The Blue & The Gray - 2018

P OLY PREP PREP MAG MAGAZINE AZI N E POLY

Poly Softball: Best Friends, Fierce Competitors

Cuba Shares Songs With Poly Retracing Civil Rights Steps

100 years Country Day

100 YEARS OF COUNTRY DAY

teaser lines Jill Sigman ‘85 Comes Back to Poly

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FEAT U R ES Morgan O’Mara ’17, on Poly’s Varsity Softball team, offers encouragement from the dugout.

2 Poly Past, Present, and Future Michal Hershkovitz P’16, ’18 leads a conversation about the school’s future place in history with Audrius Barzdukas P’20 and Susan Beiles P’88, ’90, ’95.

4 Poly Revisited On the 40th anniversary of Poly going co-ed, Jill Sigman ’85 reflects on campus life then and now.

10 100 Years of The Polygon: Notes on a Shrinking World Faculty advisor and historian Virginia Dillon looks at the archival issues and how students have taken on the challenges of their times in the news.

16 Our Winning Women A photo essay revealing one of Poly’s strongest athletic teams—softball.

22 Journey to the South In an effort to better understand the divisiveness of our current time, Poly students journeyed to the American South to delve more deeply into our collective past by retracing the path of the civil rights movement. Nineteen students participated, and this article reflects on the trip.

26 Cuba: No Embargo on Music Maite Iracheta P’16, accompanies Poly’s concert choir to Cuba.

EDITOR Jennifer Slomack STAFF CONTRIBUTORS Linda Busetti Ann-Marie Werner COPY EDITOR Grace Duggan

30 Generation Poly Life lessons learned at Poly helped three generations of the Reich family compete in life’s game.

D EPA R T M ENTS

34 What Things Cost 36 Student Fiction: “Sarah’s Suitor”

DESIGN Fancy LLC PHOTOGRAPHY Linda Busetti Martyn Gallina-Jones P’15 Dustin Satloff Poly Archives

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2017–18 OFFICERS Susanna Furfaro, M.D. P’13, ’15 Co-Chair LOWER SCHOOL 50 Prospect Park West Brooklyn, NY 11215 MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOLS 9216 Seventh Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11228

Robert G. Sabbagh ’87, P’27, ’30 Co-Chair Michael A. Correra ’87 Vice Chair Robin L. Bramwell-Stewart ’86, P’16 Treasurer Thomas Iannelli ’82, P’18, ’19, ’24 Vice-Treasurer Arnold F. Mascali ’84 Secretary

BOARD MEMBERS Lawrence S. Brandman ’78, P’16 Jeanne M. Cloppse ’84 Nicholas Gravante, Esq. ’78, P’20, ’23 Gary E. Hanna, Esq. ’84 Kristerfor Mastronardi ’95 Cassandra Metz P’26 John J. Regan ’86, P’23, ’24 Wade E. Saadi, Jr. ’95 Michael Segal Irwin Simon P’18 Daniela Vitale-Howell P’20, ’23, ’25

Alexandra Maresca Azara ’00 President, Alumni Board of Governors

TRUSTEES EMERITI Clifford Barr, Esq. ’48 Dr. Karen Burke Goulandris P’15 Harry J. Petchesky, Esq. ’55

ON THE COVER A N D B AC K 100 Years of Country Day Collage by Astrid Lewis and Francesca Richer with materials from Poly Prep archives.

THE BLUE & THE GRAY is published by Poly’s Engagement & Communications Office.

It features news from the Poly community of alumni, faculty, and students. Inquiries and submissions are welcome. Contact communications@polyprep.org.

38 Welcome to Brooklyn Lower School students render the Brooklyn Bridge in watercolor.

40 The Culture Section What we’re listening to, reading, watching.

42 Of Note: Student and Faculty Achievements 45 Faculty Retirements 48 Commencement 50 Alumni Honorees 51 Class Notes

Grace M. Sawyer P’82 For more information about Poly Prep, visit polyprep.org.

59 Obituaries

Poly Past, Present, and Future This year Poly Prep celebrates two milestones: A century ago, the school opened its doors on the Dyker campus with a new country day school model. Sixty years later, the school opened its doors to girls and became a co-educational institute. To mark these anniversaries, we invited Head of School Audrius Barzdukas P’20 to sit down with two instructors from Poly’s history department: chair of the department, Michal Hershkovitz P’16, ’18, and longtime faculty member Susan Beiles P’88, ’90, ’95. In a wideranging conversation (abridged at right), the three lifelong educators discuss change, the value of leadership, and how education can make a lasting impact on a young person.

LEFT TO RIGHT: MICHAL HERSHKOVITZ, AUDRIUS BARZDUKAS, AND SUSAN BEILES

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MICHAL: We were founded in the 19th century as an elite school for boys, and have grown since then into an institution that not only reflects the wide diversity— racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, ideological—of Brooklyn, and New York City more broadly, but also celebrates that diversity. If we think back to the school’s major changes what do you believe drives and enables fundamental change in a school such as ours?

AUDRIUS: Well, I think all change is born of living in the world. Time’s arrow fundamentally moves in one direction. Associated with that movement are environmental, political, and social changes, and we must change in order to keep up with life in the world. Change is born of adaptation and adapting to the circumstances that are presented to us, and the way that you can manage that to some degree. I think this gets to the second part of the question—a sense of vision.

There’s a difference between leadership and telling people what to do. Leadership shows people what the end looks like and inspires them to get there. That is what makes change happen, a shared vision that we are all working toward together.

SUSAN: I think that’s what allowed Poly to go co-ed. I came about the same time as girls did, so I was not here to see how Bill Williams was able to engineer this, but from what I understand it was not

an easy road and many alums were opposed to that kind of a change. Along with that you also had the beginnings of a Poly that looks like the Poly we know today. It happened gradually, there were glitches in the road, but the role of leadership, as you say, has to exist for people to come along with the messiness of change.

MH: In World War I, this campus was the site of regimental drills that prepared Poly boys to fight on European battlefields from which many would not return. Should it surprise us to learn that such drills were taking place on campus here? More importantly, does a school like Poly Prep have a responsibility to inculcate what I’ll call patriotism?

AB: I believe that one of the challenges of working with young people is helping them see that they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Youth can be a time of extreme self-focus and I think part of the work of opening minds is helping young people see that we are part of something bigger than we are. In today’s world many of the challenges are transnational. Resource utilization, environmental degradation, pollution, tribalistic conflict, those transcend borders. We have to prepare our kids to see that they are part of something bigger. We’ve entered a time where, because of our connectivity, there can be no more losers. What I mean by that is this idea that we win

THE HEAD OF SCHOOL AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT DISCUSS THE FUTURE WHILE REFLECTING ON POLY’S PAST.

when you lose. A very small number of people can disrupt the world, so this sense of “we will succeed if you fail” is a paradigm that has left us. We are in an age where the sustainable relationships have to be win/win—personal, professional, intellectual, social. Any time you have win/lose, it’s not going to be sustainable.

SB: The challenge is how can one hold onto one’s identity and respect at the same time that we have opened borders, a global economy, and we want to get rid of the zero sum game. I think that’s where there is conflict and messiness.

MH: What do you both think that future, and indeed current, Poly parents hope the school will do for their children?

AB: I hope our students’ education will empower them to discover who they are, and school helps them discover what there is in the world for them to do. Considering those two questions is what I hope we do.

SB: One thing that I would add is a bridge between those two questions: grit, persistence, and the ability to fail and not have it devastate.

MH: If I may ask you to think a little bit about leadership, in 1968 a Poly student named James Stirn wrote in The Polygon that “the true leader is the man that can get not necessarily the most, but the best out of every citizen.” In other words, a true leader

is one who is affective in addition to being effective.

He goes on to offer some advice for the incoming president, Richard Nixon, writing, “The age cries out for greatness in the White House, and among Americans, satisfy them but also demand of them, challenge them and the spirit of this country will rapidly improve.” If Mr. Stirn were writing in The Polygon today, what do you think he might advise our current leadership, both in the White House and here at Poly?

AB: His message resonates.

To aspire to greatness, and not in the sense of conquest or achievement, but to fully flourish as a nation, school, or individual, one must fully explore the limits of oneself, and embrace everything that life brings you. I love what he wrote; I think it stands the test of time.

I hope that our students embrace his words and that they are better than the adults. Because looking around the world today, we don’t have enough leaders asking us, imploring us, inspiring us to pursue that greatness. We seem trapped in conversation about urgency rather than importance. In the public sphere it seems that getting what you want has become so much more important than how you get it. Mr. Stirn is saying that how you get what you want matters as much as what you get, because it’s how you live.

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BY JILL SIGMAN

POLY REVISITED On June 1, 2017, after a hiatus of many years, I went back to Dyker Heights to check in with Poly Prep. The campus was festooned for graduation. Trees were blooming. Students were friendly. Half stranger, half native daughter, I have observations to share with you. But I want to start with garbage.

I know, it’s an unlikely place to start for a school that is a paragon of resources with a shining white tower. But garbage is dear to my heart, and I would not have guessed that Poly’s relationship to garbage would evolve in similar ways to my own, since way back in 1977 we both felt very differently.

Jill Sigman in Hut #6 at the Norwegian Opera (2011)

Back then, when I was a student, if you got detention one of the things you had to do was pick up garbage around the outskirts of the school. It was a kind of punitive, performative second ring of hell that you got to experience after spending one hour cubing numbers in silence. It was public and visceral excoriation: touching the garbage and being seen doing it. Beyond the thin veneer of “community service,” it was about paying for one’s sins by consorting with what had been thrown away.

Now, no one would have predicted that I would become an artist, certainly not one who happens to work with things that people call “trash.” I am trained as a dancer and choreographer; when I was a student at Poly, I was a “bunhead” and left campus every day to take ballet classes in the basement of a Unitarian church on Beverly Road. For me, this pas de deux with waste grew out of my conviction that we can choreograph with all kinds of things beyond the human body. We can choreograph with found materials like lumber and bones and hubcaps and coffee grounds, and with plants that grow and change, and we can choreograph people’s experiences moving through space and interacting with these objects and each other.

PHOTO BY ELISABETH FÆRØY LUND

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hirty-two years after graduating from Poly, I have built 11 huts out of waste in different parts of the world, in places as varied as the Norwegian Opera, the Ringling Museum of Art, and the former Greenpoint Hospital. I have used them as sites for performance, community dialogue, serving tea, freegan dinners, micro-agriculture, workshops, and discussions about waste management, sustainability, real estate, home, and homelessness. I have spent a lot of time digging through dumpsters, visiting municipal waste processing stations, picking up things from the curb, and playing around in abandoned lots.

I have pushed granny carts, wagons, and wheelbarrows to gather my building materials, more and less broken, more and less savory, but always fascinating.

You see, one day I cut Chapel. I had a science test that morning and my geeky self wasn’t sure that staying up half the night studying had been enough. So I hid upstairs with my textbook for a little more study time. I was convinced no one would miss me. I came downstairs just as Chapel was letting out, in time to mix seamlessly into the flow of people pouring into the hallways. But those people included Mr. Driscoll, and with that inimitable John Wayne gesture, the understated pointed finger, he saw me and said, “Detention.”

As it turned out, I had been given an award, and I wasn’t there when they called my name. Bad day to cut Chapel.

So I went through the whole deal.

The gloves, the garbage, the Scarlet G. My friends trotted out to take photos and memorialize the occasion. And I thought

Poly then and now.

Chicken poop can fertilize your fields; dishwater can flush your toilet. What we discard can be reinvented as what we need.

I was amazed to realize that over the years Poly Prep has been on a similar path, has had the same realizations about waste that I have. Poly now has a Director of Sustainability, Brian Filiatraut, and it aims to become a zero waste school by 2025. With ambitious goals to decrease its carbon footprint, the school is exploring composting (for yard waste and food waste), solar energy, and ways that environmental upgrades can also be learning tools for students of all ages. And Poly knows that we’re not in this alone; zero waste is about coalition-building with other schools and city agencies. All this is exhilarating.

Now there are Green Key students who carry out garbage audits of the Upper

co-founded Project FOCUS, a club that mentors young public school students of color in academics, athletics, and the arts. FOCUS now includes 15 mentors who serve 20 students every Saturday during the school year and over 40 students daily in the summer. I was wowed by Kayla’s vision and initiative, and struck by the way a sense of service permeates the school.

Like me, Kayla is also a dancer. When I was at Poly there was no dance program, no dance studio, no Richard Perry Theatre.

We used to do musicals in the Chapel on the little stage. I remember a lift in West Side Story where I was swung over the orchestra pit for lack of space! I took daily ballet classes at Ballet Center of Brooklyn and The Joffrey Ballet. Now students in the Upper School study an array of techniques (ballet, jazz, musical theater, modern and world dance) during the school day. More than

On my recent visit to the school, I was amazed by how it was palpably different.

The Poly Prep I left when I graduated in 1985 was one teetering between an old-world wood-paneled prep school tradition and a new world. I was part of the first class of eight-year women (admittedly there were only six of them in our midst), and there were few students of color. I grew up in Flatlands and found myself at Poly in the seventh grade because of the violence and disinvestment that were eroding the Brooklyn public schools of the 70s. I got my first corduroy blazer and learned the word “iZod.” Poly was a world away from the Brooklyn I knew. For me, it was a place of obsessive sportiness, unimagined academic possibilities, and kooky, caring, one-ofa-kind teachers like Mr. Nicolosi, Dr. Del Mastro, Sigman and dancers in Rupture (2007), Ms. Pixton, Mr. Hayden, performing in a ring of 3,000 broken eggshells.

Mr. Winder, Mr. Morrison,

I was wistful not to smell any chemicals, but I was impressed by how the hallway has been upgraded and is now used for Middle School science. The Marks Center for Science & Technology is where Upper School science classes meet. I witnessed students there testing their ingenious devices in a “Rube Goldberg machine competition,” creating unlikely contraptions using the principles of physics to catapult candies or open a can of soda. And I was inspired to see just how much science is a living thing and a real career prospect for so many students.

Before I left I stopped in the science hallway to visit Miss Stone’s old office.

Sandra Stone was the chair of the science department when I was a senior and she taught AP Chemistry. She was demanding, intimidating, and very kind. Paul Raso reminded me that the sign on the office window used to say “Beware the owner, not the dog.” When you asked Miss Stone a question in the chem

Kayla Williams

Photo of the spot where Mr. Driscoll gave me detention.

I am intrigued by the object biographies of these items I collect and the people whose lives commingle in each object—those who manufactured it, delivered it, sold it, owned it, touched it, perhaps loved it, and now me and the people who will encounter it in my artistic work. I am intrigued by how these objects help us see the web of human connection if we will only look.

But one afternoon in 1984, I wasn’t thinking any of this. You see, I had detention and I had to pick up garbage— along Seventh Avenue outside the football field. Now this was an unusual thing, because I was what you might call a “goodie goodie,” a “nerd,” a “science geek.” My name still hangs in the Front Hall on the plaque for the Joseph Dana Allen Award. So I didn’t get detention; I just didn’t. Except once.

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A recent garbage audit

that garbage was gross. In a disposability culture, anything we don’t want is garbage.

Use and discard, just throw it away. But there is really no “away.” Our waste comes back to us in our air, our water, our food.

Tiny particles of plastic in the fish we eat.

My shampoo bottle, my sandwich box, my ballpoint. But nothing is waste if we choose not to think that way; it’s a matter of how we look at it. In keeping with the design philosophy called permaculture, problems can be solutions, waste can be a resource.

School campus. They gather a day’s worth of garbage from all parts of the facility and weigh and measure it publicly in the courtyard to calculate Poly’s annual yield. I am delighted that this presentday performative encounter with waste is not punitive. I am relieved that there are students who have the imaginative vision I didn’t have at that time, who understand the role of stewardship for our environment and who have a different relation to garbage. Rituals change. People change.

PHOTO CREDITS: ERIC BREITBART (CENTER); ABRAHAM SIGMAN (RIGHT)

Jill Sigman, July 1980

and Señor Lemaine, who made me the person I am today.

Now the vibe is different. Poly is still wood-paneled, but it is a far more inclusive place. Young people wearing hoodies focus intently in conceptual conversation, the library has modular furniture for collaborative work, students take classes in things like psychology and sustainability, eighth graders give PowerPoint presentations on geological formations, and there are plenty of women in AP Physics. The school is visibly racially and ethnically diverse, and what began as a modest attempt at coeducation is now a student body that is 49% female. Signs on doors signal awareness and inclusivity, there are state-ofthe-art facilities for every kind of inquiry, and there are people like Kayla.

Kayla Williams was my spirit guide on my visit back to Poly. She is a senior this year and she grew up not too far from where I did. With Lotoya Francis ’18, she

60% of Poly students study dance before they graduate, and there are dedicated dance studios on both the Upper and Lower School campuses. When I visited, students were teaching choreography that they had created to their peers. The Chapel is also still alive with performance, and when I was there Sonya Baehr was working with acting students on the stage, physicalizing action verbs such as “to persuade and to primp...”

As a self-confessed science geek, I had to go up to the old science hallway on the second floor of the main building to see if it still smelled like chemicals and Bunsen burners. I can still smell the formaldehyde from our dissections in biology class.

Martha Nadell and I chose to dissect a snake because it was the only animal we could justify killing. I remember the fatty pads peeling apart like fruit sections. I also now know that snakes are an important part of the ecosystem and we were a bit precipitate in our judgment.

lab, she would get this twitchy smile and say, “What do you think?” She was the perfect foil to a young woman who wanted to be told what to do, who wanted to “do things right.” What do you think? It has echoed with me all these years. It is at the root of my own teaching and all of my artistic work. In fact, my dance company is called jill sigman/thinkdance. I will always be grateful.

Young women at Poly are still learning to think, to become who they are. Kayla told me that the best thing about Poly is that it is a place of growth: “It’s a place to learn more about who you are as a person but also about how you fit into the world.” How you fit into the world is a complicated question.

I didn’t know that at Poly. I didn’t know that I would weave together my training in science and art and writing and thinking, nudging people to think about social and environmental issues in performances and huts made out of garbage.

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Poly then and now.

AP Spanish I went to visit an AP Spanish class. The students were reading La noche boca arriba by Julio Cortázar and told me in Spanish about its shifts between dream world and reality. I remember reading Lazarillo de Tormes with Señor Herreros.

It was because of AP Spanish that I knew what a picaresque novel was, and could conceive of my own life in that way.

Philosophy book Gender-neutral bathrooms

Graphic novels On my recent trip to the Poly library I found these…

6 things that WERE NOT at Poly when I was a student

WISE WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) was co-founded by faculty member Flo Turkenkopf.

They have a conference every year where female science students from many schools come together at Poly to hear from female faculty and science and engineering college students. How cool is that?

The 9/11 Memorial

Singing valentines This is a real Valentine’s upgrade. We used to buy a carnation—white, pink, or red—in the Trophy Room on Valentine’s Day. You would hope that the right person gave you the right color. Now there are singing valentines that burst into classes to deliver the message!

I left Poly in 1985, well before 9/11, and in a New York that did not yet know the language of “never forget” and “if you see something, say something.” The memorial grove commemorates 11 Poly alumni and parents who were lost in the disaster, including my class member Joseph Hasson, who my yearbook reminds me was nicknamed “Crazy Joe.”

The salad bar in Commons Hall There was nothing green in sight when I was a student.

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At some point in my senior year, I took out a philosophy book from the library and carried it around for a few weeks. Maybe it seemed like something that would make me seem serious and intelligent. Maybe I thought philosophy sounded cool.

While I don’t think I ever actually read it, carrying this book as a prop inspired something. I went on to study philosophy as an undergrad at Princeton and then to get my Ph.D. in philosophy as well. I went back looking for the book, and I am pretty sure this is it.

6 things that WERE at Poly when I was a student

Travel abroad I flew for the first time when I was a seventh grader in Mr. Verlinger’s Spanish class. We went to Mexico City over spring break. I remember the taste of pineapple, the smell of fresh chamomile, and the floating gardens at Xochimilco. It was my first experience really communicating in a language that was not my own.

Now Poly students have the opportunity to study abroad in countries in South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa; to participate in exchange programs; and to learn subjects other than languages in these new environments.

Women While there were women at Poly, my class was the first that included eight-year women, those who were fifth graders at the beginning of coeducation.

As a senior, I wrote a long feature for the Polyglot about coeducation and the impact it was having on the school; it was still perceived as relatively new at that time! The last paragraph began, “They’ve come a long way, but despite their strides, they’ve still got a long way to go. Maybe the graduation of the school’s first eight-year women is only a small milestone. But now is the time to celebrate the accomplishments of those past and the potential of those to come.” Those to come have now come!

Track records The Vth Form Room When I was a student we used to take large standardized tests in the Vth Form Room. In other words, it was the seat of pain. You would sit for hours in a chair with an arm that was a desk surrounded by hundreds of other kids, all in chairs with arms that were desks, way too early in the morning. Now, the Vth Form Room is a light-filled Student Center. There are wavy tables for meeting, couches for napping, a TV screen, and student artwork on the walls.

Looking at the spiffy new system of plaques commemorating various track and field records at Poly, I was delighted to see among them records set by two women who ran track when I was a student: Gail Henderson (’83) and Dina Alborano (’84). We knew they were great athletes back then, but it was amazing to see their records unbroken after all these years. Go Poly women!

Jill Sigman ’85 is an artist, author, and educator. She has been making dances and performance installations since the early 1990s, and her work exists at the intersection of dance, visual art, and social practice. In 1998 she founded her company, jill sigman/thinkdance, to ask questions through the medium of the body. Since then, her work has reached thousands of people in 13 countries. Sigman holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Princeton University and was recently on the faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her book Ten Huts has just been released by Wesleyan University Press.

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100 YEARS OF THE POLYGON

Notes on a Shrinking World

BY V I RG I N I A D I L L O N

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s a historian of the printed news and the current faculty advisor of the student newspaper, I was asked to look back through old issues and see what I could find of interest to help celebrate the centennial of our current Dyker Heights campus. I was intrigued, so I asked to see a selection from periods of great interest to a historian: U.S. involvement in World Wars I and II, the era of Vietnam escalation and protests, the end of the Cold War, the attacks of September 11. Turning through these sometimes yellowed and cracked pages, I noted amusing differences and striking similarities in the daily aspects of student life. Some of the news found “fit to print” by the student editors in years past

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resonated with the same concerns I hear in The Polygon meetings today. A report on Oasis elections ran next to news of a dance to be held in the gym to raise money for the American Red Cross in 1917. A new pass was required by the school librarian in 1929 “because so many boys wasted time talking and using the library as a social room,” and by 1968 there were calls for more student space to help alleviate the tendency for the library “to become a noisy gymnasium walled with books.” Another opinion piece from that same year said that all those who were angry at the recent revocation of the more forgiving dress code that included “turtlenecks, sideburns and long hair” should take a wider interest in student government.1 As I continued to go from page to page, issue to issue, year to year, decade to decade, I watched as the world got smaller

and smaller as Poly’s own student body diversified and current events demanded greater attention be paid to countries and conflicts around the globe and to new communities at home. With the world wars, Poly boys devoted rapt attention to a European conflict that could call them to action in short order, yet the Cold War that followed inspired an interest in international affairs that was more due to greater humanitarian or ideological concerns than direct, personal knowledge.

During this time, student writers and editors offered up political discourse on national debates, as well. Their tones were sometimes sophisticated and sometimes silly, but always eager to provoke and embrace the messiness that came from the contradictory views of their peers.

The Great War started in Polygon coverage as a distant European conflict that would

disrupt summer travel plans and serve as fodder for cheeky headlines. An update on a recent boxing tournament comes under the bolded headline “News from the Front,” and a 1915 story claims that “to understand the horrors of warfare, it is not necessary to eat up the accounts of the European War,” but rather simply pass the Poly Prep campus on Livingston Street to “witness the merciless descent of erasers and chalk from the window of number ninety-nine upon the innocent and unsuspecting men and even women on the street.” These are boys who still exist in peaceful comfort but are not insensible to the fact that war may spread and soon call on them. Summer vacations in “carnage-shaken” Europe must be forgotten and summer military camps offer a responsible substitute, especially as “in these days when international law is such a cursed farce, it is self-evident, that

to a non-belligerent nation, its greatest guarantee of peace is a readiness for war.”2 “Readiness” became the watchword for Poly’s mentality in 1917, and the student newspaper was full of news and concerns about the boys’ preparedness for war, serving as a platform of both sincere calls for service and tongue-in-cheek critiques of how this mentality was shaping their education. Drills were practiced on the Livingston campus and the final issue of the 1916–17 school year looked forward to the new construction in Dyker Heights as an even more ideal location, with its large grounds for outdoor drills and proximity to Fort Hamilton. An editorial, “Patriotism vs. Duty,” called for the student body to break out of its laziness and sign New York Mayor John Purroy Mitchel’s loyalty pledges, as “it is not sufficient that Patriotism alone should induce us

to uphold the standards of the nation, but we should all be sensed with a moral obligation to support the government which has so long supported us.” However, these drills, exercises, and displays were not accepted unconditionally. Though the editorials and coverage mostly supports the need for preparedness and patriotism, between the lines of the articles and in the art in particular, other worries and perspectives are seen. Boys are skipping the drills, a poet describes the “shaking knees” and awkwardness of the parading students, and a cartoonist wonders what will happen to the instructors as military training takes over: Will the chemistry teacher be reduced to munitions making and the Latin teacher to digging trenches?3 The student writers and editors did not approach the coming of World War II with the same hints of flippancy that had

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❝Contentious and passionate debate on key matters in national politics played out

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on the pages❞

characterized the early years of World War I in Europe. Rather, the gravity of the Depression coupled with apprehension over the situation in a still-unsettled Europe led Polygon writers to treat the situation with seriousness. The specter of the coming war had already haunted the newspaper’s pages in the 1930s with concerns over European debt, Japanese bellicosity, and even coverage of one of Adolf Hitler’s speeches easily bringing a feeling of foreboding when read through today. For example, just looking at the issues from October 1940, there is a front-page story on alumnus Dick Halvorsen ’31 joining the Royal Canadian Air Force, new students “fleeing from wartorn Europe” such as Henk Rosenbrock of Amsterdam, and a reprint of a letter from a former teacher to headmaster Joseph Dana Allen describing the bombing raids in

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London as he hid under a piano while glass shattered, plaster fell from the ceiling, and fires broke out all around.4 The world had become smaller and Europe was no longer simply a place to vacation in the summer, but a land of allies, friends, neighbors, and family. The war there would quickly concern Poly’s students.

If World Wars I and II proved the importance of European events to boys in Brooklyn, the Cold War extended the student body’s concerns even further afield. What began initially as a fear of communism became a source of great international awareness in the 1960s. Polygon stories from 1951 primarily show communism as a foreboding presence that students should educate themselves on, either by reading pamphlets such “The Threat of Red Sabotage” published by the Herald Tribune or a

against the United States’ own self-interest, as Nigeria “seems headed for the Red bloc.”5 He compared the famine the Biafrans experienced as their short-lived, largely unrecognized republic was blockaded to the starvation alleviated in Berlin with the airlift. Regularly, wars, political contests, and even countries that are not remembered by most Americans today appeared in the weekly four-page issues of Poly Prep’s student newspaper.

The Vietnam War was the closest followed of these Cold War conflicts.

Interest in this war informs the International Relations Club’s choice to represent Thailand in the 1967 East Coast Model U.N. conference, and its efficacy becomes an open debate in the Opinions section, even before the January 1968 Tet Offensive that is often credited with turning the tide of popular support for military involvement. Assistant editor Fred Robin ’69 framed his frustration with the Johnson administration not only in the context of its disregard for the will of the Vietnamese people, but also the domestic concerns that were currently underfunded and neglected, lamenting that “the United States spends more money to kill one Vietcong than to save one American from poverty.”6

Look article by Garrett Underhill ’33 elucidating the American army’s lack of preparedness in the face of Russian arms and tactics.

Though the threat of the Soviet Union and communism would continue to be a recurring theme in The Polygon’s coverage of world events, by the late 1960s the writers would present a much broader and more nuanced view of conflict. Visiting students from Turkey and Ceylon would be given opportunities to write about their countries on the back pages of successive issues in 1968, and they would offer critiques of “the Communist menace” and the apathy that comes from socialism, respectively.

A Biafran student, visiting to raise money to help ease the starvation that the country was experiencing due to war with Nigeria, spoke against American neutrality in the conflict, stating that this negligence was

y the late 1960s, Poly Prep’s student newspaper was part of a larger youth movement inspired by the contentious, passionate, and game-changing presidential election of 1968 and enflamed by the protest movements during a turning point in the Vietnam War. The Polygon editorials and articles speak to this sense of the empowerment, agency, and responsibility of students during a time when they were not able to vote themselves.7 At the close of 1967, Polygon writers note the responsibility that hangs on the shoulders of all Poly students as “members of history’s most rapidly changing, expanding, and improving civilization” and asks them to question whether they have helped the poor, struggled for world peace, and treated their neighbors as they would themselves be treated. The Democratic primaries that year, when large youth support rallied behind both Robert F. Kennedy and Gene McCarthy, were also particularly potent in the Poly student community. The assassination of Kennedy and the eventual selection of Hubert Humphrey as the Democratic candidate led to a questioning

of the role that young people could hold in the political system. In an opinion piece titled “Topics: Should Youth Abandon Responsibility?” reporter James Stirn ’70 cautions that despite this end of one of “longest, greatest, and most tragic elections in American history,” students should not let the final results end in apathy. He cautions, “Let us not now turn into cynics, but remain disappointed idealists.”8 However, then as now, the student body did not represent a monolithic political culture. The Polygon polled both students and faculty on the eve of the election.

While 42% of the Poly community would vote for Humphrey, 35% supported Nixon, 3% voted for Wallace (whether earnestly or in protest is unknown), and 20% would abstain from voting if they had the choice.

Contentious and passionate debate on key matters in national politics played out on the pages of The Polygon with opinion pieces and articles inspiring letters to the editor.

The regular “Timely Topics” column tackled issues such as welfare and bussing, each inspiring critical responses from readers.

The former was admonished for “regrettable generalizations about the recipients of welfare assistance” despite “valid criticisms” of the system itself, but the bussing article inspired even greater disturbance, as a letter writer proclaimed, “I consider it by far the most bigoted essay I have ever read.”

The Polygon staff clearly knew they were publishing an inflammatory piece and did not shy away from it, instead inviting the controversy and asking their readers to respond. An editor’s note followed

the initial “Timely Topics: Is Bussing Effective?” noting that the piece did not reflect the views of the editorial staff and asking for “intelligent comments regarding its contents.” The Polygon of the late 1960s reflects the responsibility the editors and writers felt to use the space and voice given to them by the press to inform their audience both on world events and national concerns. They spoke to a community that was not in consensus, but, instead of trying to force a particular outlook, they hoped to reflect this disagreement, asking for letters and challenges, and desiring to be “the voice of the entire student body.”9 Two decades later, another presidential election, this one between George Bush and Michael Dukakis, played out in a world on the edge of change and while the Polygon staff continued to highlight world events.

The election itself did not seem to inspire fervor, and the Polygon staffers expressed disappointment in the apathy that came from an election that was more focused on image than issues. However, on the pages of the newspaper, lively disputes continued to be encouraged and thrive. During the 1988–89 school year, the editors, instead of focusing on arts and entertainment as was the norm, frequently took on the issues of the day and offered 3–5 stories from different perspectives on a featured subject, soliciting work from the student body at large. These feature pages tackled a wide range of subjects, including Asian culture, the environment, Black History Month, feminism, and the 1988 election. They also furthered the paper’s earlier mission to

❝…it seemed like the world continued to become smaller as Poly’s own interest and understanding grew.❞ P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 1 3

❝[They] take on the weight of the world❞

inform, allow room for different voices, and even inspire controversy. A features page on international relations is prefaced with a call from the editors to read and think about these stories, and to approach other countries and cultures with a feeling of shared humanity, not distrust and trivial differences. The page then gives fervently articulated and differing opinions against American intervention in El Salvador, hope for Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika, and suspicion of socialist reforms that could lead to curtailed freedoms. There is no political or ideological consensus that binds these articles except a belief that these world affairs are important and worthy of debate and an underlying optimism about the power of education and discussion.

A feeling of power, duty, and even faith, though shaken, can still be seen in the October 2001 issue, the first published after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Throughout these 12 pages and in subsequent issues, the student writers try to understand the event and put it in a historical and world context. One article explains the history of Afghanistan in terms of European and Western imperialism, poverty, and conflict, while another looks at safety procedures during flights and the potential psychological impact of terror.

Once again “preparedness” becomes a theme at Poly, though this time in the context of safety and evacuation procedures rather than the drills of potential soldiers. The Polygon also opens its pages to critiques of its coverage.

One letter to the editor expressed

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frustration at the lack of attention paid to the police and firefighters, but even greater anger was caused by an article where a student said that though she was “a patriot” and by no means condoned the act of terror, she could understand the impulse to attack the “grandiose testaments to our power.” As one letter to the editor replied to this article, “While I generally respect the paper for publishing the opinions of the students, I was aghast after reading what certain people had to say.”10 What is most remarkable in this coverage is that while the student staff aimed to instruct, inform, and foster debate around these events, there is also a clear perception of this as a personal and lived experience. There are poems full of emotion and reflection and numerous testimonials of students remembering the day itself or its aftereffects, Arab-American students who fear profiling, and a Battery Park resident who was forced to leave her home for months. While the pages of The Polygon reported on war and terror and starvation from Europe to Russia to the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia, it seemed like the world continued to become smaller as Poly’s own interest and understanding grew. With a world historical event right in their own backyards, the students still felt the need to cover the news, but also allowed

themselves the emotional expression of a lived experience that had before been largely intellectualized.

The teenagers who write and edit The Polygon choose to take on the weight of the world and feel a keen sense of a duty to address and explain complicated international affairs and questions of life and death, on top of the quotidian concerns of the school community from soccer scores to dress code frustrations. They write with a maturity and sophistication that can obscure their youth. Then there are moments of revelatory emotional vulnerability that expose the difficulty that each of these young writers must face when offering up their words, ideas, and beliefs to their peers and whichever future teacher or student peruses these yellowing pages.

I feel great pride as a teacher of history and as the advisor of The Polygon that throughout this complicated century, our students approach the world with insight, critical capacity, a desire for greater context, and compassion.

1. For the purposes of brevity, endnotes will be condensed and correspond only to quoted stories.

Thomas Zabriskie, “New Rule Hits Library Abuses,” 20 February 1929; “Rifle Room Could Serve as Lounge,” 15 November 1968; “Are Dress Restrictions Justified?”

27 September 1968.

2. “The Horrors of Warfare,” 1915; “Uncle Sam Has New Vacation Scheme,” 10 May 1915.

3. “Patriotism vs. Duty,” 4 April 1917; C.B.T., “Raw Recruits Resolve,” 9 May 1917.

4. “Joins R.A.F.” 4 October 1940.

5. “Biafran Attacks U.S. ‘Neutrality,’” 22 November 1968.

6. Fred Robin, “Reflections: Is Viet Nam Policy Ineffective?” 29 September 1967 7. Suffrage was not extended to 18-year-olds until the adoption of the 26th Amendment in 1971.

8. “1967: Looking Backward,” 15 December 1967; James Stirn, “Topics: Should Youth Abandon Responsibility?”

1 November 1968.

9. “Humphrey Becomes President in School Poll; Majority Pick Vietnam as Key Political Issue,” 1 November 1968; “Readers Condemn, Propound,” 10 May 1968; Kenneth Blau, “Timely Topics: Is Bussing Effective?” 3 May 1968; Henry Ireys, “Communication,” 1 November 1968.

10. Suzannah Kalb, “Symbol of Power in Land of Freedom,” October 2001; Joseph Gallina, “Letter to the Editor,” December 2001.

Virginia Dillon, a specialist in 17th-century European history has been teaching at Poly since 2014. She earned her B.A. from Clemson, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and her doctorate at Oxford University.

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Our Winning Women

P

Poly Prep’s Softball team has won 17 Ivy League Championships and nine NYSAIS Championships — more than any other team in the 18-year history of NYSAIS softball. What’s the secret to such a winning record? During her 30-year tenure at its helm, Coach Mildred Piscopo’s leadership has woven itself into the team’s history of success. Together, coach and players have built a lasting foundation of cohesiveness and have cultivated a positive team culture that regenerates itself each season.

Photography

by Dustin Satloff

ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: JANE MALAFRONTE ‘17, MADELINE DRAPER ‘17, AND JENNIFER BABICK ‘17

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ABOVE: COACH MILDRED PISCOPO LEFT: AVA O’MARA ‘17

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But make no mistake, it’s no cakewalk tallying up all the awards the girls have won. “These athletes are fierce competitors on the field. They are committed to practicing, staying fit, developing skills and strategies both during the season and off — all while having fun and being supportive of one another,” said Coach Piscopo. As Morgan O’Mara ‘17 put it, “I’ve had the best four years possible with this team and I’m glad I could make it to one last state championship with my best friends.”

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TOP: NOVA STOLLER ‘17; BOTTOM: AVA O’MARA ‘17

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TOP: JANE MALAFRONTE ‘17; BOTTOM: (L) JANE MALAFRONTE ‘17, (R) AVA O’MARA ‘17

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STOP ONE: Atlanta, Georgia Being a short flight from New York City, as well as the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta was a logical first stop. Juxtaposed with the glaring lights of the World of Coca-Cola and huge signs advertising the Georgia Aquarium, the Center for Civil and Human Rights honors the work of Dr. King and other civil rights activists engaged in the nonviolent struggle. At the entrance of the building stands a fountain bearing famous words:

Journey to the South

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world” — MARGARET MEAD A K I L A H B ROW N ’ 1 8 , C L A R A SA N C H E Z -V E L A ’ 1 8 , A NA T E S S I E R ’ 1 8 , A N D W H I T N E Y DAV I D S O N “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others” — NELSON MANDELA

T

hroughout its history, the United States of America has been a nation defined by profound racial divisiveness.

Though pundits hailed Barack Obama’s victories in the

2008 and 2012 presidential elections as evidence that our country had transformed into a “post-racial society,” it has seemed to many students and teachers within the Poly community over the past several years that a new dynamic of racial hatred has been occurred within our community, but we’ve also been disturbed by larger national trends involving increases in hate crimes and incidents of racially motivated violence.

In an effort to better understand the discord of our current time, 19 Poly students journeyed to the American South to delve more deeply into our collective past by retracing the path of the civil rights movement. The trip was arranged by Michal Hershkovitz and Whitney Davidson for their students in African-American history and AP Government and Politics courses. This article is a collection of some of their reflections on the trip.

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PHOTO CREDITS: TOP, LIAT WEINSTEIN ‘18; BOTTOM, ESME GRAHAM ‘18

emboldened; not only have we been troubled by events that have

These quotations spoke to the museum’s main purpose: to unite the common struggles of people throughout history, and to inspire change-making. The museum’s main exhibit presented a collection of notes, letters, and documents exchanged between Dr. King, other world leaders, and activists of the civil rights movement. These documents—and the museum in general—echoed many of the conversations we’d had in our African-American history class. The traditional narrative of the civil rights movement portrays Dr. King as the sole force driving the movement forward; however, the museum illuminated just how many people were equally instrumental in its success.

We couldn’t help but notice, however, that the museum ended abruptly with Dr. King’s assassination; there was no mention of the Black Power movement and no room dedicated to Malcolm X. Our group discussed this issue, somewhat puzzled; perhaps the museum and its sponsors wanted to avoid being perceived as too radical.

This raises the question: Why do we as a society often tell the story of the civil rights movement as a single narrative about nonviolent civil disobedience?

Did the civil rights movement create

STOP TWO: Birmingham, Alabama

more social progress than the Black Power movement, and is that why the latter gets less national attention? Or was the omission of this element of the narrative a strategic effort to make the museum less controversial?

The following morning, we dressed up in our Sunday best and headed to Friendship Baptist Church at Morehouse College, which is the oldest African-American congregation in Atlanta. A significant part of the civil rights activism of the late 1950s and early 1960s was centered in the black churches. Despite the fact that we were outsiders, and our group included the only white attendees, we were greeted with loving hugs and handshakes from people of all ages. Going to Friendship Baptist Church helped us all realize that the South is much more than what we hear about in the news—a place filled with stereotypes and horrible accounts of racism and intolerance; it is also a place that embodies history in a way that no other place does, and it radiates with hospitality.

Our civil rights journey took an unexpected turn once we crossed the state border into Alabama. The Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail begins at the 16th Street Baptist Church and weaves through the different routes marched by the civil rights activists who participated in the Birmingham campaign, a nonviolent direct action campaign spearheaded by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We contended with the space and the historical terrorism that still knocked the wind out of us, as we thought about the children who had police dogs sicced on them and fire hoses unleashed upon them in Kelly Ingram Park, where we stood.

We walked in the scorching sun, stopping every now and then along the trail to read powerful words from civil rights leaders that were engraved on historical markers throughout the downtown area. One of the quotations read: “Whatever career you choose for yourself, become a dedicated fighter for civil rights.”

These words from Dr. King resonated with us because, although we aspire to a diverse range of careers, we are all dedicated to infusing our passion for civil and human rights into whatever life we will lead.

Selma, Alabama Our civil rights journey then took us to Selma, the origin point of the famous Selma to Montgomery march and one of the locations of the campaign to register black voters in the South. Sam Walker, our tour guide at the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, had marched as a young boy alongside Dr. King and thousands of other men and women fighting for their rights. Later on, we traced the marchers’ steps by walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge ourselves.

To commemorate the moment, we took turns reading the speech given by Dr. King on the steps of the Montgomery capitol building at the culmination of the march. We felt, more than ever, his words reverberate within us: “Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. We are on the move now.

The burning of our churches will not deter us. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. We are on the move now. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now.”

STOP FOUR: Montgomery, Alabama Though one of the highlights of the trip, our stay in Montgomery left many of us filled with both disappointment and newfound hope for what social justice organizations are aiming to do for future generations. Downtown Montgomery, like Birmingham, not only looked deserted, but it also felt abandoned. Being in the epicenter of where some of the most vicious and significant moments of our history occurred was overwhelming, and not one museum seemed to feature the importance of the movement in the way we imagined. Montgomery, in particular, stood out for its preponderance of monuments celebrating various moments in Confederate history, but tellingly few involving slavery or the civil rights struggle.

Our visit to Montgomery included the Rosa Parks Museum, which overtly aligned with the traditional narrative of Rosa Parks’s initiation of the historic bus boycott.

Although in class we had discussed the many ways in which the Rosa Parks myth was problematic, the Rosa Parks Museum was amongst the most unsettling sites we visited because it surprisingly reinforced the traditional narrative: Parks as a

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tired seamstress who refused to give up her seat after a long day’s work.

However, she was not only a lifelong activist, but the boycott was planned and organized by grassroots activists in Montgomery well ahead of Parks’s defiant act of resistance. We ultimately recognized the Rosa Parks Museum as a symbol of complacency alongside the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta in its exclusion of the Black Power movement. We were moved by the omission of these critical details and wonder what it is about American society that contributes to an abiding unwillingness to acknowledge the full range of our historical, and current, struggles.

In Montgomery, we also visited the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), key institutions in the continuation of the fight for civil justice for all. Both organizations assert that, although

laws have been changed, the stain of institutional racism and implicit bias still plagues American society. The SPLC supports legal action for individuals and minority groups suffering from discriminatory acts and hate crimes.

One of their analysts talked to us about their various initiatives, including legal advocacy, community outreach, and tracking hate crimes across the country. EJI, founded by Bryan Stevenson, is dedicated to mapping out the onslaught of discrimination from slavery to the present-day system of mass incarceration. EJI is devoted to exonerating wrongly incarcerated individuals. In April 2018, it will open an African-American history museum and a memorial commemorating the many victims of lynching across the South.

We were all inspired and felt that the importance of organizations like SPLC and EJI should be further publicized so that all Americans can understand and participate in their work.

PHOTO CREDITS: TOP, LIAT WEINSTEIN ‘18; BOTTOM, ESME GRAHAM ‘18; MAP: ILLUSTRATION BY U.S. ARMY QUARTERMASTER CORPS/PHOTO BY BUYENLARGE/GETTY IMAGES

STOP THREE:

A

s we boarded the bus that would take us back to the Atlanta airport, we were overwhelmed with emotion. We followed the footsteps of the civil rights activists of the 1960s, but we also uncovered a path to the future and all the work that has yet to be done. Once again, the words of Dr. King echoed in our minds: “And so as we go away this afternoon, let us go away more than ever before committed to this struggle and committed to nonviolence.

I must admit to you that there are still some difficult days ahead. But if we will go on with the faith that nonviolence and its power can transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows, we will be able to change all of these conditions.”

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Cuba NO EMBARGO ON MUSIC

BY M A I T E I R AC H E TA P ’ 1 6

Maite Iracheta P’16, a native of Mexico City, teaches in the World Languages department and has been on the Poly Prep faculty for more than a decade.

ABOVE: Plaza Catedral in Havana Vieja OPPOSITE: (Clockwise from top) Two young performers from Conservatorio Guillermo Tomás in Guanabacoa; street performers in Trinidad Photos courtesy of 2017 Poly Prep Concert Choir

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A specter is haunting Cuba — the specter of capitalism. This is a tropical twist from the first sentence of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto,1 which suits the currents whistling through the Caribbean island.

Cuba is the strong, willful adolescent of the Americas. While most of the colonies became independent at the beginning of the 19th century, this young state obtained its independence from Spain in 1898. Raising the pillars of a democratic republic within a fragile frame came with a price: Cuba became a protectorate of the United States in 1902. Fifty years later, Cuba fell in the hands of Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship, 1 A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism.

who was seen by history’s sharp eyes as a U.S. puppet, and the island a playground for the mafia. However, a young soul doesn’t exercise patience with a neglectful guardian. Enter Fidel Castro, who led the Revolución Cubana and took over the Havana streets in 1959. For the next six years and before committing to the government of the Communist Party, the unyielding Cuban Republic tried to fortify its longings with a single song. A Cuban song.

The key notes of Cuban identity were taking shape at last on its people’s own terms. They were tuning in to a national hero, José Martí, and his dream at the turn of the century to awaken a country true to its own reflection. The configuration of any country’s government must correspond to its genuine elements; imitating foreign models proves useless. Martí wrote, “The clue to solving the Latin American enigma won’t be found in the European book, nor in the yanqui.” This is to say that if a problem arises in Havana, Latin Americans shouldn’t go to D.C.; if trouble sparks in Trinidad, they shouldn’t go to the Vatican.

Besides strengthening the political muscle

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A mural and guitar player from the Korimacao Community Project in Playa Larga; posing for a pre-performance photo in Cienfuegos; the Cienfuegos City Choir impressed with their repertoire and beautiful musicality; Olivia Whitmer ’18 and Olivia Knutson ’18 sing after attending a jazz performance at Gran Teatro de la Havana.

OPPOSITE: Walking in Havana Vieja

Music... is a noble global currency.

Our Poly group was a privileged guest, and Cubans were gracious hosts with open arms. of Cubans, Martí fervently advocated for social and racial equality. Slavery had been pivotal to the economic exploitation of colonial Cuba. Independent Cuba, however, had a spirited respect for all its children.

Now, reader, leave aside all your madein-the-U.S.A. Cold War-brand notions of Cuba. Thirty-one singers and students from Brooklyn stepped foot and sprang voice upon the island this past spring break.

A rather strange place, immune to the international corporations’ dogma that visibly and invisibly alter the landscape: no McDonald’s, no Starbucks, and almost everybody’s favorite: no WiFi. There was very limited access to the latter and that in turn translated into a heightened awareness of the here and now for Poly’s singers. Performing Arts Department Chair Daniel Doughty hit the mark when choosing Cuba, an ideal place to design a musical dialogue. From Havana to Matanzas, Cienfuegos to Trinidad, always at a stone’s throw from the Caribbean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean, our students traced a wake of beautiful sound with their North American chords.

There were vast highlights on the trip. One of them was riding the bus along the coast, with the blue sea still and bright, while the students warmed up their voices until they were light as birds. The first concert was with the choir of Matanzas in the Ermita de Montserrat, a restored Catalan-style monastery at the top of a hill overlooking the Matanzas Bay. The lasting effect that the singing of the matanceros had on our group took us by surprise. A similar experience occurred when we visited the Conservatorio Guillermo Tomás, in the barrio of Guanabacoa in Havana, a school where local students between the ages of 8 and 19 are devoted to a life in music.

Poly and the young musicians performed

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their songs; it was a very exciting exchange. At the end, as the curtain on the stage went down, the language and the cultural barriers seemed to also loosen: Friendly exchanges began, handling instruments and sharing Facebook pages.

One afternoon, Professor Digna Guerra, the director of the National Choir of Cuba, met with the Poly choir for a workshop.

Initially, I played the role of dutiful translator, but as the session progressed I disappeared backstage while Guerra and the singers followed universal rhythms to communicate.

In Havana, our group attended an educational conference about Cuba’s cultural policies at the Juan Marinello Institute. We learned that Cubans don’t like tourists with a use-and-discard attitude; they like travelers who are interested in Cuba.

This commentary reminded me of Jamaica

Kincaid’s “A Small Place” (an essay many of the students have read) and her reflections on the effects of colonialism in Antigua. We also learned about the misinterpretations that U.S. citizens often have of Cubans and vice-versa. A student asked about the stray dogs that seemed to be everywhere and became instant pals. “They don’t have collars but they are not stray,” said Henry Heredia, the professor that led the conference. He said they belonged to the neighborhoods where they live.

On our road to Cienfuegos, we made a stop at the Karimacao Community Project in Playa Larga. It provides art and music training free of charge, as do all educational institutions in Cuba. A musical exchange took place, as it did almost everywhere we went. We were transfixed by their performance. Playa de Cochinos, or Bay of Pigs, was right next door.

Throughout the trip we were carrying layers of resonance from the repertoire that Poly’s concert choir spread in Cuba, interposed with the soulful, essential Cuban music. Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera, the lyrics of this famous song are part of a poem

by Martí; they tell the story of a country girl from Guantánamo (of all places!) and the romantic love that a man has for his country. Within the beat of this song, some of us were trying to fathom Cuba.

Music, as students discovered, is a noble global currency. Our Poly group was a privileged guest, and Cubans were gracious hosts with open arms. The Concert Choir exchanged harmonies and established musical communions. The romantic vision of the young, the young singer and the young republic, was to create bonds beyond forced specters and interruptions (embargoes), and beyond tensions that lead to silence.

R E A D O U R B LO G : polyprepconcertchoircuba.blogspot.com

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Life Lessons Learned at Poly Helped Three Generations of the Reich Family Compete in Life’s Game

Generation Poly As part of Poly’s cross country team, Luke Reich ’20 competes on the same paths in Van Cortlandt Park that his grandfather, Dan Reich ’49, did as a Poly athlete in the 1940s. Three generations of Reich men have called Poly home over the past 75+ years. And while much has changed, plenty, including friendships, curiosity, and an expanding world view, has stayed the same. Dan says one of the biggest differences between his Poly years and those of grandsons Daniel Reich ’17 and Luke Reich “is that Poly was a boys-only school when I was a student.” But what was once a neighborhood school for Brooklyn boys has evolved over the years in many other ways, as well.

“When I was at Poly, 90% of my class was from Bay Ridge or Dyker Heights,” said Dan’s son, Duke Reich ’82, P’17, ’20. “The world is smaller now.” Daniel’s and Luke’s classmates come to Poly each day from all five boroughs and New Jersey. Duke says

that both of his sons have had incredible experiences at Poly, traveling to Cuba, Prague, and Berlin. “One reason I stayed in Bay Ridge,” Duke said, “was because there was never a question in my mind that my boys would go to Poly.”

DAN REICH ‘49 Looking at Dan’s page in the Polyglot, the “Winner P.P.” signifies that he lettered in three varsity sports, football, swimming, and lacrosse, which made him a member of the Varsity Club. He is described as “free in expression of his thoughts” but also as having fun joking in class “with his accomplice and bosom friend, Johnson.”

“The Poly experience was a wellrounded, positive foundation for my future education, military service, career, and the way I have lived,” said Dan, who founded Reich Paper in 1958. “The most important life lessons I learned at Poly were confidence

in my ability to compete and to play life’s game.”

DUKE REICH ’82, P’17, ’20 Duke Reich recalls his dad’s stories about Poly. “As lacrosse was mostly unheard of at the high school level in the 1940s, Poly played against West Point and Princeton.

Poly had about 15 players, whereas West Point had 60, as their entire football team was told to play lacrosse. Poly also played against a high school in Long Island [Manhasset High School], where Jim Brown, the Hall of Fame NFL running back, played on the opposing team. I still have my father’s lacrosse stick!”

Duke’s older brother Peter S. Reich ’75 “was an eight-year man at Poly and graduated in 1975.” He was a senior when Duke entered Poly in fifth grade.

Poly’s beautiful campus was “a second home” during Duke’s childhood. He

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❝I wanted to share these experiences with my boys because, while times have changed, the fundamentals have not.❞ came to football games with the Zarous (another three-generational Poly family) long before he was a student. At one Homecoming game, Poly played traditional rival, St. Paul’s of Garden City, and Duke remembers a Poly player nicknamed “Tiny” blocked a field goal to win the game.

Duke recalls Poly in the 1970s: “We had dances several times a year with Packer, which was Poly’s ‘sister’ school. Girls were admitted to Poly when I was in the eighth grade. I felt there was an immediate change in the feeling of the school. Rather than throwing a ball around the Oval while waiting for the afternoon school bus, many of the boys were spending time in the front hall, talking to the girls. The dynamics of the school changed forever, but I was friends with, and continue to be friends with, many girls in my class and I still see some of them regularly. Sadly, Carla Galtieri Ingargiola in my Class of 1982 just passed away. Carla helped lead the way for girls in my class.”

“One of my favorite teachers was Mr. Nicolosi or ‘Nick’ as we called him,” recalled Duke. “I had him for Middle School English and senior year for philosophy. Nick was the first teacher who treated us like adults, and besides studying philosophy, we had great conversations about current events, life at Poly, and beyond. Paul Raso, ‘Raz’ as he was called, had a quiet demeanor, but was

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an excellent teacher. He helped me get through chemistry.”

Duke credits Coach Mike Junsch ’71, P’94, ’95 for a life lesson about “the importance of dressing up”: “I learned that first impressions are very important.”

Duke played Varsity Football (right guard, left defensive end, and punter) and Varsity Lacrosse. “I wrestled, but like several of my classmates quit the wrestling team the winter after the gym at Poly burned down,” Duke said. It seems the wooden winter track, which was folded up and stored in the gym, was set on fire by firecrackers. “The wrestling room was back then below the gym. We wrestlers had to run to the Union Church parish house gym (on Ridge Blvd. at 81st Street), unroll the mats, tape up the mats, practice, roll up the mats, and run back to Poly. Even though I liked Coach [Ralph] Dupee, I never liked running, and that put the end to wrestling for me.”

Poly memories come easy to Duke. “From shop class with Mr. Vey, to psychology class field trips to the Bronx Zoo, to Saturday football games, to going to the Prom at Tavern on the Green with my best friend, David Zarou (because neither of us had girlfriends at the time), there were many great times.

One fond memory was for a couple of years in spring there was an overnight run on the winter (wood) track. Duke said, “Like a relay race, one runner at a time would alternate

and run throughout the entire night while the rest of us pulled an all-nighter hanging out on campus with friends.”

“More than just getting a great academic education,” Duke said, “Poly taught me many life lessons about integrity, character, morality, friendship, hard work, and tradition. I formed many lifelong friendships at Poly and I still get together with many of those guys today. I wanted to share these experiences with my boys because, while times have changed, the fundamentals have not. I have watched my sons grow over the years into fine upstanding young men with the help of Poly, their teachers, and their friends.”

After Poly, Duke followed in his father’s footsteps and has worked at Reich Paper for 30 years.

DANIEL REICH ’17 Daniel Reich ’17 graduated this past June. He was a member of the wrestling team for three years and part of Model U.N. for two years. And this year, he was a part of the first Poly crew team in the school’s 163-year history. In May 2017, they competed in their first regatta and won. Math teacher and crew coach Rich Nolan made a great difference in Daniel’s life at Poly. “Even though he was my teacher for only one year, he knows my family and talks to me about

both my academics and life in general and how I am feeling.”

Daniel has sailed since he was five years old, working his way up to instructor at the Shelter Island Yacht Club. Daniel has had a “challenging year,” Duke said, having lost the tip of his finger in a boating accident. But he persevered and used that experience to start a junior sailing safety program, which was the subject of his Senior Plan.

Daniel said the most important life lesson he learned at Poly was “to open your mind and hear other people out before jumping to conclusions.” “What has made Poly special for me is that it has forced me outside of my comfort zone. For example, I randomly took AP Art History this year and ended up falling in love with it!”

Daniel will be attending SUNY Maritime College in the fall, where he will study marine transportation.

As part of Poly’s Concert Choir, Luke traveled to Cuba over Spring Break 2017.

In the blog that the students kept during the trip, Luke recounted meeting a Cuban man who taught them how to cut down coconuts: “I cherish that moment I had with my great friends and will remember it forever.”

“My best memories are cross country, wrestling, and Ultimate practice or games, as well as my friends, who I got to know through these sports,” Luke said. “Athletics has been a large part of my career at Poly so far and I hope that it

will still be in my next three years.”

“I think it was important for my father to send me to Poly because of the great times he knew I would have. This part of his life was very important to him and he made lifelong friends, which I believe were his intentions when sending me to Poly,” Luke said.

The Poly community was sad to learn that Dan Reich ‘49 passed away on February 14, 2018, shortly before this publication went to print.

LUKE REICH ‘20 “My father is still very close to some of his school buddies and it’s a pleasure to meet them and get a glimpse into the past when he went here,” Luke Reich ’20 said.

“One story that comes to mind is about him and his friends taking Commons trays and sledding down the large hill by the playground. It reminds me very much of my friends and me.”

P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 3 3

3 4 T H E B L U E & T H E G R AY

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P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 3 5

Sarah’s Suitor

BY E S M E G R A H A M ’ 1 8

This piece won the Gold Key in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards presented by the Alliance for Young Writers and Artists.

I promised Sarah I would watch, that no man would do stuff like love as well as I could. I took her to the pictures and in black-and-white I kissed her. I kissed her when the hero kissed the girl because it felt appropriate. She had been frightened (hand on my knee and everything) because she thought that the dark-lipped princess would be captured. Sarah was wearing dark lipstick but she was in full color and it was like a dark cherry. And I kissed her and bought her pasta and I took her to my white linen sheets and I didn’t know any fancy moves or anything but I kissed every pretty part of her.

Someone stabbed me in the spine one night, right through my vertebrae into my heart when I went down to the front desk to complain about the water pressure in our sink because I got thirsty in the middle of the night. My capillaries were pulsing, and I didn’t really see anything but a white light. Then I woke up, my eyes weren’t heavy and I could see slanted white doors being opened and the carpet was orange zig zags and the walls were striped and I was losing focus and I couldn’t really think straight but Sarah was running towards me in the silk slip I had gotten her for her birthday. I wished she wouldn’t come so close; it would be impossible to remove the stains and it had been so expensive. I couldn’t make any sound with my mouth and she scrambled to hug my body but I observed from above.

I am now a specter, for what seems like forever. I heard her whisper words about always and that I would be alright. There is not a scratch on my body as every molecule of me is silver dust and steam and fog and smoke. There was a big red wet splotch down her front when the policemen lifted her off of my corpse. Her face was blotchy and red and all I wanted to do was touch her shoulder. I do not know who killed me; I could have chased after them but all I did was watch Sarah cry into my hair. I wish I had gotten a haircut before I was killed, because there is nothing I can do about the curls that reach all the way to my earlobes

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and make me look like a young boy. Sarah was taken away and she wasn’t supposed to touch me or get her tears on the evidence but she did. Policemen trampled through my room, and they pushed through every photograph of us together and put them in manila folders, like the ones of us on Coney Island and the one she posed for, with her eyes staring glazed at the camera.

Sarah only came in once, but she had this pink blush on her cheeks; it kind of made her look like a harlot, but the policeman didn’t seem to mind. As I whisked through the sheer of her blouse, I breathed in a new scent, not that of honey and mildew like her mother’s home, it’s floral, and a deep rose that made my eyes cloudy. I moved from room to room, each becoming darker and grayer as my eyes lost focus and I reeled further and further from where my blood splashed and sputtered and the pain in my back pulsed and phased out. Every time I blinked I could see Sarah’s hair closing with a door, and there was someone behind that door, someone who made her scream I love you instead of the way she would whisper it into my ear.

When I first left the hotel, the sun pushed against every molecule and I had to build my body back up, melted on the pavement like a tire. Children walked through me, they seemed to look into my eyes, boring through what remained of my pupils, their chubby hands reaching out as if to grab me by my hair. Sarah lived with her mother in an apartment decorated with wood sculptures of animals and exotic people. Her room had wallpaper littered with lilies and begonias and on her bedside there was a small bottle of perfume I bought for her but she never wore because she said it gave her hives. But her room has white lace sheets now; I sat on the foot of her bed and saw her treasure drawer. I wonder if she opened it since she said “forever.”

I can’t think about the individual moments that phase through my reality and whether or not they are simply dreams that I blushed onto roses. I didn’t want to go into her drawer of treasures because if it is

closed it can still contain only my treasures, maybe our picture from Coney Island and the necklace with the one gray pearl and the gold chain. If it is closed it can still contain her teardrops and the jar of mustard seed that we found at the farmers’ market. I hadn’t seen Sarah; she hadn’t come back to the hotel after she left with that policeman.

My brother came once, but he didn’t bring his children. I’m sure I had a funeral, but I don’t know who attended; my whole family is from Minnesota and it was probably too expensive to fly over. I hope Sarah dropped bundles of wildflowers like the ones she used to sell at her shop on Byrne Street.

She said it was an excuse to see beauty; she wrote poems about them that didn’t make sense really but she said they were about the petals and the stamen and the pollen and our love and she would give them to me like kisses, shy and hidden in the palm of my hand. There was one in my pocket called peony when I died.

The door to her room clicks open and I hide under the bed, bashful like an intruder and snuggled into the deepest corner where I can only see her feet. If I reached out I could take hold of her ankle and wrap myself around her like a corset. She sank down onto the bed, pushing the frame towards me; I slipped out behind her and rested for a moment on her window sill.

I wish I could jump out the window and hit the pavement and see white and be done.

I wonder who called. I look back and see Sarah bent over like she was gonna hurl, tears swirling with mascara splashing onto her front.

I remember when we went to the farmers’ market on a Sunday and she wore a silver blouse that caught the light and made me squint when I looked at her. I bought her a rose because I said it was the only thing that was as pretty as she, but to be honest I never saw much beauty in roses. None of them were perfect, with shades that were too dark or holes. Sarah was beautiful in a way that I could see; her eyes were like continents with green lands

peony

Clandestine petals Cling to my body like Dew or ants I shudder at the passing days Because each means That you are closer to wilting And I do not even have your heart I read it every day like taking vitamins but I still don’t know what clandestine means.

I hear her mother’s voice, high pitched and New York sharp.

“You got another call; he was adamant, Butter.” (That was her nickname.)

“Did you talk to him?” I heard her voice and felt pleasure that spread to every organ of my being like sparklers. I felt sick to my stomach wanting to indulge myself in her musky, mauve voice.

“Only for a bit; he just wanted to talk to you.”

“I told him no—it’s wrong I told him before.”

Illustration by Elisabeth Pearson ’17

and blue oceans washing up to greet them.

They fluttered closed every time I kissed her and I could feel her eyelashes on my cheeks. I thought the jar of mustard seed looked like her freckles.

She couldn’t hear my words as I tried to comfort her, to stop the flow of tears. She couldn’t feel me bury my head in her hair and kiss her earlobe. I couldn’t bear to be the reason for her tears but I couldn’t bear any other reason that she would be crying.

I could hum that song that we danced to for the first time, but as I slipped through her ear into her skull I knew that I was a memory, that her brain no longer knew me as her boyfriend. She will remember me until she gets annoyed and forgets.

In the black-and-white movie the hero said, “If you just hold on, we’ll have a happy ending.” She could end her life and float with me, but I just watched her weep.

I hated breaking in though her floral wallpaper, drifting in like her curtains and hanging with her perfume as a watery mist in the air above her bedside table. I wish I could cause destruction, rip up love

letters from handsome men who bought chocolates, who didn’t even know that you could see all of her molars when she thought something was really funny, and who didn’t know that they should send her peonies. I wish I could smash the jar of mustard seed and her freckles would scatter across the floor.

Sarah came home one day when the frost had formed along my fingertips and I could touch her breath. The months had passed and I didn’t want to see her anymore. I didn’t want to listen to her talk to her mother about every nightmare she had. That day her phone rang and she picked it up and held it close to her mouth.

“Hello?” her voice was a breath behind closed doors, urgent and supple.

I pushed my head against hers, unable to feel her heat but able to hear each neuron and axon whirring behind her continental eyes.

A voice behind the phone spoke to her in this pseudo coo, “Darling, I’ll ask every day. I’ll send you a tulip every time I see your lips.”

Sarah pursed her lips in a shy smile, like she was worried someone would see that she was enjoying it. She put her other hand on the phone like she used to put on my face, her fingers wrapped along the cord. “How many will you send?”

“Don’t tease me like this baby, will you say yes, I’m doing my best here,” he was purring, but there was a jab to his voice.

“Take me out tonight, bring a tulip,” she said in one breath, and put the phone down, covering her smile with her hand.

I never hit Sarah once, I would never mar her gentle cheekbones with a bruise, I would never scratch her bone-white arms. I wished I had, I wished I had knocked her face around until her eyes were different sizes and her nose was off center and she was ugly to everyone but me. I wanted to whir up every drop of anger I had at her until I was a dwarf cyclone and she could look at me and see my face before I took her with me.

I wished I could become a storm of anger, a cloud of impatience. It had been a year, life had drained from her cheeks but she was just as beautiful. If I breathed really hard I could probably inhale her and take her consciousness with me.

Sarah put on lipstick and blush and fluffed her hair. The more she applied the uglier her face became; she was a warped caricature of the beauty she used to be. I couldn’t even look. I remembered “forever.” She opened the door when the bell rang, and there was a man handsomer than I. I watched him take her body in his hands like she was the tulip and bury his tongue in her mouth. I wonder if she’ll say “forever” to him.

P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 3 7

Welcome to Brooklyn 3 8 T H E B L U E & T H E G R AY

As part of their studies of New York City, Poly Prep’s second graders take an in-depth look at how the Brooklyn Bridge came to be. They research the history and engineering of the landmark and study drawings, photographs, and diagrams. After an afternoon at the Brooklyn Historical Society, the kids take a guided walk over the span. After this, and inspired by artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Andy Warhol, the students create watercolor illustrations of the NYC treasure. The works on this page are by the Class of 2027.

P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 3 9

Culture Faculty and students share what’s on their screens, in their hands, and on their playlists.

Therefore, you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I first listened to The Lemon Twigs’ debut album, Do Hollywood, released in October 2016.

Listening to brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, you could not be blamed for assuming that a dedicated crate digger unearthed a previously overlooked early 70s gem. However, not only is the record brand new, but the D’Addario brothers are also 18- and 20-year-old natives of Hicksville, Long Island.

From the Baroque-inspired harpsichord on tracks like “Haroomata” to impossibly beautiful layered harmonies on songs such as “How Lucky Am I?” to wailing Pete Townshend-esque guitar on “A Great Snake,” Do Hollywood is a journey to the past via the future. And this time, instead of looking behind us, we can look ahead to the destined success of Hicksville’s D’Addario brothers and The Lemon Twigs.

Stephen Taylor (Music, Lower School): YouTube is one of the most democratic tools spawned from the dawn of the Information Age, creating a platform for anybody to publish their work for instant broadcast to the entire planet, encouraging amateurs everywhere to record themselves performing skills they have been practicing alone and share it with the world.

READING Liat Weinstein ’18: In his Pulitzer Prize-winning historical fiction novel, All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr tells the gripping story of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a young blind girl who flees with her father to the city of Saint-Malo after the Nazi occupation of Paris, and the story of Werner Pfennig, an orphan from a coalmining town in Germany whose fascination with radios leads him to Schulpforta, a school for Nazi youth. Through the use of vivid imagery, multiple narrators,

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and breathtaking description, Doerr illustrates not only the struggles and hardships humans must endure as a result of war, but also the truths we learn about ourselves in times of adversity. Marie-Laure’s acute understanding of her broken world, coupled with Werner’s innate ingenuity and compassion, produces a heartwarming yet tragic novel about the effects of inhumanity on a person’s sense of hope and trust.

Jules Gabellini ’18: David Foster Wallace’s Girl With Curious Hair is a collection of short stories — each one embodying the voice of a unique character. The title story centers around a hilariously WASP-y, entitled young man going to a concert with a gang of drug-addicted punk youth and describing his disturbing fantasies, thus exposing the reader to a different side of his privileged existence. Other characters, explored in wholly fictitious

scenarios with uncanny accuracy of personality, include Alex Trebek— ensnared in a lesbian love story on “Jeopardy!” — and Lyndon B. Johnson, as seen through the lens of his young assistant who becomes his confidante.

Though the stories often verge on bizarre, they provide an exhilarating maze of personalities and emotions that have a profound effect on the reader.

WATCHING

LISTENING Juliette Guarino Berg (Science, Lower School): I’m what you might call an “old soul.” I danced to ELO’s 1976 hit “Strange Magic” at my 2012 wedding.

I’ve seen The Who in concert more times than I can count. And in the early 90s, when my childhood friend told me that her favorite band was Ace of Base, I proudly proclaimed that mine was The Beatles.

Israeli artist Kutiman has mined YouTube for individual musical performances on instruments from around the globe and has essentially created a new art form by weaving them together into songs that sound both familiar and alien, contemporary and timeless. His “ThruYou” series is a mesmerizing collage of Exquisite Corpse Series, 2015 unique and unrelated performances, deconstructed, sampled, and reassembled as if they were made together. The sound mixing and video editing are stunning, while the musical compositions and arrangements are funky, emotional, and powerful. The sources are raw and personal, from bedrooms and basements, giving the work a certain grit and energy that is often lacking in the heavily produced perfection of the studio.

The recent technological advances in recording and communication have opened up new possibilities for musicians, providing freedom of creation and distribution previously unavailable to the masses. Kutiman has harnessed this global surge of expression to make something new and beautiful, a tribute to the pure love of music demonstrated by all of the unwitting contributors and a reminder that even in our seemingly divided world, we are always somehow rhythmic and harmonic collaborators.

Jeanine George '20

Emily Gardiner P’24 (Upper School Dean): I confess that I’ve never read the Margaret Atwood novel The Handmaid’s Tale, which is now top of my summer list. I’ve watched just four episodes [of the Hulu miniseries] and certain images are indelible in my mind — the main character, June, awakens and runs through a half-deserted hospital in a panicked search for her new baby, kidnapped by a delusional woman.

Later, she’s herded into a training school for handmaids, childbearing

vessels for an increasingly barren human race, and we watch in horror as a rebellious fellow student is taken away, tortured, and returned mutilated and broken. Still later, enslaved in a rich couple’s home, June enters the glowing kitchen, where a housekeeper stands over a broad wooden table dusted with flour. That last scene feels like a window into an idyllic past (are we in an Amish or Shaker house?), yet it belongs in a terrifying, repressive future; time collapses. The design is artful, like that in Alfonso Cuarón’s film Children of Men (also based on a premise of human infertility), where the imagined future, down to its smallest details, feels disturbingly linked to current reality. A recent profile of Atwood reveals how she gathered material from her 1980s surroundings—lawmakers’ regulation of female reproduction, institutions’ increasing access to personal data, an Old Testament story about Rachel forcing her servant to bear her child— and extrapolated them forward into a worst-case scenario that is all too believable, underlining a need for vigilance and resistance today. With or without the politics, it’s a beautifully conceived, suspenseful tale. In the second or third episode, June has made a friend and hurries down the walk for her daily errands, looking forward to seeing her. But June doesn’t know that her friend has just been arrested. The chilling close-up reveal of a broad white bonnet turning to show a strange woman’s face, smiling impersonally at June (and us), gave me permanent goosebumps.

P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 4 1

Of Note

ZACH KIMMEL ‘17 AND OLIVIA WHITMER ‘18, STARS OF PIPPIN, COMPETED IN THE ROGER REES AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN MUSICAL THEATER PERFORMANCE

Poly’s Girls Who Code Club, led by advisor Jean Belford, was featured in an article, “7 Amazing Women in Tech You Need to Know,” in the May 2017 issue of Popular Mechanics. The article describes how the 11 girls work on a yearlong project of their choice.

Stephen Chin ’18, Mike Fu ‘17, and Hal Rockwell ’17 were the top scorers on Poly Prep’s New York State Math League team, which finished second in Brooklyn and 24th in New York State. Fu scored a perfect 6 on several of the monthly contests.

ranked fourth nationally and first in the state. Nick’s season of record-breaking tournaments for Poly included coming in first in Interleave (a regional tournament), second in the Villager Invitational, second in the Apple Valley MinneApple Debate Tournament, and third in the New York Invitational. In Middle School Debate, Maxwell Feigelson ‘22 and James Urquhart ‘22 finished as quarterfinalists at the Middle School New York State Championship held at Tech Academy in the Bronx. There were over 60 teams in the event.

Max and James finished in the top eight overall.

Nick DeVito ‘18 finished second in the country at the Catholic 2017 Forensic League National Championship. He finished the season

Olivia Whitmer ‘18 and Zach Kimmel ‘17 competed in the 2017 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Musical Theater Performance,

4 2 T H E B L U E & T H E G R AY

which are given annually to one high school actor and actress from the Greater New York Area. They were nominated to compete for the awards by Ms. Baehr for their roles in Pippin. Olivia Knutsen ‘18 was accepted into the Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Vocal Program and, along with sister Charlotte Knutsen ‘21, appeared in the Brooklyn Youth Chorus production of Aging Magician in March. Olivia Knutson was selected for the NY State School Music Association All-State Chorus in Rochester and was a featured soloist in their December performance. Annabelle Wachtel ‘24 took on the role of Marcy in the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock— The Musical.

Julien Hinz ‘18 broke the 1600-meter Poly Prep school record on June 5 at a track meet at Island Trees High School. He ran 4:21.44. The previous record was held by Hugh Kenny ‘14 at 4:22.23.

James Decker ‘18 and Nick Stratigakis ‘18 won first place in an Upper School Science Olympiad event held in Syracuse. They received their medals at Upper School Chapel.

Lauren Kauppila ‘20 made the 2017 USA Volleyball High Performance Select Continental Team. She was also included as an Honorable Mention in the Frosh 59 list of the best varsity-playing freshmen in America.

Esme Graham ‘18 and Julia Withers ‘17 each won a 2017 Gold Key Award for writing in the New York City Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Tommy Bennett ‘20 received an Honorable Mention award for his photography in the New York City Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

James Decker ‘18 worked as Sound and Lighting Operator in the professional production of Adorno featuring flamenco dancer and Poly teacher Ryan Rockmore at the Teatro Circulo, which was founded by another Poly teacher, Jose Oliveras, in NYC. Poly’s Internship Program facilitated the position for Decker, who can often be found running the light board at Poly’s theater productions.

Isaiah Wilson ‘17, offensive tackle for Poly’s Varsity Football team, was named Mr. Football, New York City, by the New York City Chapter of the National Football Foundation, and QB Robert Deleon-Kollmer ‘17 was selected to the NYC NFF 2017 Elite Eleven Team.

Jennifer Babick ’18, Mia Cerami ’19, Elena Diaz ’19, Alexandra Nava-Baltimore ’20,

STEPHEN CHIN ’18, MIKE FU ‘17, AND HAL ROCKWELL ’17, TOP SCORERS ON POLY PREP’S NEW YORK STATE MATH LEAGUE TEAM

OFFENSIVE TACKLE ISAIAH WILSON ‘17 SIGNED TO PLAY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Jenna Denaver ’20, Alexis Peetz-Alio ’20, Seamus McNulty ’20, and Lane Wilson ‘20, led by Middle School science teacher Linda Aponte P’13 and history teacher Tyler Miller, participated in the Ecology Project International sea turtle ecology program in Costa Rica over Spring Break 2017.

They traveled to the Pacuare Reserve on the Caribbean Coast near Tortuguero National Park, the oldest research and conservation project in the world and the first in Costa Rica. Students studied the rainforest and spent a day conducting authentic field research on butterflies they caught so they could be cataloged and placed into the national museum. But their primary goal was to take a census of the leatherback turtles who came on shore to lay their eggs.

During his work for UN Women, Zach Kimmel ‘17 researched and wrote two documents, one of which, on The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, was published by the United Nations.

Wrestler John Luke DeStefano ‘17 won the NYSAIS State Championship and the Ivy League Tournament five consecutive years and the Mayor’s Cup the for three seasons. He was also named the 2017 Ivy League Tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Poly’s Varsity Wrestling team won the 2017 NYSAIS Wrestling Championship.

Luke Reich ‘20, David Berkovich ‘19, John Luke DeStefano ‘17, Charles Barry ‘19, Liam Harvey ‘18, and Joshua Khoshayev ‘21 all won first place in their respective weight classes.

Swimmer Gabriel Mathews ’17 tied an Ivy League record in the Boys’ 50 Free at 21.25, a new Poly record, at the Ivy League Championships.

Michael Tirone ‘17 placed first in the Boys’ 100 Breaststroke at 59.71, another school record.

Jenna Denaver ‘20 won the 2.5-mile event at the 2017 Ivy League Prep League Cross Country Championships.

Rebecca Reich ‘18 was named a “Distinguished Finalist” among New York State’s Top Volunteers of 2017; she was selected by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards for her work with the Greater Chinatown Community Association.

Poly’s Special Olympics Club took part in a “Polar Plunge” last December. About 15 kids jumped into the ocean water off Staten Island. Their team raised over $2,000.

Four student athletes signed letters of intent on National Signing Day: Chris Cannizzaro ‘18 (Bucknell); Oliver McCarthy ‘18 (Duke); Shanniah Wright ‘18 (Georgetown); Angelo D’Acunto ‘18 (Holy Cross).

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL PLAYER LAUREN KAUPPILA ‘20

Poly girls were the 2016 NYSAIS Cross Country Champions.

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY 2016: TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: COACH ADRIEN RICCI, ALICE CUTTER ‘20, KATHERINE KENNY ‘19, ADELINE KIM ‘17, ELLA KETCHUM ‘17, AVA O’MARA ‘17, JORDAN DENAVER ‘20, JENNA DENAVER ‘20, SHANIA SMITH ‘19, ASSISTANT COACH RICH NOLAN P’08, ‘11; BOTTOM: NOAH KAYE ‘19, IAN WEINMAN ‘19, GABE CANNAVO ‘19, JETT WILLIAMS, JULIAN HINZ, HAL ROCKWELL ‘17, ERIC MUOIO ‘17.

P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 4 3

Faculty Retirements Make a BIG IMPACT on Poly’s Next 100 Years With a Future Gift

KEITH MENDAK

Mike Muska 15 YEARS

LEARN MORE AT POLYPREP.PLANMYGIFT.ORG Donor Advised Funds • Wills & Living Trusts • Beneficiary Designations Charitable Remainder Trusts • Charitable Lead Trusts • IRA Charitable Rollover The Joseph Dana Allen Society recognizes and thanks individuals who make planned gift commitments. Should you choose to include Poly Prep in your will or other estate plans, we would be honored to know of your intentions and have you as a member of our legacy society.

Contact our Director of Gift Planning, Donna Muoio P’13, ‘17, for assistance with finding a charitable plan that lets you provide for your family and support Poly.

Call (718) 836-9800, EXT. 3800 or email dmuoio@polyprep.org

DAN HERWIT

Kate Flahive 22 YEARS

DEAN OF COLLEGE RELATIONS

MATH MIDDLE SCHOOL

Mike Muska came to Poly with a great deal of experience.

He had previously worked in college counseling at Phillips Andover and Milton Academy in the Boston area, in admissions at Brown University, and at Oberlin College as Athletics Director.

Under Mike’s leadership, Poly’s college counseling program became more professional and student-centered. He has long been a well-informed and astute counselor, and a wise resource to teachers and parents. Upper School Dean Emily Gardiner P’24 said, “One of Mike’s great gifts is his ability to make you understand that he believes in you...You just know that he’s in your corner and knows you can do it, whatever ‘it’ may be.”

His tenure at Poly included an increase in the number of our students who apply and are accepted early to college and who were accepted to schools ranked in the U.S. News and World Report Top 50 Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges.

In addition to college counseling, Mike taught a class in American politics at Poly and coached track part time.

Earlier in his career, at Auburn University and Northwestern University, he coached 20 Division I All-Americans, and was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year twice.

Mike, who served as meet director for the Ivy League Track Championship for 15 years, was honored by the Ivy League Coaches for his service.

The 36-year teaching career of Kate Flahive P’04, ’06 has included Grades 5–11, but she found her niche in Grade 6 math during her years at Poly.

Kate’s professional career included public, private, and independent schools, which gave her the opportunity to observe many teaching styles and to use a variety of curricula, technology, and hands-on math manipulatives.

At Poly, Kate helped launch the Grade 5 and 6 Math Olympiad Team. She is very proud that many of her Middle School students go on to major in mathematics in college.

Kate also helped fifth and sixth graders raise funds for cancer research at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital through the Math-a-Thon, an annual community service project. Math teacher Linda Russo said, “Under Ms. Flahive’s leadership, Poly has raised over $210,000, which is absolutely amazing! Thank you to Ms. Flahive for initiating this wonderful event all those years ago.”

Kate once shared her philosophy of teaching: “Children learn best when they’re actively involved in the learning process, when they feel safe and secure in their ability to learn from mistakes, and when they trust that the teacher values and respects them.”

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Faculty Retirements

DAN HERWIT

Gail Karpf 27 YEARS

KEITH MENDAK

Annie Nakos 29 YEARS

DEIRDRE HAZELEY

Pat Morris 30 YEARS

DEIRDRE HAZELEY

Irwin Tawil 36 YEARS

ENGLISH MIDDLE SCHOOL

ENGLISH, LIBRARIAN MIDDLE SCHOOL

FOURTH GRADE LOWER SCHOOL

NURSERY LOWER SCHOOL

English teacher Gail Karpf P’06 came to Poly after 12 years at Brooklyn Friends School—and the birth of her daughter—and remained with us for nearly three decades.

“I have pocketfuls of memories that include the trials of George Milton [from Of Mice and Men], the Bearns Speaking Contest, seventh grade trips to Boston, Greenkill/Camp Mason trips with sixth graders, and the Steinbeck Country trip to California that I chaperoned.”

Middle School English teacher Meredeth Quick shared, “Since my first day at Poly, Gail has been a mentor and friend who has shared her passion and mastery of teaching with me. Gail’s positive energy, love of learning, creativity, and kindness are highlighted each day in the classroom and with her colleagues. Poly will not be the same without her.”

“Whenever I think of Poly, I will remember the people that I call my family. We have celebrated together and cried together and they are priceless,” Gail said. A founding advisor to Poly’s Middle School Girl Up Club, we are happy that she will continue in that role and be an active part of the community.

Anastasia (Annie) Nakos P’94, ’96 found her calling in life through teaching. Her time at Poly was supposed to be temporary—she came as a six-week Middle School substitute —but was asked to stay on. As part of a close-knit group of faculty, Annie enjoyed teaching fifth and sixth grade English for more than 20 years.

As the Middle School librarian for the past six years, Annie picked out books to support Middle School curricula and special history and English projects. She selected and invited famed writers to Poly’s popular Middle School Author visits and also shared her Greek culture at the annual Rienzi poetry showcase.

Annie once said that “young people with their spirit, vitality, and youth, give my life ‘zoei’— a Greek word that translates into a sense of joy for living.”

Fluent in three languages, Annie loves to travel with her family, especially to Greece. She also enjoys cooking and baking for large family events. She looks forward to renovating her home in Florida, where she and her husband, Peter, will spend more time. They plan to travel more and just celebrate “zoei” with their family.

Pat Morris was a teacher for 40 years, most of them spent at Poly’s Lower School, where she made life-lasting impressions on her charges. Indeed, former students often returned to visit her in the classroom at Poly to chat and let her know how they were doing in college and in their careers.

Morris was a philosophy major as an undergraduate at St. Peter’s College and, even with fourth graders, the heart of her teaching was asking essential questions. What can we know? How can we lead a good life?

Morris has a love and passion for teaching and for her students. Words and books are her other passions. She once said, “I’m Irish and the love of language and the value of a good story are encoded in my DNA. I try to instill in my students an appreciation for great literature and how to write well and persuade others with wisdom and wit.”

At a 25th anniversary celebration, Lower School administrator Pat Harrigan said of Pat Morris, “Her students respect her not only for her knowledge, but her treatment of them as individuals. Her colleagues respect her for her willingness to share her knowledge, innovative ideas, her interest in technology, support, and her sense of humor.”

Irwin Tawil P’08 worked in the field of early childhood education for more than four decades and was one of the first men nationally to graduate with an M.A. in parent and infant development from Bank Street College. Early in his career, Irwin worked in a variety of settings including Project Head Start, Friends School, and the Woodward Park School, which became our Lower School.

A warm and welcoming presence, Irwin always put his students’ needs first. His teaching revolved around the importance of play and the social emotional as well as preliteracy and emergent math skills that children glean from such experiences. Assistant Head of Lower School Alison Flannery said we were lucky to have Irwin, a wonderful teacher and strong advocate, at Poly: “When you walked into Irwin’s classroom, children were happily playing with a box they had turned into a boat, a guitar made out of cardboard, or the nature world that he had created. Children in his class could tell you all about Jamaica Bay from the birds and fish that reside there to the cycle of tides.”

A lifelong naturalist, Irwin enjoys outdoor activities such as photography, canoeing, kayaking, and hiking. He left a permanent mark on our community and we look forward to hearing all about his new adventures.

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Commencement Blaise Behar ’17, Audrey Bell ’17, and Martha Bennett ’17

Alrick Shaw ’17 and Jared Lindo ’17 pose for photos as new Poly graduates.

CLASS of 2017

Janet McAllister ’17 receives her diploma.

4 8 T H E B L U E & T H E G R AY

Hal Rockwell ’17 is the senior class speaker.

Blossom Parris ’17 shakes hands with Mr. Bazdukas P’20 and Mr. Bernieri ’85, P’16, ’19

Adia Gist ’17 and Anna Garcia ’17 walk to their Commencement seats.

Tuka Mousa ’17 is recognized.

Alex Chertoff ’17, Stephen Chin ’17, Megan Coll ’17, and Nicolas Constantinesco ’17 clap for their peers.

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Class Notes

2017 Alumni Honorees

as of July 19, 2017

Each year, Poly Prep’s Board of Governors honors alumni on Special Reunion Day to recognize outstanding graduates for their exceptional personal and professional achievements and contributions to society. Congratulations to our 2017 Alumni Award honorees.

DISTINGUIS H E D

D I ST I N G U I S H E D

SCHOOL

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

S E RV I C E AWA RD

Dr. Neil Schluger ’77 is Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Medical Center and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

Dr. Schluger’s career began at Bellevue Hospital at the height of New York City’s tuberculosis epidemic in the 1990s. He worked closely with the New York City Department of Health to craft a public health response. In a landmark study in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2002, he described the dynamics of tuberculosis transmission in New York City, a paper that had major implications for tuberculosis control efforts in the U.S. As an active clinical investigator in tuberculosis for over 20 years, Dr. Schluger has served as principal investigator in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC) since its inception. He is also engaged in epidemiology studies examining risks for drug-susceptible and drug-resistant tuberculosis in Kazakhstan with colleagues at Mailman and Columbia’s Global Health Research Center for Central Asia.

Dr. Schluger is a founder and director of the East Africa Training Initiative, a project to train pulmonary physicians in Ethiopia, and author of over 150 scientific publications.

Dr. Schluger is married to Dr. Leona Kim and they have four children: Aaron, Benjamin, Julia, and Joseph.

Richard Snedeker ’47 hails from a Poly family including his father, Leonard Snedeker, Class of 1897, and brothers George, Class of 1931, and Leonard, Class of 1927.

After completing Fifth Form, Snedeker was drafted in 1945 and served a year in the Navy. He returned to Poly to graduate with the Class of 1947. He earned a B.S. in aeronautical engineering in 1951 and an M.S. in 1961 at Princeton University.

After graduation, Snedeker worked as an editor and illustrator of aeronautical engineering books at Princeton University Press and taught engineering drawing at Princeton. This led to a 40year career as a research engineer with Aeronautical Research Associates of Princeton, Inc. and senior consultant at Titan Corporation. He retired in 1997.

During his career, Snedeker participated in significant scientific studies in the fields of fluid dynamics and high velocity impact. He gave technical seminars and papers at symposiums, published in professional journals, and was granted five U.S. patents for inventions.

A runner at Poly, Snedeker was captain of the cross country team at Princeton and ran competitively in masters events until age 70.

Snedeker, who reached the age of 90 on April 14, is especially proud of his children and grandchildren, including daughters Mary and Amy and son Jim. His wife, Mary Ellen, passed away four years ago.

Frank T. Strafaci ’67 has practiced law for more than 40 years in Bay Ridge and has been an active member of the local philanthropic community.

After graduating from Poly in 1967, Strafaci earned a B.S. from Boston University in 1971 and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law in 1974.

Strafaci’s practice includes wills, trusts and estates, real estate, corporate representation, business, and finance.

Strafaci served as Vice Chairman of the Decedents’ Estate Section & Surrogates’ Court Committee, Voluntary Arbitrator and Continuing Legal Education Lecturer for the Brooklyn Bar Association. He was an active member of the New York State Bar Association, Columbian Lawyers’ Association, and Bay Ridge Lawyers’ Association.

In service to the Bay Ridge community, Strafaci was an Ambassador for the Guild for Exceptional Children; member of the Board of Advisors for the Salvation Army; trustee for Maimonides Hospital; 20-year member of the Kiwanis Club; and past member of Poly’s Alumni Board of Governors. Strafaci also served as Co-Chairman of the annual Thomas D. Strafaci Memorial Golf Outing and Chairman of the Bensonhurst Volunteer Ambulance Service. Strafaci is also Past President, Director, and Lecturer of the Bay Ridge Real Estate Board.

Strafaci has been married to Irene for more than 40 years and they have a daughter, Ariella.

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1940s 1943 Stu Hodes is living in a community of senior citizens in the slow lane now; no longer foreign assignments or residences. He says contacts with Poly classmates stopped after the passing of Ross Socolof, who lived close enough to exchange occasional visits. Visits to Poly for three reunions renewed contacts with Jim McLellan and Walter Bobrow. “My Poly education was highly instrumental in my professional career. Twenty years’ residence and working in Spanish-speaking countries was made possible by the basic language I learned in Mr. Emmett Routt’s class; our summer home in France aided by courses from Messrs. Coan and Desme for the French language (not to mention Mr. Desme for the photographic skill). Physics and chemistry with Fred Tuttle, English with Harry Meislahn and Dr. Kastendieck, all the math classes with Messrs. Miller and Scoboria, and history with Mr. Van Vleck, later Dr. Van Vleck. The wonderful years at Poly prepared me for later life, which included three WW II years in New Guinea and the Philippines, four years at Yale, and on to a long career with Chemical Division of Mobil Oil Corp., including five years in the U.S. and 35 years overseas in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands, and France. I still consider my Poly years as the most instrumental in helping me achieve an adventurous and wonderful life.”

1946 Roy Fidler is an architectural tour docent at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Marin County Civic Center. This is the largest and last of Wright’s designs. His role is particularly gratifying this year, the 150th anniversary of Wright’s birth. Roy is also a nature docent at China Camp State Park, and volunteer mediator in the County District Attorney’s office.

Illustration by Brittany Jones ‘20

’42 ’47

’52

’57

Class of 1942 and 1947 Back row: James Blundell, Jr. ‘47, Richard Snedeker ‘47. Front row: Ralph Schlossman ‘47, William Farren ‘42, Nathan Brandt, Jr. ‘47. Class of 1952 Donald Zarou (d), Herbert Abrams. Class of 1957 Back row: George Malin, Clifford Bernstein.

Front row: Victor Reich, Peter Siviglia.

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Class Notes 1947 Joseph McElroy presented a talk on censorship at a university in Kiev, Ukraine, in May 2017. His novel, Cannonball, has been translated and the third edition of Women and Men comes out this fall. He did research at Easter Island this past April for a long-inprogress nonfiction book on water to be completed this fall.

1948 Dr. Hugo Freudenthal and his wife of 62 years, Anita, retired in Florida after careers as marine biology professors and environmental scientists. They have two children, six grandchildren, and one greatgrandchild.

1950s 1950 Robert Briskman was inducted into the International Astronautics Federation Hall of Fame in September at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia. This was Robert’s fifth Hall of Fame award for satellite development. ▶ Arnold Tolkin says, “We recently moved and we are now living in North Palm Beach, FL. We are still very active and enjoying life to its fullest.”

1951 Peter Malkin and his wife, Isabel, are well and living happily in an apartment in downtown Greenwich.

Their children and 10 grandchildren are all well and all beyond college. Peter is

now Chair Emeritus of Lincoln Center and three BIDs he founded. He says he is happy with the excellent new Head of School of Poly and wishes best to all.

1953 Eugene M. Wheeler, Jr., whose nickname at Poly was “Tut,” is now living in Vero Beach, FL, where Peter Hammer lives and Jim Crawford is a seasonal resident. Eugene has 13 grandchildren and six greats and now spends his time attending weddings and graduations. He visited Bowdoin in June for his 60th to be followed at Poly next year for his class’s 65th.

Eugene plays tennis 5-6 days a week plus an occasional round of golf. He plans to visit Cuba in the fall to see the Pilar, Ernest Hemingway’s fishing boat, which his Dad’s company (Wheeler Shipyards) built in Brooklyn in 1934, not far from Poly. Eugene had a weaving mill in New Hampshire, which produced ribbons and trimming products, but sold that in 2003 so he could keep up the tennis game that was built at Poly in the ’50s. ▶ Bob Harwood didn’t think he would make it to Special Reunion 2017 but was going to Williams for a 60th reunion. “Most organ systems are working well, but I developed a foot drop following back surgery last June and require a brace for comfortable walking, but this has severely limited my hiking. Hope everyone else is doing well.” ▶ Bruce Bernstein says he has been working around a torn rotator cuff, but a few years of Pilates has him back swimming. He was diagnosed with

’62

left ventricular outflow valve obstruction. “It has me short of breath at times, and lightheaded if I get up suddenly after sitting a while...but apparently there is no treatment for it at our age.” He has been in touch with John O’Neil’s ’53 widow, Mary, in Hilton Head, NC. ▶ Howard Jaffe sends his regard to all! ▶ Paul Zola says he had lunch with Bill Gershell ’53 at Mt. Sinai, where they have weekly seminars, and he seemed fine and as full of ideas and as active as ever.

1956 George Marks says, in April, he and Bette flew to Canada, rented a van, and traveled for three weeks. “It was a beautiful time of the year in Canada.

The mountains still had tons of snow, the lakes were starting to thaw, and the roads were clear. We visited Vancouver, Whistler, Kamloops, Jasper, Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, Red Deer and Calgary.” ▶ Robert Shear says, “My education at Poly Prep was superior to my college and law school education.

I am blessed to be an alumnus.”

1954 Dr. Eugene Flamm is still active in neurosurgery as Chairman at Albert Einstein and Montefiore Medical Center. He is also involved with antiquarian books at the Grolier Club as the immediate past president and as the Vice-President of the Association Internationale de Bibliophilie.

Grandkids Abbey and Charlie are doing great at Packer. ▶ Alan Kane moved down to FL in June. He plays golf and tennis and loves the weather. He would like to hear from his classmates, especially those living in Florida!

1957 E. Clifford Lazzaro, M.D., F.A.C.S., says, “As we were saying on that day in the spring of 1957 when we sang Gaudeamus Igitur at Poly, ‘Life is Good.’” He is married to Nicoletta and they have five sons and daughtersin-law, and 14 grandchildren, “our finest accomplishments.” Three sons are attorneys and two are physicians.

The Lazzaros established the Olga and Emanuel Lazzaro scholarship fund for SUNY Downstate Medical students with economic need and the Nicoletta and E. Clifford Lazzaro Fund for Literature dealing with the Italian contribution to civilization at the Bobst Library of NYU. Highlights of his professional career include becoming Chief of Ophthalmology at the Lutheran Medical Center, establishing the Lazzaro Eye Center in Brooklyn, NY, Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Alpha Omega Alpha faculty member, and author of some peer-reviewed papers in journals of

1955 Harry Petchesky says Charlie and Irene Hamm ’55 hosted a joint 80th birthday celebration on May 25.

Tim Day, Ted Fuller, Tom Rieger (a child of 79) and I attended with our wives, Sandy, Mary, Anna, and Jill.

Our sumptuous feast was seasoned by memories of our good years at Poly, which began for me in the First Form and for everyone else in the fifth grade.

’67

Class of 1962 Back row: Richard Jensen, Huburt Hochman, Robert Shack. Front row: Sal Cumella ‘69, Jay Springer,

ophthalmology, and a soon-to-bepublished chapter on sympathetic ophthalmia in an ocular trauma textbook from SUNY Downstate.

He was Chair of the admissions committee of the SUNY Downstate Dept. of Ophthalmology for some 20 years.

One of his proudest honors was being made Knight Commander of the Holy Order of St. Gregory the Great by St. Pope John Paul the II. The Lazzaros are residents of Bal Harbour, FL, and maintain a residence in Monmouth Beach, NJ. Eugene sends best wishes to the Class of 1957 on the occasion of their 60-year celebration.

1958 Mark L. Groothuis is retired and living in Delray Beach, FL. Mark has been in touch with lots of “old” Poly alumni. He played golf with John Sands; had lunch with John, Alan Bender, and Marv Lerman; and had lunch with the two greatest all-around athletes Poly’s ever had, Chuck Kaufman and John Malhame, at Chuck’s house (he lives down here, too). Mark had lunch with Howie Siegel at his club in West Palm Beach and spoke to Paul Kraus. Although Dr. Steve (“Gawk”) Weinstock lives on the Florida West Coast, Mark says, “He’s worth the trip!” Steve Strick lives down the street from Mark. Dr. Joel Schram is community treasurer. Mark has run into Ira Turret and Andy Solomon on the golf course, “but they’re just kids!” Joe Siegel sponsored a terrific Poly dinner at his club. Mark adds,

“I’m supposed to get a new knee” and sends “love to all!” ▶ Dr. Edward Jeffer only spent six weeks seeing patients in Galax, VA, and St. Simon’s Island. He did visit Afghanistan, Turkey, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain and 50th medical school reunion at the Ojai Inn. ▶ Alan Newman has had some medical issues in the last year but things seem to be getting a bit better with time. He and Ali are seriously considering selling the house and moving to Boynton Beach, where she can be near her remaining family and her best friend. “Looking forward to attending our 60th reunion next April!” ▶ Anthony Valerio says it was “unlikely that I would become a writer and teacher at three universities,” but classmates can check out his books at his website, anthonyvalerio.com. ▶ Dr. Stephen P. Hersh has been living in Maryland for 45 years, but with two of their four grown children and five of the seven grandchildren nearby. “My wife and I find our interest in things keeps expanding, despite being physically slowed down. Four years ago I stopped direct patient care, but I am still working on cutting edge areas of clinical research as medical advisor to a foundation. I must admit that eight years of education at Poly contributed greatly to my sense of discipline and responsibility combined with gut-level belief in exercise, which I continue. My warmest best wishes to all surviving classmates.”

’72

David Corwin, John DiGiovanna. Class of 1967 Back row: Alan Schulman, Robert Jabara, Lawrence Pincus, David Lapovsky, Paul Garcia, Richard Garcia, Scott Miller.

Third row: Keith Humphry, James Hennessy, Frank Baron, Joel Mandelbaum, Philip Abrami, Richard Voegele, Jeffrey Baloutine. Second row: Howard Wagner, Charles Dennis, Edward Schoenfeld, Richard Lutz. Front row: Robert Shelala ‘03, Bruce Katz, Robert Shelala ‘68, Frank Strafaci, Stephen Forman, Stephen Farer, Stephen Ellman.

Class of 1972 Back row: James Allen, Doug Miller, Rollin Bush, John Beneke, John Madden, Frederick Oberlander. Middle row: Bruce Doll, Brian Holton, James Wynn, Kevin Goldman, Robert Couri, James Sheehan.

Front row: David Lewis, Jerrold Newman, Dean Manis, Robert Gumer, David Troyansky, Steven Youngentob.

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Class Notes 1959 Fred Angelo says he is “still living the deplorable life—guns, Bible, golf, fishing—60th fast approaching; who’s left? Let’s hear!” ▶ Dr. David Lichtman recently retired as academic orthopaedic department chair, but still continues to teach, edit, and lecture. In 2017, he published another textbook on wrist surgery and received the “Pioneer in Hand Surgery” award from the International Federation for Surgery of the Hand. “Frankie and I plan to attend our class reunion in ’19. See you then!”

1960s 1960 Dr. Julian Ferayorni is enjoying retirement in Milton, GA, with his wife, Elizabeth. His two children are doing well and each has two children. He still keeps in touch with some classmates but would like to hear from others.

1961 Paul Feinstein and Martha spent the winter in Florida, so this year’s Class lunch was held in Naples, FL, where Dick Linn arranged a spectacular beach setting. “Let’s hope we can all get together next year.” ▶ Peter Richtmyer says it was great to see Francis Love ’61 at Shootout for Soldiers Boston again in June. Peter has been enjoying tennis, lacrosse, running, bridge, sudoku, Red Sox, and family.

1962 Dr. Bob Mitchell’s memoir about his recent heart transplant, Time

for a Heart-to-Heart, was published in September with a foreword by Larry King. Bob currently resides in Carlsbad, CA, with his wife, Susan Ellen Love, an artist. ▶ Daniel Marlin continues writing poetry and painting in Berkeley, CA, as well as working in the antinuclear and anti-war movements. His publications include Isaiah at the Wall: Palestine Poems and Amagasaki Sketchbook: Art from Japan. ▶ Dr. Stephen Green is enjoying “semi-retirement” since moving to Northern Virginia eight years ago. He is practicing part time in two area hospitals one week a month and enjoying five grandkids in Nevada and Virginia. Would love to see any classmates in the area of NOVA or D.C. 1963 John Nilsen (Schwartz) worked for IBM and Lockheed Martin. Then he was a successful real estate broker in Reston, VA. “We now split time between homes in Ashburn, VA, and Venice, FL.” They have four children and 10 grandchildren.

Two recently graduated from the Naval Academy. “Our passion now is travel. Recently took daughters and granddaughters to Norway for 14 days.”

1964 Gerald Fierst’s new illustrated book, Imagine the Moon, was released in May. Now he is working on a planetarium show. Shelley and Ken Gliedman helped him start a program using storytelling with special needs children after we met and talked at Robert Herzog’s book party for his wonderful sci-fi novel. ▶ Robert Herzog’s dystopian novel, A World

’77

Between, was selected as a Barnes & Noble Daily Nook Daily Find.

1965 Richard Rubin moved back to NYC from sunny Florida for business reasons, so he should attend more Poly functions now. He is deeply involved in Gay Pride of Staten Island activities and that helps pass the time in his semiretirement. If you want to chat or know more about his career and life, just look Richard up on Facebook. ▶ Lou Vigorita says that after 40 years, he is “finally winding down my law practice.” Lou and Rosemary will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. “I am enjoying the continuing camaraderie flowing from our Poly 50th reunion on our Facebook page. Fun stories from Rich Segal, Rob Ratzan, Rich Rubin, and others. Classmates check it out at Poly Class of 1965 50th reunion page.” ▶ Patrick Burger moved to Myrtle Beach in April 2016 and is enjoying the sun and sand while continuing to work on creating fused glass jewelry and other ornaments. ▶ Roger Heymann celebrated the wedding of his son, Sean, an investment banker in LA. Daughter Lauren has a fashion consulting business. Son Monte, who has autism, is doing well in a group home in Silver Spring, MD. 1967 Richard Lutz has lived and worked in the UK for more than four decades and, after a career in TV journalism, now runs a media consultancy company in Britain and writes online. ▶ Paul Garcia goes to SE Asia every winter

’82

and teaches English in Vietnam and Cambodia. One day he will finish his murder mystery novel that is set in Thailand and Myanmar. He has two sons, Matthew and Tom. The former works with the rail network in the UK and the latter is a journalist based in New York and resides not far from where Richard lived in his early days.

His wife, Jane, is a retired professor.

“We have two homes, in Birmingham and in Scotland, and split our time between the two. My brother Bill (’70), who still may hold the school record for the quickest varsity wrestling pin, lives in Monterey, CA, and has recently retired. The 50th reunion was the first time I have returned to the Poly grounds since graduation day in June 1967.” ▶ Jim Hennessy says the day after the 50th reunion at Poly, he headed to London for the month of May to research a novel. His daughter, Kerry, a costume designer in LA, joined him in Hastings. “We worked our way along the south of England, all the way out to Penzance on the Cornish coast. Very productive, and a great way to begin retirement!”

1969 Richard Rosenblum says that instead of retirement to golf, he has become a movie producer and script writer. “Kudos to Doc K [Kastendieck] for all his wisdom. Just finished a full feature script and moving on to other projects.” ▶ Dr. Sal Cumella says he had the pleasure of assisting with Frank Strafaci’s ’67 50th Poly Alumni Reunion at Dyker Beach Golf Club.

Class of 1977 Back row: Patrick LoRusso, Henry Camuso, Michael Barrett, Guy Mangano, Luke Palladino. Middle row: Richard Jacobs, Ted Sloan, Neil Schluger, David Kochman. Front

“It was fabulous! I have great ideas for our reunion when the time arrives.

Also looking forward to visiting Eric Miller ’69 at his B+B (Journey Inn) in Hyde Park.” ▶ Eric Miller and his girlfriend, Valerie, recently celebrated their fourth anniversary as full-time proprietors of the Journey Inn Bed & Breakfast in the Hudson Valley.

1970s 1971 Dr. Martin Kafina recently received an Alumni Achievement Award in Immunology at his 35-year reunion at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine.

His family enjoyed the reunion gala at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott.

1972 Paul Malluk says he became the Artistic Director of The Speeding Theatre Las Vegas in December 2016. This year they are doing a season of Tennessee Williams plays, including a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Paul as Big Daddy, in October. ▶ Kevin Goldman, a former journalist for The New York Times, Variety, Newsday, and The Wall Street Journal, is now a senior director at APCO Worldwide, a public affairs, corporate communications agency, and is based in New York.

1974 Dr. Robert Rogers has been added to the board of the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants.

1975 Dr. Glen Herman is an anesthesiologist and is running an Ambulatory Surgery Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He has been married for 10 years and has three children. Glen is a sailor, windsurfer, and the “only Jewish redneck out in the Everglades.”

He says, “I still cannot believe Poly went co-ed after I graduated!” ▶ Reverend Kenneth Simurro and his wife moved to a rural village in Upstate NY last November. ▶ Paul Presti retired after 27 years from the NYC Department of Education and accepted the position of NYC Regional Director of Virtual Enterprise International, Inc. “Since I have not retired from active ministry in the Lutheran Church, I was called to a congregation nearby and thus take up once more the vocation I love.”

Each of Paul’s three sons has celebrated the birth of their first child this year, so he is now the proud grandfather of two girls and a boy.

1976 Mark Ettlinger sends best regards to all of the Poly Prep community! “Carpe Diem... May all this be real lest life be just a dream.

If real or dream, let it be glorious!”

1977 Henry Camuso says “It was great to see so many friends at our 40th, especially Neil Schluger, who I haven’t seen since graduation. Let’s hope we all don’t wait another 40 years before we do it again. I am proudly adding another Poly alum to the rolls, as my daughter, Katie, graduates as a member of the class of 2017.”

’87

row: George Spessot, Edward Katz, Michael Paolillo, Robert Morici. Class of 1982 Back row: William Cosidente, Sal Varano, Glenn Fjermedal, Peter Sperry. Middle row: David Zarou, Cynthia Ornsby, Lori Ferrera, Rose Sgarlato. Front row: Lisa Grieco, Caroline Grasso, Tom Iannelli, Teena Grutman, Lisa Attanasi. Class of 1987 Back row: Gabrielle Roventini, Catherine Curley, Rob Sabbagh, Andrew Porandman, Geoffrey Tashjian. Middle row: Michael Correra, Glenn Arbitman, Sam Perlman, Elizabeth Lionetti, Jamal Hayden, Laith Jazrawi. Front row: Robert Minutello, Sabrina Tanbara, Kimberly Minarovich, Rachel Reich, Armin Tehrany, Heather Harlan.

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Class Notes 1979 Jeffrey Bamonte continues to lead the commercial sales organization at Novocure. Marissa attends the College of Charleston in SC, where she is a member of their #1 nationally ranked sailing team. Lauren is graduating from the Moses Brown School in Providence, RI, and will be attending George Washington University in D.C. this fall.

1980s 1983 Michael Viola enjoys working as a Master for the Family Court in Philadelphia adjudicating child custody matters. He and his husband have been together for almost 18 years and have been married for almost four of those years. ▶ Gregg Kaye and Christa recently finalized the adoption of their third child, Elizabeth Summer, who has been with the family since the age of two days.

Elizabeth (4) joins brother Gordon (8) and Leondra (17).

1984 Dr. Cheryl Goren Robins currently practices as a periodontist in Millburn, NJ. She is also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry at NYU. In July, Cheryl was named to New Jersey Monthly magazine’s list of Top Dentists in NJ for the ninth consecutive year.

Class of 1992 Back row: Keith Arbitman, Marc Savino, Corey Modeste, Charles Topp, Ronald Minutello, Christopher Tuccillo, Damion Sanders. Third row: Todd Vitolo, James Schultz,

1986 Gabrielle Scarpaci works to meet the needs of the working poor and seniors in East Hampton, NY. For the past 11 years, she has been working as a tenant specialist to help fill the needs of her neighbors in East Hampton, where there is a 500-person waiting list for units in the Windmill Village senior housing development.

1987 Ken Hall lives in Jamaica, NY, with his wife, Nancy, a Procurement Analyst for the City of New York and owner of Nancy Fancy Weddings & Events. Ken is the Information Technology Asset Manager at the law firm of Rosicki, Rosicki, & Associates in Plainview, NY. ▶ Dr. Armin Tehrany continues to mentor Poly students and alumni through the pre-medical internship program. He recently was inducted as an Honorary Orthopedic Surgeon for the NYPD. His second film, Thirst Street, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. ▶ Kimberly Minarovich was inspired by her love of Italy to found Luxury Italian Tours and focuses on custom trips for couples and families.

1989 Christopher Richardson, DO, FACOS was named Trauma Medical Director at Rochester General Hospital in Rochester, NY.

1991 Chris Davenport reports on defense and the commercialization of the space industry for The Washington Post.

He is author of As You Were: To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard.

community to know that more than 14 years after surviving a near-death car accident, and recovering from a severely debilitating traumatic brain injury, he graduated from SUNY Empire State College with a degree in Finance in June. Biesty, who still lives in Bay Ridge, has also found time to be involved with the Boys’ Basketball Program at Poly since 2010-11.

1992 Jennifer Rice is working at ZipSocket with founder and brother Andrew Kunz ’90.

2000s

1990s

1996 Major Bryon Linnehan (New York Army National Guard) sends his very best from Baghdad to all Blue Devils everywhere. He says he is “Carrying with me the fight of Poly.”

1997 Tara Anant-Kando and her husband, Rich Kando ’97, live in Maplewood, NJ, with Nicholas (7) and Amelia (4). Rich is a Managing Director at AlixPartners in New York and Tara is a residential interior decorator at Tara K. Interiors. They enjoy seeing their Poly friends and, of course, Rich’s sister, Christine (Kando) Szabo ’93 and her family.

1999 Lauren Sapega Akinmusuru traveled to Cuba with Leslie Grinage in celebration of her completion of her Ed.D. in higher education leadership and policy degree from Vanderbilt University. Leslie is also the Associate Dean of Students at Davidson College. ▶ Sean Biesty wants the Poly

’92

2000 Joe Seggio explored Antarctica on a National Geographic trip he and his wife enjoyed last December.

“Antarctica is the last truly undisturbed and pristine environment left on earth,” he says. Joe is a neuroscientist and physiologist who studies the effects of biological clock or circadian (daily light) disruption on alcoholism and type-2 diabetes at Bridgewater State University (MA).

2001 Nick Teich is the founder of Harbor Camps, offering overnight camp experiences in New Hampshire and California for special populations.

In the camp off-season, he lives in the Boston area with his wife, Erika. They welcomed their first child, Rebecca, in December 2016. ▶ Sydette Harry has been working with the Coral Project on creating open source tools for community journalism. She recently spoke at a meeting of the New York

Independent School Technologists about independent schools, immigration, tech, and privilege. ▶ Rolando Mathias is a digital product designer, living and working in Stockholm, Sweden. His portfolio is at http://rolandomathi.as.

2002 Daniel Green relaunched Green Sports Management in January of 2017 as Founder and CEO. He is engaged to Anna C. Barahona, LPN. 2003 Susan Sapega Randall received summa cum laude for her Ph.D. from Australian Catholic University. She is the first ACU student in several years to receive this award. Her Ph.D. investigated aging and prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to carry out future intentions.

A key focus of Susan’s research was to explain the well-known age-PM paradox whereby older adults perform more poorly than younger adults on laboratory-based PM tasks, but by contrast perform better on PM tasks set in everyday life, often outperforming younger adults in this naturalistic context. Susan’s mother, Director of Advancement Maureen Sapega P’99, ’03, ’07, traveled to Australia for Susan’s graduation.

2004 Max Rose is a Democratic candidate for New York’s 11th congressional district. He is the first post-9/11 combat vetern of the Wars in Irag and Afghanistan to seek office in New York City. He lives in Staten

’97

Island with his fiancée Leigh. You can learn more about his campaign at maxroseforcongress.com.

2005 Elisabeth Santana has been running her floral company, ES Blooms, since 2013. She services clientele in the events, residential, and hospitality industries, both in Manhattan and the Hamptons. One of her most exciting projects was designing floral decor for the June 2017 Polo Hamptons event in Southampton, NY. ▶ Sammy Jacobs lives in Indianapolis and has been covering Indiana University football as a credentialed media member since 2014. He is a regular on The Big Ten Network’s BTN Live during football season. Sammy owns and operates HoosierHuddle.com. ▶ Jabari Brisport ran for office in 2017, City Council, in Brooklyn’s 35th District. ▶ John Roelofs moved back to New York after 12 years away and now works for a Manhattan ad agency writing television commercials for Adidas.

2006 Amanda Boston received a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship to support her final year of dissertation writing on the racial operations of post-1970 gentrification in Brooklyn. Amanda is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University. ▶ Eva Lipiec transitioned to work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after a year on a Knauss Fellowship with the House of Representatives Natural Resources

’02

Kristine Donnelly-Schoen, Matt Roventini, Deana DiDio Waddell, Albert Tylis, Richard Naddeo. Second row: Angelika Shein, Debra Vaccarino Burns, Marieke Kearns, Meredith Basile, Angela Deleo Melkonian. Front row: Victoria DeLuca Fitzgerald, Melanie Block, Suzanne Veronesse, Patricia Nunez Strid. Class of 1997 Back row: Sean Fields, Ralph Maldari, Johnny Arnouk, Alfred Cazeau, Anthony Rivera, Keith Foss, Kenton Williams. Third row: Mark Vitale, Alexandra Kulick, Amber Shedwell, Shruti Ramesh, Jason Daras. Second row: Justine Giordano, Heather Perry, Julia Tejani, Pacale Shammas, Dean Katsoros, Heather Sewell, David Yorio. Front row: Richard Kando, Tara Anant Kando, Christina Pili, Costas Marinakis. Class of 2002 Back row: Elias Haymandos, Christian Zaino, Matt Keller. Middle row: Vera Chernomordik, Victoria Perotta Keller, Sarah Pampilonia, Frank Nasso, Grace O’Dowd. Front row: Jonathan Poracci, Donald Swartwood.

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Class Notes

Obituaries

Committee. Life has gotten a bit more colorful with the addition of Lulu, a rescue mutt who loves to chase (and catch!) the local rodent population.

Give Eva a shout if you’re in D.C.!

and is now working in an emergency management role with the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

2007 Andrew Schrijver started the M.S. Real Estate Development at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) this spring.

Expected Graduation: May 2018. He is focused on community-oriented development through the preservation/ restoration and reactivation of historic buildings in the Hudson River Valley. ▶ Ross Barkan was honored on June 5 by the New York Press Club for outstanding Commentary for “Ross Barkan Village Voice Commentary” in the Village Voice. The New York Press Club award is for distinguished newspaper commentary and honors a series of 10 pieces written on local and national politics.

2010s

2008 Kate Newman was a first place winner of the Henry Ford Foundation’s Teacher Innovator Awards.

2009 Park Cannon got the statewide Dept. of Public Health to upgrade their HIV clinic protocols! ▶ Nicholas Sorrentino graduated from Fordham Law School in May of 2016 and was officially admitted to the NY Bar in May 2017. He is currently practicing law as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York. ▶ Kathryn Lhota graduated from Georgetown University

2010 William Hochman made his Off-Broadway debut in the world premiere of Dead Poets Society. He is currently making his Broadway debut in The Little Foxes. ▶ Matthew Choi began working as a brand strategist at Droga5, an award-winning ad agency in downtown Manhattan. ▶ Fatouseck Primus, a dancer and choreographer, spent four-and-a-half months in Senegal and has begun putting together a production, Xew ci: A Senegalese Wedding, which illustrates the joining of two tribes in marriage.

Xew ci uses traditional movement songs and rhythms to discuss how we maintain our different cultural identities within shared spaces.

The show took place December 2017. ▶ Lauren Boulbol and Nick Giordano graduated with honors from Brooklyn Law School in May 2017. ▶ Corinne Cathcart is Production Manager of Digital Livestream for ABC News.

in recognition of her extraordinary service to the students, administrators, and faculty of the school. Tara will begin her career working at Kobalt Music in their Business Affairs department. ▶ Janelle Jack is currently pursuing a Master’s of Education in Elementary Education and Special Education at Lehigh University, where she completed her undergraduate degree. Janelle also holds a USA Rugby Coaching certification.

firsthand knowledge of that then-peaceful part of the world. Charles was for many years a professor at Downstate and was the founding chair of the family practice department there, a position he held until his retirement. He also maintained an active private practice and was beloved by his patients. As part of his lifelong commitment to improving the lives of others, Charles took the older two of his three sons to join the 1965 Selma to Montgomery civil rights march with Dr. Martin Luther King. Charles is survived by his wife, Lucille; their sons, Dick (Judy), Tom (Cathy Klion), and Bob (Sue); grandchildren Martha (Kyle) Ingols and Mike Plotz, David and Joanna Plotz, and Ben, John, and Mike Plotz; and great-granddaughter Rose Ingols.

2014 Drew Lewis interned at the National Center for State Courts in Arlington, VA, through Poly’s Internship Program. Keith Fisher ’71 facilitated the internship at the NCSC, where he is Principal Consultant & Senior Counsel, Domestic and International Court Initiatives.

SAVE THE DATE! SPECIAL REUNION APRIL 28, 2018

2013 Tara Muoio recently graduated cum laude from NYU Steinhardt’s Music Business Program. Upon graduation, she was the recipient of Steinhardt’s Ida Bodman Service Award

Illustration by Kassidi Cheng ‘17

Class of 2007 Back row: Grant Levine, Daniel Dimant, Alex Donnenfeld, Ryan Hyland, David Weiss, AJ Ventura. Third row: Elizabeth May, Lisa Shushkovsky, Lara Atallah,

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’12

1930s

Candice Clark, Meghan Manning, Sena Ito, Julie Little. Second row: Julie Novack, Xiomara Trotman, Christina Sapega, Gina Camuso, ThanaAshley Charles, Gabrielle DeAllie, Brooke Murray. Front row: Kathleen Boardman, Deana Belvedere, Samantha Prince, Nadia Ahmed, Alysa Delerme, Vera Shekhets.

Class of 2012 Back row: Silvana Kreines, Isabella Luksh, Olivia Atlas, Ben Smith, Joe Saputo.

Front row: Danielle Kovarsky, Glorie Parris, Arianne Connell, Lily Wacker, Ashley Greaves.

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Dr. Charles Plotz ’37 died peacefully at home on November 20, 2016, surrounded by his family. Charles Mindell Plotz was born December 6, 1921, in New York, son of Dr. Isaac Israel and Rose Celia (Bluestone) Plotz. He graduated from Columbia College at 19 and received his M.D. degree from Long Island College of Medicine (now SUNY Downstate Medical Center) at 22. After his internship at New Haven (now Yale New Haven) Hospital, he married Lucille Weckstein, with whom he shared 71 years of a wonderful marriage. After serving

as a captain in the Army Medical Corps and completing his residency, Charles entered the new field of rheumatology, becoming the first rheumatology fellow at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He participated in much of the seminal research in the field, and in the 1950s, together with Dr. Jacques Singer, developed the latex fixation test, which quickly became and has remained the standard test for rheumatoid arthritis.

Charles’s academic achievements made him a much sought-after participant in conferences around the world. In 1965 he was invited to spend a month heading the American medical outreach effort in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he gained

Robert Norman Carpenter ’39, a longtime resident of Plandome, NY, died March 1 at North Shore Hospital in Manhasset. Bob was born April 14, 1922, in Brooklyn, NY, to banker James Norman Carpenter and Mary Josephine Story, a fine artist. He graduated from Poly Prep, attended Princeton University, where he majored in economics, and left as a graduate of the Class of 1943 to serve as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps as the commander of an anti-aircraft battery at Yamitan Airfield during the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. He returned as a 1st Lieutenant and was discharged in 1946. Bob worked in advertising as a copywriter at Fairchild Publications, a writer at Grey Advertising, and for four years was the proprietor of a bakery distributor concern and then a plastic manufacturing venture, inventor of the “Floss Bow.” He married Betts Lee Slingluff on April 14, 1949, in Manhattan, NY. They had three children, James Tyler, Lee Slingluf, and Robin Gaylord. Bob joined the American Management Association, initially as a section head of management research and on retirement on May 1, 1987, as director of the Information Department.

In their retirement, “Bob and Betts” were both active cruisers. Bob was also active in the Plandome Fire Department, served a term as president of the Plandome Field and Marine Club, was an active member of the racing and cruising committees at MBYC, and Sunday School superintendent at Christ Church, Manhasset. Bob was predeceased by his wife, Betts, of 65 years, and is survived by his sister Ruth S. Carpenter of Seattle; his son Dr. James Tyler Carpenter, daughter-in-law Karen BondoronekCarpenter, RN; granddaughter Ariel Bell

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Obituaries Carpenter, of Milton and Boston, MA; daughter Dr. Lee Slingluff Carpenter and son-in-law Dr. Richard Shook and grandson Robert Carpenter Shook and granddaughter Carson Carpenter Shook of Niantic, CT; and daughter Robin Carpenter of Sonoma, CA.

1940s Robert Charles Taffae ’40 of Boca Raton, FL, age 94, passed away July 16, 2016. A past resident of Scarsdale and Chappaqua, NY, he attended Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, NY, and graduated from Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ. He served during World War II with the 75th Division and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, The Bronze Star Medal of Valor, and recently the The Legion d’Honneur (Chevalier). Robert was president of Leon Taffae Co., Inc. Coffee Importers. He was a member of the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange and The Green Coffee Association of NY, where he served on the Board of Directors and Chair of the Adjudication Committee. H was also a past trustee of Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester, past member of the Bankers Club, and the India House, NYC. He was an accomplished artist, Francophile, and avid tennis player.

Robert was blessed with an extraordinary life filled with people he loved deeply. He is survived by his wife, Anita Runkel Taffae; children Peter R. Taffae of Santa Monica, CA; Jessica (Glenn) Pack of Hillsborough, NC, and Joen Bettmann (Arthur) of Atlanta, GA; grandchildren Andrew (Robin) and Jenny Pack; great-grandchildren Dylan and Farrah Rae; and nieces Susan (Bernard) Mendik Tarkinow and Nancy Troy.

William Field de Neergaard ’41, who was born August 25, 1923, died at home in Naples, FL, on June 5, 2017, with his wife by his bedside. Born, raised, and educated in Brooklyn, NY, he was a resident of Roslyn Harbor, Long Island, New York, and moved to Naples (Wilderness Country Club) in 1998. William served for 2 1/2 years in the U.S. Navy during WWII in the Amphibious Forces, Pacific, aboard the USS Wyandot as a landing boat officer. Following the postwar completion of his pharmacy degree requirements at the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy of LIU, he enrolled at Syracuse University and received a bachelor’s degree. In 1948, he entered the family

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retail pharmacy business, founded by his grandfather. The main store has been open 24 hours a day from 1903 until present and until 1960 was one of only two retail pharmacies in New York City open 24 hours.

In addition to operating three pharmacies, William was active in various national pharmacy and Brooklyn community organizations. He was a Trustee, The Greater New York Savings Bank, from 1963 to 1998; Trustee Emeritus, Long Island University, 1988 to date; Member Emeritus and former chairman, Council of Overseers, Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy, LIU, 1963 to date; member and former president, New York State Board of Pharmacy, 1967–78; Trustee, Faith Home Foundation, Brooklyn, 1975–2004; former Trustee, Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Navy YMCA of Brooklyn; former member and president, Brooklyn Rotary Club; former member and chairman, Brooklyn Advisory Board, The Salvation Army; and Elder, Roslyn Presbyterian Church. In 1957 he was recognized as Young Man of the Year, Brooklyn Junior Chamber of Commerce; 1981, Outstanding Alumnus, AMS College of Pharmacy, LIU; 1987, Man of the Year, Montauk Club of Brooklyn; and 1998, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, LIU. William is survived by his loving wife of 27 years, Helene Gaillet de Neergaard; his children, Amelia, William Jr., Cathrine, and Ann; and four grandchildren.

Seth Faison ’42, a Brooklyn native, died peacefully at his home on Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights on March 7. He was 93.

Educated at Poly Prep and Wesleyan, Faison also served in the U.S. Navy. He served as an executive at Johnson & Higgins, an insurance giant, for 32 years. Faison became chairman of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 1966, when it was suffering from declining audiences. He recognized its potential and decided to try to launch its transformation. He hired an unknown, Harvey Lichtenstein, as executive director.

Faison overruled objections from his board and supported Lichtenstein, and their partnership succeeded brilliantly.

Faison stepped down as chairman in 1972, while Lichtenstein led BAM for more than 30 years. Faison served on innumerable boards, including as chairman of the Brooklyn Hospital Center from 1995 to 2005, ably steering it through rough times; on the board of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts & Sciences for nearly 20 years, including as its chairman from 1979 to 1981; and as a trustee at the Police Athletic League and

as a regent at St. Francis College. At the Heights Casino, a tennis and squash club founded on Montague Street in 1904, Faison was more than a former president. He enjoyed an active participation in doubles squash well into his late 80s. In 1959, he won the club championship in squash doubles with David C. Johnson, for whom the internationally known tournament at the Casino is named. Faison is survived by his wife, Sara R. Faison, and four children, Katherine, Seth Jr., Sally and Ann; two step-daughters, Sally Chew and Katherine Chew; and 10 grandchildren. His first wife, Susan T. Faison, died in 1978.

Dr. James E. McManus ’42, a noted New York surgeon whose career in healthcare service spanned six decades, died on December 15, 2016, at his home in Kingston, RI, at age 91. He was the husband, for 61 years, of the late Shirley Anne (Whelan).

A longtime resident of Katonah, NY, during his years as a surgeon, Dr. McManus and his wife moved to South County, RI, in 2005. From 1968 to 1977, Dr. McManus served as Director of Surgery at the French Hospital in New York. His career as a surgeon began there, after a fellowship at Boston’s Lahey Hospital, and service during the Korean War at the U.S. Army Base at Fort Dix, NJ. This followed his medical education at New York University School of Medicine. Prior, he attended Yale University, in the class of 1945. He was the son of the late James P. McManus, M.D., and Rose Constance (nee Hanwish). He attended Brooklyn Preparatory and Poly Prep, enrolling at Yale in 1942. After his service at French Hospital, Dr. McManus served as chief of surgery at Spartanburg, SC Regional, and at Moses Ludington (InterLakes Health) Hospital, Ticonderoga, NY, from 1978 until his retirement as a surgeon in December 1986. From 1987 to 2002, Dr. McManus served as a medical staff member of the Joint Commission for Hospital Accreditation, as a surveyor and Director of medical standards, and subsequently, in Washington, D.C., as a medical inspector in the medical services division of the U.S. Veterans Administration.

Later, Dr. McManus was certified as a tumor registrar for the National Cancer Registrars Association, and he worked as both a volunteer and staffer at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, NY, and at the Rhode Island Hospital, in Providence, until 2011, when he finally retired at age 86. Dr. McManus is survived

by his brother, Robert G. McManus, M.D., of Warwick, NY; his daughter, Susan A. McManus, M.D. (Robert Pickoff, M.D.), of Morristown, NJ; and six sons, James E. McManus, Jr., of Kingston, RI, John P. McManus (Marsha M. Kallich, M.D.), of Washington, D.C., and Princeton, NJ, Thomas M. McManus (Kaori), of Ridgefield, CT, Paul E. McManus, M.D. (Elizabeth), of Atlanta, GA, David W. McManus (Susan Smiga, M.D.), of Etna, NH, and Kevin R. McManus (Renee) of Newtown, CT. He leaves 16 grandchildren, Dylan, Kate, James, Michael, Conor, Ryan, Margaret, Padraic, Kenneth, Liam, Zac, Erika, Jack, Kiely, Reilly, and Lucie, one greatgrandchild, Andrew, and many nieces and nephews.

Robert Carswell ’45, former Senior Partner of Shearman & Sterling and Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, died on July 22 at his home in Great Barrington, MA. Born in Brooklyn, NY, on November 25, 1928, Robert attended Poly Prep, graduating in 1945, and Harvard College, graduating magna cum laude in 1949 with a major in government and economics. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1952 and worked for two months as an associate at Shearman & Sterling. That same year, with the Korean War still in progress, Robert left the firm to serve for three years as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer.

He was stationed mainly in Japan as an agent in the Office of Naval Intelligence assigned to counterintelligence matters.

He returned to Shearman & Sterling as an associate in 1956. He met Mary Killeen Wilde and they were married on December 28, 1957. He was promoted to partner at Shearman & Sterling in 1965 and had a long and distinguished career, where he served corporate and financial services clients for more than 40 years. He was the Senior Partner from 1985 to 1991, became of counsel to the firm in 1993, and retired in 2014. In 1962, Mr. Carswell joined the Kennedy Administration as Special Assistant to Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon. In that capacity, he participated in many areas of the Treasury, including tax and economic policy, law enforcement, and as a liaison with Congress. After the assassination of President Kennedy, he represented the Secret Service, which was then an agency of the Treasury Department, before the Warren Commission and as Executive Secretary of the inter-agency committee established by President

Johnson to review presidential protection and recommend any appropriate changes.

In later years, he acted as a consultant on various protection issues, including as a member of the White House Security Review. Robert returned to Shearman & Sterling in 1965, where his principal client was First National City Bank, now Citibank. Robert was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Treasury by President Carter in 1977 and served in that office under Secretaries Blumenthal and Miller until 1981. He played a principal role in the successful completion of the financial rescue of New York City and the financial rescue of the Chrysler Corporation, as well as the release of the U.S. hostages in Iran, as part of the settlement of U.S. and foreign claims against Iran and the return of Iranian funds blocked by the United States. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, Robert also led the legal representation of the international banks steering committees that restructured the debts of Mexico, Brazil, and many other developing countries. Other clients included Graniteville Corporation and Georgia-Pacific for both of which he served on the Board of Directors; he also served on the Board of Directors of the American Stock Exchange, and International Basic Economy Corporation.

He was Vice President and Treasurer of the Bar Association of the City of New York for eight years. His non-legal activities included serving as Chairman of the Board of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and of Private Export Funding Corporation and commitments to many other organizations involved in legal, financial, and diplomatic affairs. Robert Carswell is survived by his wife, Mary Killeen Wilde, his daughter, Kate Carswell, and her husband, Timothy Schmoyer, of Santa Fe, NM, and his son, Will, of Hadley, MA, and by two grandsons, Asher and Finn Carswell.

Charles Frederick Weymuller ’46 died peacefully on January 30, 2017. Fred was born in Brooklyn, NY, to Caroline Alexander and Charles Augustus, MD, on October 12, 1928. He attended Brooklyn Friends and graduated from Poly Prep Country Day School in 1946. He attended Swarthmore College, graduated from Lewis and Clark ’51, and attended Columbia Graduate School.

Fred taught English at Kiski School, worked at The Wall Street Journal and at Merrill Lynch, and at the age of 37 became the head tennis and squash professional at the Heights

Casino in Brooklyn, NY. He co-authored Ed Faulkner’s Tennis, How to play it, how to teach it. In 1980, he moved to Rochester, NY, and was the head tennis and squash professional at the Genesee Valley Club. Fred was a member of The Heights Casino, past President of the NAPSA (North American Pro Squash Association), life member of the USTA, life member of the U.S. Squash Association, and was inducted into the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame in 2007. He taught hundreds of nationally ranked juniors, including many national champions and collegiate players. Fred is survived by his wife of 44 years, Carol Hunter Weymuller, his sister, Gretchen Weymuller Menger; many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins; brothers-in-law David (Cheryl), John, Kirk (Valerie), and Scott (Kathleen).

Sheldon Shane ’47, “Shelly,” of Hewlett Neck, NY, passed away November 21, 2016, at age 87. Born in Brooklyn, Shelly entered the family publishing business and created Travel magazine. He was an avid boater and fisherman and established Fishing World magazine in 1955. The National Travel Club and Fishing Club of America were formed as entities of the publications, and ultimately became the template for many of today’s well-known associations. His passion for the local community led him to become the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Five Towns Community Chest and President of the Board of Trustees of Franklin General Hospital. His civic duties included years of service as trustee for the Incorporated Village of Hewlett Neck and then several terms as its mayor. Shelly was also a proud, longtime member of the Friars Club. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Saundra (“Sandy”); son, Scott; daughter, Cathy (Michael) Levine; grandchildren, Matthew (Sarah), Tyler, and Derek; and his fourlegged pal, Gordon.

Edward C. Thayer ’47 passed away on June 25, 2016. He was born on April 11, 1930, in Brooklyn, NY, to T. Redmond Thayer & Louise Little Thayer. He studied at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn and then at Harvard College, receiving an AB degree in 1951, followed by an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1956. The Navy brought him to the West Coast, where he served three years on active duty as a supply officer and retired in the rank of commander in 1976 after 20 years of service in the Reserves. Ed’s business career included eight years in marketing with Standard

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Obituaries Oil of CA, followed by 20 years with Wells Fargo Bank of San Francisco, from which he retired in 1980 as the VP of Trust Real Estate. He married Harriet Whitman Lee in 1956 and settled in Berkeley, CA. Ed and Harriet had two daughters, Lisa Thayer (deceased) and Nina Thayer. In 1973, Ed married Marcia Jones, and they had a daughter, Elizabeth Thayer. Ed was a 50year Berkeley resident before moving to Rossmoor, Walnut Creek, for the last four years of his life. He belonged to a variety of organizations, including the Harvard Club of San Francisco, where he served as president, the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, The Claremont Club of Oakland, and the Berkeley Ski Club. Ed was the oldest of four boys and is survived by his brothers, A. Bronson Thayer (Tampa, FL), Thomas B. Thayer (Las Vegas, NV), and James L. Thayer (Lawrence, NY), as well as his wife, Marcia, and daughters Nina and Elizabeth. Ed is also survived by his granddaughter, Pepper Matlock, the joy of his life, who loved nothing more than sharing an ice cream with her grandpa.

Stephen Carb ’48, attorney, trustee, and former naval officer, passed away in his sleep on March 15th in Palm Beach, FL. He was 86. Born in 1930 to Alfred and Betty Carb, Steve graduated from Poly Prep (1948), Colgate University (1952), and Columbia University Law School (1955). Over a 62-year legal career, Steve was an attorney for the U.S. Navy, a partner with the law firm of Carb, Luria, Cook & Kufeld and, until his death, was of counsel at Schoenman, Updike and Kaufman, specializing in corporate transactions and governance and commercial real estate. Steve also was the trustee for a number of client family trusts.

Steve will be remembered as a beloved husband and family patriarch, an elegant man, a trusted counselor, a tenacious football cornerback (having played well into his 60s in Central Park), an avid skier, whittler, sailor, and a teller and writer of fine stories. Steve is survived by his wife of 47 years, Sally; his sister, Alice Berger; his children, Alison, Brian, Evan, and Daniel; and by his grandchildren, Kody and Jack.

Richard A. Conn ’49, of Katonah, NY, died on October 14, 2017. He was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1953, after which he served for two years in the Army Signal Corp at Fort Meade, M.D. Richard was a principal at Kansas Packing, a marine supply company, from 1953 until 1998, during which time

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he expanded the firm’s operations to all the major ports of the United States. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Julie (Judie) Cox Conn, and four children from his first marriage to Nancy Becklean Tobin: Jennifer Conn Bonnar, Richard A. Conn, Jr., and his wife Julianna, Elizabeth Conn and her husband Michael Gansberg, and Robert T. Conn and his wife Fen Yao. He is also survived by six grandchildren. He prized NYC’s arts, culture, and gastronomic scenes; was a longtime member of the Scarsdale Golf Club, the Fox Meadow Tennis Club, and the New York Athletic Club; and was loved and admired by his many friends.

Donald Conover ’49 passed away on March 28 near his home of 30 years in Newtown, Pennsylvania. He was 85. Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1931, Don was the son of Earl, head of the math department at Poly Preparatory Academy, and Hazel, a homemaker who had once worked in the secretarial pool for Thomas Edison.

Like so many from the so-called “greatest generation,” he had a sense of decency and humility, and a commitment to positive contribution that, to him, was more important than the accolades that came along with his accomplishments.

Don graduated from Princeton University in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. In 1964 and 1965, he attended MIT, where he was awarded a Sloan Fellowship and earned a master of science degree in industrial management. For most of his career, Don was in the Bell system, first with Western Electric and then with AT&T. He served on the management team of several factories, including the famous Hawthorne Works in Chicago, where he directed engineering and manufacturing of electromechanical switching equipment for the telephone network. He became Western Electric’s director of corporate planning, a post he held for nearly ten years, and ultimately held the position of vice president of corporate education for AT&T, running the Corporate Education Center in Princeton, New Jersey, and heading up business education worldwide.

For years, Don was an active member of the Princeton Chamber of Commerce and the Princeton Rotary Club, serving as president for a term with each organization. Don is survived by his wife Patti Kohlmayer Conover, and his two sons, Malcolm and Paul, and Paul’s two children, Catherine and Matthew.

1950s Edmund A. Nahas ’50, who was born October 22, 1932, passed away after a brief illness on July 17, 2016. Ed graduated from Poly in 1950, graduated Trinity College in 1954, and earned his law degree from Columbia University in 1957. Thereafter, Ed joined his uncle at the Manhattan firm that became Zraick, Nahas & Rich, where he practiced law until his retirement in 2011. Edmund’s life was devoted to his family, friends, clients, and his church.

When he was not working, Ed enjoyed the Pocono Mountains, visiting his children and grandchildren and following sports, particularly the New York Giants. Ed is survived by his beloved wife, Vickie (nee Goolsby) from Tennessee and their children and grandchildren: daughter Jennifer Nahas of Cambridge, MA, and her children, Sophia and Lukas; son and daughter-in-law, Stuart and Bronwyn Nahas of Paramus, NJ, and their children, Aaron, Tara, and Dylan; daughter and son-in-law, Heather Nahas and Matthew Waugh of Belmont, MA, and their children, Katherine and Alexander; and son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey and Kellyn Nahas of Amesbury, MA, and their children, Natalie and Hannah. Edmund resided with Vickie in Brooklyn, New York.

Ed is also survived by his brother, Alfred Nahas, and his family, his nephew, Peter Poulakakos, and his family, and a host of extended family and friends.

Dr. Donald M. Zarou ’52 passed away at N.Y.U. Lutheran Medical Center on May 20, 2017. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he graduated from Poly Prep, where he later served as Chairman of the Board of the Trustees. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont and later graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical School with the Doctor of Medicine degree. He interned at Methodist Hospital of Brooklyn. He was honored to attend his first year of residency at SUNY DMC under Dr. Louis Hellman, and returned to Methodist Hospital to complete his OB/GYN residency. His commitment to provide quality health care to generations of women throughout Brooklyn spanned more than four decades, both in private practice at Zarou OB/GYN Associates in Bay Ridge, and at the following hospitals in the capacity of Department Chair of OB/ GYN: Victory Memorial Hospital, Lutheran Medical Center (where he was also the

Director of Medical Education), and Methodist Hospital. He was the Associate Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Brooklyn Hospital Center. He served as the President of the Medical Club of Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Gynecological Society, and the Medical Society of Bay Ridge. During the course of his medical career he published nearly thirty articles. Dr. Zarou was also an elder in the Presbyterian Church USA, a lifetime member and elder of Union Church of Bay Ridge, as well as an elder member of the Presbyterian Association of Chautauqua.

Dr. Zarou is survived by his wife of 60 years, Andrea Stutz; his children, Donald A., David A., Heidi S., and Andrew D.; his grandchildren, Salem, Skyler, Raeann, and Ava Zarou, Madeline and Emmett Doty, Maxwell and Adam DesRochers.

Martin Debrovner ’54 passed away on March 29, 2017, surrounded by his family.

He was 80. Born in Brooklyn, Martin was a proud graduate of Poly Prep. He then earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Columbia University, majoring in industrial psychology. In 1964, this background led him to Houston and the Johnson Space Center, where he conducted research and trained the Gemini flight crews in the integration of their equipment for extravehicular activity. In 1968, Martin joined J. Weingarten as Vice President of real estate; and in 1997, he was named Vice Chairman of Weingarten Realty Investors, a position he held until his retirement in 2008. After retirement, he served as chair of the Uptown Houston TIRZ board. Martin is survived by his devoted wife of 51 years, Linda; his daughter Beth, husband Conrad, and sons Grant and Chase Ollenburger; son John, wife Nicole, and their son Will Debrovner; and daughter Emily and her daughter, Grace Bavouset.

Francis “Frank” Giustra, Jr. ’55 died on September 22, 2017, in Rockport, ME. Frank was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Poly Prep in 1955. He excelled in swimming and track during high school and college.

Frank won first place for the high jump and pole vault, the last two events of the meet, to win the Ivy League Championship, giving Poly their tenth consecutive track championship. He earned a BS from Union College in Schenectady, NY, in 1959. He later earned dual masters degrees from Columbia University in mathematics and education. Frank taught mathematics and was the department chairman in several

schools throughout New England from 1960 to 1980. He moved to Maine to purchase Frank’s Market in Warren, which he owned and operated from 1980 to 1997. Frank was an avid Lionel Train collector, and enjoyed swimming, bowling, tennis, and golf.

He was a volunteer teacher and swim instructor. Frank is survived by his wife of 53 years, Carolyn J. Giustra; daughters, Caroline Winchenbach and her husband Steve, Dr. Lauren Giustra and her husband Dr. Ankur Desai, and Kim Bonarrigo and her husband Jay; and nine grandchildren.

Richard “Dick” Beckler ’57 died on September 25, 2017, in Los Angeles, CA, at the age of 77. Dick was born in Brooklyn and after graduating from Poly Prep in 1957, he majored in history, played lacrosse, and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at Williams College in Williamstown, MA, where he graduated in 1961. Dick served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Yorktown, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After earning his law degree from Fordham University School of Law, Dick began his distinguished legal career working for the Manhattan District Attorney under Frank Hogan from 1968 to 1973. He was recruited to the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., and after seven years, became chief of the fraud section in the criminal division. He switched to private practice, where he spent 37 years in white collar criminal defense for the firms Fulbright & Jaworski, Howrey LLP, and Bracewell & Giuliani. He also served as Independent Director of Rosetta Resources, Inc. from 2005 to 2013. Most recently, Dick began a new role in May 2017 as Chief Legal Advisor and General Counsel of the General Services Administration under President Trump. Dick is survived by his six daughters, Lindsey Loomis Read (Daniel Sheinfeld Rodriguez), Katherine Beckler Cox (Steven), Ruthie Beckler Gaiser (Sean), Mary Lillian Beckler, Elizabeth Keeley Beckler, and Eleanor Suzanne Beckler; his eight grandchildren; his wife, Allison White Beckler; and his sister, Elizabeth Beckler Bodnar.

Harvey E. Scheff ’57 of Boca Raton, FL, passed away on December 25, 2016. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Marjorie; son, Andrew (wife Rachel); daughter, Lisa; beloved grandchildren Matthew, Lauren, Allison Jessica; sister, Meryl; and nephew Peter (wife Gunna) and niece Jodi (husband Michael).

1960s Dr. Abby Lee Maizel ’63 died on April 7, 2017 at age 71. He was the husband of Gail (Raiken) Maizel. Born in Brooklyn, NY, a son of the late Harry and Sarah (Levy) Maizel, he had been a resident of Rhode Island since 1986. Dr. Maizel was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. He was the Chief of Pathology at Roger Williams Hospital, the principal owner of University Pathologists, a professor of pathology at Brown University and Boston University Medical Schools, and a pioneer in genetic research including trailblazing research in immunotherapy.

His passions included growing Bonsai trees, antiques, photography, boating, and his pets. He was a generous philanthropist to numerous charities. In additions to his wife, he is survived by his children, Jennie Maizel-McKiernan and her husband Bill of East Greenwich and Rebecca Maizel of East Greenwich; his sisters, Naomi Berne and her husband Bruce of Irvington, NY, and Amy Maizel-Seeherman and her husband Les Brody of Newton, MA; his grandchildren, Jonah and Ellie; and his nieces and nephews.

William “Bill” Salamy ’63 died on September 13 in Palm City, FL, at age 71. He was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Poly in 1963 and Franklin and Marshall College in 1967. He was a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War. Bill lived and worked in New York until 1986, when he relocated to Columbus, OH. He retired as an executive with Alliance Data Systems, where he worked for 25 years.

He relocated to Palm City in 2013. Bill is survived by his wife of 42 years, Virginia McGrath Salamy; daughters Suzanne “Suzy” Salamy and Elizabeth “Liz” Salamy and her husband, Phil Chahine; three grandchildren; and two sisters.

2000s Laura Levis ’00 passed away on September 22, 2016, at age 34, as a result of a severe asthma attack. Laura was a vibrant, beautiful woman who loved animals, the Yankees, lifting weights, scary movies, iced coffee, cooking paleo, making funny faces, shopping, hiking,

P O LY P R E P M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2018 6 3

Obituaries

as of October 14, 2017

her BFFs, the Avett Brothers, the Isle of Skye, and above all her family, including parents Dr. William and Georgia Levis of Manhattan, with whom she laughed daily, and husband Peter DeMarco, her best friend, whom she married in Bar Harbor in 2014. Laura grew up on Staten Island and starred in basketball at Poly.

She graduated from Emerson College (’04).

Laura worked at The Boston Globe, where she met Pete, before joining Harvard Magazine and the Harvard Gazette as a digital editor and writer. She lived in Somerville, MA. Laura is survived by half-brothers William Levis of Manhattan and Robert Levis; uncle Bob Levis of Manhattan; and sisters-inlaw Henrietta and Catlin Levis. She was a proud aunt to Jessica, Katie, Summer, and Kyle Levis; Amber and Wyatt Levis of Manhattan; and Samantha, Alex, and Patrick Marcoux.

Kirk Deligiannis ’03 died on September 25 at age 31. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, son, and friend. Kirk grew up in Rockaway, attended PS 114, then Bay Academy, and Poly Prep. He went on to study engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey and earned both an MBA and Master’s in Engineering at The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Kirk was an ice hockey, football, and lacrosse enthusiast, and his passion to challenge himself both physically and mentally continued way into adulthood. He began with “easy” competitions such as Tough Mudder and went on to found a website and blog, Mettle Forger, which worked in creating physical challenges where 100 percent of the proceeds were donated to veterans’ charities such as the Green Beret Foundation and Team RWB. Kirk is survived by his wife, Maria Deligiannis ‘03 (née Marinakis); two sons, George and Evangelo; his parents, Jane and George; and sister, Ariana, along with many family and friends.

6 4 T H E B L U E & T H E G R AY

In Memoriam Dorothy Donovan, a beloved faculty member and brilliant mathematician, who taught at Poly from 1980 to 2006, passed away on January 11. She was the beloved daughter of the late Arthur and Veronica (Lynch) Donovan. Dorothy earned a bachelor’s degree from Marymount College and a master’s from Yeshiva University. She is remembered not only for her love of teaching AP Calculus, but also for being a strong and compassionate department head who cared deeply for her colleagues. She also taught at Marymount School of New York. Dorothy is survived by and will be greatly missed by her niece, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins, and many friends.

Louise Forsyth P’03, Poly’s esteemed former history teacher and scholar, passed away with loved ones around her and favorite music playing on August 7, 2017.

Louise was an adjunct instructor of history and sociology in the City University of New York system in 1987 when she was asked to teach for one year at Poly while the history chair was away. Louise stayed for 28 years. During that time, Louise inspired countless students in her AP European History, AP World History, psychology, bioethics, comparative religion, sociology, economics, and the Modern Middle East classes. From 2004 to 2011, she served as Head of the History Department.

Illustration by Melissa D’Alessio ’18

As a lifelong scholar and learner, Louise’s curiosity took her to Turkey, Greece, the United Kingdom, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Italy, Germany, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and South Africa. She spoke Italian fluently and read French, German, and Spanish. Her interest in her family’s past in Russia caused her to enroll in Yiddish classes.

She studied under numerous National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and Fulbright-Hays programs over the years. She presented Kastendieck Lectures at Poly reporting her research. In 2011, she pursued a “gap year” in London, teaching her Poly students via Skype.

In her 2015 Commencement address, Louise urged graduates “to discover the other, to be open to new experiences, not to resist, but to welcome the encounter with the unfamiliar. Take yourself outside your comfort zone.

I urge you to talk to people whose views you don’t agree with, who follow different paths, and take part in activities new to you. If you love sports, get involved in a poetry circle. If you play jazz, try a chamber music group. Get to know someone whose childhood or culture was vastly different from yours,” before leading everyone in Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”

Louise is survived by Leonora, Miki, Denis, and Amy. As Leonora shared about her mother, “She left an enormous hole, of course, which may never be filled.”

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