NMH Magazine 2019 Spring by Northfield Mount Hermon

NMH Magazine Northfield Mount Hermon S P R I N G 2 01 9

:Space> :Law> <Cyber/:Security> :Threat> We’re hyper-connected. Does that make us hyper-vulnerable? Deborah Housen-Couriel ’77 explains.

30 NMH Magazine SPRING 2019 Volume 20, Number 2

Editor Jennifer Sutton P’14, ’21 Design Lilly Pereira www.aldeia.design Class Notes Editor Kris Halpin Class Notes Design Harry van Baaren Print Production Pam Lierle P’17 Contributors Tekla McInerney Susan Pasternack Emily Harrison Weir Director of Communications Sharon LaBella-Lindale P’17, ’20 Head of School Charles A. Tierney III P’16, ’19, ’20 Chief Advancement Officer Allyson L. Goodwin ’83, P’12, ’14 Archivist Peter H. Weis ’78, P’13 NMH Magazine Northfield Mount Hermon One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3247 Fax 413-498-3021 nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org Class Notes nmhnotes@nmhschool.org Address Changes Northfield Mount Hermon Advancement Services Norton House One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3300 addressupdates@nmhschool.org Northfield Mount Hermon publishes NMH Magazine (USPS074-860) two times a year in fall and spring. Printed by Lane Press, Burlington, VT 05402

Sonia Hernandez ’20 fries empanadas for NMH’s 41st annual International Carnival.

CONTENTS

NMH Magazine S P R I N G 2 01 9

F E AT U R E S

18 Who Am I?

In Humanities I, NMH’s youngest students ask the world’s biggest questions.

24 Cybersecurity 101

What, Why, How, Who: a Q&A with attorney Deborah Housen-Couriel ’77.

30 Home Cooking

It’s a feast. It’s a party. It’s international students sharing their cultures.

36 The Reporter 36

Coal miners, Vladimir Putin — Ryan Chilcote ’91 will ask anyone anything.

DE PARTME NTS

ON THE COVER How secure is cyberspace? ILLUSTRATION: CHRIS GASH TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTOS: SHARON LINDALE, CHATTMAN PHOTOGRAPHY, ALFREDO DELARA

3 Leading Lines 4 Connect 6 Postcard 8 Lamplighter Way 14 In Class 16 First Person 17 A Conversation With ... 42 Alumni Hall 46 Class Notes 96 History Lesson 97 Giving Back

you.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thanks to

Your NMH Fund gift allows the school to offer a rigorous academic program where questions are valued as much as knowledge and where honor and integrity matter. Our faculty are teaching NMH students the intricacies of history and literature, real-world applications for math, and the mind-blowing power of computer science. What better way to change the world. Transform lives. Give to the NMH Fund.

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BY C H A RL ES A . T IE RN EY III, H EA D OF S C H OOL

LEADING LINES

The Voice Moody’s baritone rings out in Memorial Chapel.

Wanted: a gramophone to play records made in the 1890s. Yes, Northfield Mount Hermon is all about investing in its future and examining how it can best educate today’s teenagers, so why should I care about acquiring a piece of equipment that’s more than 100 years old? Because for years I have wanted to hear D.L. Moody’s voice. I was talking recently with NMH Archivist Peter Weis ’78 about how much I love old-school typewriters, record players, and cameras, and, in a graceful segue, he produced a pair of gramophone records that contained the actual voice of D.L. Moody, our school’s founder. Weis reported that on the records, Moody was reading from the Book of Matthew and Psalm 91. The records themselves were heavy and Moody’s signature was etched onto one of them. Someone had attempted to digitize the recordings, and Weis shared audio files with me along with the actual records. The sound quality of the files was poor, yet what treasures! As a historian, I often swim about in the past while thinking about how to connect it with the present and the future. I immediately wanted to play these recordings in Memorial Chapel, to have Moody’s voice, which hadn’t been heard in public for almost 120 years, resound in the ears of students, faculty, and staff. I consulted eBay and Craigslist for a gramophone so we could play the original recordings as they were meant to be played. No luck. I decided to forge ahead with the audio files. We are always sharing stories about Moody, but for the entire campus

community to actually hear his voice? It would be incredibly meaningful. The man had a high baritone, and in the decades before and after he founded Northfield and Mount Hermon, he spoke to crowds of up to 20,000 people without amplification. He was an international celebrity, traveling around the world and tirelessly delivering his messages of “Love one another” and “Do all you can to make the world a better place.” In 1891, he spent three months in Scotland, where he spoke three or four times a day for 90 consecutive days. There had to be great power in such a man, and in his message, to draw all those people and hold them. Here and now at NMH, the words “humanity” and “purpose,” which come from Moody, serve as a beating heart; they are the rhythm of NMH, what keeps it at its best. Still, they are abstract ideas waiting to be put into practice. Moody’s voice on those gramophone records, though, gives us his humanness. Institutions do all sorts of things to represent their founders, yet there is nothing purer than a person’s voice to demonstrate who they are, or who they were. We played the Book of Matthew recording sans gramophone in Memorial Chapel on Founder’s Day, our annual celebration of Moody’s birthday. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth …” The sound was subpar, scratchy and faint, without the rich resonance I had envisioned. Nevertheless, it was Moody’s voice echoing throughout the crowded chapel, giving weight to all the stories and grounding us in a real person, not just a figure in a history book. [NMH]

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CONNECT

Howard Jones), for funding those gifts! Betsy L. Bruce ’73 Oberlin, Ohio

THE ULTIMATE GAME I particularly enjoyed the Ultimate Frisbee story in the Fall 2018 issue. Having served as the director of recreation and club sports at Oberlin College, I am fully aware of the wonders of this game. Oberlin’s Flying Horsecows and Preying Manti (men’s, and women’s and trans clubs, respectively) claim to have been playing Ultimate since the mid-1970s. I was part of NMH’s MODOs (Motet-Double Octet) when it became the first American choral group to travel to Romania, in 1972. We took a “gross” of Frisbees [12 dozen] with us and distributed them wherever the bus stopped. Throwing and catching those discs certainly caught our hosts’ attention. Thank you, Margaret Jones (wife of former head of school

NORTHFIELDERS PAVED THE WAY I hope NMH’s Women’s History class got more from their Northfield tour than surprise at Emma and D.L. Moody’s lopsided tombstone billing (“In Class,” Fall 2018). To many “Northfield girls,” the campus, even in its transitional state, still shouts, whispers, and sings of how our time there made us the women we are today — scientists, artists, homemakers, activists, teachers, CEOs, mothers of feminist sons, nurses, doctors, lawyers, and world travelers. We learned to read critically, think deeply, challenge ideas, and stretch our minds and hearts, free from the pressure to compete in male-dominated hometown high schools. For me, the Moodys’ gravestone inscriptions never even registered. Round Top was where we made out with Hermonites after a mixer or snuck a smoke on the way to the Bookstore. Sure, equal billing for Emma would be swell, but I want NMH students to hear about our weekly current-events assemblies, our days-long celebration of Shakespeare’s What’s better than getting a package on a sunny day? #NMHlife 400th birthday, the sit-down meals in @wetherbeeklein: Especially if it the dorms, how Bible was a mixtape (in 1989)!

NMH Magazine

PHOTOS: GLENN MINSHALL, EMILY HARRISON WEIR, COURTESY OF NMH ARCHIVES

SOLDIERS’ STORY I can’t thank you enough for the World War I article (“The Sound of History,” Fall 2018). Like Mary Wells ’18, I love history and read a lot of it. This article was as informative and well-written as any piece of history I can remember reading. William A. Kolb ’55 Memphis, Tennessee

courses and chapel affected even non-Christians, the sad summons of the Sage Chapel bells during the Cuban missile crisis and JFK’s assassination, or — talk about unequal treatment! — why MH seniors could smoke in “the Cloud” but a Northfield girl caught smoking risked expulsion. The imagined “Old Time Woman” in Holly Near’s 1974 tune says to a young friend: “If I had not suffered/You wouldn’t be wearing those jeans.” Next time the Women’s History class heads to Northfield, invite some of us NSFG girls along. We’ll have a lot to share with our GenZ sisters and brothers about how we paved the way for the experiences they’re having now at NMH. Beth Zelnick Palubinsky NSFG ’65, P’00 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

L ET T E RS/ EMA IL /S OC IA L M E DIA

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#Throwback to 1890 at the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies (the forerunner of today’s NMH). Many girls didn’t have access to a top-quality education then, but these scholars did, with books in hand and umbrellas at the ready. #NMHhistory

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GET IN TOUCH Let us know what you think. Correspondence will be edited for length, clarity, and grammar, and should pertain to magazine content. All views expressed belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies and positions of NMH. Reach us at nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org.

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19, of course!

A H E PUS RHO D ES A RTS C E N T E R A SNA SNA P P SH SH OT OT FROM FROM T CAM

POSTCARD

Greek Tragedy, in Dance In the NMH Dance Company performance of Sophocles’ Antigone in February, Maia Sheppard ’22 (left) played Eteocles, the soldier who — unlike his brother Polyneices — receives a hero’s burial and is honored by members of the ensemble, including Via Schatz-Allison ’21 (right). “We’re paying our respects to this body, and later we disregard another body” — Polyneices — “that was just as worthy,” says Schatz-Allison. Dancing with the long, flowing piece of fabric, which symbolized a burial shroud, was not easy. “At first, I would trip up. Learning how to move with it was like learning how to maneuver with any other partner. It was really cool.”

NMH Magazine

PHOTO: GLENN MINSHALL

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LAMPLIGHTER WAY

Jemison aboard the Spacelab-J module on the Earth-orbiting Endeavour in 1992.

“Time is an irreplaceable commodity — limited, but full of possibilities,” the astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison said when she visited campus in late January. “What do you intend to be?” she asked students. “You decide, then work on it every day.” Jemison was the first woman of color to travel into space — on the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992 — and also is the founder and president of two medical technology companies and the head of 100 Year Starship, a nonprofit that aims to make human travel beyond our solar system a reality within the next century. She delivered the keynote address for NMH’s week-long celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Jemison grew up in Alabama during the 1960s and remembers the civil-rights movement and Dr. King. To fulfill his legacy, she said, each of us needs “to acknowledge, develop, and use our skills and talents to effect positive change in the world.” Jemison encouraged her young audience to consider what they might accomplish. “You can do much more than people think you can or will offer to let you do,” she said. “Don’t doubt. Dare. Put yourself out there. Daring makes a difference.” Jemison should know. Before she boarded the Endeavour as a mission specialist, she enrolled at Stanford at 16, went to medical school and practiced medicine, served in the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and joined NASA in 1987. After traveling into space, she founded an international science camp in the 1990s and started the Jemison Group, Inc., a technology-consulting firm that integrates sociocultural issues into the design of engineering and science projects. She has also trained as an engineer and a dancer, taught environmental studies at Dartmouth College, and appeared on television in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

NMH Magazine

PHOTO: NASA

We Have Lift-off

Astronaut Mae Jemison says, “Don’t Doubt. Dare.” B Y EMILY HAR RISO N W E IR

STORIES/N EWS FROM CAM P US

“ You can do much more than people think you can or will offer to let you do.”

Jemison’s visit to NMH held special significance for Mia Flowers ’19, who once wore a homemade space suit to appear as Jemison at her school’s dresslike-your-historical-hero day. “She was definitely my childhood inspiration,” Flowers says. In her talk, sponsored by NMH’s Science for the 21st Century Speakers Fund, Jemison emphasized the need for diversity in STEM fields — in other words, diversity among the scientists who “choose the topics that get worked on, decide which pieces of data get used or rejected, and determine how solutions get measured.” Jemison also laid out her vision of space exploration: to go beyond our solar system within 100 years, with Alpha Centauri as a likely destination, since, at 25 trillion miles away, it is the star closest to Earth. “The extreme hurdles to interstellar travel require that we rethink what we know,” she said, presenting her audience with a laundry list of technological innovations that would be required to make long space voyages possible. “The issue isn’t about science, it’s about how we use our knowledge, capabilities, and tools.”

Cooler Air, Happier Meals Sweating over lunch in Alumni Hall will soon be a sticky memory after the 110-year-old building undergoes a renovation that includes the installation of an air-conditioning system in the dining room. “We all know how unbearably hot Alumni Hall is during the summer and those shoulder-season heat waves, so we look forward to the relief of having cooler air moving around,” says Rich Messer, director of NMH Dining Services. Along with the AC system, the building will get a new floor and 53 new windows. Several large pieces of kitchen equipment also will be replaced. “It’s been a long time since Alumni has gotten any attention of this sort,” says Rick Couture, director of Plant Facilities. “The windows are ancient. There’s never been AC. And the floor is 20 years old. It’s time.” The project got a brief head start in March, when a small section of flooring and some pieces of airconditioning equipment went into place. The work will pick up again in June, after NMH’s Reunion Weekend, and continue through the summer. Contractors will maneuver around students and

faculty on campus for NMH’s Summer Session and Upward Bound programs, and will finish the project in mid-August. “The summer logistics will be a puzzle to solve,” Messer says, but “in the long run, it will be worth the short-term challenges.” Messer points to the new tripleglazed windows as an important energy-saving measure, and notes that the other new additions — a walk-in cooler and freezer, a bakery mixer, a dish-room conveyor system, and a steam-convection heat cooking system — will not only replace aging and failing equipment but also keep NMH on the “cutting edge of kitchen technology.” The current mixer, he notes, has been in use since at least 1950. Couture anticipates that an airconditioned Alumni Hall will make it a better venue for hosting events. “The school is going to get a very big bang for its buck,” he says. “Alumni is one building that everybody uses, so this investment is going to have an impact on a large number of people.” The project will cost between $1.3 million and $1.5 million and is made possible by the Class of 1950’s endowment fund, which also paid for renovations in Alumni Hall nearly 20 years ago.

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LAMP LIG H T E R WAY

THE CASE OF THE STOLEN SPOON

Painting the Ordinary

As Mary Althouse Eikel ’58 prepared to leave the Northfield School for Girls after graduating 61 years ago, she committed a farewell act of larceny. “I wanted to have some memento of my time at Northfield,” she says. So she slipped into the kitchen of her dorm and pocketed a spoon engraved with the words “Northfield Seminary.” Eikel was hardly a troublemaker when she was a student; in fact, she was a “cop” in her dorm — one of the rule enforcers and role models. “I was very aware that I was stealing,” she recalls. “I was nervous about being discovered and fearful of what the ramifications might be. I thought they might be pretty big.” Eikel kept the stolen spoon a secret. She went off to college, became a lawyer, and married and had children. When she and her husband decided to move to a smaller home, they began jettisoning their possessions. The spoon was discovered, and Eikel wondered what to do with it. Its sentimental value had been hers alone. “If I send it back to Northfield, it can complete its path,” she decided, which is how the purloined spoon ended up in our hands. When Eikel learned that it had become an object of interest on the NMH campus, she was amused — and had one question: Had anyone polished it?

For the past 18 years, Kimi Donohoe P’10 has worked at NMH as an assistant clerk, cashier, switchboard operator, housekeeper, innkeeper, and custodian. But several times a week, she drives to an art studio at Greenfield Community College (GCC) and paints photorealistic scenes from nature and her daily routine, like the townscape of nearby Northampton, Massachusetts, shown above. “I am inspired by the small details of life that we often take for granted,” she writes in her artist’s statement. Donohoe grew up on the Japanese island of Yoron with little modern technology. She learned how to weave silk for kimonos and studied flower arranging, both of which inform her painting, she says. But a move to the U.S. and caring for two young children pushed art making aside for years. A little over a decade ago, Donohoe was driving in her car and “all of a

sudden, my eyes opened up to see the branches of the trees and the color of the sky. I hadn’t paid much attention before. Maybe it was my age. Maybe I started having time to really see.” Donohoe began to visit museums: the Met in New York; the MFA in Boston; and, closer to NMH, the Smith College Museum of Art. She added a drawing class to her studies at GCC, where she was pursuing an associate degree. “I got into it,” she says, “and I found that I had an ability to make the composition of what I saw.” The drawing class led to a painting class, then another. Now she spends many of her non-working hours at GCC, where she has long since earned a degree but takes the same oil-painting class over and over to keep her spot in the painting studio and to create art that “makes the ordinary extraordinary.”

NMH Magazine

AR T : KIMI DONOHOE, A DRIZZLING DAY / PHOTOS: GLENN MINSHALL, CHATTMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

L AM P L IG H T E R WAY

POWER POINTS Over the last several years, campus-wide energy-saving projects have kept costs down and shrunk NMH’s carbon footprint while also staying true to the historic beauty of the school. Plant Facilities staff, student Eco-leaders, STEM physics students, and the school’s Task Force for Sustainability all play critical roles.

Getting Ready Brian Hargrove, NMH’s next head of school (at right), visited campus in March to get the lay of the land before his official first day on the job — July 1, 2019. Between meetings, he caught up with students at lunchtime in Alumni Hall.

ILLUSTRATION: JESSICA MCGUIRL / PHOTO: GLENN MINSHALL

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LAMP LIG H T E R WAY

Silke Milliman ’19 (center) was one of ESPN’s top 100 high school players in the country.

The team racked up a 21–3 season — the best in girls’ basketball history at NMH. They also tied a school record for the best start to a season, with a

14-game winning streak. They won the New England 8 Tournament for the fourth consecutive year, and individual players picked up honor after honor: One made it into ESPN’s Top 100 players in the country and was a Gatorade Player of the Year nominee; two were named McDonald’s All American nominees; three were New England Prep School Athletic Council Class A All-Stars; and in the New England 8 Tournament, one was named an All-Star and two were named Most Outstanding Players. Four seniors are committed to play on Division I and Division III college teams. More intangible, though, is how the team’s leaders — seniors Grace Heeps, Silke Milliman, and Bella Ceseretti — shored up the team’s culture. “They have set the tone and pace for where this program is going in the future,” Rehnquist says. It wasn’t the smoothest of starts. Milliman says, “We were feeling a lot of pressure because last year we were good, but it was surprising. This year, everyone knew we were good, so we had to prove it.” The turning point came a month into the season after a game against St. Paul’s School that NMH won easily but with shoddy play. “We were not together, not consistent,” says Heeps. “We walked into that game expecting to win, and these girls realized that talent isn’t always going to get you the result that you want,” says Rehnquist. “Talent only gets you in the door.” After the game, Rehnquist told her players they needed to do more. “We broke down all the clichéd things coaches say and defined them. So everyone knew exactly what we meant when we said, ‘Work harder.’” Something clicked. At the team’s next practice, Milliman recalls, “We were just killing ourselves in every drill. We got into a rhythm.” Rehnquist knows that next year will be tough without Milliman, who averaged 20 points a game as a forward, and Heeps, who averaged seven assists as a point guard. But Rehnquist sees the team as “players who really bought into being citizens of this school.” That’s what she wants to build on.

NMH Magazine

PHOTOS: GLENN MINSHALL, RISLEY SPOR TS PHOTOGRAPHY

Leading the Way Ask girls’ varsity basketball coach Grace Rehnquist for a word that sums up her team’s 2018–19 season, and she doesn’t hesitate: “Legacy.”

L AM P L IG H T E R WAY

Clockwise from above: Devan Tongue ’19, Chris Ledlum ’19, Ashley LaCross ’21, and Noah Burstein ’19.

THEY SHOOT, SCORE, PIN, AND WIN NMH’s winter athletes continued to exert power and dominance across New England, garnering individual all-league recognition in multiple sports. Girls’ Alpine skiing • Won the Mount Institute Ski League (MISL) championship title for the seventh straight year. Boys’ hockey • Earned first trip to the NEPSAC Elite 8 hockey tournament since 2010. • Surpassed 20 wins for the second year in a row — that’s a first in NMH hockey history. • Forward and captain Devan Tongue ’19 (Bentley) broke an NMH record with 127 goals scored over the season.

•G oalkeeper Connor Hasley ’20 broke an NMH record with eight shutouts in the season.

•W ith 309 career wins, head coach John Carroll ’89 became the winningest coach in NMH basketball history.

Boys’ basketball • Won the NEPSAC AAA championship title for the third consecutive year. • With a 32–6 record, notched the most regular-season wins in NMH history. • Earned 10th consecutive invitation to the National Prep Championship tournament. • Chris Ledlum ’19 (Harvard) broke the NMH record for points scored in a game (51) and in a season (939) and was named the NEPSAC AAA Player of the Year, the Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Basketball Player of the Year, and USA Today Massachusetts Player of the Year.

Wrestling • Won both the New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) and Class A league championship titles. • F inished the season ranked 17th in the country. •Y araslau Slavakouski ’19 (Harvard) won an individual National championship; Noah Burstein ’19 (Davidson) and Aiden Hanning ’21 earned All-American titles. •H anning, Jake Shaifer ’21, and Slavakouski earned individual New England championships. •K atie Gatza ’20 won the New England girls’ championship.

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IN CLASS

Art With a Message AP Design students push, prod, and protest. BY J E N N IFE R SU T T O N

Stephen Peng ’20 presents his artwork focused on gun violence during a class critique.

NMH Magazine

“What riles you up?” That’s what art teacher Lauren Scott Corwin asked students in her AP Two-Dimensional Design class as she introduced a “protest art” assignment. Create a piece of artwork focused on a social movement. Go in any direction you choose, as long as the work includes at least two different media and demonstrates basic artistic principles like symmetry, balance, and emphasis. “This is your chance to challenge the status quo,” Corwin said. “This could be fun. It could also be a little bit terrifying.”

“ This assignment could be fun. It could also be a little terrifying.” The students dug right in. “Art and political protest go hand in hand, in my point of view,” said Hugh Schatz-Allison ’19. “Art can be political even if it’s not protesting something.” But protest art, specifically, has a long history. Corwin showed her students the famous mural “Guernica,” Pablo Picasso’s reaction against bombing during the Spanish Civil War. She also showed them a lithograph titled “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?” in which the Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous artist collective, called out the Metropolitan Museum of Art for exhibiting more nude portraits of women than pieces made by women. Corwin developed the protest art assignment last summer, as she responded to current events through her own artwork. She painted oil portraits of people whose voices she felt had been silenced, such as Therese Okoumou, the woman who tried to climb the Statue of Liberty to protest U.S. immigration policies; and Anita Hill, the law professor who returned to public attention during the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh. Corwin showed the

PHOTOS: GLENN MINSHALL

class these and other portraits she’d made, pointing out that the students would be expressing views that were equally personal. “I don’t need to agree with you,” she said. “This is about design elements and principles and craftsmanship.” Over the course of two weeks, the students tackled climate change, war, police brutality, immigration policy, the pro-life and pro-choice movements, the #MeToo movement, gun violence, and smartphone-induced social alienation. They made acrylic paintings, pen-and-ink drawings, collages, graffiti art, and digitally designed posters. “As a conceptually driven piece, it’s a risk, because I’m letting them branch off any way they want,” Corwin said. “But there’s also trust, because they really cared about what they were making. With art, there are always different ways to solve a problem, especially when there’s such an emotional, personal background to it.” That’s exactly what the students seemed to appreciate most. When they gathered for a critique, Marleyna George ’19 said, “I really liked this project because everyone is doing something that’s so different from everyone else.” Stephen Peng ’20 worked with spray paint — and went Dumpsterdiving at the farm in search of just the right piece of cardboard to paint on. He liked being able to try a new medium. “I’ve been a fan of street art for a long time — all those

Teacher: Lauren Scott Corwin Years at NMH: 8 Other Courses: Introduction to Visual Arts, Drawing and Composition, Illustration Education: BFA in Painting and Art History, Maryland Institute College of Art; MFA in Painting, University of Delaware Before NMH: Taught 2D Design and Introduction to Drawing courses at County College of Morris, New Jersey; and a drawing course at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. Fun Fact: Corwin also worked as a barista at Starbucks. She says, “I attribute much of my professional growth to BOTH jobs. I learned about human behavior, customer service, and making beautiful objects.”

anonymous artists who express their ideas through their art,” he said. “In other projects for this class, we’re expressing ourselves in one way or another, but for this project, we really got to say, ‘Hey, class, these are my ideas. This is what I believe in.’” [NMH]

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FIRST PERSON

Kind. Brilliant. Gone. I wish I had seen my NMH English teacher again. BY M AYA RIBA ULT ’93

“ Audrey’s classes remain etched in my mind like cinematic memories.”

Maya Ribault recently earned an MFA in poetry from Bennington College. Her poems “Society of Fireflies” and “Bees” have been published in The New Yorker.

NMH Magazine

As an adult, I’ve learned that I prefer vast swaths of solitude. It’s a trait I was only vaguely aware of as a young person. When I arrived at NMH as a new junior, I struggled to adapt to the intensely communal setting of boarding school, and often felt so raw and vulnerable that just catching a friendly smile from someone on the way to class could trigger uncontrollable sobbing in me. Yet my NMH experience remains sacred. My head, hand, and heart were nurtured, filled with a sap that I still tap into to this day, even though my two years on the Northfield campus weren’t easy ones. The first few months, I dreaded the moment I’d have to get off the phone with my mom. The calls were placed from a basement payphone you’d wait in line for, one that allowed for little privacy. Although I was self-conscious, I didn’t mind pouring my angst into that Gould Hall phone. My mom would listen, and coach me on what to do next. Most often her advice was, Take a long walk. Then she’d hang up and I’d be left with a void as big as the golf course I would walk to afterward. Along the way, the lit clapboard houses, the whiff of burning leaves, the waning light through the trees comforted me. What also comforted me was the kindness and brilliance of my mentors and teachers. I spent hours doing schoolwork in the kitchen of my college counselor Yvonne Jones and sitting on the carpet in Lisa Schmidt’s living room, getting help with my physics homework and life in general. And in my English class with Audrey Sheats, I found the teacher who steered me onto the path of being the poet I am today. In the spring of junior year, I applied to take AP English and was devastated when I didn’t make the cut. But as my senior year

began, that feeling of not getting something I dearly wanted yielded to an experience beyond my wildest dreams. The classes with Audrey remain etched in my mind like cinematic memories. She had us read aloud from The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta — and when I landed the passage with the sex scene, she chided us for our 17-year-old snickers, which left me with a sense that sex could be something beautiful. One day she abdicated from teaching altogether and let us read silently — The Mill on the Floss — for an hour. I managed a B in her class, except for the A’s that we all received on our autobiographies. Audrey told us, “You’re the oldest of children becoming the youngest of adults,” and facilitated for each of us a private journey inward. During our last class, she declared that she wanted to hug all of us at graduation. I lost touch with Audrey, Yvonne, and Lisa after I left NMH. I never said thank-you in person. As time passed, I felt that I wanted to achieve something before I returned to campus, to prove that my mentors’ belief in me had been well founded. The form I decided this achievement should take coalesced into one thing: a novel. Drafts were written. Plot charts were taped to apartment walls. Then in 2009, as I flipped through an issue of this magazine, I came upon news of Audrey’s death. I had waited too long. I have several NMH regrets that linger. I wish I hadn’t dated my friend’s crush the winter of my junior year. I wish I had contributed to Mandala, the literary magazine. I wish I’d tried out for the cross-country team, and won a pie at least once. (With some training, it surely could have happened!) And I wish I had gone back to see Audrey, the teacher who unearthed my voice. [NMH]

A CONVERSATION WITH WITH……

Cr i of S

z ire am ivities s Rtudent Act

or ect Dir

This man — the maestro of NMH’s social calendar — will dress up in a tutu on Halloween and buy a ridiculous amount of ice cream at BJ’s for a Friday-night party. “When I was in school, I always loved it when the teachers did crazy, fun stuff,” says Cris Ramirez, who recently earned a master’s degree in strategic communications from American University. “Now I’m that guy.”

ON THE JOB Officially, I work with the deans to provide socially enriching activities for students to do throughout the weekend, making sure they’re enjoying NMH and not missing home. The reality is, I play a lot of PingPong. I hang out and hear all the nitty-gritty. The students feel comfortable telling me stuff that they might not say to an older adult.

BIG NIGHT I’m a planner and a perfectionist and I don’t do plan B’s. It can be stressful because I sometimes try to manage every detail myself. But I’ve been learning to write down all the ideas in my head and trust that other people can help me do what I envision. GOOD TIMES I’m a care-er. I’m a problem-solver. I like watching kids have fun. Seeing Blake Student Center packed, that’s my job right there. I want students to get outside the four walls of their dorm room and see a different view of NMH. EAT UP I spend a lot of money at BJ’s. Picture four grocery carts full of cereal and milk.

PHOTO: CHATTMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

SATISFACTION I love reading the weekend dormduty reports after a big event and seeing comments like, “The kids had a blast,” or “There was no one in the dorm on Saturday night.”

STUDENTS SAY When students give me feedback, I want them to feel like they’ve been heard, like when you call a radio station asking for a jam and then two minutes later, you hear it. Sometimes I slip an idea into a conversation, like, “What would you think of a Caribbean Night?” But other times I just go for it. It’s fun to see their reactions when they walk in. They’ll say, “This is a great event!” And I’ll say, “No, honey, this is a production.” [NMH]

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NMH Magazine

Who am I? What is my place? What does it mean to be human? How, then, shall I live? NMHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youngest students ponder age-old questions and search for meaning in a messy, complicated world. B Y E MI LY H A R R I S O N W E I R

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Previous pages: Kiran Patel ’21 writes in his journal near Shadow Lake. Left: Lori Veilleux and other Humanities I teachers ask students to draw from their own experiences in class. Right: Sydney May ’22 in annotating mode.

t’s day one of Humanities I, and religious studies and philosophy teacher Lori Veilleux is ready for class. She has arranged the tables in a big square with a blank journal at every place, like plates at a banquet. As her ninth-grade students file in, she greets them and tries to put them at ease. Many take their seats silently; a few high-five or hug one another. Cell phones get parked in a wooden bowl so everyone can concentrate. In three nearby classrooms, Veilleux’s fellow humanities teachers are doing much the same with their new students.

NMH Magazine

Half English class, half religious studies and philosophy, “Hum I,” as it’s known (pronounced Hume), was developed and introduced at NMH 25 years ago. Today, it’s a required course for ninth graders and is as fundamental to the curriculum as physics and algebra. It asks students to contemplate some of the biggest questions human beings can ponder: “Who am I?” “What is my place?” “What does it mean to be human?” and “How, then, shall I live?” The goal is to launch NMH’s youngest students on a voyage that begins with these essential questions and ends with young adults who’ve internalized the school’s mission to act with humanity and purpose. That’s a tall order for 14- and 15-year-olds, but in an often inhumane world, teaching the humanities — and fostering humanity — couldn’t be more necessary. The lessons of Hum I can stick with students long after they leave the classroom. Lars Andrews ’19 says his Hum I experience “remains the most valuable of my NMH career.” “In many ways, the core questions still guide my practice as a teacher, a person of faith, and a human being,” says Lewis Maday-Travis ’07, now a middle-school science and health teacher in Seattle. “Sometimes they pop into my head as I get ready for work, take a walk, or journal the way I learned to do in that class.” Maday-Travis vividly recalls his first day of Hum I. “All four teachers brought us together in a classroom, turned off the lights, and recited Mary Oliver’s poem ‘The Buddha’s Last Instruction.’ It starts: ‘Make of yourself a light’/said the Buddha/before he died.’ They set the stage for holding the classroom as sacred ground for exploring literature, poetry, religion, and our own stories.” But on day one, as ninth graders, the students don’t know they’re likely to remember this course for years. When Veilleux predicts, “You’ll make friends you’ll never forget” in her classoom, one student half stifles a smirk. Yet dozens of NMH senior orations and valedictory speeches reference Hum I’s four essential questions. As religious studies and philosophy teacher Pete

Masteller notes, “The framework that Hum I provides for making sense of the world is something people return to when they need to make sense of their world again.”

THE HUM I PROGRAM is built and taught collaboratively by English and religious studies and philosophy faculty. Their cohesive curriculum helps students find connections among academic disciplines, between texts and their own lives, and between their own beliefs and others’. “Exposing students to interdisciplinary concepts from a young age serves them well in critical-thinking development and in being citizens of the world,” says English teacher Rachael Abernethy. “Ninth graders especially need help holding up big ideas and looking at them from different angles.” Collaboration among students is another concept baked into Hum I, fostered by small-group work, peer editing, and student-centered discussions. English teacher Jane Mellow was explicit about this as she primed the class for a deep dive into Terry Tempest Williams’ essay, “The Architecture of a Soul.” “You’re going to learn from each other,” Mellow said, “and hear about connections that are different from your own.” Students wrote about and discussed what connected Williams’ words to their personal experiences — solitude, hobbies, the “voice of the sea,” a beloved grandmother — a variety of ideas, just as Mellow expected. Veilleux underscores the point, encouraging students to “think of yourself as a text of the course, a text you share with each other.” “Drawing from their own experience brings students into the conversation,” explains Masteller. “This is the first time many of them have had discussions of this type with one another. Ninth graders come to NMH from different types of schools, but they are all young adults trying to figure out who they are.” “We want students to live with humanity and purpose, but that doesn’t happen by accident,” he adds. “It needs to be taught, modeled, and cultivated. To do that, people need to talk about big questions, with big thinkers.” Like Kierkegaard, Zora Neale Hurston, Confucius, Pablo Neruda, Walt Whitman, Jean-Paul Sartre — even Harry Potter. Some ideas they encounter may be unfamiliar — existentialism, traditional Yoruba beliefs about fate,

PHOTOS: GLENN MINSHALL

Hum I does not make students more humane. It gives them tools to calibrate their moral compass and shift their outlook.” or the Tao Te Ching, for example — but the idea of Hum I is for students “to be comfortable in the discomfort of not knowing the answers immediately,” says Abernethy. Whether dissecting an essay or considering differences in religious practices, teachers guide students with questions: “How does this new information connect with what you already know? How does it extend your knowledge? What challenges you or makes you wonder?” In one class session, students read about the teaching style of Zen masters, and Tristan KeyserParker ’22 noted that “Zen masters make students come up with the answers on their own.” Exactly.

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This approach works, judging from comments by students who have completed Hum I. “The transformation and enhanced maturity in students [after Hum I] is due to the intensity and depth of the course,” says Hadyn Phillips ’21. “The essential questions, daily discussions, and building of relationships among peers and faculty change people for the better. Hum I is not easy, but those who work hard gain a lot in a semester.” Blue Smith ’21 says, “Instead of just learning what the texts were supposed to mean, we studied what they mean for ourselves, and how we could bring that knowledge to our small part of the world.”

BESIDES CONTEMPLATING BIG IDEAS, students are also building transferable skills. How to take effective notes, when to speak in class, and when to make room for another’s comments. How to “download” rough ideas from their minds into a notebook. How to annotate. More broadly, how to think for themselves, discover and have confidence in their own convictions and beliefs, and how to express ideas with power and style. Poetry is one tool Hum I teachers use to help students develop these skills. Each Friday, every class member recites a poem from memory. “It’s intimidating, but they bond by cheering each other on,” says Meg Donnelly, who’s taught Hum I since the program’s founding.

Students notice that the world they’ve inherited from adults is badly flawed, and we encourage them to think about the role they can play in fixing the brokenness.” One poem that comes up early in the semester is NMH’s school song, “Jerusalem,” by William Blake. In fact, the poem forms a critical link between the “know thyself” emphasis of Hum I, and the 10th-grade Hum II curriculum, which directs students’ attention outward to the world. “Students notice that the world they’ve inherited from adults is badly flawed, and we encourage them to think about the role they can play in fixing the brokenness,” says Masteller. “We ask them to find a ‘satanic mill’ — to quote ‘Jerusalem’ — that needs dismantling, and to address the harm, to become aware of and take responsibility for the way they live on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute basis.”

“ YOU TEACH PEOPLE how to be humane by asking the right questions,” says Abernethy. “First, figure out what you need to become a better person and to become closer to the person next to you. Do those things; then realize that what you’ve done isn’t enough. It all comes down to being compassionate and curious. If we can teach those things in the classroom, that’s a good first step.” “Hum I does not make students more humane,” says Lars Andrews ’19. “Rather, it gives students the tools to calibrate their moral compass. With a firm foundation in religious and literary thought, students are then able to shift their outlook. I like to think of

NMH Magazine

Above: Students gather at Shadow Lake for class when they read Into the Wild, about a young man who breaks away from society and heads deep into the Alaskan woods. Left: Teacher Rachael Abernethy says Hum I students become “comfortable in the discomfort of not knowing the answers immediately.”

Hum I as a vessel to make students kinder, more compassionate, and more globally conscious, but the student must be an active participant.” In doing so, they can learn to “tolerate ambiguity and recognize that there is often no simple answer” to difficult questions, according to Kevin Wang ’13. “It’s enormously beneficial for members of an increasingly polarized society to consider: ‘Why do I think this way?’ ‘What if the person I disagree with is right?’ and finally, ‘What should we do?’” These questions “may sound vague and elusive to

PHOTOS: MICHAEL DWYER, GLENN MINSHALL

ninth graders, but by addressing them at a young age, students can start to explore their identity,” says Chris Zhao ’20. Donnelly adds, “Students learn how to pay attention not only to the world around them, but also to their internal lives, and they learn that their internal lives have value.” Perhaps Maday-Travis explains the soul of the course best: “Hum I brought the human-ness of learning to the forefront, emphasizing and celebrating why we do education at all — to become better people and more ourselves.” [NMH]

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NMH Magazine

:Space> :Law> <Cyber/ :Security> :Threat>

I L LU S TR ATI ON BY CH RI S G AS H

Attorney Deborah Housen–Couriel ’77 was a cybersecurity expert before the word “cybersecurity” ever existed. She explains what’s at stake today — for countries, corporations, and all of us.

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Deborah Housen-Couriel ’77 finished law school at Hebrew University in Jerusalem just as mobile phones and satellite communications were becoming prevalent, and got her first job in the legal department of the Israeli Ministry of Communications. Today, her practice focuses on global and Israeli cybersecurity, data protection, satellite communications, and outer-space law. She works with the leading Israeli cybersecurity firm Konfidas and teaches courses in cybersecurity law and regulation at two Israeli universities. She visited NMH and broke the topic down in a lecture titled “Global Cybersecurity Today: The What, Why, How, and Who,” and in a series of conversations with NMH Magazine and NMH computer science teacher David Warren. The following questions and responses have been edited and condensed.

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NMH Magazine

What exactly is cyberspace? It’s the flow of information through computerized systems, as well as the computers themselves and the humans who operate them. It’s the internet, the GPS location services that we use on our mobile phones, Wi-Fi networks, undersea cable communications, satellite communications. Cyberspace has always existed; it just wasn’t called cyberspace. The International Telecommunication Union treaty, which deals with regulation of the electromagnetic spectrum as a global resource, has been around since 1865, when the telegraph was invented. International law governs other aspects of cyberspace, too. So we have at least a partial legal framework in place. What we don’t have are laws that deal with the incredibly fast pace of technological developments. Many innovative and positive uses of cyberspace have been overshadowed by devious uses, such as attacks on websites and our personal information, campaigns that damage democratic processes like elections, and “deep fakes” — manipulations of computerized data that are hard to detect. What’s a specific example of a “devious use” of cyberspace? The “WannaCry” malware attack in May 2017. It was a piece of computer programming that popped up on people’s screens and essentially said, “We’ve locked up all your data. If you want to set it free, pay us $300 in bitcoin.” The attack was first seen in Spain and went around the world within a day. Telecoms and gas companies had their data blocked; in the U.S., FedEx and Boeing were hit. Even airports were affected. The hardest hit was the National Health Service in Britain. Doctors and nurses could not read their computer screens, they couldn’t do blood tests; operations had to be canceled. The U.K. declared a national health emergency. Fortunately, the malware was shut down within a few days, which is pretty quick. But we can all imagine what the consequences would have been if it had gone on for any serious period of time. Hostile cyberactivity is such a huge challenge because the hyperconnectivity we all enjoy and benefit from also brings us to a place of hyper-vulnerability.

Housen-Couriel works with numerous international groups to establish norms for how countries should act in cyberspace. < Global Forum on Cyber Expertise > < G lobal Commission for the Stability of Cyberspace > < M ILAMOS project (Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space) > < “ International Group of Experts,” authors of the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations >

Cyberspace has always been around, says Housen-Couriel — it just wasn’t called cyberspace.

Who is vulnerable to breaches in cybersecurity? Most of us. In January, the International Telecommunication Union published a statistic that more than half of humanity — 51.9 percent, or 3.9 billion people — is connected to cyberspace. In 25 years, we’ve had a major move of most of the people in the world to an entirely new environment, and it’s only getting bigger. Are some places in the world more secure or more vulnerable than others? The best places to be for cybersecurity are countries with the lowest connectivity, such as North Korea or Myanmar, because the governments there provide limited physical infrastructure — probably intentionally. Otherwise, there is no better or worse place. Think about vulnerability in terms of the “plumbing” of the internet: satellites, undersea cables, Wi-Fi connections, phone lines, cell-phone towers. Wherever there’s more connectivity for personal use, commerce, finance, health care, and national defense, there’s more vulnerability.

< Corporations buy and sell personal data. // We need to be aware that if a product is free, then we are the product.> What can be done to bolster cybersecurity? At the level of the law, three things. First, countries can create national laws that criminalize hostile activity in cyberspace. Second, international agreements can set global norms about what is OK and not OK. This is nothing new; pretty much any human endeavor that operates on a global scale is addressed by international law. We eventually will have more and more treaties that address cyber-activity, but it will take time. Third, we can improve our enforcement of national and international laws that already exist. This is not always straightforward in cyberspace; it depends on where the illegal activity takes place and if it is, in fact, regulated.

PHOTO BY GLENN MINSHALL

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What are international organizations doing about cybersecurity? Beginning in 2009, the UN Secretary-General started gathering governmental experts from a diverse group of countries to work out rules. They came back in 2015 and said, “All the familiar rules of international law that we already have? They work in cyberspace, too.” Currently, the UN has two separate groups, one headed by the United States and the other by Russia. They are working on clarifying laws and other norms that apply in cyberspace. I was involved in a research project last year that mapped over 60 international and regional initiatives. Some of them propose what we call CBMs — “confidence building measures” — which is a term taken from nuclear disarmament parlance. So, information sharing, joint police enforcement, and cooperation with international policing organizations like Interpol and Europol are practical ways for countries to rely upon one another in cyberspace. Last November, at the UNESCO Internet Governance Forum in France, the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace was signed by 64 countries, more than 300 companies, and about 120 civil society groups. So even though we still have a lot of laws to develop, we have mechanisms that help countries talk about malicious activity in cyberspace and how to limit its effects. What laws already exist? In the European Union, there’s the GDPR — General Data Protection Regulation — which vests residents of the 27 EU countries with a constitutional right to have their personal data protected wherever it is in the world. So if I run a hotel in Israel and advertise it in the EU so that Europeans will come and use my hotel services, all of their information — names, passport numbers, email addresses, family members’ names — is protected, even though the data is being used outside of the European Union. What about laws outside the EU? China, Russia, and Vietnam have data-protection mechanisms in place. India is working on it. California already has a data-protection law and other states are following suit. But in the U.S. overall, there’s been less legal protection of personal data.

NMH Magazine

Corporations in America buy and sell that data. We need to be aware that if a product is free, then we’re the product. That’s going to stop if the GDPR has its way. For example, Facebook and Google are getting hit with fines left and right in Europe for the ways they are using personal data. And some people in the U.S. are more wary, especially after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. But what they don’t realize is that there are thousands more Cambridge Analyticas out there. What happens when human rights are violated in cyberspace? International law provides for protection of human rights such as the freedom to communicate and the freedom to have access to information. But how countries interpret and enforce international treaties can be very different. For example, in several countries, the sale of Nazi memorabilia is illegal. In the United States, it’s permitted, as part of the U.S. doctrine of freedom of speech. Another problem is when countries block internet access to prevent political unrest and protests. Ethiopia and India have shut down the internet during national matriculation exams to avoid cheating. So each country balances human rights with national security, but countries maintain a large degree of sovereignty over the data that’s transmitted within their boundaries. Cyberspace is a bit of a legal “Wild West” right now. But eventually, we will have a global code of conduct for countries, companies, and even individuals to understand what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. Are countries allowed, for example, to meddle in one another’s electoral or financial systems? Can a country self-defend when their systems have suffered from intentional and hostile interference? Under certain circumstances, even right now, the answer is a resounding “yes.” So activities in cyberspace can escalate to actual war? Mostly we are seeing cyber-hostilities that would not bring us to the brink of war, but we also have physical wars that have a strong cyber element, such as the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The vulnerabilities that cause national security issues — should they be classified as an act of war between states? Is it an issue for the UN Security Council? Is it a criminal issue or is it terrorism?

< The hyper-connectivity we all enjoy and benefit from also brings us to a place of hyper-vulnerability.> Is it for domestic laws to deal with? Should companies simply have in place stronger cybersecurity measures? Can we punish companies for not being adequately cyber-ready? The important thing to keep in mind is that countries, companies, and individuals are all vulnerable. On an individual level, what should we be thinking about? There are many ways to boost our “cyber-hygiene.” First, be careful with your Wi-Fi connections. Wi-Fi is a wonderful enabling technology that’s used now by almost every one of us. It’s also one of the easiest ways to have your information stolen. At home, make sure you have an effective security code. When you’re not at home, be wary of free public Wi-Fi. It’s convenient, but you’re opening up yourself to vulnerabilities. I would never use free Wi-Fi for banking or other sensitive activities. One option is to use a VPN, a virtual private network, which provides more protection. Second, for all of your cyber-enabled accounts, use two-factor identification. This is a good way to protect unauthorized access. Third, be careful where you buy your equipment so you can avoid what is called “supply chain vulnerability.” As individuals, we can’t check every single component in our computers, so purchase from a reliable source. This is part of the education that all students, beginning in primary school, should be getting today. It’s no different from learning to cross the street safely, to avoid fire hazards, or to drive defensively.

What is next for the internet and cyberspace? One of the hot topics now is 5G — the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications. It’s essentially the next version of the internet that will increase speed in a very dramatic way. Engineers and developers deserve a lot of credit for this, but what does it mean for regulation? Engineers don’t have the same criteria that lawyers do for what should be permitted in cyberspace. Their rule of thumb is: If it’s doable, let’s do it. Lawyers have a different task: balancing rights with constraints on harmful activities that may result from that innovative “let’s do it.” The technical development of cyberspace — the “plumbing” — and the legal and policy developments are in the same universe, but the thinking about them is really different. We don’t yet have the techies talking to the lawyers who are talking to the policymakers who are talking to the politicians. Also, gender diversity, racial diversity, and ideological diversity are critical to cybersecurity, because you then have the advantage of approaching the problem of protecting the common good from a variety of angles. Everybody needs to be in the mix to move ahead with these challenges. If cybersecurity is the realm of engineers and lawyers and politicians and governments, what role can young people play? The responsibility for thinking about the incredible opportunities and vulnerabilities of cyberspace is falling to today’s students, the digital natives. These new challenges require new kinds of thinking, and students are already better at it than pre-digital generations. And right now, the world needs about 2 million more personnel to do the minimum job of protecting cyberspace. If anyone is looking for a career in cybersecurity, just walk through that door. It will be a fascinating journey. [NMH]

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Clockwise from top left: Nashely Alvarez ’19 with a chocolate tablet for making Mexican hot chocolate; Lola Mojeed-Balogun ’20 checks pots of chicken and tomato sauce; puff-puff, a West African sweet fried dough; Natalie Mak ’19 reaches for a pan; Vietnamese students take a snack break after making spring rolls with rice paper, shrimp, and vegetables.

NMH Magazine

Home Cooking International Carnival is a feast prepared by NMH students from around the world who want to share their cultures. It’s delicious. It’s joyful. We visited kitchens across campus to see how it all comes together.

REPORTING B Y JANIC E C HO ’21, A UD RE Y CO RRIG A N ’19, LI N H D I N H ’ 2 1 , S YDNEY DUK O R- J A CKSO N ’21, H A N N A H O U ’ 1 9 , AN D JENNIFER S UT T O N PHO TO S BY ADR IAN WONG ’20, SH A RO N L IN D A L E , A N D G L EN N M I N S H AL L

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Every year, on the Saturday after Martin Luther King

Jr. Day, dinner in Alumni Hall transforms into a global food festival. Nearly 200 student chefs spend a couple of days chopping, sautéing, baking, and deep-frying dishes from their home cultures to serve to hungry classmates and faculty. This year marked NMH’s 41st International Carnival, according to Dean of Global, Experiential, and Community Engagement Angela Yang-Handy. “It’s a way for students with different backgrounds to share their core selves, and make the invisible visible,” she says. Friday, 4:05 pm Mackinnon The SPANGLISH student group is elbow-deep in empanada fillings. Advisor Angelita Castañon looks over the shoulder of Sonia Hernandez ’20 as Hernandez chops potatoes. “You want nice thin slices so they’ll fry really well, soft on the inside and golden and crispy on the outside.” SPANGLISH is open to any student of Spanishspeaking heritage: Hernandez is Mexican and Puerto Rican, but grew up in Virginia and now lives in France; Erick Jara ’20, who is rolling out circles of dough, is Ecuadoran and lives in New York. “When I was in middle school, I was the only Hispanic person, and it didn’t feel great,” Hernandez says. “At NMH, I feel represented. It’s nice to be in a community where my culture is not only shared but also celebrated.” Friday, 7:35 pm Jenny House Onions and chocolate at the same time? Yes, if your menu includes potato latkes and hamantaschen,

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the triangle-shaped cookies named after a villain in the Hebrew Bible. In the kitchen of faculty members Jennifer and Sam Keator, members of the Jewish Student Alliance have forgone the traditional hamantaschen fillings of poppy seeds and apricot jam in favor of chocolate. Miles Savitz ’19 is directing the show here, and he’s also hoping to make challah, the braided bread that is a staple of American Jewish food. “As far back as I can remember, my dad would make challah for Friday-night Shabbat dinner,” Savitz says. “When my brother and I got old enough, we started to take it on.” Saturday, 10:17 am Upper North Crossley The apartment of chemistry teacher Nhu Hoang is filled with the scent of shallots, garlic, and fish sauce. A few members of the Vietnamese Student Association knock on her door, and she calls out, “Come in, I don’t like cooking alone!” Preparations for gỏi cuốn (fresh spring rolls) get underway: Jimmy Tran ’21 slices just-boiled shrimp; Hoang Truong ’20 and

Jamie Phan ’19 pick piles of mint and cilantro leaves. Next up: making omelets for the vegetarian gỏi cuốn and pitting avocados for smoothies. Saturday, 11:05 am Mayberry House Michael Wang ’20, of the Hong Kong Students Association, ties on an apron in the kitchen of Allyson Goodwin ’83, P’12, ’14, NMH’s chief advancement officer, and faces 25 pounds of chicken with a cleaver in his hand. He’s making “Swiss chicken,” which involves copious amounts of soy sauce and sugar, and is “a very common Hong Kong dish,” according to Adrian Wong ’20. Today, “all the international students have the same goal,” adds Natalie Mak ’19. “We want to make really good food and show off our countries — what we’re proud of.” Saturday, 12:45 pm McConaughy House “For me, three months without fried plantains is a long time,” says Manuela Pacheco ’20. She’s in the kitchen of Claude Anderson, dean of enrollment, and she’s eyeing a bunch of plantains that are waiting to be peeled, sliced on the diagonal, and fried twice. They’re called “plantanitos” in Colombia, where Pacheco is from — and “fritos” in the Dominican Republic, where they’re commonly eaten with fried salami and fried cheese and ketchup, says Arle Cruceta Garcia ’19. For International Carnival, the South American and Latin Students Association (SaLSA) is keeping the fried plantains simple, and serving them alongside cheese quesadillas and sweet empanadas with dulce de leche inside.

“ Today, we all have the same goal: to make really good food and show off our countries.”

Clockwise from top left: freshly fried empanadas; Chloe Lin ’21 (right) and Ian Chan ’21 work the fryer in Alumni Hall; tamales made by Associate Dean of Students Angelita Castañon and her mom, Rose Castañon; Brian Kwak ’21 (left) and Alvin Ng ’20 collaborate at the stove. Inset: balls of empanada dough await a rolling pin.

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“ I only see my parents every six months, so International Carnival feels like my connection home.”

Clockwise from top left: Alejandra Ladines Porras ’19, Natalia Onate Gomez ’19, Rafaela Capelate de Oliveira ’20, and Arle Cruceta Garcia ’19 flip quesadillas and stir dulce de leche; Lydia Princess Obi ’19, Ngone Fall ’19, and Mojeed-Balogun; Michael Wang ’20 wields a cleaver; washing rice for West African jollof rice.

NMH Magazine

“Dulce de leche translates to ‘milk candy,’” says Pacheco. “It’s like caramel, but better.” Natalia Onate Gomez ’19, who’s from Mexico, practiced making it with her mother when she was home in Mexico over winter break — you submerge cans of sweetened condensed milk in boiling water for several hours until the milk turns light brown, she says. But this time, it’s not quite done, and there’s lots of discussion about how to proceed. Too many cooks? Not at all, says Alejandra Ladines Porras ’19, who’s from Ecuador. “With Latino families, there’s always at least five people in the kitchen.” Saturday, 1:10 pm Rikert When it comes to Japanese food, “sushi and ramen are usually all people think about, and both of those foods are overrated,” opines Taishu Tozawa ’19. That’s why the Japanese Student Association is making takoyaki, sticky rice stuffed with pieces of octopus, in the apartment of Mona Seno, chair of the visual arts department. Tozawa says he likes gathering with his fellow Japanese students because “it’s easy to forget our culture in a place like NMH, where so many cultural backgrounds are melting into each other,” he says. Speaking Japanese is a way “for us to still have our culture as our foundation.” Saturday, 2:20 pm Wallace “I am so excited. I love food!” says Claudia Lau ’20. The Australian has commandeered the dorm kitchen in Wallace to make fudgy rum balls, although Lau’s version leaves out the rum. The dessert is Hungarian, but Lau says it’s traditional at Christmas for many Australians.

She has deputized some nonAustralian friends to help roll the rum balls as she turns her attention to her next dish: pavlova, a layered dessert of meringue, freshly whipped cream, and berries. Saturday, 3:05 pm Harris House “I only see my parents every six months, so International Carnival feels like my connection home,” says Lydia Princess Obi ’19, who’s from Nigeria. “When we were making drinks last night, I was so happy.” By “we,” Obi means members of the African Students Association, and by drinks, she means huge thermos coolers of “Chapman,” a black currant juice concoction, and “Gingère,” a spicy Senegalese drink with fresh ginger and several fruit juices. Now, Obi stands over the stove in the home of Joanne Dowdy, who’s married to English teacher David Dowdy. With Ngone Fall ’19 and Lola MojeedBalogun ’20, she’s cooking a batch of tomato sauce that will go into jollof rice, an African staple. “You cannot go to a party without jollof rice — that would be an outrage!” says Fall, who grew up in Senegal. Saturday, 5:15 pm Alumni Hall The time has come! Everyone has brought all the food they’ve been cooking to the dining hall, and now they run back and forth from the kitchen to the dining area, filling aluminum steam trays with the fruits of their labor. Other students stream through Alumni Hall’s main entrance, eager to fill their

bellies. Hannah Ou ’19 quizzes fellow Korean students about what they made: japchae, stir-fried glass noodles; tteok bokki, braised rice cakes; and buchimgae, a pancake with scallions and kimchi. “We’re also having a spicy noodle challenge,” declares Kevin Kim ’20. “Not a lot of people will be able to eat this dish. If they do, we’ll give them extra food. They’ll have personal glory, too!” Saturday, 5:52 pm Alumni Hall Jada Scotland ’19 stands by a table laden with foods from the Caribbean and West Indies, pointing out jerk chicken from Jamaica, a Guyanese rolled cake called salara, and sorrel, a hibiscus-like drink made from boiled leaves and spices that her family, who’s from Dominica, makes during holidays. Scotland offers a glass of the rubyred liquid. “This is me giving a piece of my background to everyone else,” she says. Saturday, 7 pm Alumni Hall The crowds have thinned, and cleanup has begun. Carrie Quimby, assistant director of dining services, grins and nods: Yes, it was chaos in the kitchen. But “we got everyone to wear gloves and aprons, and there were no mishaps, even with the deep fryers and the hot oil,” says sous chef Chris Pappademus. This was Pappademus’s first year helping with International Carnival, and Quimby’s 18th. “I’m very good at being calm,” she says. “It’s an afternoon of nonstop running around, but it’s my favorite night of the year.” [NMH]

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THE REPORTER B Y

J E N N I F E R

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S U T T O N

Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coal miners in Ukraine or President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, broadcast journalist Ryan Chilcote â&#x20AC;&#x2122;91 will ask anyone anything. S PR I NG 2 0 1 9

I suspect we’re not the only ones on this phone call,” Ryan Chilcote says at the end of a 90-minute interview. “People talk about getting spied on by the Russians. I wouldn’t rule it out.” Chilcote, an Emmy-nominated journalist, isn’t worried. He’s not exaggerating, either. He’s simply stating a possibility that has been part of his life for decades. Now a special correspondent for “PBS NewsHour,” Chilcote cut his teeth as a reporter in the CNN Moscow bureau in the late 1990s, and later immersed himself in economics and business while working for Bloomberg Television in London. Chilcote has covered Brexit, the international oil industry, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is his first beat — Russia — that fascinates him the most. Chilcote first lobbed interview questions at Russian president Vladimir Putin back in 1999, when Putin was still prime minister under Boris Yeltsin. Since then, there have been other interviews, and last fall, Chilcote shared a stage with Putin at an international energy forum in Moscow, along with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister and CEOs of the world’s largest oil companies. That’s where Putin made headlines when he answered a question from Chilcote, saying that the former Russian agent Sergei Skripal — who was poisoned in England along with his daughter and a bystander who died — was a “scumbag.” Chilcote says, “Putin is at his best when he’s challenged. He’s actually quite good to interview because you can learn a lot you didn’t already know.” Besides Putin, Chilcote can tick off other notable interviews he’s done: former British prime minister Tony Blair; Nicolás Maduro, the embattled president of Venezuela; and Petro Poroshenko, the outgoing president of Ukraine. And places he’s reported from: Europe, the former Soviet Union, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, South Africa, Sudan, Kenya, Iceland, and Russia’s border with North Korea. In London, Chilcote has spent time in the anchor’s chair for Bloomberg Television, wearing a suit and a layer of makeup and updating viewers on the international headlines of the day. What sticks with Chilcote, though, are the unglamorous, under-theradar stories. One time, he sat at a kitchen table in southern Russia and interviewed a young mother who was forced to leave her child behind during a deadly hostage crisis at an elementary school. Another time, he went deep under the ground in eastern Ukraine to talk with coal miners who were working without pay while Russian-backed troops fought in the streets above their heads.

NMH Magazine

How does Chilcote compare these stories, and the intense reporting they require, to the suit and the layer of makeup and the anchorman’s chair? “I’d rather be in the coal mine,” he says. “I’m always more interested in the underreported part of the story.”

hilcote has “traveled aggressively” as a journalist, he says. He grew up traveling, too, as an “airplane baby” who went back and forth between divorced parents. He became “fiercely independent,” he says, and watched a lot of TV. His mother steered him toward NMH with the hope that he would focus on schoolwork and find a strong mentor. At NMH, he met Fred Johnson, who taught Russian. It was the late 1980s, and there was great excitement around the prospect of the Soviet Union opening up; Johnson’s introductory Russian class was so packed that Chilcote had to wait a year to get a seat. At 16, he joined an NMH studyabroad program in the USSR led by Johnson. “Academically, I was never the strongest, but Fred thought the experience would resonate with me,” Chilcote says. “Boy, did it.” In Russia, Chilcote’s independence worked to his advantage. Within his first few hours in Moscow, he found himself changing his money not in a bank but with “a dodgy guy” at the Cosmos Hotel, in a room where the walls were lined with shelves filled with caviar and vodka. “I got 26 rubles on the dollar, which

Ryan Chilcote ’91 (center), who is currently a special correspondent for “PBS Newshour,” interviewed Russian president Vladimir Putin (right) and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih (second from right) at an international forum in Moscow in October 2018.

was four times the official exchange rate at the time,” Chilcote recalls with pride. Chilcote went from NMH to the University of California, Santa Cruz, to study Russian, but in his first semester, a friend, Steve Hope, also an NMH graduate, was hit by a car and killed while the two were mountain biking together. Chilcote decided to take time off from college, and he headed to Russia. He hired a language tutor and made money by exporting Russian crafts to a shop his mother and stepfather owned in New Hampshire. “I’d load up a hockey bag with nesting dolls and painted furniture and porcelain earrings and bring it back with me to the U.S.,” he says. When Chilcote did return to UC-Santa Cruz, he made sure his studies allowed him to do a semester in Moscow. Besides being a devotee of Russia, Chilcote was also a CNN fan. After

finishing college in 1995, when cable TV news was at its peak, he put on the Nordstrom’s suit that his parents had given him as a graduation present and boarded a plane for Atlanta, where CNN’s headquarters were located. Eager and overconfident, he managed to wrangle the attention of the editor in charge of the network’s foreign correspondents. “I said, ‘Hey, my name’s Ryan Chilcote. I know everything about Russia. You should hire me.’” The editor advised Chilcote to take a breath. But he also said that if Chilcote went to Russia on his own dime, he’d see what he could do. Chilcote took that advice seriously. He got himself to Russia and ended up in a “glorified internship” at CNN’s Moscow bureau. It was a busy time in Russian news: President Boris Yeltsin was in and out of the hospital and fighting for re-election, financial crises were

PHOTO: ALEXEY DRUZHININ/TASS; PREVIOUS PAGE: ALFREDO DELARA

Putin is at his best when he’s challenged. He’s good to interview because you can learn a lot you didn’t already know.” S PR I NG 2 0 1 9

Chilcote reported for years from Moscow for CNN, where he got his start as an investigative journalist.

n 2001, Chilcote had just done his first presidential interview — Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus — and had flown back to Moscow on Sept. 11, quite pleased with himself. He walked into the CNN Moscow bureau, put down his bag, turned on the TV, and saw the first World Trade Center tower on fire. Lukashenko was forgotten. “For a few hours, like everyone else in the world, I was glued to the TV. I saw the second plane fly into the second tower. Then I got it,” Chilcote says. He went to his apartment and packed another bag.

“We knew there was going to be a war,” he says. “The U.S. was not going to leave this without consequence. Whatever happened, we wanted to be there to show the world.” That’s what he told Tajik embassy officials as he cajoled them into issuing him and his CNN colleagues visas so they could travel through Tajikistan into northern Afghanistan. By Sept. 14, he was interviewing Afghan soldiers in a trench just a football field away from the Taliban. Over the next three years, Chilcote returned to Afghanistan seven times, reporting for CNN. He covered the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, starting out with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division at their base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He followed the soldiers to Kuwait and, eventually, Baghdad, and along the way, got to know their commander, Gen. David Petraeus, who later became director of the CIA.

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PHOTO: COUR TESY OF RYAN CHILCOTE

rampant, and Russia was at war in Chechnya. Chilcote did all the grunt work that CNN threw at him and eventually was offered a fulltime job as an associate producer. Five years later, he was on the air, reporting the news.

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Chilcote was relentless in covering breaking news that dominated international headlines, but he also documented local stories that embodied — or were casualties of — larger, more sweeping events. He met a young mother, Anetta, in Beslan, Russia, who told him how she had brought her 9-yearold daughter and her baby girl to a school party celebrating the first day of the academic year. Joy turned to horror when a group of terrorists attacked the school and took Anetta and her children hostage, along with more than a thousand students, teachers, and family members. Chilcote says, “The terrorists released a group of mothers with infants because the infants were screaming, but they wouldn’t let Anetta take her older daughter with her. She had to decide whether to stay, or leave without her 9-yearold. So the story was about this impossible choice that was not

Anyone can tell the story of human tragedy in war. It’s harder to do a compelling story about mortgagebacked securities.” really a choice at all.” Anetta left her 9-year-old in the care of a friend, but the girl died — along with nearly 200 other children — when Russian soldiers stormed the building. “Anetta became a hostage of her own decision because now she lives with such pain, but if she had stayed behind, they could have all died,” Chilcote says. He and Anetta eventually became friends. His story about her was nominated for an Emmy Award.

y 2007, Chilcote had produced hundreds of reports on Russia’s tumultuous evolution through political upheaval and war. When Bloomberg Television offered him a job in London as a business reporter, he moved

there with his wife and their two small children, ready for a new direction. But “the story afoot,” he says, was the rise of Russia’s oligarchs. With his experience in Russia and his fluent language skill, he was tapped to interview them and “kind of introduce them to the world,” he says. Business news may lack the urgency and drama of war reporting, but Chilcote contends that’s what makes it more of a challenge. “Anyone can tell the story of human tragedy that exists in war. It’s in your face, particularly in television news,” he says. “It’s much harder to do a compelling story about mortgage-backed securities. And yet that’s what brought down the American economy in 2008.” Financial stories are “often about the pursuit of creation, or how economies work, or how a crisis can spark things,” he says. “They help us understand important ideas because we live in a geopolitical world where politics and money intersect in a huge number of ways.” When Chilcote began studying Russian at NMH, it was during the post-Cold War era when the U.S. was enamored of Russia and Russians couldn’t get enough of American capitalism, blue jeans, and music. “But then it slipped away,” he says. “I knew it because I was selling those nesting dolls and painted furniture in my mother’s store, and, all of a sudden, they stopped selling.” Now, he sees little prospect for improvement in the near future. “So many people, and the U.S. Congress, see President Trump’s relationship with Russia as suspect that irrespective of Trump’s desire to improve relations with Russia, there’s no way that he can do that.”

Chilcote covered the 2018 press conference in Helsinki where Putin said he supported Trump in the 2016 election, and where Trump, in turn, praised Putin. The Republicanled U.S. Senate responded by voting to impose greater sanctions on Russia, and to remove much of President Trump’s power to influence those sanctions. Chilcote says, “If I were to put on my analyst hat, I would say that Putin made a big mistake. Because Donald Trump is now so compromised that it’s difficult for the Russians to do anything with him.”

hat analyst hat is one that Chilcote is not quite comfortable with. As a reporter, he prefers to disseminate facts and let viewers make their own decisions — to be an objective “student of the world,” he says. “I just like to share my observations. Someday I’ll know enough to have an opinion to share. Right now I’m still learning.” Chilcote hasn’t lived in the U.S. for nearly 25 years, but having moved from Moscow to London, he says that he is slowly making his way home. He sees himself back in the U.S. someday, traversing the country much like he’s traversed the Middle East, Europe, and Russia. “Kind of like John Steinbeck and Travels With Charley, the way he traveled around with his dog, rediscovering a place,” Chilcote says. “I’m still very much a proud American. Having been outside the U.S. for so long gives me a unique perspective on what’s happening there now, and I have a huge interest in reporting on it firsthand.” [NMH]

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ALUMNI HALL

A quick glance at the cover of Allie Rowbottom’s first book, Jell-O Girls: A Family History, with its title in cherry red, might lead readers to expect a light journey through an American success story about an iconic American food.

What they get instead, says Rowbottom, is “a multilayered book” about women’s experiences, feminism, and a “curse” that wrought illness, trauma, and devastation throughout a family. According to a rave review in The New York Times, the “gorgeous” book is “dark and astringent, a cutting rebuke to its delicate, candycolored namesake.” Rowbottom wrote Jell-O Girls as part of her doctoral dissertation at the University of Houston, where she also taught for five years. She recounts how, in 1899, her greatgreat-great-uncle bought the patent for Jell-O for $450. His son sold the company 26 years later, resulting in an exchange of Jell-O stock worth $67 million. It was this fortune that Rowbottom’s mother Mary was born into at the end of World War II — a “fortune predicated on the myth of domesticity and the reduction of a woman’s worth to her culinary concoctions,” Rowbottom writes. In the small-town cocoon of LeRoy, New York — the birthplace of Jell-O — Mary’s life of privilege was juxtaposed with misfortune: She lost her mother to cancer and her cousin to suicide and suffered sexual abuse, addiction, and mental illness. She tried for years to write a memoir about what she called “the Jell-O curse” and its effect on her life, but was diagnosed with cancer at the same age as her mother, and died before she could complete the book. Rowbottom felt compelled to

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PHOTOS: WILLY BUSFIELD, JENNIFER BOBE ’07

The Sweet Curse Allie Rowbottom ’04 writes about Jell-O’s dark side. B Y TAR A JAC KSO N

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pick up Mary’s story and finish what her mother could not. Rowbottom writes intimately about the “girls” in her family — herself, her mother, and her grandmother — and weaves in the stories of other girls connected to Jell-O, or to the town of LeRoy, where the company left an indelible imprint. First, there was the original “Jell-O Girl,” the daughter of an ad man in the company who appeared sweet and mute in the brand’s first big advertising campaign and was immortalized in pamphlets sent to housewives all over America. Years later, starting in 2011, there were the “LeRoy girls,” local high schoolers who, one after another, suddenly woke up with a mysterious Tourette’s-like illness. They were eventually diagnosed with conversion disorder, a condition that causes the brain to convert emotional stress into physical symptoms. A random connection to the Jell-O curse? Not to Rowbottom and her mother, who had both experienced unexplained hand paralysis and other physical ailments. They became fixated on the girls and considered the girls’ histories to be “entwined” with their own. “We are all connected, we women, we

“ We are all connected, we women, we Jell-O girls, bound by a web of common experience.” Jell-O girls, bound by a web of common experience, a common language we express through our bodies before we learn it is safe to speak,” Rowbottom writes. Rowbottom’s mother came to believe that the silencing of women was at the heart of the Jell-O curse, and the act of telling her story would be a counter-curse. In writing Jell-O Girls, Rowbottom speaks for her mother and for generations of women in her life. And although she says feminism and the importance of women’s voices remain “great fixations” for her, she is ready to move on. “Having released the story has cleared space for me to think about other stories and let go of what was a real obsession,” she says. She is currently working on a novel, and still teaches, encouraging her students to do what she did: “Push into the hard stuff, the stuff that scares them.”

ALUMNI COUNCIL WHO’S WHO LEO CHIQUILLO ’09 Hometown: Los Angeles Work: As director of audience at ATTN:, a media company that informs through entertainment, he oversees and expands the reach of the company’s social media channels. Alumni Council gig: He’s on the “small and mighty” Young Alumni Committee, where he uses his social media savvy to publicize alumni events and fundraisers. He also organizes NMH’s L.A. Area Club activities. Strategy: “Meet audiences where they are. Young alumni won’t always pick up the phone or open their email, but they are on Facebook and Instagram.” Why volunteer: It’s simple. “I love NMH. I wish I had more hours in my day to give back.” Favorite Alumni Council moments: Meeting alumni from other class years during the Alumni Council Leadership Weekend on campus. “The NMH experience is transcendent. Whether you graduated in 2014 or 1972, everyone shares a similar experience.” His favorite student workjob: The farm. “As someone who grew up in a city, I just loved being in nature, with the cows.”

Chiquillo calls his NMH experience ‘transcendent.”

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From College to the Pros Paul Haagen ’68 helps young athletes, but he’s not a coach. He’s a lawyer. What do NBA stars Grant Hill, Shane Battier, and Grayson Allen have in common with professional golfer Leona Maguire and former NASCAR driver Paul Harraka? They all attended Duke University, and they all sought guidance from Paul Haagen ’68, who’s a professor at Duke’s law school, co-director of the school’s Center for Sports Law and Policy, and chair of its StudentAthlete Counseling Committee. His job — one of them, at least — is to help Duke’s highestpowered athletes make the transition from college to the pros. “I’m trying to understand these athletes, who their families are, what their hopes and expectations are, what advice they’re willing to listen to,” he says. “At a minimum, I help them see how to avoid making catastrophic mistakes.” Such as: Don’t give away too much of your power and money to your professional representatives. Recognize that there are people who will want to use you to do something for themselves. Any missteps you make are likely to be seen and exaggerated. And yes, it’s entirely possible to blow through millions of dollars instantly or destroy your reputation overnight. But beyond the warnings, Haagen helps Duke’s athletes see how their accomplishments can create opportunities. “For those who are celebrities, it’s how their celebrity can work,” he says. “For

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those who are not, it’s how their athletic drive and success can translate outside their sport.” Haagen says they can sense what he’s talking about. “I take them where they are and we start building networks at the beginning of their careers, to help them put in place structures that further, rather than impede.” Haagen is among the nation’s leading experts in sports and the law, but his entry into the field was “serendipitous,” he says. He started teaching at Duke Law in the mid-1980s, after earning two bachelor’s degrees, two master’s degrees, a law degree, and a Ph.D. in history from such lofty institutions as Princeton, Yale, and Oxford. He had little connection

“ When athletes understand their role in society, they have the potential to be positive forces and do so many good things.” to the sports world, but when Duke needed someone to run a committee that advised studentathletes — mostly football players at the time — Haagen, who was “as junior as anyone around,”

got the nod. He started teaching classes in sports and the law just as “the centrality and success of sports at Duke was becoming a bigger and bigger deal,” he says. Soon he was counseling basketball and lacrosse players, golfers, an Olympic diver, and one of the world’s top decathletes. What they needed from Haagen depended on their sport. The decathlete and the diver were figuring out how to support their training in non-Olympic years when popular interest and funding sources were scarce. Harraka, the NASCAR driver, needed guidance as he assembled a syndicate to support his “enormously expensive” racing schedule. For football players, Haagen tried to get them thinking beyond the NFL. “I’d tell them, ‘You’re likely to have a short career. What connections can you make in our celebrity-oriented society that will enable you to do something with your life after professional football?’” He’s counseled basketball players, who are increasingly spending just one year in college, on how to “avoid people who could be really detrimental to their careers.” The bottom line: Haagen wants Duke athletes to be in control of their lives. His work is fed by a sense of pragmatism — his “old New England values,” he says. “I just hate to see opportunities squandered. When athletes understand their role in society, they have the potential to be positive forces and do so many good things.”

PHOTOS: DUKE LAW SCHOOL, GLENN MINSHA LL

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From the West Wing, Onward When Valerie Jarrett ’74 was still working in the White House — she was the longest-serving senior advisor to President Barack Obama — she returned to NMH to deliver the 2016 Commencement address. Three years later, she has published a new memoir, Finding My Voice. She writes, “There is a false debate in this country between right and left about whether change should come from the bottom up or the top down. But it’s not either/or; it’s both/and … While you will always find obstacles in your path when you work from the top down, working from the bottom up is something we can all do, beginning in our communities that we know best.”

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“ As positive as I am as a person, I’m not blind to the challenges and complications we all face, and I think it’s my responsibility as an artist to bring them to light.” University of Miami creative writing professor Amina Gautier ’95 visited English classes and gave a reading at NMH in February. Her most recent book, The Loss of All Lost Things, won the 2018 Pen/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story.

For details: nmhschool.org/plannedgiving Jeff Leyden ’80, P’14 Director of Planned Giving 413-498-3299 jleyden@nmhschool.org S PR I NG 2 0 1 9

GAME TIME Darrell Johnson â&#x20AC;&#x2122;85 on the field below Overtoun.

CLASS NOTES

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PHOTO: COUR TESY OF NMH ARCHIVES

CLASS NOTES

2018–19 Alumni Council Executive Committee President Molly Goggins Talbot ’93, P’21 Executive Vice President Kate Hayes ’06 Vice President Andrew Ness ’04 Secretary Wendy Alderman Cohen ’67 Advancement Committee chair Brendan Mysliwiec ’04 Awards Committee chair Thomas Baxter ’59 Communications Committee chair Camille Kubie ’94 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee chair Becca Perkins Fishbein ’96 Nominating Committee co-chair Carolyn “Ty” Fox ’59 Nominating Committee co-chair Tanya Luthi ’96 Reunion Advisory Committee chair Stephen Green ’87, P’18,’20 Strategic Advisory Committee co-chair Andrew Ness ’04 Strategic Advisory Committee co-chair Stuart Paap ’93 Young Alumni Committee co-chair Nicole Dancel ’09 Young Alumni Committee co-chair Andrew Taylor ’09

Class notes columns are lightly edited for space and clarity. The opinions expressed in each column do not necessarily reflect the philosophy of Northfield Mount Hermon.

Northfield Elizabeth Jane (B.J.) Smith Johnson robert.johnson53@comcast.net

Northfield Dorcas Platt Abell sabell3@nycap.rr.com

Mount Hermon Carleton Finch zeke137@aol.com

Northfield Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Mount Hermon Loren Bullock mlbullock9@gmail.com From the NMH website, I learned that there is still a farm program there, with 35 students assigned to participate via their work program. I remember the mooing of cows when I awoke in the mornings. Today there are three milk cows that produce 12 gallons of milk a day. There is also a sugarhouse; they collect 26,000 gallons of maple sap in early spring, which they boil down to 600 quarts of syrup a year. And 2,000 gallons of cider are pressed each year. There’s even a farm store now. Did any of you work on the farm? • Al Lecrenier wrote, “It just hit me: We are getting old. Not only are we the third class listed in class notes, but our church recently identified couples with the longest marriage, and Charlotte and I came in first at 71 years.” Let’s hear it for 1942! Congratulations to Charlotte and Al!

Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org From the base of the Colorado Rockies, Ginger Johnson and Vicki Garbutt Ruwitch send greetings. Today, at 92 and 93, they are remembering Elsie Crowninshield ’35, Bobby Darrow, Miss “Mac,” Marietta Tower, and our formidable Mrs. Briggs (stern visage, ramrod straight), who kept us in line at East Hall. They both spent their first year at Moore Cottage. Vicki arrived in 1938 in time for the Great New England Hurricane, and Ginger in 1940. Ginger shared, “Phil and I camped our way to Denver in 1949, settled in, and started a family. I returned to college and received my master’s in Latin American history, and although I never used it professionally, it certainly enlarged my horizons … Now I am happily ensconced at The Carillon in Boulder with my daughter and Vicki nearby.” And from Vicki: “Joe and I moved to Colorado three years after the Johnsons. Joe established a veterinary practice, and I completed college and taught at Boulder High School … We kept in touch after we were both widowed — attending the 60th reunion, touring in Nova Scotia, meeting at the theater.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Northfield Arlene Finch Reynolds arlenerey@aol.com

Mount Hermon Pete Devenis ingadevenis@aol.com Hal Stocker retired after 38 years in a medical career in Oakland, Calif., and 20 years as an elected Yuba County supervisor. He is now tending to some 40 fruit trees and a large vegetable garden with many watermelons in Challenge, Calif. He exercises and plays tennis two to three times per week and states, “Mount Hermon was a valuable and enjoyable experience.” • Bob Dorr retired in 1990 as an IBM customer engineer, and in 2016 moved into a retirement community in Kingsport, Tenn., with his wife, Dot, a Tennessee girl he married in 1956 and with whom he raised three children. He wrote, “Dot and I proudly proclaim that we met in a Sunday school class.” Bob remembers an incident during his days at Mount Hermon. “It was the dinner meal and the first course was soup. The waiters were lined up behind the kitchen doors with the soup in aluminum pitchers perched on their trays, waiting for the word to move out. On the word ‘go,’ the first two waiters burst out of the doors followed by the next pair. Someone tripped — the soup spilled off their trays, creating a slippery mess. The waiters behind kept coming on. The result was a pileup of waiters slipping and sliding on the spilled soup. It was so funny and we all laughed except, of course, for the waiters and Mr. Petschke, the food services manager.” • Colin Selley passed away in May 2018 at age 90. At Mount Hermon, he was fondly known as “Bermuda” and played on the varsity soccer team and was captain of the tennis team. He began tourism promotion as head of the Bermuda News Bureau after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. This office was a forerunner of the Department of Tourism, which he directed from 1975 to 1984. He championed Bermuda as a destination, and created college weeks and organized royal visits. Colin was a founding president of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association and umpired some of the U.S. Open tournaments at Forest Hills. He was known as “Mr. Tourism” and traveled the world to cultivate industry relationships. He was a good friend with whom we sometimes traveled and attended many Hermon reunions. • Robert Buker passed away on 9/25/17. He was born

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in Burma, where his parents were medical missionaries. Bob graduated from Columbia Medical School, was drafted during the Vietnam conflict, and rose to be the deputy surgeon general of the Army, later retiring as major general in 1989. Bob is survived by his spouse of 68 years, Ethel, son Robert Jr., and daughters Traci Holsteen and Nina Aten, eight grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. • My wife, Inga, and I visited Mount Hermon in October 2018. We placed a copy of my autobiography, The Struggles and Joys of Life, in our class of 1945 archive and another copy in the school library.

Northfield Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Mount Hermon Hugh Findlay findlay22@verizon.net

Northfield Diffy Cushman Ransohoff mransohoff@aol.com • Anne Hardman Allen ahafma@yahoo.com As we write this, we have recently celebrated Thanksgiving, and Diffy Cushman Ransohoff thinks Anne Hardman Allen deserves our Thanksgiving Day prize — she hosted 28 people! • Earlier this year, Marty Walker Whitney visited Scotland with her three daughters. They drove around the country and hiked in the western Highlands, where Marty was delighted to be able to climb up beyond the tree line! That seems very impressive, but Marty said the appropriate word is “fortunate” — a very good perspective on our lives these days. • Ruth Dillingham Cowan and her husband have been living in a small senior community in South Hadley, Mass., since 2007 — first in a villa for 10 years, and now in an apartment. Ruth said that it’s a great place and they feel lucky to be there. Health-wise, it has been a difficult year for Ruth. A heart valve operation, a back operation that dealt with a sciatic nerve, two days in the hospital, physical therapy — all with a good result: She can walk now. Her son, Tor Cowan ’83, lives in Arlington, Va., and works in D.C. as the legislative director of the American Federation of Teachers. Tor’s wife, Michelle, is the commissioner of public finance for the county and city of Arlington. They have three children — two girls in high school and a boy entering middle school. • Ruth has been a good friend of our classmate Jane Goostray Bissell. Jane served as an Episcopalian nun for a number of years, then left the practice

NMH Magazine

and married her childhood sweetheart, Tom Bissell. They had three children, and Jane did a great deal of volunteer work helping others in many ways. After a very full life, she passed away on 4/27/2018.

at Northfield in the summer of 1947. We try to accommodate all calls, letters, or emails, so don’t be shy about sharing your activities with the rest of the class. All the news that fits, we print.

Mount Hermon Charles A. Kennedy chask@myfairpoint.net (603) 223-0731 Henry Kusel is still in the insurance and financial services business with his children as associates in offices in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Florida. He admits he is getting older but, thankfully, his health is holding up. • From upstate New York, Leon Carapetyan wrote that he visited his brother, Ara Carapetyan ’46, in Austin, Texas, where Ara conducts the University Presbyterian Choir. Leon retired from leading the Oswego Festival Chorus last year, but notes that “music is good for a long life.” He hopes to sing in Amahl and the Night Visitors one more time, and he mentioned another of our class singers, Roly Coates. With psychic promptitude, the phone rang and it was Roly, who once sang the role of Melchior in Amahl. After all those years singing, Roly is concentrating on pencil drawings these days. • Your scribe continues to be involved in singing, but has been working on immigration and refugee issues in New Hampshire. People apprehended in Texas are sent to New Hampshire for jail time while awaiting bail and asylum hearings. Their court appearances are in the Boston area, so the logistics can get weird. But we work as best we can. • I went to New Jersey in December for the memorial service of Kenneth Franz ’42 and his wife, Edna; Ken died in April, she in October. Last October, there was a committal service in the Northfield Cemetery, where Ken and Edna were buried next to Ken’s father and mother. • Bob McManus is now part of the bionic generation with a new hip and is interested in exchanging ideas on the environment with classmates. Seems that Hermonites stay involved in constructive causes a long time. Contact me for Bob’s email address. • Albert “Andy” Anderson suddenly lost sight in his left eye, perhaps due to a local stroke. We wish him a speedy and full recovery. Andy has been winding down “Providence Radio,” a gospel program on WSAR, Fall River, Mass., which was founded by his late son, Paul. If you’d like to reach Andy, contact me for his email address. • Finally, Jack Daggett keeps in touch regularly with news of classmates he garners from phone calls, or to ask questions about a song the Triple Quartet may (or may not) have sung in 1946. Or about working with Gerald “Q” Moshiri

Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Northfield Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Mount Hermon Jim Hanchett jch46@cornell.edu • David Durham dedur@aol.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Janet-Marie Fitzgerald Whitley janwhitley@aol.com We lost a very distinguished class member on 11/4/2017: Anna Johnston Taylor. She entered Northfield in her sophomore year. At that time, Northfield was one of the few schools that accepted black students. After graduation, Anna earned her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College in 1954 and a law degree from Yale in 1957. She was one of only five women in Yale’s graduating class. She then landed a job as staff lawyer in the Solicitor’s Office of the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. It was there she met Charles Diggs Jr., an up-and-coming Michigan congressman. They married in 1960, moved to Detroit, and had two children. In 1964, Anna went to Mississippi with other lawyers to represent civil rights workers who were jailed for registering black people to vote. On the day of Anna’s arrival, three of those workers disappeared. The group questioned the sheriff, but to no avail. The sheriff later was implicated in their murders. In the mid-1970s, after the breakup of her marriage, Anna successfully helped Senator Coleman Young become Detroit’s first black mayor. Mayor Young invited Anna to join the city’s law department to help him integrate city government. In 1976, Anna married the director of the Michigan Employment Security Commission, S. Martin Taylor. She worked on Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign, and, in 1979, President Carter nominated her for the U.S. District Court bench in Detroit. She was the first black female federal district judge in the U.S. Circuit. In the years that followed, she presided over a series of high-profile cases and served as chief judge of the court during 1997–98. She took senior status in 1999 and

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retired in 2001. Anna also served as trustee to several organizations, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Receiving Hospital, the Henry Ford Hospital System, the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, and Community Foundation of Michigan. She was elected vice-president of the Yale Law School Association. Her many awards include the National Bar Association Women Lawyers Division Award, the Sojourner Truth Award of the National Negro Business and Professional Women, the Wolverine Bar Association Bench Bar Award, and an Honorary Doctor of Law from Marygrove College. She is survived by her husband, Martin, son Douglas, daughter Carla, and four grandchildren. We are so proud to have her as a member of our class. I wish to thank Kay Waller Springwater for submitting this information. • Lenice Krull Hirschberger entered a new chapter in her life last November by moving from her Fitzwilliam, N.H., home of 37 years to a super retirement community in Shelburne, Vt. Wake Robin is a continuing care facility that is very active, engaged, and friendly. Her west-facing apartment looks out from floor-to-ceiling windows onto woods, farms, Lake Champlain, and the snow-dusted Adirondacks beyond. Culture-rich Burlington is minutes away. Lenice continues to be blessed with good health, and is still steel drumming, weaving, and looking forward to new adventures. • Barbara Bolger Collett welcomed her third great-granddaughter, Kate, born in Houston, Texas. Kate joins her 2-year-old sister, Olivia, mother Lauren, and dad Bobby Gates. Bobby is the son of Barbara’s daughter, Dianna, who lives in Gainesville, Fla. Bobby’s brother, Drew, is dad of Alaina (4) and Ryker (2). William (12), named for Barbara’s husband, Bill, is doing well in his battle with leukemia under the St. Jude protocol. Total count is six grands and three great-grands. • Sadly, Barbara’s twin brother, David Bolger, passed away on 12/29/2018 in New Jersey. Among his myriad philanthropic endeavors, David was a vital supporter of Northfield Mount Hermon. Apart from his gifts for the Bolger Center and other additions to the school campus, David was a Lamplighter Society recognition member, as well as a former campaign leader and class committee volunteer. • Katherine Spry Goldstein is now in her fifth series of chemo and sadly reports that she cannot go into remission anymore. She says she is alive and kicking (but not too high). She feels OK, and most problems are age-related. Her husband’s dementia has stabilized, so that is good news. Kathy’s

spirit is remarkable — she said, “The Lord has been blessing us.” All of us from the class of 1950 are sending prayers and blessings, Kathy. • Lois Seekamp Dole is suffering from high blood pressure and the side effects of prescribed meds. She is used to being very active, so she is trying to fill up her days with being confined to home. She is accustomed to going from one thing to another, but now she finds herself dizzy unless she is lying down. Prayers, Lois. • Jean Cook Glidden is still adjusting to the death of her husband and is also adjusting to her new apartment, which is in the same complex where she and Dick lived. We keep in touch via texting. • Diana Bond Holtshouser still resides at The Meeting House in Manchester, N.H., where about 100 “oldsters” live. It is working well for her. She continues to drive and stays active in her singing group, The Voluntairs. Two sons live close by, and a son and daughter live in North Carolina. Diana enjoys her 10 grandchildren (most are in college and a couple are in post-college careers). She visited the Northfield campus last fall and found it is still beautiful. She hopes all had a good holiday as she remembers her excitement at Northfield at Christmastime, starting down the chapel aisle, singing with our young voices so many years ago. • Constance Streeter Reilly is happy with their move from a villa to a two-bedroom apartment in Homestead Village. Husband Joe turned 91 and is doing well. Constance is still playing golf, although not as much as she wanted due to a rainy summer in 2018. She also plays bridge along with other activities. She hopes to be at our 70th reunion, which is a year away when you read this. The train service is great from where she lives to Greenfield. The Reillys enjoyed a family Christmas in December. • Judith Myers Shinn has been in a retirement home for two years and still has her bridge clubs, does water aerobics twice a week, and “minimalistic” exercise three times a week. She is still reading and walking her little Chihuaha-dachshund mix. • Arnulf Esterer continues making wine at Markko Vineyard, which he owns. He produces Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend, Pinot Noir, and Riesling. You can check out Arnulf’s wines at markko.com. He said that he needs to retire, but I wouldn’t bet on it! After 50 years, it’s a part of you. Sadly, Arnulf lost his wife, Kate, during Easter 2017. The class sends its heartfelt condolences. • Fred Monett did a trip to the Northfield campus last September for the Restore and Revive program. He planned to travel by train but Hurricane Florence precluded that. Instead, he did a

long car trip. Along the way, he had a chance to do the Arc Encounter in Kentucky and had dinner with his senior roommate at Mount Hermon, George Hartwell. Fred suggests checking out the D.L. Moody website, moodycenter.org. • Vic Scalise made three trips last fall. One trip was to Astoria, Ore., which is the end of the trail for Lewis and Clark. Next was a flight to Denver, Colo. (Vic was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in 1954–55 and was trained in aerial photography.) He and his wife, Carolyn, enjoyed a visit with lifelong friends, a husband-and-wife team who are pediatric surgeons at Children’s Hospital Denver. Third trip was to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains with friends from their church. At home, Vic’s and Carolyn’s lives revolve around their church, University Presbyterian, in Seattle, Wash. Vic facilitates a small group at church after worship. They also participate in a book club. Vic’s love for baseball continues, as he has his 20-game package for 2019. The highlight of the baseball season is his son, Doug, who comes for the four-game opening series in March between Boston and Seattle. • Stuart Lohr and his wife relocated to Fort Myers, Fla., in spring of 2018 after 24 years of retirement in western South Carolina. They will continue to summer in Maine. The process of selling their home, downsizing, and relocating was traumatic and stressful. Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army were beneficiaries of property accumulated over 61 years. Stu plans to return for our 70th reunion. • Ronald Wertheim is going strong at 85 and living in Philadelphia with his wife, painter Elizabeth Osborne, whose works are showing in a New York City gallery as well as in Philadelphia. Ronald still works two weeks each month and commutes to Washington, D.C., as a senior judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. They have a daughter and two teenage grandchildren in Berkeley, Calif., and another college student granddaughter in Vermont. He is in good health despite limping with a cane from arthritis. He often thinks of Mount Hermon as the best thing that ever happened to him and wishes he were able to make a contribution like the recent Bloomberg gift to Johns Hopkins. Ronald regrets never telling Dick Gilder how much he admired his generosity to NMH. • Our fireman/EMT grandson who works for the City of Vacaville spent 11 days on a strike team fighting the deadly Butte County fire. We live over two hours from that fire, but the smoke in our area was full of contaminants, so we mainly sheltered in place for a long time. We finally got rain and it cleared

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the air. Last August, Gene and I went to the Ukiah, Calif., county fair to watch our 10and 12-year-old great-grandsons show cattle. The 6-year-old is not old enough, but he works with his brothers. It brought back fond memories of watching our three sons show in 4-H 52 years ago. I am now a member of a regional hay growers association. They will broker our hay so we will not need to store and sell retail. My son, who does the planting and swathing, finished planting the 150 acres the day before Thanksgiving, fortunately — Thanksgiving morning he fell from the roof of his house and cracked a rib and damaged a hip. This happened four hours after I was released from the emergency room with a rogue stomach virus, which I passed to husband, Gene, and, eventually, my son. Thanksgiving 2018 will not be favorably remembered. • When you read this, it will be about a year before our 70th reunion. I realize it will be difficult or impossible for many to attend (I have 3,000 miles to travel). I plan to attend, but one cannot predict at our age what will happen next week. If you do not receive an email from me, and you do have an email address, that means I do not have yours. Please take the time to send it to me along with a bit of news. Have a wonderful summer.

Northfield Mount Hermon Pat McCormick Hoehing sylv.snail@bex.net 7125 San Benito Drive, Sylvania, OH 43560 • Frederick W. Miller fwcemiller@sbcglobal.net From Pat: Sadly, Anne Cotton died on 7/28/18. Anne resided in West Gould at Northfield and later attended Smith College, graduating with a B.A. in 1955. Her obituary outlined an extraordinarily full life of accomplishments, including both master’s and doctoral degrees in education from Harvard. She worked for variable periods of time at the National Security Agency, Doubleday Publishing Company, Metropolitan Opera, Harvard, and lastly, Mount Holyoke College, retiring in 1998. In retirement, she volunteered at a daycare center for developmentally handicapped adults, and made pet therapy visits with her dogs. Always a dog owner, Anne had discovered flat-coated retrievers in 1990. Her expertise benefited many canine organizations; she wrote regular columns for the Northeast Flat-Coated Retriever Club. Anne sang in the choir at All Saints Episcopal Church in South Hadley, Mass. Please contact me if you would like a complete copy of her extensive obituary. • NMH is not the school we experi-

NMH Magazine

enced. It has become intellectually, globally, culturally, and spiritually diverse. Use of technological advances in the classroom boggles my understanding. Old school traditions have changed, but many new traditions are celebrated. The current development in the arts at NMH is unequaled. Music is still important, but not as we knew it. I would miss the full-school participation at Christmas Vespers and Sacred Concert. However, what I stream on my computer is beautiful and probably equally significant to the participating members of the student body and their audience. What I am trying to say is: We are nothing if we are not flexible, and, as with computers, updates are constantly necessary. Most important is the continuing need for scholarship aid. Please help out as you are able. In spite of changes we may have been unhappy with, I do believe NMH still maintains the goals of D.L. Moody: Educate the head, the heart, and the hand. The school is well respected, and its graduates are ready for the next step into this everchanging, complex world. • From Fred: Our senior class president and outstanding pole vaulter, Robert Titus Owen, of Germantown, Tenn., died on 6/20/18. He was surrounded by his wife and daughters singing hymns to him as he was called home to be with the Lord. He was born in Bronxville, N.Y., and grew up in East Williston, Long Island. Bob was a three-year man at Mount Hermon, where he was a campus leader, earned letters in soccer and track, played baseball, was band president during sophomore year, played in the orchestra, sang in the Glee Club, and was a student deacon. Bob was on the student council — its vice-president in our senior year, and class vice-president in junior year. He earned a degree in business at Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and president in his senior year. He continued his pole vaulting and set records in track meets in England and Ireland. Bob was married to the love of his life, Nancy Louise Wagaman, for 63 years. They lived for two years in Karlsruhe, Germany, while Bob served in the Army. He and Nancy moved to Memphis in 1971 through Bob’s job transfer with NBC bank. They raised three daughters. He is survived by his wife, their daughters and grandchildren, and brother William Owen ’54. Bob’s humor, dry wit, love, thoughtfulness, and generosity brought much joy to his family and friends. He was an active member of First Evangelical Church in Memphis and Grace Evangelical Church in Germantown for the past 44 years. • Larry Levine’s wife, Helen, wrote to

say that Larry passed away on 2/7/18. Larry lived on Martha’s Vineyard and spent some time in Las Vegas, Nev. As a two-year man at Mount Hermon, he played fall and spring tennis, baseball, was in the band and orchestra, and participated in the chess club. Helen and Larry were married for 39 years, and he had three children from a previous marriage. Helen added, “He will always be in my heart.” • Arthur Schuman (West Hartford, Conn.) celebrated his 85th birthday last fall and he still goes to work every day. “I enjoy working and watching my son, Mark, run my company,” said Arthur. “He has not fired me yet. I also spend wonderful times with my seven grandchildren — the oldest is teaching English as a second language in Spain, and the two youngest are in middle school and high school. Matty plays high school soccer, so I watch him all the time. He also beats his old grandfather on the golf course now. One granddaughter is now at Tulane and loving it.” • Daren A. Rathkopf and his wife, Mira, traveled in December to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they have a house. They were joined for Christmas by their two daughters and their families. The Rathkopfs found Mexico very festive during Christmastime, “as it is most times of the year,” said Daren. • By the time you read this, my wife, Carol, and I expect to be living in a senior retirement community of 600 people in Carol Stream, Ill., just six miles west of where we have lived for over 39 years.

Northfield Mount Hermon Julie Taylor Clemens jtclemens@cs.com For our Nov. 2–4, 2018, mini reunion, some of the attendees arrived at the Hampton Inn in Greenfield on Friday afternoon. Your scribe (Julie Taylor Clemens) and husband Drew stopped at the Four Leaf Clover in Bernardston, just for old time’s sake. Several years ago, we had joined about 20 classmates, family, and spouses, but this time we were the only ones. At that time, it was a good start to the Friday-night lobster dinners cooked by classmates and friends, with lots of time to reminisce in a church basement over cocktails and nibbles brought by everyone. • Times have changed and new arrangements have been made to accommodate our minis. Mimi Brewster Hollister Gardner, Steve Waters, and Nancy Stuart Philippi planned the 2018 mini. Many thanks for all their time and effort, which was halted mid-planning by the death of Sybil Benton Williamson, who was also helping with the preparations as our class president pro tempore. • Many of those attending had

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come to previous minis and were ready to re-establish those ties that bind, with NMH as a common denominator. In addition to our planners, the mini attendees were: Dave Hartman and Mary, Diana Armen Cowles and John, Bill Rosser and Phyllis, Bob and Susan Halkyard, Bob Gile, Russ Broad, Jud and Ann Wells, Faith Wagner Schacht, Drew and Julie Taylor Clemens (20 in all). Both Josie Rigby (honorary member) and Sue Clough joined us for dinner at the nearby Kobe Restaurant, where excited talk reigned along with some exotic Japanese food. On Saturday morning, we met on campus in West Hall in the Mira B. Wilson Room. There we were met by our new NMH liaison, Liza Tarr, and staff, and were given mementos along with a folder of happenings and news of the new head of school, Brian H. Hargrove. • Ralph Ahlberg was able to join us on Saturday morning, but Stape Roy and Mary Newman McMahon were unable to come as planned. The class meeting began with greetings and a reminder of those classmates we had lost in the last year: Don Wragg (1/25/18), Donald Chatman (2/22/18), Virginia Crandall Horan (6/4/18), and Sybil Benton Williamson (6/20/18). A few minutes of silence followed, Mimi read a poem by Mary Oliver, and several people spoke of how much Sybil had done for the class over the years. Steve remarked that Sybil was “a person who stepped to the front.” Diana told of the very moving memorial service she attended for Sybil, where Sybil’s three daughters were “very impressive.” • Lunch was served cafeteria-style, so we went through the line and found plenty to satisfy our hunger while noticing how much West Hall is used before and after meals for student companionship, studying, and snacking (apples, coffee, soft drinks, water, and other snacks are always available). • After lunch, Chief Advancement Officer Allyson Goodwin ’83 talked of her involvement and how the school has changed. One new course, Humanities One, was described and is required of all freshmen. There are four questions in this religion/philosophy-type course: Who am I? What is my place? What does it mean to be human? And how then shall I live? This course is only given at NMH! Allyson reminded us that some old customs still remain: Mountain Day, Vespers, rope pull, Sacred Concert, and Tree Day, as well as the workjob program. • Our class scholarship student, senior Patsy from Barrington, R.I., came to speak with us. It was noted that she was going to be playing goalie for the NMH women’s soccer team that afternoon, so Drew and I dressed warmly and went down

to the lower field to watch the action. NMH won 5–0. It was noted that the class scholarships are a great help, but that they are in addition to the NMH scholarships that meet the main needs of students. Patsy wants to be a physician assistant and is waiting for college acceptances. • On Saturday afternoon, the class met in a smaller discussion room, where Dave Hartman led us in a meaningful discussion of today’s world and politics. He began by reminding us of what has changed in our world since NMH graduation in 1952. He stressed the importance of knowing the sources for our information and he personally reads four newspapers daily: the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, plus The Economist. Reading all the editorials and op-ed pieces with their biases are important in order to view all sides and make up one’s mind. Dave stresses the need for civil conversation, which we managed to do. The most conservative among us really only spoke of the massive debt and the financial difficulties. We avoided the more personal remarks and criticisms. • We met again at 5:30 p.m. to hear from the interim head of school, Charles A. Tierney. All his children attended NMH, and he was very enthusiastic about how good the curriculum and life at NMH continues to be for the students. • Saturday dinner was not scheduled away from campus, so we went through the food line again but found some good choices (flank steak) for all. Next year there are already plans to be at the Fox Inn (not available this time due to a trustee meeting), where the Saturday dinner can be catered with wine. News of the 2019 mini reunion will be forthcoming and the new committee already has several suggestions for a revised schedule. Drew and I left early due to early Sunday departure. Others went various places to continue their conversations and NMH remembrances. • Post-mini reunion news includes: Steve Rowley said of Ralph Ahlberg, who was “number one on our tennis team — he was so good! Are you still playing like me, Ralph?” Steve and wife Rosemarie split time between Charlestown, R.I., in the summer and Jupiter, Fla., from November to mid-May. • “Sending vibrations of good health and love to all,” said George Bissell. He and Nancy are “enjoying nine grandchildren and their families, who helped celebrate Nancy’s 80th birthday in July. We are very blessed; we enjoy our times together and keeping up with their progress and activities!” • Mary Merin Tinkham’s oldest grandchild left for University of Puget Sound last fall, and she has a new grandson.

Mary is in touch with classmates, such as

Lucy Jo Jackson DeMonchaux, and has heard from Carol “Cookie” Kiger Allen, whom she hopes to see sometime in Seattle. • Bill Fivaz

and Marilyn sent an essay written by Steve Jobs titled “The World’s Six Best Doctors,” which included several poignant considerations: “Treasure love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well and cherish others.” Another point made by Steve Jobs: “The six best doctors in the world are sunlight, rest, exercise, diet, self-confidence, and friends. Maintain them in all stages and enjoy a healthy life.” • Russ Broad sent a card after the mini reunion that included pictures of his three children, their spouses, and nine grandchildren. Russ’s year had several “low points” physically, as he developed “brain fog” that was eventually helped with new medicine. In October, his “significant other,” Carol Sellman, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is receiving chemo. In addition, Russ faces surgery for a “tiny tumor” on his upper eyelid. Hoping all goes well, Russ. • Just after the mini reunion, Dave Hartman had to let everyone know that he is now a first-time grandfather to baby Fitz — class of NMH 2037, according to this proud grandfather. Dave acknowledged that his wife, Mary, already has nine grandchildren. • Just up to the deadline, Marcia Ottey Raushenbush and her husband, John, are going to Colorado, where they live part of the year. John has a new book, Mike Mulligan and the Secret of the Magic Berries, the second in a series of Mike Mulligan stories. John’s latest is a story of two friends “having new experiences learning about the wonders of wilderness and wildlife in Yellowstone Park.” It is written for 8- to 14-year-olds. Both Mike Mulligan books are available at Amazon.com. • Some of the news will be old by spring 2019, but for those classmates without access to computers, it will all be new! Hope you all managed to make it through the winter without too much hassle and stress. Fondly, Julie.

Northfield Mount Hermon Will Lange will@willemlange.com • Abby “AJ” Nicholson Hodges ajhodges@comcast.net From Will: Britten Dean and Kayoko treated themselves to a three-week cruise to Hawaii, which neither had visited before. It started in San Diego, cruised five days to Hawaii, and seven more days around the islands, “including a helicopter flight over a volcano and lava beds and a submarine tour of the ocean floor and coral reef,” said Britten.

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Old Stones, Made Strong Again Jim Fannin ’54 Jim Fannin has spent the last 30 years in graveyards. He and his wife, Minxie (right), are historic preservationists, and their specialty is conserving cemeteries like the one at 200-year-old St. Augustine’s Chapel in South Boston, or the Old Colony Burying Ground in central Ohio, where they repaired nearly 600 gravestones over 25 years. Last year, the couple received the 2018 Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Award for Lifetime Achievement, but Fannin isn’t it for the glory. “It’s an honor to be able to work on such old and beautiful stones,” he says. He and his wife have worked in 60 cemeteries in Massachusetts alone. Despite Fannin’s decades of preservation efforts, this is actually his second career. He spent 26 years in hospital administration, running facilities in Long Island, Philadelphia, and Massachusetts before leaving the field to partner with his wife, who had started a preservation consulting firm. For Fannin, it was a return to his undergraduate days at Dartmouth, where he studied economic geography and took courses in cartography, geology, and art and architecture. Now, he and Minxie spend half of each year in the field, documenting and conserving centuries-old gravestones and monuments — “extending the lives of historic art objects,” he says. The communities they work with “take great pride in the fact that they’re preserving the history and heritage of their towns.”

It ended with five days back to San Diego. Sweet! • Bob Chutter and Aileen are selling their house in Charlotte, Vt., and will be moving to Wake Robin community in Shelburne, Vt., in early spring. “It’s a continuing care retirement community,” Bob writes, “and seems right for us. We celebrated our 59th anniversary on November 28 [2018] and trust there will be a few more!” I visit with the Chutters now and then — we’re only an hour apart — and have enjoyed it every time. • Ellin Messolonghites Johnson and Fletcher are still regulars at the tennis courts and are still in their house. They’re also into a landscaping project to try to counter the blistering effects of Oregon’s unusually hot summers. • Since my irreplaceable Ida’s death, I’ve been getting used to living alone, as many of you already have. I still do my newspaper column, radio commentaries, and TV show to keep me off the streets, and enjoy the 24-hour-a-day companionship of Kiki, a lovely little rescue terrier from Texas.

I travel a bit — Montana in the summer to fish; Arkansas (last year) to visit my son and his family for Christmas; a windjammer cruise in late winter; and I’ll lead a public television tour of Scotland in September. So I’m happily engaged. Recently, responding to a medical opinion that I have a few good years left, I bought an elderly BMW, in which Kiki and I will go off into the sunset together.

Northfield Mount Hermon Dennis Kelly dskelly1935@gmail.com • Be Jay Froehlich Hill bhill24@juno.com • Dan Fricker dcfricker@videotron.ca From Dennis: Make sure that you have cleared your calendars for June 7–9, 2019, to return again to our great old school for our 65th reunion. Your reunion committee is hard at work to make the gathering very special. On our 60th reunion, we had

Willem Lange ’53 and his rescue terrier, Kiki, hit the open road in Willem’s BMW.

NMH Magazine

seven classmates who returned who had never been to a reunion before and they all had a great time. We all want to duplicate that experience again. We have arranged for Will Lange ’53, Mount Hermon’s storyteller extraordinaire, to be our guest speaker. Will has published nine books of wonderful short stories that should be required reading for all NMH graduates. In addition to me, your reunion committee includes Bob Salisbury, Stan Peck (Glen Rock, N.J.), Bobbi Helmle Simon (Bridgeport, Conn.), and Gail Schaller Storms (Bristol, R.I.). I returned to NMH last year as an observer of the class of 1953’s 65th reunion; they had a large number of attendees. • There is an active group of ’54 Northfield graduates who have kept in touch with each other over the years and annually plan get-togethers. They call themselves “The Incredible Octogenarians” and include Nancy Wickens, Marcia Samuel, Toni diStefano Norton, Ann Newman Sundt, Betty Vermey, Toni Browning Smiley, Mardy Moody O’Neil, and Gail Schaller Storms. For some unknown reason they want to come to the “Jersey Shore” this spring and asked me what to recommend. I suggested some cool shore towns with small inns and seaside hotels, such as Ocean Grove, Asbury Park, Spring Lake, and Bay Head. I said that if they choose Bay Head, I would conduct a historical walking tour followed by lunch or dinner, as my guests, at the Bay Head Yacht Club, and then a walk on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant along with bumper-car rides at the boardwalk amusements. They chose Bay Head and won’t be

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disappointed. • Last October, I invited Fred Rice and his lady friend, Teresa, to dinner at our rental home in the Sea Pines Plantation of Hilton Head Island, S.C. Fred and Teresa have bought a retirement home in Sun City Hilton Head, a gated retirement community, where they plan to spend the winter months away from Maine. We expect to see Fred and Teresa at our 65th reunion. • Toni Browning Smiley and her daughter, Sim, are inveterate travelers. They were both in the south of France last summer visiting a friend in Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. They later traveled to Nice, where the super-rich keep their mega-yachts. Sim lives near Toni in Washington, D.C., is fluent in Italian, and works as a translator for the State Department. In January 2018, Toni and Sim traveled to Panama to visit Toni’s former husband, Robert. He has a coffee farm on a volcano, where one can see both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Toni still maintains her thriving CPA business in downtown D.C., specializing in IRS tax work for her many clients. She has been a great assistance to me in my ongoing travails with the IRS. • Jim Fannin and his wife, Minxie, received the 40th Annual Massachusetts Preservation Award for the work they’ve done over the past 30 years in preserving historic burial grounds. They have worked on over 60 historic cemeteries over the years, located mostly in New England. Jim promises to be at our 65th reunion. • Susie

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the Northfield School for Girls in the fall of 1952, when he was a doctoral student at Boston University and not yet widely known to the public for his civil rights leadership.

Antonia Post Fiske ’53 says, “I was electrified

by his talk, and that day at lunch and dinner in Merrill-Keep, we talked of nothing else. In 20 minutes, [King] converted me to pacifism!”

Alumnae of the classes of ’53, ’54, and ’55: Do you remember Dr. King’s visit to Northfield? Fiske believes it probably took place on a Wednesday, when “current affairs talks” were held during chapel. Barbara Clough ’29, a Quaker, had just become headmistress. If you have any recollections of this day, we’d love to hear them. Send us an email at nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org. We hope to hear from you!

Craig Hastings, Debby Brown Boots, and I were hoping that Cathy Olney Irzyk could join us on Hilton Head Island in the winter months, but she wanted to stay close to her old family homestead in Dunstable, Mass., in case any winter storms cause damage. Cathy was also planning to travel to the West Coast to visit her daughter and friends during March. • Ann Newman Sundt and Ed Sundt’s daughter, Hannah, will graduate in May from the Naval Academy in Annapolis and plans to attend medical school, all paid for by the U.S. Navy. She will then become a ship’s surgeon for the Navy. We look forward to seeing Ann and Ed at our 65th reunion, as they’ve always been loyal returning alums. • Ralph Perry and his wife, Betsy, will attend our reunion, as will Phil McKean. Betsy is a professor of Spanish history at Claremont College in California. Ralph, Phil, and their respective wives spent time together at the Hunting Gardens in Los Angeles. Phil and Deborah Adams McKean ’56 live in Claremont, Calif., in the winter months and in Cushing, Maine, in the summer months. • Dave Jansky is still active, particularly in serving as an umpire in women’s softball leagues. There is a major tournament held every year in Harrisburg, Penn., that he enjoys. He regularly attends the “Jansky Lectures,” honoring his father, who is considered the father of radio astronomy. The lectures are held each year at the University of Virginia. Dave sees his old roommate, Jay

Toni Browning Smiley ’54 and Lady Champagne

Crawford, on occasion, as Jay lives in Lexington, Va. Dave looks forward to being at our reunion. • Your loyal scribe delivered his last yacht from New Jersey to Portsmouth, R.I., in August 2018. It was a tough, slow trip on a very old sailboat. I also took my last cruise on the coast of Maine, having sailed it since 1972. I sailed with my lifelong friend and another person from the local yacht club, departing Manchester-by-the Sea, Mass., and going on the Saint John River in New Brunswick, Canada. Everyone should at some time in their life tour the coast of Maine; it is just beautiful and the lobsters are so good. • My youngest grandson, Logan, will graduate from NMH in May. He is committed to attending Colorado College. • Thank you all so much for your generous contributions to the McVeigh Scholarship Fund. We established the fund at our 45th reunion to honor our beloved cross-country and track coach and French teacher, Fred McVeigh. We started with pledges of about $33,000 at our 45th reunion. As of December 2018, the book value of the fund is $195,101. The book value is the amount of money we have all contributed. The market value of the fund, which is invested and fluctuates, is now $208,327! The scholarship supplies roughly $10,000 of student financial support. Every year, we receive a nice thank-you letter from a scholarship recipient. The scholarship is open to anyone, but preference is given to students who run on either the girls’ or the boys’ cross-country or track teams. So, stay healthy, eat wisely, and get plenty of exercise, and we’ll meet again in June. Save the date!

Northfield Mount Hermon Lisa Tuttle Edge etedge@aol.com • Don Freeman d.freeman4@verizon.net From Don: Sherry and Mike Carter have a grandson who is a senior engineering major at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. • Judy and Ben Lindfors have moved — contact me to get their new address in Austin,

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Texas. • John Cooley, his husband, Jack Millard, and their two Dalmatians, Luke and Blue, work away at maintaining their old farmhouse and barn and keeping the wild critters out of their gardens in Chatham, N.Y. John recently finished a three-act play, Mark Twain and the Girls, which dramatizes Twain’s retirement project — a club for teenage girls — that he called Angelfish. The play is based on John’s book, Mark Twain’s Aquarium (University of Georgia Press). He is now looking for opportunities to stage the play. • Bill Kolb works with a service organization called Elder Wisdom Circle. The organization helps mostly younger people seeking advice as they write in with their questions. Their concerns are often about their relationships, conflicts with friends or parents, career choices, and other personal topics. Occasionally, a letter is submitted by an older person, such as an aging mother or grandmother with situations concerning offspring. Over time, Bill has written about 650 letters and has even gotten some thank-you responses. It continues to be a fulfilling volunteer activity for him.

Northfield Mount Hermon

Nelson Lebo nlebo@nmhschool.org • Kim Buck skimball1682@gmail.com • Caro Woolley Peterson petersoncaro3@gmail.com From Caro: Lanie Tetreault Smith had a wonderful visit last summer with Annie Pelletreau Woodbury. “[Annie] drove up to our

place on Bailey Island in Maine from her home in Falmouth, Maine,” shared Lanie. “We had a great time catching up and walking the trail along the ocean cliffs to an area called the Giant Stairs, which is a geological fault caused by volcanic action.” • Joan Thompson Leonard enjoys talking about books and characters with her book group; The Great Alone and The Nightingale (author Kristin Hannah) led to good discussions. Joan and Bob are in good health. With two new knees, Joan still walks every morning with her friends. She has three sons and seven grandchildren ages 13–26. Luckily, they had set up 529 plans to help with the grandkids’ college expenses. She and her husband are still very involved with her church, especially with supporting missionaries. They are slowing down on their traveling and are thankful they have visited so many countries over the years. • Dorrie Krakower Susser visited John and Jean McClintock, who are enjoying life in their CCRC community in Connecticut, a lifestyle that suits them well, but Dorrie has

NMH Magazine

reservations about it for her and Bob. Dorrie said that life is going well for her and Bob. The Public Affairs Lecture Series they help support is in full swing, with fine speakers who have no optimism about global disruptions, the decline of democracy, Iran, or U.S. policy in the Middle East. Bob enjoys his Shade Tree Commission, but at a recent meeting there were more fireworks about a tree some “over-privileged yuppies” wanted to remove from the front of their house. • In August, John Mitchell came to the Cape with his friends and companions, staying in Benita Pierce’s summer house. It was cause for yet another NMH ’56 gathering: a Lobster Roll Boat Ride out of Dennis Harbor along the coast and heading toward the Cape Cod Canal. Joining the festivities were Dorrie Krakower Susser and husband Bob, Bruce and Betsy Zimmerli, Walt and Yvonne Jones, Benita, and Peter and Caro Woolley Peterson. Also with the group were honorary class members Marggie Slichter Blake ’84 and Josie Rigby with her husband, Robert. NMH’s Peter Weis ’78 and Lydia Perry Weis ’80 also joined in the fun. The day was completed at the Hyannis Yacht Club, with yet more joviality and companionship. • Fiona MacKinnon paid a visit to Cape Cod this past summer, driving all the way from Albuquerque, N.M., accompanied by her 18-year-old cat, Tootie, who just rolled her eyes as the miles went on and on. Fiona continues to ponder how best to spend her years and how best to cause trouble now that she is at an age where there is nothing to lose. She quotes Mary Catherine Bateson, who said, “Get on with composing your life.” And her own mother, who said, “I’m not dead yet!” • Pattie Pelton Lanier wrote from Sarasota last November, “Had a big bash in October [2018] to celebrate 50 years in Florida and my 80th birthday. Managed to get children and stepchildren (two each) and all four grandchildren here. That’s unbelievably hard to do. They left and I immediately began four days working early voting and then a 16-hour day on Election Day. Am now back to normal — sleeping and eating properly and getting to the Y for my water aerobics.” • Caro Woolley Peterson returned to her hometown of Glastonbury, Conn., for the Thanksgiving holiday. Revisiting the favorite haunts of her childhood invigorated her and revived what she thought were lost memories. She and her husband, Peter, continue to lead a double life: May to December in Carver, Mass., and the remaining months in Venice, Fla. No more snow and ice, if possible, for them. • Kim Buck went to Manhattan to visit her daughter, Jecca, and

son-in-law, Jean Loup, for Thanksgiving. They visited the Cooper Hewitt Museum and the new Whitney Museum. Her daughter, Kay, traveled from Vermont for 10 days at Christmastime. Happy family times. • We mourn the passing of Sharon Wright (7/28/18), who was living at the CCRC Kendall community in Oberlin, Ohio. She was receiving therapy to help her recover from a stroke, but then developed lung cancer. She decided to forgo any further treatments. You may remember that after Sharon graduated from Oberlin College, she traveled and volunteered in Europe and Israel for two years. When she returned, she earned two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in psychology. She moved to California in the early 1970s, beginning her own counseling practice. It was there she had her stroke. She was a good friend to many of her classmates and is much missed. • Ralph Bixler spends most of his time with his wife of 23 years and their four children and grandchildren. Five years ago, he sold his insurance brokerage firm to a large international broker and is now a consultant to that firm. He also writes that his closest friend at Mount Hermon, Norman White, passed away on 1/23/18, just two weeks after his 80th birthday. • We have heard from many of our classmates and hope that you will send us updates on your life for the next issue. We would love to hear from you. • From Nelson: John and Linda Lubetkin drove up to Carlisle, Penn., from the Washington, D.C., area in June 2018 to meet Carol and Nelson Lebo for lunch at the Café Bruges. It was Carol’s 55th reunion at Dickinson College. John and Linda’s son, Will, is a Dickinson graduate, so they were quite familiar with the area. As a bit of history, our headmaster, Howard Rubendall, was a Dickinson graduate who left Mount Hermon to become Dickinson’s president in the early 1960s. John and Linda have sold their home and moved into a senior living facility in Auburn, Va. • Neil Sheeley met Lillian Hann Young and her husband at the funeral

From left: Dave Williams ’57, Ginger Roe Lang ’57, and Sarah “Terry” Drew Reeves ’57 discussed plans for their 65th class reunion at their Fall Fling in New Hampshire.

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of a mutual friend in the Washington, D.C., area. He remembers meeting Lillian at our 60th reunion. Her brother, John Hann ’61, lives across the border from Northfield in Winchester, N.H. Carol and I knew John’s children, Sarah ’91 and Stephen ’93, quite well during our NMH faculty days. • As we move further into our eighth decade, we find that a number of us have made the move to some type of senior living location. Some have had to move to an assisted living situation for either physical or mental reasons or both. And of course, sadly, some of us have died. The most recent death that I am aware of as I write this in mid-December is our class president, Bob Conly, on 9/26/18. • As I have mentioned in my recent class email, Carol and I are in our own downsizing-andpreparing-to-move phase. The house was put on the market in October 2018, although we think it will be spring before anything might happen. It must go before we go. The upper levels of our barn are close to empty, but the ground level is still fairly filled. Some larger pieces of furniture and other various items have been sent off to a “higher end” auction house and other things disposed of via several tag sales. When these approaches fail, items go to our local survival center in Turners Falls, Mass., or the “free” location by the road in front of our house. Our destination will hopefully be independent living in a cottage at a senior living complex in Colorado Springs near Garden of the Gods and old Colorado City. Our Colorado family will be about a half hour away, and we plan to spend several months (our winter/their summer) in New Zealand with our Kiwi family.

Northfield Mount Hermon

Jeanne Schwartz Magmer jeannem57@gmail.com

Hello, classmates. Where are you? My email box was pretty empty as the December NMH class notes deadline approached. What I did learn is that many of you are dealing with all the changes and challenges of aging, including major health issues and the loss of our loved ones. • Betsy Howlett (Revell, Crane, Hillside, Wilson) is entering a new era with her first move in 26 years to a lovely apartment in a complete care retirement complex, Applewood, in Amherst, Mass. “I’m absolutely loving life here,” wrote Betsy, “even though I haven’t yet dropped any of my Amherst responsibilities and have added several here at Applewood! Hiking all around us is wonderful, as are the dinners, the company, and the plethora of activities we can join or not as we please! Try it, you’ll like it!” • In August 2018, Joyce

Moore Arthur lost her husband, Bob. They’d been together for 58 years. And in November 2018, Malcolm Peck lost his wife, Aida. Our deepest condolences go out to Joyce, Malcolm, and their families. • Sixty-fifth class reunion leaders Joyce Moore Arthur and Steve Springer are counting on as many of us as possible to be functioning and able to come to “Reunion 65” in 2022. Joyce and Steve are staying well connected with NMH alumni staff to make sure we are housed on the first floor of a dorm, with toilet facilities at the same level, and that we get our classmates scheduled on the workshops/ presentations! • Our New Hampshire Class of ’57 Fall Fling was so successful that those in attendance agreed to gather annually for Fall Flings in New Hampshire, with a similar three-day schedule and overnight facilities much closer than the 2018 accommodations. Here’s who did make it to 2018’s Fall Fling: Joyce Moore Arthur, Joe Harrington, Bruce and Marsha Johnson, Ginger Roe Lang, Bob and Judi Mansfield, Sarah “Terry” Drew Reeves, Steve and Barbara Springer, and Dave and Pat Williams. Retired NMH faculty members Marilyn and Dick Kellom spent one whole day with us. Joyce traveled from Wisconsin, Barbara and Steve flew in from Oregon, and the rest were already in New England! By prior arrangement, the group talked by phone with Lloyd Mitchell, Darrell “Coop” Cooper, Paul Reyes, Barbara Tuttle, and Martha Johnson while we were gathered. Health issues kept all of them away. Those who gathered in New Hampshire also agreed to get and/or stay connected with all the classmates we can find. The goal is to keep us informed of regional gatherings and to encourage those of us in other parts of the country to do similar gatherings to Fall Fling. To help us do this, please notify NMH about any changes in your lives, addresses, health, etc. There is no other class as well connected as we are, and we want to make it even better! So please help us keep you in touch! • For every classmate dealing with health issues, I echo Barbara Tuttle in saying, “Our hearts go out to you, and hope each day finds you stronger, healthier, and on the mend.”

Northfield Mount Hermon William Hawley hawleys@acsalaska.net • Helen Engelbrecht Ownby helen.ownby@gmail.com From Helen: Mariamne Zipp Boothby, “I am experiencing steady but slow recovery from an August [2018] right shoulder replacement. My focus now is physical therapy and limited exercise. Seeing family, friends,

occasional musical or other social activities add spice to an otherwise quiet life in Vermont.” • Joan Millett Walker wrote, “Last January [2018], we made our annual trip to Pennsylvania for Cabin Fever, at which Steve [Walker] exhibits some of his steam engines. I care-take them while he checks out other exhibits … In February [2018], we jumped into ecological heaven with a Chevy Bolt, and I gave up my 17-year adventure in manual shifting for a whole new experience. Now to plan for charge station locations! (Fortunately, home charging works, just not as quickly.) March and April [2018] brought fun with kidney stones, but a very bright spot: along with warmer weather came a visit with Helen Engelbrecht Ownby and Dennis! Loved sharing the dome with them and a little more work on our 60th reunion. In May, we headed back to Rhode Island for what would prove to be a very hot, muggy, wet summer. Missed Sacred Concert due to aforementioned stones’ aftermath, but we thoroughly enjoyed Trinka Craw Greger’s and John Stone’s beautifully planned and executed 60th reunion! We already hope to do another in 2020. The monthly phone calls and class support were invaluable. The poor summer weather led to more kayaking than sailing, unfortunately, but we did have time for family visits and Steve’s train weekends.” Last fall, Joan’s daughter, Joanna, was diagnosed with breast cancer, but caught early. Joanna’s recovery is going well. Meanwhile, Steve will document the boat he is building in the garage. Joan had cataract surgery before their January 2018 Pennsylvania trip. Joan and Steve were planning to attend the 125th Sacred Concert in May. In closing, Joan encouraged her classmates, “Do consider being a part of another reunion as you are able. Returning to be with our NMH friends is wonderful.” • Sharon Hutchinson Hosley and husband Leigh are still living in their motor home full time, spending summers in Maine, winters in Texas near son Scott ’82, and a few weeks of spring and fall in Amherst with son Colin ’88. They had a wonderful time at the 60th reunion! • John Quenell wants our class to know: “We have a few books commemorating our 60th class reunion left. You can have one for only $15. Also, we still have some remainders of the 50th reunion book, at 670 pages, the all-time heavyweight champion of NMH class reunion books. This can be yours for only $5 to cover mailing expense.” Please write to your class editors to reach John for a reunion book. • We’ve decided to travel as much as possible for as long as we are able, so we spent 20 days on a tented safari in

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Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana last fall. Over 10,000 pictures came back with Dennis! We had a wonderful time, but I wish we had been able to do this about 20 years ago when I was a bit more physically fit. Our daughter, Kathy ’94, arrived from the U.K. for Christmas, and at the end of January we traveled around the Iberian Peninsula for two weeks. • From Bill: Trevor Dupuy and wife Linda Shaffer Dupuy ’59 went on a 15-day cruise from Barcelona to Miami. Weather was bad for three of the four days in Spain, but it was great at sea. The ship, Sovereign of the Seas, is the largest cruise ship in the world. Trevor was concerned that 5,000 guests and 3,000 crew might feel crowded, but the ship is so big that he was pleasantly surprised. Trevor and Linda were planning to take a one-week western Caribbean cruise in February to celebrate their 55th anniversary. (Congratulations!) Trevor remains very involved in the Texas state political scene. The grassroots conservative groups are now busy pushing their priorities for the 86th Legislature, which convened in January. The Democrats made big inroads into the Republican statewide majority in the midterm elections, so Trevor thinks it will be a tougher row to hoe. The press touted Beto O’Rourke as the future of the Democratic Party. Trevor believes that it will be interesting to see if O’Rourke gets any traction for the 2020 presidential election. • Jane Hougen Fast moved to Durham, N.C., after 48 years in Missouri, to be near her son, his family, and her brother — like many others in her retirement community. It had taken Jane a bit of time to settle in, but by December 2018 she had acquired new friends, plenty of activities, and had returned to her travels. Jane cruised the Danube to the ports of many Eastern European countries that still bear signs of living under Communism. In 2019, Jane will return to her grandfather’s home of Norway with a few Hougen cousins. She misses exchanging news with Astrid Lundberg Naviaux, but is delighted to chat

From left: John Stone ’58, Trinka Craw Greger ’58, and Steve Walker ’58

NMH Magazine

with Judy Johnston Klein and Claire Kurtgis-Hunter. Jane is taking several courses from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke to keep the brain well oiled. She sends greetings and best wishes to all. • Evan Freund advocates for criminal justice reform in Illinois, dismantling the oppressive war on drugs, and restoring education for long-term prisoners, largely as a consequence of the faith-based education he received at Mount Hermon. Along with a coalition of community groups, including the Community Renewal Society (a consortium of 80 churches in the Chicago area), he is helping to establish legal accountability for Chicago police, some of whom escaped departmental discipline through union contracts, a historical legacy that has cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars in recompense. Evan and his wife, Nan, spent Thanksgiving with their two sons and grandchildren, all living in Los Angeles. After 50 years of absence, Evan has joined the First Unitarian Church and is now the social justice chair. Nan continues an active practice in educational therapy with five colleagues in their downstairs office. They are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in the spring with a family trip to China. Best of all, they are well and healthy. Nan had a successful knee replacement last summer, and Evan works out at the gym three times a week. • Claire Kurtgis-Hunter and husband Paul are doing well. They enjoyed the Nantucket spring through October 2018, and afterward looked forward to returning to the warmth of sun and family in Boca Raton, Fla. Claire and Paul’s Florida doors are open to snow birds who need a sunny respite! • John LeBaron regrets having missed the reunion last year, especially since it was such a great party. John is thankful for John Quenell’s “excellent” book-bound account of the reunion. John (LeBaron) and his wife, Faith, celebrated 50 years of marital bliss in France with a river cruise in Bordeaux on the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, with side excursions in Paris and the Loire Valley. John and Faith, “aside from the shredding fan belts and the clogged spark plugs of ‘maturity,’” are in decent health, as are their children, five beautiful granddaughters, and big dog — none of whom (sadly for the country) ran for political office in 2018. He and Faith send warm regards to all who emerged from boyhood and girlhood at Northfield and Mount Hermon in 1958. • After reunion, John Patten and Carol drove “about the country for two weeks” on the way home to Seattle, where they prepared

for the “Mini Takes to the States 2018.” This involved a total of 1,800 Mini Coopers. The group of Mini Coopers from the west drove from Portland to Pasadena, east to Santa Fe, and then north to Keystone, Colo., where they met the group from the east who had driven from Orlando for a three-day weekend. On the way home, John and Carol visited eight national monuments and parks. • After 30 years as transplants to San Francisco, Bob and Mary Beth Starzel are moving to Arroyo Grande on the central California coast to be in the same town as their 11-year-old granddaughter. Bob and Mary Beth hope to broaden her opportunities during the after-school hours when both her parents are working. Their granddaughter hopes that Bob will have a lovable dog and a horse for her. Everyone fears what can happen to the huge California economy as newly elected Governor Gavin Newsom comes in and the legislature goes wild asking for the surpluses Jerry Brown built up to be used for their Bernie-style programs. The people in Arroyo Grande seem more like those in Colorado and more down-to-earth. But, Bob writes, “At our age, making such a move almost exceeds our energy. We are re-energized by the effort.” • On November 30, 2018, Bill and Betsy Hawley returned to Anchorage, Alaska, at 3:30 a.m. after a flight from Phoenix and a Thanksgiving visit with their family. Five hours later, they were awoken by a dramatic earthquake: 7.0 and by far the most severe and scariest quake they have experienced in their 52 years in Alaska. They suffered no injuries and minimal damage as they fortunately live in an area of the city that has reasonably stable soil. Bill and Betsy are counting their blessings, and will travel to Tanzania for a much-anticipated safari with their 13-year-old granddaughter, Emma.

Northfield Mount Hermon Nancy Bissell Goldcamp 2002 Chantilly Drive Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 ngoldcamp@cox.net • Ty Bair Fox tybfox@aol.com • Tom Baxter baxtg741@comcast.net From Ty: Ginny Lane Thompson says Branson, Colo., is the place to visit: Only about 70 people year-round and plenty of peace and quiet. Husband Emory loves that there are no billboards between Branson and Pueblo ... only the pure, raw beauty of the Comanche National Grassland, snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and Johnson Mesa against the northern slope of the tiny town of

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Branson. • Drucilla North Ekwurzel and Nathan live in a 100-year-old house in Pittsburgh (actually in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood). “We are well and active,” wrote Drucilla, “spending our summers in Maine, and enjoying Pittsburgh the rest of the year. I was able to attend several ‘On the Water’ reunions on Long Lake in Maine and look forward to more.” • Life is easy for Mia Bulgarin Gay in Arizona. “Just right for retirees: lots of diverse culture, plenty of sunshine, affordable living; just counting the Californians moving here,” wrote Mia. The Arizona Balalaika Orchestra, which Mia is credited for founding, gave its 39th annual concert in January. She was planning another reunion with the Tucson NMH gang in February. • “I am sorry to miss you all in June,” says Lori Dingman Wadsworth, “but we will be on an old Norwegian ferry boat converted to a cruise ship for 130 people, meandering up the fjords of Norway far enough north to see a polar bear, if we are lucky. We are still living in Cambridge most of the year, but lucky enough to spend the summers on Cape Cod. Unfortunately, Chris, the love of my life for 55 years, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years ago, but he is doing all [that is] possible to slow it down. This means daily workouts at the gym … We continue to travel some and are hoping to go back to our beloved Turkey next summer for a Turkish wedding and a week’s sail with friends on the Mediterranean. Grandchildren are not in the cards for us, but our two wonderful sons have special women in their lives who share their love of the outdoors. Last summer found us all in Tanzania on safari for 10 days, which was the treat of a lifetime. I guess our motto is, ‘Life is uncertain, so eat dessert first!’ I trust the reunion will be fun for all, and I am very anxious to read Soren’s book when it comes out. That is one trip we will not be taking!” • Sandy Magoon Johnson asked, “Is this really our 60th reunion? Only yesterday I came to the 50th when my niece came with me to make sure I didn’t fall over. Ten years on, I am still here on my feet, a dual AmericanAustralian citizen. I have a 5-year-old granddaughter, a not-yet-retired husband, a new house that has taken us almost three years to build from scratch but is our ‘forever’ home, and a boat which we keep in Fiji, where my husband was born — we spend three or four months a year living there.” Sandy is planning a trip to Italy this year, and hopes to get to NMH for the class reunion. • Valerie Parsons Gibson can’t believe that 60 years have passed since we graduated and she is still deciding what she

wants to do when she grows up. She is a full-time art teacher at Mountain Arts Community Center in Signal Mountain, Tenn. When not teaching art, she is painting in her studio or en plein air, or teaching English, citizenship, and life skills to refugees, as well as being a Eucharistic minister and Eucharistic visitor for her local Episcopal Church. After 15 years of mentoring in the Education for Ministry program from the University of the South at Sewanee, and further education, she surprised even herself by becoming a licensed lay preacher for the Diocese of East Tennessee. Her last three years have been spent getting used to her new role as a widow after 53 years of marriage to her husband, Peter. For the first time in her life she has had to rediscover who she is as one person, not as a team member. Recently, through various ministries, her life has been enriched by the advent of a new partner, who brightens an already overflowing life of grace. “Peace to all of the NSFG graduates ... we were blessed to have the mentors we had,” said Valerie. • Sue Wilson King fell in love with the cows grazing behind MerrillKeep. She’s had a farm in New Hampshire for the last 25 years after the longtime suburban Boston routine. As to cows, she just purchased two Scotch Highland heifers this fall. She has a large alpaca farm with many other animals. Sue doesn’t go on cruises, but she’s happy to still contribute to many charitable events with her animals. She does have another life with four wonderful grandchildren venturing into the working world and is excited to see their independence, breadth of knowledge, and experience at their young ages. She’s been to lots of graduations! • Anne Roeser Bloemen has relocated from Broome in northwest Western Australia, 2,400 kilometers south from Perth. The Bloemens now have two of their four grandchildren living nearby. That, plus proximity to specialists, makes their relocation a sensible move, albeit difficult after 20 years enjoying the space, red earth, and turquoise waters of the Pilbara and Kimberley region. Anne’s daughter, Shanta, is in charge of a project called Mobility for Africa in Zimbabwe, which is designed to get women on three-wheeled electric bikes so they can get their goods to market. Shanta’s son is in boarding school near Anne and her husband. • I (Ty Bair Fox) am still braving the New England winters in my house overlooking Buzzards Bay in Marion, Mass. I spend a good deal of time in Boston and joined Donna Hayes Kennedy and Clark “C.B.” Loth at Christmas Vespers. “Dost

Alums like you frequently say, “I wish I could do more.”

You can.

By including NMH in your will. With that simple act, you can have an impact on NMH students for generations to come. Call 413-498-3299 or go to nmhschool.org/plannedgiving

Thou Remember …?” • From Tom: By the time we read this column, our 60th reunion will be history. We will have traveled long distances or, in the case of Randy Foster, not very far. We will have renewed old acquaintances and perhaps found a friend we have not talked to in 60 years. At hymn sing, we will have sung “Jerusalem” and many of our favorite hymns. Old choir members will have joined the choir for Sunday service. Senior Rock will have been found, and we will have had a nostalgic trip across the Connecticut River to the Northfield campus, a visit to the Sage Chapel, and to look at the dorms that were our homes so long ago. A great time at Convocation will have passed, then our class reception on 59th Street, the class meal as well, and our reunion festivities will have come to an end. Some tearful farewells and we are back to present time, planning for our next reunion in 2024. • Kevin Leary and his wife spent 10 days in County Mayo, Ireland, appreciating the beauty of the meadows and wondering why his clan ever left. Last fall, they dined with Steve Cohen and Andrea at

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their home in Beverly, Mass., and Kevin made a solo trip to Lancaster, Penn., to visit with Soren and Bonnie West. Both Kevin and wife Susan still work in Boston and live in Jamaica Plain. • Clark “C.B.” Loth shared, “At the Boston Vespers service at Emmanuel Church, Rosanne and I sat with Kristin Kellom ’80. Seated in the next pew were Ty Bair Fox and Donna Hayes Kennedy. Following the service, Rosanne, Donna, Ty, and I enjoyed a festive Christmas supper together at the Ritz (now the Taj) Hotel Café. It was a holiday precursor to the 60th reunion.” • Leo van den Blink is still alive and kicking, “Although the kicking is decidedly more deliberate,” said Leo. “I did attend our 50th reunion, and I found it to be an emotional affair. I vividly remember that when we had our hymn singing in the chapel, especially when it came to our beloved ‘Jerusalem,’ I got choked up. I have many wonderful memories of my Mount Hermon experience, even though in the beginning the language barrier seemed almost insurmountable.” Leo and his wife are both retired; Leo was an educator and

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that if you are 70 1/2 or older you can use your IRA to make a gift directly to NMH? It’s easy to do and it will: • count toward your RMD • be excluded from your gross income and federal taxes • support the NMH Fund or other interest • help fulfill a pledge Call 413-498-3299 or go to nmhschool.org/plannedgiving

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wife Marjorie worked for the BBC Africa Bureau and was later a banker. They are now living in Princeton, N.J. “We have taken many trips abroad over the years,” wrote Leo, “but the highlight of all these vacations was undoubtedly our 10 days on the historic Orient Express. Absolutely super. I learned that having five-star treatment is somewhat like sliding into a warm bubble bath: It takes absolutely no effort. We will probably not be at our 60th reunion. Yes, we are getting older, but my memories of my years ‘on the hill’ are as strong as ever. They are absolutely warm and happy memories. I wish all my classmates a healthy and rewarding 2019.” • Peter Crumb is still not retired but he’s taken a leave of absence from Behavioral Health Network in Springfield until spring since he’s having his right ankle fused. He’ll need to stay off his foot for six to eight weeks. “Doc says I’ll be in good shape to march at the reunion,” said Peter. “Looking forward to being outrageously pampered for the next two months.” • Tom Bethea is planning a “reunion loop” this summer — for his wife Bonnie’s Brown University 50th reunion, followed by our Mount Hermon 60th. “Most likely driving east from Arizona and then (groan) back again, but not before some leisure time in Maine and surrounding area,” wrote Tom. “Maybe somebody will organize a short, easy-paced bike ride if the weather’s fine while we’re on [NMH] campus? Say, Route 10 to Bernardston, then Route 5 to the Vermont line and back again?” • Charlie MacCracken shared, “I have worked in contract bridge since leaving college. I migrated from a player to a tournament director (a referee) in the late 1960s and have risen to a management position for the last 20 years. It is a great job and I thoroughly enjoy the work. However, it is physically and mentally demanding, so I plan to drop to part time at the end of 2019. There is a strong likelihood that I will attend reunion next year.” • “Even though I’m not on the committee,” wrote Steve Cohen, “I have been in touch with more than a dozen classmates about the reunion. One particular delight was a FaceTime conversation with Jane and Brian Sedgwick. Learning from classmates about the ‘wages’ of growing older has been sobering. Reaching one person days after he received a serious diagnosis and another who (unbeknown to me) had emerged from a hospital stay just an hour before my call reminded me of my appreciation of being able to claim good health. When my father and his old friends got together and talk had turned to ailments, after a very short time Dad would say, ‘It’s

time to end this organ recital!’ On the other hand, when one is feeling vulnerable, it can be enormously rewarding to find that old friends care. I’m chairman of the board of New England Hydropower Company. We retrofit old dams to generate electricity with water power. Exciting stuff. My top civic/ philanthropic commitment is as a trustee of the Essex County Community Foundation, which covers 22 communities in northeastern Massachusetts. The aggregate of two months spent in England since mid-July 2018 (with more to come) meant my garden suffered. Smallest apple crop in years.” • Bob Friedman and Win are doing well, having spent their winter in Sarasota, as usual. They have occasional visitors during the winter from up north, which adds to their fun. If any of the class of ’59 finds themselves in Sarasota, please contact them. • I (Tom Baxter) am still volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. I am building a house in Cumberland County, working against an impossible deadline. I am also acting construction committee chair for Salem County Habitat. I am working on a three-house, nine-day blitz build by the Wood Works Organization. I am following my very talented grandson to All-State Chorus and to All-South Jersey Chorus, now that marching band season is over. He and I have been singing in our church’s Christmas Cantata for the last two years. Other interests are quilting with Carol and boat building. I have been golfing again after 10 years, mainly because my youngest grandson made his golf team as a freshman. So grateful I have the health to do all this.

Northfield Mount Hermon Phil Allen philhallen@gmail.com • Sheila Raymond Hazen sfernh@centurylink.net From Sheila: Please send me news about what you’ve been doing — traveling, reading great books, taking great courses, tending grandkids, etc. My deadline for submission of materials for the fall 2019 issue of NMH Magazine is in June, so please be in touch well before then. • From Phil: Fred Black will take his family on a trip by river boat in October. “This way, we get to see them spending some of their inheritance while we are around to enjoy it,” wrote Fred. He added, “I bought a 1950 Ford coupe in fair shape for me to work on, and my wife supports it, as I was driving her crazy. My restoration will be close but not exact. I’ll leave that to my youngest to do after I’m gone. It is interesting to me that this is the

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same model we had at Mount Hermon for the auto club to learn on, and that John Gregorian reported in the last NMH Magazine that he has brought a Ford of the same year back to life.” • Wilfred “Will” Holton continues to live in a retirement community in Jamaica Plain, Mass., and is active in three nonprofit organizations in Boston. Seven years into retirement and he is in quite good health. He keeps in touch with three classmates: Albie Booth, Karl Radune, and Randy Oestreicher. Will’s wife, Susan, was in poor health for about 10 years before dying in October 2018. He hopes to attend our 60th reunion in 2020. • George Banziger volunteers as a truck driver and grant writer for the food-recovery program in his area. He’s also doing grant work for a multi-use trail in his township and working on issues of interfaith dialogue in his region, which is not very religiously diverse. He has finished teaching and presenting a course, Healing the Divide, for the Institute for Learning in Retirement at Marietta College, and hopes to offer a follow-up course on skills of civil discourse in our politically polarized world, modeled after a similar course for retirees at Gettysburg College. George expects to attend our 60th reunion. • Doug Barrett can hardly believe his 11 grandchildren are growing so fast, with most graduated from college and only a few still undergraduates. “As you can imagine, keeping up with birthdays, graduations, sporting events, and family celebrations, not to mention travel, is the best part of our lives,” wrote Doug. “Sally — the love of my life — and I celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary in September. I certainly owe a great deal of my success to the time I spent at Mount Hermon. There is no doubt that the carpenters of my early development were the teachers, coaches, staff, classmates, and people of all walks of life at this wonderful school on the top of the hill. God willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll be back for our 60th reunion in two years.” • Did everyone read Albie Booth’s First Person article in the fall 2018 issue of NMH Magazine, where he expresses his love of the wilderness — “stunning sunrises, bagels fried in bacon grease … following winds” — and the camaraderie of hiking and canoeing with NMH schoolmates and their families over many years? It’s a great read. • Marv Kelly, who is both alumnus and former faculty member, chose to make his contribution in this issue of the magazine to the Faculty and Staff News. With less than a year left before our 60th reunion, the good news is that five of the six generous contributors to this column are hoping (a realistic

response at our mature age) to attend. The other good news is that there is more than ample opportunity for all of us to reflect on our experience at Northfield/Mount Hermon — our friendships over the years, the connections we have continued with the school through reunions, school events, and, for many of us, following sons, daughters, and grandchildren through their time at NMH — to consider attending the 2020 reunion.

Northfield Mount Hermon Alexandra Groome Scopteuolo sandis10992@yahoo.com • Craig Walley operacraig@aol.com From Sandi: Ayo Shanti (Robyn Weiri) is working online on a master’s in emergency and disaster management; she should be done by the end of this summer at Metropolitan College of New York. She’s also busy taking care of Kirshna. • I had a nice long talk with Cyndi Morse, my roommate during junior and senior years. She’s happily retired, and her wife, Carolyn, is still working as a minister. They live in New Hampshire. • Randy McDonald O’Donoghue’s new granddaughter, Julia, is living in London. • Rea Brazeal is a retired ambassador, and her sister, Ernestine ’59, moved near Rea so that Rea could help care for her. • Cheryl Allen Fuller is a nurse practitioner, teaching at Misericordia University. She taught in Uganda in 2017 and 2018. Cheryl’s husband died five years ago, and she has three grandchildren. • Barbara Baldwin Joe wrote in December, “Lightning and I will be traveling to Hawaii in January: one week on Kauai and a week in Honolulu. Plan to hang out at the pool and go to the local flea markets. Then a girlfriend and I will be driving to Leesburg, Fla., in February for a couple of weeks. We will both be attending the Central Florida Dulcimer and Autoharp Festival in Mt. Dora. Will meet up with old friends and make new ones with lots of music. I will be continuing my mountain dulcimer journey and my friend will be beginning one. Classes all day for two days with awesome concerts each night.” • My husband is still working. My daughter will take over his business and lives next door with her three children. My older daughter, who has two boys, is head of the breast clinic at Greenville Hospital in South Carolina. We are all planning a cruise in the Mediterranean. Last summer, we cruised the Baltic, with stops in Russia, Stockholm, Estonia, and Copenhagen, and stayed in Berlin and left for home out of Ireland. • If you want your info in the next issue, email me! Also, grants are judged on

the percentage of alums who donate, not just the amounts. Even one dollar helps. • From Craig: Allen C. Myers wrote, “My wife and I now serve as co-pastors for the West Brooksville Congregational Church in Brooksville, Maine. I am in my third winter (and fifth summer) of serving the Union Congregational Church of Isle au Haut, an island six miles offshore. Fortunately, my winter visits are midweek, so they do not interfere with the mainland church duties. I continue to restore reed organs in my spare time (of which there is not much). It is an important stress-relieving activity, which also results in a useful and beautiful musical instrument for our times: doesn’t go out of tune, requires no electricity to function, and needs no further repairs for 50 to 100 years.” Allen also laments that those things he was “saving for the grandchildren” are things in which they don’t have the slightest interest. • Ron Calef, a former Mainer, now lives in California. “Still working as a consultant in the executive search business,” he shared, “and my location is still in the Sierra Foothills, about two hours west of Lake Tahoe. I had to retire my skis a while back, as my knees retired. Tough call for a lad from Maine and the land of deep snow.” Fortunately, Ron was not affected by the wildfires in California, but he noted, “It’s California: earthquakes, torrential rains, fires. What a place to live, eh?” • Chuck Bennett said, “Estelle and I moved from Minneapolis to Denver … in search of sunnier winters and in the hope that our offspring and theirs would be more likely to visit … both of which have proven to be the case. We are blessed to have two places here: one in an old neighborhood in the city, and a condo in the mountains near the Winter Park ski area, where I, despite encroaching osteoarthritis, am able to ski often.” Chuck is a teaching assistant at Harvard for a course covering change of leadership for sustainability. He’s also on the board of a nonprofit organization whose mission is to make bikes and bike skills available to people who might not otherwise have access to them. And he plans to continue his work on the NMH Alumni Council. Chuck added, “With one offspring on each coast, we still travel fairly often and spent Thanksgiving in Portland, Ore., with daughter Emily ’94, where we labored to help her restore a recently acquired home in the woods (after living for two years on a floating home!).” • From Cape Cod, Pete Johnson reported, “I have been an active and enthusiastic board member of the Brewster Conservation Trust since retiring to Cape Cod. Carol White Odell has been a long-term trustee and former president

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of the Chatham Conservation Foundation on the Cape. It’s been fun to connect with her on Cape conservation projects. Anthony Hill has become an expert in bird conservation [while] working as a volunteer with the Puffin Project in Maine and the Kestrel Trust in western Massachusetts.”

Northfield Louise Cole Nicollet lnicollet@gmail.com It is with great sadness that I must report that (to my knowledge) we lost two of our classmates in 2018 (I recently sent an email news flash to our classmates whose email addresses are registered with the alumni office.) • Lillian Foster Ketchum died in Brunswick, Maine, on 6/29/18 due to complications related to metastatic brain cancer. After her undergraduate studies at Vassar College, Lillian earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. During her 30-year career in journalism, marked by many professional achievements, she actively enjoyed the outdoors, several different sports, gardening, music, and reading. Lillian is survived by her husband, Bradford, son Simeon, stepson Bradford Ketchum III, sister Joanne Foster Carlisle ’60, and eight grandchildren. A memorial service celebrating Lillian’s life was held in her beloved Nantucket (where she had vacationed since early childhood) in September 2018. For those who would like to express their condolences to Lillian’s son, Simeon, he has given me permission to publish his email address: simketchum@gmail.com. • Dr. Karen Gottesfeld Bauman passed away on 11/21/18 in Madison, Wis., following several lengthy illnesses. Karen attended University of Wisconsin, where she received all of her degrees (B.A., M.S., and Ph.D.) in psychology. She started her career in developmental psychology but later became a clinical psychologist, mainly for children and adolescents. Despite her health issues, Karen worked until her passing. She is survived by her husband, Steven, sister Terry, three children (Vainca, Viveca, and Eric), and three grandchildren. • Malcolm Forbes Baldwin, husband of Pamela Thompson Baldwin, passed away on 11/12/18 in Lovettsville, Va., after a decade-long battle with prostate cancer. He attended Haverford College and was a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. He eventually became a specialist and recognized expert in environmental law and policy. After his retirement, he and Pam grew wine grapes and raised sheep at WeatherLea Farm in Loudon County, Va. A celebration of Malcolm’s life was held in December 2018. • It

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was a nostalgic Northfield summer of 2018 in Boothbay, Maine, for Sally Walbridge. Last June, Sally hosted the self-proclaimed Ladies of the Pen (LOPs): Carol AtwoodLyon, Cynthia Maurer Barnard, Emmy Zapata Doherty, Roz Rockwell Gianutsos, Sharon Dennis Elmore, and Blanche Houseknecht. The group was originally inspired by Cynthia Barnard’s journaling workshop at the NMH 40th reunion. Sally noted that there have been many changes in our lives over the last 16 years, and, as always, it was a challenge to do more writing than talking among the LOPs. In July, Leven and Beth Austin Jester were on the East Coast and spent two nights with Sally and her partner, Henry Barber. Leven and Beth have an unusual lifestyle importing fossils and rocks from Morocco (paleofacts.com) and managing their organic avocado farm in Fallbrook, Calif. Beth and Sally had not seen each other in 56 years, but both maintained the other was still recognizable. Shortly after the Jesters departed, Sally Martin Cole and her husband, Peter, arrived at Sally’s en route to France from their home in Hawaii. • If you are interested in posting your own news or seeing more frequent news of our NMH ’62 classmates, there is a Facebook page titled Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1962. It’s a public group and there are currently 107 members. Unless you’re allergic to Facebook (and there are valid reasons!), why not consider joining? • Our lives, with the many joys of older age, are also bringing us more and more challenges in facing illness and death (our own and/or loved ones). So may those of us who are privileged to be alive (and hopefully well) live to the fullest in the here and now!

Mount Hermon Eric Riedel riedelNMH62@gmail.com After 57 years, Paul Wade reckons that he can indulge himself about “the year that changed his life.” Apart from giving him a different perspective on the world, that year gave him great friends that he and his wife and fellow travel writer, Kathy Arnold, still see every year. “We regularly visit with Barry Goff, Reuben Johnson, and Harlan Levy,” shared Paul. “And their wives and families are equally close after all these years. Not forgetting Duke Oakley, whom we saw in L.A. this summer. Thanks to an extraordinary set of circumstances, Duke is actually a relative: Kathy’s cousin. The link to all this is the late Barclay Below. But that’s another story … We have been in touch with the professorial trio of John Morrow (WWI and more), Ed Allen (vacation tips in Germany

and Austria), and Eric Riedel and Karen Anne Smith Zee (nearly had lunch this year). We actually did have lunch with former NMH headmaster Ron Evans and his wife Jan in London this summer.” Paul writes further that he and Kathy “are still writing for magazines and national newspapers, such as the Daily Telegraph, but [are] trying to cut back!” • Barry Goff wrote, “My life is still limited by the fact that I have a consulting firm that works with federal and state government agencies and nonprofits. Closing the firm down and retiring is the plan that moves at a glacial pace. Still, there is time to be in frequent contact with Paul Wade, his wife Kathy, and their family through trips to London and New York and through email and Skype. I have had extensive contact with Jon Swift through my consulting work with the State of Connecticut between 2000 and 2010. I haven’t seen Jon for several years, but notice that he has not really retired yet either. He continues his music career, most recently performing as part of a duo, Deep Ellum.” • I continue to be in remission and will be heading to our home in The Villages sometime as soon as our health permits. That’s our news, classmates. Please let me hear from you whenever you can. Thanks.

Northfield Mount Hermon Diane Sewall Chaisson diane@meadowlarks-farm.net • Willard Thomen wthomen@stfrancis.edu From Diane: What a wonderful experience to sing “Dost Thou Remember” again at the Boston 2018 Vespers service! The program was centered on the theme of light and included reading from the Bible, Quran, Buddha, and Maccabees. May brings the 125th Sacred Concert, which I was fired up to be a part of. After surviving another reunion last June, I have been concentrating on my local church work, doing mission work through the thrift shop, and singing in our very small choir. My health is good, and I continue my weaving for its creative outlet.

Sally Martin Cole ’62 and her husband, Peter, in Boothbay, Maine, last summer.

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Some alumni could not attend the class of ’63’s 55th reunion in June 2018, but, thanks to technology, some ’63 alums attended virtually, such as Ricker Winsor (left) and John Brock (right).

• Carol Waaser continues cycling both locally and on tours in Europe and the U.S., and she was in the San Juan Islands. Last July she cycled from Copenhagen to Paris through Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. She noted that there was lots of great art and architecture in the towns and cities. At home in New York, Carol attends theater, concerts, lectures, and museums and fully enjoys being retired. She also coaches other people in the finer points of being a recreational cyclist, advising them on how to become and stay fit and healthy. (A longer report on her summer trip is on our class web page.) • Deb Eaton Peck has finally reconnected with April Dennis, who lives in Connecticut. Deb and Ray loved reunion, seeing old friends and reconnecting. “Still teaching yoga,” wrote Deb, “and thanks to Al Raymond’s inspiration, [I’m] still singing in my Unitarian choir. Our lovely Labrador, Tally, is now 8 and keeps me walking.” • Mimi Woodcock Karlsson enjoyed a “Wednesday geezer lunch” at the Steak Loft Restaurant in Mystic, Conn., with Sandy Freund Borden and husband Bob in November and planned on another in January. “No Portuguese water dog litter this winter, so John and I are catching up on some elective surgeries,” wrote Mimi. “Me: a dental implant, and John: a long overdue right-hand carpal tunnel release … Might try to do a Blount Small Ships cruise to someplace warm in early spring.” • Joan Erlanger wrote in December from Oregon that they are “in the dark time ... less time to spend out in the garden, although pruning and leaf cleanup are ongoing. It was an interesting year agriculturally — allium rust on the one hand — and yet a bumper crop of apples despite cool and rainy spring weather. We soldier on, albeit more slowly.” • Molly Hogan ran out of money so hasn’t been able to travel this year but keeps in touch with news from West Bank and with friends there. Hopes to save some and travel again ASAP. She continues to sing with Bach

Choir. • Lydia Adams Davis thoroughly enjoyed our reunion last year. Special thanks go to Don Glascoff for providing a scholarship and transportation. Lydia’s daughter, Romeyn Adams Nesbitt, moved to Switzerland after living in France since 1993. Lydia’s health is stabilizing, although it poses many challenges for a folksinger. “At least I can say much improvement brings me joy and optimism for continued professional performances in music and environmental activism,” she said. • Last year at reunion time, Jacquie Ballou Sullivan was busy getting her social work clinician license renewed. She’s not sure if she’s ready to commit to retirement yet. However, son Danny and his wife are expecting triplets, so that event may make up her mind after all. They already have Jacquie’s only grandchild. Jacquie lives a quiet life writing her “spiritual biography,” which is a work in progress. She believes we are going through a new dimension with its upheavals and we will emerge as whole triumphant beings with the ability to heal ourselves and others. There is happiness ahead. (I hope that is true.) • Sandy “Dee” Freund Borden and Bob had a nice visit with Katie Steinmetz Dater and her husband, Phil, and took them out for a ride on the Connecticut River in Bob’s power boat, which was fun. They’ve gotten together with Mimi Woodcock Karlsson and John a few times, meeting in Mystic, a convenient midway point for both. Dee is very busy with placing her dad’s art and recently placed a number of illustrations at the Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge, Mass.), which the Yale Peabody Museum wasn’t interested in acquiring (they weren’t related to natural history). So, although there’s still miscellaneous art to place, she has completed placing all of his “major” works (done for national publications), concluding a project she started in 2007. • Summer passed too quickly and now winter is upon us, not our favorite season. • From Will: Looking back to our 55th reunion last year, Holt

Anderson expressed his thanks to NMH staff Jocelyn Merrick and Zach Bitzer, who provided the technical setup and room in McKinnon, and to John Gamel’s excellent technical support that ensured smooth operation for the two “NMH 55th Around the World Reunion” online sessions. John expects we will be able to do these online sessions with great facility in 2023. Those who are not physically at our 60th reunion will be eating and drinking Mimi Woodcock Karlsson’s virtual goodies and cocktails. But those who make the effort to meet face-toface will be the real winners. John expects to make a motorcycle trip to North Carolina to visit Holt in June, then on to Lebanon, Tenn., for a BMW event, on to the Chicago area to visit me, and finally on to Michigan and then home. John’s wife, Beth, has asked him not to go to the West Coast again, so he has to find other lengthy alternatives. • Dave Hilliker and wife Wendy explored New Orleans, the Pacific Northwest, and Egypt last year. I enjoyed a great visit with them at their home in Manhattan Beach, Calif., en route to Hawaii in July 2018. • Dave Robinson and Tim Sullivan flew to Prague last July to meet up with Eric Erlandsen (who lives in Germany) for a wonderful week seeing the sights. • Kurt Swenson and his wife finally bought a house in Vero Beach, Fla., last June so they could spend the whole winter in a warmer climate. They are happy with the location and amenities, but the process of buying, updating, and furnishing is not as much fun as it was 25 years ago! They are looking forward to being more physically active, and Kurt is especially looking forward to a lot of time fishing on the Indian River, since his golf game worsens each year as he gets older. • Rick Weisman still plays trumpet with many groups. His passion for travel remains, and Lehigh University still trusts him to take students to Costa Rica, Ireland, and South Africa. He started traveling to the Dominican Republic last September on behalf of our Engineers Without Borders group, to start contact with a rural community to design and build a water supply system. Because of the political problems and violence in Nicaragua, he cannot travel there but tries to stay in touch with the community he worked with there. He and Melody are so grateful that they remain healthy, which allows for travel, playing with grandchildren, and keeping up a house. • Ricker Winsor started a new career teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). He teaches two days a week in Surabaya, Indonesia, where he and Jovita live. Through two global companies, he

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teaches mostly Japanese adults with Skype and children in Latin America with Zoom Platform. The curriculum is provided and works well. The whole system is amazing and certainly global in all respects. He and Jovita will be back in Vermont in October 2019 to connect with friends and visit the NMH campus. On their way back to Indonesia, they will spend a week in Paris, where Ricker lived in 1979. Jovita wants selfies by the Eiffel Tower and Ricker wants to revisit favorite places he knew back then. He is listed on Amazon’s authors’ page. Ricker’s new book, Francine, A Unique Beauty, can be found on Amazon. • Will Thomen was back in Hawaii last July for a reunion with elementary school classmates. In August, he enjoyed a delightful luncheon with Northfield classmates Diane Sewall Chaisson and Deb Jenks. The next day, he spent a memorable afternoon with John Gamel on a boat sailing around Boston Harbor. On his way back to Illinois, he marveled at the amazing Mosaiculture exhibit of 38 huge organic sculptures portraying the history of Canada in Jacques-Cartier Park in Gatineau, Quebec. • Unfortunately, the fall issue of NMH Magazine left out a portion of my class notes from June 2018. So I am including the list of names of our classmates who attended our 55th reunion as well as the part of my notes that somehow got cut: Fourteen of our classmates returned, including Holt (Beau) Anderson, Chuck Bates and wife Ruth LeBar, Rafael Fraguada and wife Mary, Tom French and wife Carol Norris, John Gamel, Don Glascoff, David Gregory, John Hoy and wife Alesia, Dave Robinson, John Schadegg, Tim Sullivan, Richard Watson and wife Kay, Rick Weisman and wife Melody, and me. Thanks to a special hook-up that Holt and John Gamel arranged, John Brock and Ricker Winsor were able to communicate with us via the internet. Mimi Woodcock Karlsson provided a marvelous spread of food and libations for all of us to enjoy. The tour of the Northfield campus on Saturday was particularly enjoyable. The weather was perfect.

Northfield Mount Hermon Robert Eastman rheastman4@comcast.net • Pamela Street Walton pawalton@myfairpoint.net From Pam: We will come together for our 55th reunion on June 7–9, 2019, so get into your cars and/or planes and travel — even if you have physical challenges. There will be golf carts to transport us and elevators to get us to our rooms. • Marcia Stacy Kemp had a

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Marcia Eastman Congdon ’64 (left) and Gail Myers Pare ’64 (right) presented a watercolor of “The Chat” to Allyson Goodwin ’83 in July 2018.

wonderful September 2018 combining travel with genealogical research. She spent time in Iceland and then, with a friend, visited Marcia’s relatives in Sweden, the friend’s relatives in Ireland, and on to England. Marcia has been working on family genealogy with her relatives in Vadstena, Sweden, for many years; she was surprised by the visual resemblances when she finally met with them. • Faye Lavrakas began a new “career” as a California Uber driver in the Monterey and Carmel area at the beginning of summer 2018. She has met people from around the world, and some have been only two degrees of separation from family members and friends. Vacation took her to the East Coast. She first visited a friend in New Jersey and they saw the Downton Abbey exhibit in New York City, where she was awed by the spectacular costumes. Faye really appreciated the New York deli food, since, according to her, good deli food is lacking in California. She then traveled to Boston, where she stayed with Kathy Marsh and enjoyed fried clams and scallops, and on to Cape Cod. Last November was not quite as much fun as knee replacement surgery was the main event, but she is getting around and will be fit as a fiddle for our reunion in June. • Jean Chatfield is still involved at First Church in Middletown, Conn. The church celebrated its 350th anniversary last year and has a diverse and growing congregation. Sadly, Jean’s mother (97) passed away last Thanksgiving; Jean noted that her mother lived a long, colorful life, including service in the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during WWII. • After 51 years in California, Susan Alexieff Marangell and her husband, Ken, have left their home near Los Angeles and moved back to North Haven, Conn., to care for Ken’s mother. They have 32-year-old twins: their son is in China and their daughter is in Australia. Susan hopes to make it to reunion. In the meantime, she

would love to have anyone who remembers her (West Gould) to be in touch. Contact me for Susan’s email address. • Dana Hastings Murphy moved to Memphis, Tenn., to take courses in Middle Egyptian (hieroglyphics) at the Institute of Egyptology within the University of Memphis. At our ages, this may sound unusual, but Dana read Middle Egyptian texts for 25 years with a group of friends in D.C., but then the group disbanded. Now she will study the language in a more formal way. Her son visited his mom’s new home in December 2018, and they did in-depth research to find the best barbecue place in the city (hope she’ll share the name of the location for the next column). • Reunion will be a special time for all, but an extra-special time for Marcia Eastman Congdon and her husband, George. Their daughter, Nancy ’89, will celebrate her 30th reunion and their son, John ’94, will celebrate his 25th. What could be better than having joint reunions? In July 2018, Marcia and Gail Myers Pare once again organized a mini reunion on campus. In attendance were NMH employees, friends of Marcia’s from Northfield Elementary, and quite a few graduates from both Northfield and Mount Hermon. At the luncheon, Allyson Goodwin ’83 (NMH Advancement Office) was presented with a watercolor of the Chat that had belonged to Gail. The painting was given to our class (at our 50th reunion) by Sue Melanson and then given to Gail. Gail felt the painting should “come home,” so it is now in Mayberry House, where Allyson lives. • Catherine “Toushy” Bliss Squires started a bed and breakfast (peppercottage.org) two years ago and it has become a busy venture. She lives in a favorite tourist destination, the Cotswold Hills in England. The oldest part of her hodgepodge house was built in the 1590s! She has met people from all over England, Austria, Germany, Holland, Australia, and New Zealand. The only downside is that she doesn’t do much else! Her stepson and daughter-in-law now live in France after several years jumping back and forth across the channel. They and their two children (in their 30s!) are an important part of Toushy’s life. Her daughter is married to a vicar (pastor), which gives them a busy and demanding life and a lot of fun for Toushy. • We can all take a lesson from Kathy Childs Jones in how to stay connected with classmates. In June 2018, Kathy, Gayle Landgraf Leaversuch and her husband, Bob, and Kathy Marsh met at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass., where they enjoyed hot drinks in the

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café and toured museum exhibits. Gayle and Bob had just returned from a trip to South Africa. In August, Kathy had lunch in Greenfield with Barbie Keith Tibbles and her husband, Doug. They reminisced about their years in Merrill-Keep and Barbie’s dummy junior year … Barbie often spent hours peeling potatoes in the basement of the dorm. Then Kathy Jones and Kathy Marsh met again, this time at Symphony Hall in Springfield on November 11, the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, to hear the Handel & Haydn Society perform. Art, music, museums/events are great choices for meeting locations. • Susan Creasy Case finds it scary that her first born turned 50. How quickly the time has passed. My husband, Ken, and I (Pam Street Walton) are on the other end of the spectrum. While many of you have grandchildren graduating from college, getting married, or giving birth to your great-grandchildren, we are announcing the birth of our first grandchild … a granddaughter born in October 2018. This perfect grandchild is changing our lives because we are now traveling to her rather than having her parents travel to us … life evolves. • Do email me your news as it unfolds, send some of your “required minimum distribution” funds to our ’64 Scholarship Fund or our 1964 Unrestricted Endowment Challenge (thank you, Clif Cates and Peter Guild, for the $100,000 challenge as your 55th reunion gift). And please remember to send any updated contact information to addressupdates@nmhschool. org. • From Bob: Brian Farrell bought a house in the Berkshires and joined Stone House Properties in Great Barrington as an associate broker while retaining his affiliation with Brown Harris Stevens in Manhattan. • Jim Ault went on a month’s visit with wife Margaret’s lovely family in Wellington, South Africa, with stops in Munich (Jim worked there in the summer of 1966, improving the German taught to him by Frau Donovan) and Nairobi (he last visited in 1969). Jim finished a film on some exemplary work with homeless folks in Asheville, N.C., and one on the late Kwame Bediako, a friend, colleague, and great thinker of the church in Africa. Son Henry Ault ’11 lives in San Francisco, where he’s in the thick of the tech industry. • The English edition of Dan Snodderly’s book, Peace Terms: Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding (USIP Press, April 2018), is now available as an e-book. Arabic, French, and Spanish editions were published earlier this year. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? • Clint

Smith is now living in Spring Arbor, Mich., where he is adjunct teaching at the university, for example, a world religions course. “I am also trying, very slowly, to do a doctorate on the effects of Salafism on human rights in the Middle East — especially the freedom of choice of religion,” Clint said. • Dave Mensel shared, “Life is fine down here in middle Tennessee, with both Anne and me fully retired. Our days stay full. Anne is becoming quite proficient on the mountain dulcimer and occasionally lets me join her with my acoustic guitar.” Dave spends a lot of time researching his family genealogy, with one surprising find: “D.L. Moody is my sixth cousin three times removed via my eighth great-grandfather, Deacon Samuel Wright, one of the founders of Northampton.” Dave also works on his model railroad, the Bellows Falls Division of the Boston & Maine. “My specialty is miniature reproductions (1:87 scale) of actual buildings that once existed,” he wrote. Dave and Anne enjoy time with their six granddaughters; three are local, but the other three are married and live far away. • Gregory “Bill” Holden wrote, “A couple of years ago, we decided to downsize and move to where one of our sons lived. They both wanted us, but with one in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the other in St. Petersburg, Fla., it was not a hard decision to make. We do spend part of the summer in western North Carolina and part of it in Ann Arbor, as St. Pete gets hot in the summer. We have a grandson in Florida and a granddaughter in Michigan. Our sons have a real estate partnership as a side business and I assist them with property management as well as handle everyone’s taxes. My wife serves as a faith community nurse. Downsizing was very liberating as I realized that most of it was just stuff, so we did our children a large favor and simplified our life now and theirs in the future.” • Dave Singer is still working, though he said it’s a far cry from his airline pilot career. “Since 2013, I have been a permanent field representative for the U.S.

Debby Peck ’65 and Alison Marshall Zanetos ’65 ride the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard in 2018.

Census Bureau. Each month I get a list of addresses all over South Jersey and go out to collect interviews. For most of the five surveys I work, they are people that I (or one of my colleagues) have seen before. Some days it feels great and some days it feels just awful! About a year ago, my significant other, Elaine Brumberg, and I redid my man-cave small house from the floor up. Now it looks much more glitzy, as we are living together full time ... It has taken some adjustment on both our parts, even though we have each been married twice before … We are both enjoying my two granddaughters, Ashley (3) and Emily (1). Thanks especially to Elaine, my relationship with my daughter, Rachel, has never been better.” • David Chosiad and Paula have moved to a one-floor apartment in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, Mass. Public transportation into Boston is on the next corner, and an art-house movie theater is only blocks away. They are excited, but they’re still going through the act of downsizing. Let me know if you want Dave’s grandmother’s china. • Clif Cates is well and enjoying life on the “Left Coast.” He asked me to remind you of the matching challenge he and Peter Guild have made: They will match our unrestricted gifts to the NMH endowment up to $100,000. As you read this, there is still more than a year left in the challenge, and we need to do our best to make the most of it. Write soon and send money.

Northfield Mount Hermon Wendy Swanson-Avirgan wsavirgan@aol.com • Henri Rauschenbach henri.rauschenbach@gmail.com www.northfieldmounthermon65.com From Wendy: Deepest condolences on behalf of the class go to Sally Atwood Hamilton, whose husband, Mark Hamilton, died on 11/26/18 in Walpole, Maine. • Linda Ames Nicolosi is “still adjusting to the new and strange state of widowhood — after almost 40 years of marriage — but [am] determined to ‘go out’ with a bang. A friend and I took eight trips last summer to the mountains. We have dubbed ourselves ‘the kayaking grannies’ or, alternatively, the ‘geezer-ettes.’ I hope to keep those joints working a few years longer! That ‘mountain high’ is the best way to lift the spirits and bring one’s mind back to the Creator. Not to mention that engaging with nature makes a person feel like a teenager again.” • Lynne Anderson is living in Eugene, Ore., and has retired from the University of Oregon, where she was a professor in the College of Education for nearly 40 years. Her research focused on

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strategies for using technology to support student literacy, especially for marginalized populations struggling to succeed in school. Lynne is “currently directing a project related to my alternate interest in early education for girls and women, the Sampler Archive Project, where we are creating an online database of American schoolgirl samplers stitched in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Goal is to locate, photograph, and document all American samplers in public and private collections across the country.” She was formerly married to the late Dean Inman and is now married to Clark Anderson, another retired academic. She has three daughters, two stepdaughters, and one stepson, and happily spends lots of time with her 13 grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 months to 18 years. Lynne’s other interests include travel, and rescuing and researching abandoned art. Would be happy to connect with Northfield alumnae either in Oregon or when she’s on the East Coast visiting family (Pennsylvania and Rhode Island). • Cynthia Battis shared, “I got a new left hip last spring [2018] and had a quick recovery … I traveled to Wales to meet my third cousin and his family and see all the places where my great-grandmother and her siblings had lived. Am busy with genealogy, the League of Women Voters, Daughters of the American Revolution, two women’s philanthropic groups, and two Italian classes! I love living in South Yarmouth on Cape Cod and have found many Cape ancestors to research while getting information on my 15 Mayflower ancestors in time for the Plymouth 2020 celebrations.” • “Looking to relocate to northern Virginia in 2019 to be closer to my son and his family,” wrote Linda Burden Tokarski. “Cleaning out 43 years of memories and detritus is a pain!” • Deborah Crockett Rice and her husband enjoyed a cruise in the Norwegian fjords in June 2018. She wrote, “I am still working two jobs: cancer outcome specialist at Falmouth Hospital and senior travel consultant. Still living on the Cape.” Deborah was looking forward to a week on Antigua at the amazing Curtain Bluff in January and to another Merrill-Keep reunion. • Elizabeth Eber shared, “I’ve given up all pretense of being young. New Year’s hugs to all!” • Jan Finney Schilling’s update: “Our son is in Falls Church learning German and heading to Munich this summer with the State Department. Looking forward to visiting there. We’ve taken to cruising and loving it.” Jan sailed across the Atlantic on Symphony of the Seas and was making plans to travel to New Zealand earlier this year. Jan also enjoys spending

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time with her two grandsons. • Holly Gamble Schinler is slowly adjusting to life in the Twin Cities and enjoys living closer to two of her adult kids and their families. “Granddaughter Maxine is 2,” wrote Holly. “We try to get together with our New Hampshire daughter and family whenever we can. Usually a beach vacation is a popular solution for everyone!” • Midge Harrison Fleming wrote, “Dick retired last May, and we have been busy settling in full time on Seabrook Island, 18 miles from Charleston, S.C. I am busy with the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic, and Dick will eventually volunteer as one of their orthopedic surgeons. The clinic serves the uninsured, working poor on James, Johns, and Wadmalaw islands. We see about 600 patients per month. Also still involved with Columbia School of Nursing, where I chair the Board of Visitors. In celebration of the 125th anniversary of the school, we constructed a new building in Washington Heights, New York City … We were blessed to add another grandson to our family in March [2018]: Alexander joins his big sister, Harrison, in Darien, Conn. Our other grandsons live in Baltimore: Teddy (15), Fritz (12), and Billy (10).” Midge and Dick traveled to Shanghai, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Hong Kong last autumn. • In September 2017, Beverly Lancaster Lindsey joined a team of teachers in a neighborhood church that offers free weekly ESL classes. It has been a wonderful learning experience for her. “In November 2017, I went on a retreat with women from my church,” said Beverly, “and got to know a woman who was, like me, a New Englander, a preacher’s kid, and a musician. She shared with me that cancer was in her liver and the doctors wanted to do chemotherapy. I knew that she could not drive. I went home and prayed about it and sent her an email offering to accompany her to chemo sessions. For the next 10 months, I basically journeyed with her. She never lost her determination, faith, or sense of humor. I took her to what would be her last radiation treatment in September [2018]. She went into hospice care three days later and died two days later. I know the Holy Spirit put us together. It was a blessing to be with her. My eyesight and hearing are poor, arthritic joints routinely complain, but I walk six days a week with neighbors. I have a grateful heart. Charlie is still singing professionally, volunteering, and doing work here and there. I miss New England a lot!” • Gail Linzee Reitter reported some sad news. “My dear Frank died very suddenly (10/30/15). We were married in 1970 and were extremely lucky to have 45 great years together. Our two daughters, son-in-law, and

three young granddaughters were in shock and mourning for these three years. I feel things are getting better; it takes time. We had a beautiful Mass for him and the Cantata Singers, whom I have sung with since 1980, sang at his funeral at St. Theresa’s Church in Sherborn Mass. On a brighter note, our daughter, Stefani, her daughter Audrey (7), and their pup Rosie, who were evacuated in Malibu, discovered the day before Thanksgiving that they still had a home. The fires came to their front door and moved on. The devastation out there is overwhelming … The owner of Paradise Cove Restaurant managed to save his place and he invited all evacuees for free fish dinners on Thanksgiving Day. Humanity can be at its best in a crisis.” • Ellen Lougee Simmons says life is exciting and busy with two grandsons and four granddaughters. “I enjoyed a wonderful summer in Maine, and spent Thanksgiving with my mother in Hanover, N.H. Always great to get back to New England! Best to all our classmates.” • Alison Marshall Zanetos wrote, “Debby Peck, my sister Georgia, and I met up for a few days in Menauhant, Cape Cod. It was a wonderful mini reunion. Debby and I had not seen each other since 1974! Now we are both grandmothers. Deb and I not only were great friends at Northfield, but her family summered in Chatham, so we spent our summers together as well.” • Raymond and Joan Milne Bischoff had a terrific trip to South America, visiting Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. “Iguazú Falls and the Corcovado in Rio were amazing,” said Joan. “The people were delightful and each country had the best beer and the most beautiful women … We love to play bridge and play in a competitive game nearby. In summer, we [play] golf and tennis when we can. I am still working in executive assessment, but [am] able to manage my schedule to allow for fun trips and family time.” • Judy Preble Miller has been retired almost a year and finds retirement far from boring, thanks to meaningful activity at church, ongoing efforts to pare down the amount of stuff in her apartment, and get-togethers with friends in Maine, North Carolina, and New York City. • Richard and Candace Reed Stern are both retired and live in Dallas during the winter and spend summers in Castine, Maine. “We take classes at Brookhaven Community College and are active with a local Rotary Club. In Maine we are active with the Downeast Hiking Club. We are lucky to have lots of family here in Dallas and siblings who live not far from us in Castine. Granddaughter Emma is 1 year old, on the brink of walking and talking, loves music,

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and we have fun singing together. Our daughter and husband live nearby and we are always happy to help out with babysitting. Wishing all my Northfield friends a happy 2019!” • Rachel Rikert Burbank announced, “Granddaughter Natalie Ruth was born on 11/6/18, in Seattle, Wash., to our younger daughter, Andrea, and husband Michael Miller, both Stanford ’06, and is using the Burbank name! Our first granddaughter — so much happiness here. Older daughter Hilary and husband Steven have three little boys and live in Waterloo, Ontario.” • heather Ross feels sad that she has lost touch with so many good Northfield friends. “I stayed in touch with Jennifer Lovejoy for so long, until she died,” she said. She is still living in Bella Coola, British Columbia. She retired from her school job, but is still working on the ambulance crew and is unit chief. Active in community endeavors, heather is single at the moment and has two kids, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, along with chickens, cats, and a horse. “What more could I ask for?” remarked heather. • Rich Scollay and Judy Mintie Scollay traveled in 2018 to Oregon (where their trip was curtailed due to the fires and smoke), and in their Chinook, they visited Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, and Arizona. “We were only home a day when Rich went for a bike ride, his usual 30 miles,” said Judy. “On the return he took a very bad spill, had a concussion, and was in ICU for a day. After cardiology, neurology, and doctor appointments, he has been cleared to do most everything. I still teach sewing classes and Rich, when able, volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and the local junior science museum.” • Hermione Symington Ainley is “still ticking, no spare parts as yet! Also still working on and off as an Alzheimer’s carer … Would love to see anyone who thinks England is still worth visiting. I’m certainly having doubts at the moment. I have almost given up on following the news, as many of our politicians make me want to throw my

Bob Kowal ’65 stands atop Whistler Mountain, British Columbia, in the summer of 2018.

shoes at the television, radio, whatever. The problem being I’d rather not break my stuff.” • From Henri: We recently had a wonderful dinner in Boston with a representative grouping from our class. Attending were Chris Parker, Mark Boeing, Bob Van Wyck, Matt Couzens, John Clark, Peter Barber, Tim Schiavoni, John Eagar, and class president John Stinchfield. Mark Vonnegut had hoped to attend but was set back by an illness. Paul Houston would have come but we were too far away; he teaches at Cornell. Jamie Bennett wanted to come, but he lives in California (and so does Dick Deroko). Brian Ackerman would have come, but he has moved to Rhode Island, where he is running a number of therapy groups. We also heard from Peter Seamans, who is living in Florida. I will try to see Peter and Brad Fitzgerald when I am next in Florida. And, of course, John Clark came all the way from northern New York and seemed rather chipper for the event. We had a great discussion at dinner, on topics beginning with NMH’s front gates through West Hall and down to the soccer fields on the Connecticut. There is no doubt that NMH maintains the vibrancy that we experienced when we were there. Kudos were in order for our class president traveling up from Washington, D.C., to spend time with his minions. Perhaps most importantly, we discussed the idea of establishing some sort of scholarship fund at NMH in memory of the late Carroll Bailey, who meant so much to us. All were in favor. • Bob Kowal and his wife, Patricia, climbed Whistler Mountain in British Columbia, Canada, in June 2018, for a vacation.

Northfield Mount Hermon Jean Penney Borntraeger Wheeler theinn@ferrylanding.com • Frank Sapienza sapienzafc@cdm.com From Jean: Spring greetings to you, treasured classmates, as I write this in the deep freeze of a Maine island winter! Perhaps send me a brief note right after you read this, letting me know what you’re doing so it can go to classmates when I write this column again in the late spring? Photos are always appreciated! • Barbara Tweedle Freedman has been appointed to the Kendal Charitable Funds Board of Directors. “It will be an interesting position to hold,” said Barbara, “and will take me to Philadelphia three times a year and utilize some of the skills I gained while on the NMH board. It is a truly good way to give back.” Many of us recall that Barbara was on the NMH Board of Trustees at the time of the difficult and chal-

lenging decision to consolidate the school into one campus. As a third-generation “Northfield girl,” Barbara understood what this would mean more than most of us. “I’m sure we have many classmates who serve on many boards, so there is nothing particularly unique about this … it isn’t a bad idea to let ‘Club 70’ read that many of us are staying involved and active as we move into this next decade! Retirement? What retirement?” • To see how actively generous and involved our classmates are in their communities and the wider world is a true testament to the value and focus of our NMH educations of the “head, the heart, and the hand.” • There have been several mini reunions of Northfield ’66 girls over the past few months, which we hope can be a lead-up to a larger reunion for our 55th anniversary of graduation! Unfortunately, I can’t seem to transfer the photos from my Facebook account to my desktop or laptop to include here, so check out the class of ’66 Facebook page. • Barbara Hazard met with Catherine “Cookie” Wagar in L.A. in August 2018 and had a fun time sharing Moore Cottage stories. And in November, Barbara went to visit Susie Rheault in Tanzania at the Precious Home and School, which Susie has lovingly adopted and sustained with help from many who believe in the wonderful life the home and school are providing for the children there. • Most of you are already aware that Elaine Rankin Bailey ’55 died in November 2017. I emailed a letter in June 2018 to let you know of this sad news, along with news of the passing of Elaine’s beloved husband, Carroll Bailey, but my message got lost in the wireless world — I am sorry. Several of us had stayed in touch with the Baileys, who held our class especially close to them for all this past half-century. NMH has started a fund to recognize their devotion to school, even after they left to teach at Andover, so if you are moved to recognize the impact they made on your life, please contact the school’s office of advancement, or send Wil Everhart a note. • As we roll along into our new decades, I wish you warm memories, good cheer, and some adventure to celebrate the gift of each new day. Do stay in touch! • From Frank: Hello, classmates. By now, all of us have reached that 70-year milestone. It’s a good point to take some time to reflect on where we’ve been and what we want to do with the rest of our lives. • Donald Buermann worked in information technology management for 45 years, mostly in health care. He is now retired and living in Vermont with his wife, Joanne. His three sons, their wives, and their eight grandchildren live

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in Boston and Rochester, N.Y. • Raymond Kirk spends lots more time fly-fishing, golfing, flying around in his 1943 Piper Cub, and making wine at his vineyard in South Hero, Vt., on Grand Isle in Lake Champlain. Summers in Vermont, winters in Carolina, what could be better? • Lane Langford is still playing music on Lopez Island in San Juan County, Wash., and loving it. He invites all music lovers to drop him a line sometime. Contact me for Lane’s email address. • Al Coulter was heading to Alaska to instruct a NOLS sea kayak course. He said that getting in and out of a sea kayak will be a little trickier with his right knee, replaced last August. Al, a lot of us have these issues but we don’t do sea kayaking in Alaska. You’re an inspiration! On turning 70, Al said that the best part was a surprise party that his wife, Mitra, organized and was attended by a wide mix of family and friends. • Andrew Wright wrote, “I am still scrambling around in the architectural world, though I think I understand it less than I used to. Never happier than when I am puzzling my way through a design, but I spend way too much time running a business.” Andrew’s daughter, Jessie, is a librarian in New Hampshire, raising three sons, and is married to Leslie Ahlgren’s nephew. Son Sam assists in a program for young children with special needs, and daughter Katherine is a student at Fordham Law School. Andrew and his wife, Carolyn, are planning a bike trip in Croatia. • Derek Mitchell and wife Janice restored a stone farmhouse near Macerata, Italy, 15 years ago; they retired there in 2011 — after Derek’s 40 years in architectural practice in Toronto and Bermuda. • Jim Weiss sold his interest in Weiss and Hale Financial Consultants in 2016 and is now a bona fide “chocoholic.” He wrote, “Nancy and I sold our hilltop property … in rural Connecticut in 2016 and moved four miles. I flunked retirement and decided to call myself rewired as I am an active life coach, chocolatier, and grandfather.” • Dave Edsall and Robert Bruce are lifetime swimmers, still swimming in national meets. Dave encourages all to come up and swim in Maine. His daughter, Kysa Edsall Crusco ’94, had a great one-hour swim earlier this year: 4,800 yards, which is awesome. • Steven Sheiffer obtained a master’s in public administration and has had a 36-year career in city management. I remember sitting next to Steve in Pa Baxter’s Latin III class. Somehow, we made it through because by the third year of Latin, it was all Greek to me. • Jennifer Stevens, a longtime grammarschool friend at Pike, retired after 30 years

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as an IT professional. She succinctly writes her best memories: feasts after taps, crazy bus rides to Mount Hermon, singing songs, trips to the bookstore to get bottles of Coke and Drakes cakes, sports, perfume fights, best friends for life, Christmas Vespers in 1962 with thunder and lightning in the middle of a snowstorm, and walking back to Hillside in the storm. • Steve Skibniowsky wrote, “I am back working in the radiological environmental monitoring program here at Vermont Yankee. I started with Vermont Yankee in 1972 and retired from this job in January 2015, but my replacement decided to go to Pilgrim Nuclear Plant in 2017, so I was asked to come back to fill in for a while. The nuclear plant is shut down permanently but still requires environmental monitoring to satisfy federal and state regulations. I will be writing the 2018 environmental reports for the station … hopefully, after that, I will be able to retire again! I have been living in Vernon, Vt., since 2006 in a cabin that my wife and I built in the family forest. I am also busy restoring old automobiles (working on a 1970 Toronado at this time). I was unable to make it to the last reunion, but am hoping that I will make the next time you all get together.” • That’s it for now. Stay healthy and, for most of you, enjoy your retirement.

Northfield Mount Hermon Donna Eaton-Mahoney dmeato@outlook.com • Dana L. Gordon mounthermon1967@comcast.net Not wanting to wait an entire five years for our 55th reunion, Wendy Alderman Cohen, Sylvia Kuhner Baer, and Donna Eaton Mahoney hatched a plan to celebrate our collective 70th birthdays with a long weekend class get-together in Cape May, N.J., in mid-2019 with high hopes for a big turnout. • Carole “Ducky” Drake Chamberlain lives in Ferrisburg, Vt., where her husband built a primitive log cabin on a nearby hilltop. They love to get away during summer to enjoy a wood fire, candlelight, and water from the rain barrels. But when the Vermont weather gets cold, they escape to Mexico for the winter. After nearly giving up hope, the pair was excited to await their first grandchild. • In September 2017, U.S. Naval Institute Press published a book Will Melton edited of his late father’s memoirs about life aboard Liberty ships fighting the Germans and the Japanese, titled Liberty’s War: An Engineer’s Memoir of the Merchant Marine, 1942–1945. Will was also be guest curator for an exhibit about the story at the American Merchant Marine Museum in Kings Point,

Long Island. Mark Eluto attended a talk Will gave about the book in nearby Port Chester, N.Y. In December 2018, Will’s Rhode Island-based mandolin ensemble, L’Esperance, produced an album of Celtic music, Uisgei Beath, Water of Life. Will and Eliza Childs are among those hoping to attend the gathering at Cape May. • After 44 years as a clinical social worker working as a psychotherapist with adults in several mental health clinics, Lissa Perrin decided it was about time to retire. She and her fiancé, Dale Johnson, planned to celebrate her 70th birthday at a five-day program at Esalen Institute, a retreat center in Big Sur, Calif. — something that’s been on Lissa’s bucket list since the late 1960s. • Trish Watson Bartlett had three major events in 2018, starting with the birth of grandson Alex in April 2018. The following month, Trish’s daughter, Katrina Rose Dderiksen, married Jacob Davidoff. And in November, a less festive occasion: spinal fusion surgery. Amid all these events, Trish and husband John continued their travels to Tanzania, where they looked forward to Helen Fowler’s visit to their little community in Moshi. • Dr. Bill Johnson was pleased to report his new granddaughter was doing well after having been born seven weeks premature in June 2018. Although retired, Bill is still working part time with various tasks that he has loved, including serving on the ethics committee at a hospital. He also continues to go on medical missions, such as working in Colombia with refugees passing through from Venezuela. • In the last three years, Willy Hermann has been blessed with three grandchildren. He and his wife have rediscovered the wonders of the first year of development as well as the joys (?) of diapers and feeding schedules. Two grandchildren live close by, and the other is just a one-hour flight away. • After many years of retirement, many years of the same roles in community politics, and no grandchildren yet, Sheila Morse organized a party in December for more than 80 friends and four generations of family members, at which she and Dick, partners for more than a decade, got married. The fact that Tina Dobsevage (Sheila’s friend since 1964), along with her husband, was part of this celebration made it all the more wonderful. Sheila is still chair of her small town’s select board, tackling all sorts of local issues. Sheila and Dick didn’t do a lot of traveling in 2018, having celebrated one of her son’s weddings as well as their own, but they went from a 25-foot motor home to a 40-foot (bus!) motor home with the intention of getting to more of the U.S. this year. They also planned a trip to Istanbul,

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Portugal, and Tuscany. Sheila had rotator cuff surgery right after her wedding, and Dick had a hip re-replacement (yes, you read that correctly) four weeks before. • Jonathan Prince started 2018 by retiring after 30 years working in Sacramento for the State of California in a number of departments: General Services, Justice, Motor Vehicles, CalTrans, and Health Services. During the last 10 years at Health Services, he was an administrator in the Medi-Cal program, overseeing managed care programs in various California counties that were getting federal and state Medicaid money to coordinate medical services to low-income residents. Retirement has been a nice change of pace for Jonathan, allowing him to get some work done on his house, see old friends, and travel. He kept busy for much of the year painting houses, which had been a side business for years. In July, he took a trip to the Far East, visiting his brother and his wife in Vietnam, where their sister also joined them. After a week in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Jonathan went to the Philippines and on to China, where he met up with his girlfriend and spent time in Shanghai and Nanjing. Fortunately, they had friends in all these places who spoke the languages and acted as tour guides. Jonathan also visited old friends in Southern California, and in October attended a reunion in the San Diego area of about 200 fellow Christians who lived in various communes in Northern California in the 1970s during the Jesus movement. Jonathan keeps active, learning new songs with fellow musicians, as he plays acoustic guitar at the county juvenile hall and a mental health facility on a volunteer basis. His two daughters (one in the Air Force, the other teaches in Sacramento) are doing well. • The English-Speaking Union, which sponsors the exchange program that brought British students to Northfield and Mount Hermon each year, held a reunion last year in London for alumni of the program. John Cartledge attended and had hoped to see his Northfield contemporary, Joanna Shawcross, at the event. Unfortunately, Joanna, a distinguished palliative care doctor, had to drop out on short notice, but John was pleased to meet several other NMH exchange program alumni. John’s fox terrier Teddy’s love of country walks has led him to publish a collection of his favorite routes, with information about points and places of interest to be seen along the way, under the title “Teddy’s Trails.” It is hosted on the website of the local town council, which is keen to promote walking as a valuable form

of exercise that requires no special equipment or facilities. Sadly, Teddy passed away last summer, but his “Trails” are an enduring memorial to one small dog’s endless enthusiasm for exploring the countryside around his home. • Bill Hicks has joined the list of published authors. His two books, Discipleship and Discipline: Second Edition, and Sermon Outlines and Study Guides: Simple, Self-Directed Instructions on Being a Disciple (From the Perspective of the Pew) are available from Amazon. • The work of talented photographer Madeleine Lenagh continues to gain recognition. She has been published in Wild Planet Photo Magazine and two of her pictures were selected for the 2019 Netherlands Edition of the National Geographic calendar. • Deborah Mayberry died in 9/8/18. She had been living in her hometown of Northfield, where she was active in the Garden Club and organized the Northfield Farmers Market. • For most of the past 15 years, Dana Gordon has taken a week’s vacation in South Florida toward the end of winter and used the occasion to organize annual mini reunions attended by fellow vacationers, full-time Florida residents, and snowbirds. Now, with the purchase of a home in Boynton Beach, he has become one of those snowbirds. The mini reunions will continue, with perhaps a bit more scheduling flexibility, and a guest room ready and waiting for visitors. • Stay up to date on all the mini reunions, celebrations, and other happenings by visiting our class Facebook page, which has grown to nearly 150 members. If you are on Facebook and don’t already belong to the group, you can join by visiting facebook.com/ groups/nmh1967 and requesting membership. Non-Facebook members can also stay connected by visiting our class website, nmh1967.com. And if you do not already receive occasional class-specific emails, send a message to mounthermon1967@comcast. net to be added to the mailing list.

Northfield Mount Hermon Mark G. Auerbach mgauerbach@gmail.com • Rebecca Bright Freeland rbfreela@gmail.com You can find more up-to-date NMH ’68 class information by searching for (and joining) our group page, “NMH68 Alumni,” on Facebook. • Do we have any volunteers willing to take on the role of class secretary? You get to gather class notes twice a year and work alongside Becky Bright Freeland. Mark G. Auerbach wants to retire, although he’ll continue to manage the Facebook page. Please let Becky or Mark know. • Bill Newman and

his wife, Karen, hosted the annual NMH ’68 dinner in October 2018. Bill wrote, “We discussed old times at NMH, including Dean Kellom’s sage advice to Gary Hopson on selective law enforcement, the new NMH head of school, the values that make us and our school different, and stories that can be told now that we are 50 years out.” In addition to Bill, Karen, Gary and his wife, Shelley, those attending were Eric Jankel, Rafe Sagalyn, Ed Cook, Marjorie Swett, Jonathan and Tempe Ives, Harry and Alison Ely Barschdorf, Nancy Stevens and Dave Williams, Fred and Denise Cook, Jeff Sliz, and Pam Beam. • Our reunion food drive brought the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts over $1,155 in contributions, and also enough food to feed 230 people. Thanks to those who either brought non-perishables or made cash contributions, to those who staffed the table, and to NMH’s Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement Liza Tarr and Casey Vollinger ’01 for making sure the food got to the food bank. • Kris Alexander Eschauzier wrote, “Peter and I began the moving process in February 2018, and we moved into a new condo in Gorham, Maine, on December 13.” • Nancy Alexander Randall shared, “Having been widowed in 2011 after [over] 30 years of a wonderful marriage, I have taken that leap of faith yet again. Bill Luth and I were wed on a dock overlooking Knubble Bay in Georgetown, Maine, on 9/9/18. We were honored that Kris Alexander Eschauzier and Peter Eschauzier were among our small gathering of 60 or so friends and family. Since then, Bill and I have sold our properties in Vermont and purchased a home on Robinhood Cove in Georgetown, where our next-door neighbors turn out to be none other than recent NMH board chair Steve Fuller ’58 and his wife, Susan Bateson … We have guest rooms — come visit!” • Mark G. Auerbach interviewed award-winning composer Adam Schoenberg ’98 on 89.5FM/ WSKB’s ArtsBeat Radio. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra featured Adam’s music in its 75th season opening concert. Mark also had coffee with Ted Finlayson-Schueler

Suzanne Odell ’66 (left) and Ruth Stevens ’68

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and Jeff Miller this fall. Jeff was on his way to the NMH campus for Vespers. • Becky Bright Freeland’s husband, Jim, passed away on 11/13/18. • Alison Ely Barschdorf reported, “During a New England trip [last] fall, I had dinner with Mary Lou Brady DeWitt. In a sweet coincidence, I knew Mary Lou when we sang together in choirs at NMH, and my husband, Harry, and Mary Lou were friends and housemates at Williams (’72). What a wonderful time we had toasting dear friends and happy memories!” • Drew Gillett ran this year’s Bemis Forslund Pie Race, where he finished 296th. Jay Ward was among the runners. Drew wonders where the rest of ’68 were. • Still at Duke Law School, Paul Haagen traveled to China, where he spoke at a conference on international education in Dalian, and at Tsinghua University in Beijing, he explored creating more effective ways of interacting with China in what is an increasingly difficult international environment. Paul continues to work with Duke athletes going into professional sports. In early October, he closed on a 118-acre tree farm near Sparta, N.C., much to the delight of his 3-year-old granddaughter and his 1-year-old Jack Russell terriers. • Wendi Markert Lipphardt emailed, “Reunion was more than well worth the trip from Germany to see everyone and the campus again after 50 years. The feeling was melancholic and comforting at the same time. Thank you!” • Ken McCasland shared word of J. Mike Neander’s passing on 7/12/18. “We saw Mike just a month before he died. He, Dave Hickernell, and I had all attended University of Rochester.” • Judy Molesworth Darnell wrote, “After almost 20 years at United Way, I retired/ rewired at the end of 2018. My policy advocacy work has been incredibly rewarding, and while there is always more to do, it is time to bring a little more balance into my life with friends and grandchildren, catch up on projects, and spend time exercising, singing, dancing, and more time in nature. Our local grandsons (9 and 11) are growing up too fast, and our 3-year-old granddaughter in Seattle is calling us … I hope to do some very part-time consulting with United Way or other organizations.” Judy enjoyed seeing everyone last year at reunion and she looks forward to our 55th. • “I was disappointed to miss our 50th due to my husband’s health issues,” said Rebecca Schrom Lamb. She is winding down her 26-year career as an insurance broker. At the time of her class notes update, she was planning to travel to the Galápagos in February and to Roatán in March, but not before climbing Kilimanjaro in January with a group that supports

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the climb for disabled veterans. • Richard Staples and wife Betsy welcomed a grand-

son, Reid, born last August. Betsy found her birth family thanks to Ancestry.com — the Staples went to Oregon three weeks later to meet Betsy’s birth family. • Don Stanton wrote, “I’m still teaching AP political science for Colorado University Denver; it seems to be getting harder to get students to read books. We really appreciate the efforts the class team did to put on the 50th reunion and the yearbook!” Don was interviewed on Colorado Public Radio about how the Cold War changed Colorado. Search cpr.org to find Don’s July 23, 2018, interview, listed under “Colorado Matters.” • Ruth Stevens spent the fall teaching at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India. Lois Lake Church ’66, seeing Ruth’s posts, introduced her to Suzanne Odell ’66, a fellow Hibbard classmate. Ruth and Suzanne met in a community in Tamil Nadu called Auroville, where Suzanne lives. Ruth returned to New York last November after a side trip to Japan. In January, she began teaching at New York University’s Stern School of Business. • Sue Strumolo Poirrier shared, “This past summer, Marjorie Swett and I had several wonderful visits including one mini reunion weekend with Jeannie Walcott Wilson. I believe we set a world record for nonstop chatting! After 42 years of marriage to a dear Frenchman, I am recently widowed and working toward moving forward in new circumstances. We raised three children while living and moving around on three continents. So today, I have a daughter, sonin-law, and 6-month-old grandson in D.C.; a son and daughter-in-law near Philly; and a daughter and French son-in-law in Paris (with 10- and 8-year-old sons and a 3-yearold daughter). Traveling is something I truly enjoy, so I am frequently on the road or in the air! We sold the family house, and I am now 10 minutes from Paris with a splendid view of the City of Lights and the Eiffel Tower.” • Cary Unkelbach and her husband, Dave, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in September by climbing Redcloud and Sunshine Peaks, two 14,000-feet mountains in southwestern Colorado. Their loyal companion, Labrador Ranger, accompanied them through rain, snow, and wind before the sun came out. They enjoyed a beer or two later at one of Lake City’s greasy spoons. In August, they hiked the Salkanay Trek over a 15,300-foot pass on their way to Machu Picchu. Cary invites you to read about their trip on her website, caryunkelbach.com.

Northfield Sue Pineo Stowbridge sue.stowbridge@gmail.com Once Hanukkah passed, there was a quietness at Sarah Allen-Oberstein’s house in New Mexico. With the Obersteins’ daily work at Oberstein Commercial Properties, hobbies, and family, “our plates are wonderfully full,” said Sarah. Eldest granddaughter’s cheer team gets them to Albuquerque’s junior varsity games, and two baby granddaughters in Seattle keep the Obersteins flying Alaska Air every two months. Their children are loving, thoughtful parents, and fun, too. Sarah is in touch with Sue Parker Belcher, Alison Fowler D’Angelo, Eleanor Mudge Cares, and Deb Whittaker ’68. • After retiring from VA Medical Center leadership and directing primary care in several VA hospitals from Dallas to New Jersey for over 30 years, Mary Averill bought a charming bungalow in Hershey, Penn. She and partner Will have enjoyed hiking the local Appalachian Trail, biking the many rail trails in Pennsylvania, and growing a variety of vegetables in their backyard. Mary’s two siblings and some of their offspring live in the Amherst and Northampton area, where she was raised in the 1950s–1960s. Mary’s daughter and her wife live in northern Manhattan with their baby girl. Mary’s son and his wife live in the Twin Cities area and have a baby and a toddler. “Being a grandma is a delight,” said Mary. She looks forward to attending her first reunion and the fun of discovering what classmates have been up to. • Brenda Bridges Cook has been living in California for 12 years. She worked in development at Sacramento State, Stanford Medicine, and Dominican University of California, and is now at California State University Monterey Bay. Brenda would love to know how many classmates are still working and about others who have struggled with the glass ceiling at every step. • Nancy Clark and her husband

From left: Northfield ’69 alumnae Ann Jones, Polly Willard Marvin, Christy Adams, Kate Lane Margo, Anne Dain-Goeschl, and Sarah Ward Neusius gathered in Gloucester, Mass., in September 2016.

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enjoyed a “Bike and Barge” trip to the Netherlands, where the only hills are the bridges over the canals. She says that the water-pumping technology there gave her a glimmer of hope for climate change. Meanwhile, Nancy has been busy revising her Sports Nutrition Guidebook for the sixth edition, due out summer 2019. “Have to update recipes to include chia and hemp hearts; interesting how food has changed from the days we did dummy!” • Alice Hamilton Farley regrets having to miss the 50th reunion. She and husband Richard will be in Croatia taking advantage of the only window in his teaching schedule. They still live in Philadelphia, in the same house for which they broke ground on the day their oldest, Alex, was born 40 years ago. The three kids are all architects, so clearly they believe that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Alex and family plan a move from Cambridge, Mass., to San Francisco, “but that is why airplanes were invented,” said Alice. She is still a landscape architect and speaks all over the country on design and photography. Travels have also included London, Paris, Hungary, Alsace-Lorraine, Scotland, Norway, and Denmark. “They say retirement (if only we were) plays out in three phases: the go-go phase, the go-no-go phase, and the no-go phase. We aspire to remain in the go-go phase for a very long time.” Alice will be thinking of us in June. • Marjory Hord Mendez says the book of devotional readings for women, which she co-authored, has come out with a new publisher (Lifeway). It was at ninth place in November for Christian books in Spanish. • Jean Kirkpatrick Lederer will also be missing reunion, since she will be attending the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach the same weekend. She is sorry that she will miss seeing everyone, but is very excited about the big golf event. • It’s been a big year for Kate Lane Margo and her family. Granddaughter Maisy was born in June, joining Daniela (3), Sofia (5), and Eli (8). “They live in D.C., western Massachusetts, and Boston,” wrote Kate, “so there just wasn’t time to work.” She retired at the end of June to have more time to travel, visit the grandchildren, take up photography, and clean her house. Kate said, “Retirement has been a major transition, and I look forward to talking to my fellow ’69ers about how others have coped. Spending 36 years without a break, doing work that I loved, is quite something to give up!” She looks forward to our 50th. • Wendy Rosan Costa also looks forward to reunion. She was re-elected to the county school board last November, and she still works at Mount

Harmon Plantation. All three of her sons live in California, so she travels there from time to time. • Becky Rounds Michela wrote when she was in the middle of finals. She went back to school to earn a degree more useful to her than her B.A. in psychology, and is now enrolled in a business management major. • Diane Rowley has retired from the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. She and her husband, Bill Jenkins, split their time between St. Helena Island, S.C., and Atlanta. • Joanna Schoen Tillson currently lives at a beach resort in Vietnam, teaching English to resort employees. “As I age I become more determined to reach out to the people who have been important in my past,” said Joanna, “so I’m planning on our 2019 reunion, no matter where I’m living when the time comes.” • Don and Faith Goodwin Hodgkins visited Roger and Becky Shafer Tuuk, and explored and hiked the Tuuk family land in Tennessee. There was an article in Nature Conservancy Magazine (summer 2018 issue) about that land. The Tuuks’ land was bought by Becky’s father, John Shafer, in the 1940s for the family lumber business. In 2015, with the help of the Nature Conservancy (TNC), the family set up a working forest conservation easement on their land, below the Cumberland Plateau between Knoxville and Nashville. This will prevent agricultural use or development on the property in perpetuity. Furthermore, TNC will provide recommendations for best practices in timber management while at the same time suggesting ways of protecting the flora and fauna. Through this “Working Woodlands” program of TNC, the family will receive income from the voluntary carbon market, while at the same time being able to cut timber, as long as no more is cut than is growing. Part of the process was to receive certification through the Forest Stewardship Council. This program is possible due to the work of TNC, with the support of the World Wildlife Fund and funding from Capital One (who work to source fiber for paper in an environmentally friendly way). Becky said, “Everybody in the world needs to protect the environment or we won’t have a world, so it’s a way for us to do our part.” • Donna Thurston Downing volunteers at a couple of nonprofits and continues to work part time. Earlier this year, she joined a colleague in teaching a mental health occupational-therapy course to grad students. Donna wrote, “We’re really enjoying our two granddaughters, so we make time for family gatherings

whenever we can. The holidays provide multiple opportunities for that, along with our annual family ski weekend in the White Mountains!” She looks forward to reunion and is in touch with Susan Hanna Huleatt. Donna added, “We have made reservations at the inn. I no longer want to sleep on a two-inch mattress in a stuffy dorm room!” • MarthaJane “MJ” Tippett Peck helped deliver her second granddaughter, Isla Mae, last August to daughter, Sarajane, who moved from Hawaii to be closer to family. She now lives in the same town as MJ and husband Rob (Port Townsend, Wash.). Grammy MJ enjoys babysitting Isla three days a week. Rob had a number of medical setbacks this year, so between his caretaking and babysitting, MJ has her hands full. She continues to enjoy visits with Allie (6) and her Seattle-based family. The 2019 reunion is going to be the first vacation in a long time for MJ and Rob, who will be spending all of June in New England. Most of their time will be spent traveling and staying with Marc and Sue Pineo Stowbridge, whose house will serve as “base camp.” The couples will spend a bit of time on the Maine coast and there will be visits to many old friends, plus an extended family reunion on Cape Cod. MJ said, “While we love having our family all together here in the Seattle area, we miss New England a great deal. While Pacific Northwest salmon and crab have been delicious, we are all just dying for a good Down East lobsta’ bake!” • Nancy Torrence Atkins is also looking forward to our big 50th reunion and hopes that lots of classmates will make the effort to come. As she wrote in December, Nancy was sitting in Kauai, Hawaii, nursing a broken foot. “If a person has to be recuperating for several weeks, there probably isn’t a more beautiful spot on earth to be,” she wrote. Retirement suits Nancy and husband David, and now that their son moved to Maui, they have even more reasons to be in Hawaii. The couple downsized to a townhouse to be free of so much house responsibility, and while they love Oregon summers, when the winter rain starts to fall, they start packing for warmer destinations like Hawaii and Palm Springs, Calif. Much of the family migrated to the area, including Nancy’s mother, who is in perfect health at 98. “After many years being foster parents to newborns,” said Nancy, “I am excited to finally be serving as a cuddler at both my local hospital in Eugene and at the hospital in Palm Springs.” • Cricket Ward retired from clinical practice and is now what she calls “a recovering obstetrician.” She keeps busy with some teaching and

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credentials work, sings in a choir, gardens, and flies to California, where they have four grandbabies. “My primary job this year is taking care of my 97-year-old mother, Becky Sparks Ward, who is living in my dining room (Becky was a Northfield faculty member). She came to Maine after cracking her hip in Colorado, to live out her ‘last’ months, but that was a year ago and she seems to be thriving on Skippy peanut butter toast, and watching tennis and American Ninja Warrior on TV. She’s quite deaf and wheelchair-bound, but otherwise fairly intact.” Meanwhile, Cricket has been working hard on rounding up the class gift for the 50th. The funds will be used for a bridge in the new science building and a scholarship for a “new American”: either an immigrant or first-generation American. This is especially pertinent in these tough times for immigrants, so Cricket urges generosity. If you’re reading this article in print, it’s still not too late. NMH ’69 must raise $100,000 to start a special fund, and we were about halfway there in December.

Mount Hermon Roland Leong dmdmba2k@icloud.com Stan Stalla ’70 is currently in Adana, Turkey, where he’s the Food for Peace official as part of the U.S. government humanitarian response to the Syria crisis. “This is a shortterm assignment to oversee a multi-partner portfolio that provides food assistance packages to displaced Syrians in the besieged Idleb Governorate, as well as to Syrian refugees in neighboring Turkey,” wrote Stan. “This assignment will likely cap a career of development and humanitarian programming over almost 40 years, in at least 15 countries around the world. It’s now time to explore mid-coast Maine, which is my refuge from the world’s turmoil.” • John M. Fitzgerald is helping a nonprofit group called Audit-USA to draft and press for federal election legislation to ensure transparent, audited, and enforced laws that will provide more reliable and secure elections. Last autumn, he

From left: Jon Corson-Rikert, Eric Whyte, Bruce Plotkin, and Charlie Kaiser, among others, enjoyed a ’69 mini reunion in Denver last fall.

NMH Magazine

From left: George Chaltas, Roland Leong, and Dana Benbow at a mini reunion in fall 2018.

was re-elected to serve another term on the Board of the Environmental Investigation Agency. John is also co-counsel for Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail. • “Hello from Viçosa do Ceará, Brasil!” wrote Charles Andros. “I arrived here after two days in Fortaleza. Enjoying tropical fruits and visiting local schools to encourage the students to learn English. Weather is warm and dry. Hope all is well with my classmates!” • Dana Barrows shared, “Still very much enjoying my 43rd year as estate and business planning specialist with my business owner clients and Northwestern Mutual. Had inguinal hernia surgery, but will be skiing Big Sky Montana with agency friends and playing golf in Florida with the one and only John D. Mustone. I have a new granddaughter, Elle Mae, to go with my four daughters and now three granddaughters.” Dana visited Holly Babbitt ’70 in Atlanta; they reconnected after a 45-year hiatus in their wonderful relationship. As he looks forward to our 50th reunion, Dana noted, “The NMH combined reunion planning team has done an extraordinary job. This will be a most enjoyable and meaningful gathering for us all.” • J. Kenneth Weigand is still living in Austin, Texas, and working part time in land development. • From South Carolina, Walter Lowe emailed, “My wife, Sheryl, and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a river cruise in France. We started with two nights in Paris; then wound our way north through Normandy to the WWII D-day beaches and the somber American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. With stops at Les Andelys, Honfleur, Le Havre, Monet’s Giverny, and Joan of Arc’s Rouen, the trip was beautiful and educational. I forgot to take the ’69 banner!” • One of the rewarding things about Bill Ward’s job, he said, “is being able to support deserving charities on behalf of our Community Foundation; in this case, the NASCAR Foundation that benefits children in need, in Daytona and other racing communities.” • From Ecuador, Paul Murtha shared, “I retired a few months ago after eight years as director of Vibrant Village Foundation,

Ecuador. Now, beyond renovating a new home in the northern Andean city of Ibarra with partner Kerly and daughter Melany, I am coordinating an ongoing peace education project with local gang members. I directed a now-viral rap video for World Peace Day called ‘Peace Is Possible’ (check it out!), featuring the talents and inspiring words of the Bloods leaders. Their model of transformation is influencing many marginalized groups. I also promote the Peace Education Program in the local prison, where gang members from the ‘outside’ support those on the ‘inside’ toward discovering themselves — a truly unique and fulfilling initiative.” • Rob Longley and his wife, Sandy, spent last summer in Provincetown — with Sandy writing and Rob painting, “a good division of labor,” said Rob. “We plan on returning next summer, and I will continue to show my paintings at the Cortile Gallery there. Always happy to have NMH friends join us for drinks on our deck. Speaking of NMH friends, I had a huge yard sale this past October. A white-haired, bearded guy stepped in front of me, smiling. I thought he looked familiar. When he said, ‘I guess I have changed a bit since I sat next to you in chapel.’ I recognized Roger Long. We had a great time chatting.” Rob added that he was in Cozumel for a week of scuba diving; he completed his 50th dive. • And, lastly, from me: George Chaltas stayed with me before our fall class reunion planning meeting on NMH’s campus, and we had a little dinner party at my house. Dana Benbow came and the three of us had a nice evening together before George and I went to Mount Hermon. Later in the fall, George and Al Gilbert went out to Denver to an MH ’69 mini reunion hosted by Bruce Plotkin. Dave Conger, Jon Corson-Rikert, and Charlie Kaiser also attended. Bruce then hosted another get-together, where Jon, Charlie, and Eric Whyte gathered. Chris Cartwright made it out to San Francisco in the fall, and he was feted by the “MH ’69 San Francisco Boys.” They had lunch with George, Al, and Ed Craine. • It’s really nice to see how the fabric of our class has grown stronger rather than weaker over the past 50 years. If, by the time you read this, our 50th reunion is past, it was great seeing you, and I hope you grow your acquaintances into friends, and rejoice in your friends.

Northfield Katherine Truax katetruax@aol.com As you are reading these notes, our class will be in the midst of reunion planning! If you have not already done so, consider getting involved! We welcome all ideas and value

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your input. I look forward to seeing you all at committee meetings and, of course, our big celebration in 2020! • “Greetings from Arizona!” wrote Cindy Stinchfield Ryan. “The big news is the birth of our first greatgrandchild: a little boy, Josh Jr., born to our granddaughter and her husband. First greatgrandchild for our class, maybe?! We also had a wake-up call as to just how fragile life can be when my husband sustained an onthe-job injury that literally came within four inches of killing him. Fortunately, he has a hard head, most of his injuries have been repaired, and his neuro tests look normal.” I know this was a scary time for Cindy as many of us read about it on Facebook and were very concerned. • Beth Eisenberg and her wife, Paula Gottlieb, live in Cummington, Mass., about 45 minutes from NMH. Beth retired last year from her career as a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of childhood trauma. She is now a full-time activist for single-payer health care, which may come first to Massachusetts. Beth never thought she would be a snowbird, but life brings surprises, and she will spend five months in Tucson, Ariz., this year, hoping to eventually live there full time. • Tess Pemantel Dunhoff is excited about entering our last year before our 50th reunion and is hoping to see some mini reunions in Florida, Durham, New England, and who knows where else? Her life is full with grandchildren in Long Beach, Calif., and Ottawa, Ontario. • Tess, Claire Schmidt Jones, Carol Ramsey, Sylvia Marshall Bailey, and I got together in Las Vegas last fall for some reunion pre-planning and fun entertainment. We all shared in some serious discussions, but also had lighthearted fun. As Tess stated, “We would like to share more, but you know what they say: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!” Our reunion planning meeting was at NMH in February.

Mount Hermon Neil Kiely neil@marketinginmotion.com Thanks to those that responded to my frantic call for news two days before Christmas! It might be time for another classmate to take over this position, because no matter how much lead time I am given by NMH Magazine, I always find myself begging for a few extra days. A Christmas miracle happened: I heard back from some of you for the first time ever, which is where I get most of my satisfaction. • Seth Hetherington married Jean Spitznagel right after college. He went on to a career as a pediatrician, infectious disease specialist, academic researcher,

Northfield class of ’70 alumnae were pre-planning a reunion meeting in Las Vegas: (l–r) Tess Pemantel Dunhoff, Katherine Truax, Claire Schmidt Jones, Sylvia Marshall Bailey, and Carol Ramsey.

and, eventually, a biotech drug developer. Jean went to University of North Carolina School of Law and had a career in healthcare policy. Now retired in Chapel Hill, they have three children. Seth took up running at age 50 and has completed eight marathons as well as the 2014 NMH Pie Race! • Henry “Hanque” Curtis arrived in 1966 as part of the class of ’69, but then “set records for lackluster achievement” and graduated with us in 1970. One benefit of the extra year, according to Henry, was that “it gave me a fourth year of Spanish with Hal McCann that continues to reward me. I became a reporter and for years covered drug trafficking, addiction, and overdose deaths in Florida, Puerto Rico, and Colombia. I quit in 2016 after covering my final story: the Pulse nightclub massacre.” Henry, a first-time dad, volunteers in his 8-year-old daughter’s class. His wife, born in Havana, “regularly corrects my Spanish!” said Henry. • Tom Baldwin has been spending much of the past year covering the damage from Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle, and much of last fall working on the devastation caused by the Paradise Camp Fire in California. • Dave Hawley ’71 is retired and a widower living in Knoxville, Tenn. He has two daughters and four grandchildren, so he does lots of babysitting. He loves playing golf (year-round, unless it snows!) and is involved with a great production team at his church. • Peter Bartholomew retired from Deloitte Consulting eight years ago after spending 26 years with Equitable Life as a manager in their human resources IT department. He has been married for 42 years and has two daughters and two granddaughters. Peter is very involved with his church, attends Mass daily, and is a lector twice a week. He has worked with a youth group for 25 years and taught religious education (CCD) for 13 years. He said, “I often reflect that NMH shaped the values that are important to me today.” • Rajan Batra can no longer be called big. He has lost 75

pounds (and his wife, 94 lbs.) by concentrating on taking care of his health: working out, lots of walking, and “everything in moderation.” A three-week trip to Europe included another cruise that he continues to insist we try to organize as an NMH mini reunion! • Tom Kastner is a busy architect splitting his time between Washington State and West Palm Beach. “Right now I am in active conversation with Biff Watson in selecting a new guitar and beginning my comeback as a member of the band. Biff recently shared that my lack of musical talent was compensated by my enthusiasm.” Not exactly what he was hoping to hear. Tom is “still single and looking forward to rockin’” at our 50th! Speaking of Biff, he just finished co-writing and producing a song and video with Sahara Rain called “Sticks and Stones” about Sahara’s story of cyberbullying. • Mark Carta is over-the-moon excited to become a grandfather for the first time. His daughter, Sarah, lives in Nairobi, Kenya, where she works for USAID. • Bruce Berk is finally getting into the swing of retirement after being called back for second semester last year after a faculty member left unexpectedly. He is doing lots of hiking, both domestic and international (Patagonia). “Anyone up for New Zealand in 2020?” He is also finding time to volunteer at his temple, at a local animal shelter, and advising a financial literacy program. • Herb Hansen is starting to feel the aches and pains of aging. He took his dog for a walk and strained a nerve. He is looking forward to joining us for the 50th! • Frank Cowan retired from a career in archeology and moved back to Vermont, where he took over the care of his elderly parents and, as a result, became involved in the mission of health-care advocacy. • Edmund Dehn made it to our continent last year, spending a month in Mexico working on a fantastic film where he played the part of a priest dying of cancer. He realizes that he has “reached the age where I am offered many parts of depicting characters dead or dying!” • AJ Eckert’s daughter is moving to Australia “in search of the good life.” He is already planning his first visit! • Steve Chiasson still has CDs available from Collins and AJ’s wonderful performance at our 45th. A portion of the proceeds will help defray some of the costs, or become part of a class gift, for our 50th reunion. That amount is currently at $900. Contact me for Steve’s email address. Steve’s recording studio has been extremely busy working with all types of artists and bands. • John Witty has a very busy (and expensive) year ahead, as both of his children will be getting married in 2019! He recently spoke

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both have fond memories of Chip waving goodbye to them from the platform. By the time you read this, it will be just about 12 months before we celebrate 50 years since our Mount Hermon graduation. I can assure you that the reunion is going to be fantastic, but it will be less so if each and every one of you don’t make the effort and attend. Very much look forward to seeing all of you! Seth Hetherington ’70 (left) and wife Jean Spitznagel Hetherington ’70 (right) walked their youngest daughter, Emma, down the aisle for her wedding.

to Tom Durwood, who is taking a semester sabbatical and will be in Washington State to write additional young-adult fiction. Tom is also curating and sharing innovative lesson plans for teaching English, literature, and writing that he has compiled over his teaching career. • A band of ’70 Hoggers once again gathered in August 2018, this time on the New Hampshire and Maine border, for several days of activities that included mountain hiking, whitewater rafting, Ducky river kayaking, mountain biking, golf, and waterfall rappelling! It was also nice to welcome two first-timers: Lincoln Baxter, who works for Bank of America in Charlotte, and Tom Green, who lives in Rhode Island and has been retired for quite a few years after a career in state service. He does a great deal of traveling and is an avid snow skier with lots of time spent out west. It was especially nice to get to know Tom better, since he has not returned for any reunions. He will be at the 50th! • Sorry to read about the passing of Donald “Chip” Howes in London (11/20/18), where he had lived for many years and dealt in fine wines. He and I reconnected several years ago via email and Facebook, which was nice. He had been sick, but Mark Vokey and Basil Hostage visited him last summer and said he seemed great. The last time they saw Chip was when the three of them were sprinting (late, of course!) so that Mark and Basil could catch a train. They made it, and

From left: Becky Gohmann Bechhold, Merrill Mead-Fox, Alison Elliott, and Susan Terry — all Northfield ’71 — hiked at Alison’s ranch in Northern California.

NMH Magazine

Northfield Cathy Shufro cathy.shufro@yale.edu Debbie Arnold is loving retirement in Colorado. She wrote, “The magnificence of the mountains and the beauty of big skies nourishes my soul.” Her older son and daughter-in-law (and two cats) live nearby in Boulder, and her younger son, Kyler Chavez ’05, recently moved from Anchorage to Colorado with his partner, Kaitlyn (and two cats). Debbie loves having both boys nearby. She participates in the Longmont Senior Center’s video club, which provides video for the local public-access television station. “My primary assignment is filming each Longmont Symphony concert and editing the six cameras into one video, synced with audio from the microphones close to the stage.” The club also makes mini documentaries about local organizations and interesting local people, including artists, musicians, historians, authors, and veterans. “It is way more challenging, time-consuming, and fun than I ever expected!” Debbie had a great visit with her Northfield roommate, Judy Larrabee, in Burlington, Vt., last summer. Contact me for Debbie’s new email address. • Lisa Anderson wrote from Connecticut that she is slowly leaving her law practice and “moving into the next chapter, which is, as of now, untitled.” Lisa sold the law firm that she founded over 30 years ago with a beloved colleague, who died suddenly four years ago. Lisa now works for the people who once worked for her. “I felt it was time to mentor them as they moved the firm into the next decade. I love working for my staff now — I get to choose my work and hours and watch the firm’s evolution. I am also designing and facilitating retreats and workshops on navigating difficult conversations. I am doing this work … for nonprofits and in faith communities, and it has been very rewarding. Mediation and dispute resolution is the focus of my community association practice. I am particularly interested in issues of race and immigration status.” Lisa also serves as a coach for Unitarian Universalist churches in New England that are in search of new ministers. She

and her husband have a son living on each coast. She spends significant blocks of time with each of them and does childcare for their 2-year-old grandson, Rowan, who lives in rural Washington near North Cascades National Park. Lisa shared, “I am grateful for my NMH experience and early introduction to pluralism, which I define as the energetic engagement with diversity with all its joys and challenges. Sending love to all of you! Hope to see you at our next reunion.” • Merrill Mead-Fox now lives in outermost Massachusetts. She and her husband, David, have retired to the Cape and are thoroughly enjoying life there. Last October, they celebrated Merrill’s 65th birthday in Canada with their sons, then flew to California to celebrate Alison Elliott’s 65th. Merrill said, “We joined Susan Terry, Becky Gohmann Bechhold, and their husbands for a fabulous birthday bash thrown by Alison and her husband, Steve, at their beautiful ranch on the California coast.”

Mount Hermon David C. Eldredge d.eldredge@verizon.net For some reason, delivery of NMH Magazine to New York City lags behind the rest of the country. How do I know this? Because an email from a classmate who’s been silent for years arrives and then, like clockwork, the latest issue follows just days later. • My theory was most recently borne out with first-ever post-grad contact from Dave Barradale ’70, who all might remember that, while being one of the freshman class arrivals, somehow made a great leap forward to graduate (as valedictorian, no less, if memory serves) with the class of ’70. Not surprising (and hey, I’ve always wondered how he pulled that one off,) he says he’s found himself “classless” ever since and was spurred on to contact by reading about our class celebrating Hal McCann’s 80th. Being reassured that he was indeed always welcome in the big tent of ’71, Dave responded with the following brief recap of his time since: “I’m glad to hear that my fears are unfounded. The last 35 years I have resided in southern New Hampshire. I practiced law until my retirement at the end of June 2018. Currently, my wife, Deb, and I are engaged in the kind of downsizing that David Kjeldsen and his wife just completed. But we aren’t empty nesters yet. I have returned to ‘the hill’ a few times in the last several years. My daughter is a senior at Williams [College]. Before she had her own car, I would plan my route to and from Williamstown to drive by NMH’s main gate, and sometimes I would drive in to take a look at the

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campus. One of the tasks … of our downsizing efforts is to purge surplus slides and photographs accumulated over the years.” Dave came across an old Mount Hermon photo during his downsizing tasks. It was of Bob “Guiar” Giardini and David Anderson. • Our intrepid class 50th reunion committee leader, Marshall Horwitz, wrote, “Susan and I are safely retired in Sarasota full time. Our house in Massachusetts is a distant memory. We visited our daughter and son-in-law over Thanksgiving in Massachusetts, and one blast of that cold Arctic air reminded us how much we don’t miss winters. Our daughter got her Ph.D. from Harvard and MIT in August 2017, in electrical engineering. This only proves either I am not the father or Darwin was right and there are such things as mutations. Our son is now living in Shanghai and is a business and technology reporter for Reuters.” • The response to the first round of emails and letters regarding the reunion has been quite positive. Those planning to attend so far include: Bill Parker, Chuck Kirk, Dennis Phillips, Jason Moehring, Art Cone, Calvin Dorsey, Chris Lane, Paul McGill, Joe Mingolla, Austin Duvernoy, Dave Hawley, Wendell Cummings, Michael Daugherty, John Dignan, Steve Michaels, George Forish, Chris Keniston, Win Farrell, Andrew Strauss, Zak Hargraves, Peter McFarren, Erle Flad, John Bendixen, Jim Mayhew, Ray Wagoner, Rob Upton, John Townsend, and you, of course. Anyone who did not receive either an email or letter from me, please pass along your contact information. • I have had lunch with fellow classmates Robert Peyser and Chris Keniston here in Sarasota. It was good to reconnect with folks I haven’t seen in almost 50 years. The class of 1971 is getting closer and closer to the front of the NMH news. • And speaking of reunions, the first week of November found wife Jill and me doing our annual “mini” version, hosted by Dave and Deb Kjeldsen in their new Maine retirement retreat, joined by Lin DeGarmo, Dennis Phillips, Cindy Kitchen Hogan, Joe and Lia Mingolla, Jon and Miriam Whitehouse

Bob “Guiar” Giardini ’71 (left) and David Anderson ’71 during their Mount Hermon years.

and son, and Stetson Heiser with wife Am and family (including daughter Cameron ’02) for a full weekend of meet, eat, and cheer. Just too much fun to put into words — just like our quadrennial class gatherings — so save the date and keep the news, emails, and notes coming!

Northfield Mount Hermon Tom Sisson 1972NMH@gmail.com From Tom Sisson: This past December, I was fortunate to meet with classmates Channing Harris, Jeff Kessler, Kim Montague, and Nancy Klarman for Vespers in Memorial Chapel. Afterward we had a wonderful dinner in Alumni (West) Hall and met with Liza Tarr, director of Alumni and Parent Engagement. We spent time over dinner talking about getting ready for our 50th reunion, June 10–12, 2022. It really isn’t that far off. Many of you have signed up to work on the reunion committee and will be contacted in the near future. If you haven’t signed up to help and would like to, please contact me. • In June of 1972, 36 singers called “MoDo’s” traveled to Romania under the auspices of the Ambassadors for Friendship, led by former NMH trustee Harry Morgan. We spent almost a month traveling around the country, singing and making friends. Well, 46 years later I have finally finished the account of our trip and sent copies to members of the group that I had contact information for. If you would like a copy, email me. It sure would be nice to get as many MoDo’s as possible back to reunion to sing a few of our favorite numbers. Lastly, there are many of you for whom we do not have email addresses. We would like you to know what is going on with our class and get you re-engaged with our beloved school. Please email updates to: addressupdates@ nmhschool.org. Our class now holds four positions on the Alumni Council. Sara Mills Sands and I are members of the Awards Committee, Deidra Dain is part of the Communications Committee, and Celia Popper Carboni is a member of the Strategic Advisory Committee. Jay Kaplan is now a trustee of the school and headed the search committee for the new headmaster. • Barbara Elliot (Mount Hermon class parent) sends her love to everyone. Every time I head to NMH, I stop and spend some time with her. She does not live far from NMH and is doing very well. If you are in the area and want to stop in, let me know and I will send you her address. • Brad Sherman and wife Jan have bought a small farm in Colorado and are bailing on Rhode Island

and all the ticks. • Channing Harris joined Doug Adair for coffee and pastries. “Always great to see him,” said Channing. “[Doug was] in town from Oregon to visit his dad, now 93. Doug says he’s playing drums better than he ever has — over 60 gigs this past year with various bands. And he had time to do some serious photography while here. Retirement beckons (to me)!” Channing’s landscape architecture firm received three awards last year for projects he’s managed: University of Kentucky’s new Chandler Hospital, Awards of Excellence from both Kentucky and Connecticut chapters of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and a Merit Award for the Healing Garden at Yale New Haven Hospital’s Park Avenue Medical Center in Trumbull, Conn. • John Bleh wrote, “Thanks for the great and persistent job you do gathering our hen scratchings! Happy to welcome our first granddaughter into the world in July [2018]. Our son, John William Bleh ’07, and [his] wife, Rachel, had a beautiful girl, Hadley Grace. I am off to Patagonia tomorrow for my 25th trip to that wonderful country, which I get to visit twice a year working with a fly-fishing lodge in the Andes. Hard work fishing all day, drinking Malbec, and enjoying the starlit southern skies! Looking forward to our 50th (gasp!) reunion.” • Dr. Sieglinde Freed shared, “I have retired from active clinical practice and am pursuing a new avenue: medical writing and editing. It’s a job I can do from anywhere in the world. My partner, John Molenar, and I travel extensively. In May 2019, we will be spending two weeks in Portugal and Spain on motorcycles … and in March, we will be spending a couple of weeks with friends in Panama. I enjoy keeping up with NMH peeps on Facebook, and it sounds like we are definitely making a difference in the world.” • Dan Haslam purchased a summer home at Provincetown, Mass., for the times he is not home in San Diego. He is continuing a round-the-world tour this year. He is vice president for Walkabout International and volunteers for several nonprofit boards. Wedding bells in 2019! • “My wife and I just relocated to Arden, N.C.,” wrote Thomas Riegelman. “Beautiful Smoky Mountains!” • Ellyn Spragins reported, “Love is in the air in the extended Spragins family, so we were able to attend young relatives’ weddings in Tuscany and Sweden. John Witty ’70 and I are also grandparents to Jack, who turned one in September [2018] and whose latest accomplishment is making fart noises while an adult is trying to give a toast.” • “As has been the case for more years than I care to

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nmhschoolstore.com count,” said Jim Keller, “I am holed up in Brooklyn Heights, working in Lower Manhattan representing Philip Glass, Tom Waits, and others. Still playing music on my own regularly. Nick Biddle came down from Vermont to a gig; was a thrill to see him. Spotted David Eldredge ’71 in the audience as well. My 21-year-old daughter has transferred to University of Southern California, so I look forward to spending more time in L.A. Sending best wishes to all.” • Rick Stobaeus shared, “My granddaughter, Eva, is 8 and talks about going to NMH for summer session after sixth grade. She is already asking her Aunt Keiko ’07 to take her on a road trip to visit Peter Weis ’78 and family at NMH! Akira (Rabun Gap ’15) plans to finish at Vanderbilt next year. Kenji (Rabun Gap ’14) finished at Berry College in Rome, Ga., this year. Our new college graduate is working for a shipping company out of Tampa, Fla., living with Dr. Nobuki Stobaeus ’04. Big brother and his associates have Royal Pet Veterinary Centers in the Tampa/Orlando area. Keiko is a P.A. in Augusta, Ga. It is cruise ship season here through April. Once a week, I take 80 to 90 Germans out for whale and dolphin watching in German. My days are ever full with visits to pig, goat, sheep, cow, and horse farms. House calls to look at dogs and cats keeps me on my toes as well. Plenty of half days are spent at Sulphur Springs, in the rivers, and on our farm with our goats! Our door is always open ... Carol and I welcome visitors. That means you! Come visit Dominica, the Nature Isle!” • David Weisblat is still practicing law in Washington, D.C., primarily working on renewable energy projects. His son, Michael, is a freshman at Merrimack and has at least gotten the social

NMH Magazine

part of college down. • Robert Riesman shared, “My book, I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy (University of Chicago Press, 2011), was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis as ‘a classic of blues literature’ for 2018. The Blues Foundation stated that I Feel So Good was ‘one of the most definitive blues biographies ever written.’ And Grammy award-winning guitarist and songwriter Dave Alvin had this to say about it: ‘One of the finest books ever written about a blues artist. Hell, one of the finest books about any American musician in any genre.’ Thanks for all you do for our class and for NMH!” • As of this writing (December 2018), Joan Elgosin Milnes and Brad began their second year of condominium life in Greenfield, Mass. “We have fallen under the spell of our grandbaby,” said Joan, “whom we see regularly in person and on FaceTime. And I have fallen in love with mahjong, which I recommend as an excellent source of mental gymnastics.” • Meg Sieck reported, “My husband, Bob Baldwin, and I are continuing to enjoy retirement from our perch in Princeton, N.J. We are traveling a lot, surprising our kids. Speaking of whom, our son, Andrew Baldwin ’03, is a massage therapist. We could not be more delighted. I am currently involved in something called C-Change Conversations (c-changeconversations.org), which is a grassroots organization of volunteer women in Princeton that strives to bring good science and good information to moderate and conservative audiences about what is happening to our climate, minus all the political static. We have brought our primer to almost 5,000 people in 22 states around the country. Let me know if you’d like to invite us to your community! I help with writing, editing, and communications, keeping my work skills up to date. Cheers, everyone!” • Charles Powers: “On speaking about reading my book, my wife (Jan) and I just took a look through it and couldn’t stop laughing. And she didn’t kill me for looking at the pics of our old girlfriends! She

Skip Weaver ’73 (left) and John Lazarus ’73 enjoyed dinner together in Orlando, Fla.

wondered if any of us have as much hair as we used to. Thank you, sir! I will definitely enjoy taking the time to read through this slowly. Do you know where everyone is now? I wonder how many of us are still doing music in some fashion or other. This was only 46 years ago — can’t say it seems just like yesterday, but it certainly was memorable.” • Robin Smith-Johnson: “Thanks so much for sharing your book with me! Our trip to Romania was a real life changer for me. I had never been out of the country before, or even flown on an airplane. The chance to spend a month singing and traveling was a dream come true. It will be a treat to read your book. All the best.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Heather Blanchard Tower smtower@comcast.net • Bill Stewart billstewartnmh73@gmail.com From Heather: Vespers was quite the event this year. It always amazes me that these are just high school kids making pretty sophisticated music. I particularly enjoyed the Chamber Orchestra’s Celtic Christmas Medley. I felt transported back to my roots. It just needed Celtic dancing couples to complete it! The small-group pieces by Joan Szymko and Eric Whitacre were just beautiful! This year, there were readings from the Bible, the Quran, the Sutra of Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, and the Torah, highlighting the multicultural school that we all know and love. I had the pleasure of enjoying the event with folks from ’72 and ’74, as well as my daughter. Sacred Concert is coming in May, so all you singers, come join forces with the students for another amazing musical event. I went to the play and the dance last fall as well. Both were just so much fun and so well done. • We had such a great time at reunion that I think folks may be a bit talked out. That will change by the spring, I hope. We were a mighty group last summer; however, there were many who weren’t able to join us, so please let us know what you are up to. Remember, in five years (2023 — how futuristic is that number!) we will celebrate 50 years! Unbelievable! We’ll get to enter the chapel as the honored class and sit up front, just like seniors used to. Mark your calendars, book your flights, and come back. • From Bill: A change of assignments for Betsy Bruce: She went to Thailand with the Peace Corps (instead of Morocco), departing in January for 27 months as a co-teacher of English at the primary-school level. “Looking forward to an interesting culture, warm

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climate, and wonderful food while exploring rural Thailand,” wrote Betsy. “Wish me luck! Spent six weeks off the tourist route in Morocco, two weeks each in two rural villages with women’s weaving cooperatives. Though I’d learned some Darija (Moroccan Arabic), I really depended on my 40-year-old French. My NMH instructors would have been proud.” • Karl Schmidtmann retired in the spring and, as of his October message to NMH, was planning to move to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuanto, Mexico. • “For what it is worth,” wrote Babs Mead Wise, “Jim and I welcomed grandchild number five and our son’s first in October [2018]: Alice. This is our first in-town grandchild, which is great fun. The other four are in Greenville, S.C., and we burn up the highway regularly to see them (ages 2–10). I continue to work as a fellowship advisor at Duke University. It is truly fulfilling work mentoring and advising some of our top students every year to apply for Fulbright, Truman, Goldwater, and Rhodes scholarships. The wins are wonderful, but even better is the sense that all of the students are better prepared to dream about their futures after completing their applications. I am beginning to think about my own future and retirement, but as long as I am having fun, and an occasional win, I plan to stick it out.” • Bill Stewart: I’m busier than ever with musical activities, planning the next concert season for the San Francisco Early Music Society. Our Berkeley Baroque Strings will be in Boston in June for a performance in the Boston Early Music Festival the weekend after reunion. David and I had a very nice Thanksgiving visit from Greg Burrill as he made his way back to Portland. Our first grandchild, Jackson Elias, was born in November in Winston-Salem, N.C., to Blake Stewart and Stephanie Adrian.

Opera singer Bonita Hyman ’74 performed at the 37th UNICEF Deutschland Benefit Gala in Hilden, Germany, in December 2018.

Northfield Mount Hermon Stephanie Gerson stephanie.l.gerson@gmail.com Mark your calendars for June 7–9, 2019, our 45th reunion! Update your contact info! Join our Facebook page! Write me for info! See you all in June! • Opera singer Bonita Hyman, who will be performing at our 45th reunion, said that 2018 has been a tumultuous year, “but the outcome has been mostly positive. January 2018 saw me recovering from a Christmas Eve knee injury. I am thankful for German health insurance. Even with crutches and a knee brace, I remained busy with teaching and choral work, with two performances from my Kaleidoskop Chor … After a quiet summer and decent recovery came my own performances, including my second engagement at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. This was my seventh production as the Erste Magd in the Patrice Chéreau production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra, and a revival of the original 2014 run at La Scala. My fifth year with this production … I managed a side trip from Milan to Barcelona for a sapphire peacock concert gown fitting, designed by the same team who created my beautiful ruby and orange gown back in 2016 while I was performing at Liceu — they did not disappoint! I love it! The production in Milan was quite an adventure in itself! Three conductors in seven performances! The first conductor, 89-year-old Christoph von Dohnányi, took ill after the premiere, canceling the rest of the run. Markus Stenz, general music director of Cologne Opera, conducted the next five performances, including Elektra, with no rehearsal time … [Stenz] had another engagement for the closing performance of Elektra, so rising star Hungarian conductor Henrik Nánási stepped in, again with no rehearsal time for a very difficult score. Sometimes the drama offstage is just as intense as the drama onstage. The year culminated in a performance in the opera portion of the 37th UNICEF Deutschland Benefit Gala in Hilden, the longest-running benefit gala of its kind in the world. This was my 20th appearance with UNICEF. January 2019 was another revival of Elektra, my eighth production, this time a repeat run at the Berliner Staatsoper Unter den Linden … I never expected to be this busy as a stage performer at age 62, and am extremely grateful to be afforded these opportunities at this stage of my 37-year career. My son is now a young man of 20. He will have changed facilities by the time you read this, to a place farther away, and will be coming home less often. I’m still getting used to the

idea that he is an adult and I’m working through the process of ‘letting go.’ Home will always be home, but now he begins his own life as an independent and increasingly self-reliant individual. Life is what it is.” • From Connecticut, and also performing with Bonita at reunion, Jonathan Towne had an exciting sojourn hiking the Dolomites, Italy, with wife Rebecca — both musicians now retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Band. “When I went hiking in Italy back in September [2018], there were 11 of us in the group,” Jonathan writes. “I knew about half of them and the rest were new acquaintances. As we were introducing ourselves, one member of the group said she went to school in Massachusetts and seemed about my age. I asked where she went to school, and she said at a school I probably haven’t heard of: NMH. I told her I also went there and graduated in 1974. She is a member of our class: Gretchen Gayton Babcock! We did not know each other and lived on opposite campuses the two years I was there; she was a four-year student. We had a great time reminiscing over the next two weeks about our times at NMH and mutual experiences and friends. She now lives near Vail, Colo., after a career in marketing mostly in the Northeast. What a small world, and it was so much fun connecting with a classmate after so many years.” • Our jazz musician lawyer from Kalamazoo, Mich., David Schut, wrote, “My son, Evan, got married to his high school sweetheart, Amanda, in September [2018]. My band, Flonicity, played a set at the outdoor reception, and the weather was perfect. Wedding and everything else went well, cost more than planned, and I am glad it’s over so my wife’s stress level can return to its normal unhealthy level. I am retired unless I hear from an old client or get enticed into doing other legal work. I still maintain my license, but this may be the last year for that, too. A bit melancholy about that, and I hope the new year brings a reason to stay licensed. I still really enjoy playing

Jonathan Towne ’74 and his wife, Rebecca, hiked the Italian Dolomites in the fall of 2018.

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music … but I have not figured out how to make it generate income yet.” • Claire Bamberg has had a year of change! “After starting a new business in January (Potentials Coaching and Consulting, LLC), I’ve been traveling more! I packed up my Connecticut house, sold it, and moved to Vermont. It was always the retirement plan; this call came a little earlier than I thought. Son Matthew ‘Bam’ ’02 and wife Genevieve live in L.A., continuing to grow a following for their shows, Speakeasy Society. Son Nathaniel graduated from Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., and I was honored to get my folks there for graduation. Hilary and husband Carey work for the flagship Whole Foods in Hawaii; Brendan and Nico married in San Francisco in May! Brian and wife Shelby are celebrating her APRN accomplishments. I am coaching, consulting, mediating, providing mental health counseling, and serving a church. I look forward to a very full and fulfilling 2019. This year brought occasions to visit with John Burnham, Judy Armbruster, Bradley Schneider, Kevin Cunningham, Heather King ’02, Bill Martling, Peter Allenby, and Betty Edwards Johnson (forgive me if I have forgotten someone)! Looking forward to reunion! See you all there!” • Josie Hart enjoyed reconnecting with Monie Thomas Hardwick over the summer and discussing her new assignment on the NMH Board of Trustees. “I termed out in 2017 after 10 years of service,” said Josie. “I hope Monie finds the experience as rewarding and exhilarating as I did. I came out of board ‘retirement’ this past summer and served on the NMH Head of School Search Committee, and believe Brian Hargrove will prove to be an excellent choice. This past October, I enjoyed dinner in New York City with several friends of the school, alums, and former and current trustees for the 80th birthday celebration of Trustee Emeritus John Mitchell. John has been very generous with his time, money, and talent, and is a wonderful example of the meaning of living with humanity and purpose. I am otherwise busy with several real estate and entrepreneurial projects in the Carolinas and always on the lookout to connect with fellow NMHers.” • Lyn Tranfield Bennett reported, “My husband, Dave, and I traveled to the western U.S. to visit our daughter in L.A. Taking three days’ drive from Las Vegas to L.A., we got to see Joshua Tree and Palm Springs. Since the second-born [has been] living in L.A. since October, Dave and I will be planning more interesting trips west. Hard to have them both so far away, but we

NMH Magazine

have our dog and our son’s cat keeping the nest busy and furry. Dave still imparting science to students at Cushing Academy, and I continue to be kept very busy managing the education subscription program at Kronos, Inc.” • Professor Carolie Parker, artist and poet, received a 2019 Fellows of Contemporary Art Curators Lab Award for and had her poetry published in the fall 2018 issue of Yale Review, which can be read online: yalereview.yale.edu/perspective. • Christopher Matthews traveled for work and with family. “We sailed and fished in our daughter’s boat along the Malaga coast, Spain, where her South Olé Spain Tours does custom trips,” said Christopher. “With 10 relatives, we watched our son fly over in his A-10 at University of North Carolina football’s military appreciation day. We toured the U.K. Cotswolds; saw Churchill’s birthplace, Blenheim Palace; enjoyed high tea; and rode bicycles across Oxford. On my first trip to Moldova and Romania, I spoke at a Roma church, and also spoke at Chisinau University to students from seven former Soviet lands. I was a dishwasher at Thanksgiving dinner benefiting the poor in Hickory, N.C. I had no idea I was so allergic, but was treated for new grass allergies! Beth and I celebrated our 39th anniversary at the historic Mast Farm Inn, Boone, N.C. My son and his wife welcomed their fifth child, our ninth grandchild: son Austin Kainoa Hoy! Mike Wise ’79 and wife Diane visited our home in western North Carolina. This year I’m taking the plunge and will publish a historical fiction trilogy! I don’t have a bucket list, but did use a bucket to mop the floor a few times. Which reminds me: We need a new mop.” • Espionage escapades author Michael Richards said, “Your questions were a lot more fun to answer than my former yearly ‘gubbernment’ security clearance updates. I published my second Nathan Monsarrat novel, A Thousand Enemies, about a Russian-Iranian plot to destroy Jerusalem and New York City with nano-nukes the size of a cellphone. After living/working for 30 years on every continent, save South America, I continue to explore the U.S.A. I celebrated more than three decades of life with my wife on a back roads, cross-country trip with East Coast jaunt on a 1,731-cc Victory motorcycle. Only bruises when I wiped out on a trail while on my mountain bike! My son, an Army aviator, continues flying missions. I volunteered teaching at-risk students. I took the plunge and: (1) sold the house, (2) downsized, and (3) bought and renovated a condo in Honolulu with amazing views of the sunset,

Ko’olau Mountains, and the surf break at Ala Moana Bowls. I crossed this off my bucket list: tested for and received my sam dan (third degree) black belt in Hapkido. Now that I think of it, I want to audition for an extra role on Hawaii Five-O or Magnum PI.” • Anne Lawrence Sallee, CEO, Superior Small Lodging Florida, explored a lot of east and west coast small-town Florida last year. “A special dinner for two with my sweetie celebrated our 15th anniversary,” wrote Anne. “My eldest daughter beat the state dead-lift record for her age group! I mixed gallons of pancake batter for a fundraising breakfast, distributed dictionaries to third graders with my Rotary Club, and donated toys to a women’s shelter. I learned that dislodging crystals from your inner ear is a real thing, causing vertigo; the cure is quite interesting! After some contortionist-like manipulations of my head, I had to pass 36 hours without looking down, including sleeping sitting up. It was no fun! I’ve taken the plunge and returned to the arts-andcrafts activities of my NMH days, welding sculptures from found objects! I now haunt flea markets, finding tools and materials!”

Northfield Mount Hermon Veronica Froelich Adams veronicafadams@gmail.com • Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett kbmhartnett@gmail.com Bob Buermann, who worked as a semiconductor engineer at IBM for 34 years, is now “retired” in Vermont, working with wife Ann, who raises, weaves, and makes handcrafted items from the wool of their 60 sheep. Bob calls himself “a part-time farmer and full-time volunteer,” as he participates on local land use and economic development boards. He also helps coordinate volunteers who build wheelchair ramps and low-cost homes. Bob wrote, “I often think about how NMH helped develop the foundation for my commitment to community service. Those work hours in the kitchen, the library, and cleaning the bathrooms helped.” He added, “Our key accomplishment is two daughters who live locally and are gainfully employed and independent.” • After 24 years in Brazil, Whit Kennedy moved to the Boston suburbs to assume the CFO position of a rapidly growing biotech company. He’d love to reconnect with classmates, especially those in the Greater Boston area. Reach out to your class secretaries, Kimberly or Ronni, for Whit’s email address. • Jim Miller is doing some serious globetrotting as vice president at the New York Film Academy College of Visual & Performing Arts, where he concen-

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trates on international initiatives. More than half of the 8,000 students enrolled annually at its New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami campuses are from 108 other countries. His favorite trip in 2018? Kazakhstan, where he served on the jury of the Eurasian International Film Festival. Jim continues to be deeply involved in nonprofits that are focused on human rights; he recently resumed being the president of the Medhen Orphan Relieve Effort (MORE), which he founded nearly 20 years ago. To date, MORE has completely supported nearly 2,000 orphaned and vulnerable children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Jim also serves on boards of the Artistic Freedom Initiative, which assists at-risk artists from around the world to escape dangerous conditions and repressive governments. • Sadly, Rob Farley’s wife, Gail, just 56, passed away in August 2018 after battling metastatic breast cancer. Some of you will recall that Rob lost his first wife to cancer in 2005. His five daughters continue to be his “rock.” (Three daughters are from his first marriage and two from Gail’s first marriage.) Rob continues to work part time for the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office, and is coming up on 30 years with the agency. • Karen Perkins shared, “Atoning for my Pie Race scores of the 1970s, I took first and second place in my division in the 2018 Playa Del Rey and Malibu Nautica Olympic distance triathlons (ocean swim-bike-run). I also spent a few days with Jamison Pond Renning and her husband at their beautiful home in upstate New York this past summer.” • Wallace Womble continues to enjoy his work as an Air Force postmaster in the U.K., which awards him and his wife, Nauvlet, opportunities to travel throughout Europe and beyond. This year brings them to Malaga, Spain, Prague, and then Croatia, so Nauvlet can do the Game of Thrones “Walk of Shame.” Wallace has been in touch with Frenise Logan and Henrietta Walker Koffi. • Amanda “Panda” Gass Dustin is still working as a family nurse practitioner in both geriatrics and acute care in Berlin, N.H. She also works for the local emergency department on sexual assault cases. Her husband, Matt, is a constant stream of love and support, and the family awaits a new kidney for their oldest son. She is a doting grandmother of six, and enjoys daily walks with her dogs, Tank and Rosie. Amanda often thinks back to NMH: “It was such a great time in my life, although I don’t think I knew it at the time. Merrill-Keep, Wilson, Cottage V, and Sallie Dillingham — best roommate ever! I would love to see and talk with the people who were such a part of that time

in my life. “ • Emmy Underhill Luchetti is still living in Sausalito, Calif., keeping busy as a chief pastry officer for Big Night Restaurants. She and her husband bought a beach house near the Cape years ago so she can continue to get her beloved East Coast summers and fall. Emmy continues to serve on the board of trustees for the James Beard Foundation, which she chaired for five years. She is also involved with Wellness in the Schools, which works in classrooms to teach kids about healthy eating. When she turned 60 last year, after finding herself annoyed by all the stupid aging jokes and self-deprecation, she and a friend wrote a small quote book, So Who’s Counting: The Little Quote Book about Kicking Ass and Getting Older, published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. (“Looking forward to reading it!” writes Ronni!) • Tempe Reichardt sends greetings to all from the “Left Coast”! “After having had three prior and exciting careers (as a journalist in Washington, D.C., an international wine broker in Europe, and a chocolate entrepreneur), I switched course once again and am now the exclusive U.S. importer for Gabriel-Glas, a stunning ‘universal’ wine glass that is taking the oenological and culinary world by storm.” She also shares that within a three-month period in 2015 (around our last class reunion), she moved to Napa, Calif., got married to her longtime beau, Jonathan Rivin (Harvard ’77), and bought a house. “While we live directly in the path of the destructive Atlas Peak fire of 2017, thankfully, we survived. If any fellow Hoggers are visiting wine country, please give me a ring. We love having visitors, and had the pleasure of hosting Will and Amy Runyon earlier this year. Shortly before that, we saw John Buckley and his wife, Anna Bennet, in D.C. Those fellow classmates and their spouses look marvelous, continue to be brilliant, and seem happy. I truly hope to see more of my classmates in the near future!” • Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett met up with Kathy Lyons Egan for a whirlwind weekend in New England last fall to celebrate the birth of Kathy’s second grandson, Timothy, who is named for Kimberly’s husband. • After finally selling her house in central Virginia, Ronni Froelich Adams completed the mammoth undertaking of moving back to her home state of Michigan last summer. She continues working as an independent employee training, development, and diversity consultant, with hopes of doing more organizational development work with nonprofits and small businesses. She occasionally posts progress Facebook photos of the 99-year-old colonial she is rehabbing in Detroit, which she

intends to turn into a B&B after the plaster dust settles. Ronni said that this fine old city is coming back; classmates are always welcome! • On our Strive ’75 Facebook page, Frenise Logan wrote that he continues his work as a teacher in Washington, D.C., and has enjoyed time with Henrietta Walker Koffi in New York. • Stay in touch and read more about our classmates on our “Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1975” Facebook page! — Kimberly and Ronni

Northfield Mount Hermon Susan Loring-Wells susanloring@me.com • Joe Mcveigh joe@joemcveigh.org From Joe: In November 2018, I returned to campus to watch my son, Nathaniel (15), run in the Pie Race. The course has changed a bit, but he still beat my freshman-year time by quite a bit! My days are taken up by working on the third edition of a couple of ESL textbooks, teaching an online course in second-language acquisition, working part time for an agency that accredits intensive English programs, and preparing and delivering online and face-to-face Englishlanguage teacher development workshops for the U.S. Department of State. • In June 2018, Bruce Buckland and wife JoAnne enjoyed a pleasant dinner with former faculty members Dick and Louise Schwingel at the home of Grady Forrer ’77 in Washington, D.C. • Congratulations to Helen Coons, who was honored by the American Psychological Association (APA) in August 2018. She received the Psychology of Women Heritage Award for her work on integrating mental health in women’s health care and for promoting leadership development among women in psychology. Helen also serves on the APA Board of Directors. • Andrew Wedeman is a professor of political science at Georgia State University. He was quoted extensively in the New York Times in October 2018 on the subject of anti-corruption efforts in China. • Reid Schwabach lives in Sarasota, Fla., where he works as a trauma therapist for Centerstone, a behavioral health agency. He is one of only a few Spanish-speaking counselors in two counties. He passed the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam and is preparing for a specialized certification while continuing his work in Jungian studies. Reid’s son, Brady (19), attends the University of Florida. Daughter Sierra (21) studies in the honors college at New College in Sarasota and is a whiz at organic chemistry and math. Reid recalled that one NMH faculty member claimed that

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teaching math to Reid was like pulling teeth. He suspects that certain talents skip generations! • Valerie Malter and husband Stuart moved back to New York City in the spring of 2018 after a decade in the suburbs of Connecticut. Their company, Matarin Capital Management, founded in 2010, is growing and thriving. Their office is now in the Graybar Building next to Grand Central Terminal. Son Matt is a junior at Carleton College. Daughter Arin is a sophomore at American University in Washington, D.C. In July 2018, Valerie celebrated her 60th birthday with a fabulous golf trip to Ireland with some friends. But the real celebration was a four-and-a-half-month cruise around the world! Val keeps in touch with Mary Worthington and Cathy Campione Stein, both of whom are grandmothers! • Matt Kennedy frequently visits the NMH campus. Daughter Anna ’18 graduated from NMH last year and is a freshman at Union College, where she competes on the varsity swimming team. Daughter Clara ’21 is a sophomore at NMH. In March of 2018, Matt’s family took a vacation to Israel and Jordan, including the foothills of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights. Matt celebrated his 60th birthday in April 2018. Chuck Knirsch, Bill Bodie, and Addison “Bill” Cook ’77 were in attendance. They had a great time catching up and sharing memories. • Sophia Ng has opened her own chiropractic clinic in the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong, where she is a member of the Hong Kong Chiropractors Association. She would be glad to hear from NMH friends. • David Schwartz spent most of his career working in sales and trading operations for various banks in New York City, Japan, and Singapore. He lives in New York City, where he is a senior partner at Sugar Hill Capital Partners, a private equity firm focusing on real estate, which he helped found 10 years ago. David and wife Gina have

Matt Kennedy ’76 (center) with daughters Anna ’18 (left) and Clara ’21 near Mount Hermon in Israel.

NMH Magazine

been married for 31 years. One of their kids lives in New York City, and the other is finishing her M.B.A. in Boston. David is in touch with Nate Aldrich, Don Boyden, Scott Silverstein, Andrew Wedeman, and Bruce Goodnow ’77. • John Muggeridge lives in Rhode Island. After 33 years, he finished his formal career at Fidelity Investments as a vice president of public affairs, which allowed him to engage with the community at a high level, including as a lobbyist. “Not what I would have imagined when I left NMH,” said John. He has begun a new enterprise, MuggVentures, which involves a variety of activities, including consulting, working with startups, nonprofit board service, and other interesting projects. His company motto is, “Interesting Projects with Good People.” “So far,” he reported, “it’s working.” • Darlene King-Jennings owns and operates King Realty in Campton, N.H. She has two adult children whom she raised mostly as a single parent; she lost her husband Jonathan in a work accident when the kids were young. Daughter Hallie (29) is a nurse in Manchester, N.H., and son Austin (30) works for Darlene in the real estate business. Darlene and significant other Wally enjoy a large home on a hill. They’re working on converting part of the house into a space for an Airbnb apartment. Darlene welcomes old friends and encourages anyone looking to buy or rent in the area to give her a shout. She would love to hear from Katie Ogren Beebe, Summer Hookanson Sheeley ’75, and Kathy Hood ’77. • Sue Picard lives in Oregon and loves the Pacific Northwest. She’s been married for 24 years and is happily retired from a career in information technology. She raises golden retrievers who compete in agility and obedience trials. • In 2017, Sarah Livingston and husband John left Washington, D.C., and retired to Williamsburg, Va., where Sarah has family. Sarah takes Italian lessons and volunteers as a tutor of elementary students and adult ESOL learners. Meanwhile, her husband is developing his painting skills. They both enjoy soaking up the beauty and history of Colonial Williamsburg. Give her a shout if you come to town! • Ellen Baum finished college at Colgate University, then graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. She has been a chef in restaurants and hotels and has run her own catering business. In December, she retired from 25 years of teaching culinary arts and 33 years in her field. Ellen has lived in San Diego, Calif., for 32 years. She is looking forward to traveling, taking classes, and doing some volunteer work in this next

chapter of her life. Ellen would love to reconnect with Lisa Mosczynski and Ellen Lawrence Vann ’75. • Dave Perry and wife Sue traveled to Cairo to visit Alison and Adam Saffer in January 2017. The Saffers, along with Kinter and Rich Lennon, then attended the wedding of Dave and Sue’s daughter, Liz, in October 2018. The same couples enjoy New Year’s celebrations in New Hampshire. Dave has five daughters and four grandchildren. • Steve Smith and wife Liz live in Rochester, N.Y. Their daughter, Sarah, is a newly minted CPA and works for PriceWaterhouse in Buffalo. • Charlotte Bacon Holton is now a teacher for the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, the granddaddy of American square dance and contra dance. In addition to her regular drapery business, Curtain Call Custom Sewing in White Plains, N.Y., Charlotte has a new specialty thanks to Dongsok Shin. Dongsok has requested harpsichord and fortepiano covers for moving his own and his customers’ instruments. These covers have special padding for protection, straps for wrapping and handling the instrument, and custom pockets for legs and music desks. • Ken Hughes has lived in Nome, Alaska, since 2006. He runs a gold-buying office, operates his own placer mine, does some commercial salmon fishing, and in his spare time plays hockey, scuba dives, and enjoys photography. Ken has four children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. • Mark Caprio is a professor in Japan, where his research focuses on the challenging relationship shared by Korea, Japan, and the U.S. Mark is looking ahead to one final sabbatical before retirement. He wonders if anyone knows where Peter Brown disappeared to. • Mary Stull Gibbons lives with husband Jim in Olympia, Wash. Mary is a retired family physician and member of the University of Washington faculty. Mary and Jim own Seattle Shellfish and grow geoduck clams and oysters. Daughter Katie (24) graduated from the University of Denver and is an elite rower in Oklahoma City. Son Lucas (22) is a senior at Western Washington University majoring in management information systems. Son Ian (18) is a freshman at Western Washington also. Mary is involved in philanthropy and has taken up rowing again in Olympia! She keeps in touch with Adam Saffer and Laura Durgin Corl, and would love to hear from folks! • Claire Gutekunst and husband Art Perlman left Manhattan for a large home in Yonkers, N.Y., in 2013. Claire served a term as president of the New York State Bar Association and was pleased to successfully persuade the state

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legislature to pass some important criminal justice initiatives as well as work on domestic violence issues with the Women’s Bar Association of New York. She works from home; her practice focuses on mediation and arbitration when she is not serving as the executive director for a breast cancer awareness group for the legal community. Husband Art writes book and lyrics for musical theater. Son Jason (29) graduated from Yale and is planning on grad school to study history. Son Jeremy (25) attended Brown and does online marketing from his base in New Orleans. Claire says, “We have lots of empty bedrooms and would welcome visits from old friends from NMH.” • Peter Baxter died on 7/24/18 in Tell City, Indiana. Peter attended Colgate, earning a B.A. in art history and political science. In his 20s, he lived in New York City. He enjoyed canoeing, horseback riding, freshly baked bread, and bemoaning the failures of the Cincinnati Bengals. He also liked spending time with his wife, Lois, at their campsite on the Ohio River and debating politics with his daughters Courtney (29) and Catherine (27). Bob Burns recalled Peter as a careful listener with a good sense of humor and a contagious smile. Sergio Raynal ’75 remembered Pete as a caring person, a cheerful listener, and a great friend. When Sergio arrived at NMH as a native speaker of Spanish, Peter faithfully tutored him in English. Marc Mowry said Peter was a reliable source of Vienna franks, sent by his mother in enormous care packages. Jim Barnett, who kindly gathered these reminiscences, also remembered the huge care packages that Peter would share without hesitation, including chocolate chip cookies and homemade beef jerky. Jim was Peter’s roommate in North Crossley, and recalled, “Peter was committed to learning something from everyone he met. He actively sought out people who had different experiences and points of view. He truly had an open mind. He threw himself into life the way he threw himself into sports, friendships, and school: full tilt, headlong, with great enthusiasm and a dashing smile.” • Our special thanks to all those classmates who sent news after many years. We would love to stay in touch with you, too. Please don’t let the next round of news about you be an account of your demise! Send us a news update today! Make it easy for us by making sure we have your current contact information. Send the school your up-to-date contact information by emailing addressupdates@ nmhschool.org, and join the “NMH Class of 1976” Facebook page. We are happy to help you connect with old friends — just send us

an email, and if we’ve got their contact info, we’ll be glad to pass it along. • We would love to see our class make a difference to the school of today by increasing our financial giving. Many thanks to all of you who respond generously to those letters, emails, and phone calls to help us meet our goals for dollars and participation. Keep it up!

Northfield Mount Hermon Anne Howson ahowson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu Max Hartshorne wrote, “Sorry I had to miss the [40th] reunion due to a travel conference in Washington, D.C. I have been enjoying life as a travel editor for Gonomad.com, publishing people’s travel stories every day and working with great interns from UMass every semester. This year, I spoke at two major travel conferences on travel writing and visited Japan; Manchester and London, England; Denver; Grand Manan Island in Canada; and lots more. My daughter, Kate ’98, got married in the big house she bought in Northfield, so I’m getting to know that small town better when I visit my grandchildren, who are 11 and 8.” • After teaching in the NMH 2018 Summer Session, David Allen wrote that he and wife, Holly Hazen Allen ’74, are back in New England. In September 2018, David started a new position as history and world cultures teacher at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Willbraham, Mass. “I’m back in New England teaching history and coaching soccer — our team got creamed in its first game of the season by some school in Gill, Mass. Mind you, it’s not that I’m a lousy coach — I threw the game out of sentimentality. But if Dick Peller is in western Massachusetts and free every afternoon for a few months …” • David Ruekberg’s first collection of poems was published by Kelsay Books in August 2018. Where Is the River Called Pishon? explores the longing for spiritual belonging in everyday life. It is available at Amazon and KelsayBooks.com. David hopes to be doing readings from this collection and newer work in the coming year. If you know of a venue, please let him know via email, Facebook, or his web page at poetry.ruekberg. com. • “I’ve been holed up out here in the San Francisco Bay area since 1981,” wrote Leslie Welch. “I’ve been working at Genentech, a biotech company, since 1987. I finally took care of a couple of ‘bucket list’ items and published a scientific journal article, and also spoke at a couple of international mass spectrometry conferences during the last few years on the subject of ‘assessing differential photosensitivity of tryptophan using a model trp-cage peptide as a surrogate for MAbs.’

Grady Forrer ’77 (left) had lunch with John Spence ’77 while visiting Los Angeles last December.

My publication is titled, “Facile Quantitation of Free Thiols in a Recombinant Monoclonal Antibody by Reversed-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Hydrophobicity-Tailored Thiol Derivatization” and is in the Journal of Chromatography B (August 15, 2018 issue), if anyone is feeling particularly nerdy for reading material. My daughter is a freshman at Boston College. I, therefore, now suffer from empty-nest syndrome, which I fend off with my two Chihuahuas. One of these years I should show up at a reunion, but it would be hard to see the Northfield campus gone.” • Sally Lockwood is “excited and apprehensive that retirement age is getting closer every year, and I have no real plans. My daughter turned 30 in 2018 and moved to Colorado with her boyfriend, so the nest is truly empty. The world is my oyster … and now I can do anything! Still plotting out my next adventure, whatever it may be.” • James “Gully” Gullickson will retire from his university gig at the end of June. “Managing KMSU Radio has been the best job of my career, but I’ve overstayed my welcome after being in this position for 17 years!” he said. “I am most grateful for the tremendous staff and volunteers that make this place tick, and the chance to work with students is a blessing that can’t be measured. I’ve been lucky enough to stay in touch with quite a number of KMSU alumni, and I am so proud of the accomplishments these young people have achieved in their lives. What’s next? I have some lines in the water. Hell, I might be your Uber driver someday.” • Anne Howson reported, “After 12 years of essentially rolling rocks in circles financially, I have finally consolidated the wreckage of my childhood, inheritance, and family into one place here in Boston from storage units in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. This Herculean task could not have been started without the help, generosity, and kindness of Megan Wonnacott Sutton, to whom I will always be grateful for volunteering for this activity and making

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In December 2018, Adam Handler ’77 (left) saw bass singer Jonathan Rubin ’77 perform with the Fairfield County Chorale in Connecticut.

it so much better!” • From East Coast ’77, Adam Handler was in Norwalk, Conn., in December to see Jonathan Rubin sing bass in the Fairfield County Chorale, which held its Holiday Concert featuring Argentinian composer Martín Palmeri’s Misatango, plus music by Fauré, Piazzola, and festive music from unexpected sources. • And from West Cost ’77, Grady Forrer visited Los Angeles in December and “while there, enjoyed a great lunch with John Spence and my wife, Julie.” • Christina Parsons Smith passed away unexpectedly on 12/6/18. A 19-year resident of Ewing, N.J., she was employed by the State of New Jersey as a patient liaison investigator for the Board of Medical Examiners in the Department of Law and Public Safety, a position she took great pride in. Prior to that, she ran her own child daycare center. An avid knitter and crafter, she worked part time in a local knitting store and was happiest when creating. Her many interests inspired her participation in local activities, which included fostering local musicians, helping to host concerts, and being involved in a cancer support group and a mahjong group. Her experience at NMH inspired three siblings to follow: Periann Smith Carl ’79, Robert Smith ’81, and Nancy Smith Carrizales ’86. Christina is also survived by her father, William J. Smith (who worked at the NMH Plant and Grounds Department from 1975 to 1987), her siblings Patricia Smith and Dawnald Smith, and her extended family of close friends. • To all Northfield campus people: Please think of coming to future class reunions. You are missed. Also, do you feel reluctant to share news, thinking it might not be all that newsy? Don’t! We could all easily echo that sentiment, but we still want to hear from you anyway!

Northfield Mount Hermon Donna Grinold Hawley djghawley@aol.com Hello, NMH class of ’78! I hope your year is going well and that you will drop me a line to share any milestones or details of any

NMH Magazine

mini reunions with your former classmates. The only news I have for you at this time is brief and sad. • Karen Badger Wespi has passed away; she lost her battle with ALS on 8/27/18. Karen worked for 29 years in the high-tech industry, ending her career as Intel global account manager for Maxim Integrated. She was an excellent cook and enjoyed many hobbies, including writing, biking, hiking, knitting, weaving, and, in her last year, bird watching in the backyard. Karen’s husband, George, told us that Karen led a full life. She has left behind her husband; four successful children: Eric ’01, Scott ’01, Benjamin ’04, and Maisie ’06; and two grandchildren (George and Eleanor). We join the Wespi family in mourning Karen’s passing. • Paul Montague and Edna Armstrong Montague wrote, “Aloha NMHers. We are alive and well on Hawaii. Our house is off-grid, our 1995 Mercedes is converted to burn waste vegetable oil from our local restaurant, and we are growing most of our fruits and veggies. We are living the life that I have dreamed of for many years. We are enjoying vog-free air, now that the volcano has subsided, and life is good! We live close to Volcano National Park and are open to having guests in our separate guestroom.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Paige Relyea Lehman Paigerelyea@Yahoo.com • Caryn Liebowitz Bonosevich Bonosevich@Hotmail.com Our class reunion chair, Estelle Dorain Burgess, shared, “By the time you all read this, our 40th reunion will be upon us! Forty years! It feels like yesterday, walking across Siberia in the bitter cold and snow, jumping on the bus to Hermon and doing last-minute studying for an upcoming exam, singing in Modos, loving the pranks in the girls’ bathrooms, cleaning those huge pots and pans in Gould kitchen, running to the lobby to receive a call from a loved one, dressing for Sunday dinner, carrying that 50-pound typewriter down Chapel Hill to class, passing the swimming test — I passed ... now I can graduate! Phew! We all have many different memories that we share with our classmates. Yours may be completely different from mine. Encourage your friends to come to reunion and share all your special moments with others. NMH reunions are unforgettable, just like your memories! See you all on June 7!” • Ralph Bledsoe wrote, “Life in Andover, Mass., is settling back to normal for most as the Columbia Gas Company caused a manmade disaster by incompetently increasing the gas-line pres-

sure [by] 12 times the normal [rate]. I woke up from a nap, hearing sirens everywhere, as fire trucks from 20 surrounding towns and cities searched for fires to put out. All citizens were standing in every street because no one knew if their house or business was going to blow up or catch fire as 90 buildings in Lawrence, North Andover, and Andover already had. The gas leaks killed many pet birds in homes, as if in coal mines. All streets were blocked with traffic for many hours in every direction, as everyone tried to leave Andover at once. While in my fifth year teaching at Andover High School, across the street from my home, I find the attitude a bit different from my time teaching at NMH or Phillips Academy. Instead of teaching fellow Hoggers from around the world, I am teaching neighbors from my community, many of whom are from around the world.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Jack Farrell jack@jackfarrell.org • Antony Pang aa1105@yahoo.com • Lynelle Kucharski lynelle@lynellekucharski.com • Kristin Kellom kkellom@nmhschool.org From Kristin: Facebook and its “in the moment” timeliness can make it more and more challenging to produce a column. However, being just a year away from our reunion, it is our hope that we can all engage in better outreach with each other and encourage a return to campus, where we can share our news face-to-face. Our reunions have been wonderful opportunities for reconnection and renewal, and we hope that you will note June 2020 for a visit to NMH. • Recent classmate travelers to NMH have included Viva Hardigg and Felicia Bianchi (from Atlanta!) to run the Pie Race. Jim Mulholland had pondered returning for the Pie Race but it didn’t work out. • Off-campus events, most recently Vespers in Boston, saw Mitzi Fennel and Anne Shepard amid a crowd of several hundred alumni and parents at Emmanuel Church. Anne told the story of being on a recent bike ride and discovering that a member of the cycling group was classmate Andrea Graves Thackeray. They figured they had probably not seen each other since NMH days. That story triggered discussion of a Boston-area mini reunion for the class of 1980, and we will hope to bring it to fruition! Jeff Aliber ’77 and Andrew Bourne ’79 both stopped by to say hello at Vespers. Also offering a hug and hello was Isabella DeHerdt ’17, daughter of classmate Amelia Maloney, who then popped me an email the next day after hear-

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Navy Destroyers, From the Inside Wendy Mansfield Donovan ’86 When Wendy Donovan was growing up in Bath, Maine, there were two schools of thought. She says, “It was either, ‘I can’t wait to go work in the yard’ or ‘I’m never, ever going to work in the yard.’” The “yard” was the Bath Iron Works (BIW) corporation, which builds and repairs ships for the U.S. Navy and is the fourth-largest employer in Maine. Donovan was in the second camp — no way was she going to work at BIW. That changed last fall. After 24 years designing custom kitchens for the Kennebec Company (some of which have been featured on the TV program “This Old House”), she now works at BIW’s “planning yard,” designing upgrades and maintenance projects for DDG 51s — guided missile destroyers — in the Navy’s existing fleet. “That means that if the Navy comes in and says the USS Mason is getting a cool new guidance system and it needs new wiring and new cabinets, I go in and figure out how to install and retrofit everything,” Donovan says. “I draw stuff,” she explains. “It’s a little like doing kitchens. I go into an existing space and figure out how to reorganize it.” Her new “existing spaces,” however, are steel vessels the length of two football fields with a “rabbit warren of passages and rooms and compartments” inside. Donovan says, “After so many years working on kitchens, I didn’t feel there was a lot left to learn. So engaging my brain in new ways is fun.”

ing from Isabella. After much dedicated time as an NMH parent volunteer, Amelia has changed her pace a bit during a period of transitions — something many of us seem to be doing as our children go off to college, graduate from college, have children of their own (we’re grandparents?), or as care of our parents exerts its own need for flexibility and appreciation of mortality. • Josh Novick continues to enjoy teaching and living in Arizona. • Ben Sternlieb lives and works in New York City; his company is developing a portable sonogram device that could play a significant role for health care in developing countries. • After living in Colorado for the past few years, Roxanne Wahler Scott ’81 called NMH to inform of an address change, and we had a lengthy catch-up. Life has kept her busy as she’s traveled between California and Colorado and other points in between. Roxanne has a daughter (24) and a son (27), who’s living in Berlin. Caryn Sachs ’81 made a surprise visit to campus in October and provided poignant reminiscences and updates. She stays connected with NMH pals and classmates! Caryn lives in California but has family in New England, which brings her back to the East Coast. • Please drop a note and stay in touch!

Northfield Mount Hermon Martha Holbrow Sandler martha.sandler@gmail.com • Michael Rickard mrickard330@cox.net From Martha: Davis Clayson reported, “I’ve been in the investment business since graduating Brown University, located primarily in Boston, but paid my dues in New York City. Most recently spent 10 years with Bain Capital and, prior to that, 10 years at Boston Partners Asset Management. After Bain, I took time off, and just as I was getting used to early retirement, I was told to get out of the house … and I returned to Boston Partners. No longer traveling the world, but am traveling the U.S., so life is a little easier. New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago are the most frequent stops, so let me know if you’re there. Older daughter is working in New York City after graduating from College of Charleston; son is a junior at the University of Richmond; and younger daughter is at Elon. Everyone went south! I occasionally speak to Jeff Hotch, but it’s been a while. Walter and Capt Matt, where are

Northfield Mount Hermon Frank Chandler frank@thechandlers.com • Marina Colman marinacolman727@yahoo.com • Lilian Blacken Hannapel lilhannapel@gmail.com • Class of ’81 Website: www.nmh81.us

Gene “Yona” Triestman ’82 (left) with his family; Yona’s oldest son is in the Israeli Defense Force.

you?” • Annie Phelps Meneakis said, “Having a daughter in high school has made me all the more grateful for the privilege of having gone to NMH. I remain ever grateful for the gift of getting to learn from teachers [such as] Fred Taylor, Louise Swingle, Sally Curtis, Jim Cerillo, Jim Hillenbrand, and Sheila Heffernon … I still carry fond memories of happy times on campus with Carrie Worthington, Beatrice Ward, Alex Robarts, Jim Runyon ’81, Lucy Unsworth, Claudia Volkel, the Odman family, and kind dorm-mates in Hibbard. I continue to live outside of Portland, Ore., in a little cottage with English roses on one side and fir trees on the other. I live with my sweet husband of 20 years and our amazing, rock-climbing, social-justice-advocating 15-year-old daughter, and [an] effervescent yellow Lab. We travel annually throughout the West for hiking, climbing, and photography adventures. Speaking of photography, I saw Brooks Kraft’s work a few years ago. Bravo to him! After over 30 years of working as a mental health therapist with an emphasis on trauma and couples therapy, I still love what I do. Hope all is well for everyone!” • Courtney Lowe sent his news with an invitation! “I have been in Woodstock, Vt., for nine years with my wife and [have] graduated my two daughters from college. I welcome our classmates to come to our resort, the Woodstock Inn & Resort. We are only one hour and 15 minutes from NMH. (A special NMH friends’ rate is available.) I would like to send a shoutout to some of my Hayden mates, such as Bob Eveleth ’83, Scott Sherwood, Jeb Beaudin, Gary Wetzel, and

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many more. Such great memories.” • Claire Rodman wondered, “Has it really been five

years since I wrote class notes? It just goes to show you how insane life has been in the world of finance! I was pleased to be on campus in summer 2017 for part of our 35th reunion. We were a small but mighty crew, and it was actually nice to have ample time to converse with folks … I command you all to start getting ready for our 40th in 2022. It’s always a joy to interact with NMHers on Facebook, and sometimes I get to see people in person! I spent quality time with Kate Hermann and her wife, Ailsa, at our Sarah Lawrence reunion in 2016. In 2017, I got to see Dylan Brody’s new show in New York City with mutual Sarah Lawrence College friends; had a flying visit with Carol Foote Koldis ’94, who dropped me on campus for my annual Pie Race jaunt and family visit with James Bailey; and also got hugs from Ismael Ramirez, his wife, mother, and cute baby Isabelle. Then I had lunch with David Whitman on my way back to New York City. In December 2017, I had a special birthday dinner with Erica Steckler ’93 and her son, Asher, then had the pleasure of spending Christmas Vespers in New York with Erik Haslun and Per Furmark. I caught up over brunch … with Gene Ward and his wife, Lisa, who have opened a co-working space in Baltimore, and I got to spend a Sunday morning with Adrienne Metoyer ’81, introducing her to the pleasures of Veselka, a Mead White church, and Washington Square. I got to do more music between 2014 and 2017, doing lots of gigs with college friends at their restaurant … and had a Friday-night residency at Norma Jean Darden’s (’57) Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread. I’m still working at Societe Generale on regulatory collateral contracts and was sent to Paris for seven weeks in summer 2017 to work on projects there. (It was a tough summer; many beignets gave their lives.) While there, I was warmed by a ‘happy birthday’ call from Richard Anthony ’81. When I was given the job of global head of collateral contract onboarding, long days put singing on hold for a while, but I am in my third year of directing my college alumni cabaret, and I keep my hand in that way. When you’re passing through New York, let all us folks in the tri-state area know! There’s always time to have a mini reunion here, and people just may throw money at us if we sing ‘Jerusalem’! I’ve [also] been elected as alumni president and trustee at Sarah Lawrence.” • Alexis “Lexi” Ladd shared, “Some of you may not know that Martha Holbrow Sandler is heading an

NMH Magazine

amazing organization called On The Rise, which helps homeless women. I’ve been a supporter of On The Rise for several years. Martha and I reconnected when she reached out about our NMH connection. How wonderful to share both with Martha.” [Thanks for the shoutout, Lexi! Such fun to hang out with you over dinner last September. — Martha] • Gene “Yona” Triestman wrote from Jerusalem, “You’ll probably tell me this is too political, but everything here is either religion or politics … When I was participating in S.T.O.P. (NMH’s Student Teacher Organization for the Prevention of Nuclear War), I felt disgusted by President Reagan for what I thought was promotion of the Cold War. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1991, I was amazed by the success of his Star Wars program, and later by other successes. Now that we have another actor in the White House who is even more controversial, I am looking at him with more hope than revulsion. His move of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to my hometown and other policies show promise … Having two kids in the army now, at least I feel better knowing that America is more supportive of my little country than ever before.” • Jennie Anderson sent “peace and love” with her note: “I have gotten a wonderful opportunity to serve my local community of Norwich, Vt., and can work at it well into my retirement, as a school-bus driver. Like many other things, I got ‘dropped off the deep end of the pool to learn to swim’ — my very first day, there was a snowstorm. All went well and has gone well ever since.” • Steven Soren’s cousin had this to share: “Steven passed away on 11/3/18, after more than two years of courageously living with multiple myeloma. Steven, an accomplished real estate and commercial litigation attorney, was a partner in the Soren Law Group of Staten Island, which he founded in 1998 with his beloved wife of 22 years, Karen. A longtime resident of Staten Island, Steven earned a bachelor’s degree in 1986 from Columbia College, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity (Fiji); a master’s degree in 1988 in real estate development from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation; and a juris doctor in 1996 from California Western School of Law. Steven, who was a junior-ranked tennis player in his youth, was an avid golfer and skier who vacationed frequently with his family in Vermont. As his sons James and William developed passions for jazz and baseball, the entire Soren family enjoyed these pursuits. Steven also served as a

trustee of the Staten Island Children’s Museum and was a member of the Richmond County Country Club. In addition to his wife and sons, he is survived by his parents, Dr. Stanley Soren and Ruth Soren. He also will be deeply missed by his many cousins and dear friends.” • Jay The late Steven Soren ’82 Lochhead wrote, “I am very happy in Dana Point, Calif., working in the pharmaceutical and medical device field and keeping super-busy with a new puppy named Tempe. She is an Australian Labradoodle and quite a handful. Despite some setbacks from getting older, I am still racing triathlons (Ironman Arizona and Indian Wells 70.3) as well as some California Swim/Runs in San Diego with Andrew Hewitt. I did a little mountain bike racing at Over The Hump in Irvine, Calif., [last] year as well. Whenever I can, I get back to Colorado to do some skiing at Keystone. It is always hard to hear of losing an NMH friend (Steve Soren).” • Great to hear from you, as always — thanks for writing, everyone.

Northfield Mount Hermon Allyson Goodwin agoodwin@nmhschool.org • Angela Lambert drangela@mac.com A group of NMHers gathered at Vespers in Boston last year and clustered around our classmates. Sarah Farrington, Penley Knipe, Laurie Smith, Allyson Goodwin, Angela Lambert, Teri Ratté Vienot, Ginger Perry Bisplinghoff ’72, Judge Arcaro ’77, Suzie Steenburg Hill ’66, Chris Anderson ’66, and Haley Short ’14. It was a beautiful performance, and we should try to get a cluster of classmates at the service next year in New York City! • Vera Heidolph, Bill “Schuby” Schubart, and Claire Johnson stopped by

Class of ’83 members (l–r) Vera Heidolph, Claire Johnson, and Bill Schubart visited the NMH farm in December 2018.

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the NMH campus for a lovely visit in early December. It was Vera’s first time to campus since graduation! She is now living in San Diego and has a thriving mobile vet practice. Bill is a social worker in Hinesburg, Vt., and Claire is a technical writer in Riverdale, N.Y. Claire’s son, Mac, is heading to St. Lawrence in the fall. Vera, Bill, and Claire have remained great pals since graduation and enjoyed their visit to the NMH Farm, where Vera made some new bovine friends! • Megan Gray, her husband, and her 11-yearold son traveled to Spain last year. “We live in Geneva, Switzerland, and fight off middle age with biking, swimming, hiking, and sometimes skiing, when snow is good and our legs or backs aren’t broken.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Heidi Kronenberg heidi@esme.com • Kara Driscoll-Hazlett kara.hazlett@gmail.com Hello, everyone! We are so excited to be your new class secretaries! This summer is our 35th reunion, and we are really looking forward to seeing everyone! We have heard from some of you and look forward to learning more about everyone in the months to come. See you in June! • Phoebe Cameron wrote, “I’m looking forward to making new NMH memories with classmates during our 35th reunion! Some of my past memories include: cooking s’mores over a campfire at Shadow Lake; visiting the farm and hearing a lecture on student workjobs and lavender, maple, and apple cider product development; seeing the new buildings on campus, including the Rhodes Arts Center; making new friends during reunion planning (Chris, Marggie, Gigi, Annie, Melissa, Eliza, Eleanor, to name a few); hearing wonderful music emanating from the chapel; and feeling connected to a community I love. I hope to see more classmates in June!” • Kerry Doyle stayed at work until 11 p.m. for three consecutive nights so she could file a motion to get a hearing for one of her clients arrested by ICE and keep him from getting deported and separated from his wife, two kids, and small business. She reports that she hates ICE. • Heidi Lawson Sheldon has been living in Anchorage, Alaska, since 2000 and can’t imagine living in the “lower 48” anymore. “I do miss the fall foliage of Northfield,” wrote Heidi, “but the winter northern lights and endless summer sun make up for it. Anchorage has the perfect weather: lows of 10 degrees in the winter and highs of 75. I lived in the colder region of Glennallen, Alaska (2000–2010) … where it got to [minus] 30

during the winter … In 2010, I moved into Anchorage after a divorce that made Glennallen too small. I am [now] happily married to Doug Sheldon and have four great kids — Madi and Alli are his (oldest and youngest) and Takodak and Akilena are mine. Madi and Takodak have graduated high school while Akilena graduates in 2020 and Alli in 2022. My mom, Stephanie Koonz, moved here four years ago also and it is great fun having her close by again. Love that Facebook has kept me connected with Thena Berry. And also neighborhood friends and NMH alumni.” • Marggie Slichter Blake shared, “I left NMH after working there for 14 happy years and moved to Connecticut, where I have been development director of a small marine science and ocean adventure education organization. I married my sweetheart of seven years, Ben Blake ’66, in May [2018]. Ben and I met at an NMH reunion! I was honored to be walked down the aisle (actually down the dock — we got married on our boat) by my new father-in-law, Pres Blake ’34! We were serenaded with the Northfield Benediction by my daughter, Olivia VanCott Stanton ’11, son Mike VanCott ’10, Rennie Washburn, and Laurel Edson ’05, plus granddaughter Filippa, who learned the song for the occasion! Ben and his son, Adam, sailed our boat from Maine to England! I met them in Falmouth after the 13-day passage, and Ben and I sailed the boat to Denmark. Next summer, we will be living abroad in Scandinavia.” • We heard from Thekla Smith Alcocer, who was “doing the big downsize thing” in preparation for a move. She, her husband, and her kids, Christopher (27) and Rebecca (25), worked for months on moving out of the Alcocer home of over 27 years to Lowell, Mass. “I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming reunion,” said Thekla. “Hard to believe it has been 35 years!” • Tom McKean enjoys Montecito’s (California) trails and beaches with his husband, Marq, as well as local triathlons, and a folk-rock duo called Good Mood. Their son, Jon, will handle your suit needs at Men’s Wearhouse in Santa Barbara. • Kara

Kara Driscoll-Hazlett ’84 (center) and her sons, Nathan (left) and Christopher, were in San Luis Obispo, Calif., for Parents’ Weekend.

Driscoll-Hazlett reported, “I lived in South-

ern California for 16 years and moved back to Massachusetts in 2007. I reside in Newburyport and have two sons: Nathan is a freshman at California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo, and Christopher is a junior in high school. I am a website optimization manager for a company in Burlington and I love it. I am looking forward to reunion and catching up with old friends.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Jennifer Buell Horschman jenhorschman@yahoo.com Evans Smith Scala lives outside of New York City in Ridgewood, N.J., with her husband, Lorenzo, and their son, Luca Emilio (14). Evans has had a long career in learning and development and works for KPMG LLP. She and her husband will eventually retire to the north of Italy, where Lorenzo was raised. Evans has been enjoying catching up with NMH alumni on two Facebook groups, including “NMH Class of 1985.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Geoffrey Locke gwlocke@gmail.com Alex “Sandy” Beech has been traveling between Los Angeles and New York. Her comedy series is in development at a “neat” L.A. production company. She’s also developing and shopping several docuseries along with a one-woman show, The One Chicken Show, with Nolan Doran, who co-directed Michael Moore on Broadway. During her travels, Sandy has visited Li Lin Hilliard Hally in Portland, Ore., and had a mini reunion in L.A. with Buffa French, Traci Kelly, and Debra Koffler. Sandy’s next stop is San Francisco, and she’ll be looking up her NMH peeps there. Traci wrote about the impromptu gathering at her house in Lake Balboa, Calif.: “It was so validating to spend time with my soul sisters; our NMH experience forever connects us. And we missed Dee Dee French Boone.” Last December, Traci had lunch in L.A. with Adam Bernholz. • Julia Callahan Streit “had a great weekend of fun with Merrill-Keep gals Bay Brown ’85, Molly Greaney ’84, Ellen McCurtin ’85, and Kim Stevens ’84 at my house in Connecticut. Just like the good old days in Merrill-Keep, minus blue books and fire drills. Saw Bay and Ellen again in December. Did some volunteer work at HORSE of Connecticut, and enjoyed being inspired by Kim’s new book, Savor. In November, I had a fun dinner with Nilda Lopez in New York City. Hadn’t seen Nilda in forever, so we definitely had some catching up to do!” • Chrissi Haas Deprez trekked up to Boston for a December holiday

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A class of ’86 mini reunion with (l–r) Alex “Sandy” Beech, Debra Koffler, Traci Kelly, and Buffa French in Lake Balboa, Calif., September 2018.

reunion with Nilda Lopez, Holly Bachman Bennett, Laura Longsworth ’87, Julia Pearse Sullivan, Deidre Anderson Detjens, Kristin Sidwell, Kim Snyder Burke, and Gretchen Ganzle Kidder, where they rented a brown-

stone to spend the weekend catching up and laughing. Erika Riddington joined them for dinner on Friday night, and the following day they made a lovely brunch and exchanged fun gifts, while Holly set up a makeshift salon and styled everyone’s hair. • Donna Kadis is still teaching 2-year-olds, who keep her smiling and playing. She spent her 50th birthday year reconnecting with friends. • Liesl Wieneke Madden lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband, Patrick, and son, James. They love hiking and skiing. Liesl teaches fourth grade and was named a “Microsoft Innovative Educator.” In her spare time, Liesl is a potter and oil painter, and has a ceramics studio in her basement. The Maddens are now a foster family and relish its joys. Liesl keeps in touch with Morgan Sturges and O’Shea Gifford ’87, and she looks forward to attending our next reunion. • Trisha Suggs is in the process of adopting two young brothers, ages 4 and 8. She is so excited about these two wonderful new family members. • Rick Widmer described the past year as a roller coaster, as he’s “under-employed, barely making my monthly mortgage payments, trying to keep my wife happy, and spending way too much time on town committees and coaching middle school sports. I am currently editing a documentary about a legendary local girls’ softball coach — winner of 10 state titles — a study in leadership, loyalty, and commitment to community … I continue to enjoy learning, trying to learn, and, most days, have a smile on my face.” • After 24 years in custom cabinet design in Maine, Wendy Mansfield Donovan has moved on to Bath Iron Works, working on the team that conducts ongoing maintenance and repair for Navy vessels. Wendy shared, “It’s a big change, both in terms of company, going from a small family business to a huge

NMH Magazine

corporation, and in terms of product, but so far it’s really interesting!” Wendy had a great time seeing Susan Albee, Anne Bartfay Platzner, Ellen McCurtin ’85, Melinda Petit, Chip Konowitz, Skip Bush, Andi Mead, and Jim Rymes at the Pie Race. Everyone met at Anne’s afterward for pizza pies. • Bruce Mendelsohn said, “After rupturing my Achilles tendon in late March [2018] and subsequent surgery, I had hoped to be sufficiently healed to join our classmates at the Pie Race. Alas, at 50 years old, one doesn’t recover as quickly as at 21, so instead, Heather and I went to Disney over the Veterans Day holiday weekend, where we walked more miles and ate more pie than we would have at the Pie Race. But I missed the competition, the camaraderie, and the post-race pizza party at Anne’s [Bartfay Platzner] house in nearby Greenfield. The good news is: I’m running again and ‘I’ll be back’ for pie next November. Speaking of 50, Chip Konowitz, Chuck Abel, Liisa Grady, and Anne helped celebrate my milestone birthday in June [2018], where embarrassing stories were relayed with malicious glee. And although Eva Burt Dillon and her (nameless Yankees fan) NMH grad husband couldn’t make my birthday soiree, we enjoyed a frontrow ALDS game with them at Fenway Park. We were nice to the Yankees fan. Heather and I really enjoyed attending Vespers on campus in December. Anne joined us in the balcony and at dinner. Anne’s daughter, Lizzie ’20, swims in the very same pool that her mother (and your class notes compiler) so swiftly traversed many years ago. Anne’s back in the water herself, swimming Masters. Props to Jessica Ginsburg Stoops for stewarding the class of ’86 Facebook page, where there’s always something interesting posted. Check it out if you haven’t yet.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Kit Gattis kitnmh@gmail.com www.facebook.com/nmh1987 website: nmh1987.org Since our last notes, I’ve performed in two different clown acts (on the ground) ... we’re contemplating making a new aerial clown act in the spring. • John Bete continues to practice as an osteopathic physiatrist and treats patients with painful conditions at Cape Cod Hospital. With his wife, Robin, he is herding his children, Jack and Maris, toward adulthood ... slowly. If time permits, John makes funny drawings and bad jokes, or plays guitar. • Becky Booth still lives in Connecticut, teaching preschool and loving it. She tries to spend a lot of time with her niece and nephew on the weekends. She

traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico, to work in an orphanage. “Wow, what an experience. Sad and rewarding at the same time,” wrote Becky. She hopes everyone is well and wishes we could have an ’87 reunion this spring! • Having the good fortune of finding the largest deposit of ambergris ever recorded in the Caribbean Sea, Luis Del Valle sold his whale-watching and conservation operation and bought a vineyard in Candelaria, Argentina. The vineyard lies in the direct path of the total solar eclipse of July 2019. This will allow Luis to re-create Sir Arthur Eddington’s experiment that confirmed Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity a century ago. • Joshua Friedlander and his family are doing well. Their son is growing like a weed. (No pun intended, Geoff.) Joshua is sad to have missed our 30th reunion, but he has plans to go to the 35th. • Steve Green and family celebrated the graduation of their elder daughter, Sonya ’18, from NMH last year. Their younger daughter, Maya ’20, is currently a junior. Steve is still an active member of the NMH Alumni Council, volunteering on the Reunion Advisory Committee, along with fellow ’87 classmate Christina Wright Defranceaux. “NMH is on such an upward trajectory, with new building projects, new faculty, and high demand for admissions. This is the greatest time ever to be engaged, and I am so lucky to be involved,” said Steve. He added that NMH staff still talk about the record-breaking turnout for the class of 1987’s 30th reunion two years ago, with almost 70 classmates returning. • Jessica P’Simer Henry returned to teaching, but at the high-school level. She is now working at Morris Innovative High School as an ELL teacher and is loving every minute of it. She gets to work with students from all over Central and South America. Her girls, Donley and Dana, are 6 years old, in the first grade, and are budding YouTubers; they love being creative! Jessica’s husband, David, is retiring in June from a 30-year career in music education. They are looking forward to some well-deserved “R & R,” and being able to travel this summer! Look out, America — the Henry twin tornadoes may be touching down in your area as they camp across the country from Dalton to Seattle starting in mid-June. • Dan Krauss has been loving the Rocky Mountains outside of Boulder, Colo., for the last 21 years. He was originally invited there by Charlie Todd at the end of 1989, and had decided to make it his home. The purpose was to play music and pretend to be University of Colorado students. Charlie split to Florida and Tennessee, but has since returned to Boulder to work with Dan on a new business venture. Both are

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proud dads of embarrassed sons. They had the sensational pleasure of hosting their dear friend, O’Shea Gifford, last month. With some folks, there are no beats skipped. All three are prepared to be with their NMH friends at the next reunion. • Chuck Linton is doing well in Houston, Texas. His two daughters are now ages 10 and 12, and he is happy to report they are doing well in school and “not in jail.” Chuck is keeping busy at work and trying to figure out how to turn his house into a smart home. • Imran Qamar continues to live in Katy, Texas, just outside of Houston. He bought a house last summer and spent the fall remodeling it. Imran would love to hear from friends and welcomes visitors to Houston: “Y’all come visit, ya hear!” • Jackie GreethamRobbins Smith has been busy helping her senior daughter with college applications and can hardly believe she has a daughter about to graduate from college. Last spring, Jackie ran into Jamie Walters while skiing, which was a nice surprise. Jackie would love to connect with any NHMers in L.A.! • Jason Rosamond, having not run since cross-country junior year at NMH, has taken up running again. After a year in training, he will be competing in the Boston Marathon in 2019 and hopes to run it in two hours, 24 minutes. • Jennifer Seavey moved to Kittery, Maine, last summer. She reported, “They say Kittery is the Brooklyn of Portsmouth, N.H. I’m not sure about that, but it sounds cool, so I’m sticking with it.” She is still enjoying her job as executive director of Shoals Marine Laboratory (Cornell and University of New Hampshire). She talks regularly to Merritt Carey (“rock star of the Maine seafood industry”), Lisa Wise Slade (“who is making many of us jealous of her recent move to L.A.”), and Meg Clews (“who keeps impressing us with long backpacking trips”). • Tamson Smith and her husband, Shannon Scott, have cried uncle on Midwestern winters and moved back to New Mexico to thaw out. They look forward to reexploring the Southwest after being away for nearly 10 years. • Antonio Tambunan is doing well considering he survived a heart attack last July. Thankfully, there was no permanent damage, and, ever the rebel, he still went to Burning Man to bring his camp’s 747 plane out to the desert. He’s made a few changes to his diet since then, and even helped launch a healthy sweet potato puff brand called “Spudsy” that hit stores nationwide in January. • Geoff Weed is still in Chicago, but gets out to Maine to see his oldest once in a while. He also helps his junior through the ups and downs of junior year, while the little one is intent on becoming the next Stephen Curry. Geoff hopes everyone is enjoying their 50th

year and saying yes to everything. • Rich Phillips thinks 50 has been pretty nifty, aside from being asked if his 4-year-old kid is his granddaughter and feeling enticed by the free fanny-pack offers from AARP. Highlights have included getting to watch his beloved Sox win the World Series at Fenway (after eating sushi with Christina Wright Defranceaux in Boston), and being promoted to full professor of biology at Indiana University, which he attributes to his grade-inflating, millennial-coddling skills. In the past year, Rich has gotten together with (Last Man Standing) Rick Burtt, who came out to Boston for a Guided By Voices show, and Jen Gessner (dinner in New Orleans). For those stopping through Bloomington, Ind. (kids on the college circuit?), he hopes that you’ll look him up. He notes that John Cougar Mellencamp and Meg Ryan live in town, so there’s really no better way to relive the 1980s. When he’s not visiting his family in Boston or in-laws in L.A., Rich spends most of his time trying to keep up with his precocious girls (4 and 1), who, thankfully, still think streaking is something you do with paint brushes.

Northfield Mount Hermon Anne Stemshorn George anastasia.s.george@gmail.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Chris Roof roofsound@comcast.net • John Carroll jcarroll@nmhschool.org • Caryn Crotty Eldridge slickcke7@gmail.com From Caryn: Greetings from London. I am looking forward to reunion in June and hope to see as many of you as can attend. Esther Bhotiwihok Abbe, Bridget Bryan Mooney, Jessica Pitt Tramuta, Cordelia Aitkin, Alicja Trout, Gretchen Goller, Laine Alston, Jess Stewart Manley, and Risa Narita: Please come! It has been far, far too long. • From Chris: The class of ’89 is gearing up for our 30th reunion this June. Members of the planning committee are excited and hoping to see the biggest crowd yet. I just celebrated

Chuck Murphy ’89 returned to NMH for the Pie Race.

Chris Roof ’89 at the 2018 Pie Race with his younger son.

25 years working for a research group in the U.S. Department of Transportation. I still love the work, even if it’s a pretty challenging time to be working for the government, especially in the environmental field. I was lucky enough to run the Pie Race this year with my younger son. Chuck Murphy also made it to NMH for the race. • Alie Watson and Kristin Wyckoff had so much fun at the Sting concert in Boston last winter that they decided to see him again at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. They brought Alie’s 5-year-old son along, who wasn’t wildly impressed by Sting but loved the Rod Stewart show the next day, and sang “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” for the next several months! • Abbe Wertz is living and working north of Boston. She’s been an emergency room nurse for 16 years and loves it. Her youngest twins started college, and one of her oldest twins had a baby last year, so Abbe is working on being the coolest grandmother ever! • Kara Seager moved to the West Coast and continues to rub the amazing weather in the face of her East Coast friends. • Frankie Baker took a trip to Africa that, by the look of his photos, was incredible. • I’m hoping that my senior-year roommate and close friend since the second grade, Nat Simpson, will make it to reunion this year. • Mac Richie continues to record and perform in a number of musical groups spanning many genres. He’s become quite proficient with woodworking and gardening as well.

Northfield Mount Hermon Robbianne Mackin robbianne.mackin@gmail.com • Travis Lea travislea@gmail.com • Kristin Steele kaste@conncoll.edu • Toryn Kimberley Stark torynk@yahoo.com From Toryn: As noted in the previous issue of NMH Magazine, Kathy Lalazarian passed away. Her close friend, Danapel deVeer, wrote this special tribute to Kathy’s life: “Hi, Hogger friends. Kathy passed away

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on 5/2/18 at the age of 46 after her second diagnosis of breast cancer. I would like to take a moment and remember her life — a life that was lived fully but undeniably much too short. Kathy and I met in our sophomore year in the South Crosley dorm room of a mutual friend, Heather Rustigian. We became fast friends, soul sisters, and friends for life. We spent the summer after graduation on the Cape together (where Kathy was from), and she came to visit me several times during the summers while I was on the Vineyard. Unfortunately, the last time I saw her was in Boston while she was finishing treatments after the first diagnosis in 2015. Even though we hadn’t seen one another for a few years, it was like no time had passed, and we both knew that was how it would always be between us. After NMH and graduation from Tulane University, Kathy lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and attended graduate school at American University. Kim King-Maysonet, Kathy’s first NMH roommate, said, ‘Kathy went on to a very distinguished career with the World Bank and traveled extensively to Russia and surrounding nations. She left the stress of that job some years ago and lived in Jamaica … and in Costa Rica with her husband, Edward.’ They had two dogs, and bought a house and a piece of undeveloped land that they planned to turn into a permaculture farm and to build a community gathering place or retreat center. Kathy found the love of her life in Edward. She called him her angel; he was perfect for her and they were perfect for one another. She was loved, admired, and appreciated by his family. Kathy had traveled to Peru with Edward and found it very healing. She was a fighter until the end and very brave, as you can see in a series of videos she shared on her Facebook page, ‘The Bright Life.’ This George Bernard Shaw poem best describes the way she was living her life and was shared by one of her Costa Rican friends when she heard of Kathy passing away: ‘I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no “brief candle” to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.’ There is nothing that I can write which will adequately describe Kathy and the wonderful, smart, talented, cute, and funny person she was. She is missed by her friends from around the world. I will miss Kath forever; I know we all will. Love and peace to you all, Hogger family, always.” • Emily McGee is now the director of communications of

NMH Magazine

the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association in Arlington, Va. Through this job, she has become a volunteer with Operation Barbecue Relief (OBR), helping in their marketing department. This organization was founded in 2011 by competitive barbecue chefs. They travel to disaster sites and provide hot BBQ meals to those who are impacted. In September 2018, Emily was deployed by OBR to Wilmington, N.C., to help with the Hurricane Florence recovery. She spent five days on-site, sleeping in an RV in a parking lot, helping with media outreach, smoking thousands of pork butts (900 a night!), and distributing meals to people who had lost everything to the floods from the hurricane. OBR served food for 16 days (323,925 meals in Wilmington), including the two-millionth meal since OBR’s founding. As a completely wonderful bonus, Emily reconnected with Heather Bryson Schild, who lives in Wilmington. “She provided me with the best hot shower ever and some wonderful fellowship with an old friend,” said Emily. • Mary Walling is continuing to collaborate with Dr. Beatriz Balanta. They traveled to Glasgow for a writers’ residency this August. Their most recent work, a text on white supremacy and the white woman central to that, was published online in e-flux journal and is the second part in a series titled “Sticky Notes.” Mary is also making some sculptures and drawings but, like many, she’s navigating the “midlife environmental crisis.” Climate breakdown necessitates this sort of parsing through one’s actions and separating out what aspects of our daily consumption are unsustainable and which elements provide hospice to an ailing planet. She is reading some Sarah Ensor and Phil Neel’s Hinterland toward an understanding while recalling that senior-year environmental studies course (there was a small number of us ... Sid, Ike, Tam, Nick, Andy ... and others?) and regretting that what they learned there did not undergird each step.

for a software company. My wife and I are nervous about being empty nesters, but also excited for this chapter in our lives.” • Last November, Kim Tinstman Hine was road tripping to the Pie Race with Marc A. Saint Louis and Angelo Firenze. • Dairo Moreno congratulates Christine Beebe for her film, Hal, being included in the Telluride Film Festival! • Christine Beebe met up with Ryan Chilcote and two of his three kids. “Thanks, Ryan, for making our little Los Angeles NMH reunion happen,” said Christine. “It was so good to catch up. Sorry if I embarrassed you in front of your kids, talking about old times … although I do think it’s healthy for them to get a flavor of what you were like back in the day, right?” Congrats, Christine! Can’t wait to see you at the Academy Awards one day soon! • NMHers: Send in your updates! We want to hear from you!

Northfield Mount Hermon Dairo Moreno demoreno@post.harvard.edu • Blythe Asher asherblythe777@gmail.com From Blythe: Gabriel Guerrero wrote, “My oldest daughter, Sophia, graduated from high school! (Didn’t we just graduate?). In January [2018], Sophia was accepted to Bryn Mawr and will be attending college and playing field hockey there. My youngest, Ava, has been accepted to Choate and started in September. I left my consulting job in Charlotte, N.C., and began working

Heather Gauvin Arsenault ’91, Kelly Krause ’91, and Kerry Lyman ’91 spent time relaxing in Boston.

Northfield Mount Hermon Jennifer Sadula deVore devorejr@msn.com • Cate Steele Hartzell cate.hartzell@gmail.com • Leah Clarkson leah.clarkson@gmail.com • Gene Ehrbar geneehrbar@icloud.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Susannah Sprong Cahillane coloradocahillanes@mac.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Carol Koldis Foote carol.foote@gmail.com • Dan Furlong furlongtime@gmail.com There has been planning and chatter around our 25th reunion, happening June 7–9. Our hope is to see as many of our classmates as possible, so that we may share our news face-to-face. Whether it’s been 25 minutes or 25 years, we’re looking forward to catching up with everyone who shares the NMH experience. See you in June!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Caroline Leonard carolinecleonard@gmail.com Hi, everyone. Our class has a Facebook group called “NMH 1995.” If you aren’t yet a part of it, please send in a request to join; we’d love to hear from you! We have a big reunion coming up in a year and it’ll be a good way to stay in touch and make plans! • I had the pleasure of hearing from one of our class parents, Ralph Bledsoe ’79. He is living in Andover, Mass., and shared, “Life in Andover is settling back to normal for most after the Columbia Gas Company caused a manmade disaster by incompetently increasing the gas-line pressure 12 times [the] normal [rate]. I woke up from a nap hearing sirens everywhere, as fire trucks from 20 surrounding towns and cities searched for fires to put out. All citizens were standing in every street because no one knew if their house or business was going to blow up or catch fire as 90 buildings in Lawrence, North Andover, and Andover already had. The gas leaks killed many pet birds in homes, as if in coal mines. All streets were blocked with traffic for many hours in every direction, as everyone tried to leave Andover at once. While in my fifth year teaching at Andover High School across the street from my home, I find the attitude a bit different from my time teaching at NMH or Phillips Academy. Instead of teaching fellow Hoggers from around the world, I am teaching neighbors from my community, many of whom are from around the world.” • Jake Kheel was married in May 2018 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where he lives and works. Jake said he “was fired up to have two Hoggers in attendance at my wedding — Dan Furlong ’94 and Kahlil Lozoraitis ’94. Mark Labouchere [was] also invited but was booked at an education conference.” • Marcus Woodson and his wife, Rashelle, welcomed their son, Graysen Kirk, on May 3, 2018. They are living in Pleasanton, Calif. • After three years in Northern California, Judy

From left: Caroline Leonard ’95, Jocelyn Leary Lavallo ’95, and Laura Astor Mauldin ’95, with their children during a 2018 visit to Sebago Lake in Maine.

Tong moved back to New York City. While in California, she reconnected with Heidi Geis ’96, Kate Norman ’96, and Win Walker, “but somehow never quite met up with Sky Greenawalt. And I was able to visit my bestie, Valerie Beckwith ’94, in Southern California more regularly. I’m back at the New York Times covering local news again. I wonder how long I’ll be here this time.” • Marce Mallett Houston is doing well and is busy as a teacher for 6- and 7-year-old kids in Louisiana. • Jack Buckley lives in Asheville, N.C., and would love to get coffee with anyone who may be passing through. • Kelley Moffat wanted a change of scenery and moved to Truckee, Calif., last year with her partner. After getting divorced eight years ago, she had left northern Virginia to move to Snowshoe, W.V., to wait tables and ride downhill bikes for a summer, and she ended up staying for five years. During that time, she also started ski patrolling. She continues to ski patrol in winter and works with mountain bikes and trails in the summer. Last winter, she started drum lessons and learned to play ice hockey. Kelley said, “One of my biggest regrets is never joining the ice hockey team at NMH. I have fond memories of my time at NMH.” • Karin Cooley Sanieski said she had a fun, cozy winter in New England with her husband, Kevin, and their son, Lexi. • Ari Dagan got married in early December 2018 to Kelley King and had a baby girl in February. He lives in Brookline, N.H., and is running Carpet Center, his family floor-covering business in Nashua. Ari continues to play bass and has done a few gigs with a metal band called Mucklers Circle. They had a show at the Hampton Beach, N.H., Casino Ballroom, where they opened for Danzig. Sadly, it has not been all good news. Ari said his father recently passed away and his brother, Sam Dagan ’91, who is a lawyer in San Diego, came home for the funeral. Ari wrote, “I’ve been back to NMH a few times to run the Pie Race and won a pie [in] two out of the three races. Hopefully, the jogging stroller we got will get me back on the path to running form again.” • Carolyn Kuan was awarded the prestigious Smith College Medal in February at the College’s Rally Day. Congratulations, Carolyn! • Megan Gibbons is an associate professor of Spanish at a small, rural state college in West Virginia. She teaches half time and spends the other half on international education initiatives for both her college and the state’s consortium of higher-education institutions. One of the best outcomes of this work was receiving a Fulbright research grant that allowed her to transplant her family to Oviedo, Spain, for five months in 2017. Megan

Northfield Mount Hermon Summer Session June 29 to August 3, 2019

Earn credits to advance in school. Build skills and accelerate academic progress. Sample boarding school life or come as a day student.

nmhschool.org/summer One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3290

summer_session@nmhschool.org

has also traveled to China, Costa Rica, England, Ireland, Mexico, and Thailand. She said, “It’s an ever-changing adventure ride that keeps me on my toes. It also helps confirm for my daughter, who will be 6 years old soon, that the world awaits her and needs her to want to do her part to make it better. The international travel has made it a bit harder to fit in domestic travel. We haven’t been back to Northfield in several years, but we hope to fix this and arrange a New England trip in the near future. Many friends and family are still in Boston, Providence, and the Hartford area. My husband’s family is spread out through Europe and the United Kingdom; it was great to be closer to them while we were in Spain. I enjoy reading about everyone else, either through notes or in the Facebook group. My best to all!”

Northfield Mount Hermon Patrick Davis patrickdavisknows@gmail.com

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Beer Pong Goes Interscholastic Justin Ko ’98 A bunch of boarding-school alumni walk into a bar. They face each other down in heated competition. The game? Beer pong. Justin Ko and Patrick Yeung ’99 represented NMH — unofficially — in a beer pong tournament in Hong Kong last fall, at a small establishment called Bread and Beast. “There were 10 teams in total,” says Ko — besides NMH, there were the usual suspects: Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, Taft, Hotchkiss, Milton, St. Paul’s, Groton, and Choate. “Some bars have darts and pool tables,” Ko explains. “Some bars in Hong Kong have beer pong tables instead.” Ko reports that he never played the game in college and rarely plays it now, but adds that his skills are “actually OK” due in part to his recreational basketball-playing days at NMH. He estimates that he made 60 percent of his shots, all while sipping on a local craft beer called Heroes Beer, brewed by the husband of Jacqueline Wong ’04. Overall, the collective school spirit was “fierce,” Ko says. “It was a lot of fun and everyone really got into it.” Alas, the championship title went to Andover, but despite NMH’s loss in the first round, the event “was a great opportunity to catch up with fellow alums and meet locals who also went to boarding school in the U.S.,” Ko says. Assessing his NMH team dynamic, he says, “I was the stronger player, but Patrick had a lot of heart.” From left: Justin Ko ’98, Christopher Wong (husband of Jacqueline Wong ’03), Jacqueline Wong ’03, Charis Law ’03, Patrick Yeung ’99

Northfield Mount Hermon Julia Cohen jmacleodcohen@gmail.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Brian Pressman brainjpressman@gmail.com • Rachel Carfora rachelcarfora@gmail.com Justin Ko wrote, “My wife (Elaine Kwan) and I have two girls now. Erin was born in 2015, and Emilia was born in February 2018. On November 9, 2018, Patrick Yeung ’99 and I represented NMH in an inter-school beer pong tournament that took place in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we lost to Groton in the first round. This was the second time NMH has been ousted in the first round. Last time we lost to Milton.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Audrey Korte aekorte@cox.net • Melia Knowles-Coursin meliakc@gmail.com • Molly Loveday chefmollyloveday@gmail.com

Justin Ko ’98 and Elaine Kwan ’98 with their children

NMH Magazine

Northfield Mount Hermon Rose Jackman Spurgin rosespurgin@gmail.com Rose Jackman Spurgin married Will Spurgin in a private ceremony at the Easthampton mayor’s office on 3/31/16. In addition to her career at Combined Insurance, Rose is involved in the charity Western Mass Arm Wrestling Ladies, and spends a lot of time checking in on friends. She collected a lot of photos and blurbs from classmates and was against the deadline. If the column stops here it means you will all be in the fall issue instead. Please help!

her job as a co-op and career advisor at Wentworth Institute of Technology. • Josh Bigelow is running an office furniture business he acquired and is working on getting a marketing software startup off the ground. He caught up with fellow classmates Benjamin Galuza, Caitlin Inglehart, and Alex Fischer in the Bay Area. Ben continues to work as a principal engineer, designing environmentally green (LEED) buildings for Integral Group, and Caitlin is working with a startup, Angaza, in San Francisco, providing pay-asyou-go solar power to emerging markets. Alex is wrapping up his Ph.D. at Oxford University.

Northfield Mount Hermon Josh Grubman joshuagrubman@gmail.com • Christopher A Zissi christopher.zissi@gmail.com Ria Jodrie Kalinowski and her husband, Jim, welcomed a son to their family in Sept. 2017. Theodore Jameson (now 1) loves dancing and playing with his sister, Ella Mei (3), in their home outside of Boston. Ria still loves

Northfield Mount Hermon Danielle Henry Beale dhbeale@gmail.com Hello, all! Sara Stephens came to visit me in Nevis, West Indies, and we spent a wonderful week catching up over rum punch. • Karan Khosla welcomed a baby, Feroz, with wife Divya Gupta. • Noah Balazs moved to Cairo, Egypt, with his family. • Matt Farina married Leela Holman. • Heather King

Rose Jackson Lynch ’00 (right) with co-worker and friend April Masefield over the winter holidays

Ria Jodrie Kalinowski ’01 with her children, Ella (left) and Theodore, during the holidays.

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Frechette began her own private psychiatry practice. • David Rosenzweig married Ali Baldwin. • Wayne Ting joined Lime as

the global head of operations and strategy. •

Anne Morgan is now sales manager for Made

Fore a Pro, Augusta, Georgia’s only boutique housing rental company. Anne said, “We work with corporate clients to find them the best housing in Augusta during Masters Week. Our clients include Rolex and Bubba Watson. If anyone is heading to Augusta for Masters 2019, I would love to connect!” [Send me an email to get Anne’s contact info.]

Northfield Mount Hermon Dee Guo deedith@gmail.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Jamieson Baker jamieson.baker@gmail.com • Jane Lilly Warren janelillywarren@gmail.com • Daniela Frias daniela8_5@hotmail.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Donnie Blackwell ptowndon@gmail.com • Arjun Pant arjunpant@gmail.com • Jingping Zhang jingping.ellen.zhang@gmail.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Ramon Guadalupe ramon.g2975@gmail.com • Collin Lever collinlever@gmail.com Dan Chapman lives in Baltimore City, Md., and graduated from the University of Delaware with a doctoral degree in physical therapy. “I will soon be entering a residency program focusing on orthopedic care,” wrote Dan. “I miss my NMH family and hope all is well. Y’all always have a home in Baltimore.” • Rachel Forbus Blanchard shared, “My husband and I granted our first wish with Make-A-Wish [Foundation] for a child with

Lucy Clark ’04 got married in Wellfleet, Mass., on Sept. 8, 2018. From left: Lucy’s brother John Clark ’05, Lucy’s mother, Lucy, groom Ian Marlier, and Ian’s mother.

[Editor’s note: The following caption was misprinted in NMH Magazine’s fall 2018 issue. The following is the correct caption in its entirety.] Becky Eldridge Capasso ’05 and Dominic Capasso ’07 were married at Memorial Chapel on May 19, 2018, surrounded by their Hogger family. They celebrated at the Colonel Williams Inn in Marlboro, Vt., with Abby Eldridge Koppes ’03, Kylie Jelly Mones ’06, Will Kidston ’05, Laurel Edson ’05, Amanda Abramson Clarke ’05, Sam Clarke ’06, Claire Anagnostopulous ’06, Stef Krug Sawyer ’01, Aaron Sawyer ’01, Tegh Kapur ’05, Alex Case ’05, Matt Vollinger ’06, Hickory Lawson ’06, Rebecca Zukowski ’07, Michael Broady ’06, and Daniel Chapman ’06. Other NMHers in attendance included: James Capasso ’01, Drew Chapman ’03, Sheila Heffernon, Dennis Kennedy, Ryan Koppes ’03, Atta Kurzman, Josie Rigby, Ben Simanksi ’01, Scott Thayer ’85, Jim Vollinger, and Everett Wikline. It was quite the NMH reunion!

cystic fibrosis, and it was an incredible experience. We’ve also been making a lot of DIY home improvements to increase the value of our house.” • Becky Bowen Sims’ daughter, Henrietta Mae, was born on 6/23/18. • Cookie Smith lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and is a physician assistant in an emergency department, the Express Care Walk-in Clinic, and moonlights as a hospitalist. For fun, she plays ice hockey, goes snowshoeing, and has picked up skate skiing. Cookie saw Daniel Flores ’04 over Thanksgiving; they went to the Pats-Jets game. • This year has been amazing for me (Ramon Guadalupe), and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I was involved in a local grassroots campaign for New York State Assembly in my own neighborhood, which helped elect a local Coney Island resident to the seat by 53 votes in the primary. I decided to remain on the staff for the Assembly member as the com-

From left: New York State Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, New York State Assembly District 46 Assembly Member Mathylde Frontus, and Ramon Guadalupe ’06 at the swearing-in ceremony for newly elected Frontus in November 2018 in Albany, N.Y.

munity liaison. This is my first rodeo in state politics, and I am loving every minute of it.

Northfield Mount Hermon Dith Pamp dith.pamp@gmail.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Emily Jacke ejacke@middlebury.edu • Sarah-Anne Tanner tanner.sarahanne@gmail.com From Emily: Hello, 2008. I’m writing from a gray, Berkeley, Calif. • Spencer Russell and his girlfriend had a baby, Hamilton! Other than that, he says he doesn’t have a lot of news, which is fair. New babies are a lot of news! • In the world of new babies, Joe Charpentier and his wife, Haley, welcomed their second child, Fergus, into the world in September 2018. Joe is very much enjoying being a dad and continuing his work as a journalist for the Boothbay Register in Maine. • Ben Weyer celebrated his seven-year work anniversary with Geezeo and continues to live in

Becky Gillig ’08 married Willis Kennedy on Martha’s Vineyard in September 2018. Her grandfather, Phil Dietterich ’50 (with the surprised look!), officiated.

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Newington, Conn., with his girlfriend. He’s sorry he was unable to attend the second half of reunion last year and hopes to catch you next time! • Becky Gillig married Willis Kennedy on Martha’s Vineyard in September 2018. Her sisters, Sarah Gillig Sunu ’05 and Beth Gillig ’11, were matron and maid of honor, respectively. The ceremony included singing “Jerusalem,” a brief history of the hymn and the significance of the lyrics by Becky’s grandfather, Phil Dietterich ’50, who also officiated. It was, by all accounts, a jolly good time, indeed. Congratulations, Becky and Willis! • Jeroen Fabricant has moved from Burlington, Vt., to Rotterdam, Netherlands, and he wrote, “I am working at the hospital here in the [operating and emergency rooms]. It’s been a busy few months getting settled, but I’m enjoying the Dutch culture and getting back into swimming and [am] biking everywhere. I’m missing (and jealous of ) the snow and skiing in Vermont, though. In the coming months, I plan to start a master’s as a physician assistant in the Netherlands, with a focus on preventative health.” • As for me (Emily), I’m still living in Berkeley with my partner, Jake Wood, and working for the nonprofit Earthjustice. Last fall, I joined the Oakland Symphony Chorus (OSC) and the OSC Chamber Choir, and I have begun to re-indulge my teenage love of Victorian fashion by taking up vintage waltz and sewing myself a new ball gown to wear to re-enactment events. Do let me know if you’re ever in the Bay Area, and keep sending your news to Sarah-Anne Tanner and me. We love hearing from you! •

Northfield Mount Hermon Daisy Letendre daisycletendre@gmail.com • Eshalla Merriam eshallamerriam@gmail.com • Pamela Chen pamchen13@gmail.com • Fayette Phillips fayettephillips@gmail.com • Anna Stevens annagstevens@gmail.com • Galen Anderson gjande01@syr.edu From Anna Stevens, written in December 2018: “I am writing from Nepal, where I have been living and working for the fall [2018] for the gap-year organization, Where There Be Dragons. I will remain in Nepal through the spring, but spending winter exploring New Zealand. My sister, Pauline Stevens ’07, visited Nepal for a few weeks and we explored the tea plantations and mountains. When not in South Asia, I lead hiking courses for the National Outdoor Leadership

NMH Magazine

School in Wyoming and Alaska. This transitory lifestyle has allowed me to catch up with fellow Hoggers this past year, like Natalie Norton ’10, Ellen Hallman ’13, and others at the Rocky Mountain meet-up in Denver.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Eli Spector elishsp@gmail.com • Jed Kundl kundlj@gmail.com From Jed: Becca Daen has been working in Chicago for the past five years and currently works in education reform and education policy. The idea of going back to school for business or policy is starting to percolate for Becca, so that may be in the works for her in the next few years. Outside of work, Becca competes in a couple of recreational soccer leagues and was training for her fourth marathon. • Eli Spector is back to school, working on his M.B.A. at Harvard Business School. • Florida has taken Katie Beauvais Filer captive, and she believes she won’t ever be able to return to the cold of New England — at least not permanently! Katie lives with her wife in Clearwater, and they absolutely love the endless summer and beach vacation they call life. Their rescue puppy, Murph, has completely taken over as king of the house! Katie is a speech language pathologist in a private pediatric practice. She mostly works with children who have autism spectrum disorder or childhood apraxia of speech. Both disorders make learning how to communicate very difficult. She hopes all is well for NMH alums, especially her friends from 2010! If anyone is ever in the Greater Tampa area, she’s always up for a coffee or a drink! • Jahyun “Jay” Song lives in the Big Apple. By day, she works in finance crunching numbers in Excel and making PowerPoint presentations. By night, she laughs or heatedly debates various subjects with fellow NMH (and collegiate) classmate and roommate, Nora Donovan. Weekends are filled with brunches, celebrations, and workouts with other NMH classmates, such as Casey Woo, with whom

Jay Song ’10 (left) and Casey Woo ’10 in New York.

Jay fondly reminisces about our time as Cottage Five student leaders and the laughter-filled dinners in Alumni Hall. Life in one of the world’s greatest “concrete jungles” has its ups and downs, but Jay is grateful she has her NMH friends to enjoy the ride. If you happen upon Midtown and want to say hi or learn more about finance, please hit her up on LinkedIn. • As for me (Jed), I’m still living and working in the Boston area. My improv troupe was cast in Studio 40 at Improv Boston, and we’ve been having so much fun performing in their space! I also spent a couple of weeks in Iceland hiking, seeing the sights, and immersing myself in the local culture. It was a transformative experience, and I highly recommend visiting should you have the opportunity. Wishing you all the best.

Northfield Mount Hermon Olivia Wolpe oliviawolpe@gmail.com From Olivia Wolpe: In the usual call for updates, I asked classmates to expand on some of their failures from this year, and to no one’s surprise, 2011ers produced them in spades. Rather than viciously divide the class between those who are proud of what they’re doing and those who are a mess, I’ve sprinkled them together, and the reader can attempt to differentiate the groups. • Geneva Jonathan is in the middle of her Ph.D., and still crushing on her NMH beau, Tommy Carpenter ’12; the two will move in together this year. • Bo Martin has moved back east from Oregon after getting fired. Twice. • Hanson Cheng is getting his master’s in product design and engineering at Imperial College London. Similarly, Ashley Grevelink soiled her pants during an ayahuasca ceremony in Peru (which Henry Ault called a “classic,” and Adam Bunnell called “goals”). • Matilda “Tilly” Brown is halfway through her master’s in ancient history at the University of Edinburgh and is focusing her research on empresses of the Severan dynasty. Mackenzie King asked about any “cool/dope empress facts,” but Tilly never responded. • Edward Barthelemy is in Japan and claims that it’s “chill.” • Leeanne Hadsel finished her master’s and certification for applied behavior analysis at Penn State, and bought a house next door to NMH English teacher Bob Cooley! • Deenie Schlass is currently interviewing dog walkers in New York City. I begged, but she wouldn’t give me the job, claiming I had to be “in the same state, at least,” and she also mentioned something about a lack of dependability. • Morgan Wilkinson refuses to submit updates,

C L AS S NOTES

but if Instagram is any indication of real life, she’s drinking a lot and eating a lot, and then occasionally poses in front of a wall. • The ever-mysterious Elizabeth “Chiz” Rugutt has made landfall. Since graduating summa cum laude in May 2018, she’s been working as a lab technician and was applying to medical school. Chiz claims she’s failed at keeping bamboo plants alive and to self-actualize. Who hasn’t?! • Olivia VanCott Stanton is thoroughly enjoying her work as a daycare teacher! • Amadea Cesari moved back to Vermont a year ago and is a case manager at a supported living facility for men just out of jail who have substance use disorders. She lives with her dog, Z, and says that life is good. • Garrett McMullen has recently started gardening and offers up his expertise should anyone have questions! • Jenna Florio works for a company called Chirps. They make food using crickets and the tag line of their protein powder is, “Eat Bugs, Get Buff.” That’s not really Jenna-related, but it just sounds fun. • Sierra Dickey is in Mexico for a month, but otherwise lives in Vermont and does amazing work with migrant communities there. She allowed me to freestyle this update, but I’ll keep it simple and say that she’s back to embodying the WWSD lifestyle that originated during our years is Lower South Crossley. • Though we could call many of the names above a “hot mess,” I will go ahead and once again crown a Ms. Julie McCausland as king. In a drastic sign of maturity (or just aging properly), Jules has upgraded her 2.3 GPA that she finished with in undergrad to a 4.0 in her current computational linguistics master’s that she’s pursuing. All that is well and dandy, except that a few weeks ago, Julie ended up ditching me on my birthday to instead hang out with her crush. And — get this — her crush is a 20-year-old aspiring YouTuber. I welcome anyone and everyone to address this with her; just DM me for her number. Honestly, that’s like, really, really, really embarrassing, Julie. As always, I like to end on a harsh (but honest) dig at Ms. McCausland, so with that, our updates are complete! I hope to see you all again in six months. Until then, stay … hydrated?

Northfield Mount Hermon Parker Peltzer ppeltzer@gmx.com • Wilson Josephson josephsonw@carleton.edu

13 – 18

Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Faculty Please send news to Josie Rigby rigbyjosie48@gmail.com Becky Dominguez and her family lost their home to the vicious California fires last summer. Please keep them in your thoughts as they rebuild. Becky continues to work at the Shasta YMCA as their director of development. • Cynthia Goller lives in Florida and is recovering from two hip replacements. We wish you well, Cynthia. • Sharon Hutchinson Hosley ’58 and husband Leigh Hosley are still living in their motor home full time, spending summers in Maine, winters in Texas near their son, Scott ’82, and a few weeks in spring and fall in Amherst, Mass., with son Colin ’88. They had a wonderful time at Sharon’s 60th reunion last June! • Since retiring from NMH, Donna Walsh Inglehart has moved to Maine with her husband, David. For several years, she chaired the Hebron Academy English Department while continuing to write fiction and nonfiction. Donna has since published two works, Breaking the Ring (Little, Brown) and Grindstone (Troubadour Interactive), and is currently working on the prequel and sequel. Donna also co-authored an awardwinning iPad app e-book, One in a Thousand, with racecar driver and acclaimed aerial photographer Ian Chisholm. • Marv Kelley ’60 and his wife, Carol, remain residents of Greenfield, Mass. They have no plans to move, but as each winter season hits, Marv thinks about migrating farther south. He gets to watch several NMH athletic teams, and is looking forward to welcoming in the new head of school. Your scribe recently bumped into Marv in the Big Y parking lot in Greenfield, and I often see him at Franklin County Philharmonic concerts. • Dick Peller and Ellen Turner spent two weeks in Taipei last July and visited with daughter Annie Peller Neill ’97, Jeff Neill ’97, and grandchildren Stella and Chase. “It was wonderful seeing them after a year away. Annie was a terrific tour guide for Taipei,” said Dick and Ellen. They both helped son Michael Peller ’98 and Kelsey Sullivan ’02 move into new digs in Bethlehem, N.H., where Michael works as assistant head at the White Mountain School. Kelsey has returned to teaching after a few years as a full-time mom. Their son, and Dick and Ellen’s grandson, Harvey, is full of joy playing in the snow! Ellen and Dick continue in their work: Ellen is a fulltime admission officer at Kenyon College and Dick is teaching two classes at Western Reserve Academy. Clearly they stink at retirement! • Lorrie Proal recently retired

from her position as information technology purchasing officer at Valdosta State University in Georgia. We wish you well in your retirement, Lorrie. • In March 2018, Don Stevens met up with Margaret and Jim Craig at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz. All are well, and the Craigs are looking at a retirement community in California. Don continues to enjoy playing in the sand and getting flowers to grow in the desert. They send their regards to fellow retirees. • Betty and Noel Stookey continue to love life in Blue Hill, Maine, for most of the year, with four months in Ojai, Calif., in the winter. No major health complaints, even though they are both now 80! Their One Light, Many Candles program continues, although mostly along the East Coast. Betty is training to become a hospice volunteer and still works one day a week at the Tree of Life Thrift Store. Along with swimming three days a week, serving on several local committees, visiting with family and friends, and travel, life is very full and very good. Noel keeps busy teaching a computer course at the local high school, doing many solo concerts and some with Peter Yarrow. His new Christmas CD, Something Special, was released in November and is doing well on Amazon and CD Baby. Betty and Noel think fondly of the days they spent at NMH and are in touch with many students and faculty from that time. • Sher Sweet continues to work as a spiritual counselor at Hospice of Franklin County. She bought a condo in Greenfield, Mass., and is loving it! • Your scribe, Josie Rigby, while on vacation in Acadia, Maine, last September, had a very enjoyable lunch with Mary-Ann Efird Higgins ’51, Betty Stookey, and Jean Penney Wheeler ’66 in Blue Hill. It was such a treat to meet up with this group — Jean and Mary-Ann were two of my best alumni volunteers during my time at NMH, and it was a joy to work alongside Betty when she was our chaplain. Betty made working on the reunion worship service a joy.

From left: Retired faculty member Josie Rigby, Jean Penney Wheeler ’66, Betty Stookey, and Mary-Ann Efird Higgins ’51 lunched together in Acadia, Maine, in September 2018.

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IN MEMORIAM

David F. Bolger ’50 David F. Bolger ’50, one of Northfield Mount Hermon’s most dedicated alumni, died on Dec. 29, 2018, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, with his family by his side. He was 86. A real estate financier with roots in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida, Bolger was not only a tough negotiator, but also a generous supporter of museums, libraries, and hospitals as well as his alma mater. “Northfield Mount Hermon will remember David for his determination and wisdom, his loyalty to friends and family, his genuine interest in ‘paying it forward’ to benefit young people, and his appreciation of art, history, and education,” said Head of School Charles A. Tierney III. “David’s legacy at NMH has been remarkable. It literally is visible throughout our campus.” Bolger was NMH’s largest donor over the course of his lifetime, and his gifts spanned more than half a century. He worked with the class of 1950 to fund the renovation of NMH’s dining hall. He helped build Bolger House, NMH’s admission building, and the Bolger Center for Early Childhood Education, which serves families both at NMH and in the local community. He was behind the most recent renovation of Ford Cottage, the head of school’s residence; as well as renovations and repairs in Memorial Chapel. Years ago, he helped create the Bolger Art Center inside the

NMH Magazine

Talcott Library, which is located on the former Northfield campus. Bolger was born in Alliquippa, Pennsylvania, to John Theodore and Coby Bunge Bolger, who had immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands. After he attended the Mount Hermon School for Boys, he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954. He served in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a first lieutenant, then worked in the steel mills of Pennsylvania. He entered the field of finance and worked at a number of firms before founding his own real estate investment firm, Bolger & Co., Inc., in 1966, which he led for more than four decades. Years earlier, however, his Mount

Hermon career got off to a rough start. Bolger liked to tell the story of how the headmaster recommended that he not return to the school after his first semester and that paying the tuition fee would not be money well spent. Bolger’s father, John, assured the headmaster that he would help his son improve his attitude. Bolger returned to Mount Hermon, and graduated successfully. He took great pleasure, years later, in giving back to the school that had nearly kicked him out. Throughout his career, Bolger was known as a keen businessman, but he also adhered to a personal mission that was much like that of NMH founder D.L. Moody: to change lives for the better, to make the world a better place, and to give back more than he received. Alongside his impact on

Bolger House, NMH’s admission headquarters.

IN M E MORI AM

NMH’s physical plant, his generosity has been directed at the dozens of students who received financial-aid scholarships that he established and endowed in honor of his immigrant parents — scholarships that will continue to support students in perpetuity. “David embodied NMH’s mission of acting with humanity and purpose,” Tierney said. “He believed in the power and potential of young people. Clearly, he has earned a spot in our school pantheon.” Bolger is survived by his children Betsie, John, and James; brothers Daniel and William ’44; sisters Barbara Collett ’50 (his twin) and Betty Fleming ’46; and six grandchildren. He is also survived by his first wife, Barbara Abney Bolger, and his second wife, Lois Coonradt.

Enid Wonnacott Former faculty member Enid Wonnacott, 57, died on Jan. 19, 2019, at her home in Huntington, Vermont, surrounded by family and close friends. At NMH, she served as a science intern, acting director of the NMH Farm, and field hockey coach in the 1980s. “Enid was an incredible role model,” says Ellen McCurtin ’85. “She was a leader with a warm, inclusive style that allowed her to connect with all sorts of people. She could bring people on different sides of an issue together for important conversations. I can’t help but think that she embodied the ideals NMH seeks to cultivate in its students.” Wonnacott went on from NMH to become the executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), and led the organization for more than 30 years. In the process, she became a widely known advocate for organic farming and the agricultural community. She worked closely with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to develop the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program. According to an obituary in Seven Days, a newspaper in Vermont, Wonnacott “radiated warmth like

PHOTOS: GLENN MINSHALL, MICHAEL DWYER, COURTESY OF MELINDA PETIT ’86

the traveling NOFA-VT pizza oven in which she delighted for its capacity to bring people together around food.” On Vermont Public Radio, she was called a “forward-thinking, positive, bright light who helped legitimize a different style of farming in a conventional world.” At NMH, Wonnacott “was full of life and enthusiasm,” recalls English teacher Meg Donnelly. “She cared most about creating community.” Melinda Petit ’86 says that although Wonnacott was a young teacher, not much older than her high school charges, “she had a comfortable leadership quality and you could count on her to join right in.” Petit played goalie for the JV field hockey team that Wonnacott co-coached, and recalls that after practice, Wonnacott would continue to hit shots on goal — “I remember staying until dark sometimes,” Petit says. At the farm, Petit continues, “Wonnacott was easygoing and made everyone feel welcome, despite our not knowing the first thing about working on a farm.” Wonnacott is survived by her husband, Harry Frank, whom she met at NMH; her children, Eli and Lila; and her sister Megan Wonnacott Sutton ’77.

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VITAL STATISTICS B IR T H S

1995 Graysen Kirk to Marcus Woodson and wife Rashelle May 3, 2018 2001 Theodore Jameson to Ria Jordie Kalinowski and husband Jim September 2017 2006 Henrietta Mae to Becky Bowen Sims and husband William June 23, 2018. 2008 Fergus to Joe Charpentier and wife Haley September 2018

Janice Matson Kinnie September 14, 2012

Robert Windsor December 2, 2012

Miriam Miller McLaud November 17, 2012

Lois Dixon Woodard June 6, 2013

Carl Poekel March 21, 2013

Samuel Wright June 24, 2016

Mary Hubbard Thompson January 14, 2013

1938 Charlotte Newton Baillargeon November 2, 2013

William Yoh May 11, 2018 1937 Ann Stahl Barker June 22, 2014 Frederick Barlow June 24, 2018 David Carleton January 27, 2019

M ARRI AGE S

Jean Lawton Sheraton Crocker February 1, 2015

1967 Sheila Morse to Richard Smith December 2018

Marjorie Park Douglas November 3, 2018 Survived by Betsy Douglas Ainsworth ’71

1968 Nancy Alexander Randall to William Luth September 9, 2018

James Fizzolio August 10, 2015

1995 Ari Dagan to Kelley King December 2018 2008 Becky Gillig to Willis Kennedy September 2018

D EAT H S

1934

Robert Emerson May 16, 2018 1935 Eustace Hetzel July 6, 2018 Valentine Papas Mason March 5, 2018 1936 Carolyn Smith Bader February 22, 2017

NMH Magazine

Cynthia Welcker Fraser March 3, 2012 Anna Ourada Gagne February 26, 2015 Homer Hamlin September 13, 2015 Ruth Ruhl Hannah December 12, 2017 Survived by Kenneth Ruhl ’47, Gail Given St. Clair ’69 Ruth Cheney Smith Hendricks January 28, 2017 Mary-Emma Painter Hibbard January 19, 2013 Muriel Scott Rosa June 21, 2013 Survived by Sharon Cady-Harrison ’68, Scott Cady ’70 Janet Harrington Weidmann September 17, 2011

Eleanor Russell Batey January 27, 2016 Lawrence Cate March 7, 2018

1941 Mary Henderson Messinger July 3, 2017 Survived by Timothy Messinger ’71 Leighton Riess July 4, 2016 Lawrence Wilkinson August 10, 2018 1942 Lydia Wright Beaumont October 30, 2018 Survived by Katherine Hume Reif ’43

Janet Kehl Tenney December 27, 2018 Survived by Shirley Nelson ’39 1944 John Hamlin March 13, 2018 Jean Domin Knapp November 7, 2017 Richard Wadsworth June 27, 2010 1945 Lois Carter Ramsey January 20, 2019 Richard Towne November 21, 2018

1939 Isabel Scott Balfour August 9, 2018

Jean Russell Duncan December 16, 2018 Survived by Katharine Childs Jones ’64, Eliza Childs ’67, Deborah Hill Serrano ’70, Christopher Hostage ’03

Sally Handyside Bayer March 10, 2017

Grace Smith Johnson October 29, 2018

Phyllis Ruhl Given December 3, 2018 Survived by Kenneth Ruhl ’47, Gail Given St. Clair ’69

John Boeing January 14, 2019 Survived by Mark Boeing ’65, Christopher Boeing ’66

Edward Obert September 15, 2018

Donald Parker July 27, 2018

Martha McLeod Parmenter August 26, 2018 Survived by Patricia McLeod Leeming ’45, Molly McLeod Hill ’48, Judy Leeming Thompson ’66, Bonnie Parmenter Fleming ’67

Muriel Moison Ruckstuhl November 12, 2010 Survived by Jeanne Moison Tate ’49, Jean Sargent Norton ’60, David Sargent ’63, Robert Sargent ’95

Martha Adams Erickson September 1, 2018

Frank Browning September 16, 2016 Brenda Young Gorski March 12, 2012 Survived by Thomas Chase ’58 Frances Murray Grimes August 6, 2018 Survived by Wendy Fisher Kirchofer ’60 1940 Marion Batchelor Bancroft March 29, 2013 Survived by Hazel Batchelor Tulecke ’42, Margery Bancroft ’68, Robert Batchelor ’68, Susan Allen ’69

Robert Roy December 19, 2018 Phyllis Russell Taylor July 2, 2018 Jean Whitaker July 29, 2018 Survived by Lynn Whitaker Crawford ’66, Mary Hancock Galambert ’66, Willard Whitaker ’67

Ralph Forsaith September 18, 2018

1943 Janice Hodgkins Bruemmer June 18, 2018

Dorothy Bullard Stewart September 10, 2005

Frank Navratil March 7, 2016

Beulah Downs Veautour April 26, 2017

Eleanor Hewitt Pugh December 28, 2018

1946 Jeanne Roe Bigelow July 31, 2018

Carol Foster Sidney June 20, 2018 George Slater October 17, 2018 1947 Paula Reiner Cohn October 24, 2018 Ruth Norton Nettleton February 8, 2018 Survived by Donald Norton ’47, Stephen Nettleton ’72 1948 R. Gilbert Allenby May 21, 2014 Survived by Peter Allenby ’74, David Allenby ’76, Deborah Allenby Albert ’78 Charlotte Goddu Babbitt November 12, 2018 Survived by Holly Babbitt Cobb ’70

VI TA L STATISTICS

Nelson Ehinger August 11, 2018 Robert Jones December 23, 2018 Carol Leonard August 2, 2018 Margaret Turner Mertz August 18, 2018 Survived by Mary Lyman Heist ’49, Kathryn Mertz McQuerrey ’72, David Waller ’73, Jane Heist Gamber ’74, Andrew Heist ’06 John McQuerrey ’06 Betty Dixon Prouty November 30, 2018 Survived by Leslie Prouty ’73 Stuart Smith June 19, 2018 1949 Frederick Glotzer January 6, 2019 Elliott Serafin January 16, 2019 Lawrence Warshawsky April 21, 2018 1950 Joseph Bilmon October 15, 2016 David Bolger December 29, 2018 Survived by Betty Bolger Fleming ’46, Barbara Bolger Collett ’50, Stuart Fleming ’81 Marjorie Sisson Lloyd June 12, 2017 Jane Sisson Sibley November 11, 2018 Charles Voll November 1, 2018 1951 John Banks October 13, 2018 Anne Cotton July 28, 2018 Dorothy Rugg Fitch October 27, 2018 Survived by Allen Rugg ’51, Barbara Rugg Fritz ’64, Susan Rugg Wright ’66, Marilyn Rugg ’71, Elizabeth Rugg Grybko ’72, Virginia Rugg Ackermann ’74, Robert Scott ’74,

Richard Rugg ’78, Robert Fitch ’81, Thomas Fitch ’83, Laura Mattson ’85, Kenneth Rugg ’86, Christopher Fritz ’94 Geoffrey Spranger August 2, 2018 1952 Robert Bairstow October 11, 2018 1953 Jan Buckner October 16, 2017 Richard Child August 23, 2018 Survived by Robert Child ’84 Robert Holton September 21, 2018 Survived by Kristin Bolton Munkres ’84

1956 Robert Conly September 26, 2018 Survived by Dale Conly ’52 Dorothy Gordy Date of death unknown Julia Smith Pringle October 17, 2018 Peter Tyler October 23, 2018 Sharon Wright July 28, 2018 1958 Zoltan Szeifert January 19, 2019 Survived by Zoltan F. Szeifert ’84 1959 Stuart Ames August 3, 2015

William Steele January 10, 2019

Donald Pearson August 25, 2018

Deborah Coles Taub December 10, 2017

Carol Kaiser Petito December 15, 2018 Survived by June Kaiser Dunnick ’61, Charles Kaiser ’69

Carleton Woodring July 10, 2018 Survived by Douglas Woodring ’56, Sally Woodring ’60

Tanya Comparetti Smith October 10, 2016

1954 Lawrence Conway October 9, 2015

1960 J. Keith Johnson November 25, 2018

Peter Garrett October 25, 2018

Hannah Schadt Mocek September 22, 2018

Robert Hoagland March 6, 2018

1961 Carol Craig October 23, 2018 Survived by Richard Craig ’58

Paul McNiff December 28, 2015 Linda Herbits Shapiro October 28, 2018 Malcolm Strohson January 4, 2019 1955 Lucretia Hoover Giese October 16, 2018 Survived by Henry Hoover ’53 Margaret Walker Jennison October 27, 2018 Judith Moody December 1, 2018 Eric Ottervik December 1, 2018

William Niblock July 23, 2018 Kate Alling Throop January 12, 2019 Survived by Christopher Throop ’86 1962 Karen Gottesfeld Bauman November 21, 2018 1963 E.J. Batty January 18, 2019 Survived by William R. Batty III ’59, Stephen Batty ’67, Mary Batty ’84, William R. Batty IV ’86, John Batty ’88, Anna Batty Claeys ’93, Jordan Batty ’95, Jesse Batty ’99

Alan Thorndike January 8, 2018

1982 Steven Soren

1964 Caroline French-Fuller August 12, 2018

1986 Jennifer McDonald

Linda Scherer Payson November 17, 2018 John Pogue July 28, 2018 William Saunders September 12, 2018 Survived by Jane Saunders Macnaghten ’62, Elizabeth Saunders Dutertre ’64, Mary Macnaghten Layland ’98 1967 Deborah Mayberry September 8, 2018 Survived by Nancy Alexander Randall ’68 Stephen Miller July 13, 2018

November 3, 2018

August 15, 2018

1990 Kathy Lalazarian

May 2, 2018

1997 Robert Tyson

December 2, 2017 2011 Jonathan Chervin

November 23, 2018 F ORMER FACULT Y AN D STAF F

H. Alfred Allenby

November 11, 2018 Survived by Peter Allenby ’74, David Allenby ’76, Deborah Allenby Albert ’78

1968 J. Michael Neander July 12, 2018

Arthur Eade

1969 John Shaffer August 23, 2018

May 3, 2018 Survived by Gail Doolittle ’89

Eric Whyte December 24, 2018 Survived by Robin Whyte Reisman ’67, Kristin Whyte ’70

Robert Freeman

1970 Donald Howes November 20, 2018 Survived by Laura Jones ’68, Thomas Howes ’74, Malcolm Howes ’08

Larry “Butch” Hubbard

1972 Peter Moeslinger July 25, 2014

December 15, 2018

1976 Peter Baxter July 24, 2018 1978 Karen Badger Wespi August 27, 2018 Survived by Eric Wespi ’01, Scott Wespi ’01, Benjamin Wespi ’04, Margrit Wespi ’06

August 25, 2018 Ethel Doolittle

October 15, 2018 Lillian Gillespie

November 29, 2018 September 11, 2018 Joseph Kordana

December 19, 2018 Evelyn Van Cor

Adolph Wolfram

March 23, 2016

Enid Wonnacott

January 19, 2019 Survived by Bruce Davis ’03, Megan Wonnacott Sutton ’77 Margaret Wright

October 11, 2018

1980 Allyson Watson August 15, 2018

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B Y PET ER W EI S ’ 7 8 , P’ 1 3

HISTORY LESSON

Spinning Sacred Tunes One of NMH’s most celebrated traditions turned 125 this year. Happy quasquicentennial, Sacred Concert! The music has, of course, changed a great deal over time. Gospel hymns dominated the early years before classical composers like Wagner, Schubert, and Handel made their way onto the program. The album pictured here is from 1946 — the first year the concert was recorded. Choral director Albert Raymond oversaw the event’s heyday in the 1950s, ’60s, and early ’70s. In recent decades, Sacred Concert has flourished under the batons of choral director Sheila Heffernon and Steven Bathory-Peeler, director of orchestras, who have gently pushed traditional boundaries with a greater variety of music. In 1983, when the 18thcentury poem-turned-party-song, “Gaudeamus Igitur,” or “Let Us Rejoice,” appeared in the program, Al Raymond, who was present for the event, noted, “Hardly appropriate in a concert of sacred music.” But greater controversy brewed during Raymond’s own tenure. In 1970, in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia and the National Guard shooting at Kent State University in Ohio, students threatened to remain silent at Sacred Concert unless those traumatic events were acknowledged in some way. Glyn Jones, the chaplain at Mount Hermon, read a statement that said, “Our students are solidly in the tradition of Northfield and of Mount Hermon, [and] their deepest faiths must be brought to bear on the searing trials and dilemmas of life.”

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P H O T O : C H AT T M A N P H O T O G R A P H Y

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Wa lki ng the Wa GIVING GIVING BACK BACK

CU R HO REN ME T Ne w Y TOW ork N Cit : PR y Sh O F E S e NM cia ’s a S I O N: t H s e e A Ca a n TA “ t io p glo grea K E A it fi ital, Brigh r as t b s t r a an al n edu WAY in m th pri woo od s v d tie lea etwo catio : me uppo at sp ate c s t de n rk d e r r e i c t c u ne i on hat rshi of f ,” a ss m-si ng s ialize dfi p r h d es m z en elp opp iend s ce ed in ed b all- t s GI . WE the us o he or tun , V rb i A r ING U.S iWA E K E uil . d Fu ecurr B A C Wo R R I N D n O vol d an ing g K : Mi o vol R : u i d n u the ntee ma ft to no ds M ntee n Ce sch r. “I ny h the hig profi atter rs fo N o o n r alu ter ol b want urs MH inc h-per t tha , a an u a m t t i s o f o l d ni d stu me orm help do rea the help a i no AH ch G col dent high ng, lo s r A s s ba a b ilder !M At su lege. pre choo ws r o e a ad p p .” du fina O M er ha por t It’s l are l E r d f i NY ing h nce N T : an at N syste ke th or a U e n , r e o M m mo sh co d l rec utle H — sh e sc ney e rea llege aw e ed eive t for ho go liz ye ven ge ‘so the “it’s e op ol. to era Yo s int ed “ ars t pu and t ft’ kn m to h t u o t h ow at io for t e i h r wa thei ps o owlto gras ns. Y ave unni mu nh rd. r b n p p es ” All ut in s. Yo ou h lant g a ch NM t fo ow for the s the u ne ave t and ot Sn H M o gra ma sw ed e nte ll t imm chl cut fre akin O M E ori hin sh g d A N i n . ne o F ” stu ma gs g ut T : “W F I N I you poo he dy ha n yea of C T l h r 5 too . gra en Y : “I first ll to r afte k du I m gre b I s alw ate eet no uild r clim w w s u a o a fo ys th s Ne ates p in man . w the peci feel r the er NM wa En , so warm a m l l i s a gla m frie , a con ke first H e ma nd y firs r nd nd ne the tim sf r zin win c e, as we b tion e’s g.” ter t ter ec w tha ome ith tw ay. ”

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OLD SCHOOL Students and faculty still use the brass boxes in NMHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mail center. PHOTO: MICHAEL DWYER

NMH Magazine 2019 Spring

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