HUMAN RIGHTS HERO

In his new book, Mike Chinoy ’70 celebrates a little-known Irish lawyer who made an enormous impact BY KATE LAWLESS

“As long as you’re in the ring, the final battle isn’t lost. You can’t give up hope. Human rights are as basic as breathing.”

MIKE CHINOY ’70

As an undergraduate at Yale in 1972, Mike Chinoy ’70 had a fateful meeting with human rights lawyer Kevin Boyle in Belfast. But five months prior to that, he had met another key figure in the struggle over Northern Ireland. Visiting his parents, on sabbatical in London, Chinoy had crossed the Irish Sea to investigate The Troubles, the three-decade-long conflict that pitted Protestant unionists against the Roman Catholic republicans. Many Belfast streets were barricaded by British soldiers and massive unrest disrupted city life. Chinoy, inspired by the anti-Vietnam War movement in the U.S. and a fledgling reporter, sought to understand this crisis. In Dublin, he knocked on the door to the headquarters of Sinn Féin, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and was ushered in to meet Joe Cahill, the most wanted man in Great Britain for his involvement in IRA uprisings. Cahill spent a few hours with him, explaining the struggle’s backstory, and Chinoy had his first scoop; he published a profile in the Yale Daily News.

During his next visit, Chinoy met with Boyle, an activist who was also fighting for Irish rights, but through nonviolent means. Boyle had been active in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, which sought fair treatment for Catholics, and, coincidently, was headed to a yearlong postgraduate fellowship at Yale. He agreed to lead an independent study class for Chinoy. The teacher-student relationship evolved into a decadeslong friendship that would imprint deeply on Chinoy. Boyle died in 2010, and in 2016, Chinoy started working on Boyle’s biography, Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement (The Lilliput Press, 2021).

Chinoy graduated from Yale with a degree in China studies, and then earned a master’s in journalism at Columbia. Since his Williston Academy days in 1967 and 1968, where he recalls “intense discussions about the war in Vietnam,” he has become an authority on Asia (he speaks French and Chinese). He became a foreign correspondent for CNN, covering events in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The author of three books on China and North Korea, Chinoy opened CNN’s Beijing bureau and served as bureau chief in China and Hong Kong, and as senior Asia correspondent for the network. Along the way, he’s earned an Emmy, a duPont, and a Peabody Award. Currently a nonresident senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s U.S.-China Institute (he lives in Hong Kong), he has taught at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and has been a commentator on Asian issues for media outlets including CNN, Al Jazeera, and Voice of America.

Despite spending most of his career focused on Asia, Chinoy kept thinking about Boyle. What was it about this obscure human rights lawyer that captured his imagination? “He was a modest and private person who was enormously consequential,” he said. “And because he never spoke about his accomplishments, his achievements remain relatively unknown.”

Chinoy set out to remedy that. Visiting Boyle’s archives at the National University of Ireland in Galway, Chinoy pored over documents that revealed just how consequential Boyle was in the global fight for human rights. For example, Boyle helped plan the protest march that led to the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, a pivotal— and violent—crackdown by British soldiers in Derry that killed 14. Much of the “intellectual underpinning” for the Good Friday accords that ended The Troubles came from Boyle, as well.

Boyle’s work was not confined to Ireland. In South Africa, he was instrumental in helping erode the structures of apartheid. He led the campaign to defend English author Salman Rushdie after he was targeted by the government of Iran. His international law cases challenged the holding of political prisoners and the mistreatment of those incarcerated. He fought against the use of rape as a weapon of war. And he brought and won a case that outlawed discrimination against gay people in Northern Ireland, later cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. As

chief advisor to former Irish President Mary Robinson, who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, he helped craft a response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, opposing the Bush Administration’s “War on Terror” as an abstraction that had the potential for human rights abuses.

“He was one of the first to warn against companies’ holding people’s data, and saw the potential for damage and the spread of disinformation by social networks,” Chinoy said.

During Boyle’s tenure as a professor of human rights law, a field that he practically originated, he founded centers at two universities where he trained hundreds.

If Boyle were alive today, Chinoy said, he’d be happy to see movements for the rights of marginalized people. He’d cheer those protesting for democracy in Hong Kong, Russia, and Burma “at great personal risk,” he said. “That desire burns deeply in people all over the world.”

Boyle didn’t win every fight he took on. “A lot of battles, he lost,” Chinoy recalled. “But as long as you’re in the ring, the final battle isn’t lost. You can’t give up hope. Human rights are as basic as breathing.”

It required four years of work, including interviews with more than 100 sources, but Boyle’s story has now been told. Chinoy is moving on to other projects, including turning a 12-part docuseries on American journalism in China, which he produced for USC’s China Institute, into a book next year. In the end, Chinoy hopes Boyle’s staggering legacy finally gets the attention it deserves.

“Even his family didn’t realize what he had done,” Chinoy said. “When I interviewed Mary Robinson for the book, she said, ‘I’m glad you’re doing this. Kevin Boyle deserves to be remembered.’”

More Books by Wildcats

TAMSIN SMITH ’84, P’22

Author and San Franciscan Tamsin Smith released two books earlier this year via FMSBW Press: a political thriller, XISLE, and a collection of poems, Displacement Geology. The latter, “a love letter to the natural world and the wild human heart,” includes the work “A Principle of Double Reflection,” published to commemorate the 101st birthday of the late poet and City Lights owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

STEPHANIE DUEGER ’88

Expecting a baby means big changes are coming. Therapist and author Dr. Stephanie Dueger published a book that helps couples prepare not only for sleepless nights, but also for the inner transformation that results when a newborn arrives. Preparing for Parenthood: 55 Essential Conversations for Couples Becoming Families (Author Academy Elite, 2020) guides parentsto-be in forming a strong attachment to their new addition.

JOIN THE FUN!

We’ve got lots of events and networking opportunities!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN PERSON AND ONLINE BEGINNING IN THE FALL OF 2021!

• Check your email and the alumni events page for more news beginning in September: williston.com/alumni/events

LEARN FROM A WIDE VARIETY OF ALUMNI EXPERTS!

• Watch the recordings of our fun and engaging virtual events at williston.com/the-wildcat-hub

FIND YOUR WILLISTON CREW

Join our networking and career-focused groups:

• Williston Connects willistonconnects.com • Williston Alumni LinkedIn Group • Williston Alumni of Color

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QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

• Email: alumni@williston.com • Call: (800) 469-4559

MASTER CRAFTSWOMAN

Kristina Madsen ’73, a longtime, influential furniture maker who incorporates European and Fijian techniques, received the 2020 Award of Distinction by the Furniture Society. Her pieces—at once functional and beautiful—showcase her mastery of the craft. Trained in furniture making by British master craftsman David Powell at the Leeds Design Workshop in the late 1970s, Madsen went on to be artist-in-residence at the University of Tasmania in 1988. She learned Fijian carving methods during a Fulbright-sponsored apprenticeship in 1991. A colleague quoted in an article in Woodworking Network called Madsen a “national treasure.”

Her work is exhibited in permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., among many others.

Madsen’s woodwork incorporates Fiji-inspired carving, such as the designs on this chest

HOME RUN INTERNSHIP

Justin Frometa ’16 gets the call to work on player development with his dream team

Former Wildcat baseball team captain Justin Frometa ’16 recently made the jump to professional baseball as a player development intern with the Boston Red Sox. A prep all-star catcher (scouting reports noted “thunder in his bat”), Justin stayed involved with the sport after Williston by coaching elite-level youth programs while majoring in political science at Tufts. He graduated last spring and embarked on a promising career with Amazon as a logistics manager. Then came the message every baseball-playing kid in New England dreams about: “The Sox have an opening. Are you interested?” He packed his bags and headed to Florida for spring training with big league stars like pitcher Nate Eovaldi (“really down to earth”) and catcher Christian Vásquez (“the nicest guy in the world”). Drawing on his background as player and coach, familiarity with the data analytics that drive today’s game, and strong bilingual English-Spanish communication skills, Justin will spend the summer at Boston’s training complex in Fort Myers, where he’ll help prepare minor league prospects for the Show. Meanwhile, he’ll be honing skills that one day could lead to a call-up of his own. “I’ve always dreamed of a front office job,” he says. “One thing is certain. I’m going to make the most of this opportunity while I have it.”

SIX TIPS FOR BETTER SMARTPHONE PHOTOS

During an alumni presentation, photojournalist Sean Kardon ’79 recently shared his reflections on a career that began when he was a new graduate from Williston Northampton School. While a first-year student at Boston University, he managed to capture a photo of then-California Governor Ronald Reagan the day after he announced he was running for president in 1979. Holding his camera above his head, Kardon got a great Hail Mary shot of The Gipper, which ran in the BU paper, The Daily Free Press. Since that first lucky shot, Kardon has managed to shoot every presidential hopeful, including the 2020 contenders.

While Kardon still uses a camera, he offered tips for those wanting to get the most out of their smartphone cameras. Find his work on his Instagram account, @seankardon, or hear his full presentation at williston.com/ the-wildcat-hub.

INVESTING IN A DIVERSE FUTURE

In January, Forbes magazine published an interview with Lisa Vazquez ’99, a portfolio manager focused on private equity and venture capital at Mass General Brigham Investment Office. Vazquez’s office oversees investment activity for the nonprofit health care system founded by two of the nation’s leading academic medical centers—Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General hospitals—and represents one of the largest pools of institutional capital in the Boston area.

In the article, Vazquez discussed, among other subjects, the importance of diversity, both gender and racial, in her field. “Unless you’ve grown up around investing, it’s hard to imagine how you’d know about an endowment’s investment office as a career path,” she noted. More than half of her investment team is female, she noted, and her firm works with the nonprofit Girls Who Invest to prepare a new, diverse generation of investors. “If we are serious about racial diversity,” she said, “then it’s important to focus on the pipeline of junior talent.”

Investor Lisa Vazquez ’99 talked to Forbes about expanding opportunity in her field

Take Better Smart Phone Photos

1 Get close to your subject. 2 Keep the light behind you. 3 Tap the screen before shooting; you’ll see a small sun icon that you can place on the subject of the photo so that it will be properly exposed. 4 Try “portrait mode” to blur an unflattering or distracting background. 5 In settings, turn on the visible grid so you are forced to think about your composition. 6 Take a lot of shots and edit out the bad ones.

songs to help pay the rent

The pandemic exposed many in Massachusetts to financial instability. Job losses, reductions in hours worked, and parents’ need to be home with students learning remotely—all have taken a toll on families. Norm Brzycki ’76 saw that stress and decided to do something about it. A leadership consultant from Marblehead, Massachusetts, he rounded up two fellow Wildcats, Jon Tullis ’77 and Jeff Baker ’77, and put on a virtual benefit show in April, which included performances from singer-songwriters Tom Rush and Livingston Taylor, as well as a rendition of the tune “I Need a Dollar” (and a tribute to Richard Gregory) by Williston’s own Caterwaulers. Brzycki’s band, Nashville Norm and the Roadside Attractions, was one of the 15 acts. “I just kept asking, and the biggest surprise was that people kept saying yes!” he said.

The show, called Help People Pay the Damn Rent!, raised more than $10,000. Donations went to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, whose Our Communities Can’t Wait fund delivers 100 percent of donations quickly to people who need it. The fund is still accepting donations. “If we can impact people’s situations a little bit, I’ll be thrilled,” said Brzycki. Watch and donate at paythedamnrent.com