Letter to the Editor

Dear Editors:

In your Winter 2020 edition, I was saddened to learn of the passing of two classmates, Lou Birenbaum ’71 and Dan Connelly ’71. I can’t honestly say I knew them very well (both were good scholars and athletes, kind and likeable), and we didn’t stay in touch after graduation, but I recall them with great affection. I thought I might share one particular memory I have of Dan.

It’s a nice spring day, and about 15 of us are gathered in a classroom on the second floor of Founders. Out of the window we can see the dining hall across the Quad. We are in an English class taught by Harvey Knowles, discussing Hawthorne’s great novel The Scarlet Letter. As many will recall, Mr. Knowles was a superb teacher who skillfully employed the Socratic method. Around the table he went, challenging each of us to weigh in on the struggles and dilemmas faced by Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. As good teachers do, he got everyone engaged — hands went up, students offered their two cents, some agreed, some disagreed. Knowles would respond respectfully to each student’s comment and then pose a different question, shifting the discussion in a new direction. The air was radioactive with ideas and possibilities, and we lost track of time. By the time we were done it was 12:15 p.m., 15 minutes past the lunch hour. Mr. Knowles apologized for keeping us over the allotted time.

Whereupon one Dan Connelly, a day student from Windsor, said: “That’s okay. When the mind is fed, the stomach is content.”

They will be missed.

Phelps Gay ’71