Nobles Magazine, Winter 2021

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

WINTER 2021

What It Means to Find Family

PHOTO OF THE DAY December 7, 2020 A group of Class IV students checks out the artwork of Karen Dana Cohen in the hallway of the academic center. Dana Cohen’s oil paintings are on display for the Foster Gallery’s fall show, How Lonely Does It Get?, but due to the pandemic, the actual gallery has been requisitioned as a classroom large enough for physical distancing. Dana Cohen, who was born in Mexico City and now lives in Chicago, employs a muted color palette with splashes of vibrancy to paint abstract forms and figurative scenes that flow from her own identity and memory.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BEN HEIDER

contents WINTER 2021

IN EVERY ISSUE 2

Letter from the Head

3 Reflections What Nobles folks are saying on campus and online 4

The Bulletin ews and notes N

9 Development Nobles Night goes virtual 12 Sports It’s still play time 14 By the Numbers This is how to reopen a school during a pandemic 15 Off the Shelf All about the books we read and write 16 Perspective What we share and see as the days pass 43 Graduate Profile From the horse’s mouth

FEATURES 20 Out of the Ashes Captain Colin Arnold ’02 finds meaning and hope in the face of loss

Cover Photograph by Jared Leeds

26 Finding Family Members of the Nobles community share their stories of adoption

34 Pandemic Pets When times are tough, the tough get creature-cozy

45 Graduate News About our grads—and see baby photos!

64 Archive At least it’s not another Snowmageddon

Nobles

letter from the head

WINTER 2021

Light at the End of the Tunnel AS CHALLENGING AS THIS LAST YEAR has been, it has also taught us

a great deal–about who we are, what we are capable of amidst tremendous adversity and what we value most. At Nobles, we have witnessed our faculty, staff and students rally with great resilience and agility to adapt to the rapidly changing teaching and learning environment. While far from ideal, all have invested enormous time, talent and patience to make the best of this very imperfect situation.

While logistics and guidelines often dominate our ongoing planning discussions, we have kept a very clear focus on what matters most at Nobles–the relationships at the center of our mission serve as the foundation of our Nobles community. While the forced disruption and isolation of the pandemic have certainly hindered so much of what we “normally” do to cultivate relationships and support our students, we have discovered new and creative ways to ensure those relationships endure and deepen during a time when they matter more than ever. From weekly advisor check-ins to counseling meetings with every new student, we are continually seeking ways to ensure every Nobles student has connections with faculty members whom they can count on for support and guidance during this trying time.

One of the greatest challenges posed by the pandemic is our inability to gather as a full Nobles community. It has been almost a year since we were all together in Lawrence Auditorium for assembly. I greatly miss the energy that comes from our community being in the same space together as well as the shared experiences that are just not the same virtually.

As we finally see a growing light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, I am spending more and more time thinking about how we come back together as a community. How do we build in time and space to repair, to reconnect and recover together? It will be critical to take time and care to heal, ensuring that, the Nobles community continues to deepen and strengthen yet again through this latest adversity.

While the pandemic has certainly challenged our on-campus community’s ability to gather, a silver lining is how this chapter has opened Nobles’ virtual doors to our broader community.

Attendance at our virtual parent and guardian events has skyrocketed, and, with these events now recorded and shared online for those unable to attend live, we have discovered an impactful way to engage our families in a much more inclusive and accessible way. We have also discovered exciting ways to bring graduates to campus through Zoom reunions and other events, leading to renewed connections among classmates and new connections among generations of graduations. As our ability to gather in person as a community has been challenged, we have discovered new pathways to gathering more of our community more often.

I anticipate with growing eagerness that day when we can gather again as a full Nobles community in Lawrence Auditorium for assembly, when we can celebrate together the inspiring strength of the Nobles community. Whether on campus or in virtual space, I hope to see each of you very soon!

Editor Heather Sullivan DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Assistant Editors Kim Neal

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Ben Heider

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCER/WRITER

Anne Hurlbut

WRITER/CONTENT MANAGER

Design 2COMMUNIQUÉ

www.2communique.com Photography Tim Carey Kelley L. Cox Erik Diaz Todd Dionne Michael Dwyer Ben Heider Anne Hurlbut Jared Leeds Kim Neal Alonso Nichols Rob Strong Heather Sullivan The Editorial Committee Brooke Asnis ’90 Casey Hassenstein John Gifford ’86 Tilesy Harrington Nobles is published three times a year for graduates, past and current parents, guardians and grandparents, students and supporters of Noble and Greenough School. Nobles is a co-educational, non-sectarian day and five-day boarding school for students in grades seven (Class VI) through 12 (Class I). Noble and Greenough School is a rigorous academic community that strives for excellence in its classroom teaching, intellectual growth in its students and commitment to the arts, athletics and service to others.

For further information and up-to-the-minute graduate news, visit www.nobles.edu.

Letters and comments may be emailed to Heather_Sullivan@ nobles.edu. We also welcome old-fashioned mail sent c/o Noble and Greenough School, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026. The office may be reached at 781-320-7268. © Noble and Greenough School 2021

—CATHERINE J. HALL, PH.D., HEAD OF SCHOOL

2 Nobles WINTER 2021

You’re no longer new.

Nobles is your home just as much as it’s our home.

—CATIE ASNIS ’21, SPEAKING TO NEW STUDENTS AT THE OPENING ASSEMBLY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

I look forward to walking this path with you toward a better world, a healthier world, a more just world, where we all can breathe. I am so proud to be a member of this community; we are not perfect, but our arrows, our wayfinding signs, point in the right direction.

—MATH FACULTY MEMBER NICK NICKERSON DURING A SPEECH IN ASSEMBLY THIS PAST FALL

For me, Nobles was always a place of reflection, a place of discovery, a place of truth…

I’ve always held hope that it was trying to be a place that supported a healthy society.

—DR. STACY SCOTT ’77, SPEAKING AT THE 2020 NWANAGU FAMILY DINNER

OCTOBER 23, 2020: Lily Bryant ’21 prepares to launch an air-compressed rocket at a target during Joe Liskowsky’s physics class. Today’s lesson is about two-dimensional motion and is part of a unit on Kinematics.

OCTOBER 31, 2020: Sam Millay ’22 dressed as an octopus during a snowy Halloween day on campus for the upper school students. While the pandemic persists, it could not get in the way of Halloween traditions at Nobles.

Ignorance is no protection from the consequences of inaction.

—HEAD OF SCHOOL CATHY HALL, CITING ISABEL WILKERSON’S BOOK, CASTE, AT ASSEMBLY IN REFERENCE TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY

Now more than ever, kids are relying on warmth, compassion, empathy and understanding from the adults in their lives, both at school and at home. It is our job to listen and to create spaces for them to connect.

—DIRECTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND COUNSELING JEN HAMILTON IN A HEAD OF SCHOOL NEWSLETTER ARTICLE ENTITLED “6 TIPS FOR FOSTERING RESILIENCE AND CONNECTION DURING TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY” WINTER 2021 Nobles 3

the bulletin Mike Kalin, director of professional growth and English and history faculty member

Teachers Nailing It THE FIRST DAY of any teaching career is

terrifying. Many questions run through the mind: What if my students don’t like me? What if my lesson plan bombs?

What if I’m so boring that my students fall asleep on their desks? What if my students refuse to participate? The questions are endless, and sometimes the fears do materialize. But we all survive that first day and that first year, relieved that we’ll never be rookie teachers again.

We were wrong. When Covid-19 forced schools in the area last spring to transition to virtual learning environments, all of us were catapulted back to our first days of teaching. The familiar anxieties and uncertainties returned, but with new questions: What if my Zoom session malfunctions? How will I make sure students

assembly highlights Twin Talk The 2020–21 sets of Nobles twins talked about what being a

4 Nobles WINTER 2021

twin means to them and shared stories about uncanny ‘“twin telepathy.”

understand the material when I can’t see what they’re writing? What if my toddler starts screaming in the middle of my Zoom class? What if I accidentally screenshare pictures of my pets rather than my presentations? And just when we began to get a rhythm for virtual instruction, the new hybrid model this fall added some wrinkles: How will I ensure that virtual students remain engaged during in-person classes? Will my web camera capture the content that a student at home needs to learn? Will my external microphone pick up soft student voices?

These complexities could have led to frustration and despair. Yet our faculty rallied in a manner that makes me so proud to work at Nobles. Identifying any “silver linings” of the Covid-19 crisis

Morning A Cappella Alejandra Mendez ’22 sang a beautiful a cappella version of “My Future,”

by Billie Eilish.

Local Eats Clark Saunders ’21 walked students, faculty and staff through his top 10 list of places to eat

risks sounding tone deaf, when more than 400,000 Americans have died. Yet if there’s one lesson that I’ve gleaned working alongside my amazing colleagues and students, it’s that we need to find moments of joy amid anguish, hope amid fear. Following are a few of the positive developments that have occurred that will survive this devastating pandemic.

First, our faculty are now utilizing a multitude of academic technology tools that will engage students even when we return to entirely in-person instruction.

Some teachers are using Google Classroom to provide instant electronic feedback to students on their work. Some teachers are using Pear Deck, a Google Slides add-on that allows students to interact with presentations rather than sit passively without any engagement. Modern Language teachers have adopted ThingLink, enabling students to create projects with voice, text, images and video. Many of my English colleagues use Padlet so that students can write quick responses to questions that instantly appear on a projector or computer screen. While at times the learning curve has been steep, teachers’ immense efforts have paid off as these technologies have enhanced the student experience regardless of whether it’s in-person or virtual.

Second, the pandemic’s impact on the number of times we see each of our classes has forced us to reflect on the most critical skills and competencies needed to prepare students for further study. This process, though stressful, has helped us realize what lies at the heart of each of our courses.

near Nobles, with Cafe Fresh Bagel topping the list at No. 1.

Nobelium Experiments Sidnie Kulik ’21 and Hannah Epstein ’21 introduced the latest issue of Nobelium,

NEWS FROM OUR COMMUNITY

Third, the near elimination of faceto-face interaction among colleagues has led to innovative ways of digital collaboration. The pandemic has caused us to begin using tools such as shared Google Drive folders, Slack and learning management systems. Novice teachers especially will benefit from the increased digital organization that has emerged.

Lastly, the pandemic has challenged us to think about how we can build and maintain meaningful relationships with our students. While it goes without saying that developing relationships with students is far more difficult when staring at faces on a screen, our faculty has brainstormed strategies to deepen the classroom bonds at the core of our mission.

Acknowleging these successes is not meant to dismiss the immense sorrow and frustration that students continue to experience due to missed milestones, Zoom fatigue and a longing for more social connection. I don’t want to emulate Pangloss, a character in Voltaire’s satirical masterpiece Candide, whose naive optimism and insistence that we live in the “best of all possible worlds” disregards the death and destruction surrounding him. Yet if you’ve read Candide, you know that the eponymous hero and his compatriots do persevere through their adversity, finding small moments of joy along their perilous journey. It is in this spirit that we remain resilient during a pandemic that makes life anything but ordinary.

—MIKE KALIN

an all-school science magazine, with a video of them exploding a watermelon by adding rubber bands one by one until

eventually it burst.

The attentiongrabbing clip was set to “Watermelon Sugar,” by Harry Styles.

Class Act: Suitable Satire When the class ahead promises a discussion of totalitarianism, it’s good to lead with the lighter material. “Let’s start with a screen breaker,” faculty member Mike Kalin proposes to the group of students meeting on Zoom for their Satire and Humor class. In this semester-long course, students examine satire and humor as literary forms and as vehicles for protesting, mocking and criticizing societal conventions, examining the literary techniques of satirical writers and discussing the potential for such writing to effect real change in the world.

“At a moment in history characterized by political and cultural divides,” says Kalin, “the Satire and Humor course provides students with an avenue to discuss weighty philosophical and moral questions through the examination of satirical texts.”

In this lesson, students are discussing Orwell’s 1984, with a specific focus on the character of Winston Smith, the protagonist in the dystopian novel.

The conversation flows organically as it would in one of their in-person classes. The class begins with a critique of a student piece modeled on Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal,” with a focus on the elements of exaggeration, incongruity and parody.

“Act like you’re a teacher,” instructs Kalin. Students applaud the writer’s use of specificity while also suggesting that he might clarify who the audience is and that he would benefit from more assertive diction throughout.

“It’s always easier to identify strengths and weaknesses in another student’s piece of writing than in our own,” says Kalin. “No matter how solid or how weak a proposal, there’s usually something to acknowledge on both sides.”

The class then discusses objects that are important to them, engaging in a discussion about why, in the context of 1984, the government might deem their object to be dangerous. “Most objects have a story,” explains one student, “and stories have part of the past. Big Brother wants to eliminate all elements that remind them of the truthful past.”

From there, they write poems about Winston Smith’s character and psyche.

“This is one way of accessing a character in a novel,” explains Kalin. “Like in any good novel, main characters are complicated.” To end the class, students each share a significant passage from the text for close reading and analysis.

Julia O’Donnell ’21 says that the content of 1984 is “extremely pertinent to the current political and social climate, and Mr. Kalin provides examples of its relevance in news reports,” adding that she has really enjoyed mimicking satirical devices in her assignments.

Assembly Angel Sydney Jones ’21 played the guitar and sang “Landslide,”

by Fleetwood Mac. When she finished,

classmate and prefect Lily Bryant ’21 said, “Syd, you have the voice of an angel.”

Embrace the Environment The Environmental Action Club (EAC) shared a video starring Deb Harrison

as Mother Nature peering out of a bush.

Members of the EAC reminded the Nobles community to ride a bike or walk instead

WINTER 2021 Nobles 5

the bulletin

JENNIFER DE LEON knew she wanted to be

an author since second grade, when she continually pestered her teacher for more paper. She continued to pour herself into sticker-covered journals throughout her teens. De Leon’s Guatemalan-born parents, like many immigrant families, made painful sacrifices for their children.

“The fact that I get to be a writer is a big deal. So many people in my family right now aren’t living the lives they imagined, as Thoreau said,” De Leon shared in long assembly on September 23.

De Leon empathizes with the challenges faced by Liliana Cruz, the conflicted and fiery character in her award-winning debut novel, Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From. The title stems from the frustration of incessantly hearing that question. “Is it genuine curiosity— are we sharing each other’s backgrounds? Or is it, ‘What are you?’ . . .

This is the book I craved growing up and wanted to give to my students when I was teaching in Boston. When I didn’t see it on bookshelves, I wrote it,” she said.

Former BPS colleague Melissa Lyons ’97, who now teaches middle school civics and geography at Nobles, helped make the connection for De Leon to come speak at Nobles.

Liliana is a ninth grader in Boston Public Schools until she is accepted into METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity), a voluntary program that integrates Boston students of color in predominantly white public schools. “For many people, the zip code they’re born into determines the education they receive. It’s not right or fair, but it’s true,” De Leon said. At her suburban school, Liliana is awash in new experiences, from sincere support to vitriolic racist rants. She questions disparities between her life and those of her suburban peers while struggling to define herself and emotionally supporting her family in the absence of her deported father.

From facing daily microaggressions to finding her voice to challenging ignorance and hate, Liliana takes a journey that feels urgent and authentic in today’s climate of racial and social unrest.

De Leon, ever the teacher, emphasized critical thinking and media literacy for young voters in the context of the impending presidential election, recommending a TED Talk by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called “The Danger of a Single Story.” “As young people, as woke people, as people who care about the future, you have a responsibility to think critically about the narrative you’re being fed. When you read one headline, what other stories aren’t being shared? How can I seek those out?”

De Leon asked.

of driving a car, to think about food waste and just take what you can eat, and to eat plantbased foods.

and assistant in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, talked about Covid.

“If we all truly care

A Film for the Planet The Environmental Action Club played the trailer for the documentary A Life on Our Planet, in

Jennifer De Leon

The Power of a Question

6 Nobles WINTER 2021

A Doctor’s Perspective Dr. Michael Mansour ’91, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School,

about our community, wear a mask, and always do hand hygiene, we truly will break the transmission event.”

which director David Attenborough said, “If we act now, we can put it right. Our planet is headed for disaster.

We need to learn how

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: ALONSO NICHOLS

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: LOVE FOR LAWRENCE On September 19, French language faculty member and cross country coach Mark Sheeran ran from the Massachusetts State House in Boston to the Rhode Island State House in Providence—45 miles—to raise money for Lazarus House in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Lazarus House Ministries provides food, clothing, housing and work preparation to people living in poverty. “To give this some context, the route is the distance from the front door of Shattuck to Lawrence’s City Hall,” says Co-director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Edgar De Leon ’04. The epic run was part of a DEI initiative to raise community-wide awareness and funds to support the work of Lazarus House.

The day of the run, Sheeran reported to former student and Yankees devotee De Leon: “I did the run today and all went well.

“Poetically, for you, it took me 7 hours and 14 minutes. Since you are an erstwhile Yankees fan, the Bambino’s home run total was on my mind, and I landed right on target.” Modern Language team member Meg Jacobs joined Sheeran at mile 20 to run a few miles, and colleague Nick Nickerson and his wife, Betsy, cheered him on at mile 28.

De Leon and Sheeran came up with the idea this summer when Sheeran wanted to leverage his running for a meaningful cause, one tied to Nobles, but also to a partner community.

Loyal Lawrence native De Leon suggested Lazarus House.

Sheeran, who helped load food trucks throughout the summer for Upward Bound and Achieve programs for underresourced students, was immediately keen on the idea.

Sheeran explains, “I wanted to direct a community-based initiative to involve faculty and staff—we talk a lot and don’t do a lot. I hope that moving forward we continue to strengthen ties with Lazarus House through other opportunities and with the Lawrence community.” De Leon says representatives from Lazarus House are amazed by the donations from Nobles employees, as numerous Lawrence families show up daily needing food. The final donation total, including matches, was $7,788.

Sheeran says the bottom line is this: “Food and housing insecurity are so severe right now, especially with Covid and the systemic racism in our country. It’s incumbent on those of us who can, to do, with a community we’re already connected to in some way. We have connections to Lawrence through our students, faculty and the summer program we support—it’s part of our community, so we need to make our community better.”

When asked what fuels his runs, Sheeran says, “It’s all about gratitude—having a spirit and a body that can do this, knowing there are all these people who may or may not want to do what I’m doing, but couldn’t. During a low point during a challenging six-mile section on Route 1, I kept thinking of the people at Lazarus House. They don’t know if they’ll have dinner tonight.

My wife is going to meet me at the end with a sandwich. When I run races and get really down, I know it’s a privilege to be in this position. I use that privilege to run.”

to work with nature rather than against it.”

quite the symphony.

Music Together, Apart Claire Mao ’22 and

Olivia Cheung ’21 performed Shostakovich’s “Elegy From 5 Pieces for Two Violins and Piano,” with Mao playing the first violin part

on her flute. Cheung found a YouTube performance that she played violin along to for reference, and together, they created

Mark Sheeran in front of the Rhode Island State House after his run

Drawing for Justice Corrina Wise ’26 shared an instructional video in which she

sketched the raised fist symbolizing resistance and solidarity from the Black Lives Matter logo. Set to music, Wise’s art lesson made

for an inspirational start to the day.

Forging Through It All Rhodes Martinez ’22

WINTER 2021 Nobles 7

the bulletin

Anthony Abraham “Tony” Jack

Access Is Not Inclusion ON WEDNESDAY, October 21, Co-director

from independent schools like Nobles.

A first-generation college graduate from the latter group, Jack said, “This is what I study, but it’s also my story.”

In his introduction, proud Lawrenceborn De Leon said, “I came from one of the worst high schools in the state, from one of the poorest cities in our state. I quickly found that not only did I have to catch up academically, but there were aspects of the culture that came natural-

shared a video highlighting a unique skill that he honed during quarantine: knife forging. He demonstrated the process of forging

do an apprenticeship.

of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Edgar De Leon ’04 introduced Harvard Graduate School of Education Assistant Professor Anthony Abraham “Tony” Jack, author of The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students. His book examines the doubly disadvantaged—those who enter college from distressed public high schools—and the privileged poor—those who enter

8 Nobles WINTER 2021

a knife in his dad’s workshop in their garage. Martinez became interested in blacksmithing during quarantine and hopes to

Even More Good News Members of the Community Service Club (CSC) reflected on

the More Good News initiative from last spring and announced the fall edition, which focused on food insecurity in the area.

ly for some but did not to me. In talking to many students now, I hear about similar issues. Institutions take for granted some of what students know.”

Jack’s research shows that about half of lower-income Black students and one-third of lower-income Latinx students at elite colleges matriculate from prestigious independent schools. While these colleges appear to be upping their diversity, Jack said they’re “hedging their bets” by admitting students familiar with navigating the upper echelons of education. “Many colleges have more students from the top 1 percent of the income distribution than the bottom 60 percent,” said Jack. These colleges consequently fail to admit and support the doubly disadvantaged, who share a similar economic upbringing to the privileged poor but lack comparable cultural and academic capital. Doubly disadvantaged students flounder more often during the college transition and have a harder time creating opportunities once there, from seeking office hours to having a plan during school breaks when campus shuts down.

Addressing how institutions can rectify inequity beyond admission and financial aid, Jack closed, “Access is not inclusion. . . . Citizenship is more than just being in a place, it is being of and accessing all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. . . . We need to embark upon the crucial task of making our institutions look more like the world, and not just the wealthy pockets of it. . . .

Not only must we admit who we are but also how we take care of students once they are on campus.”

Heads Together for Health Members of Nobles Heads Together welcomed students to join a space where they can

help to bring mental health to the forefront of conversation at Nobles. They discussed the importance of checking in with the

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: TODD DIONNE

Nobles Night 2020: Now More Than Ever On November 5, 2020, more than 400 graduates, parents and friends of Nobles gathered virtually to thank and celebrate Nobles volunteers and the larger community for their continued generosity. Following tradition, early fundraising numbers were unveiled: $3,767,398 for the Annual Nobles Fund (ANF) and $1,072,471 for the First Class Fund for Faculty (FCFF). Despite these strong numbers, there remains more work to be done to help the school navigate this year’s tenuous financial landscape.

President of the Board of Trustees John Montgomery ’83 welcomed and thanked guests for their continued dedication to and investment in Nobles. He reminded them of the tremendous impact of philanthropy at the school, providing the margin of excellence that has made Nobles what it is today. “The consistent generosity from all of you has allowed for Nobles to invest in people, programs and infrastructure to allow for an educational experience that is unparalleled,” he said. “It has also allowed us to make Nobles a more accessible institution and to admit the very best students.”

Head of School Dr. Cathy Hall made her remarks to the virtual audience from the Lawrence Auditorium stage, the first time she had spoken there since March 2020. Hall expressed gratitude to the Nobles community for their loyalty and support during these tumultuous and uncertain times. “Amidst all that we are facing in our world, I have found a phrase that has been my anchor at Nobles as we face these steep challenges together: ‘Now more than ever,’” she said. She reflected on how the pandemic has forced Nobles to

go back to basics and refocus on placing “relationship before task” and mission-driven work, saying, “Now more than ever, we know what a Nobles education is all about. It is about our mission, one that inspires our students to lead for the public good both in our hallways and in the decades that follow.”

Hall honored longtime volunteers Kris Koehler Normandin ’80 and Martha Kittredge Rowley ’80, this year’s co-recipients of the Richard T. Flood Award, for their outstanding service to the ANF and Nobles through their work as class agents and on reunion committees. She thanked the ANF executive committee and graduate co-chairs Lawson Allen Albright ’94, Stephanie Gill Steele ’08 and Chris Steele ’08; young graduate co-chairs Holly Foster ’10 and George Loring ’16; parent co-chairs Lori and Gillis Cashman and Jennifer and Keith Palumbo; and the parents of graduate chairs Helen and Neal Goins for their tireless efforts. For the 2021 FCFF, Hall thanked the committee and co-chairs, including Nisha and Steve DuBois, Sarah and Gabriel Gomez, Jenny and Tom Seeman, and Kerry and Brendan Swords for their leadership .

The evening’s entertainment included a music video of the unique sounds of this unusual year and a video showcasing campus life this fall narrated by longtime English teacher Dick Baker. Baker perhaps best summed up the sentiment of the Nobles community during this historic time: “This year may not have started off the way we wanted. Heck, last year didn’t end the way we dreamed,” said Baker. “But that’s the thing about dreams. They can show us how to reimagine, how to hope, how to fly.”

state of our own mental health, stressing that many more kids struggle with mental health than we realize.

“High school can be a

a spooky video of their staff “ghosting” Nobles students at their homes, placing bags of candy by their doors, and then giving

really stressful time,” they explained. “And being cognizant of mental health can make members of the community feel more

supported than they would otherwise.”

Ghostly Visits Members of the Nobleman shared

them a good scare to the tune of songs like “Thriller” and “Monster Mash.” Some victims were more frightened than others,

but the video succeeded in providing a good laugh for all.

Electoral What?

Prior to the 2020

WINTER 2021 Nobles 9

the bulletin

Poster designed by Ashley Wang ‘25

Dan Halperin and Shrisay Reddy ‘24 during a readthrough for Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992, by Anna

Deavere Smith, the Nobles Theatre Collective’s fall project selection, features a series of searing monologues from various people connected to the police beating of Rodney King, an unarmed Black man. The officers’ subsequent acquittal incited violence, division and destruction as the city literally burned.

In 2020, awareness of racial injustice and a spate of killings of unarmed Black people this past spring reinforced the script’s relevance. Director Dan Halperin said, “We are living in a time of multiple

crises, from systemic racism to climate change to the pandemic. We thought it would be wrong to stage a light comedy; we knew there would be a hunger on the part of our students to tackle material that recognized the world we are currently living in.” Halperin said that while working within Covid safety guidelines, the performing arts department did its best to support students, giving them access to resources while encouraging independence and creativity.

For the NTC, the study of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was as much an

exercise in historical analysis and racial justice as in theatre itself. In the show, a complex picture is painted by multiple people, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a juror from the officers’ trial, Korean-American shop owners, white truck driver Reginald Denny, activist and social critic Dr. Cornel West, LAPD Sergeant Charles Duke, Senator Bill Bradley, King’s aunt Angela King and more.

Leela DuBois ’21, who played a Hollywood talent agent, told how the cast first rehearsed over Zoom while discussing the play’s themes and timeliness.

election, history faculty member Dominic Manzo provided the community with an engaging explanation of how the Electoral

their talents at assembly this fall. Among them were Molly Hughes ’23, who sang and played “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,”

Movement of the Pathetique Sonata,”

by Beethoven.

10 Nobles WINTER 2021

College works and included topics such as gerrymandering.

Pianists in Our Midst Many pianists shared

by Elton John; Vivian Li ’21, who sang and played “My Future,”

by Billie Eilish, and Angie Feng ’24, who played “The Third

Piece of Cake Head of School Cathy

Hall shared another fun anecdote from her weekend with her children. This time, her daughter, Evelyn, had come to her to

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 Zoom readthrough

Avery Winder ‘25 sewing green screen fabric for digital backgrounds

Students shared monologues and put in a lot of individual work; due to this format, unlike in past years, DuBois said, “I did not get to see others’ work until a week and a half before the show because all of the work was individual.

This made it even more amazing to see it come together over Zoom in the open rehearsal, and I think the whole thing went remarkably smoothly.”

Chris Tillen ’23, who played Korean shop owner Young Soon-Han, described the weight of responsibility he felt conveying the words of real people: “We

looked into the history of bullies, brutality and what led up to this moment. A lot of us have already touched on how this play, set in 1992, is so similar to what happened this year. In some ways, that’s beautiful, because this play can apply, and it’s something that we can really connect to. But in some ways, it’s also incredibly disappointing for us as a nation to have made so little progress in the last 30 years.”

Science faculty member Regina Campbell-Malone, who played Dr. West, said, “I have never acted before, although my life is all drama. And so

it was an incredible experience, to see how talented these students are and how open they are to learning about the issues that were going on at the time. I was around their age when this actually happened, and so it was neat to be able to discuss with them some of the things I witnessed firsthand.”

To facilitate further discussion and learning, librarian Talya Sokoll, the project’s dramaturg along with students Octavia Reohr and Chris Tillen, both ’23, compiled a comprehensive list of resources. (bit.ly/NTCTWILIGHT).

announce that she didn’t think parenting was actually a hard job. To prove it, she offered to take on all parenting duties in

Tim Carey shared a slideshow of beautiful images from the fall sports season. While teams could not compete

crisp fall weather.

the ensuing weekend, laundry and all.

A Season in Photos Retired English faculty member

normally, the slideshow highlighted a season of fun practices, intersquad competition and camaraderie in the

Hamilton Goes Acoustic Ava Neal ’23, who took up acoustic

and electric guitar during quarantine, sang a beautiful rendition of “Burn” from the musical Hamilton. N

WINTER 2021 Nobles 11

sports

Fall Sports Awards BOYS VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY Coach’s Award (to the athletes who

demonstrate significant ability, improvement and commitment to the team): Niki Apostolicas, Griffin Callaghan, Andrew Kasparyan and Justin Qin, all ’21 GIRLS VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY Coach’s Award (to the athletes who

demonstrate significant ability, improvement and commitment to the team): Anya Cheng, Caroline Finnerty, Grace Hayward and Olivia Hayward, all ’21 VARSITY FIELD HOCKEY Walker Cup (to the player who has shown

a high degree of skill, a love of competition, and a desire to play within the spirit of the game): Zoe Carlson-Pietraszek ’21 Willy Award (awarded annually, by vote of her teammates, to the player who embodies the qualities of Casey Dunne, member of the Class of 2018: enthusiasm, dedication, selflessness, and a joyful spirit): Meghan Dunne ’21 VARSITY FOOTBALL Putnam Award (for excellence, leadership

and dedication to the team in honor of the former Headmaster Eliot T. Putnam): Drew Kendall and Casey Phinney, both ’21 Coaches Award (for best improvement and team contribution): Duke Ferrara and Mike Lukasevicz, both ’21 Marinaro Award (to the player whose contributions and spirit exemplify excellence): Darnel Cineas and Ryan Dretler, both ’21 GIRLS VARSITY SOCCER Ceci Clark Shield (for a player who best

embodies the qualities character and camaraderie that Ceci Clark represented): Sarah Wuesthoff ’21 Tim Carey Award (to a member of Class I whose talent, hard work, humility, joyfully competitive spirit and qualities of character have led most directly to the success of the girls varsity soccer team, in honor of beloved mentor and coach Tim Carey): Ellie Bayard ’21 Boys varsity soccer and girls varsity volleyball did not give out their typical

season awards, choosing instead to recognize all their athletes for their positive attitudes and adaptability throughout this atypical season.

Nasi Simmons ’24

Season Summary With Covid-19 restrictions, our student-athletes, coaches, athletics staff, and buildings and grounds crew adapted remarkably to pull off a safe and healthy fall season that strived to match the levels of fitness, skill-building, camaraderie, competition and fun that are the hallmarks of Nobles athletics. Every aspect had to be reimagined, including morning bag dropoff, designated locker room shifts and physically-distanced mask break circles

12 Nobles WINTER 2021

on the sidelines. With the hybrid school-day model, teams could only gather for practices twice a week, and normal ISL games were suspended. Football went with a no pads no contact style of gameplay, and volleyball played outside on the grass until November. Teams were able to play many intrasquad scrimmages however, and as the season progressed, Nobles held a handful of scrimmages and races against other schools without any fans.

Stephen Gaskill ’21

The start of a boys cross country race

Left to Right: Sarah Wuesthoff ’21, Lily Bryant ’21, Caitlin Driscoll ’24

Zoe Carlson-Pietraszek ’21

Girls cross country in their mask break circles at the beginning of a practice on McLeod Field

Nobles-Milton Day Nobles-Milton week 2020 was yet another sign of how resilient our coaches and players are and how strong the Nobles athletic culture has proven to be in the face of unprecedented times. While there was some disappointment when the scrimmages with Milton were canceled, on Saturday the dismay was quickly replaced by a desire to celebrate teams and graduating teammates with some wonderful intrasquad scrimmages. Seeing families on the sidelines, rose ceremonies and great competition on the fields/court reminded us that the success of Nobles athletics has never been about wins and losses, but rather about relationships that stand the test of time. In that light, the fall 2020 athletic season was a massive success.

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by the numbers

HOW TO OPEN A SCHOOL DURING A PANDEMIC

7,000 5 7

33,603 attestations on the attestation app (by January 21, 2021)

outside experts enlisted to serve on the medical advisory board

5

1,750 0

tents rented (11 classrooms and 2 at athletics)

pieces of Covid-related wayfinding signage ordered and installed

Covid tests administered on campus (by January 30)

new pages created for the website, including the Reopening Guide

6

steering committees formed

times Nobles had to close because of the pandemic in fall 2020

30,000+ pre-packaged meals served by FLIK (in advance of winter break)

14 Nobles WINTER 2021

my books...

BLACK INGENUITY AND SURVIVAL IN AFROFUTURISM

BY BILLYE TOUSSAINT, ENGLISH FACULTY MEMBER

As a child, I relied on sci-fi and fantasy to escape an often gray Midwestern existence.

As I grew older, I became fascinated with how a burgeoning group of Black sci-fi writers were reimagining the future and specifically the role of race within it. After all, in an imagined future, race can be molded into absolutely anything, right? This thing, which has made life so beautifully complicated, could just disappear with the stroke of a pen, and we could all become shades of taupe, like in the orgiastic final scene of The Matrix Reloaded. However, this is not the case with these novels. The future holds something so much more interesting and challenging than shades of beige, and Black culture and ingenuity are necessary to survive.

THE LILITH’S BROOD SERIES,

BY OCTAVIA BUTLER Dawn is the book that started me on this journey.

My mother sent it to me when I was studying abroad in Senegal. On the day I read it, I was so shaken that the director of the Ballet Senegal, with whom I had scored a prized lesson, sent me home and told me to return after I had cleared my head.

The book begins when a war destroys Earth. Lilith is awakened centuries later by aliens called the Oankali, who will heal both Earth and humanity, but at a cost. Both Lilith and the rest of the earthlings must decide how much they are willing to merge with aliens in order to start anew.

WHO FEARS DEATH, BY NNEDI OKORAFOR Once again, Earth is kaput, and Africa is the seat of the most advanced technologies. Onyesonwu, whose name means “who fears death” in Igbo, is ostracized because she is a child of rape. She soon learns that she has incredible magical powers that begin to manifest, which lands her on the radar of a powerful enemy. Her escape turns into an epic quest across the desert, where she learns to develop her power, meets allies, and discovers nature, tradition and history.

THE FIFTH SEASON, BY N.K. JEMISIN In this series, the Orogones are a group of people with exceptional special powers who have been denigrated to a lowly caste because their immense capabilities are feared. They have the ability to control energy—particularly that of the ground—which they can use to cause and prevent earthquakes, and also unintentionally kill others. Generally hated, they are cloistered in a city reserved for

them. Some of them are born into this power and are educated by a Guardian who trains them through pain and fear so they do not endanger others. Our main character, Essun, has been hiding her secret power in order to track down the murderer of her young son and find her kidnapped daughter.

THE FAMISHED ROAD, BY BEN OKRI While not technically Afrofuturism, this book opened my eyes to how African writers could manipulate traditional culture to create something otherworldly. The novel takes place in modern Nigeria, but its main character, Azaro, is actually a spirit child, and his existence involves a balancing act between life and death. Through his eyes, it becomes clear that the veil between the spirit world and ours is thin. His life on earth is made excruciating by spiritual beings who constantly entreat and threaten to take him back to what they see as his rightful home, despite his commitment to experiencing the human condition.

BROWN GIRL IN THE RING,

BY NALO HOPKINSON Hopkinson uses Caribbean culture, such as children’s chants, stories and songs, as a door into other dimensions and the key for overcoming the central conflict. In this world, civilization as we know it is in ruin. The privileged have escaped the city and fled to their bunkers, and urban inhabitants are barricaded in decaying slums. The city-dwellers have fallen back on old ways: farming, bartering and using herbs. But when the rich need bodies, they turn to the city to supply them. The main character uses her knowledge of culture and folklore to find a way out and negotiate with tricky spirits; on her way, she uncovers the secrets of her mother and grandmother, which aid her on her journey.

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perspective

How the Light Gets In

What shines through when solid things crack? BY HEATHER SULLIVAN, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

A

very old 50-foot maple tree interrupted my pandemic malaise when it snapped and crunched across the center beam of my house, perfectly perpendicular, as though it meant what it said in the creak and crash of that moment—lightning in the sky, pelting sideways rain and winds close to 100 miles an hour.

I’m sad I missed the moment, as I do sometimes appreciate drama: the impact, the splintered beams, the rain tearing through the roof. My family is only the second one to occupy this house, which was built in 1925. The woman whose mail sometimes still arrives on the stoop, Carol Crowley, was born there and died short months after she sold the house. The insurance people and contractors—trust me, there are now many in my life—said that a modern house, shiny with its even floors, open floorplan and Property Brothers finishes, would have been flattened—a memory. This house withstood the impact, though the walls shifted, the ceiling separated, and the plaster buckled.

I’ve never been one for house metaphors, thinking they are overused: house of cards, a house divided and so many more.

But then this happened. During a pandemic. At a time when the universe seems to be sorting through what is functional and solid—meaningful—and what is disposable, ephemeral. What might be worth salvaging? So I succumb to the tempta-

tion of a house metaphor and probably will make it messy before I’m done.

I was taking my youngest to soccer practice when the tree fell. Running late, Aurora and I heard the cracks in the sky, while my red Volkswagen pushed through the rain as though through an assertive carwash. We turned toward home, knowing that drenched masks and thunder would easily trump the night’s practice.

The driveway was dark, and at first I only noticed large branches draped across the asphalt: open-air performance art.

But it was bad. To give you an idea, the tree removal required a crane, two police details and a bunch of guys with chainsaws and wood-chippers. The bill: $18,200. (Not a bad reminder to check your insurance policies, right?)

In the dim attic the next morning, able to assess the damage more closely, I reached up to touch the lobes of the maple leaves, still green in early October. The rain continued throughout the morning—pre-tarp—and I could see the gray sky while it literally rained inside.

I told one of my best friends from college, Claire, about the situation: how the rain poured down into the walls of the second and first floors, which would soon be demolished; how the building inspector said the tree could teeter, and we couldn’t stay inside safely; how a family friend advised us to get a public adjuster as an advocate (good advice)—and how Head of School Cathy Hall offered us Nobles housing while the insurance

“ There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in.”

—THE LATE SINGER- SONGWRITER LEONARD COHEN

16 Nobles WINTER 2021

company found us a place to live for the next six months or so. I quoted to Claire the Leonard Cohen lyrics that appear on the Shattuck Schoolhouse office door of a Nobles teacher. My friend and colleague Anne Hurlbut had recently reminded me of the lines: There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in Like many of us in recent months, I went a little Covid-mad. Temporarily between places, I adopted a puppy, Gus the Great from the Animal Rescue League—maybe not an entirely rational act. Definitely irrational was my decision to further an interest in collecting old things. From a grand estate in Little Compton, Rhode Island, I purchased for pennies a 19th-century walnut wardrobe, 78 inches tall. I guess it would be weirder if it were made of maple, the hardwood associated with my current woes.

While I can’t fully explain my sudden impulse to collect curiosities without a certain place to protect them, I will tell you that the wardrobe reminded me of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, set in the English countryside during World War II, the girl, Lucy, hides inside of the wardrobe. She pushes through the fur coats at the back of the closet to find a magical world of sparkling snow, a lamppost, a complicated faun called Mr. Tumnus and many intriguing adventures.

While I wait for the adjusters, mortgage company, construction consultants and others to share numbers, lists and timelines, I have considered much about what makes a home, a human or a country whole. I have no answer. But

Splintered beams invite nature inside.

I have recently become intrigued by the Japanese concept of kintsugi or “golden repair.” The idea is that when something breaks—pottery, typically—it can be made beautiful again by patching it with golden lacquer. The piece does not need to be discarded and, when mended, its scars, now shining, remain visible. I’ve

read that sometimes the shattering of the object is even on purpose so that it can become more beautiful when it is reborn.

The repair signifies truth, a strange beauty and acceptance of trauma rather than denial that the breakage occurred.

But back to my fractured house. I don’t know what it will look like in eight

or 18 months, or what our national home will look like in eight months, eight years or 80 years. I suspect that many of the flaws, maybe even a few stray cracks, will persist. Yet I hope that during this remarkable time, some artful mending, mixed with a bit of magic golden dust, will lead to some unexpected good and grace.

WINTER 2021 Nobles 17

perspective

Day By Day Diaz Life in the Time of Corona

BY ERIK D. DIAZ,

PERFORMING ARTS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

I

’m an artist. A theatre scenic designer, actually. And I spend my days reading plays and envisioning what the circumstances are surrounding the characters of the play. Why is this story worth telling? Who are these people, and what has happened before the moment of time when the play begins? While I am not a writer, I love telling a visual story.

How can I help to enhance a character’s story? On March 11, 2020, the world turned upside-down. The coronavirus had reached us, and now a touch point in our history was upon us. Okay, it didn’t literally turn upside-down, but all that we had taken for granted in our life, all of a sudden it was not possible. Over the following days, businesses shuttered, schools closed, shows were postponed or canceled. Everything was shutting down.

In what seemed like an instant, we were all sent to our homes in the hopes of finding a way to protect people from this virus and to control the spread. I was in the middle of striking the giant stage revolve from Les Mis on that Wednesday when a colleague came in to let me know that an email had gone out and that we needed to go home as there was a potential possible case in our community. All of a sudden, those of us who were not deemed essential were holed up in our homes with our families.

We were just about to start our twoweek spring break, which was going to

be a welcome bit of time to myself to relax and recuperate after a long couple of months of producing the massive production of Les Mis. I was looking forward to days at home napping on the couch and catching up on all the shows I had stopped watching while we were working on the show.

Unfortunately, that would not happen. Over the next two days, both of my kids’ schools closed. They would now be home with me as well for two weeks.

I also watched as my shows were either postponed or canceled and my industry shut down. I didn’t have an outlet for my art and creativity. Instead, the three of us (my wife’s company remained open and pivoted to manufacturing PPE and Plexi Barriers during that time) would all be home for the next two weeks, and the relaxation I was looking forward to quickly changed. Now I had to be the primary caregiver and keep both Ezra (9) and Zander (4) engaged and in some semblance of a routine.

As I sat with the boys and played with them, I started taking pictures, much like I do whenever they are playing and having a good time. I like trying to capture these moments of them together for posterity. I began posting the photos. Initially, it was just a passive post. The kids did something silly or were playing in a way that was cute.

Nothing really out of the ordinary. The first Covid picture was of them play-

“ The coronavirus had reached us, and now a touch point in our history was upon us.”

—ERIK DIAZ

18 Nobles WINTER 2021

ing Lego—Ezra working diligently on a project, while Zander sat on a tub in the middle of the Lego table, building with some pieces. It made me laugh, and so I captioned it “How do you Lego?” I had not started the day planning to start this project, but later that day, I posted another photo, and the first marking the day: “Lego Masters and wooden trains. #Day3.” I continued to mark the days: Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, and so on.

As the days continued, I decided that I needed to catalog the events of the day like a photo journal on Instagram. A sort of “How Did I Spend My Quarantine?” that we could look back on someday as a family. Two weeks was the plan. I would take photos and post them to show what

COUNTING THE DAYS By late January, Erik Diaz had Instagram-chronicled more than 320 days highlighting (or sometimes lowlighting) various states of lockdown, quarantine and hybrid living and working. He has shared moments from the mundane to inspiring to the hilarious and pretty much everything in between. While Diaz marked moments such as the inauguration of Joe Biden as 46th president of the United States, he also captured his son learning to ride a bike; Lego extravaganzas; bathtime antics with boys; his wife Holly’s 38th birthday; his son’s Taekwondo accomplishment; woodworking projects and so much more. Follow Diaz @designbydiaz #diazlifeinthetimeofcorona

happened during my so-called spring break. However, as each day passed and it became evident that the two weeks initially indicated would extend for a month or more, my creativity started to bubble up. I liked the idea of having a way that I could reference back to this and revisit, and so #diazlifeinthetimeofcorona was born.

It was at that point that I made the decision that I needed to continue to catalog the daily events, no matter if they were exciting (a squirrel coming to our

window each day) or mundane (sitting on the couch reading a book), positive (Ezra earning his next taekwondo belt virtually) or negative (Zander deciding to mix potions in the bathroom using all of the items on the counter). It didn’t matter; it was about telling the good and bad parts of the story. This became my mission and my creative outlet. I became excited about what photos would make the cut and how I would photograph things. All this with just my iPhone.

Today is Day 264. I continue to take daily photos to mark each day. It has now become routine. Occasionally I am asked, “How long are you going to do this?” My answer: Until we have this virus under control and my industry can come back to do what it does best: tell stories of what has happened. Until then, I will continue to tell my family’s story through photos. Here’s hoping that 2021 will see that happen so I can go back to telling the stories I miss so much.

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OUTOF Captain Colin Arnold ’02 supervises a training evolution for new recruits in 2018.

20 Nobles WINTER 2021

A faded thank-you note is pinned above the desk of Captain Colin Arnold ’02 at the Berkeley, California, fire department. To Arnold, the missive is a precious reminder of the impact of emergency responders, and of the inherent kindness and strength he sees in people. But the story isn’t what you think—and it didn’t have the uplifting ending you might expect. It’s from a mother whose daughter perished despite the crew’s resuscitation efforts in her home.

THE

ASHES

BY KI M N EA L | PH OTO G RA PH Y BY KELLEY L. COX

WINTER 2021 Nobles 21

“WHAT AN AMAZING LESSON for the rest of

us, to write a thank-you to a team who failed to save your daughter—but to be grateful to them for trying anyway? It was one of the greatest antidotes to so much of what I’ve heard not just this year, but in recent years. . . . A decade later, this card is still on my wall,” Arnold says.

Arnold, who oversees the Berkeley fire department’s emergency medical services (EMS) division, began his position two months before Covid hit, and he can only speculate about what his job looked like before. From spring until mid-August, Covid-related calls consumed about 80-90 percent of his time.

As of October 2020, with improvements in testing and a better understanding of the challenges, Arnold reports that less than half of his time is spent on the pandemic. What happens this winter remains to be seen.

Arnold credits former Nobles crew coaches Brian Palm and Peter Raymond with inspiring him and instilling in him the value of hard work. “You don’t really recognize it when you’re there, but you 22 Nobles WINTER 2021

come out into the rest of the world and then realize what a special sort of place Nobles is,” Arnold says. Recruited to row at Cal Berkeley, he graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s in anthropology. Little could he have predicted how his study of humans and communities would inform a career built on saving them. His EMS experience began as a lifeguard in his teens; then he worked as an EMT before becoming a paramedic in 2008.

Arnold, who grew up in Milton, Massachusetts, never dreamed of that future growing up. “For a lot of folks, emergency responders aren’t front of mind most of the time, and that’s probably for the best,” he says. On the cusp of graduating from college, like many, he had no idea what he wanted to do. Serendipitously, he lived next to a firehouse. Passing by one day, he thought, Maybe I can do this until I figure my life out. Now, he says, “I’m on this ride as long as it’s fun and it’s valuable.” In a profession that is emotionally and physically grueling, and sometimes goes unrecognized, Arnold continually finds meaning and even beauty.

His favorite aspects of the job are helping others, being outdoors, and working with equally motivated colleagues. Despite the risks, Arnold says, “Most of us don’t come to work thinking about putting our lives on the line, because that’s the reality that we signed up for on day one. Every day after that is just an opportunity to improve yourself or the service you’re providing. On your way out the door, you think, What am I doing today? What did I learn from yesterday that I can do a little bit better today?

In his current administrative role, Arnold responds to crises large and small, supporting his crews and working with healthcare partners like acute care hospitals and urgent care clinics. This year, obviously, has been different. “We work closely with the public health agency here in Berkeley; we were proud of the work that we did early on in the pandemic, setting up a test facility for the public and for first responders, so managing that has been high priority,” he says. Much of his job involves closing the loop on anything the EMS team needs, whether that’s

Left to right: Arnold, right, hiking into the Carr fire, with his team, 2018; Arnold in front of the venue where he and his wife Kelley were married, which since burned last year; Berkeley Fire Department Recruit Academy car fire training; Checking the distance to the hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan as Arnold supervises two paramedic students during a 2019 mission to support Bhutan’s effort to implement prehospital emergency care.

supplying personal protective equipment or troubleshooting onsite computers.

The focus on testing has now evolved to a focus on delivering the vaccine; Arnold is responsible for operationalizing the plan to deliver the vaccine to Berkeley’s residents and workers.

As if combating Covid weren’t overwhelming enough, California’s recent wildfires are incinerating both the state’s environment and its economy. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, between January 1 and November 6, 2020, 48,858 wildfires in the United States burned about 8.6 million acres, nearly double the total of the year before. Six of California’s top 20 largest wildfires occurred in 2020. “The California fire service in general is certainly at a little bit of a crossroads,” he says.

“In the last few years, we’ve seen these fires build in speed and intensity. On one hand, that’s surprising to all of us as we find ourselves pressured to respond more aggressively. . . . It’s also an incredibly expensive endeavor. California declares a state of emergency every year;

that’s a budgetary challenge, which is, thankfully, not my job.”

It wasn’t always that way, Arnold recalls. “When I got hired around 2008, ‘fire season’ ran from about mid-May to late October. You had your wildland fire season and structure fires all the time. But during that time of year, you’d put your wildland gear on the rig, check your go bag, and make sure it was ready.

And every year, a bulletin came out that said, ‘Hey, wildland season is starting, or wildland season is ending.’ And you’d pull your gear off the rig. Now, the wildland season just never ends.

“This year has obviously been more dramatic than last year, and last year was about as dramatic as any of us had seen.

We’re keeping our noses to the ground, working as hard as we can. Our folks are exhausted between Covid and firefighting—it’s a strain on the system, but we’re not over it. We’re here to work and we enjoy it, but everyone’s asking, ‘What’s happening, and what’s 2021 going to be like?’”

Emergency responders who unite for a purpose in intense circumstances share a

bond. Arnold has fought several large-scale campaign fires, drawing statewide agencies. A couple of years ago, he recalls, “We were working and camping side-by-side with a team of Samoans on the same clock, 24 hours on and 24 hours off. They have a tradition within their team—they are amazing singers—and every day at sunset they would sing together. All of a sudden, everyone within earshot in this teeming and bustling camp of 2,000 people would just stop and listen to them sing. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.”

Of that camaraderie, Arnold says, “There’s a collective sense of responsibility to the mission when you’re there, and pride in showing up in a place where everybody else is leaving. You’re surrounded by people who are evacuating, or scared because there’s a fire coming down on their houses, and you’ve developed this fairly secure camp in the midst of it that brings a little bit of truth into the world.

I’ve had the privilege to see that when people are truly experiencing a crisis, a lot of the crap that we otherwise think is important becomes irrelevant.”

WINTER 2021 Nobles 23

Colin Arnold monitors a firing operation to control fire spread at the Lodge fire in 2014.

24 Nobles WINTER 2021

“ It’s important to value the days you do have, and what happens during those days; 2020 has been a tough year for everybody, but we’re all going to come out of this recognizing a new strength in ourselves.”

—COLIN ARNOLD ’02

So much of Arnold’s job responding to emergencies involves these defining experiences, from which he’s formed an unexpected—and starkly beautiful— perspective. “There’s real honesty in those moments, when you’ll show up and someone is dead or dying,” he says. “And you’re with these folks when they’re emotionally vulnerable. While they’re afraid of what’s happening, they’re also being influenced by the wonderful moments they had with the people they’re losing.”

During larger emergencies, Arnold says, “Maybe you’re dealing with fear of loss, because folks are evacuating. Or you’re assigned to a structure and your job is to protect it through the night, to do your best to not let it burn. Then you find yourself sitting in somebody’s living room who you’ve never met and you’re never going to meet, and on their way out the door, they thought to throw some gallons of water in their fridge and leave you a note: ‘Welcome to my house, here’s how you turn the lights on.’ To think of a stranger in that time when you’re trying to evacuate your house and pull your family out? . . . We all spend a lot of time arguing about stuff that probably doesn’t matter. . .

And then you have these moments where perfect strangers who may differ on all the political opinions across the spectrum show moments of gratitude, and you think, people are actually really good.”

In those moments, how does Arnold create clarity from chaos? There are two main types of calls he receives: medical rescues, where the focus is on a savable patient, and those where it’s evident that further interventions are futile. “Those are the ones where I thought early on as a paramedic, you just sort of pack up your gear and you go home. But as you gain experience, you realize that there’s

another patient in the room, and that’s the family. Those first few moments where folks encounter death, they’re never going to forget, and that’s an amazing opportunity to help frame that for them positively.” First comes a frank statement of the death and explanation of lifesaving measures. Arnold respectfully stands by while loved ones grieve: “Sometimes it’s crying, sometimes it’s laughing, sometimes it’s just being quiet.” Then he asks them about the person they’ve lost. “It humanizes this experience you’ve made a point of keeping impersonal, because otherwise, you’d be affected in your ability to provide what can be some pretty dramatic interventions. . . . But once that’s all said and done, it’s important to learn who this person was.” He remembers a conversation following the death of a well-known musician whose brother entreated Arnold to take some CDs. “For the next couple of weeks at the station, when we were checking out equipment in the morning or doing paperwork, we would listen to them—not only to frame it positively for the guy’s brother, but for us too.”

Emergency responders are at increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder, but awareness surrounding mental health resources and education has improved since the time Arnold was trained. “We’ve all come to terms in this line of work that mental health is a somewhat tangible and somewhat fragile thing. We all have events that stick with us for different reasons.”

How does Arnold refuel? “Spending time with family with my phone and radio off is probably my answer now.

Other than that, a fairly strict regimen of exercise and hopefully healthy eating.

And then, getting outdoors, going camping, going hiking. There’s a whole other

world out here where people are just having a good time. I don’t think humans are built to see trauma every day, so you have to remind yourself of that and just enjoy being a person for a bit.”

Asked which lessons he’d want his one-year-old baby girl to someday understand, Arnold says, “Don’t ever drink and drive.” His longer answer? “It’s important to value the days you do have, and what happens during those days; 2020 has been a tough year for everybody, but we’re all going to come out of this recognizing a new strength in ourselves. You can have traumatic events, but traumatic doesn’t necessarily mean bad. It kind of means pivotal. The answer that I don’t really have yet is, how do you make sure that you make good choices so that you don’t become somebody who has the misfortune of meeting me, while also fully taking advantage of life?”

As someone who encounters tragedy and unpredictability every day, Arnold acknowledges a year like no other but shares an optimistic vision for the future.

“In 2020, all of us have our personal stories about how we’ve all struggled to cope, and to face real-life questions that many of us haven’t had to face very often. I hope that 2021 is an opportunity to treat 2020 like sandpaper—that 2020 was the year that we scratched some of the rust off and that we got a little abrasive with the surface and found some clean metal underneath. And I guess I mean metal in both ways, in terms of the actual physical thing, and then mettle, as in resilience. We’re all so caught in the fire at the moment; we’re all so caught in the emergency. And we need to take a breath after the fact—the birds will sing sweeter, the sky will be bluer, and we’ll all appreciate what we have.” N WINTER 2021 Nobles 25

Family photo of Molly Pascal ’05, husband Charlie, their two sons, Brooks and Thatcher, and two goldens, Harbour and Tucker

The O’Brien family. Patricia, Lucas ’14, Dureti, Tom, Tomás ’18, and Nina

Nahyon Lee with her husband, Marshall, and her son, Min, at the beach during summer 2020

Louis Barassi with his mother in 1962 after being brought home from the orphanage

Lorna Lowe ’90 holding her daughter Sophie Streeter ’22 at Farmer Dave’s, Tewksbury, Mass.

Photo credit: Dawn Greene

Julia Russell and her wife Karen with their daughter Ella (center) and her biological family

26 Nobles WINTER 2021

Caitlin Chipman (front center) celebrating Christmas with cousins, circa 1990

BY A N N E H URLBUT | PO RT RA I TS BY JA RED LEEDS

FINDING FAMILY Alex Gallagher ’90 and his wife Liza with their seven children

When we listen closely, we hear the breadth and depth of the stories among us—fluid definitions of what makes a family.

Stories of adoption walk the hallways of Shattuck, instruct in Baker classrooms, and pull up a chair at the Castle. They live, breathe, and exist here daily, graduate and move on to life beyond Campus Drive, but often go unheard. During a period in history when families have spent more time together than they have in decades, members of the Nobles community—five adoptive parents and six adoptees—share stories about becoming family through international and domestic adoption and the role of unconditional love, biology and cultural heritage in the sometimes complex nature of identity for the adopted child.

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CROSSING THE OCEAN TO BRING HOME FAMILY

When Tom and Tricia O’Brien, parents to Lucas ’14 and Tomás ’18, set out to adopt the first of their five children in 1995, Tricia recalls thinking, “We just want a child. We don’t care where that child is from or what that child looks like, we just want a baby.” Within five years, they had adopted four children internationally, traveled to and from Colombia, Guatemala (twice) and Ecuador, and had become a family of six with four children under the age of 5. In 2008, The O’Briens experienced the devastating loss of their fourth child, Marisol, who passed away from a neurodegenerative illness.

Eventually, they would find themselves traveling to Ethiopia to bring home their fifth child, a third daughter.

As the O’Briens talk about their children, it is not hard to feel the love for the family they have created. “No matter how that kid came to earth,” says Tom, “you were meant for him and he was meant for you. It’s just an amazing thing.

It’s transformational.” At the end of the day, the job of an adoptive parent is no different than that of someone parenting his or her biological child. Tricia explains that with their children, they have always emphasized the importance of kindness to others. “We stressed always to accept everyone, to love each other and support each other. And just to know that we’re always there for them regardless of whatever happens. We’re just so blessed to have the children that we have. You know, it’s a beautiful way to make a family.”

The O’Briens have worked hard to make sure their children feel connected to their cultures, insisting that Lucas and Tomás take eight years of Spanish so that when they travel to the countries of their birth, language will not be an obstacle for them. Growing up, both Lucas and Tomás were always appreciative of their parents’ genuine efforts to ensure that they knew their roots.

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“ Family is being with people who love you unconditionally and understand you at your most basic level. It’s about understanding differences in each other and understanding the beauty of each other.”

ARCHIVE PHOTOS COURTESY OF PATRICIA O’BRIEN

The O’Brien family in Boston on Mother’s Day, 2018

The O’Brien family takes a walk near their home on Cape Cod.

RETURNING TO HER COUNTRY OF ORIGIN TO FIND FAMILY

As history faculty member and Co-director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Nahyon Lee’s plane lands at Logan on a return flight from Seoul at midnight on New Year’s Eve, her new son, Min, in her lap, fireworks light up the sky, as if to mark their arrival home as a family. Lee looked to her roots when she and her husband Marshall decided to adopt from South Korea. Long before she was born, adoption was woven into her family’s history—her father’s separation from his own parents around the start of the Korean War resulted in him being raised in an orphanage, and her mother worked at the State Department bringing children from Seoul to the United States to meet their adoptive families.

“In my mind,” explains Lee, “I always imagined we would adopt if we had a kid.”

For Lee, adopting internationally made the most sense, not only because it would be an easier process due to her Korean heritage, but also, Lee adds, “because it was just such a part of my life growing up, hearing the stories of what my dad went through and all of the work that my mom had done for kids who could have been my father.”

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As she reflects on the process, Lee smiles and says, “I feel fortunate to have Min in our life. He’s so awesome.

He enriches our lives.” Adopting from Lee’s country of origin was a positive and profound experience for her and her family, but for those without ties to other countries, international adoption has become considerably more difficult due to increased regulations. Within the United States, however, there are still approximately 135,000 adoptions per year. While the process of adopting domestically also requires a considerable amount of time and patience, many American parents choose this route.

FINDING FAMILY IN THE UNITED STATES

“Our evolution as a couple is interesting,” shares English faculty member Julia Russell as she talks about adopting her daughter, Ella, from Akron, Ohio in April of 2005 with her wife, Karen. “We weren’t necessarily thinking about getting married or having kids and being sort of normative in that way. Eventually, though, as our friends began to expand their families through adoption, we felt that we wanted to know that kind of love, too.”

For Julia and Karen, the journey to finding Ella was not an easy one. “We were excluded from adopting internationally because of our relationship so we turned to domestic adoption, and an open adoption improved our chances of being matched.” Julia recalls that the process was “emotionally grueling,” noting that before they adopted Ella they had a couple of birth mothers change their minds, once on Christmas Eve. “We talked to her on the phone numerous times over the next two months, getting to know one another and building trust,” says Julia. When asked later why she chose Julia and Karen, the birth mother, V. explained, “Well, I didn’t get to be with my Mom very much before she died, and now, this baby will have 30 Nobles WINTER 2021

The Gallagher family spending time together on campus

three Moms—the more the better.” The Russells continue to remain in frequent contact with Ella’s birth mother and four birth siblings.

With regard to open adoption, Julia says, “Nowadays, it’s seen as better emotionally for both the birth mom and the child in the long term, even though sometimes in the short term it seems fraught with complications. It’s been an incredible journey,” she adds, “highs and lows.”

When asked how she would define family, Julia pauses for a moment and responds, “Love. Just, love makes a family. And sticking with each other through it all.”

FOSTERING TO ADOPT

Love does make a family, and in some instances there is such an abundance of it that families of six become families of nine relatively quickly. The oldest of six himself, director of athletics and history faculty member Alex Gallagher ’90 always knew he would have a lot of kids someday, and

his family’s recent decision to foster and adopt three girls cemented that dream.

“You know,” says Gallagher, “we’ve been blessed with four beautiful kids whom we love to death, and we just felt like we had more love to give.” More love to give. At a time when kindness and empathy seem to be at a premium, it is encouraging to know that one doesn’t have to look far to find selflessness and unconditional love, the bedrock of a family.

Two years ago, after his wife, Liza, had been at an adoption party with social workers representing children in foster care, Gallagher answered his phone to hear the words, “I just met our kids.” These kids just happened to be sisters—Norma (8), Estefany (7) and Angela, a newborn.

“One of the things that really spoke to us in a very profound way,” explains Gallagher, “was the stories of siblings who were in the system and not able to be together.” So he and his wife set out to bring these siblings together and into their family.

ARCHIVE PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALEX GALLAGHER ’90

“ Family is the gift of unconditional love and the sense that you always have to live a life where you’re willing to put others in front of yourself.”

The annual awkward Gallagher Family Christmas Tree Selfie 2016 (Alex Gallagher ’90, Liza Gallagher, Maya Keenan-Gallagher, Jonah Keenan-Gallagher, Kennedy Gallagher, Shaymus Gallagher)

Gallagher gets a lot of questions about what it is like to have birth children and adoptive children. He refers to that magical moment when you have a child, and you think to yourself, How do I love this thing so much? It’s been in the world for eight seconds, and the immediate connection that you feel. “I have to say,” he continues, “with Norma, Estefany and Angela, the moment we saw their faces, we were like, we love them . . . we’re all in.”

Gallagher looks to Nobles when defining family. “One of the things we love so much about Nobles is that the community is so strong. The lesson we teach is to be a part of something much bigger than any one person and to evolve into somebody who can show empathy in all situations, who can always stand in somebody else’s shoes. It’s never just about you. To me, family is the gift of unconditional love and the sense that you always have to live a life where you’re willing to put others in front of yourself.”

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

As the AIDS epidemic unfolded in the 1980s, history faculty member Louis Barassi, who was born in 1961 and adopted in 1962, found himself pushed to think deeply about his definition of family. “I watched friend after friend die,” he says. “A lot of times, they weren’t able to reach out to their families because they had been rejected by them, and this was something that really stuck very powerfully with me.

I can’t imagine my parents, who were not related by blood, not wanting to take care of me if I were dying. That really challenged me to think about what family is.”

Content with the life he was given, Barassi never yearned for information about his biological family. While his father was an athletic phenom, Barassi was a skinny kid who struggled to navigate a playing field because of a rare form of juvenile macular degeneration.

“My father understood these things,” says Barassi. “And rather than trying to make me be what probably he would have liked—a standout football player, a sort of ‘chip off the old block’—he made the effort to see me as I was.” Barassi’s parents helped shape his identity by giving him the room to form his own interests and tap his potential as a runner. Acceptance is important in any parent-child relationship, but when your life starts from a place of abandonment, that sort of support feels just that much more crucial.

“When it came to the issue of sexual identity,” explains Barassi, “my parents never pressured me to conform to what they expected. They never made any sort of judgments.

Both of my parents made every effort to take each of us as we were and to let us live our lives the way we wanted.

More than anything else, they wanted us to be comfortable with who we were.” Barassi has spent a lot of time considering the importance of empathy, something that he says is informed by his upbringing and has shaped the way he looks at the world. “I do my best to give people what my parents gave me,” he says, “which is some understanding before judgment.”

Barassi explains that he has a more flexible definition of family. “For me,” he says, “family isn’t so much about the genetic connections; it’s more about the personal relationships that connect you. That’s how I define it—time spent together, seeing, understanding and helping each other. And I think, more than anything else, it should be a network of people who love each other and are able to help each other to live as best they can.”

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Molly and her siblings, Peter, and Noah (baby), and father, Richard Boskey

A SEARCH FOR ROOTS

Lorna Lowe ’90 remembers that for most of her childhood, her adoptive father kept the only information about her background—her weight, disposition and physical attributes at birth, and the ages, interests and ethnicity of her biological parents, in the top drawer of his bureau for her and her brother to glance at when curiosity struck. While Lowe’s adoptive parents were African American, like so many adoptees, she wondered about her cultural identity and whether she resembled her biological parents; at the age of 21, she began her search.

Knowing that she was adopted through the Middlesex Probate Court in Cambridge, Lowe was able to find information relatively quickly. At the courthouse, she was given her birth certificate and learned her birth name as well as the name of her biological mother. Lowe continued with her search, and within two months she found the woman who had given her life. Upon meeting her mother, Lowe, who was the first Black female School Life Council leader at Nobles, learned that she was the biological daughter of the first Black female student body president at Milton Academy. Lowe’s mother had to move off campus when she became pregnant, but she finished her senior year at Milton and went on to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees from Yale.

“It was the first time I got to experience looking at someone who looked like me,” Lowe recalls. “We communicate very similarly, and we’re driven in the same kind of way.” Lowe, who began working as a child welfare trial lawyer in 2002, recently graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art with a Master of Arts in Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre. Lowe continues to take appeals as she works as an actor in London.

Acting is certainly in Lowe’s genes, as her birth mother was involved in theater 32 Nobles WINTER 2021

at Milton, her birth father is an actor, and, as it turns out, her late uncle was Meshach Taylor from “Designing Women” and Mannequin. However, Lowe attributes her early love of theatre to her adoptive parents, who took her and her brother to Broadway musicals like The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, and “Evita,” just to name a few. Lowe and her brother were often the only children in the audience.

When asked what family means to her, Lowe says, “I just feel like family are the people that you choose. I mean, I have extended biological and non-biological family that I don’t have a relationship with, and so I don’t call them family in the same way. That word doesn’t have the same meaning as with the people who I’ve chosen to bring close to me.”

“ I never felt like my family wasn’t my family. I feel really lucky in that way.”

INTERRACIAL ADOPTION

Math faculty member Caitlin Chipman, one of four children adopted from South Korea and raised outside of Boston, remembers going to her first Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity meeting as a faculty member at BB&N and having to fill out a card on identity.

The first things that came to mind for Chipman about her identity were daughter, friend, partner and Irish Catholic, not Asian or Korean. Chipman admits that she is still navigating her identity in the landscape of affinity groups, feeling that because she does not share the same background as others she is uncertain about what she can contribute.

For Chipman, identity is something that evolved through the family that raised her and the friends who stood

Molly and her mother, Cathy Boskey

by her. As she talks about her life as an adopted child in an interracial family, Chipman returns time and again to a group of childhood friends she is still very close with. Having grown up in a predominantly white, suburban community in Norfolk, Massachusetts, she explains that with these friends, who all happen to be white, she never for a moment felt like she was their “Asian friend,” but simply their friend. And among her droves of Irish Catholic cousins, she was simply a cousin—not an Asian cousin or adopted cousin, just family. For her, it was the ARCHIVE PHOTOS COURTESY OF MOLLY PASCAL ’05

Pascal at her home with her dogs

positive connections and relationships in her life that shaped her identity.

“I’ve just never been curious about my birth parents,” she says. She believes that being adopted so young and being a third child with older siblings who were also adopted from South Korea played a role in her sense of self. Having faces similar to hers in her family gave her a sense of belonging, and unconditional love from friends and family was all that she needed.

It’s hard to tell whether that’s just me as an artist, or whether being adopted has formed that part of me, or both.”

Pascal’s parents always supported her interest in art, signing up her and her siblings for art classes at a young age, and Pascal’s appreciation for that encouragement is something she brings to her teaching. “Whenever I write my art comments,” she says, “I always am writing for those families who really appreciate art.

My parents were really supportive of our different interests, so I think that just kind of formed who we are.”

Pascal explains that transracial adoption has presented some challenges when it comes to her cultural identity. “I don’t know a lot about Korean culture,” she says. “It’s always this gnawing feeling of ‘I grew up very white, but I’m Asian, and I should probably know where I’m from,’” she says. Pascal explains that she always hated those questions at the beginning of standardized tests asking to name her race or identity by filling in a bubble.

While Pascal was always aware that she looked different from her parents, she says, “I never felt like my family wasn’t my family. I feel really lucky in that way.”

And as an adult, she embraces being different. “I like it,” she says. “I thrive a little bit more on the outside looking in.

I think also as an artist, too, I’ve always felt that way. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve just embraced my identity more, and I’ve gotten more comfortable with who I am.”

AN ARTIST’S EYE

CULTURAL IDENTITY

Like Chipman, art faculty member Molly Pascal ’05 was adopted from Seoul, South Korea, as an infant and raised in a Boston suburb. Pascal and her brothers, also adopted from Seoul, are all artists.

“I think when you feel a little different as a child,” says Pascal of being adopted, “you’re just observant—you look at the world a little bit differently, and I think as an artist, you do the same. You’re always looking at things through a critical lens.

For Lucas and Tomás O’Brien, growing up in a diverse and accepting household with an open dialogue about adoption was everything. “It really helped us understand difference,” says Lucas, “and that being different is OK—that we all are going to come to the table inherently having different perspectives, mannerisms and behaviors. We’re very different people, but we’re just all one family nonetheless.”

Tom and Patricia always made an effort

to expose their children to their birth cultures, and Tomás explains that they did this to help them “recognize those pieces of ourselves.” The School Life Council vice president and a prefect while at Nobles, Tomás sometimes struggled with a sense of belonging when in affinity groups. “I felt like I did not know as much about my own culture coming from two white parents,” he explains. “Even though they did their best to keep us in touch with our cultures, I always felt a little inauthentic or a little bit out of place.” Now an adult, Tomás has learned the importance of his own willingness to learn more about his culture. While challenging in some ways, affinity groups like Brother 2 Brother gave him a chance to be in a room with people of color talking about different issues.

“It was important,” he said, “to be able to vocalize these ideas that I hadn’t been able to talk about openly that much before.”

While multicultural families face unique challenges, there are also incredible moments for growth and understanding. Lucas remarks that the death of George Floyd was an especially powerful time for their family. “You have to be open to understanding that other people have different narratives, backgrounds and things working against them or working with them,” says Lucas. “You have to be open to that, and you have to have empathy for that. I think Black Lives Matter, for our family, was and is definitely unique.

But I think it’s also unique for each and every person, because you really are just an individual in a group of others.”

Tomás believes that there’s no single definition for family. “When I think of our family,” he says, “I think of how much love and support we have from our parents, but also from my other siblings, and just how close we are. Family is being with people who love you unconditionally and understand you at your most basic level. It’s about understanding differences in each other and understanding the beauty of each other.” N WINTER 2021 Nobles 33

Pandemic Pets The Nobles community finds comfort and connection in creatures during quarantine and beyond.

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PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN restores the long tradition

of first families with critters, bringing along a newlyadopted rescue cat and two German shepherds, Major and Champ, to the White House. While people and pets have been pals for at least 12,000 years, the pandemic has amplified the significance of these relationships and, in some cases, inspired previously pet-free people to reconsider who is living under their roofs.

Whether furry or slimy, mammal or reptile, it should come as no surprise that people are turning to pets— adopting and fostering them in record numbers—now that homes have transformed into offices and schools.

Pets are the perfect remedy for fear and monotony, providing a sense of purpose and reason to play when many people just want to go back to bed and wake up when herd immunity is a fait accompli.

In 2020, pets have, perhaps, taken on an even greater significance—above calming our nerves and getting us fresh air. They offer a tangible way to show compassion amidst isolation, bringing out the best in the human spirit in these worst of times. Animal shelters, breeders and pet stores have been bombarded with requests for creatures who know nothing about pandemics, politics or prejudice. Caring for pets has become a valiant act of optimism, an antidote to worry. Interacting with animals is also proven to decrease blood pressure and increase levels of oxytocin, the happiness hormone. What’s not to love?

The Nobles community has reflected many of these pandemic pet trends, looking to quirky critters of various shapes and sizes for company and humor as they wait for better days. Maryanne MacDonald, longtime right hand of Head of the Middle School John Gifford, adopted her cat, Wubi, from the Animal Rescue League of Dedham 14 years ago. With MacDonald at home more, Wubi thinks that all day is meal time, so the day’s food must be rationed. Hannah Puckett brought her kittens, Roxy

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BY CA SEY HA SSEN ST EI N A ND HEAT HER SULLI VA N PHOTO G RA PHY BY BEN HEI DER

REGINA CAMPBELLMALONE, MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE FACULTY MEMBER: “I have three not-so-little ‘chicks’—only one has a name (Spinderella, after Salt-n-Pepa’s D.J.) because our family waits until their name becomes ‘apparent’ before naming our hens. The three chicks are different breeds and are very different sizes. We also have a 70-pound dog who is interested in watching them, but not eating them. She put her nose up to them and the tiniest chick marched right up to her and pecked the dog right on her nose leaving the her surprised and befuddled.”

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(named for the concubine-turned-wife-and-empress of Suleiman the Magnificent, Roxelana) and Emmy (named for the radical and frequently-violent British suffragette from the early 20th century, Emmeline Pankhurst), home to the Castle at Nobles just months before the pandemic hit. The Easter Bunny surprised the Stevenson family (Curt ’88, Monica ’90, Jane, Patrick ’18 and Lily ’20) last spring with a guinea pig named McGillicuddy. Lily ’20 made special hats and costumes for “Gilly” and taught him to ride on the back of the family’s 10-year old yellow lab. Steve Ginsberg, chief financial officer, honored the late associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg by naming his new golden retriever puppy after her. “Ruby” was born just hours after the justice’s passing. English teacher and Class I DeanKim Libby and her husband were married on New Year’s Eve 2019. Both animal lovers, they wanted a dog but had a honeymoon and other travel planned.

“During the summer, my husband was slated to referee the World Lacrosse Games in Ireland, and I was going to a writers’ retreat in the south of France. Maybe it wasn’t the right time to get a puppy?”

Ultimately, Libby took her first and only flight of 2020 to Asheville, North Carolina, to pick up Kona, a rescue black lab-pointer mix from an animal shelter there. “On the way home, I tucked Kona—an 11-pound, leggy little fawn of a puppy—beneath my seat, and she slept all the way back to Boston.”

Lauren Joullian ’09 got married last summer and the newlyweds became parents to Duke, a golden retriever puppy, in July.

Duke loves welcoming Lauren and her husband when they come home and, on two occasions, got so excited greeting them that he consumed Lauren’s pearl earrings, a wedding present from her husband, and they were found in not so glamorous ways in the days thereafter. In recent months, Database Administrator Tessy Smith and Director of Psychology and Counseling Jen Hamilton both welcomed Bernadoodles into their homes. Head of the Upper School Michael Denning and his wife, Emily, adopted a second dog, Roxy, during the pandemic. Roxy is a Chihuahua Terrier mix. “The dogs run our lives,” Denning said. “Now, we talk about the dogs all day and care for them as though they are children.”

History teacher Jenny Carlson-Pietraszek adopted a dog named Lula. “After losing our beloved dog, Sophia, in November 2019, we were ready to adopt a new dog and quarantine was the perfect time to do so. Lula would crash for a nap on the couch after dinner and the lucky winner would get to rest with Lula sleeping on her chest. Nothing is more soothing than a sleeping puppy snoring lightly in your ear!”

Betsy VanOot, visual arts faculty member, adopted a German Shepherd mix named Maggie. “Maggie is pure happiness. We actually didn’t pick her out—we were willing to take any puppy that needed a home—and never met her before we picked her up because of Covid restrictions. It was a leap of faith on all parts, but now we can’t imagine having any other dog and are just so grateful she is who she is.” N 36 Nobles WINTER 2021

ALYCIA SCOTT-HISER, COMPUTER SCIENCE FACULTY MEMBER: “At the beginning of the pandemic in March, after we lost our older dog unexpectedly in February, we adopted Tsuki, an Eastern European village dog, from Russia. We felt that our younger dog was lonely, so we went ‘shopping’ on PetFinder. Tsuki looked adorably cute in the one photo we saw of her (in Russia). She was flown to JFK with her own Russian pet passport (seriously, it’s amazing!), driven up to Boston where she was dropped at our doorstep for an overnight to see if we could all get along. She never left.”

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BARBARA MURPHY, BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS: “We rescued an older Shih Tzu named Rosie. Rosie will not go up or down the interior stairs—she has no problem with the flight of stairs off my outside deck but is very afraid of the inside stairs. At the end of the night, she will lay down at the bottom of the stairs to be ‘carried up to bed.’ When I pick her up, she wraps her head behind my neck like a hug (I’m sure it is her way of hanging on tight—but I like to think of it as a hug!).”

ELIZA GOODE ’10: “I decided to adopt a pet and three days later I brought home Eddie, a Yorkshire Terrier, that I had seen on the American Kennel Club’s (AKC) website. Eddie brings me back to the present moment and a constant feeling of connection. He also provides structure and routine for me, with meals and outside time.”

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BETSY VANOOT, VISUAL ARTS FACULTY MEMBER: “We lost our golden retriever a year ago Labor Day so we knew we wanted another dog.

We have another dog named Mike who was very lonely, as were we. We finally connected with Great Dog Rescue in Andover and they matched us with Maggie. Maggie is pure happiness. We actually didn’t pick her out—we were willing to take any puppy they needed to home—and never met her before we picked her up because of Covid restrictions, so it was a leap of faith on all parts, but now we can’t imagine having any other dog and are just so grateful she is who she is.”

NICOLE ANASTOS, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES: “We ‘adopted’ two cats, Dewars and Absolut. We call them Abby and Dewey.

Their owner (a relative) passed away preCovid, but the person who was fostering them couldn’t keep them because they didn’t get along with her cat. So, in the spirit of therapy pets for my girls, they came home and the girls would tell you that sitting with a cat in their lap relieved their anxiety! (Although the cats gave our big dog anxiety!)”

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E.B. BARTELS ’06, AUTHOR AND FORMER FACULTY MEMBER: “Pre-pandemic I just had Terrence, a red-footed tortoise (@theofficialmrt on Instagram). Now, mid-pandemic, in addition to Terrence, my fiancé Richie and I have Seymour (some sort of pitbull-terrier-lab mix dog), Bert (a Valencian Figurita fancy pigeon), and two fish tanks (the larger aquarium is full of neon tetras and the smaller one has freshwater shrimp). The other day I was feeling particularly depressed about the state of the world, typing away on my computer, doomscrolling through the news, and Seymour shook around one of his toys so much that he threw it up in the air and it landed on my desk, right in the middle of my keyboard. I had to stop and laugh. Seymour helps keep things in perspective, or, at least, he helps remind me of the good things amidst so much bad.”

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ADAIRE ROBINSON, PERFORMING ARTS FACULTY MEMBER: “We adopted our dog Stella, a mini lab mix, from the Lucky Lab Rescue in October 2016. At the time, my husband and I were embarking on two years of long-distance dating while I got my master’s degree and taught at Deerfield Academy. Stella kept me company during my rides back and forth to Boston countless times! Since March, Stella has become more snuggly than she’s been before. She can’t bear to be left out of any affection... so much so that if Jim and I hug each other, or even stand close together, she’ll come running in from the other room and squish herself between us to make it a group hug!”

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graduate profile

42 Nobles WINTER 2021

The Neigh Sayer A free spirit with a unique approach to training horses

BY CASEY HASSENSTEIN, SENIOR ADVANCEMENT OFFICER, MAJOR GIFTS

“There are no bad horses,” says Rick Weinberg ’65. “Just ones who have learned some things in their lives that we wish they had not.” He should know, because for more than four decades, Weinberg, a self-taught real-life “horse whisperer,” has been training and rehabilitating horses by igniting their natural curiosity and instincts.

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Rick Weinberg '65 with his horses on his farm in Bath, New Hampshire

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: ROB STRONG

einberg became exposed to horses relatively late in life and a bit by chance. After graduating from Nobles and leaving the University of Wisconsin to work as a freelance photographer in Boston, he found himself drawn to the bucolic lifestyle of New Hampshire. In 1968, he settled on a farm in Bath, New Hampshire, where he still lives, and built his first home, a geodesic dome, with his own hands and a little help from his Nobles geometry textbook. At this time, purely by coincidence, a friend asked Weinberg if he could use his land to put his horse out to pasture one summer. This was his earliest encounter with a horse, and, like a first kiss or meeting one’s soulmate, it was immensely memorable.

“When I met the horse, it was a very deep experience for me,” recalls Weinberg. “There are certain people that when they come in contact with horses, all of a sudden that becomes the most important thing in their life. I don’t know how many children have bankrupted their parents or how many divorces have taken place, but it’s really powerful.”

From this transformative moment, every job title Weinberg held or hobby he pursued became an avenue for him to gain knowledge that transferred to his passion for training horses. As

a self-taught builder and designer, for example, he visited construction sites studying best practices and paying attention to details. After building his own boat, he sailed with his young family around the Florida Keys and the Caribbean for a year and learned patience and the power of nature. While working as a marital mediator, he identified new ways to resolve human conflict through communication and collaboration.

Each of these life lessons and experiences has supported Weinberg’s natural approach to horse training. Most horsemanship is based on the dominance/ submission model, where the rider uses a reward system, and sometimes force, to get the horse to behave a certain way.

Weinberg, instead, plays off of a horse’s innate curiosity and tendency to cooperate to achieve a certain outcome. “The greatest reward for horses is feeling safe.

When they discover that you can keep them safe, they will follow you anywhere and are incredibly loyal,” he says. To establish this trust, he uses various nonverbal communication cues. “Horses have an intricate system of communicating with each other through movement and posture,” he adds. “A slight flick of an ear or a turn of the head can mean something to another horse.”

But how exactly does Weinberg “talk” to horses as a means of training them?

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graduate profile

Rick Weinberg '65 has trained horses for decades using methods dating back to ancient Greek times. Instead of using a reward system, Weinberg plays off of a horse's innate curiosity and tendency to cooperate to achieve a certain outcome.

a certain way. “If I am standing next to a horse, and I have my weight on the leg that is away from the horse and the other leg is relaxed, the horse will feel more relaxed because they feel that I am giving them space,” reflects Weinberg. Positioning is one ingredient to success, but another key element can be more difficult for individuals. Weinberg believes that a horse’s behavior mirrors a person’s behavior. He describes horses’ ability to pick up on human emotions: “Horses are empathetic.

If a human is trying to interact with a horse and they have had a bad morning at work or have a sick child that is disturbing their peace, the horse will also be disturbed. Part of my approach is teaching riders to be present and keep focused on what is going on in the here and now.”

This method of training dates back to ancient Greek times and the

Athenian-born military leader Xenophon, yet it became popularized in the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer, inspired by the life of renowned horse trainer Buck Brannaman, a personal mentor of Weinberg’s. Brannaman was the inspiration for Robert Redford’s fictional character in the film and also served as the film’s on-site technical consultant. He is one of a number of cowboys and trainers who have coached and mentored Weinberg over the years.

Learning how to train horses and work in unison with them is a lifelong endeavor. Weinberg’s study and practice continues with his own horses, in oneon-one training sessions with clients, and through his work as a volunteer at the Live and Let Live Farm’s Rescue and Sanctuary in Chichester, New Hampshire.

The sanctuary houses up to 90 orphaned

“ There are certain people that when they come in contact with horses, all of a sudden that becomes the most important thing in their life. ”

—RICK WEINBERG '65

44 Nobles WINTER 2021

horses, many of whom are there due to abuse, neglect or a change in a family’s finances. As a regular volunteer there before Covid-19 hit, Weinberg trained other volunteers on basic horse care and individually worked with the orphaned horses to rehabilitate them and prepare them for adoption. His reputation has grown, as well as his client list, as owners have watched him connect with horses using movement, touch and intuition.

For Weinberg, there is a higher purpose behind such success. “I want to proliferate this style of horsemanship for the sake of the horses,” he reflects. “It is difficult for horses to live with humans because we interfere with their natural life—they evolved to live on 10,000 acres of open space in a herd, yet we [humans] dictate where they go, what they do and when they eat. This is difficult for them, both physically and mentally.”

Through his work, Weinberg reminds us that Nobles’ mission of leadership for the public good can take on many forms.

Each of us has the power to think differently and humanely to make the world a better place for people and animals alike.

graduate news NOTES & ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CLASSMATES

1940 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Percy Nelson

617-244-4126 percylnelson@comcast.net

1951 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Galt Grant

781-383-0854 galtgra@gmail.com

1952 & 1953 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Childs

johnchilds37@gmail.com Received a heartfelt email from Dave Horton in October reporting

that Pete Summers had died a few days earlier at a Falmouth assisted living facility, primarily from a progressive case of dementia.

Dave had done his best to keep in touch with Pete over the years (including three-way “trash talking about N&G hockey” among Dave, Pete and Wink), with difficult conversations as memory problems developed. Dave and Pete were close friends from their elementary school days, and we all share his memories of “Pete being a strong physical guy and so intelligent academically that I never thought he could be a victim of dementia.”

He was a big part of the Class of ’52, and Dave’s final thought is, “Another light goes out.”

Word from Ben Taylor in troubled California found him evacuated

Graduate Notes Policy ■ ■ ■

■

■

■

Send graduate updates and photographs to class correspondents if you have one.

Digital photographs must be high-resolution JPEG images (1MB+) to appear in print.

Editorial staff reserves the right to edit, format and select all materials for publication, to accommodate eight decades of classes in Nobles magazine.

For more information, visit the graduate notes online submission page: www.nobles.edu/community/graduates/ submit-a-class-note/ Please contact us if you’d like to volunteer as class correspondent, to collect and compile news of your classmates to share. If your class does not have a correspondent listed, you can submit your notes online at www.nobles.edu/ community/graduates/submit-a-class-note/ … or volunteer to become the class correspondent by contacting Director of Graduate Affairs Kate Treitman Brown ’99 at kbrown99@nobles.edu.

from his retirement village due to forest fires and living in a Marriott hotel. He, of course, has adapted well: “Nice apartment, watch football and the Great Debate,” but won’t move back for another week (presumably early October). My observation is that he, Lu Hallett, Horton, Peter Bennett, Stanton Burgess and perhaps others keep in close touch. And speaking of Lu Hallett, he has no new news but observed that a certain political situation “stinks.” Peter Bennett, on the other hand, has been happily living with Nancy in a high-quality retirement community in Leesburg, Virginia, for the past five years, not far from their previous home and near a good hospital. They have had some health problems but are doing well and have children and grandchildren within visiting distance.

I was hoping that the Pete Willauer odyssey that began a year ago (boating from Maine to many Florida destinations, then Nevis) when pandemic restrictions shut them down last February would include more travel. Alas, no progress since. They expect to stay put until Spring 2021, and their homeaway-from-home boat Eightbells is still for sale in Stuart, Florida. Peter and Carol’s “medical situations are stable,” and they remain active with the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, which is “doing well …Google it!”

In my prodding (nagging?) for classmate updates, I received a nice note from Jane and Jack Farlow, who seem to have every good reason to “love their Maine home.”

Best flower gardens ever, great animal- and bird-watching, reading

in the comfort of their own home, and busy with two Labradoodles and two Coon cats. Their frustration is the inability to safely fly to visit a geographically spread-out family. Their younger son, Randy, is living north of Seattle (no wildfires or riots so far), where his wife, Heidi, is described as “a master gardener with a long growing season.” Randy is a mechanical engineer who designs machines needed to assemble large airliners (e.g., how do you rotate the starboard wing 2.5 degrees, angle it forward another 3 degrees, move it toward the hull 1.5 mm, and then hold it steady while it is being affixed to the fuselage?) Hope you agree that I had to include this gem. Their other son, Tim, and his second family just moved to St. Augustine, Florida. He is involved with technical and policy matters for a Massachusetts robotics company. Their young children are thriving in the Southern environment. Finally, Jack is very pleased with the job Head of School Cathy Hall is doing at Nobles and “Nobles has been very blessed to have an unbroken string of such outstanding heads of school!”

Locally, Susan and Bob Hoffman have now joined us at North Hill (a top-notch retirement community in Needham, Massachusetts) with the “realization that we are getting old and that we needed to make a change in our living style—with cheers from our five kids.” Hoffy, my brother, Wink, and I first met as neighbors in 1940, and, as you might imagine, many stories ensued. So, we see them regularly, and I keep in touch with Dave Thibodeau,

WINTER 2021 Nobles 45

graduate news

Bob Chellis, 1955 class correspondent, sent us one from the archives: “The school play our senior year: the classic Arsenic and Old Lace. Those were amateur days indeed—but we learned. It was a far cry from the stunning professionalism of today’s Nobles plays—three Broadway-worthy performances a year! At least until the pandemic.”

who can be found nearby at Fox Hill when he isn’t traveling elsewhere, as well as with Sally and Ted Jennings, who are doing well at a retirement community near Albany, New York, and staying close with California children and grandchildren.

When you receive this, the incredible year of 2020 will be behind us, and we can hope that the turn of the calendar will bring some movement toward sanity, good health and a Red Sox miracle.

508-548-9418 bluechip7676@hotmail.com

election. By the time you read this, you may have forgotten the tension. And I hope the country has survived and enjoys some goodwill on a steadier course.

Bebo Gregg has relocated to Hillside Village in Keene, New Hampshire, but beyond that I have nothing newsworthy.

Lacking anything both current and interesting, I opt for nostalgia with this picture from the archives—the school play our senior year—the classic Arsenic and Old Lace. Those were amateur days indeed, but we learned. It was a far cry from the stunning professionalism of today’s Nobles plays: three Broadway-worthy performances a year! At least until the pandemic.

1955

1956

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bob Chellis

Gren “Rocky” Whitman

781-237-9436 rdchellis@gmail.com

443-691-9370 grenwhitman1@gmail.com

Maybe no news is good news these groundhog days, holding our breath until the November 3

John Turtle reports that he and his wife, Anne, have moved from their longtime home in Wellesley

1954 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Partridge

46 Nobles WINTER 2021

to Lasell Village, a retirement community in Auburndale, Massachusetts. He describes it as an “active community connected with Lasell University.” John sends his “very best wishes to my dear friends in the Class of 1956.”

From Dave Carroll: “I am sad to say that my wife, Babs, died on March 27, 2020, while under treatment for another scourge of our era, dementia. She died years sooner than expected due to a blood deficiency that developed rapidly.

I asked God for two things: first, to be holding her hand when she died, so she would know I was there; the second was that I have some sign that she was happy. As the end approached, her breathing became very regular, and this told me she was near the end. You tell me how the next things happen: I knew before she drew her last breath that the next one would be it—who tells you such a thing, but it was true.

She inhaled, and as she exhaled her last breath, she gave my hand a faint squeeze to let me know she knew I was there, and her mouth drew down into a little serene smile.

So I got both my wishes.” Sending thoughts to Dave for his loss.

Tim Leland writes: “I wish I had a class note reporting a romantic riverboat cruise down the Mekong River, but no such luck in the middle of a pandemic.

My explorations of the world these days are restricted to daily bike rides in Boston—which are not in the least romantic and distinctly more dangerous. (Julie was sideswiped recently on Commonwealth Avenue, riding her bike home from the Harvard Club.

Miraculously, she wasn’t badly hurt by the hit-and-run driver who left her lying in the street.) If I take

a right on Atlantic Avenue leaving Harbor Towers, where we live on Boston’s waterfront, I make my way up State Street, squeezing as far right as possible on the bike lane through downtown traffic, up and over Beacon Hill and eventually down to the Charles River, sparkling in the morning sun. Ahhh. No cars, no trucks, just peaceful biking on the paths along the banks of the Esplanade, where Canada geese tip for food among the occasional beds of waterlilies, and young lovers paddle rented red and blue kayaks in the still water.

Brings back memories of the many European bike trips Julie and I have taken over the years, pedaling along similar paths in places like Austria and Holland.

“If I take a left out of Harbor Towers, I have to bike on Atlantic Avenue against the traffic, which only someone bent on suicide would consider. A far better option is to remain on the sidewalk—which I do (it’s not illegal in Boston) as much as possible all the way to Castle Island in South Boston, where serial murderer Whitey Bulger used to hang out.

Notwithstanding that historical association, it’s another beautiful place to bike in the city. Hopefully, by the next time a call for class notes goes out, I’ll have something less pedestrian (pardon the pun) to report.”

From Rocky Whitman: “Despite its proximity to large population centers in and near Washington, Baltimore, Wilmington and Philadelphia, Maryland’s Eastern Shore remains very rural.

During the pandemic, Janice and I have taken a drive once a week hither and yon on the Shore.

Using DeLorme roadmaps and

GPS, we’ve explored hundreds of miles of back roads—innumerable corn and soybean crops, industrial-scale chicken raising, country crossroads, extensive marshlands, isolated waterman communities, ancient ferries.… It took us several weeks to get to all 50-plus incorporated Eastern Shore municipalities and snap a photo of each town hall. Out of this has emerged a blog published with a couple of other aging journalists, called Eastern Shore Journal. Go to: easternshorejournal.com.”

1957 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

John Valentine

jean6157@icloud.com Eliot Putnam

etputnam@earthlink.net Loring Conant writes: “As I begin my journey in the ’80s, I find the word ‘still’ evermore significant. I write this still having the ability to haul our kayaks up from the dock on the tidal bay, to spade over our vegetable garden for winter, and to be present for grandchildren, one a senior at Harvard, another a freshman at Bowdoin, and a third a senior in high school in Northern California. Last December we moved to Brookhaven, a retirement community in Lexington. We spent this summer from May to October in our house in Maine. I recommend Una Suseli O’Connell’s memoir about her family’s time at Nobles when her father taught English there. Anyone connected with Nobles’ production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the mid-’70s will find much to recall and enjoy. Like many of us during

the current Covid pandemic, we are thankful for our connection, however electronic, with our friends from Nobles.”

Lance Grandone takes a time out on his own promise not to discuss politics in class notes just long enough to voice his great displeasure with Florida officials who have decreed that everything is now open in the pre-Covid-19 manner. Lance finds the task of running his condo association has increased. The older the residents become, the more independent they become. Hmm! Herding cats anyone? He wonders if things will ever get back to the lifestyle they enjoyed pre-pandemic. “Karin and I are doing well and are grateful for our acquired computer skills.

Those with less skill face more difficult situations. We are downsizing our house and acquiring the skills of condo living. Our main goal of the moment is to modify the duct system in their duplex so it will provide the zone system we had in our Nokomi house.” He concludes, “Like many of you, I’m sure we are doing our best to stay healthy and mentally alert. Fortunately, socially distanced trivia starts this month. We trust you are doing the same and wish good health to all our ’57 classmates and their families.”

John Damon writes that, following a somewhat long rehab in September, he returned home, where he was able to, among other things, catch up with the fall Nobles magazine. “As usual, I found my classmates’ notes informative and reflective. John Valentine’s loss of his beloved wife, Pegeen, led me to reflect on my last three years without Cathy. I was lucky to find my soulmate and a loving family.

Being left alone is never the same, despite the love and caring of children and grandchildren. Over time, I have reconnected with charities and activities. I miss Cathy terribly and frequently, but I am also finding new ways to be happy. Change comes, and I am learning to accept that I, too, am different now. With that recognition, comfort comes.”

David Woods writes: “Here in Peterborough, New Hampshire, we have survived Covid-19 pretty well so far. My institution, Rivermead, has followed the rules (not the President’s) quite closely, and we have had only two cases among the staff and one among the residents. Eleanor has continued to decline and will be transferred to nursing care this October. She is still ‘healthy’ otherwise. I can visit her three times a week. It’s possible that she ‘recognizes’ me when she focuses on me when I enter, but there is no communication. I had a lovely week in the cottage in Jaffrey in the middle of the summer. I keep busy with reading and listening to my adored Yuma Wang play piano concertos. I am content with life.”

Tom Edwards writes: “My wife and I have hoped to host another ’57 gathering at our house in Freeport, Maine, but Covid has postponed that for at least a year. I was terribly saddened by the passing of Whizzer Wheeler ’56, our sprightly classmate who lived with his wife, Peggy, one town over in Topsham. I have now retired having taught the Arts of Educational Leadership for 13 years at the University of Southern Maine. Prior to USM, I served as high school principal in Freeport, my favorite role.

My wife, Tina, led ‘courses’ for

Hurricane Island Outward Bound (founded by Peter Willauer ’53) for 16 years. Tina then founded and now leads ‘Painting for a Purpose,’ a group that paints and sells decorative arts (see paintingforapurpose.net). All proceeds are used to fund community-service projects as proposed and led

by Portland students. Daughter Abra lives in London, where she is in-house counsel for British charity Save the Children. Son Ted lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he skis for several hours a day, 240 days a year. He works in a restaurant and is a tennis pro during the summer. Adventures with classmates will have to wait for our next gathering in Freeport, but I do wish to credit a weekly course in our senior year taught

by Dick Van Kleeck, Paul Longland and Laura Putnam. At their urging, Fred Hitz and I went to the Monet exhibition at the MFA. That experience is what led me to get my master’s in art history.”

John Valentine notes that this year marked the point where all classmates turned fourscore or more. In addition to fellow grads in ’55 and ’56, “we are an impressive collection of men in their eighties—50 of us engaged in life in a wide range of ways, as you have just been reading. Excelsior!”

William Gallagher writes: “Karen and I have spent twice as much time in Maine this past summer as we have in almost 40 years of coming to West Bath. Fortunately we have been joined by our children, grandchildren, their families and a few friends. Although the Covid environment has kept us all pretty close to home, an upgrade in our wireless has enabled students and workers to Zoom forward with

WINTER 2021 Nobles 47

graduate news

their commitments and responsibilities. In spite of the stressful times, there have been highlights during this time. Una O’Connell has published a book of family memoirs (about her father Peter O’Connell’s year teaching at Nobles in ’55–’56).

It’s a must-read for ’50s graduates. Johnny Val and I have spent Facebook 5 p.m. meeting time researching the secrets of the wellmade martini. I caught my first striped bass in many a year. And my son, Bill Gallagher ’95, and I took a five-day cruise in our whaler to the east of Schoolic Peninsula.

We were blessed with fine, fog-free weather. Once again, challenging though these times have been, I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am in matters of health, family and friends.”

Eliot Putnam writes, “In this year of our discontent, when the news has been unremittingly bad, when the joys of normal social interaction are denied, and leadership that might move us out of the morass is profoundly absent, there are still things large and small in which I take heart. Topping the list is the return of John Wadsworth Valentine as our scribe to once again prod us to stay in touch through the pages of the Nobles graduate Bulletin—oops, it’s now grandly known as Nobles magazine.

And the school we knew is vastly different and just plain more vast from our day. But having JWV back linking us up is such a delight, I know, for everyone. As we near our 58th anniversary in our Covidforced splendid isolation, Jan and I have spent more time together than ever before, mostly in our old shingled house in Wellesley with occasional, carefully quarantined trips to Maine. We are grateful

48 Nobles WINTER 2021

for the experience and humbled by our good fortune to be able to enjoy each other for so long and in such good health. I am profoundly aware that not all of our classmates have been so lucky. They are very close to my heart. God bless you all.”

1958 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Chris Morss

knossos@aol.com Tappy Wilder reports that he has joined the team to plan his 60th Yale College reunion in 2022. He hopes to live to participate in it and wonders how the years went by so quickly!

Peter Norstrand writes: “As is probably no surprise, the Covid pandemic has increased the demand for mental health services. In March, the Brookline Community Mental Health Center rapidly shifted to telehealth, and the number of patient visits has increased steadily. Meanwhile, Kathy’s beloved Coolidge Corner Theatre remains shuttered, but she is working harder than ever (from home) developing several new lines of business including video screenings, education programs and drive-ins at Medfield State Hospital. Also, she’s continuing with the construction project (changing the entrance and adding two new theaters and a community room), while making the existing space Covid-compliant (new carpeting, shields, etc.). To get us through the winter, we acquired an OLED TV with Sonos surround sound, kicking it off with The Last Waltz, which you might have heard if your windows were open. Be well.”

Larry Daloz writes: “Here’s a caveat for all you joint-replacement veterans out there: I’ve been flat on my back (or entirely upright) for the past two months, thanks to a hip replacement gone south. I can be either vertical or horizontal, but in-between is excruciating; i.e., no sitting. Anyway, the end (not mine, please God) is in sight... about two more months away. Details on request. Aside from that, we now live in Hanover, New Hampshire, at a Quaker-inspired continuing care retirement community (CCRC). There are about a dozen of them around the country, and I’ve been up here, busy and loving it, almost since we arrived last fall. It has also been a pleasant surprise to run into reformed hippie Mike Whitman, who lives just up the road in Lyme. He’s a baker, and I’m sure he would love to bake you a loaf of his good, honest bread if you ask... right, Mike? Meanwhile, I’m part of a team of ancient troublemakers here who are linking all of our CCRCs together to address the climate collapse. It’s a continuation of a commitment I have held since the early ’90s.

I recall at our 50th saying that it was an enormous existential threat, and, with the exception of Bill Danielson (duh) and Bob Puffer, facing a wall of confused and indeterminate faces. Oh, and except for our good brother George Foss, who was sure it was all a hoax (sound familiar?).

Anyway, there’s one story.

“The other, of course, is the Great Snollygoster in the White House. Looks like by the time this hits the presses, we’ll be skateboarding a lot further down the circular descent to Beelzebub, but

I cannot believe that there is a single one among those of us who yet survive who deludes himself so tragically that he thinks a vote for he-who-shall-not-be-named will be a positive move for the country or the planet.”

Along those lines, George Foss writes: “This is my news.”

He attached a video of Joe Biden debating Joe Biden.

Chris Morss writes: “Covid dictated a socially quiet summer at Mattapoisett this year after forcing the cancellation of a trip in May to visit Henry Batchelder in Monaco for the Classic Grand Prix and friends in England. Covid restrictions prevented Henry from returning to Mattapoisett this summer, and in mid-November he will have a knee replaced. Even though car meets were canceled, it was fun all the same to have the 1940 Pontiac convertible at the shore and take it out quite often.

Unlike the modern look-alikes, you don’t have to read the hubcap to know what make it is!”

1959 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Whit Bond

whit.bond@verizon.net Buzz Gagnebin

imbuzz@me.com John Gibson

jgib1963@aol.com Steve Grant reports he is writing about the founders of the Folger Shakespeare Library, the first American Consul to Senegal, and—since a midlife crisis—his passion for deltiology, the collection and study of picture post-

cards. His new website provides details: https://stephenhgrant.com.

Buzz Gagnebin adds, “The site is really worth a visit!”

Buzz reports, “I’ve been doing a lot musically, not just playing fiddle and piano, but commissioning others to make interesting videos that can provide comfort to those in need. See, for example: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=eLzoOeN7EcY. I’ve also loved photography, starting in early elementary school pre-Nobles, so I’ve been taking pictures of what I consider interesting things in the neighborhood when out on a dog walk.

See, for example, from the area of Radcliffe Quad in Cambridge on page 49.”

1960 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Albert Vandam

arvandam42@gmail.com Barry Treadwell writes: “Deb and I are doing well—splitting our time between Florida and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is very hard to believe we are in our 60th year— after a great six years at Nobles.

We regularly think back to great times and great friends! We have had our share of health issues, the latest being my battle against esophageal cancer. It will be three years in August, and all is well—a miracle of modern medicine, all done right here in Bethlehem!

Golf continues to be my passion as well as both of us following six grandkids: two out of college, two ‘in’ college and two to go. Hopefully we can celebrate our 60th at some time down the road. Hello to all—stay well!”

1961 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Newell

802-467-3555 newell43@gmail.com

1962 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter McCombs

215-947-8017 or 516-629-7983 prm9244@gmail.com

and Bob Kretchmar and I have stayed in touch over the years, but this quarantine has kept us apart recently. I know we all look forward to a face-to-face opportunity in the future. Having now lost close to 25 percent of our class, it is my hope that in reading this brief note, more of our classmates will share their stories with us. Nobles is and always will be part of our lives.”

1964

1963

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

781-704-4304 moe9817@aol.com

Jim Lehan

508-520-1373 jblehan@aol.com Jim Lehan writes: “This has indeed been a most unusual year. During this national crisis, we have lost two of our classmates, Peter Waldinger and Fred Kahrl, both passing within a few weeks of each other. The suddenness of this brought a number of former classmates back, and having the opportunity to share some time with them was comforting. Ken Mallory

Ned Bigelow

I’d very much like to thank all of you who submitted entries for the last issue of the magazine. Not that I’m biased or anything like that, but it always makes me feel good when I see that a number of members of the Class of ’64 seem to regularly write comments and updates for virtually every issue.

It is the section of the magazine I always have read first, and must say get great pleasure from. This continues to be a very challenging

and rather frightening time in our history, and I hope all are staying out of harm’s way, being very careful and thoughtful. The Bigelows are all well, thankfully, and our grandchildren are “going” to school in a variety of ways and following different schedules. Not being able to be as close to them as we’d like, we visit at a distance, watch soccer games with binoculars, and FaceTime when necessary. These days make one especially grateful for the strength of family and friends.

The very best to you all, be well and stay in touch.

Steen Rydahl writes: “We hereby send you greetings from Denmark. Karen and I are well. We have recently had our 50th golden wedding anniversary and are sending you pictures of the wreath of flowers that our youngest son and his wife put upon our door in the summerhouse, where we spent a lot of time during this corona summer. All our intended journeys have been canceled, but we have seen family and friends in our garden and summerhouse during the summer. We were both ill with Covid-19 in the middle of March.

Left to right: Radcliffe Quad in Cambridge, photographed by Buzz Gagnebin ’59; Stephen Grant ’59 in the Folger Reading Room. See Class of ’59’s notes discussion of Steve’s new website, https://stephenhgrant.com.

WINTER 2021 Nobles 49

graduate news

Karen was much more affected than me. She had a high fever, slept 14–16 hours a day, coughed for eight weeks, had a severe headache, and we both missed our sense of taste and smell until 3–5 weeks ago. We love to see our sons, daughters-in-law and our six grandchildren. Luckily they live close by. None of them have had Covid-19. We hope that all of you are in good health. We send our best wishes to all of you.”

Ned Lawson writes: “The big news from Duxbury is that we are moving to Lincoln, Vermont, a little town nestled against the west side of the Green Mountains.

We are going to build a net-zero house very close to where Jenny Lawson Bates ’01 and her family live. A big change, but with global warming unchecked, we think this is a good move.”

From George (Sandy) Darrell: “My wife, Deb, and I are hunkering down here in our home in Medfield. The day consists of walks around town and nature reserves, volunteering on the Medfield Conservation Commission, volunteering in Lowell at a refuge for those recovering from substance abuse, and a bit of stock trading to supplement our fixed income. Of late, Zoom has become our travel mode of choice (of course). I have two grandchildren in Brooklyn,

New York, and one in Valencia, Spain, all Covid-free and doing well. The grands have enjoyed various venues of study but seem to have adjusted perfectly.

“So, my friends, the best way to beat ‘the disease’ is to give it nowhere to go. Be smart. Use masks and distancing, and above all, use common sense. These precautions will snuff it out so we can get back to hanging with friends and family, real-time . . . but not ’til then. Be well and God bless.”

From Clint Smith: “Mimeograph ink and apple cider. I think I heard somewhere that our sense of smell is our most evocative sense, followed closely by our sense of taste. On the sense of smell, I have a tale involving Tim Coggeshall.

“In the summer of 1958, I was fortunate to have been a crew member for a week in late August on Tim’s brand-new (for him) sloop, the Dauntless. Dave Mittell ’62 was another member of the crew (along with Chuck Kaman ’61, Dave Zacher, Tom Wood and Colin Canham ’63). Tim indulged his love of sailing and cruising by taking youngsters out for a week at a time, and at that age, in those times, it was quite an experience for a kid like me, especially considering I had spent most of every summer with my grandparents in Montana. I took another week

on Dauntless in the late summer of 1959 (the crew included Dave Mittell ’62 again, Harvey Struthers, Pete Miles ’61, Jim Bird '62 aka George Bird, and myself). My final Dauntless cruise was in early September of 1960. (School started later in those days.) On that Dauntless cruise, my last one, the other members of the crew were Frank Lawson ’62, Dave Wellington ’63, Jay Johnson ’61, Pete Miles ’61 and Ranny Langenbach.

“Tim was very diligent about recording the events of each cruise in his boat’s log, in detail, and at the end of the summer he would send each crew member a mimeographed copy of the log for that kid’s particular cruise.

“Fast-forward to 1993, and I wrote to Tim asking if he had preserved any of the Dauntless logs for the cruises I had been on. Lo and behold, he had! He had the logs for all his cruises. And he sent me ‘original’ mimeographed copies of the logs for the three cruises I was on. (I can provide copies.)

“And do you know what I did when I opened the envelope and saw the mimeographed pages?

“Without hesitation, without even thinking, completely reflexively, I lifted the pages to my nose and sniffed their light blue print.

“Do you remember doing that?

I am sure you do.

“ In the 1950s and ’60s, in the fall, after each Saturday’s sporting contests held at Nobles, a ‘Tea’ was convened in the Castle for the teams and spectators. After showering in the basement of the gym and putting on our blazers and neckties, and occasionally a dollop of Old Spice, we would convene in the Castle, and four ladies would welcome us along with the visiting teams."

—CLINT SMITH ’64

50 Nobles WINTER 2021

“No matter how hard we expected the pop quiz or final exam to be, when a Nobles teacher handed out our exam, the first thing we did was to sniff the scent of the mimeograph fluid off the pages of the exam. Sometimes the pages were still moist from having just come off the hand-cranked mimeograph machine, sometimes called a ‘ditto’ machine. Just for a second, before diving into the exam, we each instinctively pleasured our sense of smell with that slightly intoxicating combination of likely toxic fumes that comprised mimeograph ‘ink.’ It was spontaneous behavior, it was consistent behavior, it was primal, and it was just a momentary pleasure before entering the purgatory of the exam. Sigh. Then everything else was downhill as we opened our blue books. At least it was for some of us, myself included.

“But the old mimeographed Dauntless logs Tim sent me had long since lost their aroma, and I was disappointed at that.

“I am pleased to have the copies of the logs to this day with all of their fun detail of one fine man and several boys exploring the world together in a time long gone.

“As for the sense of taste, my Nobles tale is of apple cider.

“I only drink apple cider, the unpreserved kind, the raw kind, on very few occasions in the fall of each year, never apple juice.

“In the 1950s and ’60s, in the fall, after each Saturday’s sporting contests held at Nobles, a ‘Tea’ was convened in the Castle for the teams and spectators. After showering in the basement of the gym and putting on our blazers and neckties, and occasionally a dollop of Old Spice, we would convene in

the Castle, and four ladies would welcome us along with the visiting teams: Mrs. Coggeshall, Mrs. Flood, Mrs. Putnam and Mrs. Lawson, often joined by Mrs. Horton and sometimes by a few other faculty wives. I don’t remember tea being served, but they would have laid out in advance a modest assortment of goodies for us: cookies, little cakes and the like, and there was always plenty of apple cider, the real thing, not apple juice. Real cider. You know the difference between apple juice and apple cider.

“Well, this fall, in 2020, I again bought my once annual half gallon of real apple cider. And a few days ago, when I poured some out and took my first swig, I was transported back in time, as I inevitably am each fall, by the first taste of the cider; back to those golden autumn days when we wore jackets and ties everywhere on campus, and penny loafers (often with white wool socks), and we looked at the girls who came to the teas and at Mrs. Coggeshall and scarfed down the cookies and cider, our muscles aching from the afternoon’s athletic contests. And now that I think of it, we could also probably smell the teenage hormones in the air.

And then we drifted away.

“The evocative powers of smell and taste as they occasionally relate to Nobles. Don’t forget the Apple Brown Betty dessert. And the quartered navel oranges on the sidelines.

“Thus endeth my tale of mimeograph ink and apple cider.”

1965 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Summers

jimsummers@post.harvard.edu

1966

1967

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Ned Reece

Drew Sullivan

ned4047@sbcglobal.net 773-213-0442

781-461-1477 drewsull49@aol.com

Craig Barger shares: “On June 27 I was reelected to my second term on the Select Board here in Easton, Massachusetts. My second term will be even more challenging than my first. The pandemic and resulting economic crisis have made it very difficult for cities and towns to enact balanced budgets, required by statute, without significant cuts to operating expenses. Easton is no different than most of our sister communities who rely primarily on residential real estate taxes to fund government. One of the most striking results of this crisis has been the percentage of our citizens who are now collecting unemployment insurance, with a low of 2 percent in January to the current 19.5 percent. The personal toll is dramatic, as our food pantry is serving double the number of families than it helped in January.

Despite these challenges, I love what I do, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board to provide quality services to our constituents and to develop strategies to address these challenges.

“In addition to my Town position, on July 1 I will be entering my second year as the president of our local synagogue, a congregation of 160 families from Easton and other local communities. This role faces its own unique challenges, and suffice to say, I do not have many free evenings. I hope that this finds my classmates healthy and safe.”

1968 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Andy Lord

617-899-3948 ajliii@yahoo.com

1969 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Pach

860-267-9701 peterbpach@gmail.com As the veil of Covid continues to cast a shadow over the world in October, our class seems to have settled into our altered lives. The initial flurry of communications and Zooms has dwindled with the realization that we are in for the long haul. Staying home and taking care of routine affairs doesn’t lend itself to much excitement, and apparently leaves fewer things to report to the class correspondent.

Certainly, that describes our life in Middle Haddam, Connecticut.

The big break was making the trip to Chappaquiddick for two weeks in August, which felt like a trip to the moon after having been within 20 miles of home for months. We loaded the car with food, drove to the ferry, and enjoyed the chance to be on sparsely populated roads, beaches and tennis courts.

Otherwise, I’m hoping to be with my mother in Needham this month when she will turn 101.

I did have a very enjoyable wine-by-Zoom with Debbie and

Peter Gates, who left their Brookline home mostly vacant since Covid struck in favor of the open spaces at their place in South Dartmouth, which gives them access to the ocean and their boat. Peter has been working remotely, and they’ve been able to see grandchildren who came to visit. Both are in good spirits except for the limits imposed by the virus.

I had a nice note from Baird Brightman, who is holed up at home in California. He commented on my continuing repair work on my 300-year-old house. “Keep up those house projects, Peter. The old Zen/stoic mantra of ‘tend your own garden’ has never been more apt, given the state of the country and our stage of life. I have a small yard with a right-sized garden for a fella fast approaching 70. I enjoy the upkeep tasks throughout the seasons (unlike most of my life, there is no winter garden hiatus, not that I’m complaining!).”

Steve Baker remains in Florida helping his 96-year-old mother, who, “alas, is slowly—finally— beginning to fail. We continue to spend time with each other every day. Her independent living facility (fortunately) lets me come in and take care of her. For her 96th birthday, five friends of ours and she and I went out to a local restaurant for raw oysters (for her, not me, no thank you) and then off to a local ice cream parlor for a double-scoop chocolate waffle cone assembly literally as big as her head. How could a party not be a wild success on that alone?

“Other than that,” Steve said, “not much happening other than watching the world and doing what I can to help it along a better path, something I imagine all of us are

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doing in our own small, medium and large ways.”

I had to go to Boston for an unexpected stay, and Brad Wilkinson was kind enough to take me in. I happened to be on hand for his 70th birthday and celebrated with Brad and his wife, Mary. Hitting 70 is a moment, but he finds it more miraculous that he has a 45-year-old son when he doesn’t feel 45 himself. He and Mary have been weathering the pandemic with the help of a lovely black lab puppy, Portly. (She’s a well-read dog who shredded my New Yorker while reading the cartoons.) Brad said, “She gives a happy purpose and structure to each day. But far more important, we have been blessed with a pandemic grandchild. Little Willis, whose arrival somehow seems even more special in these uber-weird times of darkness and anxiety. Puppies and babies—they give us joy. But what will their world be like in years to come?”

Toby Burr wrote, "After 51 years it was great to see Ted Canto again. He swung by Marion for a day while visiting relatives in Massachusetts. Sharing memories of Nobles and the five decades since makes time go by fast. It was a joy."

1970 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Levy Byrd

781-449-7555 levbyrd@comcast.net

1971 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Harry Blackman

Harry.Blackman@skadden.com John Dewey

jrdewey@usa.net Nick Mittell

phred.j.dog@gmail.com Win Perkins

wperkins@mmuftc.com

1972 John Linehan writes: “My story is pretty much like many of yours. I flew back home to San Francisco as I do pretty much every Friday on March 6, assuming I’d fly back out in a few days. That did not happen until our first trip in late May to Georgia—leaving very early in the morning and back late that night— to say thank you to our ~700 team

Nat Watson with John Stalvey (both ’73) at his house in Anchorage, Alaska

52 Nobles WINTER 2021

members there who had been making food 24/7 despite the fear of Covid and all the unknowns about it in those early Covid days. Connie followed me around on that trip, constantly reminding me to wash my hands and not to touch things, especially my face. At one point, I thought she was going to put one of those cones on me that vets put on dogs after surgery so I could not touch my face! Since that trip we’ve been traveling more for business and alternating between our home in San Francisco and another in Los Angeles, where our main offices are, along with a few trips to markets, hitting two cities or more each day to visit with customers. Travel is pretty weird now. The boys are fine.

Casey, 28, is in tech in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Corey, who turned 31 on September 20, is an attorney currently serving the U.S. Senate.

Both are happy and healthy, as are we. Hope all our friends from Nobles are also happy and healthy!”

1973 Nat Watson says, “I’m aware of the long history of silence from our class, so I’ll say this. I wanted to ride my bike across Canada (having recently become a citizen of this fair country), and my Nobles classmate John Stalvey suggested I start at his house in Anchorage, Alaska, which extended the distance quite a bit. But I liked the idea, had a great visit with John and Marcy, and arrived back in Montréal September 12 after 67 days and 4,305 miles. I loved every minute of it! Also raised over $9,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which included some generous contributions from my classmates.”

1974 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kevin McCarthy

617-480-6344 kjmc.bc.msw15@gmail.com Kevin McCarthy writes: “We are all surviving Covid-19 in our own way.

I have been fortunate to be able to work remotely and provide telehealth for my clients. It has been a fall of continued challenges, as I embark on the next phase of my clinical work. I was recently promoted to clinical coordinator for substance addiction services of Eliot Community Human Services. I continue to expand my professional services through my newly created business, Boston Clinical Consulting and Counseling, where I provide training and supervision to mental health and addiction treatment professionals.

“On a lighter note, I have been in touch with a few classmates virtually, and actually visited Jan Jelleme on Nantucket. Gene Knox sends his best from Seattle, and Rick Holloway reports that all is well with grandparenting.”

1975 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Jed Dawson

508-735-9663 jdawson711@gmail.com Doug Floyd

781-788-0020 dfloyd44312@yahoo.com

1976 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Tom Bartlett

+44 1908 647196 tom_bartlett58@hotmail.com

Rob Piana

1980

617-491-7499 robert.piana@vanderbilt.edu

Beth Cahill (left) enjoyed visiting Gina Travis Camarra (right) at Gina's beautiful getaway in Vermont; Scott Ellison, John Earley and Bill Bell at a memorial service for Dick Flood ’53 on November 30, 2019

1978 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Christopher Reynolds

Cell: 800-444-0004 Home: 508-358-7757 chreynolds@comcast.net

1979 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Dan Rodgers

212-423-0374 drodgers@wfw.com As I write these notes, it is now October 11, 2020. A lot has happened since I last wrote about the adventures of the great Class of ’79 in January 2020. But by the time you read these notes, still more time will have passed, and it will already be 2021. Let’s hope it goes better than 2020.

So, let’s get this party started.

First, I am pleased to report that our very own James M. Taylor, better known to all y’all (I’ll explain that later) as Jamie, is still alive and well (unlike the late, great Johnny Winter). As many of you know, Jamie is the Grand Fromage at Big Bear Construction and Timber Frames LLC. Jamie very kindly dropped me a text to bring me up to date. But if memory serves, after working on ladders for close to 40 years in the construction business without incident, Jamie took a serious fall earlier this year, and while being smacked up but good, is still alive and well! But since he was a great defenseman on the hockey team and an outstanding goaltender for

the lacrosse team, I think we all know just how tough Jamie was and apparently is.

Jamie lives with his family in York, Maine, and from what I learned by spooking around on the internets, he also runs Big Bear Chair, which makes handcrafted Adirondack furniture in western red cedar. And I will also tell you that based on his postings on a wellknown social media app no longer used by our descendants, Jamie has really cool taste in music. In short, Jamie is a real Renaissance Man if there ever was one.

And then I heard from Dan Kiryelejza, who kindly sent me an email noting that “really exciting class news... was not found in the latest edition of Nobles magazine.” After thoughtfully inquiring whether this omission was “because all our classmates are now old and/or dead,” Dan took a shot in the dark and stated: “You’re still alive, right?”

I wrote back to him only to confirm proof of life and then had a great call with him on the phone.

(I wish I would hear from more of you by phone; I can be reached at 917-494-7308.) I’m pleased to report that Dan is also still alive

and well (after close questioning that allowed me to determine definitively that I wasn’t conversing with a Russian asset who was pretending to be him).

Dan reports that overall he’s doing pretty well. He and his wife, Julie, are both retired from federal careers but continue to work as contractors in their field. Dan is a partner in a little firm that specializes in government contracting.

Dan lives in Virginia with Julie but also gets up to Cape Cod quite a bit during the year to their place in East Sandwich.

As for your faithful scribe, I am OK, and I’ve been in New Orleans (all y’all) since the Trump Virus epidemic began back in March (I voted by absentee ballot that I sent in by the always-reliable U.S. Postal Service) when I happened to come down here on March 10 for a conference at Tulane. I own a home here, so it was easy enough to stick around, and I have been here now for just over seven months. I go up to New York City occasionally for medical appointments and things like that, but generally I’ve been hanging out down here where life is a little bit softer. I’ve joined the PGA

(Pandemic Golf Academy) with a pal from Dartmouth who lives here and have managed to find a reasonably consistent golf game after hitting roughly 7,300 balls since March. Silver linings playbook!

Would anyone be interested in a Zoom mini-reunion? If so, let me know (email above).

1980 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Martha Kittredge Rowley

martharowley@comcast.net We wanted to reach out to our classmate Jane Bliss Graham and her brother, Bill Bliss Jr. ’79, who lost their father, Bill Bliss ’48, this past fall. A larger obituary on Bill can be found on page 60.

Caleb Tower writes: “I’m living in Newton Center with my wife, Dede, and a ‘less full’ house.

Our twins (Alexander and Elliot) have moved out to Brooklyn and Belchertown, and our beloved Golden Retriever passed away last spring. So, we are untethered and ready to travel, just in time for Covid. Doh! I am still running the global empire that is P3Software from my laptop. It has not changed

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too much due to Covid. For fun, most Thursday nights I blow glass at the Diablo Glass School in Mission Hill. Last October, I had dinner with Kurt Read and family down in Dallas. From time to time I see Rob Feldman, a true entrepreneur; Geoff Willoughby in Maine, and Stu Remensnyder in Amherst. Hoping to see more of everyone soon.”

Elizabeth Soderstrom, who was honored as the 2020 Nobles Distinguished Graduate, says, “I live in the foothills of California (not far from Lake Tahoe) with my husband and 14-year-old daughter, several goats, many chickens and a few dogs. We were evacuated from the fires but returned home safely and are now praying for the rains. I am visiting Dedham quite a bit these days as my parents have moved to Newbridge on the Charles—across the river from Nobles. Got to visit with Pam Bowers Notman and Kris Koehler Normandin a few months back. If you are ever in Northern California, come visit—we have lots of room.

Blessings to all.”

Bill Bell writes: “It’s been quite a 2020 so far. Hope everyone in our class and others are well. Had a bunch of fun helping plan for our 40th Reunion, speaking with a number of folks for whom it’s been way too long. The playlist was ready to roll; we’ll look to refine it over the fall/winter. Had the privilege of attending the memorial service for Dick Flood ’53 last November. A wonderful celebration of his life. Saw many friends and mentors from my Nobles days. The glory day stories were abundant.

Susan and I are well, living in Cohasset and enjoying watching our adult sons making their way.”

54 Nobles WINTER 2021

Tom Underwood shares, “Happily settled into new hometown of Northampton, Massachusetts, and enjoying a spectacular autumn.

Working remotely for the moment in the Westfield Public School system. It’s been nice to stay connected with classmates via Facebook, and texting back and forth with Hedrick Ellis during Bruins and Patriots games. Wow, almost 60, Class of ’80!”

Roy Waldron writes: “On the day after I retired from Pfizer in May 2018, my partner, Evan, and I set off from New York City aboard our 47-foot powerboat, the Salty Dog, on the Great Loop—a circumnavigation of the eastern half of the United States. From the city, we headed up the Hudson to the Erie Canal, Lake Ontario, Montréal, Ottawa, the Canadian heritage canals to Lake Huron, and then up, around and down the Michigan Coast to Chicago. The trip then took us down the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers to Mobile, Alabama, and further around the Florida peninsula, spending the winter in the Keys, Miami and the Bahamas.

We had intended to head up the eastern seaboard in spring 2019, but we bought a house here in sunny, warm Fort Lauderdale. In 2021, we will be heading up the intracoastal to spend the summer on the boat in New York, Long Island and Cape Cod. Hope to catch up with some of you then!”

Beth Tiedemann Cahill writes: “I’m still living in NYC (35 years!), although I’ve been away from my beloved city for most of the past seven months with the world having gone sideways. Spent two weeks in June 2020 on the Cape with Gina Travis Camarra, where

Rupert Thompson ’82 with his wife, Laura, and son, Cassiel

we worked together updating a family house. Gina is an interior decorator, and I do staging and real estate. Also visited Kristin Sorenson at her beautiful home in Garrison, New York, where she’s VP of development at West Point.

And always in touch with Robyn Calisti, who is living in Guilford, Connecticut, and New York City.

Really hope we can celebrate our 40th Reunion sometime soon with a new President in office, please! Love and good health to all you classmates.”

1981 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Fiske

johnfiske@comcast.net Pretty cool to find out that three of our classmates currently have daughters at Nobles!

Elizabeth Ward writes, “As a Nobles parent (Carly ’23) and graduate, I am impressed with the thorough steps and care that Nobles has made to allow students safely back on campus. While watching the varsity girls field hockey team scrimmage last weekend, I felt such

gratitude that the students were able to compete together and that the parents were invited to enjoy the games on a beautiful autumn day. For a moment, I even forgot about the pandemic.”

Linda Lynch, whose daughter Lucy is in Class II, says that experiencing Nobles as a parent is “different and great.” She says that “walking into Shattuck [the Schoolhouse] was still so familiar that it’s hard to believe so many years have passed.” Linda also writes, “The school is doing an amazing job managing Covid-19, and Dr. Hall has been a fantastic leader through all of this.”

This fall, during hybrid Nobles, Steve Cadigan reports that his daughter, Chrissy ’22, is attending in-person classes and feels safe, and “is enjoying her Nobles experience.”

1982 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Holly Malkasian Staudinger

914-925-2340 hollyamalkasian@gmail.com Rupert Thompson writes: “Despite Covid, I’ve had quite a good year

so far. I managed to wrap season three of Ryan’s Mystery Playdate with YouTube star Ryan Kaji right on schedule on March 13, the day before California shut down due to coronavirus. Although there was no work for several months, I was one of the first people back to work in the industry fortunately, directing Supermarket Sweep for ABC, which premiered in October. Now I’m on to Wipeout, the hit show for years on ABC that is coming back to TBS. The host of Wipeout is John Cena, so it will be good to see him again, as I worked with him once before on American Grit for Fox. Cena is a prep school boy from Massachusetts—went to Cushing Academy.

“Our son, Cassiel, turned 16 on September 25—time has just flown. He is currently a 10th grader at Campbell Hall School in Studio City, California, albeit virtually. He has become a prolific writer and is currently penning two novels! And my wife, Laura, is back at work after years of being on a ‘maternal sabbatical’ on the Hallmark morning show as a supervising producer.”

Bill Morrison writes: “There have been a lot of changes recently for Lynne and me, even since our spring reunion. I started a new position as the CFO of an affordable housing organization, serving some of the areas of metro Boston hardest hit by the health and economic challenges of the pandemic. Our oldest, Samantha, is taking the fall semester off of college and moved to the battleground state of Michigan to be an organizer for the Biden/Harris campaign. Our middle child, Sydney, is in Class II at Nobles, singing in virtual Greensleeves. Our youngest, Ryan, is in seventh grade at Dedham Country Day. To reduce the multiple daily trips to the schools, we moved to Dedham Center. Cutting both commutes to under a mile has been a boon but comes with all the chaos of a midlife house move. I hope you all are staying healthy and safe while managing the changes in your own lives; like all of us, we’re looking forward to putting this pandemic behind us.”

David Conant writes: “Hard to believe that Rebecca and I have been living in the Bay Area for

nearly 30 years, and I have been practicing medicine with Kaiser Permanente in Marin County for almost 20 years. Our son, James, is in his final year at Harvard, studying computer science. Our daughter Sarah is in her first year at Bowdoin considering neuroscience, and daughter Clare is finishing high school—so the empty nest is approaching. I am trying to stay active after my first Boston Marathon in 2019, drawing daily inspiration from Chris Hoffman and Richard Morse on Strava. I had a lovely impromptu visit with Deb Harrison for my first time back on campus in many years after dropping Sarah off at college at the end of August. Great to reconnect with so many classmates at our 35th earlier this year.”

1986 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Heather Markey

617-365-3836 hsmarkey@icloud.com Jessica Tyler

781-934-6321 tylerjessica@me.com

Eliza Kelly Beaulac

703-476-4442 embeaulac@verizon.net Joy Marzolf writes: “Well, there have been quite a few changes for me during Covid-19. I ended up ‘accidentally’ starting my own business! During April, I began doing virtual live animal programs outside of my work time for teacher friends across the U.S. Toward the end of June, my position at Mass Audubon was eliminated, so I made lemons into, well, lemon pie! Even better than lemonade! My new venture is called the Joys of Nature (www. thejoysofnature.com), and I am doing nature talks for adult and family/ child audience groups, such as for libraries and senior centers, just as I used to do in person before, but now on Zoom. The best part about virtual is that I can now do programs anywhere. I am also teaching virtually, as well as in person, photography and Scout programs (appropriately socially distanced, of course). As of September 1, I actually completed my 100th virtual program!”

Congratulations to Steffi Hartwell for being named to the

1983 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Nancy Sarkis Corcoran

nlsc3@me.com

1984 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Christine Todd

christinetodd@me.com

1985 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Neil Bleicken

neil.bleicken@gmail.com

Left to right: Brief on-campus reunion between David Conant ’85 and Deb Harrison this past August; Joy Marzolf ’86 presenting Rosie the tarantula on her live animal programs on Zoom; Joy Marzolf ’86 and snake Dory on her live animal program on Zoom; Rachel Levin ’92 with her new book, published in March 2020: Eat Something: A Wise Sons Cookbook for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers Who Like Jews

WINTER 2021 Nobles 55

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Heidelberg Project board of directors. Read more about it at www. heidelberg.org/recent-news.

In August 2020, Desert HorseGrant, a senior director in UCLA Health Research & Innovation and co-executive director, UCLA Biodesign, was named one of the Top 25 innovators by Modern Healthcare.

sasha@thelelands.com

called Eat Something: A Wise Sons Book for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers Who Like Jews. Rachel writes: “It’s an unconventional cookbook filled with lighthearted essays and awkward photos, amazing archival photos and illustrations of men in Hanukkah sweaters, and 60 recipes from brisket and babka to (really good) challah and kimchi latkes, and the very non-kosher Big Macher cheeseburger. It’s about Jews and food, how a Jewish life is ultimately marked by meals, from bris to shiva, and every major and makeshift occasion in between. (Christmas dinner at Golden Temple in Brookline and overheards at the Florida clubhouse buffet included.)”

1989

1993

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Dave Klivans

Stephanie Trussell Driscoll

Rachel Spencer

Sam Jackson

dave.liquid@gmail.com

stephdriscoll32@gmail.com

917-921-5916 rachelwspencer@yahoo.com

978-409-9444 sambjackson@hotmail.com

It warmed my heart to hear good news from so many of you this go round. Lindsey Sherwin Neveu writes: “No news is good news, right? Not much has changed for us. I’m still living in Orlando with my husband, 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. Things are starting to go back to normal.

It felt very strange for a while to not constantly hear the Magic Kingdom train’s whistles or the Disney fireworks going off every night as we went to bed. If anyone is traveling down this way, I’d love to catch up, socially distanced, of course!”

Peter Sullivan says: “We are excited to have moved back to Boston. I started a new job this year at Middlesex, teaching math and economics and coaching cross-country and skiing. We had an amazing family adventure

Gabriela Herman

1987 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Emily Gallagher Byrne

781-721-4444 egbyrne@verizon.net Elise Gustafson

elise_gustafson@yahoo.com

1988 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Sasha Leland

1990

1994

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lisa Donahue Rose

Marni Fox Payne

lrose90@nobles.edu

mpayne@berkshirepartners.com

1991

Hi, to the Class of 1994. Hope this finds everyone healthy and well.

Heidi Notman Muccifori writes, “We spent our pandemic summer doing family bike rides, a few day trips to the Jersey Shore, and just trying to keep ourselves sane. We are grateful we are healthy and safe and are hoping the same for all my Nobles classmates.”

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Amy Russell Farber

amy.farber.143@gmail.com

1992 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lynne Dumas Davis

703-623-4211 lynnemddavis@gmail.com Rachel Levin just co-authored a new book with Evan Bloom, which was published in March 2020,

56 Nobles WINTER 2021

1996 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Alex Slawsby

alex.slawsby@gmail.com

781-990-3353 jessie.achterhof@gmail.com

driving an RV across the country.

We spent about two weeks getting from Tacoma to Boston, with stops at a half dozen or so national parks, including Yellowstone and Craters of the Moon, staying at a number of wineries along the way.

We are currently house hunting in the Acton area.”

Chris Cleary notes: “Baby girl #3, Jolene, born into a pandemic March 7.”

Lisa Cardito Oliver asks: “How about a list of all of the trips we had planned to take in 2020 that were canceled? Ha ha. This was supposed to be a fun year for the Oliver family. On to 2021!”

1998

1999

1997 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Bobbi Oldfield Wegner

617-980-1412 bobbiwegner@gmail.com Jessie Sandell Achterhof

gabriela.herman@gmail.com

2000 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lisa Marx Corn

lisamarx@gmail.com

2001 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lauren Kenney Murphy

Lauren.kenney1@gmail.com Some impressive professional news for our class!

Lulu Miller, author of Why Fish Don’t Exist and former co-host and co-founder of NPR’s Invisibilia, was just named co-host of WNYC Studios’ Radiolab— “one of the most popular and influential podcasts and radio

Clockwise from top: Marya Stansky ’05 on a recent get-together over Zoom. Pictured clockwise from top left: David Andersson and Andrew Fine ’05, Marya Stansky and Greg Seaman, Jen Koningisor ’05 and Chris Hart, Lauren Daniels Lampen ’05 and Clark Lampen, Jon Wolter and Sarah Parsons Wolter ’05, and Rob King and Sarah Cantin ’05; Molly Kringdon ’07 and Alex O’Reilly ’07 in San Francisco; E.B. Bartels ’06 with her dog Seymour, adopted from the Animal Rescue League next to Nobles.

They are pictured here in the ARL’s Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery.

shows across the globe.” She will co-host with Latif Nasser and Jad Abumrad.

2002 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

William N. Duffey III

617-893-1040 williamduffey@gmail.com Scott Johnson writes: “I left Goldman Sachs in June of 2019 after 14 years. I joined Trumid, an electronic bond-trading platform, and have been there for a

year. I’ll be leaving New York City and moving to South Florida at the end of October. I’m enjoying working on the Annual Nobles Fund committee and staying in touch with graduates and Nobles faculty.”

Samantha Strauss Hanman and Jon’s daughters just turned 1 and 4, and they are currently living in Brookline. Samantha works at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and is balancing working at home and being a newly appointed chef and activities director to her family.

2003 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Laura Marholin Garcia

laura.marholin@gmail.com Nancy and Peter Harris welcomed William Henry Harris, aka “Wiley,” on June 15, 2020. Everyone is doing well!

Kasib Sabir had a busy summer! Not only did he become a new dad—he and his wife welcomed a baby girl named Amirah on July 28—but he was also admitted to Harvard University as

a Master’s in Education candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In his words, “This fall semester I will be a cohort member of the Learning & Teaching Program, which will focus on various strategies in improving and facilitating educational opportunities to high school students. I have served the inner-city youth of Boston for over 10 years. I have instructed students in reentry programs, job development, art, sexual health and now history. I am a UMass Boston graduate and have a B.A. in history. In 2019 I completed the Accelerated Community to Teacher program, where I received my licensure to teach history in Massachusetts schools.

I currently work at Charlestown High School in the Diploma Plus Program. This is an alternative education program for students whose educational needs do not fit the traditional high school setting. I teach Black history, and for many students, I am the only Black teacher to instruct them in historical matters. Many of my students come from lowincome families and have suffered traumatic experiences, including gun violence and various forms of abuse. Their experiences have led to gaps and inconsistencies in their education. By having a qualified educator who can relate to their experiences through cultural competency, I can bridge these gaps in learning outcomes.”

Congratulations, Kasib!

2004 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Carolyn Sheehan Wintner

781-801-3742 carolyn.wintner@gmail.com

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graduate news

2005 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Saul Gorman

617-447-3444 saul.gorman@gmail.com Molly Boskey Pascal writes, “Charlie and I welcomed baby Thatcher Charles Pascal in May 2020, joining big brother Thatcher (two years older).

2006 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

E.B. Bartels

ebandersenbartels@gmail.com Happy 2021! Let’s hope that 2021 is better than 2020, right? But you know what always makes everything better? Books! Josh Pollack joked in an email to me that if no one wrote in with updates this time around I could just fill up our class notes section with reading recommendations and, you know what? I think I will. So, I present to you news from your classmates paired with corresponding book suggestions. Enjoy.

Griffin Keady and his wife, Portia, had their first baby! Her name is Lennox (“Lennie”), and she was born on April 19, 2020.

Griffin, Portia and Lennie all now live in Concord, which is appropriate, because the Revolutionary War began in Concord/Lexington on April 19, 1775. As Griffin wrote, “Has to mean something...?!”

Congrats, Griffin! Related book recommendation: Sam the Minuteman, by Nathaniel Benchley.

Speaking of the Revolutionary War, former Redcoat reenactor Harry Aspinwall wrote to me with exciting news: “This summer, my

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partner and I bought a house in Providence, and we’re fixing it up, living that adult, parking spot, home-office life. I wrote and shot a feature film in the Adirondacks called Banishment (for more information, check out: www.banishmentmovie.com), my Netflix film The Sleepover came out, I got interviewed in a few newspapers, my partner’s series Sideways Smile (which I was a producer on) got into the Austin Film Festival and is an AMC fellowship finalist, and we spent most of late summer and early fall in Vermont.”

Harry, I can’t keep up with all the amazing stuff you are doing!

Related book recommendation: Bunny, by Mona Awad.

Julia Carn is super busy! She is now in grad school for her Master of Science in Nursing at George Washington University. She wants to be a psychiatric nurse practitioner. In addition to that, Julia is still working full-time as a psych nurse at Sibley! She says, “I’ll catch up on sleep in three years’ time, once I graduate and pass boards!”

Sounds like a solid plan, Julia! Related book recommendation: The Collected Schizophrenias, by Esmé Weijun Wang.

By the time you read this, the election will already be several months behind us, but rest assured that Melissa Weihmayer did fill out her absentee ballot in London.

Good job, Melissa! Related book recommendation: A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home, edited by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary.

Janna Herman, in classic form, must have predicted what I planned to do in this round of notes because she just emailed

me a bunch of book recommendations to include as her update: “A SHORT LIST OF BOOK RECS FOR THE ONGOING PANDEMIC: Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke (Is this about quarantine? This is a very meditative book that will take you into the labyrinth but make you consider staying there of your own accord); Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero, by James Romm (Are participants in a corrupt administration inherently corrupt?

Learn how history remembers this philosopher-turned-sycophant at the foot of a manic autocrat. It feels relevant); The Broken Earth Trilogy, by N.K. Jemisin (The earth is fighting back against humankind.

Can you blame it? So enthralling that I had to read three of these in seven days, and so can you); Fractured Lands, by Scott Anderson (A book about displacement makes one happy to be at home).” Related book recommendation: The Stationery Shop, by Marjan Kamali.

I guess I haven’t given an update on myself, E.B. Bartels, in a while, so here it goes: This fall, Richie and I bought a house in Arlington! It’s an 1870s Colonial farmhouse with a traditional Japanese shower room (long story), and we immediately turned it into a zoo. A month after moving, Richie and I adopted Seymour (some sort of mixed breed dog, courtesy of the Animal Rescue League of Boston’s Dedham location—see photo on page 57) and Ernie and Bert (two failed racing pigeons, courtesy of the MSPCA in Methuen). Terrence (my pet tortoise of six years, check him out on Instagram: @theofficialmrt) has been dealing with some jealousy issues. Hopefully, though, everyone eventually learns to get

along. Related book recommendation: Becoming a Good Creature, by Sy Montgomery.

2007 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kat Sargent

katharine.sargent@gmail.com Courtney Monahan says, “Both John Phillips and I successfully defended our dissertations and earned our Ph.D.s this summer. His is in philosophy from UNC Chapel Hill (‘Cognitive Agency and the Possibility of Rational Evaluation’).

Mine is in classical studies from Duke (‘Matrona Visa: Women’s Public Visibility and Civic Identity in Hispania Tarraconensis’). I’m in my second year teaching Latin (and Greek) at Durham Academy, an independent school in Durham, North Carolina. Otherwise, we’ve been spoiling our rescue dog, Ash, and trying to figure out how hybrid teaching works.”

Maddie Pongor joined Deloitte Consulting’s Higher Education Strategy Practice in Boston at the start of 2020. Her primary project includes expanding access to high-quality education in emerging markets by co-leading accelerators for universities in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa to develop digital transformation strategies.

She’s also helping universities respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and determine when to reopen campuses versus when to roll back to keep students, faculty and staff safe and healthy.

Molly Kringdon and Alex O’Reilly are still out in San Francisco having fun, eating smoked meats, and holding it down for Nobles West Coast.

2012 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Coco Woeltz

ccwoeltz2@gmail.com

2013 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Public Works Committee. I am working remotely from Massachusetts, but I have been able to join Zoom calls with various senators as well as help to draft policies and collect media for press releases!”

2017

Caroline Thayer

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

carolinejthayer@gmail.com

Harry Sherman

harry74sherman@gmail.com

2014 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Liz Rappaport celebrating her 30th birthday with Lauren Martin, Maddy Petrini, Hanna Atwood and Alexandra Conigliaro Biega (all ’09)

2008 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Michael Polebaum

mpolebaum08@nobles.edu Kylie Gleason White and Greg White got married in August 2020, making them the second couple in our class to tie the knot!

(Steph Gill Steele and Chris Steele got married in 2016!)

2009 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Maria Montes

Home OrganizeHER, so if you are looking for some professional organization for your home or business in the Boston area, reach out to her at www.homeorganizeher.com or homeorganizeher@gmail.com.

Liz is also thrilled to announce she got engaged to Jonathan Bakis over Labor Day weekend. Liz has loved spending quality time with her Nobles girlfriends over the summer, including celebrating her 30th birthday with Lauren Martin, Maddy Petrini, Hanna Atwood and Alexandra Conigliaro Biega, and taking a fabulous gals’ trip to Nantucket with Maddy and Alex.

2018

Alexandra Charron

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

alexandra.l.charron@gmail.com

Jill Radley

jillradley22@gmail.com

2015 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

2019

Natalie Hession

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Natalie.a.hession@gmail.com

Cyan Jean

cjean040@gmail.com

2016 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Ally Guerrero

alessandra.guerrero@bc.edu

Sabrina Rabins

srabins@gmail.com

2020

Mariana Vega

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

vegamariana612@gmail.com

Drew Barry

andrew.t.barry.24@dartmouth.edu Sabrina Rabins writes: “I am currently interning for the United States Senate Environment and

Hailey Brown

heb4@williams.edu

mcmontes14@gmail.com Liz Rappaport

617-413-6070 lizrap21@gmail.com

2010 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Tori Goyette

tgoyette10@gmail.com We’re excited to have Maria Montes on board to help collect class notes! Maria is currently living in Austin, Texas.

Liz Rappaport has spent the past few months launching a home organization company called

Stay connected ■

2011

■

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Katie Puccio

508-446-0726 krpooch@gmail.com

■

Send us your news and photos: www.nobles.edu/community/ graduates/submit-a-class-note/.

Follow Nobles grads on Facebook (@NoblesGrads) and Instagram (@nobleandgreenoughgrads).

Connect with Nobles graduates through our networking and directory platform at noblesgraduates.com.

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in memoriam William L. Bliss ’48 passed away September 19, 2020, surrounded by his family, one day before his 91st birthday, in Dedham, Massachusetts. He died almost exactly a year after losing his beloved wife, Lee. Bliss attended Nobles in a different era, when the school was much smaller; its entire enrollment in 1948 was just 152 young men. At Nobles, Bliss was a sixtime varsity letter winner and a two-sport captain. He was elected captain of Nobles’ first organized soccer team and led it to an undefeated season. He was a three-year member of the varsity hockey team and captained the team in his senior year. He was also a member of the first boat in crew, a boat that went undefeated in his senior year. After graduating from Nobles, Bliss went on to Harvard and continued to play ice hockey and to row.

After graduating from Harvard, Bliss married Lee Nichols and moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he began his military service as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

A decorated veteran, he served in an infantry regiment in Korea through April 1954 and then in the Army reserves until 1957.

In 1954, the couple moved to Dedham, and Bliss began his professional career at the Honeywell Corporation as a sales engineer.

After working for several companies in security management, he started his own successful consulting firm, W.L. Bliss Associates.

Bliss’ love for Nobles ran deep. He was a passionate volunteer and advocate for the school, particularly Nobles athletics.

He was inducted into the inaugural class of the Nobles Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010 to celebrate and recognize the tremendous impact of his contributions to Nobles. He was a three-term member of the Nobles board of trustees, an active member of the Graduates Council, and a class agent, among his many other volunteer positions at the school.

Bliss’ investment in Nobles’ mission of inspiring leadership for the public good was perhaps best on display when he, along

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with the late Elise R. “Butch” Wallace H’03, co-founded the Nobles Marathon Fund in 1985. Today, it is the school’s second-largest endowment fund for financial aid, and 11 students are currently able to attend Nobles as a result of this incredible resource. In 2019, the fund was renamed the Elise “Butch” Wallace H’03 and Bill Bliss ’48 Marathon Fund.

Bliss was a true original, with a wide range of unique interests and talents. He was a master beekeeper and maker of wooden toys. He loved hosting science teacher Deb Harrison’s AP Environmental class to talk about the important role bees play in our environment. A great outdoorsman, he was an avid fisherman, sailor, skier, tennis player and gardener. He ran more than 20 marathons in Boston, New York and London, raising money for scholarships as well as for Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Bliss lived a life that made a deep and lasting impact on others, including the Nobles community. His family ties to Nobles are long and strong. The many Nobles graduates in the Bliss family include brother Ned Bliss ’50; children Bill Bliss Jr. ’79 and Jane Bliss Graham ’80; and grandsons Willy Bliss ’10 and Jack Bliss ’14.

Over the past 75 years, Bliss’ commitment to and investment in Nobles and his Nobles relationships have left the school community stronger, deeper and better. He lived a life marked by tremendous joy, kindness and a zest for doing what he loved where he knew he could make a difference for others.

He is survived by his brother, Ned Bliss ’50; his five children, Lindy Bliss Gaylord, Peggy Bliss, Louisa Bliss, Bill Bliss Jr. ’79 and Jane Bliss Graham ’80; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Philip M. Baker ’46 passed away July 28, 2020, at age 92. He resided in Falmouth, Maine. At Nobles, “Phil” was a member of the Student Council.

Born in Boston, Baker was raised in Sherborn, Massachusetts, and spent his

summers growing up on his grandparents’ farm in North Hampton, New Hampshire.

He graduated from Amherst College with a degree in history.

Baker worked in the paper industry at the S.D. Warre/SAPPI paper mill in Westbrook, Maine. Throughout his life he was an ardent supporter of the paper industry and a strong booster of the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation. An active volunteer in his local community, he was a member of the school board, a volunteer firefighter and chair of the hospital board.

He took great pride in beautifying his beloved home in Falmouth, which he purchased with his wife, Ginny, in 1957. It continually stood as a testament to his love for gardening and home improvement. In particular, he enjoyed riding his tractor and splitting wood on his property. His gardens, pond and tree farm were all beautifully maintained. Sailing and having family cookouts were some of his favorite pastimes.

A talented woodworker, Baker built his own woodworking shop in his house and made furniture, a Victorian dollhouse, an authentic nut-shell pram and many intricate ship models. He was a fan of old-time country music and anything Irish, including his Irish setters, traveling to Ireland and Irish whiskey. His friends and family will remember him fondly for his sense of humor and his wonderful ability to tell a story.

Baker is survived by his three children, Philip Baker, Barbara Hitchcock and Linda Gifford; sister Barbara “Tot” Campbell; and six grandchildren.

Peter Summers ’52 passed away October 14, 2020, at age 86. He resided in North Falmouth, Massachusetts. At Nobles, Summers played football and hockey and was captain of the hockey team in 1951. He was a member of the Student Council and Cum Laude Society and received the Trustees’ Prize for High Scholarship and the Harvard Club Prize.

“Woe be unto him who plays opposite Pete

in athletics, differs with him in opinion, or disregards his orders as a Student Councilman, because his bull-courage and power, combined with his brilliant logic can out-do any opposition of any sort. He is one of the most outstanding all-round members of the class,” noted his Classbook profile.

Summers grew up in Dedham, Massachusetts, and after Nobles, he graduated from Harvard University, where he played ice hockey and football. He then attended Harvard Business School before applying to Officers Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. He spent four years in the United States Navy, mostly stationed in Hawaii.

After his time in the military, Summers began a lifelong career in the investment business, starting at Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company, where he rose through the corporate ranks. He retired as the president of the Boston Company Institutional Investors.

Upon retirement, Summers and his wife, Nancy, retired to North Falmouth, where he lived for the rest of his life. There, he pursued his love for the sea and outdoor life.

He owned several sailboats and motorboats from which he cruised and fished.

He enjoyed gardening and working in his home workshop, tinkering with anything that needed to be fixed. An avid skier, he spent much time on the slopes in Vermont.

He remained a huge fan of college hockey throughout his life. He was a proud season ticketholder at Harvard and always attended the annual Beanpot Tournament, in which he had played during his college years. He coached youth hockey and instilled a love of hockey, fishing, skiing and the ocean in his children and grandchildren.

Summers is survived by his wife, Nancy; his three children, Chris, Peter and Karen; and four grandchildren.

James Warren Hammond ’54 passed away July 3, 2020, at Sedgewood Commons in Falmouth, Massachusetts, at age 84. At Nobles, “Jim,” also affectionately nicknamed

“Bull,” played football and wrestled. “His classmates will always remember him for his broad smile and likable character,” stated his Classbook entry.

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Hammond grew up in Ann Arbor; Sayre, Pennsylvania; and Wellesley, Massachusetts. After graduating from Nobles, he earned a B.A. in Spanish and Spanish literature from Tufts University and went on to receive his M.A. from Middlebury College. He continued his graduate studies at the University of Michigan and at the University of Barcelona in Spain. Hammond was also a veteran, serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. A lifelong masterful educator and coach, his career included teaching Spanish and German and chairing the language departments and coaching football, wrestling and lacrosse at both Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and Holderness School in Holderness, New Hampshire. He was also involved in the Out Back program at Holderness.

In 1966, Hammond and his family moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he taught at the American Institute and studied for a year at the University of Barcelona.

One of his greatest joys was summering on Cape Cod with his family. There, he served as a police officer for the town of Barnstable.

A kind-hearted soul with an immense sense of humor, Hammond often introduced himself as “the strongest man in the world.” He lived life to the fullest and will be greatly missed by his family and all those who knew him.

Hammond is survived by his beloved wife, Loli; his children, Frederic Hammond and Heidi O’Connor; and four grandchildren.

David Dudley Clapp ’57 passed away July 27, 2020, at home in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, with his wife, Linda, by his side, at age 81. At Nobles, Clapp was a member of the football, wrestling and tennis teams, and served as secretary-treasurer of the Athletic Association. He was co-president of the Dramatic

Club and a member of the Glee Club.

In addition, he received the Class III Improvement Prize.

Born in Boston, Clapp graduated from Brown University and then served in the U.S. Army as a Chinese linguist. He later served as president of the Wakefield Corporation in Wakefield, Massachusetts, a family business that manufactured sintered metal machine parts.

Known for his extensive community involvement, Clapp stayed connected to organizations that were dear to him throughout his lifetime. He was president of the board of the Exeter Day School, as well as a member of the Salem Marine Society. He also served on the board of the Brown Club of New Hampshire and was a longtime supporter of the Handel and Hayden Society and Boothbay Region Land Trust.

An avid sailor, Clapp was the happiest when he was sailing on his boat along the coast of Maine. His love of the water was instilled in him as a child. As a youth and adolescent, he spent most summers on his family’s sailboat, the Polly, and also found summer jobs tending bar on Cape Cod. During one such summer, he met his best friend and life partner, Linda, becoming an inseparable dynamic duo and magnanimous hosts to all they encountered. Clapp was known for his legendary Bloody Marys and gin and tonics, often offering to buy a drink for anyone as a way of warmly welcoming them into his company.

Family was at the cornerstone of his life, and he will be remembered as a patient and fun-loving father and husband. He and Linda filled their home with laughter, making Saturday Night Live and Monty Python’s Flying Circus integral parts of the family vernacular. They often took their children on “Magical Mystery Tours,” which were adventures to get everyone out of the house to experience new places and ways of living. Later in life, as empty-nesters, Clapp and his wife embarked on extensive trips to China, Europe and Alaska.

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in memoriam One of Clapp’s crowning characteristics was his unique and spontaneous sense of humor. He always had a rubber chicken on hand and a set of Dracula teeth in his drawer, just in case the moment called for them. His wit came, in part, from his love of learning. He read insatiably and was known for understanding the complexities of nearly every topic that came up, even in passing conversations.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Linda; his three daughters, Polly Clapp, Ellen Labbe and Rachel Smith; his sister, Katherine Ruhl, and brother, Nathaniel Clapp; and six grandchildren.

George Blanchard ’60 passed away at home July 9, 2020, surrounded by loved ones, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At Nobles, he made the honor roll each of his six years and earned cum laude honors during his senior year. He was a member of the Nobleonians and Quartets. In addition, he was co-president of the Dramatic Club and editor of the Classbook. He received the Science Fair, Biology III and Chemistry II prizes, as well.

Born in Boston, Blanchard attended Princeton University and then moved to New York City to work in the theater doing lighting and stage managing. He then moved to the Pacific Northwest to work for the SCA and then onto Mt. Baldy Zen Center. Upon moving again to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to work with bakers at the French Pastry Shop, he met his wife and life partner, Ann Trott.

He and Ann lived in Las Vegas, where he received a B.S. from Highlands University and ran an electrical contracting business. They then moved to their beloved home in Pecos, New Mexico, for 18 years. In 2017, they came full circle and moved back to Santa Fe. Blanchard will be remembered for his gentle spirit, sense of humor and child’s playfulness. He took pleasure in simple things like watching birds, trees and the sky. He was an avid badminton player, volunteered

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at the Lensic Performing Art Center in Santa Fe, and was a devoted member of the Cloud Appreciation Society.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Ann; brothers, John ’52 and Stephen; and many nieces and nephews.

Frederick Jessup Kahrl ’63 passed away July 11, 2020, surrounded by his family at his home in Woolwich, Maine, at age 76. At Nobles, “Fred” played football and rowed crew. He was photo editor for the Nobleman and a member of the Camera Club. He received the Class III Improvement Prize, as well as won Honorable Mention in the Class II Science Fair. He was a member of the Library Committee and served as cochairman of the Debating Club. In addition, he was a member of the Glee Club, Nobleonians, Quartets and Christmas Choir.

Born in Boston, Kahrl grew up in both Boston and Elmira, New York, and summered with his family in Georgetown. After Nobles, he attended Bates College for a few years and worked during the summer as a ranch hand in Montana. He left Bates before graduating and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. He first served on the Seguin Island Light Station before being posted to Kodiak, Alaska, as a radio navigator on the HU-16 Albatross and C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Upon completing his tour of duty, Kahrl founded a small newspaper in Kodiak and then moved back to Maine to work at the Portland Press Herald. He also spent time at the Bath Maine Iron Works Corporation and traveled around the state with a portable sawmill before embarking on his final stint in journalism as editor of the Coastal Journal.

Kahrl was a simple man with many talents who will be remembered by all those who knew and loved him as an adventurer, raconteur, journalist, writer, farmer, builder, blaster, mariner, historian, film buff and, perhaps above all, a steadfast family man.

His curiosity for the world and interest in the people in it knew no bounds.

He is survived by his wife, Lynne Wolfe; his three children, Heather Reedy, Allin Kahrl, and Andrew Kahrl; and five grandchildren.

C. Peter Waldinger ’63 passed away July 8, 2020, at age 75, in Dover, Massachusetts.

At Nobles, “Dinger” was a talented athlete who played football, hockey and baseball. He was captain of the hockey team his senior year. In addition to being a member of the Student Council and Deutscher Verein, he was the sports editor of the Nobleman and also served on the Nobleman board.

Born in Boston, Waldinger was a lifelong resident of Dover. After Nobles, he atten ded Harvard College. A veteran, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a forward observer in Vietnam, K-3-1. Professionally, he worked at BankBoston and Waldo Capital Management.

Waldinger was a selfless volunteer throughout his life, serving as a board member and chair of golf at the Dedham Country and Polo Club. There, he was a member of the golf committee for 20 years and served on several golf professional and greens superintendent selection committees. He also served on the Massachusetts Golf Association Executive and Championship Committees and was a volunteer rules official at numerous golf tournaments. In addition, he was a dedicated volunteer at Nobles, serving on countless reunion committees for his class throughout the years.

Athletics were a huge part of Waldinger’s life, beginning as a child, when he was a star baseball, football and hockey player.

His classmate, Charles Innes, wrote: “Peter Waldinger was not just a scholar and an athlete. He was an exemplary sportsman, a consummate team player who always led by his example.”

Waldinger is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Jeanne; his sister, DeeDee Waldinger Bentley; his brother, Robert E. Waldinger ’64; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and godchildren.

1.

3.

2.

1. Liz Rappaport ’09 with her fiancé, Jonathan Bakis, over Labor Day weekend; 2. 2009 classmates Tyler Parsons, Donna Farizan, Max White, Maddy Petrini, Will Randle, Hanna Atwood, Claire Hickey, Earl Smith, Maddy Cohen, Scott Prozeller and Bobby Kelly at Curt Nichols’ summer 2019 wedding; 3. Molly Boskey Pascal ’05 welcomed baby Thatcher Charles Pascal in May. This is Brooks (2.5) holding Thatcher (5 months). Photographed by Nobles’ very own photographer Mike Bodall.

announcements Engagements:

Marriages:

New Arrivals:

Liz Rappaport ’09 got engaged to Jonathan Bakis over Labor Day weekend; Ayla Brown ’06 got engaged to Rob Bellamy.

Max Mankin ’07 married Wudan Yan on August 7. Gina Chen, Greg Keches, Kat Lawrence, Dan Robinson, Koysta Sheftelevich, all ’07, and Krysten Keches ’06 attended virtually; Kylie Gleason White and Greg White, both ’08, got married in August 2020.

Nancy and Peter Harris ’03 welcomed William Henry Harris, aka “Wiley,” on June 15; Kasib Sabir ’03 and wife Mariah welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Amirah Sabir, on July 28, 2020; Chris Cleary ’98 and wife Elizabeth welcomed a baby girl, Jolene, in March 2020; Molly Boskey Pascal ’05 and husband Charlie welcomed baby Thatcher Charles Pascal in May; Griffin Keady ’06 and wife Portia welcomed their first baby, Lennox “Lennie,” in April 2020.

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archive

JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING This cool moment was captured by photographer Michael Dwyer in 2014, the year before the year that many know as Snowmageddon.

That year—2015—witnessed a whopping 110.6 inches of snow in Boston. No wonder New Englanders are known for being hearty in the face of adversity.

64 Nobles WINTER 2021

A Moment for Reflection As we begin this year with a fresh perspective, we remain grateful for the resilient spirit of the Nobles community.

Each gift made to the Annual Nobles Fund (ANF) supports our community—students, faculty, staff, graduates, families and friends—who continue to come together for each other and Nobles even during the most challenging times.

Your support of the ANF reflects the strength of these connections today and prepares Nobles for the future, whatever it may bring.

Looking through a reflection into the Putnam Library's Sheehan Reading Room

To make your Annual Nobles Fund gift today, visit www.nobles.edu/giveonline or contact Allie Trainor, director of the Annual Nobles Fund, at allie_trainor@nobles.edu.

WINTER 2021 Nobles 65

Noble and Greenough School 10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026-4099

Can’t Help But Smile Ethan Lung ‘21 lights up in Jody McQuillan’s French V class. Despite the masks, physical distancing, and split in-person schedules, smiling eyes are still visible all over campus.