the bus station. Andrew Cunningham, my counterpart in the exchange, greeted us at the station, his ebullience contrasting sharply with our weariness. I’d last seen Andrew two months ago when he and a colleague visited Kent School for two weeks. While at Kent, Andrew was a fixture in the English Department, sitting in on classes, teaching a few, hanging out in the department office. It was good to see him again. He offers to take my wife’s suitcase, and as we walk to his car, says, “I hope you haven’t eaten. Chris Eliot, the head of the English Department, has invited you to dinner.” Twenty minutes later we pull into the 800-acre

Radley College campus, home-away-from-home to 700plus boys, and head up a long leafy drive bordered by ancient chestnut trees toward a brick archway spanning the Admissions Office on one side and several guest flats on the other, and framing a distant, picture-perfect white pavilion overlooking emerald-green cricket pitches. Andrew walks us to the door of our flat and tells us he’ll be by at 8:50 to take us to dinner. Half an hour later, Katherine Eliot greets us warmly at the door of her on-campus home, a brick cottage tucked away at the end of a dark, tree-lined labyrinth of roads and footpaths. A few minutes later, we meet her husband, who’d been putting their two children to bed. Tall, slender and elegantly clad in a dark three-piece suit, Chris Eliot looks ten years younger than his 47 years. For the next two hours, over chicken, potatoes, broccoli, bread and wine, we trade school stories, talk about our children and plan for the week ahead. THE SEED OF THE KENT SCHOOL -Radley College partnership was planted in 1927. During a visit to Henley in 1921, Father Sill surveyed the regatta course from the bridge, and taken by the beautiful view, vowed to have a Kent crew at the regatta within ten years. Six years later, the Kent crew crossed the Atlantic to compete in the Thames Cup races at Henley Royal Regatta. The boys didn’t win, but Coach Sill had other plans that extended far beyond the Thames: He came to England hoping to form a lasting bond with an English school, believing that regular student exchanges between American and English boarding schools would strengthen the bonds between the two countries. So before leaving for Henley,

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The archways that framed “a distant, picture-perfect white pavilion overlooking emerald-green cricket pitches”

he had written to three English boarding schools, proposing a friendly crew race. Radley College was the only school to accept the challenge. Fresh off their Henley defeat, Sill and his rowers traveled some twenty miles northwest to Abingdon, a town of about 36,000, six miles south of Oxford and home to Radley College, where they stayed the night as guests in a dorm run by Mr. John Nugee and prefect Nicolas Hannen, captain of Radley’s first boat. Father Sill and John Nugee hit it off immediately, talking late into the night, Father Sill sharing his idea of a student exchange program between American and English boarding schools. What began as a partnership between two schools, forged by two men who would become lifelong friends, became The International Schoolboy Fellowship program, an exchange program that offered a PG (postgraduate) year abroad and, by 1970, included 135 British and American schools. Kent and Radley continued to swap students through the 1990s in what was now called the Secondary School Exchange, overseen by the English Speaking Union. Then, for some fifteen years the KentRadley exchange lay dormant, until it was reborn and recast in 2014 as a teacher exchange. ENGLISH WAS THE ONLY LANGUAGE I heard spoken during my week at Radley, but it sounded, at times, like a foreign language. Teachers are “dons,” dorm heads “tutors,” the headmaster “warden,” classes “lessons,” playing fields “pitches,” sweater vests “jumpers,” desserts “puddings,” dorms “socials,” dorm meetings “social prayers.” Eighth graders are “shells,” freshmen “removes,” sophomores “5ths,” juniors “6-1s” and

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Tom Hunt with his wife, Gabriele

seniors “6-2s.” The boys wear academic gowns the length of a blazer until the dress code is relaxed in late spring. During my visit, the only students wearing gowns were transgressors, the black capes serving as a scarlet letter of sorts. Watching the boys practice cricket in the gloaming in their white flannels and jumpers or filing warily into the chapel, past tens of faculty members standing sentry on both sides of the long and dimly lit corridor leading there, hoping one of the dons doesn’t pull them aside to discuss unfinished business (“Mr. Butterworth, when can I expect that essay you said you’d have for me yesterday?”) or to address a breach (“Mr. Wiggins, do you own a razor?”)—I felt as if I were caught in a time warp. Radley was as I imagined English boarding schools were in Orwell’s day, only kinder. I ATTENDED SEVERAL CLASSES during my visit. In

two of them, students analyzed a Yeats poem (“The Wild Swans at Coole” in one, “Broken Dreams” in the other, both projected on a screen so that the students were literally on the same page). Another class discussed George Eliot’s Silas Marner and another, The Canterbury Tales. The teachers conducting these classes were obviously bright and knowledgeable (over half of the Radley faculty are Oxford or Cambridge graduates and have their doctorates). All the classes proceeded at a leisurely pace. The teachers took their time listening and responding. They weren’t afraid to go off on meaningful tangents, they asked a lot of questions—there was no lecturing—

and they heard their students out. Their responses were more often exhaustive than perfunctory or dismissive. They extended their students’ comments or challenged their interpretations by directing them back to the text. Watching them in action, I could see why Radley’s English Department is considered one of the finest in England; the Radley boys’ English exam scores are annually among the highest in the nation. The English dons have the luxury of time because they cover fewer texts than Kent teachers. The pedagogical differences between the two schools go back a long way. In letters published in the winter 1970 Kent Quarterly, Kent students who took a PG year at Radley in the late ’60s reported that “whereas at Kent the individual courses cover much more ground… the classes [at Radley] were much more narrowly focused.” A Radleian who spent three weeks at Kent in the winter of 1935 told a New York Times reporter that “there’s no doubt about their interest in reading good books, but I believe their interest is more superficial than that of English boys.” Some of what I observed was reassuringly familiar: the fidgeting and zoning out, the comment out of left field and, most amusing of all, the tardy students. David Baker is one of those legendary prep school teachers you see in movies. Tall and stocky, he is the English Department’s biggest don and quite possibly the wittiest, though he has a lot of competition in that area, and his eyes appraise you coolly behind the reflection on his wire-rimmed glasses, so that though you can’t fully see in, you know he’s watching. With this triumvirate of size, smarts and sense, Baker rules the class. I had the good fortune of sitting in on his class on the day that an essay was due. Baker, as is his custom, signaled the start of class by shutting the door. I noticed that the class was a little smaller than the others I’d attended. Then the door opened. A student hesitantly stepped into the classroom and, dramatically breathless, tried to explain why he was late (something about a printer), but Baker cut him off. “Mr. Finch, you’ve disrupted my class. Have you heard of knocking? Let’s try this again.” Mr. Finch sheepishly leaves the class to a roomful of snickers. Then there’s a couple of apologetic knocks. He reenters, hands in his essay and settles into his usual seat like a survivor glad to be home. Seconds later, the door opens again: another breathless, stammering student

clutching an essay, another redo. As soon as the student is seated, as if on cue, the door opens a third time. This time Baker adds a twist. Instead of knocking, the student can reenter the classroom only when the class deems that he’s spent enough time waiting. Ah, such, such are the joys! AS MUCH AS I ADMIRED AND ENJOYED what went on in the classroom, Radley’s residential program left the biggest impression. There are ten socials at the college, each designated by a letter (A Social, B Social, and so on), each housing 70-plus boys and each staffed by four assistant dorm parents called “sub-tutors,” one of whom lives in the social, the others residing in their own campus flats, all on duty once a fortnight. A “pastoral mistress” tends to scrapes and bloody noses, comforts the homesick and manages the kitchen (or grill) at social gatherings, to name just a few of their many functions (their job title was changed to “pastoral mistress” after the school’s advertisements for “matrons” increasingly landed with a thud). Ruling over all in palatial quarters is the dorm head, or “tutor.” If the pastoral mistresses are Radley’s unsung heroes, the tutors are its superheroes. Midway into my visit, I had seen and learned enough to know how special and important these ten men are. Their dedication is extraordinary, their work so demanding that they’re not allowed to live in the dorm more than twelve years. The tutors are on duty four week nights and every weekend. They serve as advisor to the 70 or so students under their care. (One tutor told me he spends one to two hours each day responding to parent email.) They’re responsible for maintaining order and cleanliness in the social and for running the Wednesday evening dorm meeting or “social prayers,” an hour-long gathering of students and dorm staff preceded by an adults and prefects-only halfhour cocktail (beer, wine and finger foods). The meeting itself is more an event than a meeting: During the one I attended, commendations were handed out, and the 70th anniversary of D-Day was commemorated with a lecture from History Department Head Terry Scammell-Jackson, followed by student readings of letters written by English and American soldiers. The talk is the centerpiece of the meeting, and it is more like a long meditation, hence the name “social prayers.” Though the tutor did attend to a few business matters, he didn’t address dorm “issues.” The tutor embodies a vitality that permeates the

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school. Strikingly accomplished student sculptures, paintings and drawings decorate virtually all the school’s public spaces: the hallways, the vestibules, the atriums. During my stay, there was the normal end-of-year stuff—the music recitals, theater performances, field trips—but there were also lectures and social/cultural events that occurred throughout the year, some of them brief interludes in a crowded day. One morning I heard a series of ten-minute student lectures in the auditorium, and on another morning, a saxophone duo, part of a “Fifteen Minute Concert” series that takes place every Wednesday at the campus café. Every mid-morning, the faculty briefly comes together for announcements and conversation over tea, coffee, juice and biscuits in a chandeliered room straight out of Downton Abbey. I was especially struck by the richness of the evening culture: burger night on Wednesdays, dorm cocoa on Saturdays, concerts, art receptions, faculty lectures (David Baker gave a 45-minute lecture on literary theory that ended at 10:00 before a packed audience of students and teachers). I wondered how the school managed to attract so many faculty members at these and other events, when it occurred to me that there is little separation between work and play at Radley. Many of the faculty’s duties, whether attending a lecture, concert, play, game or meeting, were packaged as a social event, preceded and/or followed by food, drink and conversation. ON OUR LAST DAY AT RADLEY, we joined the English

Department and some fifteen boys on a field trip to Hampshire to visit the former home of poet Edward Thomas, whom the boys had been studying. Though Thomas is considered one of England’s great “war poets” (he was killed in World War I), his poetry is more in the tradition of Wordsworth and Frost than Owen and Sassoon. We hiked several miles along and up a steep wooded hill to get to Thomas’s Yew Tree Cottage in the aptly named Steep Village. Approachable only by a narrow footpath walled with hedges, we couldn’t see the house until we were practically on it. The owner was out tending her garden and invited us to have a look around her postage-stamp property. She was used to tourists, apparently. She directed us to an odd-looking bush by the front steps—the very bush memorialized in Thomas’s poem “Old Man,” written exactly one hundred years ago. The boys crowded reverently around the shrub, and its owner invited them to pick a feathery leaf and sniff their

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fingers, as the child in the poem does. On our hike back to the bus, we stopped to sit on a steep, sun-splashed hillside sprinkled with wildflowers and overlooking a valley and the billowing hills of the South Downs beyond. We took turns reading some of Thomas’s poems. When the boys read, they did so earnestly and passionately, as if the words perfectly expressed what they were feeling at that moment: Today I want the sky, The tops of the high hills, Above the last man’s house, His hedges, and his cows, Where, if I will, I look Down even on sheep and rook, And of all things that move See buzzards only above:— Past all trees, past furze And thorn, where nought deters The desire of the eye For sky, nothing but sky. The field trip to Hampshire was just one of the many highlights of our visit. There were many others: touring Oxford University with the shells and their teachers (an annual trip designed to feed the aspirations of the 8th graders); playing “real tennis,” which is nothing like real tennis, but a quirky blend of tennis, squash and racquetball popularized by King Henry VIII; watching a crew race featuring the top schoolboy rower in Britain, a 6-foot-6-inch ribbon of muscle courted by Harvard; visiting the gravesite of George Orwell in a sleepy village churchyard; picnicking under the College Oak, one of the oldest trees in Europe; having dinner with the headmaster and his wife in a quaint pub during our last night at Radley. It was a magical week and as I replay the visit in my mind, I recall the words of a Kent student who spent his PG year in England forty-six years ago: “And I left tea, a beautiful countryside, first rate friends, and a great school, and carried my wonderful memories home, where I belong. Sounds kind of idyllic? Well, it was.” Appointed to the faculty in 2003, Tom Hunt holds the David C. Clapp ’56 Teaching Chair in English. Editor’s note: In June 2015 English teacher Alexandra Kelly and science teacher Julie Zurolo will spend a week at Radley.

THE CHALLENGE

of Deterring ISIS BY THOMAS M. SANDERSON

The following essay was written by Thomas M. Sanderson, who delivered the CYRUS R. VANCE ’35 LECTURE to the Kent School community in December. Mr. Sanderson is co-director and senior fellow with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and has done

extensive research and field work on terrorism, transnational crime, global trends and intelligence issues. This essay originally appeared in the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ publication, Global Flashpoints 2015: Crisis and Opportunity, edited by Craig Cohen and Josiane Gabel. See page 18 for more about Mr. Sanderson’s presentation at Kent.

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THROUGH ITS COALITION AGAINST ISIS, the West

and its local allies are struggling to save a region now teetering on the edge of a geopolitical precipice. The amalgam of coalition forces—much of it still notional—is an engineer’s nightmare: composed of countless moving parts of marginal quality, with American pressure and a fear of ISIS as its only lubricants. The U.S.-led force also confronts an unpalatable reality: the adversary is undeterrable. Foreign fighters pouring over Turkey’s border to do battle in Syria can make one final stop before gliding through the Bab Al-Salam gate. Before a perfunctory wave-through by border officials, aspiring jihadists can sell their passports to a well-positioned café owner who knows these fighters will never again need them. Drawn from a life of marginalization to one of empowerment and eventual salvation, dozens of young men will transform themselves into human bombs at the direction of ISIS or Jabhat al-Nusra. Seemingly inexhaustible in number, Sunni boys and men from America to Indonesia and more than 75 countries in between are drawn by the dramatic imagery,

Shi’a regimes) is intoxicating indeed. The excesses and failures of corrupt governments have thrust them—fearless and energized—to the front lines of a holy war. For some of those who do not perish on the battlefield, their onward movement presents an entirely new threat. At times withdrawing through the same border crossing in Turkey, there is the option of buying a now-repurposed passport for travel to Europe. Chances are, the documents on offer were once held by some of the estimated 3,000 European fighters who journeyed to the region, many hailing from one of 30 U.S. “visawaiver” countries. Soon they could be on an airplane to America—intentions unknown, but quite likely lethal. What can be done about ISIS and its team of motivated, trained foreign fighters and other non-state actors like them? Is the only solution arrest or death, or can those two sanctions prevent them from taking up arms in the first place? Unfortunately, a deterrence strategy, which by definition is based on the threat of consequences, is unlikely to succeed in the fight against ISIS or similarly minded groups. Death is a goal for many jihadists, and one to be

Death is a goal for many jihadists, and one to be celebrated. With few deterrent options, the United States and its partners should support efforts aimed at dissuading would-be fighters before they make the decision to join ISIS. fueled by social media, of heroic fighters doing battle against all manner of evil. These young men—many of them illiterate and poor—move from a life devoid of choice, dignity and respect to an environment impervious to reason and fear. A long-sought caliphate is in place, they are told, and it needs defending at all costs. Willing to die in defense of their religion and the self-declared caliph who interprets it for them, many of these fighters are energized by the promise of a favorable postmortem evaluation of their Earthly deeds. Helping to cleanse holy lands of corrupt, despotic, Westerncontrolled Sunni governments (and even more detestable

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celebrated. With few deterrent options, the United States and its partners should support efforts aimed at dissuading would-be fighters before they make the decision to join ISIS. This may include local efforts to engage family members, clergy, community leaders and law enforcement, who in turn can discourage plans by those most at risk to fight and die in Syria or Iraq. These influences must be brought to bear before an ISIS commander or facilitator makes his mark on the individual over social media or in person. After that point, stemming the flow of fighters will be much harder and more expensive to achieve.

Between the Hills and River Shore

Campus Speakers

Tom Sanderson delivers the Cyrus R. Vance ’35 Lecture to the School community.

THOMAS M. SANDERSON DELIVERS VANCE LECTURE

Thomas M. Sanderson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., delivered the Cyrus R. Vance ’35 Lecture on December 9, 2014, in St. Joseph’s Chapel. The theme of the Vance Lecture, which was established by the Board of Trustees in 2002, is the prevention and resolution of violent conflict in our world. Mr. Sanderson’s address, titled “Global Threats and Trends,” drew on his extensive research and field work on terrorism, transnational crime, global trends and intelligence issues. He delivered a compelling presentation covering topics ranging from strategic arms reduction and infectious diseases to water shortages in the developing world and the problems facing Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Sanderson will return to campus May 21–22 to meet with students and faculty. An essay written by Mr. Sanderson appears on page 16.

Dr. Sujata Bhatia speaks with students after her presentation about bioengineering.

Responses from students to the Vance Lecture: “The talk gave me a strong sense of responsibility, as a citizen of the U.S. and the world, to stay knowledgeable about current events. I was impressed by Mr. Sanderson’s commitment to understanding global situations holistically—interviewing clergymen to intelligence officers to Taliban members.… The discussion afterward was especially interesting because it involved a very international group [of students]. Mr. Sanderson noticed this and encouraged us to all reach out to each other.” “I was particularly affected by his description of how the world’s resources are wearing thin, considering the rate at which the population is growing.… I am now able to view the world through a more informed lens.”

DR. SUJATA BHATIA DISCUSSES BIOENGINEERING

Dr. Sujata Bhatia, the assistant director for undergraduate studies in biomedical engineering at Harvard University, presented a lecture at the Pre-Engineering and Applied Sciences Center in October about life as a bioengineer in industry and academia. Dr. Bhatia is a bioengineer, chemical engineer and physician. As an associate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project, she works with students to create innovative medical devices for the developing world, particularly Africa. Dr. Bhatia will return to Kent in June as part of the SEEK Program (Summer Educational Experience at Kent), where she will lead a course on harnessing the power of engineering and science to solve global challenges in energy, sustainability, healthcare and international development.

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MP Adam Holloway (center) with Kent students at Cumming House

Isabel Smith ’06 (front right) with students in the Headmaster’s Study

M.P. ADAM HOLLOWAY

ISABEL SMITH ’06 SPEAKS

VISITS CAMPUS

AT PERSONAL AND GLOBAL

Adam Holloway, a Member of British Parliament, visited campus in November and spoke with students at a gathering at Cumming House. Mr. Holloway has served in the House of Commons since 2005, representing the borough of Gravesham in the county of Kent. The discussion ranged from Anglo-American collaboration to the situation in Iraq, where Holloway served both as a soldier during the first Gulf War with the British Army’s Grenadier Guards and as a journalist.

HEALTH SERIES

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Isabel Smith ’06, a New York City– based registered dietitian and health/nutrition communications specialist, spoke to students in October about healthy eating, as part of Kent’s Personal and Global Health Series. In January she returned to campus to discuss the special nutrition needs of athletes. Isabel is the founder of Isabel Smith Nutrition, which offers individual and corporate nutrition and wellness consulting. She has a bachelor’s degree in health science from Gettysburg College and a master’s in nutrition communication from Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

The Kent-Radley orchestra performed The Crown Imperial March and “Jupiter” from The Planets. Photo by Alexander Wohlin ’16

Radley College Visits Kent The Choir from Radley College, an all-boys boarding school located in Oxfordshire, England, spent four days on campus in February. They shared their vocal and instrumental talents with the School community, performing both singly and in joint performances with Kent music groups. In their first performance, the choir sang Evensong in St. Joseph’s Chapel, and then joined Kent’s Chapel Choir and Chamber Orchestra on Sunday, singing selections from Haydn’s Rorate Coeli Desuper. A highlight of their visit was a concert in Mattison Auditorium that included a combined Kent-Radley jazz band and orchestra—with more than eighty musicians—as well as performances by the Radley wind nonet (nine musicians), and the Radley Clerkes, an a capella singing group similar to our own Kentones. When they weren’t practicing or performing, the group of thirty-three boys and two girls attended classes with their student hosts, visited the bell tower, watched practices of ice hockey, squash and basketball, and even had the opportunity to try American football.

Kent’s ties with Radley College go back to 1927, when Father Sill challenged Radley to a friendly crew race after Kent’s first trip to Henley Royal Regatta (see a brief account of the origins of the relationship between Kent

and Radley on page 12). Since then, there have been many trans-Atlantic visits between the two schools, including student exchanges, visits by Radley College crews, and a teacher exchange beginning in 2014.

The Kent-Radley brass section

KENT QUARTERLY

Faculty Recognition JONAS AKINS RECEIVES WING TEACHING FELLOWSHIP

Jonas Akins has been awarded the Elinore S. Wing Teaching Fellowship, given to a younger member of the History Department who “shows particular excellence and promise.” A graduate of Milton Academy, Harvard College and Harvard Business School, Mr. Akins was appointed to the faculty in 2012. He teaches Advanced Placement US Government and Politics, and Advanced Placement US History. He coaches varsity football and junior varsity squash, and lives in Borsdorff Hall. Before Kent, Mr. Akins taught for two years at Sedbergh School in England and spent six years in the US Navy, serving as an intelligence officer on board the USS

Enterprise, in Baghdad with the coalition forces, and at the Pentagon and Naval War College. He is currently researching a book on the role of business education in the Allied victory in World War II. CATHY YOU HONORED WITH CLASS OF 2001 TEACHING CHAIR

Math teacher Cathy You has been named the recipient of the Class of 2001

Teaching Chair. Appointed to the faculty in 2006, Mrs. You teaches honors level math courses and coaches girls cross country and girls crew. As the faculty advisor to the Diversity and Culture Club, Mrs. You works with students to promote understanding and awareness of topics of cultural diversity through activities both on and off campus. She also serves as the coordinator of the Advising Program. Mrs. You earned a bachelor of science degree from Tufts University and a master of science in education degree from Northwestern University. She previously taught at Phillips Exeter Academy and New Trier High School, outside Chicago.

Give an Honor Book This program gives you the opportunity to celebrate an occasion in your life—a wedding, graduation, birth of a child, any milestone—or in the life of someone to whom Kent is very special. A book in the John Gray Park ’28 Library will bear a decorative plate commemorating the occasion, and you will be enriching the academic life of the School in a unique and long-lasting way. We thank you for your support! The honor book gift is $50.

To give a book today, please visit: Alumni URL: www.kent-school.edu/AlumniHonorBook Parent URL: www.kent-school.edu/ParentHonorBook

New Members of the Board of Trustees JAMES A. LAWRENCE P’15

James Lawrence is Chairman of Rothschild North America, a global financial advisory firm, having previously served as CEO and co-head of global investment banking. Prior to joining Rothschild, Mr. Lawrence was CFO at Unilever, CFO and later vice chairman of General Mills, Inc., executive vice president of Northwest Airlines, and president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola Asia, Middle East, Africa. He was co-founder and chairman of The LEK Partnership, a corporate strategy and merger/ acquisition consulting firm, and was a partner of Bain and Company, where he headed their London and Munich offices. Mr. Lawrence serves on the board of Avnet, Inc., and as a non-executive director on the board of International Airline Group. Mr. Lawrence earned a BA in economics from Yale University and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Mary, live in Minneapolis and have three children. Their son, Thomas, is a sixth former at Kent. JAMES J. MCNULTY P’18

James McNulty serves on the board of directors of Intercontinental Exchange, a network of exchanges and clearinghouses for financial and commodity markets, including the New York Stock Exchange. From 2006-2013 he was a director of NYSE Euronext, where he chaired the compensation committee. He served on the board of directors of ICAP plc, where he chaired the remunerations committee and was senior independent director. Mr. McNulty is the former President and CEO of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. He was a general partner with O’Connor & Associates, a Chicago-based options trading firm, and a managing director of UBS Warburg.

Mr. McNulty serves on the advisory board of Marvin & Palmer Inc., a global equity management firm, and on the board of Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. He is a trustee of Bates College. Mr. McNulty received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a master’s degree in Anglo-Irish studies from University College, Dublin, Ireland. He and his wife, Jamie Thorsen, have three children and live in Winnetka, Illinois. Their daughter, Tess, is a third former at Kent. N. HÅKAN WOHLIN P’16,’18

Håkan Wohlin served as Global Head of debt origination, capital markets and treasury solutions at Deutsche Bank AG London. In that role he oversaw the origination of debt products for the bank’s corporate, financial, and public sector clients. Mr. Wohlin has represented Deutsche Bank as a board member of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA). Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Wohlin worked in fixed income capital markets at Bear Stearns in New York, and as CFO and executive vice president of business development at Corechange, Inc., an international software company in New York and Boston. Mr. Wohlin holds a bachelor of science degree and a master of finance and business administration degree from Stockholm University, and has studied economics at Harvard University. A dual citizen of the United States and Sweden, Mr. Wohlin and his wife, Yoriko, live in London and have two children, Alexander and Anna, a fifth former and third former, respectively, at Kent.

KENT QUARTERLY

Trustees News

TOP LEFT Calestous Juma, fifth from right, with fellow recipients of the Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize, including the president of Nigeria, African heads of state, leaders of industry, academicians, diplomats and politicians TOP RIGHT Oscar de la Renta on Prize Day 1996 BOTTOM RIGHT Kent Trustee Bruce Whitman ’51 with Hannah McGowen ’15

TRUSTEE CALESTOUS JUMA

BOARD OF TRUSTEES HONORS

HONORED

OSCAR DE LA RENTA

Kent Trustee Calestous Juma, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visiting professor at MIT, received a Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize for his leadership in socioeconomic development in Africa. The award was presented to Professor Juma and 15 other honorees by the Millennium Excellence Foundation at a ceremony in Nigeria on October 10, 2014. Professor Juma is an internationally recognized authority on the application of science and technology to sustainable development worldwide. He is professor of the practice of international development at Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

The Board of Trustees paid tribute to a longtime friend and neighbor of the School, Oscar de la Renta, who died on October 20, 2014. The Board’s Resolution expressed deep gratitude to Mr. de la Renta for his generous charitable support of scholarships for Kent students and his effective role as an ambassador for Kent all around the world. As the Prize Day speaker in 1996, he encouraged our graduates to be generous, kind and honorable, qualities that he embodied in his daily life. A devoted supporter of many organizations in the Town of Kent and the surrounding area, Mr. de la Renta was instrumental in preserving the unspoiled beauty of the Litchfield Hills.

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TRUSTEE BRUCE WHITMAN ’51

Kent Trustee Bruce Whitman ’51 visited on campus with Hannah McGowen ’15, one of Kent’s first three Falcon Scholars. Hannah, of Longview, Washington, is the recipient of a scholarship from the Falcon Foundation, United States Air Force Academy, which provides scholarships to students who will attend the Academy. Kent is one of only seven prep schools in the country supported by the Falcon Foundation, which Mr. Whitman serves as a trustee.

Kent Receives Recognition for Campus Planning and Construction At the annual conference of the National Association of Independent Schools, Headmaster Dick Schell and representatives of SLAM Collaborative of Glastonbury, Connecticut, spoke about the development of the Kent campus in a program titled “A Campus Transformed.” The program focused on the work that SLAM has done at Kent over the past 25 years, including the consolidation of the campuses, the construction of Hoerle Hall and the recent renovation of Mattison Auditorium and construction of the Center for Music Studies in the former Dining Hall Dorm. Kent has won five major awards from the design and construction industry for campus improvements overseen by SLAM. Most recently SLAM was honored with the Best in Show Award by Connecticut Associated Builders and Contractors for its work on Mattison and the Center for Music Studies.

Steve Ansel, design principal of SLAM, Headmaster Dick Schell, Eugene Torone, construction manager, and Geoff Gaunt, project architect

Community Service Week Honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Kent School community honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by participating in a week of community service activities in January. The weeklong program was an extension of the Day of Service held on the holiday honoring the civil rights activist. Throughout the week, Kent students prepared meals for the underprivileged, made cards for soldiers overseas and for children awaiting surgery, visited an area nursing home, volunteered at a local animal shelter, and worked with young children at the Kent Early Learning Center. The boys and girls basketball teams helped coach young players in the local Park and Recreation basketball league, and other teams packed “weekend backpacks” with food for children in need. To learn more about how Kent students serve the community throughout the year, visit the Community Service page on the website: www.kent-school.edu/campus-life/ community-service. Members of the boys varsity hockey team fill weekend backpacks for local children.

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The Performing Arts

Photo by Jason Sohn ’15

DANCE

The winter term dance show, From the Top, was choreographed entirely by the student dancers, an impressive achievement given the amount of time required to create a dance and the effort necessary to learn choreography and then to add the nuances for performance. Juggling rehearsals for fourteen dances, learning up to an hour’s worth of dancing, and doing so with conviction and passion is hard work. From the Top was an impressive display of the variety of dance at Kent—from hiphop to ballet, from jazz to modern. Standout pieces included “Searching for Roses,” a ballet with a soloist on pointe backed by a corps waving parasols, “All That Is Gold,” a pas de deux brimming with emotion surrounded by figures in black, and “Thinking Out Loud,” a joyful, colorful and exuberant jazz dance. Such a tour-de-force show was the product of some of Kent’s finest dancers and their dedication to hard work and pursuit of excellence. SPRING 2015

WINTER ONE-ACT PLAYS

The one-act plays performed during the winter term—known on campus as the Winter One-Acts—provide students with the opportunity to have significant roles in small productions, including acting, directing, set and stage design, and stage managing. The show features student-written plays, student-directed plays, and published plays directed by faculty member Ryan Foote. This year nine plays were performed on February 13 and 14, ranging from a romantic comedy set at a Bar Mitzvah, to a college interviewer’s search for the perfect freshman candidate, and a high school student’s inventive retelling of an alien invasion that had occurred at school earlier that day. The performances earned many laughs, which helped warm us all during the cold February nights.

Highlights of the Fall and Winter Athletic Seasons Fall BOYS AND GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Fall 2014 was a banner season for the boys cross country team, highlighted by an undefeated dual-meet record for both the varsity and jv groups, and a second-place finish for varsity at the Division II New England Championship. Captains Sam Haack ’15 and Adam Jolly ’15 led a talented returning squad, along with a solid pack of new team members. John LePino ’17 and Liam Harris ’16 carried the torch as the most valuable runners, finish-

ing at the front in every race, including the Founders League Championship, the New England Championship and the New England All-Star meet. For the girls cross country team, third former Ashley McDonald quickly established herself as a top runner in the league, finishing first in several dual meets, seventh in the Founders League Championship (fastest freshman in the race) and eighth in the Division II New England Championship, qualifying for the New England All-Star meet. FIELD HOCKEY

The varsity field hockey team finished the 2014 season with their best record in recent years: 11 wins (including 7 shut-outs) and 5 losses. The team’s final game of the season against rival Loomis Chaffee—a thrilling 1–0 victory—was by far the most exciting, as it had been 11 years since Kent last upset Loomis. Tri-captains Anne Brainard ’15, Cassidy

Pratt ’15 and Raegan Stokes ’15 led by example each practice. The team’s leading scorer, Tori Messina ’15, earned a spot on the New England All-Star team alongside Raegan Stokes. FOOTBALL

The 2014 football team finished with a 6–2 overall record, placing third in the league. From the first whistle of the home-opener versus Taft (a 42–12 victory) to the final play against TrinityPawling in the last game (a 35–7 win), the team never gave anything but a full effort. The senior leadership from Captains Matt LaPorta ’15, Zak Foster ’15, and Alvaro Roux ’15 was exceptional. After the season ended, captain-elect Deshawn Stevens ’16 played for Team Canada in the U-18 International Bowl Game against Team USA in Arlington, Texas.

The boys cross country team at the New England Championship Meet

KENT QUARTERLY

Winter GIRLS ICE HOCKEY

The girls varsity hockey team’s 20–1–1 overall record is a tremendous achievement, especially given the team’s competitive schedule. As coach Shawn Rousseau remarked, “Our undefeated regular-season effort (19–0–1) represents a truly remarkable, daily effort and a level of commitment, focus, determination and will to succeed that is unusual and, frankly, inspiring.” The team won the 32nd Annual Patsy K. Odden Tournament in December, clinched the Founders League title for the second straight year, and went into the New England Championship tournament ranked number one. Their last game of the season was a double-overtime loss to Pomfret School in the semi-finals of the tournament. Captains Cassidy Pratt ’15 and Elena Gualtieri ’15 did an excellent job leading the team this year, and the coaches look forward to building on the season’s success in the years to come. BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING

The boys swimming and diving team had an impressive season, finishing the regular season with a 7–1 record, including exciting wins over Hopkins and Hotchkiss. During the post-season, the team placed third at the Founders League Championships and successfully defended their title as the Division II New England Champions. Diving captain Ryder Sammons ’15 set five records this winter—two Kent School records and three pool records at venues around the league. Swimming tricaptain Hiro Kamei ’15 set three team

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records: the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard individual medley, and the 500-yard freestyle. At the New England Championships, tri-captain George Chen ’15 won the 50-yard freestyle and took second in the 100-yard freestyle race. Hiro and George, along with tri-captain Sam Haack ’15 and Bojan Dosljak ’15, took first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay and second in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The divers had an impressive championship, with Ryder winning the event and Brett Cataldo ’16 earning second place.

remarked, the “loss can’t possibly take away from all that these young men accomplished this year, both on and off of the court.” The team was led throughout by senior co-captains Romello Crowell and Jamal Lucas, both of whom set the standard for work ethic, toughness, selflessness and dedication. “Much of our success was clearly due to the depth of our team, and the value of the hard work and selflessness of our bench despite limited playing time cannot be understated.” BOYS SQUASH

BOYS BASKETBALL

The boys basketball team had an outstanding season, achieving an 18–5 record, winning 14 of the final 15 regular-season games and earning the number-one seed in the NEPSAC Class A tournament. Though the team lost to Suffield Academy in the tournament semi-final, as coach Jason Coulombe

Boys squash competed in the Division III High School National Championships, advancing to the finals, where they fell to Gilman School of Baltimore. In New England competition, the team, led by senior captain Abdelrahman ElSergany, had a 9–4 record and participated in the Class A Interscholastic Championships held at Groton School.

Kent Authors

Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street BY JOHN N. BROOKS ’38, REPRINTED BY OPEN ROAD MEDIA, 2014

Business Adventures, written by John N. Brooks, Jr., ’38 and originally published in 1969, has seen a resurgence in popularity thanks to an endorsement by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Gates describes Business Adventures in his blog as “the best business book I’ve ever read.” Gates learned about Brooks, a longtime contributor to the New Yorker magazine, from Warren Buffett, who loaned Gates his collection of Brooks’s New Yorker business articles from the 1950s and 1960s. Originally published by Weybright and Talley, Business Adventures has recently been reprinted by Open Road Media. Brooks, who died in 1993, was the author of nine other works of nonfiction and three novels. He was inducted into The Rev. Frederick H. Sill O.H.C. Society in 2012.

The Angel Dialogues BY ANTHONY S. ABBOTT ’53, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY BETSY HAZELTON, LORIMER PRESS, 2014

The Angel Dialogues, the most recent work by Anthony Abbott ’53, the Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of English at Davidson College, is a story told through a collection of poems. A poet prays for a muse to help him, and his prayers are answered by an angel, though not the “vague and mysterious” spirit he expected. The angel, whom he names Gracie, is down-to-earth and playful, as the illustrations throughout the book make clear: She

appears at a fellowship dinner with a basket on her head and sits on the hood of his car, painting her toenails. Over the course of a year, the angel teaches him “much about what it means to be a human being, and leaves him, at the end of that time, wiser, healthier, and more spiritually aware.” One reviewer describes The Angel Dialogues as “one of the most emotionally wide-open collections of poetry that I’ve read in a long time.” Abbott is the author of seven books of poetry, including the Pulitzer-nominated The Girl in the Yellow Raincoat, four critical studies and two novels.

The Same Sky BY AMANDA EYRE WARD ’90, BALLANTINE BOOKS, 2015

The Same Sky, the fifth novel by Amanda Eyre Ward ’90, tells the story of Alice, the owner of a successful barbecue restaurant in Austin, Texas, and Carla, a young girl who flees Honduras with her brother to join their mother in Texas. In alternating chapters, Alice and Carla narrate the novel, Alice’s middle-class comfort contrasting sharply with the poverty and violence Carla faces. Yet, despite these outward differences, the two characters share much in common in their longing to keep their families together. Over the course of the novel their paths lead them toward one another and they finally intersect in an unexpected way. To research her novel, Ward visited shelters in Brownsville, Texas, and San Diego, California, to hear the stories of immigrant children, and in Carla’s voice we can hear the desperation and determination of these children.

KENT QUARTERLY

Alumni News and Events

Honoring the Rev. Frederick B. Howden ’21 On December 11, 2014, Headmaster Dick Schell participated in a service in honor of the Rev. Frederick B. “Ted” Howden ’21 at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Santa Fe, New Mexico. “It was deeply moving that after more than 70 years the bravery and witness of faith and self-sacrifice by one of our own Kent men was still being recognized and remembered with thanksgiving by so many,” Fr. Schell said. After graduating from Kent, Ted went on to Yale and the General Theological Seminary in New York City. When World War II broke out, Fr. Howden held the rank of captain in the New Mexico State Guard, and was the chaplain to the 200th Coast Artillery

when it was federalized and sent to the Philippines in September 1941. At the fall of Bataan and Corregidor to Japanese forces in April 1942, Fr. Howden and his fellow soldiers were made prisoners of war and were forced to endure the Bataan Death March during which some 18,000 died. During imprisonment, his heroism and faith were always apparent through the humanitarian care he gave to those he served. Fr. Howden died of dysentery and starvation on December 11, 1942. He was buried by his men in a small cemetery near the prison camp. After the war, in 1948, his remains were reinterred in an Albuquerque cemetery. Miles Gullingsrud ’59, a member of St. Bede’s parish, graciously hosted the headmaster’s visit to the parish. The Rev. Canon Colin P. Kelly III, Lt. Col. U.S. Army (Ret.), was the preacher. The

Collect of the Day commemorating Fr. Ted Howden included a phrase from the Kent School Motto—Directness of Purpose: Almighty God our strength and sustenance, you gave your servant Frederick Howden the grace and courage to put the need and hunger of others before his own life and health. Inspire us with directness of purpose in the training of body, mind and spirit, that we may better serve you, our country and others in your name. Give us the vision to know what is right and the courage to pursue it. Strengthen us with your Spirit for the duties of life before us, that we may continue your faithful servants to our life’s end, and at the last enter into your heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John I. Williams, Jr. ’71 Appointed President of Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, announced in December that John I. Williams, Jr. ’71 has been named the college’s twelfth president, his tenure beginning on July 1, 2015. Muhlenberg Trustee Eric L. Berg, chair of the Presidential Search Committee, describes Williams as “an inspiring and innovative leader with a deep and thorough understanding of the range of issues facing selective liberal arts colleges… Members of our committee were uniformly impressed by and enthusiastic about the depth and breadth of his talents and abilities to lead our institution forward.” Williams graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College with a

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BA in economics, and earned a JD from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has worked as a consultant with Bain and Company in Boston, held senior executive positions at American Express, and led a number of entrepreneurial ventures, including Softbridge Microsystems and dot-com start-up BizTravel.com. More recently, his work has focused on strategy consulting for nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities. Since 2010 Williams has served as an expert-in-residence at Harvard’s Innovation Lab. He is a life trustee of Amherst College and former board member of Prep for Prep, an organization that prepares New York City’s most promising students of color for placement at preparatory schools.

Williams commented, “I’m delighted to have been selected as the 12th president of Muhlenberg College. I was drawn to the opportunity to lead Muhlenberg first by my deep passion for the liberal arts, the performing arts, and the power of transformational learning more broadly. Alumni of liberal arts colleges number disproportionately among the nation’s and the world’s leaders. The quality of mind nurtured at Muhlenberg and other fine, liberal arts colleges— promoting close collaboration between students and faculty in a residential setting—is more likely to confront future challenges in a nuanced and conceptually integrated manner that will lead to wiser decisions. Our nation and our world have never needed graduates of liberal arts colleges more than now.”

Head of the Charles Regatta The KSBC girls four warming up before their race

The Head of the Charles Regatta was held October 18 and 19, 2014, in chilly and windy conditions. Parents, alumni, fans and rowers gathered at Reunion Village to watch the races and cheer on the Kent boats. Those who competed for Kent over the weekend were:

The Alumnae Eight and coach Garrison Smith

KENT ALUMNI BOAT CLUB

KENT SCHOOL BOAT CLUB (MEN’S

(WOMEN’S ALUMNAE EIGHTS EVENT)

AND WOMEN’S YOUTH FOURS

— Tegan Campia ’10, Elizabeth Guernsey ’02, Dominique Paiement ’08, Laurence Mercier-Lafond ’10, Jacqueline Reagan Wilmot ’05, Nora Long ’11, Lauren Sweitzer ’11, Lindsey Sweitzer ’11 and Jun Takeda ’13

EVENTS, WOMEN’S YOUTH EIGHTS)

— Sam Haack ’15, Bojan Dosljak ’15, Robert Alfieri ’15, Jenson Carlgren ’15 and Brett Cataldo ’16 — Catherine Porter ’16, Shayla Lamb ’15, Bernadette Winby ’15, Grace Cordsen ’15 and Ariel Lee ’15 — Colette Glass ’17, Margaret Saunders ’16, Sophie Randall ’15, Brittany Rigg ’15, Leslie Locke ’15, Jin Han ’15, Stephanie Schor ’15, Elizabeth Reed ’15, El Collins ’16

The KSBC boys four in Reunion Village KENT QUARTERLY

Alumni/ae Hockey Game The 2015 Alumni/ae Hockey Team

Each decade from the 1950s onward was represented at this year’s Alumni/ae Hockey Game in January. Many of the players returning have never missed this

Emily MacKinnon ’10 with faculty member Ed Dunn

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annual event, while others were back for the first time. After an exciting game on the Nadal Rink—with the blue team coming from behind to win—alumni/ae

cheered on the boys varsity team against Avon and the girls varsity team against Lawrenceville.

Classmates and former teammates John Watkins ’65 and Bill Williams ’65

TOP LEFT Stephen Crocker ’79, Jenny Wong, Richard and Elizabeth Nash Crehan ’91 and family, Lexie, Matt ’92, Jeep and Anne Griffin Pace ’92; TOP RIGHT Aisha Simpson Williams ’98, Sasha and Chloe Williams; BOTTOM LEFT Dick Ward ’58 (center) and family; BOTTOM RIGHT Lindsey Huenink McCormick ’95, James, Jack and Drew McCormick

Kent Family Fun at the Bronx Zoo Several Kent families gathered under the Dancing Crane Pavilion at the Bronx Zoo on Saturday, October 18, for another entertaining fall event hosted by the Alumni Council. Guided Zoo Explorers led our tour groups through the Madagascar exhibit, the African Plains and the Congo, before heading back to

a BBQ lunch under the pavilion. After lunch, Kent families had the rest of the day to enjoy “Boo at the Zoo” and many other exhibits and attractions. A special thanks to Alumni Council members Lindsey Huenink McCormick ’95 and Jesse Kimball ’98 for helping to organize this annual family-themed event.

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Kent at the Museum—Boston Style

Photo by Osugi / Shutterstock.com

Members of the Kent family gathered in the Bravo Room of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts last fall for a private reception and an opportunity to hear updates on the School from Assistant Headmaster and Director of Development Marc Cloutier. Guests also enjoyed touring the many permanent collections and special exhibits. A particular favorite was Hollywood Glamour: Fashion and Jewelry from the Silver Screen, which “presents designer gowns and exquisite jewelry from the 1930s and ’40s—the most glamorous years of Hollywood film. The exhibition focuses on the iconic style of sultry starlets of the period, including Gloria Swanson, Anna May Wong, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, and Joan Crawford.” (Source: www.mfa.org)

New York Holiday Party The annual Holiday Party at the New York Yacht Club was a festive beginning to the Christmas season for alumni, parents, faculty and friends. Our sincere thanks to Bob Hoerle ’52 for making this event possible again this year.

TOP 1981 classmates Tracy Greene Craighead, Alex

Cross Mitchell and Jenny Nichols Popp FAR LEFT Director of Development Marc Cloutier

P’99,’01, Shaka Shervington ’02 and Brittany Zuckerman ’03 LEFT Carter Law ’12, Elisabeth and Cameron Law ’03

and Heather Law P’03,’12

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THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL

United States Naval Academy-Kent School Alumni Brunch NAVAL ACADEMY CLUB ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

Current Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy who graduated from Kent, parents, alumni and friends of Kent gathered for brunch at the Naval Academy Club for our 13th annual gathering earlier this year. Thanks to everyone who made the trip to Annapolis from nearby McLean, Virginia, to as far away as Buffalo, New York. Special thanks to our host again this year, Capt. Wallace USNA ’72, who is Vice President of Athletic & Scholarship Programs at the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation. Capt. Wallace works closely with current USNA Foundation Scholars at Kent School throughout the year and with other candidates from Kent interested in the U.S. Naval Academy. We also appreciated that Capt. Andy Combe, USN (Ret.), a trustee at the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, stopped by to greet everyone before the brunch. We were especially grateful that The Hon. Christopher Bancroft Burnham (Kent ’75) was able to join us this year.

Headmaster Dick Schell ’69 and Chris Burnham ’75

Left to right, Laurie Kostrzewski P’12, Capt. Ed Wallace USNA ’72, Suzanne Toms ’14, Walker Sachner ’14, Headmaster Dick Schell ’69, Keefe Rafferty ’11, Michael Kirwan ’91, Chris Burnham ’75, Kirk Kostrzewski ’12, Mark Kostrzewski P’12

Chris served for twenty-three years in the United States Marine Corps (Reserve), during which time he volunteered for active duty in 1990 and served as an infantry platoon commander in the Gulf War. His public service included appointment as under secretary general for management, the COO of the United Nations, appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. While at the State Department, Chris served as acting under secretary of state for management, for Secretary Condoleezza Rice, and as assistant secretary of state for resource management and CFO of the State Department, for General Colin Powell. Earlier in his career, Chris was elected as the Treasurer of Connecticut, after serving three terms as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. Chris has a close connection with The United States Naval Academy, as his relative, George Bancroft, was Secretary of the Navy in the mid-1800s, during which time he established the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1845. According to the Naval Academy website, “When the founders of the

United States Naval Academy were looking for a suitable location, it was reported that then Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft decided to move the naval school to ‘the healthy and secluded’ location of Annapolis in order to rescue midshipmen from ‘the temptations and distractions that necessarily connect with a large and populous city.’ The Philadelphia Naval Asylum School was its predecessor.” Our continuing thanks to Dik and Barbara Glass P’02,’05, who began the Brunch tradition when their son Alex was at the Academy. LT Alex Glass ’02 USNA ’06 is currently serving as Flag Aide to Rear Admiral (Lower half ) John D. Alexander, Commander Carrier Strike Group FIVE embarked on the aircraft carrier George Washington (CVN 73) home ported in Yokosuka, Japan. Please join us next year for the 14th Annual USNA-Kent Brunch. If you are a U.S. Naval Academy graduate or currently serving our country and would like to join us next winter in Annapolis, please contact Kent Alley ’82 in the Alumni Office, (860) 927-6265 or alleyk@kent-schoool.edu. KENT QUARTERLY

Kent in Los Angeles

On Saturday, January 17, Kent School’s Regional SoCal Alumni Group hosted an ideal evening at the California Club in downtown Los Angeles. Thank you to Adam Peck ’82 and Kyra Sweda ’86 for organizing and hosting again this year. This popular event is a favorite way to connect for our SoCal alumni and spouses, parents, grandparents and friends. Thank you for continuing the tradition! TOP LEFT John Doyle ’67, Carol Chase and Rick Ambrose ’77; TOP RIGHT Dan McCluskey ’98, Dan Richter ’57, Amy McCluskey and Chad Steers ’99; BOTTOM LEFT Brett ’92 and Libby Hansen, Alicia Coppola ’86 and Anthony Jones; BOTTOM RIGHT Adam Peck ’82, Nishant Patel ’13 and his guest, Lexi Eggleston, Kyra Sweda ’86, Chris ’83 and Elizabeth Steinkamp

Kent in the Northwest

Last fall there were two receptions in the American Northwest graciously hosted by Kent alumni. On November 12, the Gripekovens, Price ’58 and Sage ’90, welcomed alumni and parents to Trader Vic’s in Portland, and Trustee Bill Wurts ’55 hosted members of the Kent family at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle on November 14.

SEATTLE: Eric Rizza ’90, Julie Dillon ’87, Wendy

PORTLAND: Sage Gripekoven ’90, Hilary Gripekoven P’90, Rebecca and Pete Hines ’62, Curtis Schade ’63 and

Sykes P’17, Barbara Huenink P’92,’95, Peter Goodall and Susan Forester Goodall ’87

Price Gripekoven ’58, P’90

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Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship—The Kent Way! What do an Emmy award-winning television show, a revolutionary exercise program and a jar of delicious homemade marinara sauce have in common? They were all created by entrepreneurial Kent alumni! In a panel discussion moderated by Executive Master Career Coach and NYU Adjunct Professor Nina FiddianGreen ’88, three outstanding Kent entrepreneurs shared their unique stories with the Kent family at New York’s Yale Club. “What about the passion, drive and creativity of entrepreneurship?” “What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs?” “How do innovation and entrepreneurship work together in your business?” These were just some of the questions fielded by Frankie Celenza ’05, host and creator of Frankie Cooks, the highestrated show on NYCTV; Colleen Begnal Ketchum ’90, a certified Pilates instructor and professional stunt-woman who created the nationally licensed BeyondBarre workout; and Michael Tesoro ’84, Founder and Owner of Ooma Tesoro’s Marinara Sauce, now a staple in hundreds of fine food stores throughout New England. To learn more about these businesses, be sure to visit their websites: frankiecooks.com, beyondbarre.com, and oomatesoros.com.

Kent Forum entrepreneurs (left to right): Frankie Celenza ’05, Colleen Begnal Ketchum ’90, Michael Tesoro ’84, with moderator, Nina Fiddian-Green ’88, Alumni Council President, Ernest Franklin ’87 and Alumni Council member and Forum co-chair, Samantha Krupnick ’05.

KENT QUARTERLY

RE UNITE Register now for

Kent Reunion Weekend 2015!

For a complete schedule of weekend events, off-campus accommodations, directions and to register online, visit:

www.kent-school.edu/alumni

Please register online, or register with Melissa Makris by phone or email, by June 1. After June 1, register upon arrival.

Friday, June 12

Saturday, June 13

Sunday, June 14

– 12:00 pm – Registration Opens

– 8:30 am – Registration Opens

– 9:30 am – Memorial Eucharist

– 5:30 pm – Welcome Reception with Headmaster & Faculty

– 12:00 pm – All Class Reunion BBQ

– 10:30 am – Farewell Brunch

– 7:00 pm – All Class Dinner – 9:30 pm – Reunion Music Revue

– 1:30 pm – Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony – afternoon – Alumni Row, Kayaking, Free Swim, Class Activities – 7:30 pm – Class Dinners – 9:00 pm – Kent Late Night Cafe

The alumnus/a who travels the farthest gets free on-campus housing! Questions? Contact Melissa Makris in the A&D Office: 860-927-6269 or makrism@kent-school.edu

Class Notes

1934

before we arrived at School, since five of our

new sports, athletic facilities and dorms have

Longtime Class Secretary Ed Abbe died

members were preceded by their fathers, who

been added. Plus our library has been greatly

just a few weeks after his 100th birthday. In

graduated in the early years between 1911 and

expanded and moved at least three times. The

recent years Ed compiled a book on the Abbe

1915. We also had 22 who had brothers who

greatest of these new changes has been the

family, a book about his late wife, Gladys,

attended Kent. This parental experience has

addition of girls, especially on the old campus.

and one about his grandfather. Our sincere

continued since 19 sons and eight daughters

Certainly a most welcome addition. Through

condolences to Ed’s family.

became Kent graduates. And as of now three

it all we still remember and love Kent! From

grandchildren can be added. There have been

the Alumni Office: We visited with Bill and

many changes at Kent since we first arrived

Adelaide Curran at their home in Vero Beach

in second form year with 44 students, more

recently. On a wall in Bill’s guest cottage

William G. Curran: wgcurranjr@aol.com

than half of our graduating class. In those

hangs a Kent Captain’s Oar with the names

The Class of ’42 is proud of its Kent heritage

days, as we remember Father Sill (Pater)

of the members of the 1942 crew painted on

and of the time that we spent at Kent. Analysis

proudly proclaimed, he had restricted Kent to

the blade: bow—Richard Mittnacht ’42; 2—

shows that our closeness to Kent began even

300 students. Things are different today, and

Peter Allsopp ’42; 3—Lawrence Hooper ’43;

1942

From the Archives

Can you identify this photo from the Archives? Email us at alumni@kent-school.edu.

KENT QUARTERLY

4—John Biddle ’44; 5—Robert Williamson ’43; 6—Peter Gilsey ’42; 7—Frank Waters ’42; stroke and captain—William Curran ’42; coxswain—William Tilghman ’42. The

chairman (head manager) of the crew was Bernie Ryan. Bill remembered that the crew

began the season with Tote Walker as their coach, but he was called up by the Army Air Forces shortly after the season began, at which point Bish Colmore took over.

1943 John L. Lafferty: skavar@icloud.com

Stuart Symington has recently published

a memoir about his service in WWII, and it includes several references to Kent. Titled Throwing the Bolt, it’s available on Amazon, as are his earlier works, Tagging Along, about his relationship with his grandfather, James

Bill ’42 and Adelaide Curran, at home in Vero Beach, and his Captain’s Oar from the 1942 crew (above)

Robert Baker Rorick Sr. ’44, 1925–2014

Wolcott Wadsworth Jr., and Friend and Foe Alike: A Tour Guide to Missouri’s Civil War,

1946

which he edited. “All this literary activity

nationally, experiencing other cultures and

stems from the foundation I got from George

engendering new understanding of the world

Chadwick and Cliff Loomis.”

around him. Having held hands and made

Parker Hall was honored as Man of the Year

each other laugh every day for 53 years, Bob

in October 2014, by the Moore County (NC)

is survived by his loving wife, Joan, and his

Community Foundation. Among his many

children, Robert B. Rorick Jr., Michael and

contributions to the community, Parker is a

Boynton M. Schmitt: boyschmitt@yahoo.com

Genevieve Schlangen and two grandchildren.

founding member and presently chairman

The Class of ’44 was saddened to learn of

He was predeceased by his brother, Marvin

of the Tin Whistles Education and Research

the passing of Bob Rorick, who died July 12,

’42. Charles Russell has followed up on

Foundation, which has helped more than

2014, in the company of Joan, his loving wife

his book Undaunted: A Norwegian Woman

100 Moore County students attend college;

of 53 years. After graduation from Kent, Bob

in Frontier Texas, a biography of Elise

chairs a continuing education assistance

enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became

Waerenskjold published in 2005, with a biog-

group; is chairman of Pinehurst Community

a bombardier, navigator and trainer on B-17s

raphy of her husband. Wilhelm is an account

Foundation; and is on the board of trustees of

during WWII. After an honorable discharge

of the life of Wilhelm Waerenskjold, who was

Bethesda Halfway House for men. The Class

he attended Kenyon College and graduated

rescued from an Oslo workhouse jail by Elise

of ’46 was saddened to learn of the death of

from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Bob

and brought to Texas, where he reformed and

classmates Joe Leidy and John Fairchild

moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the

achieved success as a cattle rancher. Charles

in February. As the publisher and editor for

early 1960s and opened Games Imported, a

commented that “the academic skills and

more than three decades of Women’s Wear

unique toy store for all ages. Later he became

learning I acquired at Kent were part of the

Daily and later W magazine, John Fairchild

a stockbroker and eventually an estate

discipline that made it possible for me to do

was described as one of the most powerful

planner and financial consultant. Bob was

this book—it required pulling together arcane

people in the fashion industry.

a lifetime supporter of the Boys and Girls

research done in Norway as well as Texas,

Clubs of America and active with the Rotary

and took me ten years to write.”

1944

Snowden Rowe: snrowe@cinci.rr.com

Club. Later in life he was able to travel inter-

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

1947 William G. Coulter: Koke@comcast.net

Trubee Racioppi checked in from

Mandeville, LA: “After Peggy and I retired from Sears in 1989, after 37 years, we moved to New Bern, NC, built a house on the Trent River high on a bluff. Besides getting started with golf we got deeply involved with a boating group. We did cruising up and down the intracoastal waterway from Charleston, SC, to the Chesapeake Bay. We also helped found the New Bern Yacht Club. Twelve years later we moved to Covington, LA, to be close to our daughter, Susan, and two grandchildren. Regardless of changing clubs and

The Class of ’49 at their 65th Reunion Dinner, left to right: Tom and Maggie Carroll, Clyde Brown, Jim Jenkins, Bill Bernhard and Steve Sheppard

golfing shoes, I was never able to shoot my age unless one thought I was 100 or more.

It was really great until I blew a disc in my

passengers died and over 50 were wounded

been killed on the Mavi Marmara, and I had

spine on the fourth green just before Katrina

aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara

just been advised that I was in Israel illegally.

hit. We had no losses but decided to move

during the assault. A few hours before the

I observed that the events and justifications

again because the social climate had changed

attack I had transferred from the Mavi to a

were too reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland,

and we did not need to stay. Five years in

smaller U.S. flagship, Challenger 1. We were

and I refused to make additional comment.

Sun City, TX, were great. If we did not feel

able to avoid capture for a time by zigzagging

The Turkish Criminal Court has brought

that we had to move back to be near Susan,

away from the attack boats until receiving

charges in absentia against the commanders

we would still be there. All this time our son,

a radio warning that we would be rammed

of the Israeli forces. They have found the

Gib, is out in San Carlos, CA, just south of

unless we stopped. Our captain had been

defendants guilty; however, the current

San Francisco. Even though there are three

rammed on a previous attack and did not

Erdogan government has so far declined

grandkids that we would like to be closer

wish to repeat the experience. We had scat-

to issue arrest warrants as they attempt to

to, we decided that the California lifestyle

tered tables, chairs and rubber fenders on the

improve relations with Israel. I returned to

was not for us. So here we are, maturing in

deck as symbolic resistance. I had planned

Istanbul in March 2015 to testify on injuries

the Louisiana climate. Humidity one day

to enter the main cabin and lock the doors,

I received during the attack, personal prop-

and Mardi Gras the next. It sure is a far cry

forcing the Israelis to smash them open

erty stolen by Israeli soldiers, a video of the

from the Kent way of life. We have done a

while I filmed the event. As I approached the

attack, etc. The International Criminal Court

fair bit of travel, including a trip around the

cabin a stun grenade exploded within a foot

declined to take the case, stating that while

Horn. Also been to all 50 states and driven

of my face. As a result I have lost most of the

war crimes were committed they were not

into Mexico to San Miguel Allende and into

vision in my right eye and require on-going

of sufficient gravity to pursue. This deci-

Canada to Toronto and Ottawa. Our backs

treatment that includes a needle stuck in my

sion is being appealed in Turkey and the

and legs are making it quite difficult to

eyeball every three months to inject medica-

U.K. … I was able to return to Gaza before

climb—more than a few stairs at a time, that

tion. The ship was taken to the Israeli port of

the 50-day war by entering and exiting

is. John Roosma and I have a phone call or

Ashdod, where the passengers were interro-

through the tunnels from Egypt that have

two every year just to stay in touch.” David

gated before being transferred to a sprawling

now been destroyed. While there I sailed

Schermerhorn writes, “As I previously

prison several hours away. The first of my

out on a Gaza fishing boat that was later

reported, in 2010 I was part of the six-ship

interrogators asked why I looked so angry. I

purchased to convert into a cargo vessel that

international Freedom Flotilla attempting

fear I lost my composure as I pointed out that

would attempt to carry products from Gaza

to reach Gaza. Israeli naval vessels and heli-

we had been captured in international waters

to buyers outside of Palestine. It was badly

copter attacked us 75 miles from shore. Ten

by imitation Somali pirates, passengers had

damaged by Israeli sabotage and later totally

KENT QUARTERLY

Bruce Whitman ’51 with John Travolta at the Living Legends of Aviation Awards in January

destroyed in an air strike. I continue to offer what support I can from the U.S. through

The Class of ’54 back for their 60th Reunion in September, front row, left to right: Bill and Dale Balfour, Margot and Pete Spelman, Kathie and Clyde Barbour; second row: Taylor Keith, David Jenkins, Ed and Susie Hughes, Gordon Johns and Arthur Yorke Allen. (Missing from photo: Don and Ray Kress)

1952

1956

Robert G. Heidenreich: robt.heiden@verizon.net

Richard R. Alford: richardralford@gmail.com

demonstrations, petitions and advocacy of the

From Jerry Cline: “In late January on a

Tom Bliss leads off our Class of ’56 news

Boycott-Divest-Sanction (BDS) movement.

lovely day in Naples, FL, three illustrious

with the following: “It’s been a pretty quiet

After 18 years of life on Orcas Island in the

Kent graduates from the Class of ’52 had

year with any meeting and greeting of

Northwest, we have moved to San Francisco.

a magnificent lunch hosted by Jim Brown

classmates. I see Bob Shattuck ’55 all the

Address: The Sequoias, 1400 Geary Blvd., San

and attended by Dave Gallup and Jerry

time. Also see the Wilford girls, but they

Francisco, CA 94109.

Cline, who were all on the varsity football

graduated in the late ’60s. Tricia and I have

team. During lunch, Dave (our quarterback)

been up to our ears in real estate issues. We

1951

told the following story that he has been

have decided to spend a lot more time in

harboring for over 60 years, that involved

Charleston, SC. Two years ago we bought

Bruce Whitman, chairman, president and

one of those present. In our senior year,

an old wreck of a house in the heart of

CEO of FlightSafety International, has been

playing against our arch-rival Hotchkiss,

the historic district. We have just finished

inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation.

Dave ran back the football from the Kent

restoring it and are actually living there as I

The event was hosted by John Travolta at the

end zone to the Hotchkiss end zone for a

write this email. We have put our Maryland

Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on January

touchdown—over 100 yards, setting a school

house on the market, but as yet, no buyers. If

16, 2015. The Living Legends of Aviation

record and moving Kent to a possible victory.

anyone wants a great house on the Eastern

annual awards are considered the most pres-

But NO! A large moan came from the Kent

Shore of Maryland, please call me. We did

tigious and important recognition event in

bench as the referees were calling back the

work in a trip to Tanzania this past summer,

aviation. There are 88 “Living Legends of

play! With white flags and whistling, Kent

which was quite interesting. Spent a few

Aviation” who have been recognized for their

was penalized, as one of the Kent players had

days on a safari and then researched Tricia’s

outstanding accomplishments and contribu-

‘clipped’ a Hotchkiss player. The guilty one

grandfather’s plantation, which he had there

tions to aviation. The Legends meet yearly to

was confronted at lunch and his name will be

back in the 1930s and early ’40s. He grew

recognize and honor individuals who have

a secret for another 60 years.”

cotton and sisal. Found a few old remnants of

made significant contributions in aviation.

the place, but most of it fell into ruins years

Congratulations, Bruce!

ago. Fascinating country though. We flew Emirates, which is a super airline. Stopped by Dubai on the way home. This is a mustsee place, at least once, for a day or two.”

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

now, but I hope at some point you and I will be in the same part of the country and able

practice of law. He tells us the following: “I’m

to enjoy some tennis.” Otto Schmitt has

The Class learned that John Chamberlain

in the middle of a four-month trial with very

some news for us: “Seems like most of our

died on January 2, 2015. John came to Kent

little time to report on anything, let alone life

news originates from our younger genera-

through the ESU program after graduating

in general. The case is interesting because it

tions. We spent the fall season running

from Radley College in England. His brother,

involves the first attempt by a prosecutor to

around New England. First of all and with

Roderick, shared with us the eulogy he deliv-

indict a bank for crimes involving mortgage

great pleasure we installed Trevor Schmitt,

ered at his service, and included here is an

fraud. The bank that we represent is a small

my second grandson, at Middlebury College

excerpt about John’s year at Kent: “John was

community bank that issued good prime

and spent a good part of the fall following

sent to Kent School, arriving about Labor

residential mortgages, which it then turned

the Middlebury soccer team around the

Day 1958 and graduating in the Class of 1959.

around and sold to Fannie Mae. The mort-

NESCAC conference. Trevor did not get a

Up to his death he remained in email contact

gages all performed and Fannie Mae lost no

whole lot of playing time, but it was a great

with his classmates. At Kent he studied new

money, so you may wonder, as do we, why

way to meet a lot of hard-working guys with

subjects, sang in the Glee Club, got on to

the district attorney of Manhattan thought

one goal in mind, no pun intended. Two

skates (though never further forward than

it worthwhile to file a 142-count indict-

of Bonnie’s sons have planned weddings

tending the goal mouth), acted (though not

ment. There is a much longer story here but

for this coming summer. They both live in

as extraordinarily as in England) and, I fear

I will spare you. In the late fall I did have a

Florida, but one of them will take the plunge

for the first time, enjoyed being at school. He

chance to see Foster Devereux and Dave

in Portland, ME; therefore, we spent time

returned with a crew-cut, an American

Clapp, both of whom seem to be in good

running around Portland lining up facili-

accent, a New York Rangers goaltender’s

spirits. Foster and Penny have temporarily

ties. I have spent a good deal of time, while

jersey and a sackful of records—most of

suspended their plan to move out to Oregon,

serving on the church vestry, searching for

which I promptly nicked, and still have. He

where son Charlie hangs out. You may see

a new rector. It is quite a procedure but we

introduced me to the songs of Stephen

Dave yourself, as he tends to hang out on

are getting it done. We are down to the last

Foster, the Kingston Trio, and, of funda-

the East Coast of Florida during the winter

two candidates and should have him, or

mental importance to the proper education

months. He is as sharp as ever and his good

her, installed by Easter. In the meantime, I

of any self-respecting citizen, the complete

wife, Connie, remains as beautiful as ever.

have been getting my exercise running from

works of Tom Lehrer. It is a source of inordi-

My beautiful wife, Audrey, is still chugging

one doctor to the next. Does that count as

nate pride to me that both my children knew

along as the chief legal officer of Alcoa, being

legitimate exercise, Dick? In any case, I will

their Lehrer by heart by the age of 15.”

very much engaged and contemplating what

check in with you personally and we can

Submitted by Byron Miller: “Once Ned

should be an interesting trip with the board

discuss it all.” David Clapp is brief but has

Ruckner retired from the USN, he stayed

of directors to an Alcoa plant in Saudi Arabia.

news to give us. He starts as follows: “Not

busy and enjoyed working at a local hard-

My son, Matthew, who spent some time as

much going on. I had a nice long lunch with

ware shop, meeting and greeting neighbors

the press secretary for Governor Cuomo in

Dick Baiter and Foster Devereux in Hobe

while helping them shop. His enjoyment at

New York, decided to give up that 24/7 life

Sound and a nice dinner with Rusty Wing,

‘working’ in a local hardware store was

after the last election, which Mr. Cuomo

along with my wife, Connie, in NYC after the

pretty much an extension of his lifelong

won. He has just taken a new job with Uber,

Kent Christmas party. Kent is still fighting

hobby of model railroading and the construc-

the remarkable new tech company that is

the Indians. It is a long-playing record. We

tion involved therein. He got into that

revolutionizing the taxi industry. I should

are joined by both senators, the governor, the

following in the footsteps of his WWII

also note that we had an opportunity to see

Town of Kent and a lot of others (California).

veteran father, who built model locomotives

Byron S. Miller: tigr10@optonline.net

Burnham Beard and Peggy at the U.S. Open

It is too long and complicated to go into here.

and other railroad cars. Over Christmas

last September, and Peggy was kind enough

The School is in great shape. Applications

break during our fourth form year, after his

to include my daughter, Carlin, at some high-

are up, college early acceptances look good.

family had moved, Ned’s father suggested he

tech USTA Committee meeting dealing with

Finances are in good shape. Kids and parents

start building a model RR layout, and since

subjects relevant to Carlin’s PhD disserta-

seem happy. Board is functioning smoothly.”

that time, one layout has led to another, each

tion. That’s about all the news I can muster

1959

Rusty Wing continues to be a guy who goes

to work every day and seems to thrive on the

larger and more involved, following each

KENT QUARTERLY

move. He now has ROG (room over garage)

vines. Bob said that if their home/winery

the ‘oldest guy in our class,’ at 17, the summer

HO gauge layout in almost constant renova-

sells, they will probably return with a seri-

after our graduation, Nick learned to ride

tion and upgrading, with possibly no end in

ously large container of wine. In the future

when he and Robin Wilkins went out to

sight. Apparently getting there is part of the

Bob will focus on his ministry in Hilton

Wyoming and worked on a ranch for the

pleasure. In December of 1996, he and his

Head, which is working with prisoners in the

summer. The cowboys taught them both to

wife, Pam, bought a lot in Williamsburg, VA.

Allendale Correctional Institution, where he

ride, and later when he was in the USAF

They started construction in 1997 and moved

and others are working to help inmates

stationed out in New Mexico, he continued

there in 1998. Pam does volunteer work with

develop maturity and self-control so as to

to ride. After a summer of being a cowboy (a

the Salvation Army’s women’s auxiliary, is in

avoid returning to prison. He suggested

subject not covered at Kent then), he entered

several book groups, and while we were

going to www.ACIworship.org to read about

Washington & Lee and Robin went to

talking, he reported she was out ‘foraging for

the Character Housing Unit. As they are

Parsons College out in Fairfield, IA. After

food’—buying their lunch and dinner. He and

experiencing success in lowering their recid-

they both finished college, they and Señor

Pam have two grown married children, five

ivism rate, other prison systems are begin-

Robert Pagano, now of Colombia, South

grandchildren, three grand-dogs and one

ning to copy their model. Due to his having

America (his wife, Leo, is Colombian, that’s

grand-cat. They like to travel and have been

an appointment he had to go to, I had only a

why), went to Paris for five months. While

to Canada and done National Park tours, a

very brief talk with Fred Sharman, who

sitting at a café relaxing, Nick was startled to

European cruise and, in October, are going to

reported that he’s ‘still vertical,’ which is

get his draft notice, which pretty much

Northern Italy and Germany. They play

significant as he, too, is recovering from back

ruined his whole day. He hustled back to the

duplicate bridge, sometimes even competi-

surgery due to his having ‘lifted stuff’ over

United States and decided, even before the

tively, though that now involves more state-

time, perhaps too ambitiously. He is retired

Gulf of Tonkin incident, that the USAF was a

wide travel than they’re comfortable doing.

from both teaching math and being head of

better life choice than the U.S. Army, a deci-

When we talked, Ned was recovering from

the Math Department for a west coast high

sion that time proved correct for him. As

back surgery, which had turned out well, but

school for many years. His wife, Ceil, is also a

Nick had majored in journalism, he spent his

due to which he was still forbidden to drive

retired teacher—fifth grade. They have two

service time editing base newspapers for,

but was much encouraged to ‘walk a lot,’

sons, one doing some very interesting and

first, Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM

which he was doing well at. When I talked to

exciting research in oncology, the other in

(historical note—site of the first atom bomb

Robert Cushman, his first comment to me

intelligence, a captain in the USN. They have

explosion), then at Clark Field in the

was that he was ‘surprised’ to learn that he

five grandchildren and are planning the first

Philippines. There he saw way too much of

was the ‘oldest guy in the class,’ i.e., ‘the first

All-Family Reunion since 2008 this summer

the wounded air-evacuated from Vietnam

to reach 75!’ Also retired, he and his wife,

at their Orient, NY, summer home. Their

directly to the base hospital, as he often

Janina, were preparing to leave soon for a

winter home is in Laguna Beach, CA. He and

interviewed them. He rose to the rank of

trip to Italy. For the last 15 years they have

Ceil have traveled to the Far East and

staff sergeant in the Air Force. While there,

been spending six months in the U.S. and six

through Europe. He considers working with

as he was returning home one evening on his

months at their home/winery in Italy. But

his computer a fine hobby and teaches

motor scooter during a typhoon, he had an

this may be their last such trip, as they are

computer skills as a fun part of that hobby.

accident and wound up in the hospital

now seriously considering selling their place

Well, appearing in this column for the first

himself. Deciding not to be a lifer, after being

there, as such a large annual relocation has

time, I believe all of you will remember Nick

discharged he moved to Vermont, where the

finally become a bit too strenuous. They have

Monsarrat. He and his wife of 20 years,

skiing was better and newspaper work was

had serious success with their wine harvests.

Barbara, divide their time between

less hectic than in NYC. He had a very good

Their wines have won two silver medals in

Loxahatchee, FL, in the winter and

journalism career in Vermont, eventually

2007 and 2011 and a double gold medal in

Charlotte, VT, in the summer. They have

working for all three of Vermont’s major

2009 in competition with over 700 wines in

been doing this for about 10 years, primarily

newspapers. Initially he was a reporter for

top level U.S. wine-tasting competitions.

because they both love riding horses and

the Vermont Press Bureau, a statewide news

Rosa Di Monticello is the name of their wine.

winter is not kind to either horses or riders.

serving both the Barre Montpelier Times

Their 2012, 2013 and 2014 vintages are in

They have three horses now, and they

Argus and Rutland Herald, sister papers with

production, and their 2015 is still on the

require a lot of close attention. Definitely not

the same owner. ‘I was then made editor and

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

editorial page editor of the Times Argus until

aging golf game, has happily responded

grandchildren, a great and unexpected gift

1983, when I became managing editor of the

quickly to PT. I have been living with my

and pleasure. That’s all for now. To go along

Rutland Herald until 1987. From 1987 to 1993,

friend, Susan Ellis, Wellesley ’62, for several

with our aging—‘sweet dreams I wish you, if

I taught journalism at St. Michael’s College,

years now. A year younger than I but easily at

dreams there be.’ ”

before becoming editorial page editor for the

least a year smarter. Okay, make that two

Burlington Free Press from 1993 to 1995. That

years smarter. Susan had retired from being

ended my newspaper career, at which point I

an administrator/trainer in the Greenwich,

began writing fiction full-time.’ Right out of

CT, school system, as well as being on that

college as a journalism major, Nick had had

town’s Board of Ed for two terms, and is now

The great Class of 1960 has apparently gone

early success getting stories published in the

getting involved in volunteer work in

into hibernation for the most part, perhaps

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. This

Westport, CT, where we live. I have my

in response to the brutal and biting cold

inspired him to write off-and-on much of his

private practice as a psychotherapist, which

that has engulfed the Northeast for so long.

whole life. He has recently written a novel,

after 40-plus years I still really enjoy. And, as

There has been not a sound out of the New

United States: a Novel, which is published by

my office is in our home, the commute to

England area, with one exception. Hopefully,

Silver Horse Press. Along with writing, as

work couldn’t be simpler. We like traveling,

they are not buried under a snow pile! The

mentioned before, Nick gets great satisfac-

often with Smithsonian Tours—Morocco,

one exception was a message from Hugh

tion from his horses. He explained what he

2013; India, 2014 (I heard its powerful roar

Hardcastle, who informed me that they do,

found so moving and attractive about them.

but did not see a tiger) and Peru, later this

indeed, have piles of snow on Bailey Island,

‘They are very demanding and fragile

spring. I have gotten into raising koi and have

ME, where he and his wife, Surrey, make

animals. Connecting with a horse and having

a lovely, moderately large koi pond with

their home these days. Hugh and Surrey

the horse connect with you is like Horse

some 15-plus-year-old koi. Susan and I

attended their daughter’s wedding, held on

Whispering. Horse sense is different from

discovered this December, before all the

Super Bowl Sunday at the same time as the

people sense. To create a willing horse is a

snow came, that besides turkey, deer, coyote

game (some people have no respect!). The

very good feeling. To ride a willing, loving,

and fox, we also have mink in the area. This

concession made was to turn on the game

trusting horse is a very peaceful and good

we discovered as we watched one run off

shortly after the service. Hugh found himself

feeling. Such a bond is precious and requires

with a lovely, medium-sized red koi in its

to be one of the few Patriot fans in the room.

constant attention at maintenance.’ Nick has

mouth. After 61 years, I have returned to

He writes, “Rumor has it that Belichick

three children from a previous marriage, a

taking piano lessons, which I’m enjoying

hacked into the Seahawks communications

son in California, a daughter in Vermont and

greatly. Initially I wanted to play popular

and actually called the last play!” On the way

another son married to a career State

piano and am doing so, but my instructor is

to their daughter’s wedding they stopped in

Department diplomat, currently living down

also leading me to the Dark Side—classical

Longmeadow, MA, to see their new great-

in Jonestown, Guyana (historical note—yes,

music—by seducing me with some lovely,

granddaughter (yes, that’s correct—great-

the Jonestown). Apparently this is the ‘back

simple pieces like Pachelbel’s Canon in D and

granddaughter). Hugh said the experience

problems’ edition of our class column, as

‘Voi, Che Sapete’ from The Marriage of

was “awesome.” He and Surrey are planning

Nick, too, is recovering from a very recent

Figaro. Another interest is making stained-

to head to Sicily at the end of April. The

serious back operation. Last January he

glass lampshades and windows, which I

word is that Sicily is beautiful, especially at

suddenly experienced debilitating pain in the

started about 20 years ago. I find that a very

that time of year. Hugh is looking forward to

lumbar region of his back. ‘Arthritis crept up

engrossing and peaceful activity. Susan and I

getting out for some cross-country skiing, so

on me.’ He will not be riding for a while and

also take ballroom dancing lessons and for

his ankle must be healing well—finally. He

is still heavily medicated. He spends time

the last year or so have started taking

closed with the following: “Life is good—so

sitting on his porch watching the horses

Argentinean tango lessons. A wonderfully

blessed.” From sunny Miami comes word

grazing peacefully—a wonderfully relaxing

interesting and sexy dance and a very good

from Johnny Smithies regarding his travels

sight.” Byron adds, “Well, there might be

one for us aging folk, as it can be danced well

with his wife, Laura. They left Miami on

something to the notice paid to our

but not necessarily fast. Thanks to meeting

September 15, traveling to Italy and France

advancing age as I too had some back pain,

that aforementioned Wellesley grad, I have

before returning October 2. He described

which, while it did interfere with my also

become an adopted grandfather to her four

having beautiful sunny days (drool!). They

1960 James W. Mell: stepahead@goes.com

KENT QUARTERLY

FOCUS ON THE CLASS OF 1963

Up from Poverty: Can Africa Catch Up With Asia? stayed in Florence, making a visit to Arezzo.

and from the slopes, shopping, cooking and

Then it was off to Verona. Johnny and

generally “minding the store.” However,

“The world has an astonishing chance to take a

Laura feel that’s a city they could live in.

John ended up exercising the sentiment of

billion people out of extreme poverty by 2030.”

He recommends the Hotel Colomba D’Oro

a greeting card he had received that said,

(The Economist, June 2013)

to anyone headed to Verona. There was

“Growing old is inevitable; Growing up is

also a superb exhibit of the painter Paolo

optional,” by hitting the slopes himself. He

After his retirement as a senior manager at the

Veronese in Verona, billed as the largest

writes, “Whether one is wise still to be skiing

World Bank, it seems that David de Ferranti

since 1939. (Did Mr. Breasted cover him? I’m

at 73 I leave to you to judge, but it has been a

forgot to retire. Following a long career with

afraid I wouldn’t know.)Verona’s cafés and

real joy accompanying two small daredevils,

the World Bank, Dave founded Results For

gelato were outstanding. They also visited

ages 7 and 9, who prefer black runs and short

Development, a nonprofit institute dedicated

the city of Padova and the shrine of Saint

excursions into the rough or, better still, the

to development challenges in low- and middle-

Anthony. Next stop was Milano, which has

trees.” John concluded by citing that there

income nations. Mark Hinkley joined him

a most impressive train station, built by

was a special track on the slopes with a speed

as R4D’s chairman. This past February, the

Benito Mussolini (I can see him digging in

gun. The 9-year-old clocked 43 mph and

Salisbury Forum hosted Dave’s presentation,

the trenches now!). A highlight of the stop

the younger one 34 mph! Ah, youth! Should

“Up from Poverty: Can Africa catch up with

in Milano was a solo 200-painting exhibi-

anyone want to contact John, his new email

Asia?” This occasioned a class mini-reunion

tion of Marc Chagall at the Palazzo Reale.

address is johnsingham@hotmail.com. Given

joined by Dave, Mark, and locals Alex Taylor

Next was five days in Paris. It was fashion

my plea for my classmates to contribute

and Peter Neely. In his talk, Dave drew from

week. They visited “the fabulous Musée

news of themselves, I, Jim Mell, will tuck in

his career with the World Bank, decades of

D’Orsay and our favorite small museum,

the good news that the first of our grandchil-

personal and professional experience in remote

named L’Orangerie.” However, the greatest

dren was accepted for admission to NYU this

corners of the globe, and from vast economic

highlight was to be able to photograph 10

fall. He will be in the Tisch School, majoring

research data. The short answer to the question

Rue Lincoln, half a block from the Champs

in event planning. Remember everyone: This

“Can Africa catch up…”: Not within the next 50

Elysées, which was the building where

is the year of our 55th Reunion at Kent, June

years, as compared to China and India. But there

Johnny’s mother, now 100 years old, lived

12–14. Be there! Please! And don’t forget the

is great cause for hope. Change is happening.

when she was a 16-year-old student at La

Annual Fund! Double please!

There is spectacular economic growth in India,

Sorbonne in 1930–1931. Johnny wrote that

China and parts of Africa. By 2050 some African

his mother enjoyed the pictures immensely.

countries may surpass the less-developed Asian

On November 28, 160 family and friends gathered at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club to celebrate her 100th. People came from Chile, Spain and Switzerland for the festivi-

1963

countries. Contrary to current news reporting in

William F. Allen: hap.allen@mac.com

Western media that dwells on conflict, disease

Marsha Laubenstein Scharnberg:

and the corruption pervading African nations,

m_scharnberg@yahoo.com

David cited positive African economic growth

ties. A wonderful highlight on her actual

How many of us are aware of Lex Towle’s

trends, a favorable ratio of working-age to non-

birthday was the visit of Father Schell, who

long-time involvement in education? Lex

working-age people in sub-Saharan Africa,

presented her with a proclamation identi-

writes: “To update you, in total my busi-

massive urbanization and vast natural resources.

fying her as the oldest living parent of a Kent

ness partner and I founded four public

And by now, most of us will have learned of the

School student! I’m sure we all add our best

charter schools in Washington, the first two

great societal benefits achieved by fostering

wishes to Mrs. Smithies, thanking her for

in 1998: Cesar Chavez Charter School for

the education of girls. None of these conditions

the inspiration her 100 productive, gracious

Public Policy and Washington Math Science

come without risks, David pointed out, but

and courageous years have provided for us

Charter School. The third is Paul Jr. High

these were also the conditions that gave rise to

all! Also a “traveling man” is our English

Charter School, the first and only conversion

economic development in the USA in the 19th

exchange student, John Ingham, along with

charter school. These three schools currently

and 20th centuries. Dave asserted that systemic

his wife, Sue. They went to Austria on the

provide a much-improved education for a

change is key and that, while small projects feel

pretense of “doing grandparent duty for our

total of about 1,950 students from the city’s

good, supporting and sticking with large initia-

younger son and his family, who wanted to

most deprived neighborhoods. The first two

tives has greater impact. For more information

ski,” intending to provide transportation to

or three years from about 1995, we were

and advice on what we as individuals can do, visit David and Mark’s website, www.r4d.org.

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

bewildered by the necessity of learning DC’s

1966

talist-and-attorney-wray-witten-dies. Wray

that, we faced the extremely ingrained biases

William F. Scoggins: wfscoggins@gmail.com

led a committed, adventuresome and service-

of the city’s education funders: the founda-

Submitted by Doug Henry: Let’s turn our

oriented life and, to be frank, one that was

tions, philanthropic groups, political clubs,

attention to the Class 50th Reunion in 2016. I

unknown largely to me and perhaps to you.

individual donors, members of Congress, the

have included here an e-mail sent to the Class,

His passing is all the more reason to keep

DC Council, and most of all the Department

proposing class gatherings this year as part of

in touch with one another. The class is not

of Education. The volatile resistance to

the run-up to our 50th reunion in 2016.

growing, and regardless of your net assessment of Kent, we all grew up together there

charter schools wasn’t just about the competition with traditional public schools. The

“A Proposal for Class Gatherings in 2015:

after a fashion; we have that very much in

status quo was equally important. But once

Before I stepped down as class scribe for

common. Let’s keep the conversation going.

we secured the first grant of $1.2 million

66B I spent some time considering what we

On a happier note, George-Ann Gowan is

from the Department of Education, many of

might do as an entire class in preparation for

a grandmother. Andrew Gowan ’00 and

the others gave us the nod. We were pounded

our 50th Kent Reunion in June 2016. The

his wife, Bridget, announced the arrival of

by the Washington Teachers Union and the

idea I came up with was two class dinners/

Donald Kingsley Gowan IV on Christmas

Washington Post. (The union is a story unto

gatherings, not to run concurrently, in the

Eve. Well done! Ed Souder reports the birth

itself, and for another time. Suffice it to say

September/October 2015 timeframe. While

of his grandson, Edmund Lloyd Souder V.

that its top two officers were indicted and

the idea is very much in its infancy, it looks

(Our class loves its roman numerals.) Cinco

are currently serving time.) The Post edito-

something like this, notionally speaking:

de Souder was born on 29 November, several

rial board finally came around, once they

Locations: San Francisco Bay area and

months premature, and weighed in at 1

learned charter schools had no intent of

within 50 miles of New York City; events

pound, 6 ounces at birth. He’s now over 6

destroying the traditional public schools.

would be held at the homes of classmates (as

pounds and doing fine. Submitted by Rocco

In fact, the Post became a regular donor

yet unknown).

to AppleTree Institute. The struggle was

Gleason Smith: With sadness we learned our

Agenda: Catered dinner on Friday;

dear classmate Esty Neuendorffer Collet

well worth it. Our ‘early childhood’ charter

No-Host restaurant evening gathering on

passed away on October 30, 2014. While at

schools began in 2002, when we opened

Saturday. Free time for sightseeing, shop-

Kent, Esty was a member of the Choir, Altar

the AppleTree Early Childhood Charter

ping, hiking, golf, hanging out, etc.

Guild, Debating Society, and president of

School with 30 very young kids, in the base-

Cost: Borne by participants; classmate

the Art Club. During senior year, she headed

ment of a Baptist church in Southeast DC,

hosts would be reimbursed for any out-of-

up the School’s volunteer program at the

giving us the jump on the country’s more

pocket expenses for the Friday dinner.

Wassaic School for the Mentally Disabled.

recent efforts to recognize the enormous

Let me know if any of this resonates.

importance of the first years of life. Since

Specifically: Are you interested? Would you

down the halls every Wednesday afternoon,

that time we’ve created five additional early

come? If so, how many in your party? Do

“All those going to Wassaic, follow me!” After

childhood campuses, serving about 770 kids

the locations work? If not, where do you

graduation, Esty studied at the Sorbonne and

in the renovated Navy Yard area, but mostly

suggest? Does the format work? If not, what

Baldwin Wallace College. She married Pierre

in the tough areas of the city. We also have

do you suggest? Anything I probably forgot

Yves Collet in 1969, and spent several years in

several partnerships with city schools. We

to include? Response has been generally

London and Paris, where their three children

did get input and assistance from two Kent

favorable. We have two potential candidates

were born. They returned to Bryn Mawr,

grads, Dick Patrick ’64 and Dick Schell ’69.

to host the West Coast event and Rocco is

PA, in 1982, living there for 30 years before

I have retired from active management of

working the East Coast venue. Let me know

retiring to Royal Oak, MD. Esty worked in

AppleTree, although I remain as a trustee.”

your thoughts if you haven’t already done so.”

executive search, primarily in health care

Schmemann on page 4.

Many, I’m sure, will recall Esty’s voice ringing

and higher education. She loved being on the

Note: Be sure to see the profile of Serge

local-news/2014-12-08/athens-environmen-

Leslie Gleason Smith: lsmith5893@aol.com

highly politicized education landscape. After

Many of you are now aware that Wray

water, either sailing or on the family’s motor-

Witten passed away last December. In the

boat. Voted “Most Enthusiastic” in the Senior

event that you didn’t get the news, a link to

Poll, Esty possessed a great zest for life. We

his obit is included here: onlineathens.com/

will cherish her memory, and remember

KENT QUARTERLY

fondly her warm personality, mischievous

told us that “dawn and darkness” are—

sense of fun, and the joy she brought to all

suddenly—“no more” for Archie Koranteng.

who knew her. We send our deepest sympa-

Even before 2013, I had tried to “find” him,

thies to Barbara Friedman Stout on the

not knowing he had changed his name to

loss of her husband, George, on January 27.

“Andrew” and had been back in Ghana for

Barbara and George settled near Roanoke,

30 years. Rico and I “found” Archie in 2013,

VA, following Barb’s retirement from Kent,

and both of us spoke with him on the phone

where she taught for 35 years. Barbara will

that fall. Archie seemed happy with his

hold a memorial service for George in June

college-aged kids and his recent retirement

at the School. Our sympathies also go out to

from a government career and ownership

Lanie Lippincott Peterson on the loss of her

of a cashew plantation. This past Christmas

husband, Larry, after 27 years of marriage.

morning, Elly and I were at our cabin in

They have a daughter, Lindsay. Lanie lives in

Maine, and Archie called to wish me Merry

Tybee Island, GA, and works as a freelance

Christmas. He sounded good, and was

put down roots in Yakima, WA. They have

journalist for the Savannah Morning News

grading papers that day for a college course

become amazing young women and I trea-

business and feature sections. In addition,

he was teaching. He said both teaching and

sure our times together and am so thankful

she is in graduate school working on her

grading were hard work for him. As with

for all the ways technology makes the

master’s degree in professional communica-

lots of people, we made plans to get together

distance bearable the rest of the time.” She

tions and leadership. Pebbles Wadsworth

with some of our classmates at or before

adds that, currently, “my main connection

recently moved to a small ranch outside the

2018. Carpe Diem! I’d like to share one happy

to Kent ’68 is that John Biggs beats me at

artist community of Wimberley, TX, about

memory that has comforted me this past

‘Words With Friends’ pretty much daily!”

an hour from Austin. She reports, “It has a

week. In January 1964, we had recently

Elena de Murias: “I am finally back in New

lot of wild animals… It’s a gem and visitors

returned from Christmas vacation our first

York City after years of living abroad and

are welcome.” She will return to Jamestown,

year at Kent and Archie had gone to London.

in other parts of the USA. It is good to be

RI, for the summer. Pebbles and husband

After we talked, he walked away singing “I

home. An important stop that changed my

Christian were leaving to spend March in

Want to Hold Your Hand” pretty loudly. I

life was taking care of and then clearing out

New Zealand, where they hoped ‘to swim

asked him what the heck that was and he

my parents’ home. Like a children’s game

with the whales and dolphins, watch the

said, “You haven’t heard of the Beatles, man?

of ‘I pack my trunk,’ I opened the ones in

majestic albatross, and experience a sheep

They’re the rage.” I hadn’t. The famous

the attics, eaves and basements to discover

farm.’ While in Austin, Pebbles met up with

Ed Sullivan Show appearance was still a

my family’s Cuban heritage. My great-

Chichi French Armstrong and her husband,

month away. But, in England, Beatlemania

grandfather moved to the USA in the 1800s,

Tom, for dinner. Important! Our 50th

was already underway… and Archie got it…

bringing his family and the contents of two

Reunion will be held June 10–12, 2016. Please

before any one of us. Submitted by Peggy

homes, including documents, diaries, silver,

mark your calendars!

Kinnaird Tuttle: After the sad news of the

art, etc.… and his 750-volume library… 1,500

passing of Archie Koranteng, coupled with

items dating from 1750 to 1906. It is fasci-

the severe weather this winter, I know we

nating to work with the historians and art

1968

Greg Diltz ’68 visited Peter Carlisle ’70 on Oahu, while Peter was the mayor of Honolulu.

are all looking forward to springtime and

experts in Havana and here to learn about

Patrick Hickox: bostonius@gmail.com

feelings of renewal. Thanks to all who took

the Colonial and Independence periods and

Peggy Kinnaird Tuttle: pt@tuttledesign.com

the time to send me news at the last moment!

my family. The new relationship with Cuba

Stuart Niemtzow: beaunehead50@gmail.com

Toni Boettger Bryant writes: “I’m still in

will make travel and access to experts so

Submitted by Stuart Niemtzow: When I

Newport Beach, still teaching Pre-K and

much easier. I look forward to being part of

took this assignment on in 2013, my main

loving every minute of it, still very involved

this new beginning. If anyone would like to

goal was to maximize the turnout for our

with the local Audubon chapter and lots of

go to Cuba now—before McDonald’s—let

50th in 2018. I thought I had made good

birding activities. My girls have fledged and

me know and I can introduce you to travel

progress, but, sadly, that task got a lot harder

migrated a bit too far for my liking—Kate,

experts. In other news, I found a lovely note

last week. Word from Ghana (to Rico Cardin)

30, is near Boulder, CO, and Sarah, 26, has

from Charlie Whitin dated 1996, welcoming

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

me to the Alumni Council!” Ellen Shumaker

her as one of the truly great people I have

Evans was “much impressed with those

known and miss her terribly. Her passing is

fellows [and their email responses to the

a reminder that all we have is today and the

news of Archie Koranteng’s death], whom I

people we love.” From Barbi Kingsbury,

remember as very young men, who seem to

in Charleston, SC, who has been so helpful

have turned into very thoughtful and articu-

to “The Peters” by getting class notes to

late ‘old’ men. Did I say old? Never, more like

us; we send you a huge thank you!: “To all

mature.” Libby Koponen agrees with Ellen:

Kenties living above the Mason-Dixon line

“Those comments were all so well-written!

this winter: There is still room for you on the

Even eloquent. And I couldn’t help smiling

peninsula of Charleston, where the median

at the way Chip called everyone to order on

temperature at noon this winter has been

the aging thing.” I definitely concur, Libby! She continues, “As for me—three years ago I bought a tiny plot of land on a remote Scottish island and put a shepherd’s hut on it. [Check out libbykoponen.com to see a video tour.] When I’m not there, I’m in Stonington,

Ann Denison with Barbi Kingsbury, both Class of ’69, out to dinner with E.A. Poe on Sullivan’s Island, SC

1969

55. Ann Denison stopped by Charleston in January while visiting cousins who rent a house here each winter. Ann and Barbi had a chance to catch up over dinner at one of the area’s most famous restaurants: Poe’s

Barbara H. Kingsbury: barbkingsbury@gmail.com

on Sullivan’s Island. Yes, aptly named for

CT, ten minutes off Route 95, with a view

Peter Malin: peter@themalingroup.com

Edgar A. Poe, who spent 1827–1828 living

of the ocean—and would love to see anyone

Peter Starbuck: peter@starbuckinn.com

at Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan’s while serving

who is passing by! Still writing but with little

Reflections from Susan Page Tillett on “the

in the U.S. Army. The island is the setting

published lately; that could change and of

death of my dear friend and first Kent School

for The Gold Bug, and Poe’s restaurant’s #1

course I hope it will. But whether it does

roommate, Janine Jamieson Huff: Janine

seller is the Gold Bug Burger, which Ann and

or not, I, too, am enjoying this stage of life.”

and I met for the first time in September of

Barbi shared. Luckily they now use beef, not

Anne Lyall Wyman writes, “My husband

1966. As our mothers dropped us off they

gold bugs.” Janet Stroup Fox writes: “My

passed away four years ago. I retired from

suggested we stick together… and we did…

fourth novel and fifth book for children and

my pediatric practice a few months ago,

for more than 48 years! We laughed and

young adults releases March 15, 2016. It’s

and am luxuriating in having ‘free time’ and

cried over boys and grades then, and redis-

a mystery/fantasy set in a creepy Scottish

enjoying life. I share a flat in Chicago in the

covered each other about five years ago.

castle in 1940. My family lives in Bozeman,

Andersonville neighborhood with one of

We still had a lot in common as mothers

MT, where my husband is retired, our son is

my sons, his wife and my 4-year-old grand-

and spiritual women and we still laughed

in college, and I’m a writing maniac.” From

daughter. I have a new life partner of almost

and cried together! Janine was there for

Catherine Cooke Lux, “I have retired from

two years now, and the youngest of his four

my wedding and for my mother’s funeral.

teaching and moved from Sandy Hook, CT,

children are 10 and 14, so we are always busy

I visited her at the Tonawanda Indian

to Philadelphia to be nearer to two of my

with diverse adult and kid activities. I am

Reservation and she visited me lots of places,

three children. I am happily spending much

enjoying this phase of life!” Peggy continues,

including Lake Bluff and Charleston. She

of my time there with my daughter Sarah

“Under the ‘Lost But Not Forgotten’ cate-

was a Clan Mother of the Seneca Hawk Clan,

Lux McCabe ’00, her husband, Tom, and

gory, I found news of Hetty Hall online: She

a substantial responsibility that meant she

my two wonderful grandsons. My son, Tim,

graduated from the University of Rochester

would always live on her people’s land near

also lives there with his wife, Molly, so I am

and, until she retired, was a physician,

Buffalo, NY, despite being a national leader.

blessed to have family nearby. My daughter

specializing in internal medicine and endo-

I have a picture taken on the day of my sister

Annie Lux Radecki, her husband, Ryan, and

crinology, diabetes and metabolism. She

Shary Page Berg ’67’s graduation, where

my littlest grandson, Alex, are moving from

has two children and lives in Iowa with her

you can see the joy and mischief on Janine’s

Houston to Portland, OR, so I will be taking

husband, Dr. Mark Graber.”

face. Her laughter was totally contagious

trips across the country at regular intervals. I

and frequently got me in hot water in chapel

love living in the city, and I am finding many

or class! That day feels like yesterday to

activities to keep busy in retirement.” Last

me and I can’t believe she is gone. I honor

but certainly not least, Ed Evans has been

KENT QUARTERLY

KSBC ’72 mini reunion on Shelter Island, NY, in September 2014. Left to right: Rick Rinehart, Garth Griffin, Fred Elliott and Murray Beach

In September, Bruce McBarnette ’76 (right) led a tour of the Capitol for alumni. Left to right: Renee-Lauren Ellis ’00, Jennifer Gajdosik ’92 and son Nathan, Will Zellweger ’03, Jacqueline Olt ’04 and McBarnette.

seen in Kent Village and at the Starbuck Inn,

gratitude to my close friend, former judge

the buildings where the signing of the 1953

in particular. He lives in Millbrook, NY, and

Pat Border. He invited me to join him in

Korean Armistice Agreement took place

welcomes any and all to visit with him!

North Korea and knew exactly how to get me

have been preserved. As a result, it is a place

there. Once on the ground I was a tourist and

of tremendous historic significance that is

invited guest of the DPRK. North Koreans

frozen in time. … The armistice is, however,

1970

are aware of and can accept that foreigners

only a cease-fire between military forces,

Adele Eissler Young: adele.e.young@gmail.com

hold different opinions, but they do not wish

rather than an agreement between govern-

Alexander Nimick III: animick@comcast.net

to be “taught” or “saved” by their guest any

ments. No peace treaty was signed, meaning

The following is an excerpt from an article

more than I want to be saved from being an

that the Korean War has not officially ended.

Peter Carlisle wrote following a visit to South

American. I also learned that most North

As a result, Korea’s DMZ is recognized as

and North Korea. I just can’t get enough of

Koreans have never been outside of North

the most heavily defended national border

Seoul and Incheon. Both are sister cities

Korea. Wisdom and manners in North Korea

in the world. My sincere impression is that

with Honolulu [where Carlisle lives]. This

include not showing disrespect to any aspect

both North and South Korea want unifica-

means our cities are tied together to foster

of North Korean life or belief and especially

tion of Korea. But there is an omnipresent

diplomacy, friendship, understanding of our

not to their leaders, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il

devil in the details. Both Koreas want their

cultural differences and encouragement of

and Kim Jong-un. Pictures of these leaders

own forms of leadership, economic institu-

trade and tourism. For these reasons, while

in newspapers are folded so their faces are

tions and current culture left intact. It is my

I was mayor of Honolulu I had the pleasure

never creased. A large number of enormous

endlessly optimistic nature to hope that one

and privilege of making a number of visits

pictures and statues of them are seen on

small step in mitigating and narrowing this

to the Republic of Korea (South Korea).

government buildings, as monuments, in

vast divide is by having Americans visit both

Recently, I returned as a private citizen. A

parks, in schools and elsewhere for the citi-

North and South Korea while being good

highlight of the trip included my first visit

zens to appreciate and enjoy. During my visit

guests to these hosts.

to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

we were invited to the Supreme People’s

from the South. Less than a week and a

Court, where I met the highest ranking

half later, after a brief visit to China, I had

lawyer who presents cases to and advises the

the pleasure and privilege of standing in

Court. In all of North Korea there are only

the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

215 lawyers, 15 of whom are women. He and

We recently heard from Lance Slaughter:

(DPRK) while looking back at South Korea.

I talked about civil rights and their system

“My daughter, Kelsey, graduated from the

It was a remarkable experience. Many people

of justice. The high point for me of the trip

University of Pennsylvania last May. She

ask me why and how it was possible to get

was returning to the DMZ, this time from

was awarded a BA with honors in her major

to North Korea. To this I owe a great debt of

the North. On the northern side of the DMZ

and the distinction of magna cum laude. She

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

1971 Terrence H. Thoren: terry.thoren@gmail.com

received an award from Onyx (Senior Honor Society) for character and academic achievement. She also rowed for Penn women’s varsity crew. Kelsey is currently working in the e-commerce division of macys.com, in NYC. After 20 years of paying private school tuition, her dad is overjoyed that she is independent, happy and employed! I will be prepping for the 2015 triathlon season in Hilton Head, SC, during spring break. I was invited to the USAT Nationals

Rob Constable ’81 in The School for Lies

in August, where I will race against the

Karen Ellis Monahan ’83, Amy Givan ’82, Mary Carroll Goodsir ’82, Linda Cardello Streett ’82, Marty Harrington ’82 and Laurie Pilling ’82 celebrating together in Bar Harbor, ME

top 10% of competitors in my age-group category. I am planning to renew my contract

recently performed in The School for Lies

Facebook: Kent School Class of 1982. We

to represent the Synergy Sports team again

by playwright David Ives. The play was

would love to hear from you!

this year, as a brand ambassador for their

adapted from Moliere’s The Misanthrope,

men’s triathlon clothing and wetsuit apparel.

a comedy about 17th century Paris and its

(synergywetsuits.com) I am also looking

moral decay that Cosmo had read back in his

forward to participating with my nephew,

Kent days before making frequent trips up

Rogan Donelly ’04, in the Nantucket Hero

Skiff Mountain. This version however, wove

Margaretta Colangelo: margaretta@gmail.com

Triathlon in July. Classes of ’70, ’71, ’72, we

contemporary topics into the storyline, and

Libby Moffitt writes “It’s not too late to get

are overdue for a major hangout! ‘T’ Thoren,

the lines were all rhyming couplets, which of

on the water! When Fr. Owen sent us out

where are you?” Congratulations to John

course made it a cinch for his over-50 brain.

in gigs (wide rowing shells, think bathtub-

Williams, who was recently appointed presi-

Congrats, Rob, and look out, Broadway! Wish

like) on the pond at the girls’ school in the

dent of Muhlenberg College. Read more on

we could have been there! Editor’s note: The

fall of 1980, I never expected that it would

page 29.

Runaway’s Gold by Emilie Christie Burack,

plant the seed that has now become a

historical fiction for ages 8–14, will be released

passion of mine. I am currently a masters

in May. An article will appear in the next

rower for Greenwich Crew in Greenwich,

Quarterly.

CT. I practice, train and race with fellow

1981

Dorothy Barclay Chynoweth: dchynow1@nycap.rr.com

Emilie Christie Burack: emilieburack@comcast.net

masters rowers (men and women) on the

Robert L. Constable: rconstable3@yahoo.com

Mianus River, and when the water is flat

Kathleen Kolligian DeTullio: andydetullio@msn.com

1982

enough, we row on beautiful Long Island

Mary Carroll Goodsir: yogamec@verizon.net

Sound. Masters race 1,000-meter sprint

Operations for Gamesa, a global leader in

Rohan Goodsir: rohanoz@aol.com

races during the late spring and summer

the manufacture and operations of indus-

From Mary Carroll Goodsir: Karen Ellis

and longer head races in autumn. Or, for

trial wind turbines in the renewable energy

Monahan ’83, Amy Givan, Mary Carroll

those not inclined to race, recreational

industry. He and his wife, Leslie, and chil-

Goodsir, Linda Cardello Streett, Marty

rowing is great fun too. I never imagined

dren, Nicholas, Caroline and Peyton, have

Harrington and Laurie Pilling celebrated

that learning to row at Kent would lead in

moved back to his roots in Mexico City,

a milestone birthday week together in Bar

such a fun and social, yet competitive and

from where he travels to 12 Latin American

Harbor, ME, last August. We’ve been getting

personally challenging direction. My single

countries, managing 35 wind farm opera-

together almost every year since we gradu-

crew shell is named Lanakila, Hawaiian

tions, eating lots of tacos, and sampling

ated, to celebrate our lasting friendship and

for ‘victory over yourself.’ If you are in my

exotic varieties of the cerveza. Checking

sisterhood—which began at Kent! So many of

area, I will happily get other Kenties on the

another item off his midlife bucket list, the

us manage to stay in touch with each other.

water. In case you chose one of the other

shy and reserved Rob “Cosmo” Constable

If you’d like to reconnect please join us on

sports at Kent, not to worry, it’s never too

Peter Tattersfield is now VP Latin America

1983

KENT QUARTERLY

campus for a bit.” Kevin Ross writes, “After working at a large international law firm, I started my own boutique law firm, Ross Rightmyer in Miami. Our primary focus is litigation in the areas of business dispute resolution, financial services litigation, products liability, intellectual property litigation, employment law and cross border dispute resolution. My partner, Bob, and I are the principals and we are hiring lawyers to serve Groom Peyton Carter with friends from the Class of ’88 William Howell, Jamie Thomas and Bob Dowd

Peyton Carter ’88 with his bride, Lucretia Fleury

late to learn how to row! In April of 2015

ever. As we say in the Marines… bravo zulu

require tailored litigation services consistent

the third annual Alumni Sprints Regatta in

to you and Dorothy for putting that together!

with their business objectives. My prior

Greenwich Cove was held. How great would

You guys put a lot of great effort into that!

work centered on international arbitration

it have been to see some blue and gray oars

It was great to see the updates. My Marines

or cross border dispute resolution. I expect

coming down the course? My email: leven@

and sailors are all doing well, so that is good.

to continue to do work in this area, including

optonline.net.” Ben King writes “I went to

One thing I will say is I noticed in the past

assisting U.S. clients with transactional

Oahu for a week with my family. While we

few editions of the Kent News that there

work in the region, in the future. Not an easy

were there I got to spend some fun times

seems to be a real expanded music and arts

practice to develop, but one that interests

with Laie Caindec and her family. We hung

section, so I’m glad to see those programs

me tremendously.” Margaretta Colangelo

out for a couple of days, went cliff jumping,

are expanded and as strong as ever at the

writes, “We invite you to join Kent

snorkeling and BBQing on the 4th. Lots of

school.” Johanna Fazzone writes, “I have

Alumnifire, a modern digital alumni network

fun and good times. We definitely need to

my own law practice with an emphasis on

built by Kent Alumni for Kent Alumni. To

get the San Francisco crowd together more

probate and matters relating to children and

join go to kent.alumnifire.com/feed.”

often.” Tony Fazzone writes, “I am holed up

the elderly. I am married and the mother to

in Vermont when I’m not holed up in Alaska.

Andrew (7) and Makayla (4).” Scott Brown

our clients as the needs continue to develop. We have a preference toward technology companies and smaller businesses that

1984

On December 19, 2013, my daughter, Mariela,

writes, “I see Jeff Cox at the Rangers games

was born, making me an annoyingly proud

a few times a year. I am very busy running

dad. She’s already made it abundantly clear

my Chevrolet dealership on Long Island. I

Congratulations to David Quinn, head coach

that Kent is her first choice of prep schools.

am living in Huntington with my wife, Eve,

of the Boston University men’s hockey team,

Pamela Stubenbord: pamela.stubenbord@gmail.com

I speak with Jeff Cox often. Last summer

and two beautiful kids, Petra (10) and Blake

who was named Hockey East Coach of

I was psyched to catch up with Shahryar

(8). I coach both of their soccer and lax

the Year. In his second year as head coach,

Hakimi by phone.” Karen Ellis McDevitt

teams. So maybe we will see them in blue

David led his team to championships in the

writes, “Last summer I met up with a few

and gray someday.” Peter Brainard writes,

Beanpot and Hockey East tournaments. At

’82 members in Bar Harbor including

“My daughter, Tenley, graduated from Hall

the time these notes were submitted, BU was

Linda Cardello, Amy Given, Caroline Van

High School in West Hartford, CT, and is

preparing for the NCAA Tournament, having

Nievelt, Laurie Pilling, Mary Ellen Carroll

attending Elon University in North Carolina.

earned the number one seed in the Northeast

and Marty Harrington.” CeCe Coffin writes,

By an incredible coincidence, her incoming

Region.

“My husband and I live in NYC with our

freshman roommate that she chose is Kent

two boys, Rory (5) and Wyatt (8).” Lenny

2014 graduate Tess Nekvasil. Tenley and

DeFrancisci writes, “The last class notes

I both got to meet Tess in person for a few

section for the Quarterly was the best and

hours last spring after a crew regatta on

most comprehensive I have seen for our class

Lake Waramaug, and she took us around the

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

1985

Submitted by Kim Koch: “Congratulations to Baylor Chapman for the continued success

Reese, daughter of Melanie Blum Verrengia ’90, enjoying a sweet treat last summer while vacationing on Block Island

Andrew Dolan ’93 with Jamie Stathis ’92 at the Missoula Art Museum Auction

of her San Francisco-based business, Lila B. Design, and for the positive press she’s

Aidan Jack, son of Ian Arougheti ’97

Adriana Archer ’01 was married to Andrew Ross on December 13, 2014, with many Kent friends attending

1992

1997

Jaime A. Stathis: jaimestathis@yahoo.com

Kristine Palmero Sydney: palmatina@gmail.com

received for The Plant Recipe Book. I saw

Jaime Stathis writes, “I shared a table at

Ian Arougheti, Comedy Department head

her at a local stop on her book tour, and

the Missoula Art Museum’s annual benefit

at Innovative Artists, and his wife, Emmy-

she’s hardly changed. Check her out in the

auction with Andrew Dolan ’93, who is a

nominated makeup artist Myriam Arougheti,

January issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

volunteer on the contemporary art museum’s

welcomed their first child, son Aidan Jack, to

lilabdesign.com/images/BHG_1214.pdf.

committee. Andrew also donated a multi-

the world on January 13, 2015. The family is

Note from the Alumni Office: Kim Koch has

course, locally sourced catered dinner that

doing great and is looking forward to visiting

notified the Alumni Office that she will be

went for $2,700. Another chef, Eric Adema,

Aidan at Kent’s graduation in 2032! April

stepping down as Class Correspondent, as

recently opened Cast & Grind, a coffee shop

Grigsby was the keynote speaker on Martin

she has recently begun a demanding new job.

in downtown Rochester, NH. It was such fun

Luther King Jr. Day at Westminster School,

Thank you, Kim, for all you’ve done for the

to watch Eric’s progress on Facebook and to

where Lisa Palmero McGrath ’99 works as

Class of ’85 and for Kent over the past seven

see him buoyed up both financially and spiri-

the director of diversity. During her chapel

years!

tually by his classmates, including a generous

talk, April talked about how the vision of Dr.

donation from Brooks Blake. I love us

Martin Luther King Jr. is still relevant today

1988

supporting each other all these years down

and suggested that “the dream has gotten

the road and hopefully for many more to

much bigger,” just as the face of America has

Francesca Fracchia Leschin: leschin@comcast.net

come. Brigid Oesterling has been up-cycling

changed.

Scott A. Lister: scottlister92@yahoo.com

inner tubes from cars, motorcycles and

Robin Purnell Mills: salters1170@gmail.com

bicycles into couture fashions and costuming

On June 14, 2014, Peyton Carter wed

for several years now, but her business is

Lucretia Fleury at a lakeside ceremony at the

gaining a lot of attention after her appear-

Cooperstown Country Club in Cooperstown,

ance at SF Fashion Week. Ecouterre named

NY. Peyton’s son Parker (13) served as best

her ‘most creative’ for 2014. Brigid said she

Vicky Lau ’99, chef and owner of Tate

man, with Peyton IV (10) and Luca’s son

‘relishes the challenge of manipulating a

Dining Room & Bar in Hong Kong, has been

Avery (13) as the groomsmen. Several Kent

non-traditional textile into something that

named Veuve Clicquot Asia’s Best Female

alumni from his class were in attendance,

can become attractive, and act as an inspira-

Chef for 2015.

including William Howell, Jamie Thomas

tion to others.’ ”

1999 Patrick Buckley: prbuckley@gmail.com Carrie Flickinger Diana: carriefdiana@gmail.com

and Bob Dowd.

KENT QUARTERLY

2001 Jeffrey K. Crowell: jeffrey.crowell@gmail.com Heather Cocce Leins: heather.cocce@gmail.com

Adrianna Archer and Andrew Ross were

married on Saturday, December 13, 2014, at the Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City, with a reception immediately following at the Harold Pratt House. Laura Clark Katona was her maid of honor and Alex Hoidal was a bridesmaid. Trey Archer ’04, the bride’s brother, was an usher.

Other Kenties in attendance included Lisa Kamen Lubart, Blair Harris Browne, Jeff Crowell, David Hazlewood, Erika Kessel

and Chelsey Andrews. Father Schell also attended. The Rosses reside in Hong Kong, where Adrianna is the director of sales and events for Drawing Room Concepts, a Hong Kong–based restaurant group. Andrew is the head of the Financial Sponsors Group, AsiaPacific, for Morgan Stanley’s Investment

TOP LEFT AND RIGHT: Frankie Celenza ’05 on the set of his show, Frankie Cooks, with Isabel Smith ’06

Banking division.

LEFT: Paul Masino ’05, Michael Porzio ’05, Marc Bucks ’05 and Robert Masino ’00 played together in the CanAm tournament in Atlantic City last October. Their team won the gold medal in their division.

2004 Anuli U. Iloabachie: Anuli911@gmail.com

ABOVE: Abby Miller ’06 (right) married Carling Bateman in September 2014.

David P. Rosenberg: david.p.rosenberg@gmail.com

Daniel Lawrence writes, “On May 11, 2014,

2005

2006

Anne C. Chambers: chambers.ac@gmail.com

Kathleen Hearn: hearn.kathleen@gmail.com

at Chicago, after five years of study. My

Elizabeth M. Malin: emuzzymalin@gmail.com

Gavin Sweitzer: gavin@sweitzergolf.com

dissertation title was ‘Predicting Procedural

Annie Chambers was recently hired to

Isabel Smith started her own nutrition prac-

Justice Behavior: Examining Personality

expand the marketing department at an

tice and consulting business, Isabel Smith

and Parental Discipline in New Officers.’ I

Orange County, CA, public relations firm.

Nutrition. Recently, she filmed with Frank

accepted a position at the Urban Institute, a

Good luck, Annie! Ross Grogg became

Celenza ’05 for the upcoming season of

Washington, DC, research organization, as a

engaged to Nicole Brenner on February 13,

Frankie Cooks and spoke to the Kent student

research associate in July. I plan to continue

2015, in Richmond, VA. They are planning to

body about eating healthfully (see page 19).

my research in police studies, specifically in

get married in the fall of 2015.

Abby Miller married Carling Bateman on

I received my PhD in criminology, law and justice from the University of Illinois

hiring and screening practices, community

September 27, 2014, in Mystic, CT, with

policing and police legitimacy.” Daniel was

Juli Magnifico ’05 and Emily Miller ’01 by

married on May 25, 2014, to his fiancée, Allie.

her side as members of the wedding party. Gussie Binns-Berkey, Kate Emerson and Michele Gintoli were also in attendance. Kate Emerson moved to San Francisco with

her fiancé to start a midwifery school at UC,

SPRING 2015

Submit class notes to alumni@kent-school.edu

Lesea Bourke ’11 (foreground), captain of the Bates squash team, earned All-NESCAC honors this season.

While on holiday break in December, Nicole Marvin ’12 (middle), now at Princeton, and El Collins ’16 (right) ran into each other in Hong Kong! It’s a small world after all!

2008

after finishing nursing school at Columbia

engagement ring brand, who will now

University. Yannick Bindert recently trav-

be manufacturing, shipping and fully

eled to Svalbard, France and Morocco as

handling all day-to-day operations for her

Kara A. Ruskin: kara.ruskin@gmail.com

a photographer. He encourages all to visit

signature piece, the Map Necklace. Under

J. Edward Shugrue: nedshugrue@gmail.com

his website (yannickbindertphoto.com) to

Katie’s management, the Map Necklace has

Jackie Rice writes, “I graduated from

see the breadth of his work. In addition to

been featured in Instyle, Lucky, New York

Springfield College in May 2012. My major

finishing her BS in exercise science and

Magazine, People StyleWatch and Us Weekly.

was sport management and my degree was

personal training certification from ACSM,

Celebrity clientele includes Allison Williams,

a BS in sport management with a concentra-

Michele Gintoli is graduating in May as a

Jenna Fisher and Jennifer Lawrence. Katie

tion in business. I am currently working full-

physical therapist assistant. Michele takes

successfully pitched a second product idea

time at the New England Center for Children

the board exam in July, and she hopes to

to the A. Jaffe team while re-launching her

and getting my master’s in severe special

work in pediatric school-based PT. She’s

own website, ThreeJaneNY.com. The class

needs through Simmons College.”

also the head coach of WCSU Jr. Colonials

congratulates Brian Fagan, Christine Fuchs,

squirt squad. Recent victories include a

Duffy Harvey, Kate Emerson and Maddy

win over Garrison Smith’s Kent squirt

Knorring on their recent engagements.

Lauren E. Cameron: l.elizabeth.cameron@gmail.com

team. Michele resides in Shelton, CT. Katie Schloss recently launched a licensing

partnership with A. Jaffe, a 122-year-old

Save the Date! Reunion 2015: Classes ending in 0 and 5 June 12–14, 2015

Don’t miss it!

As part of the redesign of Class Notes, we have included classes with notes and omitted those without notes. The names and email addresses for Class Correspondents are listed for each class (class volunteers who serve as both Correspondents and Fund Chairs are also listed). Class Notes may be submitted to Laura Martell at LMartel@kent-school.edu or to alumni@kent-school.edu. They may also be mailed to the Alumni & Development Office, Kent School, P.O. Box 2006, Kent, CT 06757, attention: Laura Martell.

KENT QUARTERLY

In Memoriam 1932

1944

1950

1962

1968

Leverett B. Davis

William F. Hamilton

Ashton B. Collins Jr.

Channing T. Yang

Archibald B. Koranteng

August 27, 2014

February 10, 2015

October 2, 2014

June 18, 2013

February 2015

1952

1965

1969

James F. Moffatt

Elsie Youngman

John A. Fink

October 26, 2014

Sprague

August 25, 2014

James E. Butterworth Jr.

Winthrop C. Neilson III

January 27, 2014

Janine Jamieson Huff

January 29, 2015

October 2, 2014

July 25, 2014

1946

1957

Helen E. Neuendorffer

1980

James G. Nuland

John B. Fairchild

George H. Francis

Collet

Daniel R. Meade

December 25, 2014

February 27, 2015

October 26, 2014

October 30, 2014

August 31, 2013

Peter J. Ware

Joseph Leidy

September 2, 2014

February 25, 2015

1935 A. Adgate Duer

March 7, 2015

1942 Thomas C. Beach Jr.

Robert B. Rorick

July 12, 2014

1945

1943

1949

Henry A. Peckham Jr.

James P. Crisfeld

2002

August 29, 2014

1966

Frederick S. Richardson

1959

January 21, 2015

August 17, 2014

Former Faculty

John A. Chamberlain

Montgomery Wray

Angela R. Caselli

January 2, 2015

Witten

November 20, 2014

December 2, 2014

Richard W. Wambach

December 11, 2014 The Kent Quarterly includes obituaries and tributes written by friends and classmates in Class Notes. Obituaries from newspapers will no longer be printed. SPRING 2015

We will make every effort to notify classmates by email or letter when a member of the class dies, and include the newspaper obituary, if available, with that notification. 55

Grace Note

How Will You Fill Your Backpack? The following is an excerpt from a Chapel Talk by the Reverend Kate Kelderman, Dean of the Chapel and Chaplain GROWING UP IN VIRGINIA, my sib-

lings and I always spent our summers in search of greatness, the kind of greatness that lives in childhood memories: like playing Kick-the-Can games until after dark, creating a network of secret pathways in the empty lot next door, catching fireflies, learning to whistle with a blade of grass… But by the end of August all four of us were ready to move on. We were eager to reengage the rhythm and structure of school. And nothing says structure to an eight-year-old like a backpack filled with school supplies! I can still remember the shopping trip before the first day of school. We’d pile into the station wagon, each of us armed with our list, and my mom would usher us through the A&P to pick out our supplies. Our lists were similar: a box of 12 color Crayola crayons, wide-ruled spiral bound notebooks, #2 lead pencils and tissue boxes. Once home with our supplies for the year, we had to arrange them in the backpack, and that always took some doing, ’cause not everything fit. We had to make choices about what to bring and what to leave behind. From an early age, we learn that choosing what to put in our backpack is important. So… what’s in your backpack? Here at Kent there are some obvious things we think you should include. Self-motivation and initiative are on that list. They are critical in forming you to be self-reliant and purposeful. It is also important that you possess a genuine willingness to engage this community and be in relationship both with your peers and the faculty. It is these relationships that will form you. We also want you to bring along a great deal of respect, both for the wide variety of humanity that shares this campus with you and the environment in which we live. If you are going to be self-motivated and possess great initiative, then you also need to include courage and a sense of adventure. But that also means you will have to leave behind

your fear of failure. Fear is too heavy an item to include in any backpack. It is the surest way to stop you dead in your tracks. If you are going to possess a desire to be in relationship, then you also need to include a willingness to be vulnerable. There will be times when you will be asked to share a part of your heart with the people in this community. Being vulnerable means you must trust that others will hold you gently and with compassion, so you will have to leave behind your desire for control. If you are going to carry with you a great deal of respect, then humility needs to be included as well. Humility gives us the ability to respect the divine that exists in creation and in each and every human being. But humility doesn’t mix well with arrogance and any desire to claim privilege over people we do not understand, so we’ll have to leave that behind. Even with all of this, there is still more space in the backpack, space that allows you to include unique qualities specific to you. I have learned that on my journey in life I need companionship and I have to be able to laugh at my mistakes. So faith in God and a sense of humor are essential additions to my pack. Your list will be different, your pack unique, and that is a good thing. We are each on our own journey, each in search of some measure of greatness, and each needing a bag for our trip. Be intentional about how you pack your bag. What you choose to bring and leave behind matters, so choose with purpose. Pick those qualities that are life-giving and community-building. Leave behind anything destructive. And every now and then, stop and reflect. Take notice of what you are carrying, and make adjustments based on where you want to go. Because how you pack your bag makes a difference on the path you take, both here at Kent and beyond. To read this Chapel Talk in its entirety, as well as other Chapel Talks, go to www.kent-school.edu/campus-life/spiritual-life/recent-chapel-talks.

KENT QUARTERLY

Bob and Charlyn Heidenreich:

A Deep Commitment to Kent

“

Our decision to include Kent in our estate plans came as the result of a long process of learning and a continuing evaluation of what our lives will represent. The number of dedicated and well-intended charities is limitless, but it’s important to consider which ones you have a passion for. We support those places that mean the most to us. In keeping with the intent of Father Sill to have a sliding scale of tuition, our gift will be designated to The Class of ’52 Scholarship Fund, which was established by our Class for our 50th Reunion.

Kent had a deep impact on my life. And that influence seems to deepen as time goes on.

—BOB HEIDENREICH ’52

Join the Bell Tower Society

”

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO BECOME A MEMBER:

by including Kent in your will or trust, or naming Kent as a beneficiary of an insurance policy or retirement fund. on these and other planned giving options, please contact Denny Mantegani, Director of Planned Giving, at 860-927-6274, ManteganiD@kent-school.edu, or visit our website: www.kent-school.edu/plannedgiving.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Hartford, CT Permit #1382

Kent School Kent, CT 06757

Cause an Effect

Volunteer Leadership Weekend at Kent

SAVE THE DATE!

September 25–27, 2015

Open to all current volunteers and those interested in becoming a volunteer!

PRESENTED BY THE KENT SCHOOL ALUMNI COUNCIL AND THE ALUMNI & DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.

Weekend Highlights: Future Vision and State of the School “Living and Learning” Lunch with Faculty and Students Tour New Facilities Athletic Events Volunteer Appreciation Activities and Receptions

LET’S GO KENT! FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Stacy Langa at LangaS@kent-school.edu or 860-927-6262.

All activities and meals are complimentary. Travel and lodging are not provided.