O HO L
THE T H
C
HER S AC
1889
News Fall 2002 / Winter 2003 Volume XV, Number 2 Editor Jane D. McCarthy Design Timothy R. Ditch and Jane D. McCarthy Contributors David V. Babbott, Elizabeth A. Bowman, Stephen M. Carter, Monique L. DeVane, Gregory T. Haggard, Richard J. Mazzola, Alisa D. McCoy, Kurt R. Meyer, Marshall C. Milligan, Samuel A. “Pete” Pond CdeP 1932, Sara Sackner, Joy Sawyer-Mulligan, Gallia K. Vickery, and Peggy Whyte Photography J. Bert Mahoney, Jane D. McCarthy, Joy Sawyer-Mulligan, and Timothy O Teague
From the Head 3 Here and Abroad: Coping with Duality
Campus Activities 5 Nearing the Century Mark 6 We Will Never Forget 8 Family Weekend: Jam-Packed Fun 10 A Little Culture 11 Snippets of News, Numeracy Puzzle
Cover Photo Wood Shop instructor John Bueti watches as Hana Chang ’03 planes the rails of her cherry coffee table
12 New Faculty Members
Photo by Timothy O Teague
14 Fall and Winter Sports 17 Historical Society
The Thacher News magazine is published twice a year by The Thacher School, and is sent free of charge to alumni, parents, and friends of the School. In preparing this report, every effort was made to ensure that it is accurate and complete. If there is an omission or an error in spelling, please accept our apologies and notify the Head of School’s Office at The Thacher School, 5025 Thacher Road, Ojai, California 93023-9001, call (805) 646-4377, or email jmccarthy@thacher.org. Third Class postage is paid at the Oxnard Post Office. POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 to the preceding address.
NAIS
MEMBER
C Printed by Ventura Printing with soy-based inks on recycled paper.
18 The Survey Says 22 Thacher’s Newest Trustees
The Campaign for Thacher 26 Investing in Thacher 27 You’re Never Too Young 55 Til the Best We Can Do Is All Done
Profiles on Artisans 28 Allen O. Dragge CdeP 1966 The Art of Light and Glass 30 Donald L. Reed CdeP 1967 From Bronze to Sterling 32 Peter B. Dragge CdeP 1969 Confessions of a Luthier 34 James W. Wiester CdeP 1983 Carpentry with an Eastern Flair 36 Diana Lewis Callahan CdeP 1984 Liam W. Callahan CdeP 1984 Reviving Artisan Cheesemaking 38 Madeleine A. McQuillan CdeP 2002 Binding Books Beautifully 40 H. Boyd Manson and John Bueti Working Wonders with Wood
Alumni News 42 Bookshelf: H. Travers Newton, Jr. CdeP 1968 Technique and Meaning in the Paintings of Paul Gauguin 44 Class Notes 52 Obituaries 54 Calendar
From the Head of School
Head Here and Abroad Coping with Duality
t is that time of year in the Ojai when a miraculous duality presents itself to our astonished eyes: orange trees are blossoming even as ripe citrus weighs branches downward. Winter and spring tug and pull at each other in this transitional time, drenching rain alternating with sunshine until, ultimately, the former gives way to the latter, and the rich effulgence of the Ojai spring blesses our lives at Thacher. Wildflowers carpet the hills. The expansive scent of sage, pepper, and eucalyptus wafts on the light breezes. On campus, laughter peels from the dormitories, cries of excitement echo across the playing fields, clods of damp dirt fly on the Gymkhana Field as the Orange, the Blue, and the Green compete hell-bentfor-leather. Freshmen, formerly anxious and hesitant about their horses, now gallop at full-tilt with the strength and grace that comes from increased self-confidence. Thacher teams compete spiritedly and, in many cases, with great success. Our dancers, artists, musicians brighten the stage every week as they showcase their talents through large School productions and their independent afternoon projects. Horse trips head out almost weekly, new generations of Thacher students discovering the rugged beauty and surprises of the Sespe back-country: the waterfall and pools of Spruce Falls, the skulking mountain lion at Pattons’ Cabin, the horse-swimming holes at Bear Creek and Hidden Beach Camp, the warmest hot springs in all of California. Magnificent. And so much of it all at the hands of faculty members who open the doors for students eager to walk through. Their passion for their work, their high standards, their humor and resilience,
by Michael K. Mulligan
I
and their encouragement are central to every students’ Thacher experience. Like those who came before us here at this edge of the valley, we are enriched by this School, this campus, this faculty, these mountains, the vision of education that Sherman Day Thacher articulated so many years ago: to train young men and women in the art of living for their own greatest good and for the greatest good of their fellow citizens. Even a stranger to our campus detects the pulse of learning; the unbridled friendliness and humor of students and faculty and their palpable friendships and camaraderie; the electricity of productions, plays, and practice; the flow of challenge and achievement; the richness of learning and relationships that transform kids into adults: the alchemy that is Thacher. Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 3
Yet, beyond the orange trees that bear both the promise of fruit and the thing itself, there is another insistent and real duality in which we are all living. Even as I note the on-going richness of our day-to-day lives at Thacher, our nation is engulfed in national dissent and international conflict. Each morning at breakfast, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times blanket the tables in the dining room; students go to CNN’s web site during free periods; faculty discuss and debate the pros and cons of American foreign policy at meals, in other free moments, in classes. Some read anti-war poems at Assembly; others respectfully admonish the risk of lacking courage and vision when terrorists and dictators encourage and plan our demise.
So our full and meaningful lives on this campus and in these mountains unfold magically. Yet the backdrop of these last two years—the tumbling of the Towers, the threats veiled and direct from terrorists, the call to arms, to duct tape, and to the dogfight between absolutism and relativism, on all fronts—is unsettling and chilling. Most of our students continue with their lives as yet free from deep angst. This is right and good; goodness knows there is plenty of time for that anxiety later in their life. I am not sure, however, how long this tenuous grace will last. Fear, and it seems, incipient anger from all sides is on the rise. Our work at Thacher is not to avoid conflict, not to dodge—or have our students hide from—the uncertainties that confront our nation. Rather, our task is to help our young women and men assess the ambiguities, recognize the challenges, and seek understanding to the best of their ability. It is, after all, our job to educate, not to politicize. Great education is about students and teachers, adults and children, finding the best possible answers together, through dialogue, debate, discussion. We will continue to do just this as this national and international drama plays out before our eyes.
Our students are several steps removed from the necessity of personal decisions here—this despite the fact that recent alumni are at this moment flying Navy jets in the Persian Gulf while others are marching on the steps of the Capitol. Most of us at Thacher, like so many across our country, are confused and hesitant, at once wanting to support our leaders but wishing to resist the call for armed conflict. We know that democracies should be slow to anger. We know that democracies fight best only when facing an impasse. And yet we recognize that a military buildup cannot be sustained through the searing heat That our students can sing and run and of an Arabian summer. An inexorable cal- dance and ride and laugh and study and endar confronts us. hike in Nature’s splendor and amid the warm friendship of peers and faculty deThose of us who are educators and those spite the anxiety, uncertainty, and fear of of us whose school years were blackened the national atmosphere is, to repeat, simby the anger and horror of Vietnam, fear ply a good thing. Kids need love and beauty the wear on our moral fabric as trust tears at their core in the midst of external unthrough confusion and ambiguity. Those certainty and challenge. And when it is of us who have lived through or taught their turn to wear the mantle of leaderour students the lessons of World War II ship, they will have a base of compassion and the dangers of placating dictators and trust from which to make decisions know that courage and conviction are crit- that will surely, we hope, reflect the kindical to avoiding yet greater dangers down ness and love they have lived in here. e the road. World views are in conflict on all fronts.
page 4 The Thacher News
Campus Activities
Tribute Nearing the Century Mark Jesse Kahle Turns 95
aculty Emeritus Jack Huyler hosted a fitting and memorable School-wide 95th Birthday Party for Jesse Walter Kahle December 4. From a Special Assembly with skits to a horse-training video, from an Archival display to a luncheon with longtime friends and family members, this celebration was a pointed display of why Jesse is such a beloved fixture at Thacher.
F
Jesse recites an Uncle Josh monologue
David Lavender, Jr. CdeP 1951 describes working with Jesse one summer
Bruce Oxley CdeP 1954 describes Jesse’s “handle test of strength”
Born the same year as the San Francisco Earthquake, when Theodore Roosevelt was President and when the United States’ population was one third of today’s 280 million, Jess grew up in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl era. He worked on the family’s ranch and married his childhood sweetheart, Clarice, who died a few months ago; they’d been married for 74 years. Headmaster Newt Chase hired Jess to direct the Thacher’s Horse Program starting on April 1, 1948; thus began a quarter-century career that continues even today when Jesse drops by the stables to give pointers to the freshman riders. During Assembly, Jack called on various Community members to relate early tales of their interaction with Jesse. David Lavender, Jr. CdeP 1951, who was a freshman on Jess’s first day of work, recalls that he has never heard Jess utter a foul word, even though he worked with some fairly rough fellows who used expletives liberally. After his freshman year, David worked alongside Jess during the summer vacation, digging postholes in rocky terrain for a new corral. When they tried to lever a boulder out of the ground and it wouldn’t budge, Jess grabbed a sledgehammer to pound the end of the crow bar deeper under the rock. He gave it a mighty swing, forgetting that his left hand was steadying the bar and that his thumb was on the top of it. As his appendage throbbed into a bloody, gorey mess that brought tears to his eyes, Jess muttered, “Mercy!” Bruce Oxley CdeP 1954, one of Jesse’s successor in the Horse Program, recalled Jesse’s handle test of strength while Bruce’s grandson Will ’05 and Brendan Keane ’05 demonstrated the technique. Standing nose-to-nose and gripping
by Jane D. McCarthy
a horizontal handle overhead, the contestants try to maintain their grip as they slowly back away from each other and the handle lowers between them. One must succumb to the other’s stronger grip when the handle twists in his hands. According to legend, Jess has never lost this game and the only fellow who came close had the skin peeled from his palms; the resultant blood made the fellow’s hands so slippery that he lost his grip—and the game. Setting the stage for the next skit, Jack reminded everyone that Jesse is a “staunch Christian and knows his Bible.” Jack recalled coming across Jesse and a stranger squatting and whittling near the stables, where an ornery old mare was tied to the nearby hitching rail and a horse trailer hitched to a car. Jack figured some sort of trading was taking place. Following horse-trading etiquette, Jack pulled out his knife and joined the squatters at their whittling. The pricing disparity for the horse was $30. When Jess came down $10, the stranger offered to split the difference; Jess balked. After a few more minutes of silent whittling and contemplation, the stranger dropped his stick and closed his knife; the deal was made. After money changed hands, the horse was loaded, and the buyer drove off, Jack inquired as to the final price. Jesse’s answer seemed rather high to Jack. He asked his riding friend, “How could you charge that feller that much for that mare?” Jess replied: “Like the Good Book says, ‘He was a stranger, and I took him in.’” He knows his scripture! While they were enjoying chocolate birthday cake, Jack invited everyone to view the Kahle memorabilia assembled in the Brody Art Gallery and to watch a 20-year-old videotape of Jess training a horse in the Sand Arena. Special guests—including Jesse’s son Ray Dean and many long-time friends of the Kahles and Thacher—then adjourned to the Head’s home to eat lunch and to share more favorite Jesse memories. The birthday boy chimed in with his Uncle Josh monologues, rambling and amusing tales with sharp twists of tongue and deliberate misuse of words that have become trademarks of this amiable cowboy. Jesse seemed truly pleased—although somewhat overwhelmed—by the adoration of so many friends. His reaction seemed only to solidify why this gentle man has made such a profound mark on generations of Thacher students. e Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 5
Campus Activities
We Will Never Forget September 11 Memorial Service
by Graham C. Dunn ’03 and Jane D. McCarthy
hacher held a Special Assembly at the Out- ing his or her own death, only wished to condoor Chapel on September 11, 2002. Five nect one last time with loved ones, to offer and students shared these very poignant thoughts. to receive one last assurance of love. Can we not learn from these sad stories that, in the end, what is ultimately most important is our connection to others, the love and compassion Sophomore Class President Max Anderson’s we offer and receive—not anger or violence? And can we not learn to nurture and “feed” in message was one of tolerance: our hearts what is most important after all? About a week after September 11, I received this story in an email from a friend:
T
A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt about a recent tragedy. He said, “I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other is the loving, compassionate one.” The grandson asked him, which one will win the fight in your heart?” The grandfather answered, “The one I feed.”
Senior Class President Ian Whittinghill gave a patriotic speech entitled The American Dream: I am an American. I have lived a blessed American life. I have the freedom to dream, to build, and to explore. You and I live the life the founders imagined for us. We are the proof that their sacrifices were not in vain. They had security and love, but they valued liberty more. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were signing their own death warrants. They put a price on their heads for our sake and, thereby, set an American tradition of self-sacrifice. Why would they do such a thing? They lived privileged lives. They were men of means, education, and prestige. They were able to create wonderful lives for their children and had property and businesses to hand down to them. Why risk it all? Hadn’t they attained “The American Dream”? This summer I learned that one of the signers was my great-great, great-great, great grandfather, Carter Braxton. He saw his fleet of merchant ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He eventually had to sell his home and property to pay his debts. Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
IanWhittinghill ’03, Max Anderson ’05, Sarah Shaikh ’03, Charlie Munzig ’03, and Julia Robinson ’04
When I think back a year to the tragic events of September 11 some of the most chilling accounts for me were of telephone calls made, and email or phone messages left, by those trapped in the World Trade Center Towers that knew or suspected that the end of their lives was close at hand. It is telling, I think, and it leaves a lesson to be learned, that every message left was to express love. Every caller, facpage 6 The Thacher News
Two lost sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 signers fought and died from wounds or hardships of the war. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his
wife dead and his children vanished. A few fashion that no nation will be in a position to weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world. That is broken heart. no vision of a distant millennium; it is a defiThey were …who America became. A people nite basis for a world attainable in our own of great vision. People committed to truth and time and generation. Freedom means the suhuman rights. A people willing to stand against premacy of human rights everywhere.” tyranny. So my fellow students I encourage you to emTwenty-five thousand people escaped the tow- ulate these four essential freedoms. We are the ers on September 11. As they were running next generation of leaders and it is our duty down the stairwells, we have all heard their to lead the creation of a free world to all. We stories about looking into the faces of the res- must create a world where hate and war are cuers who were running into the building. Af- not prevalent but instead were freedom stands terwards, firemen from all over the country left tall. So, my challenge for you is take on this their families to climb onto the uncertainty of task, implement these freedoms, make them the five-story pile of rubble to look for sur- the pillars of the world. vivors. These brave men tie us to our past. The all-American cause of freedom and self-sacrifice runs deep within us. Americans are stirred to valor when liberty is hanging in the balance. Junior Class President Julia Robinson shared a There is not enough darkness in the world to piece from the former poet laureate Billy Collins, followed by Mary Oliver’s poem put out the light of freedom. “Poppies”: This is the real American Dream. And you don’t need a Costco card, J.Crew catalog, or a “Pick a poem, any poem, from an anthology stockbroker to get it. America dreams a dream and you will see that it is speaking for life and therefore against the taking of it. A poem of freedom for the world. about mushrooms or about a walk with the dog is a more eloquent response to September Are we naive? Perhaps. 11 than a poem that announces that wholeIs our view of right and wrong too simple? sale murder is a bad thing.” Maybe. I would now like to read a piece by Mary But still we cherish the lives of patriots who Oliver. It was not written in response to Seprun into the face of tyranny. Agonizing loss is tember 11 but about the battlefields of World redeemed through their self-sacrifice as they War I. pass the mantle to us. They make us grateful. They make us proud. They make us remem- Poppies ber how fragile goodness and kindness and jusThe poppies send up their tice are in this flawed and foolish world. orange flares; swaying in the wind, their congregations And so it goes. God has shed His grace on are a levitation America. I have been the lucky son who lived the American life of which my father and my of bright dust, of thin great-great, great-great, great-grandfather, and lacy leaves. Carter Braxton, dreamed. There isn’t a place in this world that doesn’t Freshman Girls’ Head Prefect Sarah Shaikh gave a speech on freedom and leadership: The day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in an address to Congress: “We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship god in his own way—everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants— everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough
sooner or later drown in the indigos of darkness, but now, for a while, the roughage shines like a miracle as it floats above everything with its yellow hair. Of course nothing stops the cold, black, curved blade from hooking forward— of course loss is the great lesson. But also I say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness,
when it’s done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive. Inside the bright fields, touched by their rough and spongy gold, I am washed and washed in the river of earthly delight— and what are you going to do— what can you do about it— deep, blue night?
School Chair Charlie Munzig gave a touching speech that rang true with everyone at the Assembly: In a recent editorial, news analyst Daniel Schorr reflected on how American’s lives have changed since September 11: “I do not see the transformation of America in the past year that many talk about. The year since 9/11 has left us with little more than a profusion of flags, a heightened sense of respect for uniformed public servants, and an uneasy sense of vulnerability. The USA Freedom Corps that President Bush called for has not taken off. The State of the Union summons to a new culture of responsibility, to replace the culture of selfishness, became almost a mockery when the series of financial scandals starting with Enron broke. The Wall Street Journal records that by 38% to 30% the economy outranks terrorism as a priority for Americans. The Washington Post records that positive attitudes towards government, which soared after 9/11, have largely changed back. “One hears much about a greater sense of solidarity, of public spiritedness and religious tolerance since 9/11, and more civility. And, one might add, increased apprehension and increased bridling at inconvenience. In the end, I suspect we will end up being much the way we were.” I hope Daniel Schorr is wrong. We will always remember where we were on September 11, 2001. As a generation, we will be marked by the events of that day. I hope we will demonstrate a new commitment to public service. I hope that as we reach our eighteenth birthdays and become citizens with full voting rights that we will exercise those rights conscientiously. I hope we will have the courage to stand up for what we believe is true and right about our nation and brave enough to speak out when we believe it is misguided. I hope we will be a generation to lead our nation to help others in a new spirit of compassion, generosity, and tolerance. I hope we will become citizens not just of the United States, but of the world. e
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 7
Campus Activities
Family Weekend Jam-Packed Fun
by Graham C. Dunn ’03 and Jane D. McCarthy
sang several songs each that ended the evening on a joyous note. Bright and early the next day, everyone gulped down a buffet breakfast before attending Assembly to hear announcements and enticements for the weekend’s activities. The soccer playoff between student-built robots was the highlight. Then it was off to Saturday classes, where teachers gave parents a sense of what their children are learning and students answered questions to demonstrate what they’ve learned in just a few short months. Head of School Michael Mulligan reassured the parents—nascent and veterans to the School—that a Thacher education extends well beyond the classroom and that’s part of what makes this experience so valuable. Bill Mayher, author of The College Admission Mystique, gave families a taste of the roller coaster ride known as the college-admission process, and tips to make the whole process more sane and productive.
Spencer and Max ’03 with their parents Kelly and Bill Anderson CdeP 1976
page 8 The Thacher News
While some folks attended parent committee meetings, the annual parent-student trap shoot got underway. When the dust settled, Catherhhh, the tantalizing aroma of tri-tip roast- ine ’03 and Riley Bechtel CdeP 1970 had taken ing on an open fire. Parents and students gradually mobbed The Pergola, descending on the barbecue area like crazed jackals. And who can blame them? Parents, grandparents, and other family members traveled countless miles to be present for the allschool barbecue dinner that kicked off Family Weekend to the tune of countless barbecue-sauce-stained napkins. This festive reunion was followed by a cabaret comprised of samples from every discipline of the Arts Department. The first act featured The Jazz Ensemble that played Dean Sorenson’s and Bruce Pearson’s “Jammin’ with Charlie.” The Dance Ensemble followed with a performance entitled The Mixed Suite to Bach’s Cello Suites, choreographed by Gallia Vickery. Drama Director Sandy Jenson orchestrated a movie trailer entitled “The Good, The Bad, and The Freshmen” featuring the newest members of Thacher’s Community. The Masquers performed excerpts from David Mamet’s The Water Engine: An American Fable. Finally, the Chemistry teacher Spencer Stevens demonstrates the Chamber Singers and the Chorus effects of temperature change on aluminum cans
A
to say that a perfect example of abundant life would be the afternoon activities when we get “to watch the triumph of new riders who have taken all but the easy path and in the process conquered fear and met themselves on the posting trot of unexplored territory.” Indeed, the freshmen demonstrated their equine skills in convoluted drills set to musical strains and thundering hooves to the amazement of all. And, as a visual diversion, participants of the Outdoor Program demonstrated their prowess by scaling Jamieson Boul- George and Judith Whittinghill with son Ian ’03. George gave the der at the Gym- message, “Abundant Life,” at Sunday morning’s chapel service at khana Field. the Outdoor Chapel
Off to class: Keely Walsh ’05 leads her parents, Cheryl and Jeff, through the halls;Tommy Kim ’05 joins them
As kids said goodbye to their families, the campus breathed a collective sigh of relief for a little downtime after a jam-packed, but enjoyable weekend. e
first place with 22 out of 25 shots; second place honors went to Jennie ’04 and Paul Tucker who shot a combined 21. The hordes then descended upon the fields and courts to watch girls play tennis and volleyball, while Thacher’s new football team routed Rolling Hills Preparatory. Many students departed with their parents to enjoy dinner off-campus and to spend the evenings in area hotels. Those whose parents couldn’t come weren’t left abandoned; the annual Mr. Yoo dinner shindig was available along with the ever-popular Open House and embarrass-thekids-by-remembering-only-a-few-ofthe-words Hootenanny at the Mulligans’ Open House. At Sunday morning’s chapel service at the Outdoor Memorial Chapel, George Whittinghill (father of Ian ’03 and Catherine ’04) gave a talk entitled “Abundant Life.” He shared vignettes of his often times challenging life, but one that has been lived intensively and enjoyably as a child, husband, father, and rocket scientist. His message can be summarized in this passage: abundant life is “one that pushes past an unknown—past discomfort. Succeeding or failing is hardly the point. It is the striving, the Math and computer teacher Kurt Meyer calls “Time!” on the soccer match among student-made robots asking, the learning, the journey that constructed by seniors Alexander Huth, Brian Keane, Hugh Gordon, and Luke Myers; Michael Mulligan looks on become[s] the reward.” He went on and Sandy Jensen videotapes the photo-finish Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 9
Campus Activities
Weekend A Little Culture
Performing and Language Arts Opportunities
he Thacher Masquers treated their audiences’ senses and imaginations to the fall production of David Mamet’s The Water Engine. Originally conceived as a radio play, The Masquers dramatized each scene through mime technique and minimal props while
T
Cast of The Water Engine
maintaining the live radio show qualities. Set against the backdrop of Chicago’s 1934 Century of Progress World’s Fair, a Depression-era machinist invents an engine that runs solely on water. He approaches an attorney to patent it, but soon finds himself battling to save his family from the evil corporate forces that try to destroy it.
Sophomores Charlie Bennett and Rebecca Mayne make personal prayer boxes during Departmental Weekend
Although technically difficult to stage, threedozen talented actors and technicians collaborated to present a dimension of live theater termed “third reality,” a scenic honesty that engulfed the audience and demanded its collaborative imagination to create the scenes and to reveal the theme. In this manner, the play stressed its running theme of “All people are connected” and demonstrated the importance—and fun—of creating and communicating with others. page 10 The Thacher News
by Jane D. McCarthy and Joy Sawyer Mulligan
“Put on a Happy Face” and The Arts and Language “Kids.” The ensemble’s largest Departments combined dance number was ”A lot of forces for this February’s Livin’,” followed by a grand scene Departmental Weekend with Spanish dancers and Shriners that offered students and kicking up their heals with Rosie. faculty opportunities to Four dozen energetic and dediexplore multiculcated actors, singers, dancers, mutural celebrations sicians, and technicians spent from around the countless hours perfecting their world. On Thursday lines, steps, tunes, timing, and evening, Stephen lighting for the two spectacular Huyler CdeP 1969 performances. It seems that those spoke about Hindu on stage enjoyed themselves every Devotional Rites, bit as much as the audience that accented by spectaccouldn’t stop applauding, chuckular slides from his ling, toe-tapping, and singing numerous trips to Sarah Shaikh ’03 demonstrates along with the cast. e India. The following some African dance steps morning, students broke into small groups focused on, among other things, how to dye Ukranian eggs, cook French desserts, weave French lavender wands, braid their horses hair, perform flamenco dances, and paint henna designs on themselves and others. One of the more interactive workshops included African Drumming that then played for those who learned African Dance; the dancers’ shoulders, torsos, arms, and legs moved independently but rhythmically to the thundering beat. Before the afternoon sessions began, the Community enjoyed a noontime Mexican feast al After learning the basics, these new African drummers fresco on The Pergola; a trio played played for the African dancers and sang popular traditional music including boleros and rancheras to round out the event. Those who hadn’t learned African dance steps during the day had a chance to try it Friday evening; a marange dance to the strains of a women’s musical group from Senegal completed the weekend’s activities. Late in February, The Thacher Masquers took center stage again to present Bye Bye Birdie, the light teenage musical comedy with such memorable tunes as
Emery Mitchem ’03 dazzled the cast of Bye, Bye Birdie
Campus Activities
Tidbits Snippets of News New Numeracy Stumper
hacher senior Bessie Hatch is the first Thacher student to ever win—in its entirety—the individual CIF Division V State Championship Cross Country Title. Amazingly, her time was two minutes faster than last year (“almost unheard of,” according to her coach, Theana Hancock) and placed her in the top ten girl runners from any division in the state.
This celebrated award recognizes an individual whose “interest in students and concern for colleagues are an inspiration to those who serve in admission.” At the presentation, Monique was heralded as an “original thinker,” “compassionate and intuitive,” “startlingly wise,” and “an impossible act to follow.” The honor was made even sweeter by the surprise appearance of husband and Campaign Director Brian Driscoll who brought sons Liam and t this fall’s Secondary School Admission Test Owen to San Antonio, TX, for the big event. Board meeting, the Everett Gourley Award was given to Assistant Head for External Affairs peaking of honors, the 2001 Preliminary and Director of Admission Monique DeVane. SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test Named eight Commended Students for placed in the top five percent of more than one million students who sat for the test: seniors Katherine Bechtel, Hana Chang, Graham Dunn, Hugh Gordon, Alex Huth, Will Johnson, Emily Nathan, and Whitney Snyder. One senior is a semi-finalist, Will Chamberlain; and Alison Flynn and Lucy Hodgman are heading into the final round for possible Merit Scholarship Awards.
T
A
S
tips with the seniors; groups of riders roamed favorite old trails through the green hills above campus; and trap shooting echoed in the distance. Varsity/JV Boys’ and Varsity Girls’ Soccer Teams played valiantly against the strong alum teams (the latter prevailing); Varsity Boys’ Basketball took the alumni team. At sunset, all gathered at the Mulligans’ home to feast, catch up with classmates, and visit with faculty. The event set new records for participation level, enthusiasm, and pounds of tri tip and chicken adobo consumed.
hacher won this year’s CIF Shake for Sportsmanship Award for the Condor League! This honor was earned by virtue of collecting the most Tony Dunn Sportsmanship Awards through the course of the last three seasons. During the winter, the following Thacher teams won the the sportsmanship award (by vote of the players and coaches of each team in the league): Boys’ Varsity Soccer, Boys’ Junior Varsity Basketball, and Boys’ JV Soccer (shared with Cate). hat inimitable Ojai January sunshine Once again, the Teams scored well on both beamed on close to 200 alums and their the first and second scoreboards. See the families and guests on Winter Alumni Day, Sports highlights on pages 14-16 for the final 2003. Recent grads shared college-transition outcome of these Teams’ seasons. e
T
T Monique DeVane with sons Liam and Owen and husband Brian Driscoll
Numeracy Puzzle The last puzzle was contributed by Richard Myrick CdeP 1939 of Washington DC, and required a fair amount of fiddling to get it! To refresh your memory:
12 5 8 9 15 7 3 1 6 4 2 5 2 3 1
The New Puzzle No Carpet Bagging on This One!
You have two rugs of the same material, one that is 10 × 10 and another that is 1 × 8. How can you make one continuous cut in the 10 × except that the values, 5, 3, 2, and 1 are re10 rug, so as to form two pieces which, when peated, and 10, 11, 13, and 14 seem to be combined with the 1 × 8 piece, can be stitched missing. into a carpet that is exactly 9 × 12? The two rugs are of plain pattern and have pile on one Congratulations to Kip Witter (CdeP 1964) side only. Arrange the first 15 positive integers in the who found this solution (and its mirror): given pattern (each used exactly once) so that every entry is the difference (subtract smaller 6 14 15 3 13 from larger) of the two entries just above it di8 1 12 10 Send your solution to Kurt Meyer in the agonally. For example, this would be a good 7 11 2 Thacher Math Department via email at beginning: 49 kmeyer@thacher.org, or via US mail at the 5 School address. Good Luck! ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 11
Campus Activities
Thacher’s New Faculty Members Bright,Talented, and Enthusiastic Additions to the Community
page 12 The Thacher News
During Jake Jacobsen’s sabbatical in Spain, Kara Hooper is teaching English and coaching the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team and the JV Girls’ Lacrosse Team. Kara is not a stranger to boarding schools; she grew up and attended The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, where her father still teaches. She played basketball, lacrosse, and soccer while there before she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Colby College. She is presently working on a master’s degree in English from Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School. Kara and her husband Jeff live in the Handball Court and advise sophomores.
Bill Rexford, his wife Sondy, and their Golden Retriever Willy, joined Thacher’s community this year so that Bill could teach history and coach Varsity Football and Varsity Lacrosse. He came to us from the Rye County Day School in New York, where he served as the Dean of Boys, taught history and language arts, and coached boys’ lacrosse and football. Bill has a bachelor’s degree in geography from Dartmouth College, and a master’s in Secondary School Social Studies from Lewis & Clark. He’s also working on a master’s in writing from Manhatanville College in New York.
Jeff Hooper is teaching two sections of Spanish and one section of history, and is coaching football. He comes to Thacher from the Texas Military Institute, where he taught Spanish and Economics and coached football. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Trinity University and a minor in Spanish. He also earned a master’s degree in Latin American History from the University of Texas.
Teaching Advanced Placement Biology and chemistry this year is Spencer Stevens, another graduate of Dartmouth. He worked in biotechnology in Boston and Jackson Hole, and taught at Brimmer & May in Boston last year before arriving in Ojai. Spencer works in the Rock Climbing Program, and he will coach Boys’ JV Lacrosse this spring.
Rounding out the Development Office is Scott Smith who is working as a Campaign Gifts Officer. He retired one-and-ahalf years ago from ExecuTrain Corporation, the world’s largest computer training company, where he’d worked in all aspects of management. Prior to that, he worked as a consulting geologist, utilizing his knowledge from a degree in geology from Duke. Scott and his wife Betsy have three sons: Harry who attends Nordhoff High School, Richard who is a sophomore at Thacher, and Ernie who is in eighth grade at the Montessori School in Ojai.
Joining Thacher’s staff in a variety of capacities is Raelyn Viti. With her outdoor science and biology degrees and training as an Army Medic, Raelyn is an asset to the Outdoor Program, in which she teaches wilderness first aid, telemark skiing, and yoga. She is also teaching a Wilderness First Responder course to 12 juniors and seniors. And, she covers shifts in the Health Center. Prior to arriving in Ojai, Raelyn worked at Massachusetts General Hospital, teaching an alternative education program for kids with social disabilities. She also served as an instructor of the Stonehearth Open Learning Organization (SOLO) in Conway, NH, that offers various wilderness medicine and outdoor programs. e
Helping in the Horse Program are Interns Cam Spaulding CdeP 1992 and Erin Anderson. Following Thacher, Cam attained a bachelor’s degree from Lewis & Clark, and most recently, has been leading wilderness expeditions for troubled adolescents. He works with the freshman boys in Lower School, too. Erin comes to us from Australia, where she spent several years working with both English and Western horses. She is the niece of Julie Manson, who works with her husband in the Casa Dormitory.
New faculty and their spouses before the New Year’s Banquet
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 13
Campus Activities
Sports and Afternoon Pursuits
by Joy Sawyer Mulligan, Richard J. Mazzola, and Jane D. McCarthy
Fall Sports
Girls’ Varsity Volleyball
Varsity Football
Captains: Annie Wheatley ’03 and MacKenna Chase ’04 Coach: Melissa Fabulich
Girls’ Varsity Tennis
This team returned to school at the start of the fall a week early to practice and to create the squad they were to be, and, while their win/loss record favors the latter, they proved to be made of gritty stuff. Leader in blocks was newcomer sophomore (and Most Improved Player on the team) Megan Boswell (92); in aces, senior Julia Erdman (20); in digs, senior Say Cooke (137); in kills, Captain Wheatley (60); and in assists, setter/MVP/Captain-elect for 2003 season MacKenna (236).
Captains:Tyler Caldwell ’03 and Charlie Munzig ’03 Coaches: Jeff Hooper, Eric McCarren, Bill Rexford, and Fred Coleman
Captain: Sarah Shaikh ’03 Coach: Stacy Margolin Potter Season’s Record: 4-2
This team aced, lobbed, and volleyed their way to a second-place finish in the Condor League. Captain Sarah Shaikh, who was voted Most Inspirational, said, “I feel it was one of our best seasons yet. We worked harder than we ever had, played hard—and had fun. I am so proud of the whole team.” Their coach, Stacy Margolin Potter, commented “It was rewarding to see the girls make the connection between putting in hard work and developing both mental attitude and physical skills—and to see them come together; their spirit and sense of team grew dramatically from the beginning of the season.” Ella Carney and Dana Gal won Most Improved, while Most Valuable went to the quad of Ellen Adams ’05, Arielle Flam ’03, Virginia Dawson ’04, and Sarah.
Girls’ Junior Varsity Tennis Captains: Mary White ’03 and Vivian Wu ’03 Coach: Jane McCarthy Season’s Record: 5-5
This team, as is often the case with the JV squad, represented a wide range of abilities, talents, and experience with the sport, and yet, when the last volley of the fall echoed into silence, they’d accrued a very respectable season record of equal wins and losses. Most Valuable Player kudos went to Steffi Rauner ’04 who led the singles; Most Improved Player was Felicia Butts ’04, who had never played before this season. In addition to learning the basics of tennis, the players became adept enough to modify their game to play effectively against a variety of strategies and styles.
page 14 The Thacher News
Girls’ Junior Varsity Volleyball Captains: Lauren Chase ’06 and Chandler Pease ’05 Coach: Raelyn Viti
“There’s a theme here,” suggested one of the bleacher fans of this team after witnessing a few matches: indeed, this squad seemed to tuck away a win to start, then lose the second game, and finally, effect a comeback. While this pattern didn’t always end in success (equal wins and losses), the girls nonetheless managed several psychic victories, each contributing her particular talent to the mix: sophomore Channing Emord’s “pushing the ball in the face of the other team to score spectacular points of side outs”; Lauren Chase’s infusing the necessary spirit when the chips were down; junior Nhu Y Dang’s digs and a surprising left-handed hit; sophomore Kirsty Mark’s run of 11 points at serve during one game; MVP freshman Erica Puccetti’s quickness and game smarts; Chandler Pease’s rock-solid reliability; and freshman Lauren Church’s excellent ball instincts in the face of never having played the sport (which helped her to win Most Improved Player honors).
“A stellar group” of ten seniors according to Coach Hooper—helped their coaches to set the high tone and laudable work ethic of Thacher’s first-ever 8man football team. Seniors Tyler Caldwell (the team’s eventual MVP), Robert Cerda and Richard Smith (Most Improved Players) helped lead this team’s rapid improvement over the course of the season. The team scored 48 points or more in six out of nine games and Charlie Munzig converted all but one of his extra-point possibilities. The fall’s highlight was surely the dramatic CIF tournament play-off victory of Viewpoint School, in which Thacher sprang to an early 21-0 lead, capped by an electrifying punt return by Tyler. Eventually, however, Viewpoint pulled to within two points with less than a minute on the clock. Thacher emerged victorious at 36-34.
Girls’ Cross Country Captain: Bessie Hatch ’03 Coach:Theana Hancock
The girl harriers started off the year powerfully, beating Cate solidly at the first Condor League meet, run on The Mesa. Unfortunately, that race proved to be the highlight of the season for the team in its entirety as four of its five top runners were soon hobbled by injury and illness. Yet juniors Elly Harder, Bianca Kissel, and Becky Swan, sophomore Cindy Sorrick, and ultimate MVP Bessie Hatch soldiered on and was incontrovertibly first: undefeated in the Condor League, first in the Ojai Invitational, third in the Division III, IV, and V sweepstakes at the Mt. SAC (San Antonio College) Invitational, as well as first in the CIF preliminaries (for which Katie Frykman ’04 also qualified) and the finals in Fresno, there beating her nearest competitor by 40 seconds.
Boys’ Cross Country Captain: John Babbott ’03 Coach: Pierre Yoo
First, there’s quantity: with a super-abundance of runners, this team (called by Coach Yoo “Thacher’s Little Army”) kept every Thacher trail busy (and a few in the High Sierra, where some members of the squad spent their Fall Extra-Day Trip) throughout the practice season, the older boys encouraging the younger ones at ever step. Next, there’s quality: for the third year running, the Toads took first place in the Condor League, besting the competition at Cate, Laguna Blanca, Dunn, and Ojai Valley School. In addition, our harriers snagged first place at the Brentwood Invitational and fifth place at the CIF preliminaries.
Winter Sports Girls’ Varsity Basketball Captains: Annie Wheatley ’03 and Whitney Livermore ’04 Coach: Melissa Johnson (CIF Coach of the Year) and Kurt Meyer Season’s Record: 17-4 League Record: 8-0
This tiny but tenacious team went all the way to the Pyramid and brought home the trophy engraved with this: CIF Southern Section Champions. Other accolades, heaped along the way, stack up high: a Condor League Championship; junior Steffi Rauner’s election to All-Tourney Team in the Fillmore Tournament early in the season; Coach Johnson’s CIF Coach of the Year Award. “I was astonished at the team’s growth throughout the season,” she said. “We went from a decent team to a red hot Southern Section underdog that had the mental toughness to crave—and handle well—high-pressure situations.” Winning the votes for Most Valuable and Most Inspirational
Player were Steffi Rauner ’04 and Annie Wheatley, respectively. Sophomore Channing Emord claimed the Most Improvement award for the season. And, finally, Steffi and Whitney Livermore made First Team All-CIF, and Becky Horton ’05 made Second Team All-CIF. What a team! What a season!!
Girls’ Junior Varsity Basketball Captains: Jackie Au ’03 and Hana Chang ’03 Coach: Rich Mazzola Season’s Record: 6-6
Although team members’ experience experience with the game ranged from fou-year vets to new-to-thegame, “each girl improved and brought all she could to what was a wonderful season,” according to Coach Mazzola. Even against tough non-league opponents, these girls battled with determination and courage. “In Condor League play, the highlight was a game against Cate in which our Lady Toads put on a veritable defensive clinic—allowing only six points and pouring in 33 with Jackie Au leading the offensive charge with 12 points. Although victories are surely sweet, Coach Mazzola contended that “perhaps the most exhilarating games were the close losses to the powerful league champion, Cornerstone Christian—one in which seniors Au and Alison Flynn led a comeback charge in which we outscored them fourteen to four in the fourth quarter, and the other, a two-point barn burner in which each and every player poured her heart into it.” Most Improved honors were shared by Mary White ’03 and Megan Boswell ’05; Most Valuable were Jackie Au and Marguerite Kissel ’04.
Boys’ Varsity Basketball Captain: Brenton Sullivan ’03 Coach: Jason Carney
Like the other Toad varsity teams this winter, this squad qualified for CIF competition after playing a
demanding schedule that required what their coach called “both heart and toughness.” In the playoffs, Thacher advanced to second-round play by traveling to south central LA and beating heavily favored Masada on its home court. The next rung proved too tough, however; Thacher lost to the tournament’s #2 seed in a closely contested game. Senior Chance Phelps earned Most Improved; Captain Sullivan, with an average of 18 points per game, won Most Valuable Player.
Boys’ Junior Varsity Basketball Coach: Derick Perry Cdep 1983 Captains: Gilbert Acosta ’04, Jim Sligh ’04, and Leland Franklin ’04
A Tony Dunn Sportsmanship Award winner by vote of the players and coaches of the Condor League, this squad, comprised entirely of underclassmen, dubbed themselves “The Tenacious Ten”—and, it turns out, for good reason. It’s true that few victories came their way, but that didn’t get in the way of the kind of memory-making camaraderie and gritty play that makes the team experience really sing. “Every single team member contributed to the positive feeling,” remarked Coach Perry; in his own way, each member contributed enthusiasm, hard work, humor, resiliency, and leadership. Toby Nathan ’05 won Most Valuable Player and Leland Franklin earned Most Improved.
Girls’ Varsity Soccer Coach: Kara Hooper Captains: Laurel Back ’03, Bessie Hatch ’03, and Sarah Tapscott ’03
Decisive wins over Santa Clara (5-0) and Viewpoint (4-1) launched the winter propitiously for the varsity girls, followed by post-holiday play involving five games in eight days. Some games were squeakers in the wrong direction—losses by one goal—yet Thacher won a berth in the CIF playoffs by virtue of the early wins. Kudos go to Rachel Munzig ’05 who won Most Improved Player; Bessie Hatch earned Most Inspirational, by vote of her fellow footballers; and Midfielder Laurel Back, named MVP of the team for her six goals and eight assists, also won First Team AllCIF honors (only one of two players from the Condor League so honored to either First or Second Team).
Girls’ Junior Varsity Soccer Captains: Jacey Roche ’03 and Caitlin Walter ’05 Coach: Cam Spaulding CdeP 1992
This undefeated team, with players from all four classes represented, secured no fewer than four shut-outs and three games in which the opposition scored only one goal. Furthermore, out of nine games, seven were either ties or were decided by a single goal—indication of just how exciting the season was for both players and field-side fans. Named Most Valuable was freshman Kaggie Orrick, who utterly dominated the defensive half of the field. Most Improved was shared by sophomores Caitlin Walter at sweeper and Cindy Sorrick at center halfback.
photo by Chris Cantle, courtesy of Ojai Valley News Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 15
Girls’ Third Soccer Captains: Phoebe Halsey ’03 and Elizabeth Jackson ’04 Coach: Eric McCarren Season Record: 2-1
Calling themselves JV2, this small, but spirited squad’s members gave their best all along the way. In the process, they learned much as individuals and as a team, about the game and about being an athlete. And, this proved to be good training grounds for feeding next season’s junior varsity team.
Boys’ Varsity Soccer Captains:Tyler Caldwell ’03, Charlie Munzig ’03, and Jimmy Madigan ’03 Coach: Fred Coleman (CIF Coach of the Year)
With this year’s changes in the athletic season, this team, like many, went up against some dramatically more competitive teams from significantly larger schools: Bishop Diego, Rosamond, Loma Linda, Fillmore, Carpinteria, Flintridge Prep, and Oak Park. Yet this increased competition seemed only to fire the boys up further: in fact, they finished the regular season with a string of 35 games without a loss—and with their third consecutive Condor League Championship title in the bag, and a Tony Dunn Sportsmanship Award, as well. The team headed into post-season play ranked an astonishing third out of 88 schools, then boldly made their way through to the CIF finals, where St. Margaret’s edged them out, despite fine and courageous second half play. “These boys dedicated themselves to trusting each other and to playing absolutely unselfish soccer,” said their coach. “And when they were on their game…well, it was a beautiful to watch: athletics as an art form.” As voted by members of the team, Ben Babbott ’05 won Most Improved Player, Owili Eison ’03 Most Inspirational, and Most Valuable, Troy Pollet ’03.
Boys’ Junior Varsity Soccer Captains: Eddy Tavernetti ’03 and Evan Werlin ’04 Coach: Kurt Supplee
Although the JV boys started off a bit slowly, they rallied magnificently by the end of the season to win their last two games—against Flintridge Prep and Cate. Reported their coach, “I was especially impressed by the great determination to keep on improving that these kids showed when we were down early in the winter. As a result, they learned a valuable lesson about the rewards of hard work, and I ended the season as a very proud coach.” As sweeper and stopper, Gabe Yette ’05 was voted Most Valuable Player; Goalie-midfielder Stephen Rooke ’04, who willingly played several positions, earned Most Improved; and Evan Werlin was bestowed Most Inspirational, likely because of his invitations at Assembly to potential spectators, such as “Attractive boys in knee-high socks running around the field! Come watch!” That’s an offer many just couldn’t refuse.
Boys’ Third Soccer Captains: Chris Cahill ’03 and Nate Parker ’03 Coach: David Harris Season Record: 3-2-1
High morale (in spite of high numbers of players) persisted throughout the season for this squad. Because most of the schools we play field only varsity page 16 The Thacher News
and JV teams, our boys generally competed against more skillful opposition. It was especially heartening when our Thirds emerged victorious late in the season against the two teams that had beaten them in earlier matches. Leadership proved key and came from the senior co-captains. Retiring Toad Coach Harris remarked, “My last game as a coach was apt: playing against our archrivals from The Mesa in rain and mud.” And it was a winner, to boot.
The Outdoor Program Think “kaleidoscopic” when considering the winter portion of The Outdoor Program: running trails four days a week, studying Wilderness First Aid and receiving certifications, honing map and compass skills in the orienteering component. Led by Raelyn Viti, the five participants took two overnight trips to The Pines, as well as excursions to Big Bear and Snow Summit to try their hands—well, feet—at telemarking. Other activities of the season: bouldering, learning Asthanga Yoga, developing leadership styles and working through group dynamic issues. Said their coach, “I would gladly summit any peak with this group. They were able to put aside their differences and work effectively and efficiently as a team.”
Polo Team A dedicated band of mallet-wielding riders has throughout the year, under the tutelage of Chuck Warren, learned more and more about the art and skill of polo. Varsity players sought and found their culminating moment in the Western Regional Interscholastic Arena Polo Championships in Santa Barbara, where, they faced the challenge of being assigned an unfamiliar horse from a pool of ponies and going through the paces of a five-minute get-acquainted warm-up, followed by the actual competition. Although the Thacher team lost to the eventual champions, NorthCal Polo, they played fully cred-
itably. And, with only two graduating seniors on the squad, they’ll no doubt return to even greater success next year. “With our own arena next year [walls going up on the roping-arena perimeter] and with a formal schedule of regular matches next year, things will change for the positive. And since arena polo is being played in around 70 colleges in the US, we should start seeing some Thacher riders in the news in a year or two,” predicts Coach Warren. e
Campus Activities
Historical Society Art through the Ages
by Alisa D. McCoy
hroughout Thacher’s history, artistic pursuits have been integral to the making of a well-rounded student. In the early years, observation and careful recreation of classical Greek and Roman arts went hand in hand with the study of the Classics in the Thacher student’s curriculum. e
T
Studying from plaster busts, students render in clay and charcoal the human form in the Agnes St. Claire Art Studio, circa 1900. Over the years, more arts and crafts were offered to Thacher students such as metalworking, textiles, pottery, carpentry, photography, printmaking, and leatherworking, in addition to drawing, painting, and sculpting.
Marcus H. Dall, Head of the Art Department from 1928 through 1949, supervises a group of young artisans in 1938.
Students work on various art projects in the old art studio, circa 1930s.
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 17
Campus Activities
The Survey Says
The surveys, developed by Thacher with help from the Pacific Consulting Group of Palo Alto, were mailed to all parents and administered to students by advisee groups late last fall. The surveys asked for feedback on over 145 components of school life, organized into twelve different broad areas: Advising and Counseling; Academic Programs and Departments; Teachers and Administrators; School Culture and Discipline; Community Composition; Athletic/Horse/Outdoor Programs; Activities, Clubs, and Community Life; Personal Development and Health; Communication and Involvement with the School; and Cost and Affordability. Parents and students also rated their overall satisfaction with the School. Parents and students rated most aspects of the School using a seven-point scale, where one equaled Very Poor and seven equaled Excellent. The survey also asked open-ended questions, which helped guide the interpretation of the responses to the rated questions.
Highlights of 2001-2002 Student and Parent Surveys
• Questionnaires were completed by 235 students in November 2001. Surveys were admininistered by advisor groups.
page 18 The Thacher News
next highest satisfaction rating on the current survey and the highest rating on the 2000 survey.
• Student perceptions of The Thacher School • On the current survey, Activities, Clubs, and Community Life offers the greatest opporare very favorable. The current overall sattunity for improving student satisfaction. isfaction rating of 5.97 has increased comSpecifically within this arena, Off-Campus pared to the overall satisfaction rating given Activities Availability and Quality of Club in 2000 (5.65). There is a tendency for stuand Activity Leadership have high priority dents’ overall satisfaction ratings to drop as for improvement. grade level increases. • Students are most satisfied with Academic • Other areas offering good opportunities for improvement include Grading and HomePrograms and Departments, which has an work and Personal Development and average rating of 6.03, compared with 5.87 Health. in 2000. The Horse Program received the
Student Satisfaction with Thacher 45% 42%
40% 35%
34%
30% 25% 20% 17%
15% 10% 5% 0%
Pacific Consulting Group also analyzed the responses to the rating questions to identify the areas that would have the greatest leverage in improving overall satisfaction with Thacher.
by Monique L. DeVane
Student Survey Results of Note
Percent of Responses
ll of us at Thacher would like to thank the students and parents who took part in the third round of biannual Parent and Student surveys during the 2001-2002 school year. The responses help the School have a better understanding of parent and student needs and opinion, and how we at the School are experienced.
A
0%
2%
2%
1
2
3
Very Dissatisfied
4%
4
5
6
7 Very Satisfied
School Culture and Discipline: Competition
Student Top Eight Highest Satisfaction (1-7 scale)
How would you rate the level of competition between students at Thacher?
Item Rating Wandering as a Senior Privilege 6.55 Confidentiality Expected from Advisor 6.40 Class Size 6.34 Development of Riding Skills 6.25 Library Services 6.16 Quality of Horse Instruction 6.12 Classes in History 6.11 Teacher Interest in Helping Outside Class 6.11
70% 63%
Percent of 235 Responses
60% 50% 40% 30%
25%
20%
Student Bottom Eight Lowest Satisfaction (1-7 scale)
10%
Item Rating Student Government Productivity 4.30 Comprehensiveness of HR&S Program 4.29 Quality of Club and Activity Leadership 4.19 Quality of Performing Arts Facilities 4.06 Off-Campus Activities Availability 4.02 Quality of HR&S Program 3.75 Breakfast Check-In 3.43 Opportunities for Sufficient Sleep 3.31
10% 2%
0%
0%
Way Too Little
Way Too Much
Too Little About Right Too Much
School Culture and Discipline: Pressures Please estimate the intensity of peer pressure to:
Student-Leverage Components Use Tobacco on Campus
99%
Cheat on Work
87%
Use Drugs on Campus
99%
0%
1%
In addition to scoring 145 components of student life, the researchers identified those components, which, if improved, would leverage the greatest increase in overall satisfaction. Students would be more satisfied with their overall experience if the following areas were enhanced:
1%
• Activities, Clubs, and Community Life: Off-Campus Activities Availability and Quality of Club and Activity Leadership;
13%
99%
Use Alcohol on Campus
1%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of 235 Responses
None to Low Pressure
Moderate Pressure
Intense Pressure
• Grading and Homework: The Relationship between the Grades Received, How Much Has Been Learned, and How Hard Students Have Worked; and • Personal Development and Health: Opportunities for Sufficient Sleep.
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 19
Parent Survey Results of Note
• Parents give Thacher an overall satisfaction rating of 6.51 on a seven-point scale. • Parents are most satisfied with the School Culture and Discipline, which has an average rating of 6.45. Teachers and Administrators received the next highest satisfaction rating. Advising and Counseling received the lowest satisfaction rating (5.35). • Ninety-nine percent of parent respondents said that Thacher had met the expectations they had when they first enrolled their child.
60%
60%
50% Percent of 99 Responses
• Nearly half (102 parents) returned the questionnaires which were mailed to them in the late fall of 2001. The majority of parents (82%) had only one child enrolled in Thacher in the 2000-2001 school year, and most (63%) had only one child ever enrolled in Thacher.
Parent Satisfaction with Thacher
40% 33%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1
2
3
2%
5%
4
5
6
Very Dissatisfied
7 Very Satisfied
Average Parent Satisfaction Ratings: Overall Arenas Parent Top Eight Highest Satisfaction (1-7 scale) Item Rating Honor Code in Guiding Behavior 6.62 Development of Responsibility and Confidence 6.60 Administrators’ Effectiveness in Running Thacher 6.53 Teacher Enthusiasm for Teaching 6.52 Teacher Mastery of Subject Areas 6.51 Family Weekends 6.49 Overall School Culture and Discipline 6.45 Overall Teachers and Administrators 6.45
Overall Satisfaction*
6.51
School Culture and Discipline*
6.45
Teachers and Administrators*
6.45
Horse Program
6.44
Academic Program and Departments
6.2
Outdoor/Camping Program
6.15
Personal Development and Health
6.11
Activities, Clubs, and Community Life
6.02
Athletic Program
5.91
Communication and Involvement
5.87
Community Composition
5.84
Advising and Counseling
5.35
0
Parent Bottom Eight Lowest Satisfaction (1-7 scale) Item Rating Amount of Contact Initiated by School 5.23 Students Represent Different Ethnic/Racial Groups 5.20 Students Represent Diffent Incomes 5.03 Preparation for College Admission Tests 4.90 Opportunities for Religious/ Spiritual Activities 4.69 Quality of Performing Arts Facilities 4.39 Amount of Administrative Contact 4.28 Degree of Child’s Choice in Advisor 4.25
1
2
3
4
5
6
Very Dissatisfied *Parents’ satisfaction is significantly higher in 2001 than in 2000
Advising and Counseling Whom at Thacher are you most likely to call regarding a concern about your child? 81%
Advisor Teacher
30%
Dorm Head
22%
Head of School
22%
Academic Dean
9%
0%
10% 20%
30%
40%
50%
60% 70%
80%
Percent of 161 Respondents Percentages add to more than 100% due to multiple responses
page 20 The Thacher News
7 Very Satisfied
90%
Cost How do you feel about the current overall cost of sending your child to Thacher
Communication and Involvement: Thacher Initiative Thacher’s level of initiative in identifying opportunities for parental involvement
Too High for the Value (1%)
100%
Reasonable (13%)
2000 (120 responses)
80%
2001 (98 responses) 78%
Percent of Responses
A Bargain (1%)
90%
79%
70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20%
20%
21%
10%
High, But Worth It (85%)
0%
2%
0%
Too Aggressive
Not Aggressive Enough
About Right
Thacher’s level of initiative in soliciting financial support 100%
Percent of Responses
Percent of 100 Respondents
Overall Impressions Would you recommend Thacher to a friend or relative?
90%
2000 (177 responses)
80%
2001 (100 responses)
91%
89%
70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
80%
3%
2%
Too Aggressive
Percent of 99 Responses
70%
6%
9%
Not Aggressive Enough
About Right
72%
60%
Parent-Leverage Components
50%
In addition to scoring individual components of the Thacher experience, the researchers identified these components which, if improved, would leverage the greatest increase in overall satisfaction. Parents would be more satisfied with the overall experience if the following areas were enhanced:
40% 30% 20%
21%
10% 0%
0% No
• Personal Development and Health: Helping students with their academic and extracurricular balance and the pace of their lives.
7% Yes, with Reservations
Yes, with Enthusiasm
Yes, at Top of List
• Communication and Involvement: Initiating More Personal Contact with Parents about Their Children. • Activities, Clubs, and Community Life: Providing additional weekend opportunities and off-campus events.
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 21
The Campaign for Thacher
T
H E C A M PA I G N F O R T H A C H E R continues to build momentum
as friends of the School give in ways that will strengthen and enhance the Thacher experience. Gifts have been received in support of endowment for financial aid, faculty salaries, and professional development. Some donors have chosen to support campus buildings such as the Myers-Huyler Friendship Barn or the Commons Project, a combined student center and a performing arts facility. Regardless of how particular gifts are directed, donors share a clear enthusiasm for Thacher’s distinctive mission and spirit, and for The Campaign for Thacher. Total dollars raised to date:
$35,000,000
Total number of donors: Number of gifts over $1 million Number of realized bequests to date Number of new irrevocable planned gifts Earliest class represented Most recent class represented
221 13 8 8 1929 1994
For more information about The Campaign for Thacher, please contact the Development Office.
Investing in Thacher Leadership (Part 1):The First 50 Years
s I enjoyed the reunion festivities this past June with over 300 alumni, spouses and children, all of whom gave every indication of their being thrilled with their affiliation with Thacher, I asked myself, “How, after 113 years, can we Pete Pond CdeP 1932 account for the success of this remarkable institution?”
A
I believe the key to the School’s success is its leadership, particularly the eight individuals—each different but all talented and right for their times—who have served as its Head of School. As one of the few people around who has known and admired each of these men, I would like to note for posterity the investment that each has made in the success of the School. The first 50 years of the School’s existence were dominated by the personality and philosophy of Sherman Day Thacher, directly and through his son Anson. Considering the influential presence during those years of Sherman’s wife Eliza Blake Thacher and his brother William Larned Thacher, these might well be called “the family years.” page 22 The Thacher News
SDT came to the Ojai Valley in 1887 having been educated at Yale and its law school, having sold carpets at Sloane’s in New York, having been a law clerk in Kansas City, and not having a clue about his future. In a short time, the joys of living in Ojai became more apparent, as did a career as an orchardist. With $4,000 borrowed from his brother William, he invested in the first 160 acres of what would become the Casa de Piedra Ranch and The Thacher School. Two years later, SDT agreed to tutor the son of a Yale professor in preparation for college for the sum of $14 per week, washing excluded. By 1892, 11 boys were being tutored at the Casa de Piedra, and SDT was beginning to think of his boys as a more lucrative crop than oranges. As his attention shifted from ranching to teaching, he began to judiciously invest in both human and physical resources for his School. A careful, practical man, SDT scrutinized each expenditure and tailored the design of each building to his vision for the School. Always thoughtful and articulate, he left us an extensive written record of his philosophy of education. Much of this appears in the correspondence from 1883-1931 between SDT and his Yale roommate Horace Taft, founder of The Taft School, published as The TaftThacher Letters. This philosophical legacy has been the touchstone for SDT’s successors, both Heads and Trustees.
SDT defined the ideal teacher as “a boy among boys in heart; in judgment, a man.” Attracting such a person (presumably only to be found in the East) to an isolated school in an arid valley in Southern California was a challenge that required his personal attention. As Horace Taft said, “Even the Angel Gabriel would find it difficult to find such a person.” But SDT did find Oliver Hart Bronson, a young Yale graduate, the first of several young teachers, followed by more experienced scholars such as Morgan Barnes and Forest Cooke. When SDT died in August 1931, these two men succeeded him as Head and Associate Head, respectively. Mr. Barnes and Herr Cooke, having taught at the School for 21 and 17 years, provided continuity and stability for five years while SDT’s son Anson S. Thacher prepared to fill his father’s shoes. Mr. Barnes’s encyclopedic mind and his fluency in Latin and the romance languages commanded the respect of teachers and students alike. Herr Cooke’s enthusiasm and sense of academic adventure enabled him to inspire true appreciation of English literature. Together, these two men established the standard for academic excellence at Thacher. (I consider myself most fortunate to have been taught by both of them.) Anson Thacher devoted his life to his father’s legacy, having left the campus for only eight years of his life to go to Yale, teach at Groton
You’re Never Too Young Remembering Thacher Through Your Estate Plan
t its best, estate planning is about much more than what you own. Rather, it is a statement about who you are. It is your opportunity to make a tangible statement about spouse, children, relatives, friends, and organizations whose values you share.
A
Many people think that estate plans are the exclusive province of wealthy people in their senior years. Yet, the need to plan just in case begins at a much earlier age. An estate plan is the only way for a person to assert his or her right to direct the disposition of personal property and other assets, name guardians for minor children, and remember charitable organizations such as Thacher. Without a will,
by Samuel A. “Pete” Pond CdeP 1932
for a year, and serve as Assistant to the Headmaster at Catalina Island School for three years. He returned to the School when his father died in 1931 and served in the apprentice roles of Business Manager and Assistant Head in an informal triumvirate with Messrs. Barnes and Cooke. Faculty brat, star of the soccer and baseball teams, renowned camp cook, math teacher, soccer coach, Business Manager, Assistant Head, and Head for 13 years, Anson (a.k.a. “Red” as a teenager and later as “Scratch”) was an everyman. As likely to be found pushing a broom as pushing paper, Anson guided the School through the late depression and war years with calm confidence and a sense of humor that helped the faculty and the boys focus on education in those tumultuous times. When Anson passed the reins to Newt Chase in 1949, the Thacher-family era of the School ended gracefully. SDT had set the course, Messrs. Barnes and Cooke had set the academic standards, and AST had set the tone. Together, they had created not just a school but a culture combining the finest attributes of academic, outdoor, and community life. e Sherman Thacher and His School, by LeRoy McKim Makepeace CdeP 1936, is gratefully acknowledged as the source of much of the information in this article.
by David V. Babbott
the laws of your particular state govern the distribution of your assets and the care of your minor children.
When Erin Archer CdeP 1996 was reviewing her IRA in 2000, she was momentarily stumped by the question: “Whom do you A recent survey by the National Committee on want to receive the Planned Giving suggests that people of all in- funds in this account come brackets and all ages devote time to their if there is balance estate plans. For example: when you die?” Single and without chil• The mean age of people who make a dren, Erin didn’t charitable will provision is 58. Seventeen name her parents as percent of the will provisions are written some of her peers by people less than 45 years old. have done. Instead, she named Thacher. • The median income of people who make “My parents don’t Erin Archer CdeP 1996 a will provision is $60,400. need the modest amount I have in the IRA, and I wanted to • The mean age of people who create charmake a tribute to Thacher. Thacher helped itable remainder trusts is 62. Sixteen permake me who I am today and it seemed like a cent of charitable remainder trusts are nice way to make a difference and say thank created by people less than 45 years old. you.” • The median income of people who create a charitable remainder trust is $70,700. The Boot Hill Association, Thacher’s planned giving society, includes alumni, siblings of alumni, current and past parents, and current and past faculty members. I’d like you to meet four of its younger members.
Janie Carroll Richardson CdeP 1983
Janie Carroll Richardson CdeP 1983 and Weston Richardson CdeP 1980 are one of the earliest Thacher marriages. Janie refers to Thacher as a touchstone. “Weston and I realized that we needed to have a plan for our assets and our two young sons. Our children are our top
priority, and it felt great to know that we had taken the responsible step of providing for them.
Andrew Shakman CdeP 1990 drafted his first will several years ago. For him, it was not really a choice. “I did not want to leave a mess behind me. I wanted to make a plan that would remember family and some friends as well as Thacher. Working with my attorney, I was able to structure a plan that would provide exclusively Andrew Shakman for my family if the CdeP 1990 value of my estate went below a certain point. It includes Thacher and others if my estate is larger. With this plan, I don’t have to rewrite my will every time the stock market goes up or down.” Andrew reports that he entire process was, “an exceedingly easy thing to do.” e If you have included Thacher in your estate plans or would like more information about how to do so, please contact David V. Babbott, Director of Special Gifts and Planned Giving, at (805) 646-4377 ext. 242 or email dvbabbott@thacher.org
“We also wanted to remember Thacher, which is so important to both of us, so we have included a specific bequest for the Weston Richardson School. I now realize CdeP 1980 how important good planning is as I help settle my mother’s estate with the associated estate taxes.” Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 23
Trustees
Trustees Thacher’s Newest Trustees Dedicated Alumni, Parents, and Friends Join Board
Brian J. Back and Kathleen J. Back are serving on the Board this year as Parents’ Association Presidents; they are members of the Program and Development Committees. Brian graduated from Claremont Men’s College in 1972, earned a master’s degree from Claremont Graduate School in 1974 and a Juris Doctorate from University of Santa Clara in 1977. He practiced law in Ventura County for 22 years in the area of civil litigation with an emphasis in real property. He first practiced at Nordman, Cormany, Hair & Compton, and later with the firm of, Arnold, Back Mathews, Wojkowski & Zirbel, which he co-founded. He was appointed to the Ventura County Bench in 1997 and is currently the presiding judge of the Ventura County Juvenile Court. Among his many volunteer activities are coaching youth soccer and basketball and serving on the Los Robles Hospital Board of Trustees, including a term as Chair. He has also served on the executive committee of the Real Estate Section of the State Bar of California. He currently co- chairs the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council and the Commission for Children and Families First.
Kathy graduated from Scripps College in 1973, earned a teaching credential from San Jose State University, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Santa Clara in 1979. She did an externship with the California Court of Appeals and completed her last year of law school at UCLA. She has worked as an Estate Planning Attorney in Ventura County since 1980, first for Nordman, Cormany, Hair and Compton and then for Arnold, Back, Mathews, Wojkowski, and Zirbel. She has given her time to many organizations in various capacities including teaching art classes for elementary students, tutoring, serving on school site council and the Los Primeros Structured School Educational Foundation, serving as a room mother and/or team parent nearly every year and doing special projects for various organizations serving the homeless and needy. She has also co-chaired the Thacher auction for the past two years. Brian and Kathy live in Camarillo and have five children: Gavin CdeP 1997, Shannon CdeP 1998, Michael CdeP 2001, Laurel ’03, and Heather. page 24 The Thacher News
Elizabeth Broome Grether and her husband John served as Presidents of the Parents’ Committee last year; in the past, she served as Auction Co-Chair and Chair as well as Chair of the Faculty-Staff Appreciation Day, Grandparents’ Day, and various Class Barbecues. This year Betsy is beginning her tenure as a Trustees of Thacher’s Board by serving on the Program and Buildings & Grounds Committees. Betsy is a landscape architect by training (she has bachelor degrees from USC in Art History and Cal Poly in Landscape Architecture). She has served in numerous capacities with Ventura County non-profit organization including Las Patronas Auxiliary, La Paloma Auxiliary of Childrens’ Home Scoiety, Mesa Union Schol, and the Pleasant Valley Swim Team Board. She has been particularly helpful in connection with plans for campus improvements at Thacher. She and John live on a ranch in Somis that grows lemons, avocadoes, and vegetables; they have three sons: Robert CdeP 1999, Ted CdeP 2001, and Russell ’03
Cecilia Healy Herbert and her husband Jim reside in San Francisco with their three children: James and Alex CdeP 2002, both of whom attend Stanford, and another daughter Deirdre, who is just beginning her freshman year at Thacher. Cecilia received her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Communications from Stanford and then attained her MBA with an emphasis in finance from Harvard University. She worked for 17 years at J.P. Morgan in New York and San Francisco, doing international and domestic corporate finance, with a two-year hiatus in the mid-seventies, when she worked at Signet Bank in Virginia. She retired from Morgan as a Managing Director and head of Morgan’s San Francisco Office to be home with their children.
She keeps involved with finance in her volunteer work where she has chaired or been a member of various finance and investment committees at Schools of the Sacred Heart, Groton School, Catholic Charities of the Bay Area, California Pacific Medical Center, and the Archdiocese of San Francisco. She is also a Trustee of The Montgomery Funds, a family of mutual funds based in San Francisco. On Thacher’s Board, Cecilia is serving on the Finance and Trustee Committees.
Lance R. Odden and his wife Patsy met Thacher’s Board last June when he was one of the key speakers at the Aspen Retreat. He is the former Headmaster of The Taft School (29 years) and has served as president/chair of The New England Association of Schools and colleges, The Headmasters Association, The Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, A Better Chance, and the Independent School Commission of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience relating to independent schools and continues the strong link between Thacher and Taft that started with Sherman Day Thacher and Horace Taft. Lance is now the president of Prospect Consultants, Senior Advisor of Warburg Pincus, Inc., and Director of ChancellorBeacon and Irwin Financial Services. Lance matriculated from Phillips Academy to Princeton where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1961; he then earned a master’s from the University of Wisconsin. Various institutions have awarded Lance with doctorate degrees (Middlebury, Hamilton, and Piedmont Colleges), The Taft Alumni Citation of Merit, the Nadal Award for Service to Interscholastic Athletics, and the Princeton Day School Alumni Award. He is serving on Thacher’s Program Committee and the Personnel Sub-Committee.
Cecilia B. Rauch resides in Upland with her husband Dudley. Since their daughter Heather’s graduation from Thacher (1989), they have been devoted Thacher supporters. Cecilia received both bachelor’s (Experimental Psychology) and MBA (one of the first women to receive this degree) from Harvard University. She has worked in business and finance, including corporate planning and research for Times Mirror, and income tax practice for H&R Block Premium and Teders Bookkeeping & Income Tax Service. She has been very helpful to various non-profits organizations including Inland Society of Tax Consultants, Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliates, National Committee for the Performing Arts at the John F. Kennedy Center, The Mt. San Antonio Gardens, The Claremont United Church of Christ, and Foothill Country Day School. In her first year on Thacher’s Board, Cecilia is serving on the Finance Committee and Audit and Personnel Sub-Committees. The Board of Trustees at the autumn meeting in October
Jacob C.Y. Wu is joining Thacher’s Board this year and is serving on the Development and Program Committees. He visited Thacher often during the four years his son Ronald was here (he graduated in June); daughter Vivian is now a senior. Jacob was born and raised in Macao and later moved to Hong Kong. After graduating from Melbourne High School in Victoria, Australia, he came to Indiana University for his bachelor’s degree and the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) for his master’s. He then worked as a programming-analyst at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, and later as a member of the technical staff at Computer Sciences Corporation in Maryland. He returned to Hong Kong in 1978, where he worked successively at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Citic Ka Wah Bank, and JP Morgan Chase Bank. When his father passed away in 1986, he resigned from Chase to help manage his family business. He currently is the managing director of Wing Lee Management Company, Actias Company, Ltd., as well as The Welfare Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to educational projects in remote regions of China. He married Lily Suc Ching Bork in 1980. His leisure interests are travel and reading. e
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 25
n di n e l kil sma s lly craft a u an uct; m d on r pro s r pe cula i A n: part a tis ng a r A ki ma
The Thacher Community has a vastly diverse group of artisans who have found joy and satisfaction in creating with their own hands. From manufacturing sheep cheese to guitars, from Japanese carpentry to metal sculpture, these gifted craftsmen take pride in their work and enjoy the benefits of working for themselves and creating something out of “nothing.” In addition to specifics about how these artists chose their vocations and their learning curves, a thumbnail sketch is provided of the intricacies of each discipline. Our only misgiving is that we couldn’t profile all of the artisans who are part of the Thacher Community for these are truly unique, wonderful people and this was a most enjoyable topic to research and chronicle.
Allen Dragge
Don Reed
Peter Dragge
James Wiester
Diana and Liam Callahan
Maddy McQuillan
Bo Manson and John Bueti
Profile
Allen O. Dragge, Jr. CdeP 1966 The Art of Light and Glass
llen Dragge CdeP 1966 is a founder of Reflection Studios and the director of creative services. Reflection Studios is an Emeryville, California based stained glass studio that since 1972 has been specializing in leaded glass restoration and original glass art. Their catalog of projects is impressive and includes San Francisco landmarks such as the Olympic Club, Grace Cathedral, The Garden Court of The Sheraton Palace, The Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, The Pacific Union Club, the Palladian windows in San Francisco City Hall, The Bohemian Club, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Not limited to restorative work, Reflection Studios designs, builds, and installs original glass art. A recent Reflection’s project is a recreation of the glass dome that was above the Grand Staircase on the Titanic for a new Lake Tahoe home. But it is the art and science of restoring massive stained glass art that has built the international reputation of Reflection Studios.
A
by S. Kittredge “Kit” Collins CdeP 1966
Quite by chance, Allen and his partner, Barry Richmann, discovered that a fabulous treasure trove of historic glass existed in the once grand neighborhoods of midwestern cities such as Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Philadelphia. “We essentially discovered the mother load of architectural ornament that flourished in the Midwest at the turn of the last century.” Allen explains. “We began to scour out historic glass in the once grand neighborhoods of inner cities. Although we sometimes employed agents to look for glass, most of the hunt consisted of driving through those towns looking for windows, doors, and mansions in decay.” They discovered there was very little competition for the glass relics left over from the American heyday of decorative stained glass, which had swept the country between 1880 and the First World War. That was the architectural period when stained glass had been an essential element of architectural style; a luxury item; a fine art form used to enhance the great homes and business of the East and Midwest.
Eighty years latter, covered in grime and soot, rattling with age, and leaking, almost no one could see their beauty, their elegance. World War I and the western migration started the process of decline. Then, the Art Deco style, the Great Depression, and WW II collapsed the stained glass industry in the US to almost nothing. It went from more than 2,000 studios in 1910 to perhaps 10 by 1970. The fabulous Back in the scuffling days of the Viet Nam art pieces in glass by artist/craftsmen such as War and student unrest, Allen was (not) Louis Tiffany and John La Farge had “gone studying at UC Berkeley and working toward out of style,” were forgotten, boarded up, or an uncertain future in architecture at the left for ruin. School of Environmental Design when an opportunity arose to earn some cash building a A good example of this occurred in Cincinnati Sausalito houseboat and renovating a com- where Allen and his partner learned that a mercial building in Mill Valley. One day, a mansion, which once belonged to Rudolph truck pulled up in the parking lot at Gate 5 Wurlitzer of the jukebox fortune, was going near the houseboat and the driver inquired if to be razed. Allen and his crew were more than Allen might be interested in his cargo of enthusiastic to assist. “The Wurlitzer Mansion stained glass. After sorting through the in- was a wonderful example of the high craftsventory of antique windows and doors manship of the period. In addition to the exgleaned from vintage midwestern homes, traordinary stained and beveled glass, there Allen and his partner purchased the stained was a twenty-foot diameter dining room table, glass pieces and incorporated them into the which revolved on a turntable, and an oval commercial project on which they were music room with hand tooled Moroccan working. Utilizing the pieces as space di- leather wainscoting that doubled as cases for viders, demising walls and a stained glass col- their collection of rare musical instruments inlage across the front of the building, the cluding three Stradivari. A parrot-themed, historic glass turned an ordinary commercial backlit, curved glass, mosaic frieze, encircled structure into a showcase that was featured the room. Behind the frieze, unseen, mouthin Sunset Magazine and propelled Allen into blown Quizel art glass shades covered the ‘modern’ electric lights.” a career in stained glass. page 28 The Thacher News
More often it worked like this: when Allen’s pickers found an “old” house with stained glass windows they would knock on the door and offer to buy the “old, leaky, faded out” leaded glass windows for a few dollars and to replace them with new, clear, aluminum sash windows. It worked like a charm. “Through a lot of dirty work and extraordinary good tim-
for the most part an un-alloyed lead that possesses a lifespan of 80 to 100 years. Thus, by the 1970’s and 1980’s, virtually all of the vintage leaded glass windows, doors, and ceilings created during the golden age of American stained glass were due to be restored. The time was auspicious for the emergence of a fledgling glass restoration firm.
water natatorium fed by ocean water piped across the city, the salt and steam had corroded the lead came (the term for the structural lead channel which holds the glass together), and covered the glass with a slimy stain. The Club was not interested in completely restoring the dome at that time; so the job was to replace only the worst sections of the dome. Compounding the challenge of physically performing the repairs, the club wanted to keep the pool open during the work. As a result, the project would have to be accomplished without the aid of scaffolding.
In order to acquire the knowhow to preserve and restore these treasures, Allen adhered to the tenants of a classical European art education: copy from the masters. And the masters of Allen secured a contractors license and set up the American stained glass shop on the Olympic Club roof. To access the movement were John La Farge top of the dome, Allen used a boson’s chair (1835-1910) and Louis Com- rigged from an elaborate block-and-fall sysfort Tiffany (1848-1933), the tem borrowed from music promoter Bill Grason of the founder of Tiffany & ham. Protecting the workers and the swimmers Co. The movement began in safety, fall nets rented from the Golden Gate 1879 with the introduction of Bridge, and tarps rented from Graham were opalescent glass by the then mu- suspended below the domes. One of Reflecralist La Farge, which revolutionized the six hundred year old, art of stained glass. Opalescent glass has a milky opacity created by the suspension of particles of various heavy metals that reflect and scatter light. While, at the time, opalescent glass had been made in pressed glass and used to manufacture tableware and decorative items, it had never before been made into flat sheets for use in windows. In the 1870’s when La Farge was experimenting in opalescent glass and plating (the layering of one piece of glass over another to achieve deeper colors and shading), he Reflections Studios team in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral received a visit by Tiffany. La Farge willingly shared ing, we accumulated an amazing collection of his work and his technical ideas with his the best ‘art’ glass produced a century ago.” rival-to-be. Eventually, both men were To restore these windows that had been neg- granted colored glass window patents in lected for a 100 years, these young men now 1880, fueling a terse controversy over needed to learn a craft which had nearly died which innovator should be credited with out in this century. Thus, in 1972, Reflection the introduction of opalescent glass. Studios was founded upon an inventory of fine Briefly, La Farge’s patent was for the dehistorical windows in various states of collapse velopment and use of opalescent glass in Refurbished stained glass domes above the San and, out of necessity; Allen became a student windows, and Tiffany’s was for the as- Francisco Olympic Club pool sembly techniques. The patents were muof the art and craft of stained glass. tually interdependent: without permission to tion’s daring aerialists would don a harness Though in the beginning they were only look- use La Farge’s, Tiffany’s was not possible; with- and work from the chair, suspended out and ing to simply repair and restore their inven- out permission to use Tiffany’s, La Farge could over the dome. All the work was performed tory and to market it to architects and not have assembled his opalescent glass win- on site. “This was not a complete relead,” designers, Allen recognized that again timing dows. Allen recalls. “It was more of a repair-and-run and chance were working in his favor. During project.” the 30 year period between 1885 and 1915, in Reflection Studios’ first large-scale restoration addition to what had been imported from the came in 1976, when the San Francisco Eight years later, the Olympic East, the San Francisco United Stained Glass Olympic Club hired Allen and his Studio (in- Club again called. The Club was Company had produced some of the best mon- cluding Thacher classmate, Derrick Von Schle- concerned that the pile-driving umental stained glass in the country. The metal gal) to repair the two stained glass domes 70 that was used to hold the glass together was feet above their swimming pool. Once a salt- continued on page 39 Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 29
Profile
Donald L. Reed CdeP 1967 From Bronze to Sterling
mnis ars naturae imitation est, or “All art is but an imitation of nature.” This quote by Seneca in AD 64 has always been a characteristic of Don Reed CdeP 1967, a life-long artisan of metal objects.
O
Even before Thacher, Don studied and embraced nature. Don came from a family of five children and, as with previous generations, all attended eastern boarding schools—except Don. His cousins and uncle on his mother’s side all attended Thacher and in an effort to escape eastern winters, Don opted to attend Thacher, site unseen. “Best decision of my life,” Don remarks, noting too, “I’m hoping our daughter Kylee can attend Thacher, proving that I will have made at least three great decisions in my life. Marrying Linda was the second.” Thacher’s outdoor focus appealed to Don, even when the going got tough. During a holiday weekend trip in 1965 when most students traveled home, Don joined Don “Jug” Reynolds and some others on a Mutau Loop horse-packing trip. While riding across a steep shale slope covered with snow, the horses lost their footing; boys, panniers, saddles, horses, and pack animals slid 200 feet down a ravine. The group spent the balance of the day and early evening plucking their belongings from the hillside and making camp on a saddle, too late and too tired to move to better cover. While darkness grew and temperatures dropped, they huddled around a fire to stay warm. The freezing campers were badgered by a Forest Service helicopter circling overhead and an amplified voice demanding, “Put out the fire.” They refused and inched closer to the fire to make it through the night. In the morning, Don found that though his feet were not frostbitten, the soles of his cowboy boots were burned completely through. A great memory forged by misadventure. As Andy Bisaccia liked to say, “adventure—the result of poor planning.” Andy Bisaccia took Don and numerous classmates on a backpacking trip to the Supai Indian Reservation in the Grand Canyon. That was a terrific trip—photos and page 30 The Thacher News
by Jane D. McCarthy
memories of one of the world’s most beautiful places remain a part of Don’s favorite Thacher experiences. Horses and camping were a fraction of the Thacher experience but as with many things their impressions are lasting—so it is with Don, as well. Prior to coming to Thacher, one letter in support of Don’s candidacy to Thacher indicated: “It is not at all unusual for this boy to leap from a consideration of a frog’s eye to an evaluation of life as the frog must see it. His intuitive ability to project himself into other life is awesome.” Another spoke of his honesty and moral character that Don exuded, regardless of the situation. Don’s horse “Blue” was a favorite memory as are all the horses that share the lives of Thacher students. His best visual recollection was the spring release of all the horses from the stable area to the grazing in the Upper Ojai. “The stampede was so powerful in sounds, dust, and numbers—truly a golden Thacher moment to have witnessed.” Memorable also was the time Don and Howie Lewis’s horse collided in the outdoor ring. Don was on Blue and Howie rode Tootsie. Riding bareback and not paying much attention, Don and Howie found themselves head on and sideby-side going fast. Howie jerked back on the reigns. Tootsie threw her head up in Don’s face and his front teeth were history—more accurately, they were imbedded in Tootsie’s forehead. Don thinks it was probably more traumatic for the horse than himself. Socially, Don’s stories of growing up in the Midwest sounded far-fetched to his peers. Though based in fact, there was the “hint” of exaggeration. These tall tales were soon to be termed Shaggy Don Stories. An example: Don arrived at the dorm late and nearly received detention from a cranky Hub Segur. He saved himself, however, by plucking a moth from the light next to Hub’s head and swallowing it. “As I recall, it tasted like a maraschino cherry; Hub laughed so hard that he didn’t dare penalize me.” For that action Don was known as “The Mad Moth-Eater of Matilija.” Hub was likely the teacher who wrote in Don’s file: “exasperating one minute and a jewel the next.” When Don was asked for an example of another Saggy Don Story, this was his offering: In Illinois—as in many states—the elusive, wary, and very keen-eyed wild turkey must be
stalked and hunted with camouflage clothing and extreme stealth. Don has bagged a large tom turkey with his bare hands. This is a Don story but it doesn’t become “shaggy” until he relates that he did it in a three-piece suit. He was on his way to a meeting and on the way out of his driveway when he noticed that there were 20 or so juvenile and female turkeys in a meadow next to the drive, separated by a close-mesh fence. The big male was between the car and the fence, madly searching for a way through the wire. Don left the car still rolling—dove at the turkey and grabbed him by the leg—a proud moment when you could hold up a live turkey while dressed in a suit and tie and no gun. That’s a Shaggy Don Story. For his senior project, Don cast plaster portraits or busts of long-time art teacher Edguardo Catalan and John Galloway (who coached Thacher’s first Lacrosse Team, thereby bringing lacrosse to the west coast. Don is proud of having lettered on that first team.) Don’s artistic prowess earned him the Fine Arts Award upon his graduation and admission to UC Berkeley. There he studied ceramic engineering and social sciences for several years before going to the Sorbonne in Paris. While at the Sorbonne, Don studied language and art. Don spent hundreds of hours at the Louvre. “You could still touch the great art treasures and were encouraged to do so. Those were the days before the Pieta was attacked and damaged,” Don remembers. After that, art in the great museums ceased to be accessible. While in Paris, he encountered Salvador Dali addressing a student throng in the central square at the Sorbonne. Dali was waist deep in cauliflower in a vintage Rolls Royce convertible. Speaking French, English, and Catalonia, Dali talked of the “mathematical perfection of cauliflower.” After completing his speech the crowd dispersed to waiting classes and he found himself trapped in a sea of cauliflower. Don helped extricate the captive artist and then had a brief private conversation with the world’s most celebrated surrealist. Dali asked of Don’s interests and goals. Don spoke of his studies in art and the existence of the family foundries. Dali chastised Don for not making the obvious association between the cauliflower talk and his future: “Make vegetables; beautiful perfect vegetables in cast metals.” Don joined his family’s industrial foundry business in 1972 and ran the iron works for 10 years with his father, C. Stephen. For the previous two generations, the Reeds made most of the world’s piano plates. These harps that are the frameworks for strings and action were very aesthetically pleasing; their shape and manufacture were more art than industry and gave rise to the smooth transition to art casting. In 1983, Don incorporated a commercial art casting facility that made lost wax castings for a large portion of the Midwestern market. Using observation, experience and industrial methods, Don has developed new processes for handling sterling silver. “It is a very tricky, atypical metal and requires some effort to
work well. Many castings and restoration works from Don’s shop are incorporated in the fabric of Chicago. Affecting the skyline, downtown monuments, and corporate entries. Don’s company completed thousands of art projects for its customers.
extinction. Some of the experiences of that endeavor have aided in the program to recover the California condor from extinction as well. Owen had a great influence on Don and his art. Owen liked to say that a good painting always leaves you a way out and nature art is about capturing the orderly disorderliness for things.
The road to sculpting and art casting was a “road less traveled” but it brought Don to the doorsteps of the corporate and civic world in a way that strict industry could never have done. Don has been able to drive his daughter to school everyday, attend her softball and tennis games, plays, and band concerts. He can drive his tractor, see and feed the wild turkeys, songDon Reed’s bronze sculpture that he’s making in honor of former President birds, and deer, and wage war on the Ronald Reagan mole population in Favorites among those projects include: the the front year. It is not unusual for the Reeds to restoration of the two giant Mestrovic Horse- finish a day in the art shop and then go to a men in the Chicago Loop, the making of the dinner party in Chicago with the Chairman of 10-foot tall bronze Madonna for the top of the Board of Trade, University Presidents, Notre Dame de Chicago, and finally the mak- Pulitzer Prize winners, or politicians. Don ing of a bronze band that went on the cracked meets with CEO’s whose projects are most ivory of Barnum & Bailey’s huge elephant King often highly personal and often designed as Tusk (this work required the recipient to be tributes to groups or individuals who make present for the fitting). The people that Don positive contributions to society—a very rehas encountered over the years in conjunction warding way to spend time and energy. with his works have been more than entertaining. He has done work with the people at This said, Don is about to launch a new proChicago’s Art Institute where his classmate duction facility doing only silver. Production Fred Endsley worked for many years as head in this sense is how master-craftsman Buccellati of the Photography Department. Don has uses the word, as in being in close control and worked with the Los Angeles County Museum the use of extremely gifted craftspeople to of Art and the Chicago Tribune. His friends at exact the final piece. This project should be the the newspaper are fine artists in their own right final of five foundries Don envisioned he’d and do much of the cartooning for the paper need to build to complete the route suggested including Jeff MacNelly who did Shoe and by Salvador Dali: Perfection in art in conjuncDave Barry’s illustrations and Dick Locher still tion with nature. does the Dick Tracy strip along with the editorial cartoons. On occasion the Reeds find Don’s current projects are working to comthemselves written into the strip. plete a life-size work of Ronald Reagan on horseback in bronze, portraits and retirement Don also spent several years ghost sculpting gifts for the Chicago Tribune executive board, for the painter Owen Gromme, often referred a new line of bronze vases for his gallery in to as the “Dean of Wildlife Art.” While Don Santa Fe, more bronze vegetables, and the stermade bronze sculptures to compliment the ca- ling silver project. Based on Don’s memory of reer of Mr. Gromme, the 90-year-old artist Anson Thacher donning a beaded lanyard with would go afield near his home in Wisconsin a hanging decimated toad, he began the Road with Don in tow. One afternoon, they watched Toad Collection.“Anson would haul that thing as one tenth of the world’s population of out to athletic events and urge in the whooping cranes (100) passed over their huddle…‘Win one for the Feelie!’” heads, in a flock of sandhill cranes. “It was a When Don came to his 35th Retruly spine-tingling experience to be with the union in June, he supplied Michael man who, with George Archibald, had pioneered the International Crane Foundation, continued on page 39 thus brining the whooping crane back from Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 31
Profile
Peter B. Dragge CdeP 1969 Confessions of a Luthier
urfling and kerfing. Rosette and peghead. Quilted mahogany, Gaboon ebony, and mother of pearl. This disparate concoction of words are integral ingredients of fine guitar building, the passionate pastime of Thacher alumnus Peter Dragge CdeP 1969. Visiting his shop adjacent to his home in the Ojai foothills, one can’t help but be captivated and intrigued by the enthusiasm and expertise with which he produces handmade guitars—both acoustic and electric—that each require three to twelve months of focused work to complete. It’s even more fascinating to watch Peter work when one notices that despite his massive hands, his nimble fingers can produce intricate, detailed work that requires a delicate touch for one step followed by brute strength for the next.
P
Peter became a luthier by way of a circuitous route. He’d always loved listening to music, playing guitar, and working with wood, but the notion of combining these elements didn’t catalyze for many years. Peter’s earliest recollection of an interest in woodworking was with his grandfather; the two shared trips to hardwood shops and lumber mills, fascinated with the various grains, textures, and aromas of the different kinds of wood. In the wood shop his grandfather, a quiet and gentle man exhibited infinite patience, discipline, and the strength of character formed by a life of working a North Dakota farm. The hours he spent watching and occasionally helping his grandfather make furniture in their home workshop served as both foundation and inspiration for his future career in woodworking. Many years later, at Thacher, he took David Barber’s wood shop class and crafted a coffee table for his girlfriend (and future wife), and a pair of portable stage lighting boxes for a Thacher band he played in known affectionately as “The Vacant Lot” (ultimately called “The End”). Peter wistfully remembers, “I was really pretty bad, I think the rest of the band put up with me mainly because I had a decent guitar and amp. The “rest of the band” conpage 32 The Thacher News
by Jane D. McCarthy
sisted of classmates Greg Smith on lead guitar, and Bob Cross on bass, along with annual changes in drummers and lead singers. The band did, on rare occasions, gain some credibility through the gracious addition of James Newton Howard (Okay, Jim Howard) on keyboards. Peter recalls, “Although we practiced daily, and played at most of the ‘exchange dances,’ the high point of our sadly abbreviated career was a graduation concert to a packed auditorium full of parents and alums, for whom we played The Doors’ ‘Light My Fire,’ (the long version, of course) with a light show by Larry Falk, musical direction by C. Michael Erhardt, and James Howard at the piano. That was the pinnacle of my performing career.” During his junior year Peter observed a senior attempting to make a guitar for his Senior Project. He remembers thinking how incredibly complex it was and why would anyone in their right mind want to do that? The following year, 1969, Peter got his first acoustic guitar, a Martin 12-string, and from that time on he was hooked on acoustics. But it wasn’t until many years later—after a stint as a recording sound engineer in Hollywood, refurbishing and running a restaurant in Arcata,CA, and various carpentry/ fine woodworking projects—that he considered making guitars as a vocation. Peter and his childhood sweetheart, Darian (who grew up across the street from the Dragge family in San Marino, CA), had married and were living in Sebastopol, a rural northern California area where making a living was a challenge. After building a home for his family and participating in the transformation of a horse ranch into the Summerfield Waldorf School (where their children Josh and Jenny attended kindergarten through twelfth grade), Peter attained his contractor’s license. As land and lumber prices soared, and Sonoma County instituted a moratorium on building, he decided to focus on work he could do at home in his workshop. “The overhead was zero, and it was hard to beat the commute.” It was during this time that the notion of building musical instruments first struck. Looking to combine his skill in woodworking with his love of music he made up his mind to search for a teacher. Peter had heard about a renowned Celtic harp maker, Chris Caswell, who lived nearby and decided to pay him a visit. Although very kind and polite, Chris made it clear that he was not interested in instructing a potential competitor. Who can blame him?
Chris did, however, know a fellow in Berkeley who took on one or two apprentices each year to teach them how to make guitars. This master guitar maker, or luthier, was Budapestborn Ervin Somogyi, who had made guitars for many of the early Windham Hill artists such as Alex De Grassi and Will Ackerman, two of Peter’s favorite acoustic musicians at the time. “If he could teach me to make guitars that sounded half as good as those, then that was the opportunity I had been looking for.” Peter spent two years learning his craft from Ervin, although they seldom worked side by side. Instead, Peter made weekly trips from Sebastopol to Ervin’s Berkeley studio where he was given some instruction on how to get started with each step, what to look for in materials, and a brief demonstration of the techniques involved. During the next week, Peter would complete those tasks and return to Ervin’s studio where it was three steps backward and four forward as Ervin pointed out how Peter might improve his work. He’d rework those aspects and go on to the next sequence of tasks. As Mr. Somogyi recalls, Peter’s craftsmanship was quite good, especially for his first attempt; but what stood out about him was that “he stayed with it instead of fantasizing about doing it and either waiting years before acting on the impulse or never acting on it. It takes some self-starting to make something as complicated as a guitar.” In addition to Ervin’s tutelage, Peter learned through reading as many books as he could find on the subject, conferring with other builders willing to share their secrets, joining the Guild of American Luthiers, attending conventions and trade
Peter checks the neck of a guitar in production
shows, and constantly experimenting as he developed his own techniques for making guitars. A guitar is essentially an air pump that amplifies the vibration created by strumming or plucking the strings; the energy from playing a string is not dissipated all at once, but a portion is retained, rolled around in the cavity of the guitar, and then projected out into the lis-
tening environment. The ability of the instru- of wood sawn from that tree. Selection of the ment to harness that string energy and trans- right materials is as critical as the construction form it into something that is pleasing to the ear process itself. Along with selection, proper agis essentially what determines a good guitar. In ing is also a critical factor. Luthier’s rule of thumb: fact, in better guitars, because the wood is re- the older the wood the better. Some of his sponsive, one can actually feel the vibration of most prized tone woods are as much as 40 years the top, back, and sides as well as the air be- old. As an aside, Peter is convinced that the rich ing emitted from the sound hole. The top or face sound of older instruments, such as those made (the part with the hole in it) is probably the sin- by Stradivari, produce that wonderful tone gle most important component of the guitar. Typ- from years of vibration breaking down the ically made of spruce because of its superior resin within the wood’s cellular structure; the resulting powder vistrength-to-weight ratio (it is the strongest brates at a molecular wood for its weight—thus its use in earlevel which in turn ly aircraft and masts for sail boats) the top augments the instruhas the job of transmitting the strings’ viment’s ability to probrations and amplifying them into audiduce a pleasing sound. ble sound. Have you ever tried plucking a string on an unplugged electric guitar? In order to not dampIt is very difficult to hear. Why? The picken the sound, but ups and amplifier are necessary to do the rather aid in its projob that the top does in an acoustic guijection, the back and tar. The trick in selecting the right wood sides are typically made and applying the correct bracing (interiof denser woods such or structural supports also made of thin as rosewood, mapieces of spruce) is to result in a dihogany, Hawaiian koa, aphragm light and thin enough to vibrate and many others. well, but strong enough to withstand the Rosewood, typically constant force that the fully tensioned A rosette on one of Peter’s the densest of these strings exert upon it. A steel string guitar guitars woods but displaying with light gauge strings typically creates a force equal to a 190-pound person standing the most amount of variation from one piece on the top. After selecting pieces of wood for to another, usually yields a more dynamic tone the perfect balance of strength, flexibility, and (wider range of response) and longer sustenance tonal response, two “book-matched” halves are than the other varieties, though Peter is quick thinned to less than one eighth of an inch and to point out that even within certain species there joined together. The rosette, a decorative bor- can be huge variations in quality. The guitar back, der for the sound hole, is inlaid into a channel like the top, begins with a book-matched set, cut into the surface of the top. At this time an two pieces cut from the same log that are mirassortment of braces, about ror images of each other. The two pieces must thirteen for a steel string and be shaped, trimmed, planed perfectly, and sandeleven for a classical, are ed so that they can be glued together seamlessly shaped, arched, and glued to and set to dry. As with the top, there is actualthe inside of the top in a hol- ly a concave shape to the back that is compalow form, forcing the top to rable to an arc from a 15-foot diameter sphere. take on the curvature of a 25- “This curvature gives the guitar more strength foot sphere. Both the size and ability to project. A quartet of spruce cross and placement of these braces braces are arched and glued to the inside of the are critical to the sound of the back in order to hold this semi-spherical shape.” instrument, and are often reshaped after installation to Next, the sides are bent into the traditional achieve a particular tonal ob- guitar-shape. It has been said that this shape was jective. Here lies one of the originally inspired by the female figure, and major opportunities for the with over 150 years of repeating this form, neihand builder to “dial in” a ther science nor technology have been able to top, an impossibility for a improve upon it. The characteristic double-S factory-made guitar. In fact, curve is a very difficult shape to achieve since throughout the building the wood must be flexible enough to curve in process Peter continuously one direction, then the opposite direction within reevaluates the components as a few inches, and then back again. Soaking the they are joined together and tweaks them in or- wood (a somewhat painful process for Peter, der to achieve the optimal response. He admits after drying it for 40 years), and then heating that the result is “equal parts intuition, common it over the boiling point makes it pliable enough sense, and luck. There is no universal formula to mold the sides. Traditionally they are shaped that works all of the time. Wood has a life of over a hot pipe, but this its own, and as such can be quite unpredictable. runs the risk of overheating There are definitely times when a little luck (or the wood and burning it or lack there of) can make or break the outcome cracking it. At current prices for of situations that are really quite beyond our control.” As every tree is different so is every piece continued on page 41 Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 33
Profile
James W. Wiester CdeP 1983 Carpentry with an Eastern Flair
apan—the country, the customs, the traditions—has fascinated James Wiester CdeP 1983 as long as he can remember. Growing up in Los Angeles, James had many opportunities to meet people who fed and fueled this interest. As an adolescent, he focused his attention on the martial arts and became a black belt and an avid follower of the spirit of karate. Never intrigued in the fighting method solely as a means of defense, the spiritual connection between mind and body became James’ primary goal. As Gichin Funakoshi, the father of “modern” karate says, “True karate is this: that in daily life one’s mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.” James certainly understood that the critical element of this art was the understanding of self, which came through consistent practice. James never lost this connection between the physical and the spiritual, and he is now involved in a new art—Japanese carpentry.
J
James’ journey to the master craftsman he is today had its genesis in those long hours of karate practice and in his fascination with Japan. He designs, builds, and remodels homes in accordance with traditional Japanese architecture and design. Characteristically, James downplays his work as “fancy pants” carpentry, but this art took years of apprenticeship and dedication. After graduation from Wesleyan, James thought about being an architect. It seemed to be a job that would let him spend as few hours as possible in a suit and tie. He recalls, “I wanted to work in construction, so architecture seemed the preferred route. I went to an architecture school in So Cal and just figured it was not my calling. I went to a jobsite and saw the guys working with the shovels and wheelbarrows. That jazzed me more than any schematics ever did, so I knew I wanted to work with my hands.” He loved the physical nature of construction, and he wanted to return to Japan, so he decided to combine both interests and return to Japan to work. He page 34 The Thacher News
by Derick S. Perry CdeP 1983
found a job almost immediately and settled down for the long haul. Of course, James’ work ethic and competence designated him for great things and soon he was the foreman for his company. With the advantages of this promotion, James felt trapped with more inside time and paper shuffling than he wanted. He moved to a carpentry firm owned by his wife’s cousin and began training as a “daiku,” a temple and/or teahouse builder. Peter Wechsler, another American trained in Japanese carpentry describes the work in the following manner: “Teahouses are small, generally with a floor space of 9 feet by 9 feet or smaller, depending on the number of straw mats or tatami. They are rustic in appearance, and nothing is supposed to call attention to it, but at the same time, they are built with extraordinarily high standards of workmanship and attention to detail. One of the first Westerners to see a teahouse, a 16th century Portuguese missionary, said it ‘seemed to have been built by the hands of angels rather than by those of men.’While the basic features of tea ceremony architecture were established by Sen no Rikyu, the founder of the tea ceremony, teahouses are all very different in layout and appearance, and the aim is a feeling of freshness and spontaneity, reflecting aesthetic philosophy associated with the tea ceremony, which emphasizes the rough over the smooth, the irregular over the symmetrical, and the natural over the artificial. The teahouse is usually set in a garden intended to evoke the remote mountain hermitage of a Chinese landscape. Guests approach by a stone pathway, which causes them to slow down and concentrate on their surrounding. After washing at a stone water basin, they crawl through a small wooden door, symbolically shedding all social distinctions. The inside is dimly lit and bare except for the tokonoma, a raised alcove with an irregularly shaped post, usually containing a hanging scroll.” The artistic and spiritual elements of this carpentry attracted James because he enjoys the problem solving and the creativity involved in the process. In his words, “I like to think of my work as functional art. Each craftsman puts his own special touch in the building. You hear about artists hiding their names or the names of loved ones in their work, but I feel that construction exposes my soul to the world, especially with this style of construction. There is warmth that emanates from the structure because of the design. The entire
frame is exposed inside and out. It is one of those things that you either get or you don’t.” Most of the customers who seek James’ expertise already have an affinity for Japanese architecture, and they seek to meld their west-
James roughhews a beam for construction
ern sensibilities with eastern spirituality. Most of his customers have worked or lived in Japan for an extensive time, which permits them to have a unique outlook. James comments, “The homes, rooms, or buildings I build provide relief from the tumultuous world of finance, technology, and any other business you can think of. Each person wants to relax after a hard day at work, yet your home can be the biggest impediment to relieving your stress. I make buildings to contribute to a feeling of ease and peace.”
“Would you spend 20% more on your home if you know that future generations would benefit? The work I do is environmentally sound and safe. These projects will last for years and not require constant remodeling and rebuilding. I think homeowners would benefit from thinking about this prior to construction.” It is this type of thoughtfulness that allows James to dedicate himself to his work. James has not spent all of his time working. He married Suzumi 12 years ago in Japan, and they have two children. Suzumi provides him with the support and understanding that he needs when his job pulls him away for days at a time. He explains, “Suzumi is my biggest fan as I am hers. Long hours at the jobsite are routine, so her equanimity and patience are the qualities I appreciate most. The biggest relief I get is to come home and see the smiles of my children, Mayia (11) and Nina (8). My family provides the stability I need in the crazy construction world. Suzumi gets all of the credit for any mellowing I have done over the years. She is the person who makes me smile when I awake and the person whom I thank my lucky stars for as I fall asleep.” James actually does some tinkering around the homestead, but he feels that it would be unfair to work all day and then throw his family into construction project frenzy, as well. A devoted father, James spends the requisite hours doing the family shuffle with his wife—soccer practice here, music lesson there—quite different pastimes compared to their lives in Japan. James tries to keep the wild pace to a minimum, but admits
was a whole wide wonderful world out there that Americans needed to understand. His class was not just about the language; it was a study of a culture. I loved it. Mr. Shagam’s Political Philosophy class was also a revelation. His way of questioning our long-held and treasured precepts about the way the world worked required us to look beyond our own insular world and question many ideas at a fundamental level. The most mind-opening moment for me was the film My Dinner with André. I never looked at an electric blanket the same way again. I hope students today are still benefiting from the wisdom of Mr. Shagam and the film.” I assured him that Mr. Shagam was still teaching and that the film was still inspiring students today. James also credits his college experience at Wesleyan with providing him with inspiration and values that stick with him to this day. His year abroad in Japan “was the most valuable experience I could ask for. I was able to live in a place I had always dreamed about and became fluent in Japanese. Every student should take a year abroad. I would require it if I were a college president.” James also made good use of his time on campus at Wesleyan, continuing his study of dance begun at Thacher. Dance replaced karate “as a way to express myself. I took this great class at Thacher that started my interest.” This creativity needed new outlets, which led to his involvement in the construction industry.
Construction is not just about art to James. He loves the rough and tumble image associated with the work. He says, “Working with my hands in the outdoors is truly a dream come true. After Thacher and college, I figured I would be tied to a desk, hoping that an exciting project would come along. With this job, I never dread going to work. At the very least, I know that I am going to get outside, work up a nice sweat, and have some fun.” James also loves the entrepreneurial aspect of being a contractor. He is starting his own firm, RJ Kenchiku, to provide both designs and construction for homeowners interested in this type of work. He says, “If you want to work with us, you will not get the all-American vanilla ice cream home. We will build you a banana An example of James’ Japanese construction split with a cherry on top. Of that it is difficult. “My family is the most im- course, you have to work with nuts like me, portant thing to me, so the sacrifices that need but I guarantee you will love it.” Sounds to be made are done with love and trust.” He yummy. e credits his own mother and father with establishing these values.
Larry Ellison, Chief Executive Officer of Oracle, seems to understand James’ feelings. He hired James’ firm for two projects on his Silicon Valley home. While these projects have been challenging and fun, James likes to work on projects that let him solve problems creatively. Never one to shirk from a difficult task, James loves to create exactly what his customers have in mind. His greatest satisfaction comes from the sight of his customers’ faces at the completion of a project. “They are blown away most of the time,” he says. “I really think my work is honest and beautiful. The exposed frame lets no error go unnoticed nor hides blemishes behind drywall. My projects are meant to be seen. This means I have to When asked about other influences on his values, James is quick to mention Thacher. respect the work, the client, and myself.” “Other than my interest in and study of Japan, James sees his work as respecting the environ- Thacher influenced me more profoundly than ment, as well. Although this construction style any other experience,” he believes. “Mr. costs more, James sees it as money well spent: Driskill’s Spanish class confirmed that there
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 35
Profile
Liam and Diana Callahan CdeP 1984 Reviving Artisan Cheesemaking
ack in the summer of 1986, Ed Callahan and his wife Cindy sought a relaxing environment in which to retire from a busy medical practice in cosmopolitan San Francisco. They purchased a 35-acre ranch of rolling hills half way between Bodega Bay and Petaluma in Sonoma County, California. As the pasture grass grew tall and lush, their next purchase was
B
by Jane D. McCarthy
traditional shepherding term. When sheep are kept in open pasture, it can be difficult to locate them as they are constantly on the move grazing. A neutered male sheep or ‘wether’ was kept with the flock because he would assume a leadership position yet not breed the sheep out of season. A bell around his neck helped the farmer locate the flock. In modern English, a bellwether is someone or something that leads or initiates; this is an apt definition since the Callahans’ operation was the first sheep dairy in California and one of the first handful in the US. It has developed a following throughout the nation.
Although the United States and Canada import more than 100 million pounds of sheep cheese annually, sheep dairying is virtually nonexistent in these countries. Now numbering fewer than 100, most American sheep dairies produce cheese, with a few making ice cream and yogurt. Since so few dairies exist in the US, little tradition or exone ram and 15 ewes to keep pertise is available in the art of cheese making; the grass in check. The flock those starting a dairy are typically self-taught. soon multiplied to the extent In the Callahans’ case, Liam took courses in that the Callahans began sell- biology and cheese making, read extensively, ing the young lamb to fine resorted to trial and error, and took several restaurants including Chez Panisse in the Bay European trips to learn the traditional, handmade techniques from artisans whose craft has Area. been passed down for centuries. Liam Callahan CdeP 1984 was studying political economics at Cal Berkeley when his folks One of the oldest foods in the world, cheese retired to their ranch. During Thanksgiving was first made by nomadic people who prized and Christmas breaks, he’d come home to help their limited supply of milk (probably from tend the flock. The Callahan family’s initial in- sheep) for its nutritional value. According to terest in milking their sheep was sparked when lore, someone tried to store or transport fresh a friend mentioned that the best yogurt in the milk in a water bag made from an animal’s world is made from sheep milk. Their early re- stomach. When the milk was needed, enzymes search revealed that many well known cheeses in the stomach had curdled it. These early, acwere made of sheep milk–in fact, Ed Calla- cidental cheese makers were delighted to find han’s favorite cheese, Roquefort, is made ex- that once they had separated the solids (curds) clusively from sheep milk. Since all of the from the liquid (whey), the milk, now in the Callahans were big cheese fans, Cindy dusted form of cheese, would last for a very long time. off an old cook book and experimented with And, when salt was added, it lasted even longer making sheep cheese as a means of using the and tasted even better. Milk, a nearly perfect excess milk produced by their small flock of source of nutrients, became even more valusheep. By all accounts, the first cheese was hard able in its altered state when it was preserved to stomach, Liam recalls. “It tasted terrible if and available throughout most of the year. you could get beyond the smell.” Not an auspicious beginning, but so began the Callahans’ The Callahans have taken three ‘cheese rejourney into the American revival of artisan search’ trips to northern Italy, the last of which included Liam’s bride, Diana Lewis CdeP cheese making. 1984. “We didn’t know if they would perceive In 1990, Bellwether Farms began milking its us as competitors and not talk to us,” Cindy flock. The name ‘Bellwether’ was taken from a remembers. “But I guess we weren’t threatenpage 36 The Thacher News
ing to them. The cheese makers there showed us everything. We spoke very little Italian, but always managed to communicate.” They learned enough to make a decent imitation of a Pecorino Toscano, a hard cheese with a buttery, nutty, fruity flavor. With experience came the desire to develop their own recipe in order to make a cheese which better expressed the qualities of their milk. Bellwether Farms’ aged sheep milk cheeses are made from raw milk. That allows the flavors produced by their unique combination of climate, soil, animals, and cheese-making methods to figure prominently in their product. The French word for this is “terroir”; Liam works with the qualities inherent in his sheep milk to produce a cheese with flavors attainable only on his farm. In the mid-1990s they branched into producing cow’s milk cheeses, utilizing the milk from a neighbor’s herd of Jersey cows.
tionally, various techniques are used to affect the rate of moisture loss from the curd and control the fermentation that is occurring simultaneously. Once the curds are the right size and moisture content, they are put into cheese molds that help to form them into wheels or blocks. The story does not end here, because depending on the length of ripening and the temperature and humidity of the ripening room, many different cheeses could still be produced from the same batch of curd. It is amazing to think that almost every cheese is produced using the same four ingredients: milk, enzymes, bacteria, and salt. Employing milk from different species of mammals affects the qualities of the cheese as well. Around the world, cheese is made from the milk of not only cows, sheep, and goats, but also yak, water buffalo, camel, horse, and probably others mammals as well. The numbers below give an indication of the wide variation found in the milks of different species. Even within a given species, milk can vary greatly depending on breed, season, feed, temperature, and health of the animal.
At its most basic, cheese making is simply the process of removing moisture from milk and capturing the solids. Depending on the type of cheese, it takes from five to ten pounds of milk to produce one pound of cheese. Although cheese varies dramatically in texture, flavor, aroma, and nutrient content, all forms follow Animal Fat Protein Milk Sugar Minerals the same basic processing stages. After milk is Cow 3.8% 3.0% 4.8% 0.75% assessed as free of antibiotics or harmful agents Sheep 9.0% 4.6% 4.7% 1.00% that would affect the process, the milk (either Goat 6.0% 3.3% 4.6% 0.84% pasteurized or raw) is held at a given temperature called for by the recipe. Special starter The Callahans presently make San Andreas cultures are then added to the warm milk; (named after the nearby earthquake fault), a classic sheep milk cheese with a smooth and nutty flavor that is one of Liam’s original cheeses. They also make Pepato that is aged for two to three months and contains whole peppercorns throughout the mounds. Their cow milk cheeses are Carmody (this Blue Ribbon Winner at the LA County Fair has a smooth texture with a buttery flavor) and Crescenza (a traditional Italian soft-ripened cheese that is extra creamy with a rich, slightly tart flavor). Bellwether also makes some fresh cheeses that are not aged: traditional An array of Bellwether Farms sheep cheese products fromage blanc (a low-fat tangy, spreadable alternative to cream these change the milk sugar (lactose) into lac- cheese and chevre), ricotta (a sweet and light tic acid. This fermentation is critical to the cheese from the whey of Jersey cows that’s a far process, and controlling the rate of fermenta- cry better than the supermarket variety), and tion is one of the cheese maker’s main tools. Crème Fraiche (the French classic cultured Rennet (extract from a ruminant’s stomach lin- cream that chefs use in place of sour cream being, but also available in a vegetarian form) is cause it never curdles). These cheeses and recipes added to the milk; this enzyme affects the pro- using various Bellwether products are availtein in the milk, causing it to precipitate out of able on line at www.bellwethercheese.com or solution and soon a curd is produced. At this through some specialty grocers. point the milk is solid and it looks and feels a bit like thick custard. This curd is cut into Bellwether is a classic family business requiring small cubes thereby starting the process of re- long hours, help from all members, and varimoving whey (mostly water) from the curd. ous hats worn by one and all. The cow milk Generally, by cutting the pieces smaller, a products are made year round, but during the cheese maker can produce a firmer cheese, or eight-month sheep lambing and milking seaby leaving them larger a softer cheese. Addi- son, the family often works over 12 hours a
day as two milkings per day are squeezed around an already full schedule. Liam manages the dairy and makes all the cheese. Cindy tends the flock—especially during lambing season—and helps in making the cheese and puts together the weekly orders. Liam’s brother, Brett, helps Cynthia with flock maintenance and deliveries. Finally, Diana tends the books, does the marketing (sales calls and web site management and orders), and watches over their two-year-old son, Connor. Although Diana and Liam were classmates at Thacher, they had only one history class together. From Thacher, they matriculated to opposite ends of California (Berkeley for Liam and Irvine for Diana) and then started their careers: Diana as a paralegal for a law firm in Newport Beach while Liam fell into the family business. They reconnected in 1994 when classmate Launce Gamble married in San Francisco and Liam served as one of the ushers. A year later, Diana moved north to work as a paralegal for a San Rafael law firm; the following year they married. The future looks bright as the demand for their cheeses has continued to grow. Bellwether’s cheeses are used by many of the finest restaurants throughout the country and have been mentioned in Martha Stewart Living, Sunset Magazine, Williams Sonoma, Fine Cooking, Wine Spectator, The New York Times, and other gourmet food magazines. According to Liam, the key to their success had been that “people in the US are discovering just how satisfying the flavors of a well made cheese are. Also, they are happy to know that there is still food out there made by a family in the old-fashioned way.” If they ever find the time the family hopes to one day have a retail outlet on the farm so that those who have enjoyed their cheeses will be able to come and see where they are made. e
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 37
Profile
Madeleine A. McQuillan CdeP 2002 Binding Books Beautifully
by Zoë S. Towns CdeP 2002
design books and labored over tiny details: angles and lines, careful folds, and no glue showing. Maddy helped me make a small book for my mother that year, and I was struck by her manner in her art room element. I had always known Maddy as a reader and a speaker, an obsessive movie watcher and critic, but I had Maddy grew up in an environment concerned never seen her occupied with her hands in such with art as it related to function. She was an honest, artistic fashion. Not being overly raised in her parents’ textile shop where beau- neat or particularly patient in other areas of tiful sheets of patterned linen intended for cur- her life, I was surprised to find Maddy so catains and upholstery hung from walls and pable of an art that demanded such qualities. stretched across huge silkscreening tables. In her senior year, Maddy applied for another Maddy learned how to independent in bookbinding, this time with a bind books from her focus on printing. She named her own pubmother, who made her lishing company Quill Press and printed the own big, simple books logo on all of her subsequent books. She colto display her designs. laborated with artists and poets at Thacher In her creations, and produced several poetry books and one Maddy has always book of block prints. This study allowed her tended towards the opportunity to focus not just on the paper smaller books, experi- and binding but also on the lettering and conmenting with intricate tent of her books. This past summer Maddy sewing patterns and became acquainted with large-scale printing folds. While her presses, a hand-operated rolling press, and a mother’s books were mechanical Heidelberg. intended for more practical use, Maddy’s Maddy started school last fall at Brown Uniwere always left to versity, a fitting choice for many reasons, and stand as art alone. She not least for its classes in book arts. This sehas, for the most part, mester she is taking an art class from Walter Feldman, a wellleft her books empty. known bookmaker However, the same way in which a good arand artist, and she chitect must first appreciate a home to build a plans to study more house, Maddy’s gift for bookbinding at least about binding and papartly stems from a lifelong romance with permaking at school. words. She binds books in the same fashion She doubts her art will she writes: with preparation, study, careful evolve into a career, construction, quiet creativity, and a perfecbut she does hope to tionist’s finish. devote more time, study, and practice to Of her interest, Maddy says, “I think the main her passion. reason I love [bookbinding and printing] so much is because I like the kind of stuffy, old- This is one of Maddy’s Although this quieter fashioned feel of lead type and presses, and I larger books craft may be placed to love old books.” Maddy did her freshman year I-Search project on book restoration and she the side when she writes her novel or directs began to focus seriously on book binding in her first film, I feel certain the combination of her second summer at Thacher. She read books purpose and aesthetic Maddy found in bookon Japanese bookbinding styles and used the binding will remain a template for, and a repapers and patterns she liked to practice in her flection of, all her creations. e parents’ shop. That same year during the spring season she did an independent study in bookbinding. I can remember my junior year, when I spent most of my time in her room, maneuvering around cutting boards, string, and rolls of paper while Maddy leafed through adeleine McQuillan has been working on her craft as a bookbinder for many years now. While attending Thacher, she researched and practiced the art in two seasons of independent study, each ending with an exhibition of her work.
M
page 38 The Thacher News
Allen Dragge continued from page 29
phase of the Portman Hotel construction project being built adjacent to the natatorium would compromise the integrity of the glass domes. Allen reiterated that age was in fact the culprit and advised the Club that while the glass was removed to protect it during construction a full restoration was due. Both domes would consequently have to be completely removed, panel by panel, crated, and transported to the studio, disassembled, cleaned, rebuilt in new lead came, adequately reinforced with a seismic-restraint system Allen had developed, and then reinstalled. “This became the watershed project that put Reflection Studios in play for other large scale work”, says Allen. Of course, once again, the Olympic Club did not want to lose the use of their pool. Unlike the first repair project, this time around the job called for working beneath the glass as well as above. So Allen designed what he refers to as “soft scaffolding”: two layers of custom made tarps that were suspended directly beneath the 40-foot oval leaded-glass ceilings. The top ones were a series of vertically swagged “platforms” which were used as the scaffolding. A second tarp replete with the Club’s winged “O” logo was hung below the first. This one was tight fitting to the oval and was designed to catch debris and to provide a redundant safety barrier for the craftsmen and the swimmers. The individual sections of the domes were disassembled and the panels taken across the bay to Emeryville where the “discovery phase” began. Photos were taken and a cartoon of each lead line and each pane of glass was drawn. The technique is to lay a glass panel on a flat surface; then, paper is placed on top of the panel, and a tracing is produced by rubbing carbon stone over the raised lead came to produce a pattern. The result is the paper template or “cartoon.” This process is repeated on acidfree velum used for archival documentation. The original paper template is laid on the workbench and each piece of glass is then removed from the lead frame, cleaned, and situated on the proper space of the template. The result is jigsaw like reproduction of the panel without the lead came. The final step is to replace the lead came, carefully reproducing all the nuances of the original line work.
thought it best we ask the Treasury Depart- nearly completed the second cycle of the historic ment for approval to deface the coins. They stained glass in the Bay Area: preserving the laughed.” original glass which is nearly impervious to decay, and replacing the lead framework with The ongoing restoration project for San Fran- strict adherence to the original maker’s design. cisco landmark Grace Cathedral’s 93 windows They have given this heritage another 100 years and 7,290 square feet of glass is another no- of brilliance. “The United Stained Glass Co. table milestone for Allen’s studio. This monu- built and installed much of the glass art here; mental task came about after an epic 1995 Reflection Studios has now restored most of windstorm blew out 17 plate glass windows it. What a privilege that has been.” e from a nearby apartment building, showering the fragments on the Cathedral with hurricane force. Allen surveyed the extensive damage to the Charles Connick, Jr. windows and advised the Church that all of the 1931 and 1946 windows were in an advanced state of deterioration. It was during the course of this restoration that Allen and his staff not only learned from but also shed new light on Connick, a practitioner of medieval techniques and Don Reed an opponent of the Victorian, opalescent style continued from page 31 of Tiffany and La Farge. Connick is known for developing brilliantly colored transparent glass and an almost impressionistic style of paint- Mulligan with a flattened toad paperweight. ing. His blue, known as Connick Blue, is “When Anson made a point, it was often with prominent in Grace because Connick wanted humor and the not so obvious. I really liked to emphasize the cooler qualities and to cre- Mr. Thacher and I really liked his squashed ate a quiet place of meditation and prayer. toad—the seagull on the ranch wagon wasn’t “With these windows, virtually every tech- so bad either,” recalls Don. nique stained glass artists are aware of was used and more were discovered”, says Allen. Don’s favorite pastimes now are flying high“Our challenge was to acquire or create the performance sailplanes and single-engine ammaterials and techniques used by the original phibious aircraft. He still plays a little artist and to treat them in a style consistent to guitar—”hard to do when you don’t have a the original.” sense of rhythm.” Don’s wife knows that he likes to paint but refuses to encourage him. Allen characterizes the Grace restoration work Don is hoping to improve his clay-bird shootas one of trial and error. The Studios’ painters ing; he and his classmates did pretty well in had to match “the hand” of the original artist the 2002 alumni shootout in June. as well as color and design. The length of the brush strokes was as important as the color. Thacher gives so much to the student, and Don After a piece of glass intended to replace one of considers the experience and the friends he has the shattered original panes was painted and from his days at Thacher to be the most enfired, Reflection’s artists would compare and during influences on his life. Like Anson’s flatdiscuss that piece to the fragments of the orig- tened toad, Don has been elevated out of the inal, and if the consensus found any variation dust and inflated—“but hopefully not too infrom the original, it would be redone. The rig- flated; I guess that’s the lesson.” e orous attention to detail, very quickly taught the Studio artists how to work in the style of Connick and his artists. Once the Connick technique was mastered, the new glass painted and baked, and combined with the cleaned, old glass, the panels were reassembled using a variety of came widths to reproduce the Connick style. Ever the student, Allen reminisces, “You don’t get a lot of opportunities to work at such a high level of apprenticeship with great artists. Even if the original artist is no longer available, his work is there to learn from. We respect not only the era, but also the consistency of the piece. First, we fundamentally respect and conserve the original artist’s work and, second, we reconstruct the piece to be a viable part of the building fabric. Along the way, we expand our own repertoire of technique.”
The several hundred panels were transported back to the Olympic Club, reinstalled in the “T” bar frame, and secured by a novel and proprietary earthquake-restraint system (ERS) developed by Allen. “Essentially, I used a 1/16inch cable threaded through the leaded glass and a two-holed washer to strategically hang the dome. We eventually replaced the washers with drilled pennies to visually blend into the During the last 30 years, Allen Dragge and his lead came. And for this the project architects Reflection Studios’ artists and craftspeople have
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 39
Profile
H. Boyd Manson and John Bueti Working Wonders with Wood
hacher offers an array of Visual and Performing Arts courses throughout the students’ tenure. Beginning in the freshman year, students are introduced to two- and threedimensional art (painting and ceramics, respectively), music, and acting during a one-year Introduction to the Arts course. For many, this sparks an interest or talent that can be further enhanced during a second year of art in a specific area. This second year, which the University of California now requires for admission, further supports Thacher’s Mission to produce well-educated citizens who possess an understanding and appreciation of the arts. In addition, it develops talents for that small group of students who may choose to enroll in preprofessional colleges geared to the arts.
T
Wood Design, one of the year-long offerings, introduces students to fine woodworking with an emphasis on furniture design and construction. The course begins with a comprehensive introduction to the tools and techniques of woodworking. During the first semester, students produce several small projects while developing their woodworking skills. They then dedicate their second semester to designing and constructing a functional piece of furniture of
With Bo’s guidance, Carrie Blayney ’03 trims the legs for her coffee table
page 40 The Thacher News
by Jane D. McCarthy
heirloom quality. “I want the students to develop an appreciation for all aspects of fine woodworking, but most importantly to understand the high level of accuracy and craftsmanship that well-made furniture requires,” says Bo Manson, who has overseen the Wood Shop for the last several years in addition to donning the hats of Casa Dormitory Head and English instructor. “I hope that the students will learn skills that they could use professionally someday.” Thacher’s woodworking program received an added benefit this year when John Bueti, father of Grace ’04 and Belle ’06, moved from Concord, Massachusetts, to Ojai. Along with lots of hardwood and tools, John brought the knowledge, experience, and skills that he’s honed during the last three decades. In exchange for space in the Royal Barney Hogan Shop, John offers his expertise to Thacher students and compliments Bo’s talents. Between the two craftsmen all woodworking tasks are covered. Bo grew up around woodworking in a home his father was constantly rebuilding. Following college, he pursued a career in wooden boat building in San Diego, CA, and Melbourne, Australia, before returning to graduate school and teaching. John began his woodworking career building houses on Nantucket Island. After completing a two-year degree in woodworking at the North Bennett Street School in Boston, MA, he started his own business making custom furniture. “After twenty years of woodworking in New England, I’m looking forward to reestablishing my business here in California,” John says. Wood Design’s second semester projects begin on the shop’s newly constructed drafting tables, where the students learn to render their designs in full-scale. During this initial stage, Bo and John work with the students to determine details of scale,
dimension, and joinery. From the drawing room, they return to their workbenches with completed cutting lists in hand ready to begin the lengthy process of handcrafting their final projects. Some of this year’s projects include a curly maple bench with hand-cut moldings and beadwork; a modern, sculpted chair made of walnut; Arts and Crafts-style dining chair and coffee table in quarter-sawn oak; and a cherry coffee table with maple veneer. These and the rest of the students’ final projects will be on display in the Brody Gallery in May. Beyond working with the students, Bo and John continue to create pieces of their own. John designed their first project together, an Arts and Crafts library table in curly cherry. After being sold at last spring’s Parents Auction, its new owner generously donated the table back to Thacher’s library where it compliments the Arts and Crafts decor of the
Peter Dragge continued from page 29
Brazilian Rosewood in the thousands of dollars this process is no longer viable for Peter. As the result of destroying a few such sets, he built a contraption that keeps the wood sandwiched between two very thin pieces of stainless steel while it is heated by three 200-watt light bulbs within a guitar-shaped form. As the wood is heated it becomes malleable enough to be manipulated into position, thereby making one of the most difficult steps of guitar construction possible without extensive headaches. After a certain amount of heating and applying just the right amount of pressure Peter says, “you can actually feel the wood relax and ease into position.” Peter then uses a guitar-shaped mold to keep the wood in place until it cools completely and retains its shape. The two sides are then trimmed to their final shape and glued at each end with blocks of mahogany, one of which will later be mortised to receive the neck tennon when it is joined to the body. At this time thin pieces of flexible wood called kerfing are glued to the inside perimeter of the sides to provide additional support for the top and back when they are glued together. Before they can be joined however the edges of the sides must be milled to conform to the spherically-arched shape of the top and back, as well as miniature mortises cut into the kerfing wherever the braces penetrate it. This is also a very critical step as the integrity of the entire structure as well its sonic resonance are at stake.
John Bueti demonstrates the use of a biscuit joiner to Ryan Church ’05
building’s original wing. Also last spring, Bo designed and completed a glass-topped games table for the Head’s home. The table includes four removable panels on which consecutive senior classes will leave their carved initials. This year’s projects include a new speaker’s podium of Bo’s design. In the future, the two woodworkers hope to include several designs in the new Student Commons such as a conference table and display cabinets for student art and trophies. e
The shape and feel of the neck are critical to the playability of the instrument since the human hand is extraordinarily sensitive to minute changes in dimensions and curvature. However, since every hand is different, this is another chance for the builder to customize an instrument for a particular player. The carving of the heel and neck and the shaping and inlay of the peghead afford the luthier an opportunity to further personalize the instrument. The fingerboard—made of ebony since it is harder, denser, and wears longer—is glued to the neck, after which the final shaping is completed. For steel-string guitars, it is typical for the fingerboard to be arched. The frets, small steel bars which determine the scale length and note intervals, are then hammered into narrow slots cut into the ebony. Finally, the instrument is sanded, sealed, pore-filled, and sanded again. Then the lacquer finish is painstakingly applied and cured, a process that can take from four to six weeks to complete. The final step is to glue the bridge to the top, install the tuning machines, make the nut and saddle (pieces of bone or ivory that support the strings at each end). All that remains is to string it and pray.
of recording and touring with Elton John. Although they hadn’t seen much of each other since Thacher, their friendship picked up where it had left off during a day of hiking and fishing on the Navarro River. James was impressed with Peter’s work and generously offered to open some doors for him in the music world, including contacts for Melissa Manchester (won a 1982 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Female Performer) and Riki Lee Jones who bought Peter’s second guitar. The third was purchased by Steve Lukather, one of TOTO’s guitarists who won five Grammy Awards in 1982. Peter’s career as a luthier had begun. When asked why Peter’s guitars are so special, James quickly responds: “Peter has a gift, a natural knack for working with wood. I was shocked at how incredibly good the sound was, even from his first guitar.” James went on to say that another reason Peter has done so well is that he is “tremendously personable and sensitive to the needs of musicians. He listens intently to what a musician wants from the instrument; he’ll work with the musician and tweak the guitar until it has the exact tone the musician wants.” These sentiments echo the comments of others when asked about Peter. Upon his admission interview to Thacher, Jack Huyler’s impression was “gentle, kind, affable, and fun loving.” And, his older brother Allen who preceded him at Thacher by three years, said, “Peter is one of the nicest people I have ever known. Even when he was little, he cared about others and animals.” Beyond that, Allen believes Peter’s success comes from the combination of personal attributes and work ethos: “He has an intuitive relationship with wood, but he is very persnickety and focused on the details of his work. After finishing a production step, he’ll go over it with a magnifying glass; if he finds even a slight imperfection, he’ll take it apart and redo that step until it’s perfect. That’s probably why his guitars sound so good.” Finally, Peter’s guitars are truly works of art. The woods, craftsmanship, and design are phenomenal, even before a chord is strummed. He’s made quite a name for himself, particularly with studio musicians on the West Coast as well as Nashville; however, anyone who sees one of his guitars won’t soon forget how beautiful it is. Peter is truly an artisan, in every sense of the word. e
Just as Peter was finishing his first guitar, his Thacher friend and classmate James Newton Howard called and wanted to come visit the Dragges to decompress from the frenetic pace Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 41
Bookshelf
Technique and Meaning in the Paintings of Paul Gauguin The Subtleties of Strokes
by Jane D. McCarthy
“The beauty of art is the journey on which it takes us.” he painting that initiated Trav Newton’s trek towards becoming a fine art conservator and author, world-traveler and lecturer, began while he was a student at Thacher. He accompanied his father to an exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and caught his first glimpse of Gauguin’s “Vision After the Sermon, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.” The broad, flat area of bold solid red with figures distributed unconventionally and cut off the canvas is a signature piece of Gauguin’s style. As the artist wrote to van Gogh just before coming to visit him in Arles, “I believe I have achieved in these figures a great rustic and superstitious simplicity;” the painting, indeed, separates Gauguin radically from others at the time. So intrigued was Trav by this painting and what Gauguin was portraying that he independently researched the artist, his lifestyle and technique, along with his other works. He especially liked Gauguin’s ability “to push” the edge of the post-Impressionist style, more so than other period artists such as van Gogh, Seurat, and Cezanne.
T
Trav’s intrigue with Gauguin, combined with his interest in history and his artistic ability (both of which earned him commendation at Thacher, including the Darrah Corbett, Jr. Studio Prize for his painting and ceramics work) were the basis of his career track. Even his advisor and art teacher Edgardo Catalan found characteristics in Trav that would later mesh with his career choice. In an advisor letter to Trav’s parents, Edgardo wrote that Trav was “the most creative boy of the last couple of years…he’s quite artistic and perceptive.”
By Vojtêch Jirat-Wasiutynski ´ and H.Travers Newton, Jr. CdeP 1968; Cambridge University Press, 2000, 286 pages; $75
Trav recalls, “I was seated next to a masterpiece of Michelangelo Caravaggio [an Italian painter in the late 1500s]. There’s nothing like learning in the midst of some of the greatest works in the world. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.” While doing graduate work at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum in 197980, Trav studied an 1888 self-portrait of van Gogh that had been repaired. Through extensive study, he found the repair to be rather haphazardly done with a palette knife, not with the meticulous brush strokes spiraling around his head that van Gogh had painted. Upon further study, Trav and a colleague, Vojtêch JiratWasiutynski ´ (an art history professor at Queen’s University in Canada, specializing in nineteenth century art) realized that the repair had been done by Gauguin shortly after they lived and worked together in 1888 in Arles. Thus started the collaborative efforts of JiratWasiuty´nski and Trav, whose backgrounds and interests complement each other—as historian and conservator/ artist, respectively—and round out what’s known about Gauguin; they’ve been collaborating ever since on the lecture circuit and in writing about Gauguin and van Gogh.
Trav matriculated from Thacher to UC Santa Cruz, where he studied art history (and studied at UCLA and UC Davis, as well), before specializing in painting restoration and technique Although many books and exhibitions have in Rome for six years. “From the very first day been devoted to post-Impressionist artists, of class at the Istituto del Restauro Rome,” Technique and Meaning includes original page 42 The Thacher News
Gauguin’s “Vision After the Sermon, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel”
thinking about how Gauguin’s unorthodox paint in order to produce a matte surface and techniques and materials can be linked to the also by avoiding varnish that results in reflecbold painting of early Renaissance frescos. Em- tive surfaces. He adopted Pissarro’s and ploying chemical analysis of pigments, x-rays, Degas’s technique of using preliminary drawinfrared and ultraviolet light, and special tech- ings for figures and painstakingly transferring niques of photography, the authors analyze in them to the prepared canvases. detail the progressive layers of a few paintings. They correlate the type of canvas and its initial Trav believes that if art students learned more preparation (or lack thereof), the priming, un- about painting restoration, artists’ techniques, derpainting, or drawing, and the paint used and the intent behind the painting, it will increase their enjoyment of and how it’s applied painting, whether as artists to the date and subor viewers. Stephen Carter ject of the paintings has incorporated some asand the artist’s writpects of Technique and ten notes or accounts Meaning into his Studio Art of those who knew class at Thacher. While teachthe artist. They ing the class how to prepare learned that he develsupports and grounds for oped his own techtheir oil paintings, they studnique that gradually ied Gauguin’s technique for emphasized the matte priming his canvas in order and flat appearance to create his matte sheen. of his painted sur“The students were surprised faces. Instead of the to learn,” Steve commented, choppy brushstrokes “that in many cases Gauof the Impressionists, guin’s paintings have subsehe filled areas with quently been varnished, relatively flat and which totally negates his inuniform color that tent.” “decorated” the works. Like Renoir Although rather technical, in the mid-1880s, van Gogh’s “Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin” that spawned the this book validates that lookGauguin tried to imi- partnership between the book’s authors ing into the artists’ lives, extate the effects of Renaissance frescoes for their decorative and amining their materials, methods, and “primitive” qualities. This fresco appearance techniques, along with considering their intent was achieved by treating the canvas with are vital to appreciating art and to becoming chalky coatings—or grounds—that absorb oil more capable artists. e Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 43
Alumni News
1930 Ken Rhodes came to the big bash on the Carpinteria Bluffs overlooking the Pacific last spring. Due to the tireless efforts of his son, Ted CdeP 1965, this rural area will forever be preserved “as natural open space for future generations to enjoy.”
Class Notes by Jane D. McCarthy
1940 Donald Allan observed his 80th year with a 26mile bike ride in “vigorous opposition to war with Iraq.”
1948 Chris Boyle and his wife, Mary Ella, celebrated their 50th reunions at Mt. Holyoke and Amherst respectively, last June, as well as their 50th wedding anniversary with their entire family at a gettogether in Whistler, BC, Canada, in August.
Jane and John Wheaton
1957 It seems that Caroline and John Thacher’s clan gets bigger—and more photogenic—every year!
Susan and Jim Acquistapace with daughters Anna, Marian, and Caroline
1950 Two 1950 Alumni and their wives had a miniReunion during Jesse Kahle’s 95th Birthday Celebration: Bob and Alice Chesley with Walt and Patricia Foster.
1963 In 2002, Dan E. Murphy III retired as a partner from Barney & Barney Insurance Co. He is now in his first year of law school.
Caroline and John Thacher’s family: Peter CdeP 1984, Blake (20 mos.), Jane, Jack (31⁄2),Tom, John, Sarah (20 mos.), Caroline, RJ, Jacqueline (4 mos.), Shelly, and Sherman.
1958
The Chesleys and the Fosters
1951 Edward M. Hamilton, Jr., reported that after 42 years in Atherton, his family has “down-sized” and moved into a condo in Redwood City. In theory, they can “just lock the door and take off” in their motor home for months at a time. “Keith Vosburg would be proud.”
1954 “From famine to feast!” writes Ric Laurence. He and Ann are now proud grandparents of two boys and a girl born November 2001, January 2002, and April 2002.
page 44 The Thacher News
William Strong does a good deal of business in the oil/gas countries up and down the Arabian Gulf and finds most, if not all, quite pleasant. Oman reminds him of Arizona because the climate and geography are so similar. “Though not exactly on the Arabian Gulf, Egypt, too, produces oil and gas,” Bill writes. “When the American Embassy in Cairo offered me an armored car and armed driver to take me to my meetings, the message was clear. It is too unstable. Cairo is electric with disenfranchised, angry Egyptian Moslems and Moslems from other Middle Eastern countries. It is a cauldron that can boil over at any time. Needless to say, I am postponing future visits to Egypt indefinitely.”
1961 After 12 years of heading a private school near Atlanta, John Meehl is now the new Headmaster of Cape Fear Academy, a school of 536 students in grades preK-12. His new address is 4704 Wedgefield Dr, Wilmington, NC 28409; phone 910-794-1421; and email: jandpmeehl@worldnet.att.net.
1965 Carter Beise is returning to the US after 28 years abroad. He’s “looking forward to everything except tuna casserole.” His new address is PO Box 1005, Wilson WY 83014 (email: beise@yahoo.com) Honorary member of the Class of 1965 and daughter of emeritus faculty member Jack Huyler and his wife Margaret, Ruth Huyler Glass has been appointed Head of School for the Wesley School in North Hollywood, CA. The Wesley School is a fully accredited, coeducational, independent day school for 200 students in grades kindergarten through eight. Ruth will begin her new job on July 1, 2003. Ted Rhodes figures everybody is pretty tired of hearing about Rhodes and the Carpinteria Bluffs, but if you click onto earthisland.com/bluffs you’ll find speeches and photos of the big celebration last spring. Also, take note of the photo of Ted, Joni, and Rachel pleading for help now that son Jesse is driving.
1976 Nori Livermore with Mo, daughter Whitney ’04, and their three puppies: Chocolate, Chloe, and Lindsey
Kate and John Rosenblatt got all dolled up for this photo.
Dave Livermore with wife Rebecca and daughter Jenn
1974
1967 Frank Tooby recently returned from a successful six-week journey to Australia.
John Pickering’s son, Matthew, was born in August of 2001 and his first spoken word, according to his Chinese wife, was “horse” in Mandarin. Perhaps this obsession signals a bright future for Matthew in Ojai? Louise and Bryan Beckham continue to enjoy life in Paso Robles with their daughters Maggie and Annie.
Bob Johnson with wife Ali and sons Matt and Nick
1970 The entire clan convened for this year’s holiday photo. Julie and Phil Angelides are pictured with their daughters: Megan, Christina, and Arianna. Phil’s office is trying to carve a night out of his busy schedule so that he can share with the Thacher Community the inside scoop of what it’s like to serve as California’s Treasurer.
Frank Bennett gave up on retirement and returned to work by joining Inphonic, Inc., a young (but profitable!) startup. Inphonic is an integrated wireless provider enabling custom branded fulfillment for large channels from the Web (AOL, Yahoo, Lycos) to major retailers (Staples, OfficeMax), to affiliated groups (Amway, NEA). He serves as Chief Operating Officer for the 250 employees; his office is located in Largo, MD. Peter Morse just purchased a home in Mukwonago (Place of the Bear) big enough for twins (Jacob and Lucas, almost 21⁄2 years old) to ramble in. He’s teaching French to 5th-8th graders in Burlington, WI, and theatre courses at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and Alverno College. “Go Toads!”
1977 Kate and Lexi, daughters of Sophie and Kendric Foultz, are all smiles in Santa Barbara, CA.
Laura and Ned Banning
1975 John Gates and his son Emmo passed their Cho Pac tests in Soo Bahk Do karate in October. John went pheasant hunting in England with Scott LeFevre in November. Susan and Scott’s children keep on growing! Vickie and Carl Costigan’s sons Robert and Will
Liz and Newie Hastings spent some time in Australia with their two children: Shannon CdeP 1999 and Jamie CdeP 2002.
1978 Charlie and Annie, children of Susan and Scott LeFevre
Kimberleigh and Paul Gavin with Chloe and Claude
Louise, Thomas, and Samuel, children of Ann Hollingsworth and Harry Hanson
Marganne Winter Oxley and her husband David B. Oxley CdeP 1979 are really enjoying being Thacher parents! Their son Will W. Oxley ’05 loves the School and the new Football Program as well as the ol’ Horse Program. “I highly recommend it for all Thacher alums—send your kids!” Mary Paredes Karnes and her family watched the final girls’ basketball game. She loved seeing the School again and “all the Thacher spirit.”
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 45
1982
Caitlin, Casey, and Molly— children of Michelle and Will Wyman
1979 Dave Heard and family just moved from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Santiago, Chile: “Reminds us a lot of California. Picked up snowboarding this winter, with great slopes only 90 minutes away. The coast is also an hour away, but the water is a little cool compared to the Brazilian coastline. From our living room window we have a great view of El Plomo, a 5,300-meter Andean peak. Haven’t tried to climb it yet. We can’t believe how lucky we are to have landed in such a beautiful place after six years in Sao Paulo’s concrete jungle. Andre, our oldest, is 12 years old, and Camila is 9. They’re both bilingual English/Portuguese, and picking up Spanish quickly. They have adapted to Chile very quickly, and will most likely continue in the Heard globetrotting tradition. My wife, Julieta, got a job within one month of arrival, at the Fulbright Commission, where she is a program officer helping Chileans who have won Fulbright Scholarships gain admission to universities in the US.” Finally, Dave just completed 15 years with AIG, and is now general manager of the Chilean subsidiary.
Gathering in the lobby of the Connaught Hotel in London, England, in September 2002 are Leslie and Paul Manning, Natasha Long CdeP 1991, Cricket and Terry Twichell, Erik and Fiona Landsness CdeP 1988, and Mark Leydecker
1980 Jill Oxley Souto-Maior reports that she’s been in Miami for four years now. Their kids (Kristina, 9, and Austin, 7) don’t remember what it’s like to wear jackets in the winter. Luiz loves his job so Florida’s liable to be their home for a while. If you’re in the area, they’d love to see you. P.S. “We see Kit Miller and Doug Smallwood and their families occasionally, but there are not a lot of other Thacher grads around!!” Now in Loveland, CO, and specializing in equine photography is none other than Cynthia Hunter. She’s also engaged and a “step-mom” to three teenage boys; the youngest will apply to Thacher for Fall 2004! Tracey Stevenson Garret, Jill Oxley Souto-Maior, and Cynthia are planning to rendezvous in Jackson Hole this year.
1981 When Deborah Taylor McAtee isn’t planning and getting entitlements for a new town center in Big Sky, MT, she’s home-schooling four kids and loving it.
Harry IV and Donald, sons of Brooke and Peter Conkey
Kathelee Banister is now a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, practicing Chinese Herbal Prescription, Acupuncture, Chinese Nutrition, and still using Exercise Physiology for physical rehabilitation. Adriana Schwartz Gores really enjoyed her visit to Thacher in early November at her daughter Elisa’s high school admissions day. Her favorite parts of the day were seeing familiar teacher faces and meeting new faculty and students. “What a treat to be back on campus while school is in session!”
page 46 The Thacher News
David and Christine Leydecker Troast with Conrad and Margaret
Ken Chance and his family are finishing their first of three years in Naples, Italy. Don’t hesitate to look them up if you’re in their neck of the woods! After a decade plus of flying F-16’s and the like from a base in Fresno, Tony and Mary Everett Bourke are moving their brood to Ross in Marin County (north of San Francisco) in June.
June 2002 landed a great 20th Reunion for the class of 1982, as half the class returned to the Ojai. Familiar faces and voices blurred with changing hairlines at the Robbies’ barbecue and in the very late nights around the fire on the Hill. Saturday morning some 20 horses were saddled up for the class ride to Thacher meadow and over to the Gymkhana Field, bringing us back. Honestly, though, mixing it up on the soccer field with the classes of ’92 and ’97 reminded how far we’d come. Stanley Chiu has managed to uproot from the snowdrifts of Minnesota (what’s a SoCal surfer doing there anyway?) and begin his life as an architect-father in Venice, CA. Sorry, Stan, we all want to know how does one find time to surf with these occupations? Jill Stevenson came from Boise to share her good spirit and banter. Must be something about the northern air that is more agreeable than the LA city living. Geoff Lipman topped all comers with the most outlandinsh long hairstyle, which must be some kind of a reflection of life in NYC (Brooklyn actually). Or was it just a reminder of his innate unpredictability? Lips is harmonizing music electronics when he’s not sprinting on the soccer field. The group gave a huge thumbs-up to the idea of traveling to Hawaii to visit Kelly Maloney Fabyonic; and she did not discourage talk of a 22.5 reunion in the early months of 2005 on the big island. After 20 years, you just know where Mark Cameron stands: his home is in San Luis Obispo and he’s done more daring fire responses than any Toad we know. Sophie Julien was gracious at the mike and spoke for the class, reminding us what a rare time the Ojai was and remains in our lives. With a tow-headed daughter beaming in her company, life in SF agrees with Soph more than NYC. Phoebe Twichell Peterson is happily juggling painting and motherhood in Virginia. No doubt, the award for furthest afield in search of opportunity goes to John Davies, who has lived in Azerbaijan, Russia, Alaska and now China. Think about doing that. John Herzog is still the fastest right wing in Toad soccer history that any of us could remember. It turns out there are good reasons to manage an athletic club in Santa Barbara. Surely among the longest business partnerships between two Toads, Doug Francis and Brian Kopperl continue to manage Pegasus Investments in Boston nine years later. Like many of the class, Doug had tales of his sweetheart daughters Julia and Olivia to share, while Brian was a bit more focused on river kayak trips and what moving into an old house in Cambridge feels like. Hunter Hollins traveled from D.C. to the Ojai accompanied by his now newlywed bride Christine. Apparently, a good deal can happen between a June in Ojai and a November in Virginia! In March Belinda Hanson helped host a party at the Calhouns’ home in San Francisco to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of CdeP’s coeducation. Drew Horton has spiritedly transitioned from the mobile life in film production to hosting at Beckmen Vineyards in Los Olivos, which suits his outgoing ways to a T. Perry Noble and Alex Koo vied for furthest to travel back: Perry from Down Under and Alex from his native Malaysia. Perry would have to be psyched if we said that they also vied for bestlooking in the saddle 20 years later, as Alex retains pretty graceful form on horseback. But we all had fun riding up the steep trails without falling off. Gayle Heirshberg and Sam Kirkeby both continue to live very near each other and see one another often in LA, whenever Sam’s back from the film production world. Alison Terbell Nikitopoulos came from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she also juggles motherhood and professorship.
Susan Taylor Hance is living in Bozeman, MT, with husband Steve and his daugher Shelby and son Andrew, while Louise Rose Curcio came south from Lake Oswego, OR, having just recently moved there from southern California with her family. Louise is married with two boys (Michael, age 4, and Ryan, age 2). She and her family are in the process of job-hunting to relocate back to California. Louise has been home with the boys for 2 years and is ready to return to work. Shawna Weseloh Biel lives in San Diego, has two kids, and has her own successful interior design business. Belinda Hanson and her husband Rob saw Shawna and Scott last summer for Rob’s 40th birthday barn dance at Belinda’s Woodside home, up in Lassen at Shawna’s family’s cabin, and up on Orcas Island. It didn’t take long for John Davies to leave for parts beyond our shores. He can now be reached at 12, Academika Sakharova prospect, Suite 211, Moscow, 107078, Russian Federation; jdaview@alfabank.ru or jdavies@sbcglobal.net. “I think this is about as close as I can come to the timeless harmony and peace of two old friends at a reunion,” wrote Brian Kopperl of his buddies John Herzog and Jill St. Helens Stevenson, pictured in the Los Padres courtyard. As of Feb. 22, Stacey and Tom Saidy are the proud parents of a daughter, Margaux. And the first stuffed animal in the hospital room? What else…a toad.
1983 Katie Ballou Calhoun took time out of her volunteer life as President of a San Francisco Children’s Charity (where she headed up a successful campaign that brought in $500,000 for the second year) to enjoy a great week at Golden Trout this past summer. Now she’s shifting gears to serve as President and CEO of Calhoun & Schwartz Communications, a PR firm that specializes in wine and spirits brands. She’s taking referrals… Tyler and Dilys Bart Shelton are enjoying their new little girl, Elizabeth. Dilys is an ophthalmologist in San Francisco.
Everything is coming up roses for Camelia and Violet, daughters of Caroline and Bruce Somers.
“Three kids, two dogs, building a new house, going broke, going crazy,” reports Jake Cunningham who is happy and healthy in upstate New York (a quick and beautiful train ride from NYC). Come and visit and meet Coleman Grayling Cunningham who was born June 4.
Sibyll and Rodrigo Catalán with children Nicholas and Sophia The Illinois Warriors with coaches Bob Henshel and Randy Bessolo
Bob Henshel and Randy Bessolo, basketball teammates at Thacher, teamed up again in Chicago in 2001-2002 to coach the Illinois Warriors 14-and-Under AAU team. The Warriors won the Illinois State AAU Championship and captured eighth place at the AAU National Championships in Orlando, FL. Frederick and Samuel Richardson are giving their parents, Janie Carroll and Weston Richardson CdeP 1980, a run for their money!
1984 Kyhm Penfil has been elected to the partnership at the law firm of Irell & Manella LLP, focusing on complex litigation, including intellectual property and art-related litigation. She lives in Newport Beach, CA.
David Chao and Amanda Minami with sons David (6) and Lukas (3)
Due to previous knee problems, Alison Field didn’t think she would ever run a marathon. But in August she climbed Mt Kilimanjaro without pain on the descent, thereby figuring that she could be a smarter runner in her thirties than when she started having knee pain. Alison is now part of a charity marathon team, benefiting pediatric health care and research at Children’s Hospital Boston; truly a win-win situation for all.
Stacy and Michael Kong with children Phoebe, Isabella, and Tessa
“Her name is Samantha Claire Willson; we will call her Sam,” writes Rod and Kathryn Riddell Willson of their second daughter who arrived on February 24. “She looks just like her big sister Jenn did at this age— perfectly amazing. We are all very excited to have her join the family.”
What cute buckaroos! Jordan and Evan Perry (daughters of Derick Perry and Molly Twichell Perry CdeP 1985) and Gus Van Newkirk (son of John and Eve Stacey Van Newkirk) intersected in Alta, WY, last summer. Even though she’s spending more time on campus in support of The Campaign for Thacher, Emily Williamson Hancock, her husband Henry, and their three children (Charles, Sarah, and Eleanor) found time to hike near Mammoth Lakes last summer.
1985 Eric Gross tied the knot with Carmen Zuniga in the Santa Cruz Mountains on July 28. Morgan Smith, Bill Fellows, Molly and Derick Perry CdeP 1983, and Paul Gutierrez enjoyed the festivities, before the newlyweds left to honeymoon in the Hawaiian Islands. Jenny and Thatcher Brown have their hands full with the wonders of parenting. Their four-monthold daughter, Hollis, is making a fast friendship with five-month-old Jacqueline “Jackie O,” daughter of Celia and Peter Kong. Rumor has it that they have been seen together in The Fairmont San Francisco’s Tonga Room drinking virgin Mai Tai’s.
Gus and Jesse, sons of John and Eve Stacey Van Newkirk Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 47
Monica Morse and John Stacey are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a sister or brother for Piper who is almost two.
1986 Mark Yeh finished a fellowship in MRI last June and joined a private practice radiology group in Pomona, CA. “Time to advance my career,” wrote Nancy Nichols. With two masters, she’s decided to leave the high school classroom and enter a doctoral program in 20th century US history-fields: Chicano, race and ethnicity, and the West. She hopes to finish before she’s 40!
1988 Elizabeth McLaren became Mrs. Ethan Levi on August 18, 2002, in the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens in Portland, OR. Five other Thacher graduates were in attendance, including Elizabeth’s father, John McLaren CdeP 1952; her sister, Jessica McLaren CdeP 1992; Bruce Oxley CdeP 1954, and Elizabeth’s classmates Elizabeth Reynolds Mahoney and Emily Loomis Murphey. Jessica McLaren was a bridal attendant for the ceremony on a warm, sunny afternoon. Both newlyweds are public defenders in the Portland area. They saw more of the Oxley clan—including Rachel CdeP 1989, David CdeP 1979, Margeanne CdeP 1978, and Will ’05—when they honeymooned in Ashland.
The new Dean of the Bay-Area Theatre Sports School of Improv is Dan Klein. He sets curriculum, trains and manages teachers and organizes the calendar for the 10-12 3-hour classes weekly. Whew! Carolyn and Doug Kirkpatrick are spending more time in the snow with their kids (Colin and Liam) now that they live in Denver.
Jessica McLaren CdeP 1992, Emily Loomis Murphey, Elizabeth McLaren, Bruce Oxley CdeP 1954, Ethan Levi, John McLaren CdeP 1952, and Elizabeth Reynolds Mahoney
Future Thacher Students? Rachel Oxley-Eaton and Shell Duncan Grimes enjoyed the ranch setting of Chad and Rachel’s property in Oregon with their babies: Taylor Eaton and Duncan Grimes. Rachel and Shell had plenty of time to catch up and remember all the good times at Thacher. Connie Arbogast and David Lindsay are back in good old Saugus, CA, where they teach at the same school and their two little guys (John and Nathan) also attend. As Connie says, “It is pretty wonderful having the whole family in one place.” They would love to hear from you: clindsay@saugus.k12.ca.us Jen and Rob Morrill have a wonderful baby boy named Ronan who arrived last June.
1990
1987 Oliver Gustav Berg made his grand appearance into the world on September 29, 2002. His happy parents are Ingmar and Michele Barnett Berg who made their home in Chevy Chase, MD, and recently moved to Lausanne, Switzerland. Linda and Tom Cole spent time in Ghana, South Africa, and Sweden with daughter Ingrid.
Eleanor Whelan O’Neill “saw Katie Parsons Zamarron over New Years and met her beautiful daughters Paloma and Hannah.” Eleanor also saw Lisa (wife of Dave Sitzman), at a mutual friend’s baby shower and saw a picture of their lil one, Eli. By the time the class of ’87 celebrates its 20th Reunion, all these babies will be grown up! If anyone needs an architect, Eleanor is working at Koning Eizenberg Architecture in Santa Monica. Life is grand for Zoe Edelen in Portland, OR. She has two young sons: Gus is three years old and Eliot is almost two. She was teaching 8th grade Language Arts, but now she is working for an educational software company as a Content Developer. Although she hasn’t been back to Thacher since graduation, she’s looking forward to visiting sometime soon. page 48 The Thacher News
The big news for Cathy Ruhl is the arrival of Bridget Adelle Kemp in January 2002; her folks have been trying (unsuccessfully) to catch up on their sleep ever since. They’re having a great time, though, and little Bridget has already been snow shoeing at Mammoth, backpacking in the Rocky Mountains, and, of course, exploring the Sacramento environs.
Christian and Kina Gibbs Kreer are the proud parents of Jonas, who will turn two this September; they should be in their new home in Napa by then. kinabeena@yahoo.com. Chris Stacey with pal Zephyr
1989 Joanne Hughes is spending this year in a remote corner of Washington State, doing comparative orthopedics research in preparation for a surgery residency. She writes, “Good thing I’m so busy at work, as you can only spend so much time watching wheat grow!” Feel free to break the monotony by sending emails to Joanne at jmhughes@vetmed.wsu.edu. Melissa and Marc Ganzi were the first husband and wife combination to win the USPA Bronze Cup in the tournament’s 72year history. It is one of the oldest trophies in US polo and it is the most competitive polo tournament of the year based on number of entries. The Bronze Cup is the third most important trophy in US polo behind the US Open and the USPA Gold Cup. Pictured here is Marc’s team: his wife Melissa, Dale Schwetz (Wellington, FL), Juan Bollini (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Marc.
Sadie Harrison-Fincher is still in law school but the end is in sight. Last year she joined the law review and is serving as the comment editor on this year’s volume. Other than that, she’s just enjoying life with her husband, Allyn, in Texas. As of January 9, Fiona Carter McLaughlin has a new sister: Amalia (aka Molly). The very happy parents are Mike and Christine Carter McLaughlin who named their daughter after a great-great-aunt and great-grandmother. Ceri and David Van Slyke will leave Rochester after Ceri graduates: “Destination not known yet, though I do miss you all” at Thacher. Jennifer Utman Sommers gave birth to daughter Talia on August 2, 2002. Rie Reniers married Toby Maitland-Lewis on September 1, 2002. They live in Oakland as they have for a year or two. When Win Burleson isn’t working on a doctorate on Creativity and Technology at the MIT Media Lab, he enjoys sailing, including a trip from Hawaii to Seattle on a Tall Ship last spring.
1991 Brooks and Emily Worthington Jordan gave birth to Lief Jordan on April 5, 2002; the happy family lives in Healdsburg, CA.
Jason Wenz is now a married man; his wonderful bride is Elizabeth. Will Redfield stood at the wedding. Jason is enrolling full-time in the University of Chicago MBA program. Speaking of Will Redfield, he got engaged to Elsbeth Norton on August 31 in Mt. Whistler, British Columbia. He’s still employed at http://www.bom.com “Not dot bom! BOM DOT COM! (Bill of Materials)!” he writes. “I’m the President of the Georgetown Club of Northern California and coach of our SFHOYAS Softball Team which just crushed an NBC corporate team. I don’t even really know how to play softball, but check out the action at www.sfhoyas.com.” You can reach Will at will@redfield.net.
Since Sharon Dana Karlsberg was looking forward to seeing all of her Thacher friends and classmates at the 10th Reunion, we’re glad she wasn’t disappointed. She and her husband Craig moved from Arlington, MA to Berkeley for business school. Before they left the east, though, Sharon and Craig had a great tour of the MIT Media Lab from Win Burleson CdeP 1990, spent St. Paddy’s Day with Betsy Burleson in New Haven, and saw Andrew Shakman CdeP 1990 in Ventura over the winter holidays. Steve and Anne Berube Gard welcomed son Kaden to their home on December 13, in the year of the horse. What irony?!!! Sarah Diggle Duffy has shifted from being a marketing manager, to teaching. After studying in Oxford for one year, she is now in her second year of teaching in Chiswick, West London (a “big, bouncy state school!”), where she teaches mostly English, some Latin and Classics. Instead of attending the Ten-Year Reunion, she married Chris Duffy—the origin of that extra appendage on her name—but she’s still known as Digs. “I missed everyone enormously!”
Alec Perkins with his bride Serena
Dana and Mara Fischbacher Gibson love being parents of Mark, who will turn three this May.
This just in! Amy O’Shea married Harry T. Hunt on August 10, 2002.
1992 Brittany Walker married Pat Conant over the summer. They met while she was living in San Francisco, but they have since moved to Fort Collins, CO, where she is taking steps to get her teaching credential while trying to keep her marketing business afloat. Paige Fulton graduated from UCLA Magna Cum Laude in Philosophy/Far Eastern Religions in 2001. Now she’s opening her own Equine Training Facility in Santa Rosa, CA: Fulton Farms, 47240 Guenza Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404 Gatsha Small graduated again last year with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and now works for Edwards Air Force Base as a Performance and Flight Qualities Engineer. He is engaged, spending a lot of time biking (hopes to do the AIDS ride from San Francisco to LA in June), and just finished making his fiancée a hope chest.
From the decks of the USS Constellation, Ben Clammer wrote that “stress is building over here.” He’s been busy with Operation Southern Watch, flying routine patrols and waiting for the next command. Despite flying over enemy terrain, he finds landing on the ship at night to be his most stressful activity.
1994 According to Rika Howe Toll, Aspin Bowers is currently in Telluride, CO, living out her cowgirl heritage. She still loves the smell of hay and that good old horse *&#^. She has applied to Midwifery School in Taos, NM, and started a twoyear program in January. Rika is still a graduate student at UGA in Athens, GA; meanwhile, Nate Toll is head coach of the UGA crew team.
1993
Katie Prager enjoys her work as a small-animal vet in Berkeley almost as much as her weekends.
Speaking of double-Toad unions, Rosa Barkus and Jose Klein joined the Peace Corps and will call Suriname, South America, their home for the next two years. They’re working with a NonGovernment Organization in the capital city doing HIV prevention and support activities. If you contact them via email, you can find out about their bizarre tropical afflictions: rosasepulvedaklein@yahoo.co.uk
Brian and Helen Holmes Gold
Who would have thought surfing and a law degree could go hand-in-hand? Meghan Jeans figured out a way. Having just graduated from Vermont Law School, she’s now practicing environmental law on the island of Kauai. She’s representing some homeowners in an environmental lawsuit against a developer whose Clean Water Act violations destroyed one of Hawaii’s most pristine coral reef ecosystems. She is looking forward to seeing all the CdeP 1993 folks in June. Aloha! Her new email address is mjeans@whalemail.com. Another practicing lawyer is Matt Farrer, who works in San Francisco. He remains an avid music-lover and philosopher, but now he’s taken up Chinese Kickboxing. Sonya Day is doing Bio-Chem research at the Gene Center in Munich, Germany. Her home address: Sonya Day, Alspitz Str. 11, Munchen, Germany 81373. Email: quinnone2002@yahoo.com. Joining the ranks of doubleToad marriages are Laura Wentworth and Todd McCloskey who married on August 14, 2002, in the Rockies. Camillia Joy (Carley) married Evan Louden on June 16, 2002 at Cape Cod.
Did you catch the Time magazine article on the terrorist attack in Bali? The October 12 cover story described the party atmosphere that was transformed into a crucible of horror when a car bomb blew up the Sari Club nightclub, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives. Brian Bennett authored Time’s account of that tragic evening. Flying in the bush slowed down for Will Scoular last summer after he totaled his old Cessna in a less-than-graceful landing in the Chugach Mountain Range. Instead, he’s the resident high school teacher in a subsistence Eskimo village called Koliganek. This is Will’s fourth job teaching since he graduated from high school, and with each new teaching experience, he “gains better perspective of the opportunities we had at Thacher. Now I particularly appreciate the great educators, such as Chuck Warren and Bill Tabrisky…In a heated discussion, a high school educator once warned me, ‘If you live long enough, life has a way of getting back.’ I now understand the wisdom of his statement.” Last September Carson Campe and Chris Nichols met up in Philadelphia to hear the music of Nick Young’s band AI: “The show was amazing!” Pictured here is the Nichols family: Vicki, Gary, Amy, and Chris. Mark Peirsol CdeP 1962 reports that daughter Cate Peirsol graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Nursing from the Dominican University and passed her California State RN Board. Cate is now working in the ICU of Kaiser San Francisco.
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 49
According to his folks’ holiday letter, Ryan Kurlinski is now a research assistant in engineering/physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, while pursuing prerequisite courses for graduate study in alternative energy. Douglas Johnson just returned from four months in Australia and New Zealand, and is considering career options.
1998 The Kurlinski Family: Joshua, Claire, Kurli, Ryan CdeP 1997, and Seth CdeP 2000
According to his folks, Josh Kurlinski is working in Las Vegas for Keystone International, an engineering firm dealing with government contracts, and continues to take courses at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to prepare for graduate school in computer science.
1996 Jennifer Reissen traded one coast for another, but still thinks we’re the “lucky [ones] to live in such a beautiful place.” She left her family’s home in Santa Barbara and took up residence in Jersey City since she’s working for Goldman Sachs in New York. Alexia Allen is now Mrs. Jeffrey Stevens. She sewed her own wedding dress, with white feathers all around the hem—perfect attire for the ceremony that took place in a swamp in Florida. Jeff and Alexia are both avid birdwatchers.
1997 Chris Labbe held a gathering of many Thacher alums and friends in Bozeman, MT, on October 5, 2002, including Jim Labbe CdeP 1990, Ted Labbe CdeP 1987, and mother Leslie Labbe; as well as Peyton Holmes CdeP 1996, Abigail Dachs CdeP 1996, and Manuel Nikel-Zueger CdeP 1998. Not surprisingly, they had plenty in common! Cameron Boswell was elected Parliamentarian of Prescott College Student Union Board for the ’02’03 school year. From proud dad: Jessica Sawyer graduated from Cornell this past May with a double degree, in History and Biology, and has joined the Teach for America program. After spending the summer training in the Bronx, she’s now teaching biology at Lynwood High School in L.A. She’s also in the graduate program in education at Loyola Marymount, and playing on the UCLA Women’s Rugby Club. Mark Forte is currently employed by World Savings Bank in Oakland, CA, as Buyer in Purchasing.
page 50 The Thacher News
According to his mother, Tim Johnson spent last summer teaching Spanish and English in Brazil. He’s now buckled down back at Dartmouth completing his final year of undergraduate school.
College Counselor Maria Morales Kent shared the happy news that Kellie Lynn Dolan completed a double major in Art History and International Relations at St. Andrews in Scotland last spring. Congrats!
1995 Big news for Kacey Perkins: she’s in her first year of medical school at Tulane in New Orleans, and she’s planning her July 5 wedding when she’ll become Mrs. William Tift.
Caitlin Caldwell
James Bowie and sister Jennifer CdeP 2001
While finishing her degree from Lewis & Clark, Bonnie Porter (and her boyfriend) are starting a non-profit foundation to benefit homeless youth both locally in Portland and globally. Through the sale of merchandise (primarily t-shirts donated by Patagonia), they hope to generate funds to give children worldwide a better quality of life. Through building water wells and school facilities and encouraging community involvement and interaction, they hope to make a difference. Bryson Brown graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School in June. Jenny Silverman graduated in June with a degree in Economics and Spanish. Next year, she will be the new math teacher and soccer and lacrosse coach at St. Andrews, a boarding school in Delaware. But, the most exciting news of all is that she got engaged last spring! Nick English wrote in with an update of various classmates: “First and foremost Seagull (Liv Vignos) is studying alone in the woods of Georgia. Booer (Jamie Bowie) is extremely happy living with Naz (Wil Caldwell) and Sack (Mike Bracken) at Vanderbilt. As for us (David “Chav” Chevalier and Mung) we’re 200 lbs. apiece and growing! What Now!! Last but not least, we saw G-Ride (Gavin Back) on TV recently. GO TOADS!!” We just received word from her very proud parents (and this year’s Presidents of the Parents’ Association) that Shannon Back has received admission to law school.
1999
Lucy Milligan with sister Claire CdeP 2001
The Grether Family: John, Ted CdeP 2001, Betsy, Robert, and Russell ’03
Sarah Sawyer was recently accepted into Stanford’s graduate program in human biology for next fall.
Mollie Gardner with sister Besse CdeP 2000, daughters of Gretchen and Bob Gardner CdeP 1960
Shauna Nyborg is in New Zealand for a semester at the University of Auckland. She reports that, “life as a college student is going very well,” and that she is taking full advantage of the opportunity to travel and explore the north and south islands. She continues to study geology (she is pursuing a combined geo/environmental science major).
2000 According to his parents’ holiday letter, Seth Kurlinski “continues his very successful efforts at Bates majoring in philosophy, food, and Laura.” Jake Braitman is spending his spring term abroad studying marine biology in the British West Indies. Marley Orr continues to enjoy Colby College as a Psychology major and a Creative Writing minor. This past summer she worked for a Public Relations firm in Connecticut and made frequent visits to New York City and Long Island. This coming summer, she hopes to live in NYC with Yui Scribner and work as a research assistant.
2001 The Lethbridge Herald on August 22 included an article entitled “No matter where she is, Deloria will run home,” an account of Deloria LaneMany Grey Horses winning four medals in the North American Indigenous Games in Winnepeg over the summer. She’s also hitting gold at Cal where she was named to the National Society of Collegiate Scholars in June.
PAST FACULTY Terry Twichell: “Life in the retirement lane is even better than I anticipated. I’ve got to say, I loved watching Thacher’s terrific football team!!”
Clarissa Caldwell
Marisa Binder met up with Brian Driscoll (Development) and Michael Mulligan at a Chicago Gathering, now that she’s back in the States following her year in London with the English Speaking Union program. Although initially a difficult adjustment, she found that experience very rewarding because it included participating in special activities (observing production of an opera, attending Wimbleton and one of London’s best jazz clubs), touring Australia, and forming great friendships. Tyler Manson is back from South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is coaching Boys’ JV Lacrosse. Go Toads!
2002 When Jaime Everett isn’t horsin’ around, he’s working hard at Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island.
Amanda Grumman “hopes you all are having a blast in college or during your time off.” She misses everyone, but she’s having fun at college and riding a lot. You can reach her at angrumman@cazenovia.edu or at 315-655-7717. Jamie Hastings is having a great time living out on the range near Tuscarora, NV. He’s working on the 2.5-million-acre IL Ranch as a cowhand; living in the bunkhouse with other buckaroos. He’s been given a string of six horses, which he has to train and shoe himself (that requires a twohour drive to Elko to purchase shoeing equipment to add to his supplies). He’s riding a good deal, staying up nights to care for the first-year heifers as they calf. He’ll be riding the chuckwagon in June when he and other cowboys will check the cattle, gather and brand daily, but not return to headquarters at night. Instead they and their extra horses will follow the chuckwagon, camping out under the stars. According to his mother, “He’s loving every minute and sounds very, very happy…due to the Thacher spirit he carries in his hands, head, and heart.”
The Edwards Family: Sam, Charlie, Marcia, and Harold
Having spent 21 years at Thacher as a teacher in the Science Department, camper, backpacker, and tennis coach, Marcia Edwards is enjoying her retirement, especially when pressed into service to care for her grandchildren. During her Thacher career, Marcia served as Director of Studies, Director of the Human Relations and Sexuality Program, Chair of the Science Department, and as a tireless and devoted worker who chaired the Blue Ribbon Committee which led to Thacher being designated as a Blue Ribbon School, and chairing the School’s most recent WASC Accreditation Survey in which Thacher passed with flying colors. Her attention to detail, high standards, moral high ground and practical understanding of students have been sorely missed as she entered the third phase of her life: retirement. She is spending more time with her husband Sam on their ranch in Santa Paula; traveling; and indulging their grandchildren.
In a very newsy holiday letter, former art teacher Annie Faber-Root announced the birth of their third child, Ellie; she arrived on November 1. She and her husband, Jamie, recently moved to Chicago for his new position with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Animal Health Division as an Account Executive. Their other two children are Ian and Emma. Offered an opportunity he “just couldn’t turn down,” Campaign Director Brian Driscoll swapped the West Coast for the East Coast to become the Vice President of Resource Development at Babson College. Brian’s wife, Monique DeVane Assistant Head for (Assistant Head for Ex- Internal Affairs Peter ternal Affairs and Di- Robinson and Dean of rector of Admission Students Chris and Financial Aid) will Mazzola laud Brian finish out this school Driscoll for his year before taking sons extensive efforts for Liam and Owen to join the School Brian in Boston. Our grateful thanks go to the entire Driscoll-DeVane clan for their dedication and efforts on behalf of Thacher; we wish you all the best of luck on your new endeavors. e
Molly, daughter of John and Sarah Reimers
Abby Davis stopped by campus in January to soak up the sun before she heads back to the University of Pennsylvania to become a Nurse Practitioner. And another new babe is Henry Dean Nelson, son of Eric and Sarah Hill Nelson, former history teacher. Sarah married Eric in 2000 and Henry arrived last March. Together with their dog, Lucy, they live in Lawrence, KS, close to the family hydro-plant business.
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 51
Alumni News
John Pillsbury CdeP William K. Cole CdeP 1942 died Dec. 8, 2002. 1932, who attended “Pills” attended Thacher Thacher for his senior for only his senior year, year of high school, but made quite a mark died September 21, on the School for his co2002. He matriculated ordination, fine athletito Yale where earned cism, and scholarly ways. both a bachelor’s deHe had a great interest in gree and law degree. camping and horses, and He lived in Southbury, CT. Bill is survived by his wife Ula; and three became a member of the Bit and Spur. He also enjoyed skiing, golf, tennis, baseball, soccer, sons: David, Frank, and Livingstone. and basketball—the last three of which he participated on the First Teams. He was popular with classmates because of his fine sportsmanJon W. Frost (CdeP 1937), who attended ship, sense of fair play, and sense of humor. Thacher for his freshman year, died in June John went on to Hamilton, but earned his 2002; Paul “Red” Fay was the bearer of this bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in 1949. sad news. Jon earned a bachelor of arts degree He lived in Piedmont, CA. He is survived by from the University of New Mexico in 1949. his wife Margaret; and four children: Thomas He had lived in Pueblo, CO. He is survived by (CdeP 1973), Karen, James, and Joanne. three children: daughter Harah; and two sons Wallis and Jay.
Sheldon Von Hagen Brooks CdeP 1939, known as “Wuxtra” during his one year at Thacher, died February 1, 2002, in North Key Largo, Florida. While here, Sheldon was known for his photography and swing; he played on the Third Soccer Team and Second Baseball Team; he served as manager of the Track Team and manager of the Glee Club; and he participated in Dramatics and the National Rifle Association. He also won the Turkey Shoot. From Thacher, Sheldon matriculated to Yale for two years before he began serving in the Navy from May 1942 until December 1945; he became a lieutenant (JG). Sheldon served as chairman of the Board for the Minnetonka Boat Works in Wayzata, MN. He was involved with various organizations including St. James School (trustee), Hennepin County Animal Rescue League (director), Minnesota Boating Associatiion (director), and Ducks Unlimited (trustee). He was first married to Frances Harriet Atkinson, then Delores W. Brooks (1967); and finally Carroll. He has four children: Paul, Judith, Molly, and stepson Matthew Hoy.
page 52 The Thacher News
William A. Coulter (CdeP 1951) died December 10, 2000, but we only learned this news at the end of the year from David Lavender. Bill was born and raised in Covina, CA; he attended Thacher for his first two years of high school and later attended ClaremontMcKenna College. After he married Lois Logan in 1962, they moved to Newport Beach, where Bill worked in advertising for Del Taco for 17 years. He also worked with his family in avocado ranching. His hobby was carving miniature sailing ships (two-inch vessels). Lois wrote to the Claremont McKenna College magazine that they had “spent the last eight years with a little business [they] created, Little Stuff Miniatures. Bill carved historic ship models for the dollhouse world. Together, [they] traveled throughout the U.S. to various shows and even went on several cruises related to this business.” Bill was an active member of the Exeter Kiwanis Club, he attended the Exeter Methodist Church, and was a former member of Rotary International for 39 years. He had been an active member of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and he was a former president of the 552 club of Hoag Hospital, Newport Beach, CA. Bill died of
severe lung cancer exactly one year after being diagnosed. He is survived by his wife, Lois, of Exeter, CA; two sons: Mark of Elk Grove, CA, and Thomas of Wetzlar, Germany; and a brother Frederick (CdeP 1954) of Glendora, CA.
David G. Duff (CdeP 1975) of Wayzata, MN, died September 30, 2002. His father said that the cancer he’d suffered as a baby was responsible for his early death. Although he attended only one year at Thacher, he always regretted that he left early.
Tamima Michelle AlAwar CdeP 2002 died November 9, 2002, at her family’s home. Upon her graduation, Michael Mulligan read this brief sketch of her time at Thacher: “Tamima explores and shares the landscape of emotion and values through her creative writing and, most publicly, her impressive artwork. Her vision of the people of this world, both singularly and in relation to each other, can be exotic and dreamy, or hard-edged and blunt; but either way, she invites us (as well as those in select cafes from Ojai to Santa Barbara), through controlled brushstroke and inspired use of color, into a new awareness of how tone, form, line, medium and something inside and indefinable can combine in artistic beauty. Independent and plucky, Tamima has capably juggled many extracurricular demands with those of her work here at School, in part because she possesses the ability to remain serene and controlled even in challenging situations. She is also quick to learn: how classical and Christian elements synthesize in Mategna, and how Che Guevara won the hearts of the people. These qualities, combined with an essential optimism and unusual sense of calm balance, have earned her much growth during her time at Thacher; we are proud of what she has accomplished in our midst and beyond.” Tamima will be sorely missed by her family, classmates, friends, and teachers. A memorial service was held at Thacher on November 18; her family initiated a scholarship fund in her name to support Thacher art students.
Friends of Thacher
John T. Saidy, MD, husband of Mary Jane and father of John CdeP 1979 and Tom CdeP Harriet Doerr, mother of the late Michael 1982, died February 21, 2003 of pancreatic CdeP 1949, died on November 25, 2002. She cancer. As highlighted in the Spring/Summer had lived in Pasadena, CA. 2002 issue of The Thacher News, Dr. Saidy was instrumental in directing a gift of $100,000 from the Hazel Reed Baumeister Trust to The Thacher Endowment for scholLarry D. Heitz, a long- arships in memory of his medical practice parttime teacher at and a ner, Oscar W. Hills, MD CdeP 1934. friend to Thacher, died November 19, 2002, after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was surBruce E. Wallace, a disrounded by his family. tinguished biologist and Larry attended UCLA, one of the first employand then worked as an ees of the biotechnology electrical engineer supgiant Amgen, was acciporting the Apollo space program. He moved dentally killed on Sephis family to Ojai in 1969 and began a new tember 20, 2002, when career as a teacher and an artist. Working at his paraglider crashed Thacher from 1971 through 1987, he taught into a cliff face near Mt. ceramics, jewelry-making, photography, asWhitney in the Sierras. tronomy, The Ascent of Man, and introduc- He was fascinated with the mechanics and tion to art classes. He also taught beauty of flying and had flown in Brazil, the rock-climbing and was an active part of Swiss Alps, and Santa Barbara. Bruce had just Thacher’s outdoor program, introducing the begun his second year of serving on Thacher’s joys of a billy-can and gourmet camp cooking Board of Trustees, where he played a key role to many Toads, including his three children: in the Technology Sub-Committee, as well as David CdeP 1980, Eric CdeP 1981, and Re- served on the Program and Buildings and becca CdeP 1983. Larry was a Renaissance Grounds Committees. He was known for his man and a free spirit. He brought lively dis- keen intellect, dry humor, and adventurous cussion and a new perspective to all who spirit. Bruce is survived by his wife Marilyn crossed his path. He will be truly missed. and four children: Elizabeth CdeP 1996, Benjamin CdeP 1999, Nathan CdeP 2002, and Stories, memories, and/or anecdotes about Larry Alissa ’04. e are welcome; please email them to his widow, Lily, whose email is lheitz@cheerful.com
Mary Wig Johnson, mother of Bob Johnson CdeP 1967, died on March 5, 2003, of lung cancer. She and her late husband Stan served on many boards and supported various colleges including Pomona, Cal Tech, Occidental, Scripps (where she graduated in 1935), and The Claremont Colleges.
Eleanor and William F.H. Purcell, parents of John CdeP 1958 and W. Denys CdeP 1967, have died. Eleanor died a few years back and Bill in November 2002. Bill served on Thacher’s Board of Trustees from 1965 until 1978.
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 53
Calendar
Thacher Gatherings and Events
Spring and Summer 2003 Tuesday-Wednesday, April 8-9
Grandparents Days Thursday-Sunday, April 10-13
Senior Exhibitions Thursday-Sunday, April 24-27
Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament Friday-Sunday, May 2-4
Big Gymkhana Weekend Sunday-Friday, May 18-23
Extra-Day Trips Friday, June 6
Baccalaureate Service Saturday, June 7
Commencement Friday-Sunday, June 13-15
Reunion Weekend Sunday-Friday, July 20 August 8
Golden Trout Encampment
The Campaign for Thacher TIL THE BEST WE CAN DO IS ALL DONE Thacher alumni are fiercely loyal to their school because of what they experienced here, and of how they have come to understand that experience as the years have passed. Thacher parents and friends are so committed to the School because they have seen what it has meant to the people they love. Over time, this understanding deepens, and with this deepening comes an immense gratitude and commitment to see Thacher continue and thrive for succeeding generations of young people. Beginning with this issue of The Thacher News, we will share some of the stories of people whose recent gifts represent the generosity of so many who are now giving to Thacher in new magnitudes. The particulars of their reasons for giving may differ, but they share a common understanding that Thacher is an important and singular work in progress—til the best we can do is all done.
GINNY HUNTER Marshall, Virginia Giving to Support the Horse and Camping Programs
G
INNY HUNTER is connected to Thacher by what she has loved most in her life. Her
husband Phelps, who graduated in 1924, supported the School throughout his life and served on the Board of Trustees. Their daughter Cynthia was one of the first girls at Thacher in the class of 1980. Ginny, herself, was the first woman on the Thacher Board of Trustees.
“
Ginny cannot help believing in a school that so profoundly shaped the people closest to her. And she cannot help believing in a school that has forged a unique link between horses and education. Horses have been an essential part of her life since she was a young girl. Today, living It amazes me how much the alumni all like each other. You say “Thacher” and everybody’s face and riding in the Piedmont hunt just lights up. I’ve gone to Thacher reunions and special programs here in Virginia, and you country of Virginia, she thinks often of can pick up and talk to anybody. Everyone has had different experiences, but the final analysis the wonderful times her family spent is that they’ve all gotten the same sense of responsibility and awareness of other people from together on horses. When she returns to Thacher. They’re a pretty unique group. And they all want to go back to the School.” the School, she sees the enduring value of horses in young people’s lives, and “I certainly try to give as much as I’m able to because I think that my daughter, my husband, she always stops by to visit the Hunter and all the people that I know who have gone there have always been so keen to make sure that corrals, given in memory of her husband the School continues, and improves—and that it has the facilities that are necessary for all the by his many friends from Thacher. programs that are now available for all the students.”
Fall 2002 / Winter 2003
page 55
The Thacher School 5025 Thacher Road Ojai, CA 93023 Address Service Requested
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Oxnard, CA Permit No. 110