FACULTY AND ALUMNI

Daring Duck

By Tom Burke

(Independently published)

Daring Duck and her brave animal friends take a journey of discovery to explore the forest and conquer new challenges together, in this heartwarming children’s book. Daring’s inspiring story teaches the importance of perseverance, determination, and a positive attitude—helping nurture confidence and resilience in young children as they explore the world around them.

Comedy & Grace

By Paul Edward Baribault ’70 (Independently published)

A testimonial about the book reads, “Readers will be touched by this soaring work of love, laughter, and intellect. From its tender and humorous short stories, through its breathtaking “intermission” and challenge to Shakespeare’s best-known soliloquy on being—and bridge into the more serious writing, there is no letdown— it just climbs, past a poetry of clarity, and keeps on climbing…to a soul-resting finish in the whispers of eternal mind.”

The Lady of Elche

By Amanda Berenguer

Translated by Kristin Dykstra

(Veliz

Books)

The Lady of Elche is Professor Kristin Dykstra’s translation of one of Amanda Berenguer’s most acclaimed collections of poetry. The many faces surfacing through The Lady of Elche’s portraits hint at Berenguer’s multifaceted poetics writ large. The book includes a complete English translation alongside the Spanish poems, as well as a companion essay by Dykstra.

Saint Michael’s ignited the “fire in the belly” that powered the Class of 2023 through a pandemic toward purposeful lives after College, said Commencement speaker Jay Bellissimo ’87, a business and technology innovator dedicated to helping others. The onetime IBM global executive addressed 360 graduates in the Ross Sports Center for the 116th Commencement on May 14—the last for retiring President Lorraine Sterritt. “This is a hard place to leave,” she said. Bellissimo stressed hard work, faith, risk-taking and aiming high. Former Trustee Michael McGrath also received an honorary degree.

See more Commencement photos at smcvt.edu/magazine

“I want everyone to take a second and look around—at the people sitting next to you, friends who have become family, strangers who have become friends, and even people who still might be strangers but you’ve at least seen around. I think we can recognize that we are our own little world here. But I beg you, bring our world out there. Say thank you to bus drivers, donate one dollar for a bracelet, hold the door even though someone is far away. Create new communities, continue to stand up for what you believe in. Remember to be grateful, for the big and the small. I implore you to remember this St. Mike’s experience and keep living, keep learning, keep exploring, and always do well and do good in the world.”