NMH Magazine 2017 Spring

NMH Magazine

17 spring

volume 19 • number 1

Northfield Mount Hermon

Student activist Keshawn Tyriq Bostic ’17 wants to start a conversation.

NMH Magazine SPRING 2017 Volume 19, Number 1 Editor Jennifer Sutton P’14 Design Lilly Pereira www.aldeia.design Contributors Sharon LaBella-Lindale P’17, ’20 Susan Pasternack Harry van Baaren P’16, ’18 Emily Harrison Weir Class Notes Editor Kris Halpin Class Notes Design HvB Imaging Print Production Pam Lierle P’17 Director of Communications Stephen Porter Head of School Peter B. Fayroian Chief Advancement Officer Allyson L. Goodwin ’83, P’12, ’14 Archivist Peter H. Weis ’78, P’13 Northfield Mount Hermon publishes NMH Magazine (USPS074-860) two times a year in fall and spring. Printed by Lane Press, Burlington, VT 05402 NMH Magazine Northfield Mount Hermon One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3247 Fax 413-498-3021 nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org Class Notes nmhnotes@nmhschool.org Address Changes Northfield Mount Hermon Advancement Services Norton House One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3300 addressupdates@nmhschool.org

NMH Magazine

17 spring

volume 19 • number 1

features

18 Stay Woke

Student activist Keshawn Tyriq Bostic ’17 found his voice at NMH, and he’s speaking up.

24 Inside Look

Campus life, through the eyes of student photographer Maggie Dunbar ’17.

28 T alking About Politics Is Hard

Like schools across the country, NMH wrestled with a bitter presidential election.

departments

3 Letters

5 Leading Lines

6 NMH Journal

12 Movers & Makers 14 In the Classroom 16 Past Present 36 Alumni Hall 38 Class Notes 88 Parting Words

<< DOUBLE DUTCH Jada Scotland ’19 celebrates an early spring during NMH’s Diversity Day in February.

PH O TO : S H A R O N L A B E L L A - L I N D A L E C O V E R PH O TO : J O A N N A C H ATTM A N

NMH Fund

Take a walk around campus. You are making a difference everywhere.

Gifts to the NMH Fund help supply our science labs and art studios, keep technology current, buy team uniforms, and bring fresh produce into the dining hall.

No other fund is this versatile. Or this necessary. Or this important. Please make your gift today.

Return the enclosed envelope, go to nmhschool.org/give, or call 1-866-NMH-GIVE (1-866-664-4483).

2 I NMH Magazine

Well. Grounded.

LETTERS

NMH Farm Products

lives worldwide in indelible ways.

Thank you!

William S. McKersie ’77 Weston, Connecticut CLIMATE CONTROVERSY

FAMILY TRADITION

NMH has been a fixture in my family since 1949, when my mother, Nancy Crosier, graduated from Northfield. The school’s values so deftly conveyed in D.L. Moody’s founding dictum of “the Head, the Heart, and the Hand” have resonated in all we have done as a family.

On Thanksgiving, I read the Fall 2016 issue of NMH Magazine, and from stem to stern, it portrayed vividly and with remarkable diversity why NMH is a school so essential to where we are now as a nation and a world. At each page, I was reminded of the incredible reach of this relatively small school in an uncommonly idyllic setting.

Poignantly, on the final two pages of the magazine, I came upon memorial statements for Deane Lanphear and Dick Unsworth, two leaders essential to NMH for so many decades. They were joined in their love for the school, even though they had a healthy diversity of ideas and priorities for NMH. Deane and Dick gave us clues for how leaders can find common ground — through shared values of dedication, justice, caring, and dignity.

I share my appreciation of all who have led and shaped NMH. Through your work, real impact has emanated from the school, touching

I am disappointed in NMH. For the past 46 years or so I have read NMH Magazine, sometimes lightly, sometimes with more profound interest.

I am increasingly disturbed by the fact that I do not recall ever seeing an article on a subject having public policy overtones that presents both sides of the issue.

Case in point: “Rob Werner ’79 Wants to Talk to You About Climate Change” (Fall 2016). The article is clearly based on the assumption that the world must and can do something about what is now being called “climate change” (having morphed from “global warming” for reasons I never understood). The article also seems to assume that no valid controversy exists.

I find it disappointing that NMH Magazine editors do not seem to recognize that controversy exists on at least four fronts: whether man can do something about climate change; whether man is the cause of climate change; whether climate change is a destructive phenomenon; and whether climate change actually exists as a new phenomenon.

I realize that readers have probably made up their minds on this issue. I am not affirming that they are wrong. I just beg that they show some tolerance of dissent — which most progressives talk about a lot but demonstrate little.

Do readers believe that any controversy exists, and if it is not legitimate, why?

Katy Harwood Delay ’65 La Quinta, California continued on next page

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spring 2017 I 3

LETTERS

Keep Calm and Carry On UNDERSTANDING AMERICA

The NMH bookstore can help outfit you and your family.

Visit the NEW and IMPROVED online store for great gift ideas.

nmhschoolstore.com

Northfield Mount Hermon Summer Session July 1 to August 5, 2017

Earn credits to advance in school.

Build skills and accelerate academic progress.

Sample boarding school life or come as a day student.

I read with interest Peter Fayroian’s remarks in the Fall 2016 issue (“Leading Lines”). I applaud the school’s VOTES project, but I took issue with two ideas you expressed.

First, I cringe every time I read about efforts to connect D.L. Moody’s understanding of social justice, founded in the Christian tradition, with today’s definition as viewed through the lens of liberal progressives. Any suggestion of alignment between the two would have Mr. Moody spinning like a top in his grave overlooking the desolate and abandoned Northfield campus.

I further did not appreciate the use of Moody’s 1890 quote regarding the virtue of China and India when compared to that of the United States, with the implication that similar conditions exist today. China, whose leadership over the past 65 years has expunged 70 million souls from this earth, and India, where voluntary gender-selective abortions have precluded generations of women from ever greeting the light of day, are far from sinless nations to be placed on a pedestal and emulated.

I’ve served overseas and fought for American ideals against foes that wanted nothing more than to destroy the way of life that makes possible the great freedoms you enjoy in running a cloistered New England prep school like NMH. Perhaps the school would

best serve the long-term interest of its students and alumni if more effort was focused on understanding America and how fragile are the freedoms we enjoy. Beyond the VOTES project, are civics classes a mandatory part of the curriculum? Is the student community brought together on Veterans Day to understand the past sacrifices made to preserve freedoms?

The greatest act of charity is to give people the opportunity for a successful future. Given that immigrants vote with their feet, and one of the biggest challenges the United States faces is illegal immigration, I’d suggest the nation is doing a good job at being charitable. Students need to hear less criticism of Americans for perceived shortfalls in charity and more about what they can do to understand and help preserve this great nation.

Thanks for all you do. Your influence on young people at this point in their lives changes the world.

Colonel Alex Vohr ’84 USMC (Ret.) Jacksonville, Florida Editor’s note: Beyond the VOTES project, NMH offers a course titled Government and Civil Liberties and incorporates civics into many of its history and humanities classes. The entire NMH campus community is invited to participate in the school’s annual Veterans Day ceremony.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? NMH Magazine welcomes correspondence from readers.

Letters and emails may be edited for length, clarity, and grammar, and should pertain to magazine content. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of Northfield Mount Hermon.

Reach us at NMH Magazine, One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354, or email us at nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org.

nmhschool.org/summer One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3290

summer_session@nmhschool.org

4 I NMH Magazine

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LEADING LINES

From a World Away

International students are a crucial part of NMH.

by PETER B. FAYROIAN, Head of School

For two weeks in March, I traveled on behalf of NMH to Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Upon my return, the question my colleagues asked about first was jetlag, but what I wanted to talk about — and still do — are the dozens of alumni and parents I met who, from thousands of miles away, hold this school close in their hearts.

They send their children to our campus, or their parents sent them in years past, entrusting us with one of the most important jobs in the world: caring for and shaping the heads, hearts, and hands of young people. We work unbelievably hard to do that job well, and to make these families feel strong and safe in their decision to join their educational goals and dreams with ours.

For nearly its entire history, NMH has benefited from the presence of students from Asian countries, East Asia in particular, beginning with those encouraged by Christian missionaries whom our founder Dwight L. Moody sent to the region. Mount Hermon’s first Japanese student, Kotai Masuda of Tokyo, graduated in 1885. A year later, three Chinese students arrived; one of them, Chan Loon Teung of Canton (Guangzhou), was invited to speak at the first Commencement in 1887. Our first Korean student, Hi Beung Pak, enrolled in 1898 and went on to Columbia University before returning to Seoul to practice medicine. The first Chinese girl to graduate from Northfield was Susan Chen, Class of 1922.

One Hong Kong family made Mount Hermon their educational home for more than two decades, starting in the summer of 1901, when Yew Lee boarded a ship in Hong Kong Harbor and two months later arrived at Mount Hermon, where he lived and studied until 1904. His four younger brothers followed him, graduating in 1918, 1922, 1923, and 1924.

So when we refer to NMH as an “international school,” we are not just talking about our current experience teaching and living with students from over 50 different countries. As far back as 1900, we were registering young people from 30 different countries, and welcoming about 150 international students every year for the first three decades of the 20th century. As a result, all of our graduates, whether they’re from East Asia or the East Coast, have benefited from a rich spectrum of cultures and perspectives.

A few years ago, I sat in the living room of Ford Cottage with a group of seniors, and I’ll never forget one student’s response when I asked about their most-valued NMH experiences. She was from Hong Kong, one of the most international cities in the world, and she described how she cherished the diversity of the student body. As she spoke further, it became clear to the rest of the students in the room — particularly the American students — that she wasn’t only talking about sharing her life with kids from New York City or Northfield, Massachusetts; she was talking about her Korean roommate, her Beijing classmate, her Singaporean teammate. Because of our commitment to international diversity, I believe NMH students, perhaps more so than students at other

P H O T O : R A C H A E L WA R I N G

schools, understand that the lumping together of “Asian” students makes as much sense as homogenizing students from Texas, Canada, Holland, and Italy.

Teaching this is one thing, but living it is another, and I’m so proud of NMH’s commitment to both a diverse domestic and international student body.

Now, back to the jetlag question. My standard response is that as the father of a 5-year-old and a 14-month-old, I don’t notice it makes much of a difference. The truth is, it’s a challenge, even for our generally invincible teenagers who regularly travel back and forth from one side of the world to the other. I don’t know how they manage it.

But I’ll do everything I can to help them keep managing it. Just as I visit alums and parents all around the United States to talk about the fabulous school we share, I’ll continue to visit places farther afield, where people have, for over a century, become an integral part of what makes an NMH education unique and so very worth the investment. [NMH]

spring 2017 I 5

NMH JOURNAL Shorter (left), now 69, found refuge from family trauma on NMH’s crosscountry and track teams (opposite page).

Born to Run Commencement speaker Frank Shorter’s race for Olympic gold started at NMH.

by EMILY HARRISON WEIR

If it hadn’t been for the 1963 NMH Pie Race, Frank Shorter ’65 might never have become an Olympic gold medalist. The champion marathoner, whose wins inspired ordinary Americans to take up running, returns to NMH this May to deliver the Commencement address.

But when Shorter arrived at NMH as a sophomore, winning the 1972 Olympic marathon was the farthest thing from his mind. He wanted to be a downhill ski racer.

6 I NMH Magazine

He already ran — about five miles a day — but only to stay in shape for skiing. “I didn’t think [running] was important in and of itself,” Shorter wrote in his memoir, My Marathon. “It was just something I did.” The first of his three years at NMH Shorter didn’t even try out for the cross-country team. When not studying or feeding the huge Hobart dishwasher at his dining hall workjob, Shorter skied and played baseball and JV football.

In the 1960s, NMH skiers trained by climbing the hills around campus, stamping out a slalom course in the snow, and blasting down it. Ski coach Dick Kellom and NMH senior Dave Rikert ’63 — that year’s Nordic combined junior national champion — became Shorter’s mentors, though he says they may not have known they were role models. “I just watched to see how they operated,” he recalls.

“They taught me to have focus, consistency, and confidence.”

They set academic and athletic goals, so Shorter did, too. “A seminal moment came when my English teacher, Mr. [Harold F.] Donnelly, said, ‘If you focused on academics, you could do really well.’” Shorter graduated from NMH with honors before heading to Yale.

His athletic life pivoted when he decided to compete in the Pie Race his sophomore year. “It was the first time I’d run any race,” he says. Shorter finished seventh, behind only Rikert and other members of the cross-country team, then the best in New England.

Shorter recalls thinking, “Hey, I’m pretty good; maybe I’ll go out for cross-country next year.”

So — although he had to give up skiing to do it — he and about 70 others did. In the try-out cross-country

run, Shorter finished fifth, just after those who were on the team at the time. By the end of that season, Shorter was fifth in New England, though still not the best runner on the team. “With running, the time’s the time, so you always know where you are,” he says.

Years before he started competing, Shorter ran for stress relief. He and his siblings suffered devastating physical and emotional abuse from their father, and he found literally running away from the trauma therapeutic.

NMH was a refuge. “From the moment I stepped on campus, I felt more at home than I ever had in [my boyhood home],” Shorter recalled in My Marathon. He loved the new feeling of achievement that competitive running brought. And he came to enjoy the social aspect, too, becoming best friends with some of his NMH teammates.

Senior year, Shorter captained the cross-country and track teams, and, as the 1965 yearbook noted, “He won every race of the season (including the Pie Race), and established a new course record on every course he ran.”

The work ethic Shorter learned at NMH continued at Yale and then at law school, he says. Meanwhile, as he trained harder, Shorter moved up in national rankings.

“By 1970, I realized that I could do well on the world scene,” he says.

“But when I was at NMH, I certainly didn’t realize I’d ever get into the Olympics.”

Shorter ran his gold-medal marathon just days after a terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Four years later, he took the

silver medal in the marathon at the Montreal games, denied another gold by a runner suspected of doping.

Shorter’s Olympic performances and 24 national championship victories made him a household name. He was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989.

Later, Shorter helped establish and then chaired the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and has spoken out against the use of performanceenhancing drugs by athletes.

Now 69, he no longer runs marathons, but Shorter still works out at least 90 minutes a day. “I’ve never gotten tired of running,” he says.

“I believe everyone is born with a love of a certain type of motion.

You just find yours. I love the feeling of moving across the ground when I run, even though I’m much slower now and have had a lot of orthopedic surgeries.”

Starting up the bell curve of academics and athletics at NMH prepared Shorter for coming down the far side later in life. “NMH provided the foundation on which I was able to build a lifetime career that evolved into a blend of academics, athletics, business, and social contribution,” he says.

Although Shorter hasn’t come back to NMH for reunions, the Pie Race — for which he set a course record as a student — has lured him back a few times.

When he returns to campus for Commencement, he says, running that cross-country course will be the first thing he’ll do after settling in.

P HOTOS: C O U R TESY O F F R AN K SH O R T E R AN D N MH AR C H IVE S

A New Owner for Northfield As of May 2, the former Northfield campus has a new occupant. The National Christian Foundation (NCF), which has owned the property since 2012, has donated the majority of the campus to Thomas Aquinas College, a small Roman Catholic liberal-arts institution in California.

The college, located in Ventura County, serves just under 400 students, and plans to eventually enroll the same number of students in Northfield.

In the four years since the NCF took ownership of the 500,000-squarefoot property, it has worked to find a long-term owner that could use the historic campus in a manner that honors the legacy of 19th-century evangelist and NMH founder Dwight L. Moody. For more than a decade following Northfield Mount Hermon’s 2005 consolidation from two campuses to one, the former Northfield campus has been vacant.

According to Anne Forsyth, director of college relations and assistant to the president at Thomas Aquinas, the college plans to admit 36 students to its new East Coast campus during its first year of operation in 2018, and then will increase enrollment over the subsequent three years to a maximum of 400. Forsyth said the college intends to preserve the buildings on campus as much as possible.

The NCF also announced that a small portion of the campus would be given to the Moody Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the evangelical heritage of D.L. Moody. The center will restore the historic Homestead and the Auditorium, and will build a Moody museum that will be open to the public.

Although NMH has not owned the Northfield campus since 2009, it still uses the Auditorium for Sacred Concert each May.

spring 2017 I 7

NMH JOURNAL

Courting Greatness Northfield Mount Hermon has a long tradition of opening doors to high-profile Division I college basketball programs, and this year is no exception.

All seven seniors on the boys’ varsity team will join Division I teams in the fall, an exodus that is both remarkable and nothing out of the ordinary — it has happened six times in the past 13 years. Prior sweeps occurred in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2013.

“I’m so proud of these seven seniors,” says coach John Carroll ’89. “Student-athletes come to NMH because they have a dream of playing Division I college basketball one day, and these seven young men did everything, both on and off the court, to achieve that dream.”

NMH also continues its custom of helping players gain access to the Ivy League, with two seniors heading to Princeton and Brown. This year, 11 of Carroll’s former players dotted Ivy League rosters, a presence unmatched by any other high school in the world. The other Division I teams welcoming new NMH alumni this year include Bucknell, Davidson, North Carolina, Northeastern, and Quinnipiac.

Preparing his players for the quantum leap into highprofile collegiate programs has long been a part of Carroll’s court curriculum. During his 16 years at NMH, he has sent nearly 100 players to Division I rosters. And over the past two seasons, seven of his former players have been named captain of their D-I teams. Carroll says, “It wouldn’t surprise me to see any of this year’s seven seniors be named captain in the next few years, either.”

The exposure his players receive during their frequent appearances in the prestigious National Prep School basketball tournament doesn’t hurt their chances. This season marked NMH’s eighth consecutive trip to the tournament, and its fifth consecutive year earning a berth in the tournament’s final four. NMH bested Hargrave Military Academy in the semifinal beforefalling to nemesis Brewster Academy by a single point in the final.

In regular-season play, the team notched the most wins — 27 — in NMH basketball history.

Despite these accomplishments, Carroll has long prioritized academics and leadership on his team as much as athletic ability and potential. “We’re not looking for recruits who place basketball above everything else,” he says. “If they’re uncomfortable with that message, I tell them NMH is the wrong program for them.”

That’s been just fine with Ivy League-bound Jerome Desrosiers ’17. “Being challenged in the classroom and on the basketball court is exactly why I came to NMH,” he says. “I feel as though the classes I’ve taken have prepared me to be successful at Princeton.”

Desrosiers and his fellow seniors are leaving a distinct legacy for their younger teammates. “I see it as paying it forward,” says Carroll. “We had seven juniors on this year’s team who all want to play Division I ball as well, and after watching these seven seniors make it happen, they know firsthand what they have to do.” —Bob York

KIDS ON CAMPUS In January, the new Bolger Center for Early Childhood Education opened its doors to almost 40 children and their families, replacing the nursery school that operated for decades on the former Northfield campus. Having the children closer “reinforces that we’re a community,” says Sarah Warren, an NMH dean and religious studies teacher whose child is enrolled at the center.

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NMH JOURNAL

THE SHOT “RAINY DREAM” This print by Somin (Stephanie) Lee ’17 was part of NMH’s annual Student Art Show in the Gallery at the Rhodes Arts Center this spring. The show highlighted work created in NMH’s visual arts classes, including drawings, paintings, photographs, ceramics, wire sculpture, and 3-D architectural designs.

H EAVY HITTERS The girls’ varsity alpine team clinched their fifth straight Mount Institute Ski League Championship title. The boys’ team took second place in the league.

The girls’ varsity basketball team won the Eight Schools Tournament title for the second year in a row. Allie Lopes ’18 and Silke Milliman ’19 were selected to compete in

the New England Class A All-Star game.

The varsity swim team had 28 athletes qualify for New Englands, where Hannah Langer ’17, Yoon Jin Lim ’20, Issy Magbie ’17, and Rylie Hager ’17 broke the NMH school record in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:54.08. The old mark of 1:55.36 was set in 2010.

Wrestling coach Zachary Bates was named the 2017 Prep School

PHOTOS: SH AR O N LAB ELL A- L IN D AL E , J IM B U R ST E IN

Coach of the Year by the Massachusetts chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Wrestler Yaraslau Slavikouski ’19 (195 lbs., right) took the No. 2 spot at the National Prep Tournament at Lehigh University. He was also a New England champion in his weight class, as was Jordan Rowlette ’17 (132 lbs., left) and Noah Burstein ’19 (126 lbs., center).

spring 2017 I 9

NMH JOURNAL

WHO•WHAT •WHY

The Art and Science of Pole Vaulting

If you’ve ever watched a pole-vault competition — a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long, flexible pole to clear a bar — you may have wondered how the athletes do it. (You may also have questioned their sanity.)

Heidi Leeds ’18, who won three competitions and almost broke the school record during her first season as a pole-vaulter last year, explains that body awareness, strength, and building muscle memory are keys to success. She says the power of the run before the vault, called the “approach,” and the timing of the “plant” — placing the tip of the pole in the vault box before takeoff — are crucial.

“The goal is to get vertical,” says Jim Bell, the pole vault coach for both NMH and the local Pioneer Valley Regional School, where he has been coaching since 1994. That may seem like a physical impossibility, but Integrative Math and Science Coordinator David Reeder, who also teaches physics, has a scientific explanation for how it’s done. You must “apply a force upward to your body that is greater than the gravitational force pulling you down,” Reeder says. The run leading up to the plant is important because changing horizontal force to vertical force is accomplished by converting kinetic energy — the energy from the run — to potential energy, which is stored in the pole as it bends, transferring energy into upward force and extra height. In other words, it flings the pole-vaulter up and over the bar.

Mind boggling? Leeds says that as a pole-vaulter, she finds it’s best not to overthink it. She recalls plateauing at a height of 8'6" and says once she stopped thinking about it so much, she reached 9'6", her best height to date.

A successful pole-vaulter is tall, slim, muscular, fast, and fearless, according to Bell. He says pole-vaulters tend to be edgier than most other athletes, and because it’s a risky sport, they learn to help each other. This was true at a practice on NMH’s track last spring, where more seasoned pole-vaulters gave newcomers advice on plant timing and increasing speed. Students from two different schools — Pioneer and NMH — cheered each other on and shared in each other’s disappointment when they didn’t clear the bar.

Despite Reeder’s explanation of the physics behind the pole vault, Bell prefers to see it as an art rather than a science. In fact, he penned a collection of poems that employ pole-vaulting imagery, called Landing Amazed. “I use pole-vaulting as a metaphor for overcoming obstacles,” Bell says. — Tara Jackson

Heidi Leeds ’18, mid-vault during a track meet last spring.

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PH O TO : G R E G L E E D S

NMH JOURNAL

FOR THE RECORD

READING LIST

“ For an educator, love means

The Lost Sketchbook of Edgar Degas Harriet Scott Chessman ’68 Outpost19 March 2017

availability, acceptance, patience, and respect. It is challenge balanced with affirmation, correction paired with compassion. It means seeing students as they are, yet having a vision for what they could become.”

CRAIG SANDFORD, NMH performing arts teacher, in a reflection on teaching that he delivered at a faculty meeting in March.

Feeding the Grid

Clothesline Religion: Poems Megan Buchanan ’91 Green Writers Press March 2017

Road to War John Lubetkin ’56 University of Oklahoma Press November 2016

LinkedIn for Personal Branding

The Field Photographs of Alain H. Liogier

Sandra Gustafson Long ’75 Strauss Consultants September 2016

Brandy Watts ’94 New York Botanical Garden Press March 2017

At Sword’s Point, Part 2 William MacKinnon ’56 The Arthur H. Clark Company, October 2016

Forever Friends Priscilla Hartwell Hansen ’47 Outskirts Press October 2016

If you’ve visited campus in the past six months, you’ve perhaps noticed a different kind of farm just beyond Northfield Mount Hermon’s iconic red barn and grazing pastures on the east side of campus.

A 10-acre “solar farm” was expected to begin operating at NMH this spring, generating two megawatts of electricity that would feed back into the local power grid.

The large array of photovoltaic panels, owned

by Borrego Solar of Lowell, Massachusetts, was installed last fall in the empty fields north of the Peller Family Field. The company leases the land from NMH — which, says Associate Head of School Charlie Tierney, is “one way we can help increase the production of green energy for the area power grid,” while also providing budget relief for the school.

This is the largest, but not the first, solar array at NMH. Solar panels owned and operated directly by the school generate power on the roof of Norton House, and near the farm and plant and property buildings.

Leasing the land to Borrego Solar is part of the school’s overall commitment — detailed in the latest campus master plan — to “leverage the productive landscape of the campus,” Tierney says.”

spring 2017 I 11

MOVERS & MAKERS

The Fearless Baker Award-winning pastry chef Emily Luchetti ’75 believes great desserts are an important part of life.

by LORI FERGUSON

After years of cooking on the savory side of restaurant kitchens, Emily Luchetti realized she was losing her passion. A veteran chef with extensive experience on both coasts, including a stint in Jeremiah Tower’s legendary San Francisco eatery Stars, Luchetti no longer felt connected to the kitchen or inspired by her work. So she did what any reasonable person does when seeking solace, comfort, or reward — she turned to dessert.

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Now, she can’t imagine doing anything else. “My palate is creatively more attuned to sweets,” Luchetti explains.

“You’re working with a smaller group of ingredients, which I find easier to wrap my head around, and dessert is inherently fun because it evokes such an emotional reaction and is consumed purely for pleasure.”

A quick scan of Luchetti’s résumé for the last two decades makes it evident that she made the right call. After eight years as the pastry chef at Stars and co-owner of the retail bakery StarBake, she enjoyed successful runs as executive pastry chef at San Francisco’s Farallon — where she won the James Beard Foundation’s outstanding pastry chef award — and at Waterbar. In 2014, she changed it up again, joining the Big Night Restaurant Group and taking over the dessert programs at Big Night’s four restaurants: The Cavalier, Marlowe, Park Tavern and Leo’s Oyster Bar. That same year, Luchetti founded dessertworthy, a movement dedicated to assisting people in making healthier, more informed choices about dessert.

“Desserts should be an occasional treat rather than a daily staple,” Luchetti argues — a message she promotes by working with chefs, food companies, schools, youth organizations, and nutrition advocacy groups, though she finds it best delivered one on one. “I try to work my message about smart dessert choices into conversations I’m having with people rather than lecturing them.

As much as I preach ‘Eat great desserts,’ the other part of my message is ‘Not every day.’ It’s all about balance.”

During her years on the “sweet side of the kitchen,” Luchetti has built a reputation on her simple, elegant, and wonderfully flavorful desserts. “I like straightforward, beautiful things,” she says. “I don’t like embellishments in my wardrobe, my home, or my desserts.”

Caramel, coffee, bittersweet chocolate, and blueberries are among the chef ’s

PH O TO : R O B E R T X . FO G A R TY

“ F ood is there for joy. Julia Child

once observed that ‘a party without cake is just a meeting.’” favorite flavors, and whether she’s happy or sad, warm chocolate chip cookies are the answer. Asked to name her most prized indulgence, Luchetti pauses. “Just one?

Homemade vanilla bean ice cream with toasted sliced almonds, chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks, and caramel sauce. This is my answer today,” she adds quickly.

“Tomorrow might be different.”

When it comes to desserts, Luchetti contends that beauty is only skin-deep. “My focus is on the creation of flavors and textures — plating is last.” After all, she says, if it doesn’t taste good, what’s the point? “When you’re eating one of my desserts, I want you to feel like every bite is worth it.” And happily, Luchetti is a sharer. She has authored six cookbooks on pastry, including A Passion for Desserts (2003), A Passion for Ice Cream (2006), and The Fearless Baker (2011). “Desserts taste so good that I want as many people as possible to enjoy them.” On television, she’s made pear charlotte with Martha Stewart and espresso chocolate-chip angel food cake on The Food Network; she’s also shared her recipes in the pages of Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and O Magazine, among others.

Luchetti is a collaborator, too, eager to work with both up-and-coming and established chefs. She serves as a dean at the International Culinary Center in New York and California because she likes mentoring and teaching: “If I see someone young and eager to learn, I want to help.” She’s also chair of the board of the James Beard Foundation. “I love being a part of this professional community — chefs are fun, passionate about their work, and deeply committed to the creative process.”

“Fun” seems to be Luchetti’s main rule of thumb when it comes to cooking. “Food is there for joy,” she concludes. “Julia Child once observed that ‘a party without cake is just a meeting.’ I’m not saying that dessert is going to solve all the world’s ills, but when you put dessert on the table and it’s good, people linger and focus on those around them, and that’s a step in the right direction.” [NMH]

STANDING STRONG For Tony Sorci ’00, a member of the Bitter Water Clan of the Navajo nation, activism is a family tradition.

His grandmother, Roberta Blackgoat, was a renowned relocation resister who fought against the Peabody Western Coal Company’s establishment of two strip mines on the Big Mountain (then Black Mesa) Reservation in Arizona in the 1970s. She was also a towering figure in her grandson’s life. Sorci says, “To this day, when I encounter something that concerns me, I don’t ask ‘What would Jesus do?’ It’s ‘What would Grandma do?’”

That question came up again last June, when Sorci was participating in the Tribal Canoe Journey ceremony and the Traditional Circle of Youth and Elders in Washington state.

He learned about protests underway in North Dakota, where members of the Standing Rock Sioux nation had been protesting since April 2016, trying to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and protect sacred sites from being destroyed, and the Missouri River, the reservation’s primary water source, from possible contamination through a pipeline leak.

Sorci wanted to help, so in the fall, he got in his car and drove west. Sorci knew people already camped at Standing Rock, and his plan for a two-week stay extended to four. He has made the 1,700-mile journey west twice since then.

Sorci’s activism came a decade after he graduated from Colorado College with a degree in cultural anthropology. First, he had happily returned to NMH, where both his parents were teachers, to coach football and lacrosse and work with Native American students. A year later, he became a professional lacrosse player, logging two seasons with the Buffalo Bandits before injuries steered him off the playing field and into coaching, first at St. Andrew’s, a boarding school in Middletown, Delaware, and then at Vermont Academy, where he also taught Native American literature. He is currently the head coach of the Vermont Voyageurs, a semipro indoor lacrosse team based in Essex Junction.

After taking up the mantle of protester last November, Sorci watched the National Guard issue eviction notices to demonstrators at Standing Rock, pelt them with water cannons in subfreezing weather, bulldoze sacred burial grounds, and hire DAPL workers to infiltrate the camp.

Sorci has paddled down the Cannonball River, trying to distract DAPL workers and force them to respond, which costs the company and the state money.

Sorci calls his efforts as a protester a responsibility.

“Many Native Americans have passion, but they don’t have the benefits of education that I’ve had, so I feel compelled to act. I’m trying to encourage global consciousness. We need to change the path we’re on, so we can sustain life on this planet.”

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spring 2017 I 13

IN THE CLASSROOM

Hands in the Dirt

Students research improvements for the NMH Farm.

by TARA JACKSON

Scenes from the Science of Farming class: Two students check the progress of the logs they inoculated with mushroom spores; another scavenges the lab for parts to build a mushroom dehydrator; four others brainstorm ideas to ensure that the composting initiative they developed for on-campus faculty homes continues after they graduate.

The class, now in its second year, applies the scientific method to a broad range of agricultural topics, using the NMH farm as a laboratory. Drawing on students’ knowledge of biology and chemistry, the class also incorporates economics, ethics, and sustainability into class projects and discussions. Mary Hefner, chair of the science department, helped develop the class out of a desire, she says, to better “use a beautiful, unique resource — the farm.”

The idea was first proposed years ago by former farm manager Richard Odman as an immersive “study-away” semester: Students would all live together in North Farmhouse and spend their days on the farm. That proposal never came to fruition, but Hefner glimpsed the idea in practice when biology teachers would ask students to do two-week research projects on the farm each spring. Hefner says, “The kids loved their projects,” so she and Odman’s successor, former farm manager Liam Sullivan ’05, began batting around the idea of a semester-long class.

The result has students researching plant and soil science, gaining an understanding of food production systems, and literally rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty as they learn. Emma Lindale ’17 has done her workjob on the farm for most of her time at NMH, but says that before taking the class with Hefner last spring, she hadn’t thought of the cows she milked and the crops she tended as science.

Junmo Kim ’17 says he signed up for the class because he was interested in studying an applied science. Indeed, one of the goals of the course, according to Hefner and Camilla Nivision, who taught the class last fall, is for students to identify improvements that can be put into immediate practice at the farm. The results of Kim’s final project, which compared three propagation methods for lavender plants, can be applied to the farm’s production of the crop, which is used to make soap and other cosmetics.

Another goal of the course is to show students how the challenges and opportunities of the class mirror those of the farm: Constant activity. Weather. Seasons.

Hefner says of her class: “We talked a lot about how at a farm, there isn’t one project. The cows need to be fed, and the beans need to be picked.” The students learn firsthand how multiple tasks are juggled in agriculture. “Every kid had a big project for which they were the principal investigator,” but they also were expected to help one another out. “Sometimes the whole class would

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Science teacher and department chair Mary Hefner (second from right) works with students in the greenhouse.

need to go pull weeds out of the beds so we could get the indigenousspecies flower garden project going,” Hefner says.

Nivision acknowledges that cold November and December weather makes it “really hard to be productive on the farm in New England,” so her class used that time to dig deeper into food systems and ethics, reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, studying meat production, and watching King Corn, a documentary

“ E veryone has a project for which they’re the principal investigator, but they’re expected to help each other out.”

film that raises questions about how Americans eat and farm. Kim says the class changed his perspective on the food industry. “Every time I walk up to the dining hall food bars, I can’t help but think about the carbon footprint and the paths the food took to get to the metal trays.”

Although the Science of Farming class lasts one semester, “the farm is not a one-season event,” says Hefner.

“Depending on when they take the class, students could have a completely

P HOTO: G LEN N MINSH ALL

different experience — harvesting or planting or soil tending.” Next year, the class will run in both the fall and spring, so interested students will have the opportunity to take it both semesters and “keep their own projects going,” Hefner says.

A project like the one Lindale did — researching the effect that plotting methods such as tilling, no tilling, and companion planting have on the soil — could be expanded over time, and put to better use on the

farm to increase productivity. Because she is a day student, Lindale was able to monitor her plots last summer, and ended up developing a larger no-till research trial that could begin this coming summer.

One of the goals of the class is to explore real-world agricultural problems and solutions, especially as the climate changes. Lindale’s project did just that.

“The class was eye-opening,” Lindale says. “It made me look at farming in a new light.”[NMH]

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PAST PRESENT

In her diary on Oct. 19, 1923, a 48-year-old New York City teacher named Jessie Wallace Hughan wrote, ‘Tracy [Mygatt] to dinner — had hair done — organized real War Resisters League ...”

Founding the War Resisters League may have been just one item on Hughan’s agenda that day, but it remains the oldest secular pacifist organization in the United States, still thriving more than 90 years after its founding. Hughan had graduated from the Northfield Seminary in 1894; earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Barnard and a master’s and Ph.D. from Columbia; run repeatedly for political office; and earned a reputation in her hometown of New York City as a fierce anti-war advocate. The War Resisters League was only one of the organizations she launched and led as a political activist.

But before that, back when she was 13, Hughan was a precocious budding poet. In December 1889, she found her name in print for the first time, attached to the following verse published in The Staten Islander:

Fighting for Peace Jessie Wallace Hughan was a teacher, a wouldbe politician, and a fierce anti-war advocate.

by PETER WEIS ’78, P’13

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There’s a charming little Island in the midst of New York Bay Upon whose shores the wavelets and the baseball teams do play.

There great Teutonic breweries lift their graceful spires on high And the elm-trees lofty branches rise to pierce the summer sky ...

The poem became part of Hughan’s application to Northfield, likely the

PH O TO : C O U R TE S Y O F N M H A R C H I V E S

first example of an applicant submitting published work as part of her bid to attend the school. Jessie wished to follow her older sister Evelyn to Northfield, though poor health had forced Evelyn to leave the Seminary after a single semester. Perhaps worried that the same fate awaited Jessie, the school declined to admit her. A young Northfield alumna intervened and pleaded with the principal, Miss Hall, who relented and allowed Jessie to come.

It wouldn’t be long before Hughan would see her name in the newspaper with regularity. She joined the staff of The Hermonite, a biweekly campus paper that purported to “serve the interests” of both Northfield and Mount Hermon, but clearly did a better job of serving the interests of the boys’ school, since only one in nine pages was devoted to news of the Seminary.

Hughan and her co-editors successfully lobbied to triple the space allotted to Northfield news.

After graduating from Northfield, she returned to her native New York City, where she would spend nearly all of her life. As an undergraduate at Barnard, Hughan and three close friends established the first of her legacies, the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.

Thriving today with over 100 active chapters, its mission is the same as it was 120 years ago: “Women enriched through lifelong friendship.”

The three strands of Hughan’s religious, intellectual, and political interests wove more tightly into a single braid as she pursued graduate degrees during

“ She ran for political office on the Socialist ticket 18 times, and though she had little hope of winning, she used her attempts to draw attention to pacifism.” the first decade of the 20th century.

Her early religious upbringing in the Episcopal Church had been tempered by the evangelical atmosphere at Northfield, and, at her sister’s urging, she joined the Unitarian Church in the mid-1890s. Becoming a pacifist and later joining the Socialist Party in 1907 were, according to her biographer Scott Bennett, rooted in her lifelong religious faith: Following the dictates of Christ meant empathy for her neighbor and turning the other cheek. Hughan lived these virtues, and sought them as matters of public policy.

Meanwhile, after her doctoral dissertation was published in 1911 under the title “American Socialism of the Present Day,” she found that her political leanings kept her out of the upper echelon of the academy. Instead, she taught

in public secondary schools, with her patriotism questioned again and again.

She pressed forward with her views, running for political office on the Socialist ticket 18 times between 1914 and 1938. Generally, she sought election to the New York State Assembly, but she also ran for lieutenant governor (1920) and for the U.S. Senate (1926).

Though she had little hope of winning, she used these attempts to draw attention to pacifism.

At the outbreak of World War I, she founded the Anti-Enlistment League and advocated against U.S. entry in the war, but was eventually forced to cease that work and watch the U.S. government seize her organization’s materials.

The War Resisters League came next, established between the two world wars, with the goal of organizing and giving a voice to pacifists.

Hughan served as secretary of the War Resisters League through World War II, despite great opposition to the organization, and remained one of its active leaders until her death, at the age of 79, in 1955. Among her survivors was her sister, Evelyn Hughan, whom she had followed to Northfield and with whom she lived her entire adult life. [NMH]

spring 2017 I 17

STAY WOKE Student activist Keshawn Tyriq Bostic â&#x20AC;&#x2122;17 speaks up.

B Y TAR A J AC K S O N /

P O R T RA I T S B Y J O A N N A C H ATTM A NN

* To stay awake, to keep informed in times of turmoil and conflict.

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*

spring 2017 I 19

Last fall, a few weeks after Keshawn Tyriq Bostic ’17 returned to Northfield Mount Hermon for his senior year, a police officer in Oklahoma shot and killed an unarmed black man named Terence Crutcher. When Bostic — a 17-year-old from Brooklyn, New York — found out, he taped a sign to his shirt that said, “What is my life worth?”

“I really didn’t know what to do,” he says. “At first, I was in shock. It hurt my heart, and I didn’t know how I was supposed to deal with that kind of grief. So I decided to write a sign. I don’t know where it came from, because I’d never done anything like that before ... put something in people’s faces like that.”

The next day, Bostic wore another sign that asked, “Am I next?”

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Bostic’s girlfriend, Krystal Ramirez ’17, also wore a sign that listed the names of 102 unarmed black people killed in 2015. In a mass email, she invited NMH students and teachers to participate in a “blackout” the following Friday — to wear black clothing to raise awareness about the deaths of Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott of North Carolina, another black man killed by a police officer in September, and to protest brutality against people of color in the United States in general.

Bostic recalls that on the day of the “blackout,” there was a fire drill. He was one of the first students to leave Beveridge Hall. “I remember turning around and seeing all these people pouring out of Beveridge wearing black.

There were so many of them, and I stood there and started crying because it was incredible to see all these people standing by us at a time when it felt really difficult to be black.”

A few days later, Bostic and Ramirez led a senior class meeting. Martha Neubert, NMH’s dean of diversity, equity, and social justice, recalls, “He stood up and told his story and it was incredibly powerful and moving. You could hear a pin drop. He talked about what it’s like for him as a young black man, living between the worlds of

NMH and Brooklyn, and how commonplace it is in his world to either be stopped [by police] or be suspect.”

Bostic says only, “I remember that being a very emotional meeting.”

As people across the U.S. reacted to the shooting deaths of Crutcher and Scott, and of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and of five Dallas police officers before them — protesting, demanding justice, debating, figuring out how to talk to one another about how and why these tragedies happened — at NMH, Bostic’s voice rose persistently, urgently, to the surface.

In his final semester of high school, instead of coasting to graduation, Bostic continued to show up everywhere on campus with something to say. He hosted, with Neubert, a screening and discussion of 13th, the Oscar-nominated documentary about the U.S. prison system and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality. He led a Diversity Day workshop about how hip-hop culture became pop culture.

And he stood before the entire student body in Memorial Chapel during a Monday Morning Meeting to talk about the violence he has witnessed in his life.

“ He stood up and told his story and you could hear a pin drop. He talked about what it’s like for him as a young black man, living between the worlds of NMH and Brooklyn.”

“The first time I saw someone get shot in person, I was 7 and in a park. From then on it was not uncommon to hear random gunshots and hear about people dying that you’ve seen a few times,” he said. “Don’t get confused; this is not the world I want to live in, it is the world I do live in.”

FIVE YEARS AGO, Bostic almost didn’t make it to his NMH interview.

Driving onto campus, his parents missed the first entrance and entered by the farm instead. Bostic says, “I’m from New York. I don’t farm.” He and his dad were ready to turn the car around and go home, but his mom insisted that they stay for the interview and tour. “NMH was my top choice after

that,” Bostic says. “I really loved the campus and the people.”

Bostic had attended a single-sex, K–8 charter school in Brooklyn, where, he says, “Part of the creed we said every day was that we would enter, succeed in, and graduate from college.”

He was selected for Breakthrough New York, a college-prep program that helps high-potential, low-income students apply to and navigate four-year colleges, and the suggestion of boarding school came from a Breakthrough New York advisor when Bostic was in eighth grade. “My mom used to joke about sending me away when I was in the fourth grade. I thought it was a bad thing, like a threat. And then, four years later, I’m going off to boarding school,” Bostic says.

spring 2017 I 21

Kim Purvis, Bostic’s mother, says her son was independent and mature, ready to be away from home. But when Bostic arrived at NMH, he experienced culture shock. It was nothing like his home in Brooklyn. Different clothes, different music, different ways of talking. “People couldn’t even understand what I was saying,” Bostic says. He decided to change his speech and use less slang. He started wearing button-up shirts and bought a pair of boat shoes. He even decided to stop using his given name, Keshawn, and go by his middle name, Tyriq. “I felt so uncomfortable going by my first name in a place that was completely different to where I was from, and I felt that I had to act differently.”

One of the things that drew Bostic to NMH was the opportunity to help build the football team, so he mourned the program when it was cut after his freshman year. Instead, he played basketball, tried wrestling, threw the shot put and discus for the 2016 New England Championship track team, and during his sophomore year, he began tutoring at nearby Gill Elementary School. He says that if it weren’t for football getting cut, he never would have become a tutor.

“Now, I want to be a teacher, so I look at it as being something of a blessing.”

He continued tutoring during his junior year, this time working with firstgraders at Hillcrest Elementary. Their teacher, Krista Matrishon, remembers

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“ From the time I was able to navigate this world without my mother right beside me, I have been afraid and people have been afraid of me.” how Bostic connected with four boys he tutored in math by telling them about the sports he played. The boys always wanted to talk with him about sports, and he used that as a way to motivate them to work on their math. “They looked up to him and were excited every week when he came,” Matrishon says. Bostic says, “It’s so cliché, but that moment when they finally get something [they were struggling with] and they feel good and you feel good that you helped them get it — I love that feeling so much.”

As a tutor, Bostic started to form the idea for a mentoring program to help other kids, namely, middle schoolers who struggle academically and socially but who don’t qualify for extra help in public schools. Bostic’s concern was that without extra support, they would flounder, and, not knowing how to ask for help, begin failing when they reached high school. He found “the space to make it real” in the form of a Rhodes Fellowship — a spot in NMH’s inaugural social entrepreneurship class. Drawing on his own experiences from his K–8 school and college-access program, Bostic developed We Rise, which he recently launched at the local Pioneer Valley Regional School in Northfield, during his second year as a Rhodes Fellow.

Grant Gonzalez, who teaches the class and coordinates global and leadership initiatives at NMH, says that as a fledgling entrepreneur, Bostic showed a strong desire to tackle a social issue and an understanding of real social needs. He developed resilience in the face of logistical hurdles in getting

P H O T O (L EFT) : S H A R O N L A B E L L A - L I N D A L E

the program started, such as persuading school officials to buy into the idea and coordinating the students’ schedules. Gonzalez also mentions something that happened in the entrepreneurship course that would become a theme for Bostic’s senior year: “He’s had an opportunity to tell his story and to listen to others tell theirs.”

THE DAY AFTER the 2016 election, Bostic sat down and wrote an essay that he titled “Open Letter to the United States of America.” As a young, black male in America, he wrote, “From the time I was able to navigate this world without my mother right beside me, I have been afraid and people have been afraid of me.” He stated his belief that the “racist, sexist, and xenophobic silent majority” had shown its true colors. He shared his worry that under the new presidential administration, inner-city youth will “live in a world full of hate and tension that they are not prepared to face.”

Looking back at that day, Bostic says, “There was just something hanging over me. I felt that someone had to do something, that it had to be articulated in a strong way.” After Ramirez helped him edit the letter, they placed copies of the letter in the windows of several classroom buildings and on the tables in Alumni Hall. They prepared for a backlash.

What Bostic didn’t expect was support. He arrived early for a meeting that night for students who were distressed about the election results, and as people streamed in, they hugged him and told him how brave he was. He says, “I don’t

Bostic says he has “tested out his voice” at NMH, in part by leading workshops during NMH’s Diversity Day (opposite page, far left).

normally get random hugs from people.”

A faculty member got a local newspaper to publish the letter.

Jeremiah Neal, a counselor in NMH’s O’Connor Health and Wellness Center and a faculty advisor to The Brothers, an affinity group for boys of color on campus, says of Bostic, “It’s impossible to ignore his presence. He is charismatic and has a raw vulnerability that incites passion in others. What he

shares of his pain is to connect with you on a deeper level.”

Neubert adds, “He’s always been interested in the big picture, and really keen on being able to articulate his convictions.”

Bostic no longer feels the same unsettling dichotomy of home and school cultures he first experienced when he arrived at NMH. He says, “I learned to navigate through different worlds and

I don’t really have to shift too much between the two now.” Gone are the boat shoes from freshman year, and Keshawn is back — Bostic has decided to go by his first name again.

“Since NMH is such a safe space, I have been able to test out my voice, and even my appearance — mostly trying new things with my hair that my mom wasn’t always the biggest fan of,” says Bostic. Purvis observes that her son “has come into his own. NMH allowed him to be himself, to speak out, do the things he wants to do.”

One of those things was curating a Black History Month celebration.

Bostic says, “We talk a lot about the civil rights movement of the past, struggling for equality now, and how hard it is to be black in America. I wanted to tell a different narrative for Black History Month: a celebration of culture and achievements — not just of civil rights activists — a celebration of people, period.” The line-up included movie and TV show screenings (Friday, Dear White People, “The Boondocks,” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) and a book display in the library featuring works by Malcolm X, Jay Z, Assata Shakur, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison. Bostic hoped it was “enough to kick-start something, light a fire under somebody for next year.”

Ramirez, who has known Bostic since their first year at NMH, says that he has always been confident and outspoken, but has in the past year reached a broader audience outside their social group. “I definitely think he has sparked some important conversations on this campus. What if he had never worn a sign on his chest? Would we still be in the same place? What he’s doing,” Ramirez says, “is really important for the future of NMH and the students.” [NMH]

spring 2017 I 23

INSIDE LOOK What happens when a student turns her camera on her peers?

At NMH, we take lots of photographs of students. Those images are often evocative and striking, intended to tell the story of the school for alumni, parents, and prospective students and their families.

But when you ask an NMH senior to carry her camera around with her for a few days, you get something different: a spontaneous glimpse of everyday life on campus, a sketch of a moment that is at once fleeting and enduring.

Maggie Dunbar ’17 — who’s made her name at NMH as a dancer, visual artist, and serious student — floated under the radar the way no professional photographer could.

Her images are casual, low-stakes; nobody’s posing for the grown-ups.

At first, Dunbar took pictures of her friends. Then she started asking other people if she could photograph them. It was a little awkward. “People had a hard time being candid when they knew they were being photographed,” she says. “But the better I got at asking, the more realistic they became.”

P HOTOS BY MA G G IE D U N B AR ’17

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Clockwise from lower left: Chuck Hannah ’18 and his roommate relax in their dorm room in Shea; Anna Martin ’18 helps a customer at the dorm store in Mackinnon; Marcus Lin ’17 takes a study break with a friend in the library; Aissatou Thiam ’19 prepares for a dance performance of Alice in Wonderland; Chloe Castro-Santos ’17 (right) congratulates Elyse Kassa ’18 after the performance; college counselor Sarah Kenyon runs an advising session in her office; Annika Voorheis ’20 and Ella Bathory-Peeler ’20 perform in Alice.

spring 2017 I 25

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INSIDE LOOK

“

People had a hard time being candid when they knew they were being photographed. But the better I got at asking, the more realistic they became.”

Clockwise from lower left: Kellan Grady ’17 warms up on the basketball court with his teammates; Emmet Flynn ’17 during lunch in Alumni Hall; Sekou Bolden ’18 in Shea; Checking out the costume shop in the Rhodes Arts Center; Rylie Hager ’17 eats dinner with her “little” during NMH’s weekly Big Brother Big Sister gathering; Ashlyn Koh ’17 and Celia Oleshansky ’17 during a visit to Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory in Deerfield; (below) photographer Maggie Dunbar ’17.

Maggie Dunbar ’17 is from Rhode Island. She loves breakfast, sailing, and speaking French (she hopes to live in France someday). She plans to take a gap year after she graduates this month.

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Talking About Politics Is Hard How NMH wrestled with a bitter presidential election

B Y J E N N I F E R S U T T O N / I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y D AV I D P O H L

spring 2017 I 29

O

n Nov. 9, the day after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, a group of students clustered around a table in Alumni Hall, watching Hillary Clinton’s concession speech on a few laptop computers. It was around 11:30 am; typically a loud and busy time in the dining hall, yet the cavernous room was strangely hushed and still. Some students were crying and hugging each other, “as if someone had died,” says Abby Mihaly ’17 of Vermont.

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A couple hundred yards away in Blake Hall, Drake Hunt ’20, who’s from Atlanta, says he was waiting for his freshman humanities class to start when another student walked in, happily chanting, “Trump! Trump! Trump!”

Hunt got up and left the room. “I was so mad, but I didn’t want to yell or get in trouble for cursing her out,” he says. “I knew she was a Trump supporter, and that’s cool, but she should have respected that others were going through a tough time.”

Emotions were so raw on Nov. 9 that a scheduled faculty meeting was abruptly called off so teachers could check in with students who were struggling to come to terms with the

PH O TO : R A C H A E L WA R I N G

Students watch Hillary Clinton’s concession speech on Nov. 9, 2016, in Alumni Hall.

“ election news. For many on campus, the day was one of shock, sadness, fear, anger, and anxiety. Even those who were pleased with the results felt disconcerted: How could they celebrate Trump’s victory without being labeled racist, misogynist, bigoted, or simply unsympathetic?

Head of School Peter Fayroian was traveling that day, but he emailed students and staff to offer perspective, saying that although “there are some among us who believe an important message about the need for change has been sent to Washington … for many, the result not only was surprising, it was deeply and personally painful … particularly for people of color,

women, and for those of the Muslim faith who felt marginalized and disrespected by the language that characterized this election year.”

The turmoil on campus on Nov. 9 and in the days that followed were hardly unique to NMH. Similar scenes played out at schools across the country. At some schools, classes were canceled or given over to political discussions; support groups were hastily formed; protests were staged.

College presidents and high school heads and principals sent out messages much like Fayroian’s.

Amherst College President Biddy Martin lamented the campaign’s “virulent forms of racism, misogyny,

How do you agree and disagree with people in a fashion that’s productive and constructive?

We struggled with that all fall.” homophobia, and other ills … celebrated by some as though the expression of our worst impulses were the definition of human freedom.” John Palfrey, head of Phillips Academy Andover, said at a Nov. 9 all-school meeting, “I will give a very wide berth to the conversations we need to have about politics and difference. But intolerance of one another is something that we must resist.”

Many conservatives decried these reactions by school administrators as little more than political partisanship,

spring 2017 I 31

and wondered openly if the same level of angst would have been displayed if another candidate had become the 45th president. In a conversation several months after the election, Bob McKeon ’17, a postgraduate from Texas, observed that “if Hillary Clinton had won, people at NMH wouldn’t have reacted like they did. If she had gotten started on her agenda as we’ve seen Trump do, we wouldn’t be talking about it the same way.”

But school officials responsible for the health and well-being of young people — especially at boarding schools like NMH that operate in loco parentis — viewed their reactions as not only warranted but necessary, especially given the rise in hate speech and crimes that preceded and followed the election. In the 10 days after Nov. 8, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented close to 900 “reports of harassment and intimidation,” many of them occurring in schools.

Fayroian offered assurance to students during an all-school meeting in in mid-November, saying that NMH is “a place where all of you belong, every single one of you of every race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. Any offensive act you encounter while you’re away — or while you’re here — that denies you your rightful place in the world is an offense to all of us, and counter to the mission and values of our school.”

THE ELECTION is old news by now, but schools like NMH continue to wrestle with how to talk about politics and government in an era of heightened divisiveness — to ensure, as Martha Neubert, NMH’s dean of diversity, equity, and social justice, says, that “we’re fulfilling our responsibility as a school to produce informed, empathetic citizens.”

As the school year began, NMH administrators, acutely aware of the

32 I NMH Magazine

“

After the election, the immediate response was, ‘I don’t want to talk to anybody about this,’ and that is never good in a democracy.” polarized political atmosphere, set their sights on fostering the kind of respectful political discussions that were lacking on the national stage.

Fortunately, the school had a vehicle with the VOTES project, a national mock presidential election run by NMH that connected more than 150 public and private schools across the country. It included weeks of campus campaign events, a debate, guest speakers, and a night of election-results news coverage that was streamed live over the internet.

According to Jim Shea, the history teacher who co-founded VOTES 28 years ago and oversees it every four years, the 2016 project was especially difficult. He says, “Due to the uniqueness of the candidates and the contentiousness of the political situation, trying to work on the ideas we talk about so much — how do you agree and disagree with people in a fashion that’s productive and constructive? — we struggled with that all fall. And we made some progress.”

That progress dissipated after Nov. 8.

Clinton won the VOTES mock election, both at NMH — where Trump netted 25 percent of student votes — and at the majority of other participating schools. But the actual election result caught people off guard. While

Trump proponents welcomed his win as as an example of democracy in action, some students who’d supported Clinton skipped classes. Shea says, “The immediate response was, ‘I don’t want to talk to anybody about this,’ and that is never good in a democracy.”

Two hours away, at Andover, “the whole campus pretty much stopped,” reports Flavia Vidal, an English teacher and the director of the Brace Center for Gender Studies. Vidal and several of her colleagues canceled their classes and gathered with students to offer support. Andover’s dean of students, Jennifer Elliott, wept openly as she spoke at an all-school meeting, where people were dressed in black.

This kind of reaction made sense to NMH Dean of Students Nicole Hager.

“If you’re black, if you’re an immigrant, if you’re gay, the ground is always unsteady and unpredictable, but the sands suddenly shifted in a way that made you feel enormously unsettled,” she says. “When students were cheering for Trump, they were just happy, but they didn’t have an understanding of what his election meant to the feeling of safety for so many people.”

At NMH, adults quickly launched into a balancing act, says Dean of Faculty Hugh Silbaugh — “helping Trump supporters celebrate without

Before Nov. 8, NMH’s VOTES project — a nationwide mock election — gave students a respectful, constructive way to discuss politics, despite the contentious campaign.

Top to bottom: casting a ballot, signing in to vote, tracking election results.

gloating or succumbing to the extreme language” that was surfacing around the country, while also “supporting our African American students, and other underrepresented student groups, and the NMH Democratic majority, helping them hold themselves together.”

Because of that Democratic majority, in the dorms and classrooms, “there was a sentiment that the only acceptable way to feel was horribly depressed,” says Mihaly. Conservatives felt quieted. Ellery Halsey ’18 says, “The school’s response was like, ‘We’re so sorry, we’re going to support you guys, you’re going through a hard time,’” she says. “But we weren’t all going through a hard time. Some of us were happy. Some of us were neutral.

And yes, some of us were sad.”

THERE’S BEEN a lot of debate over how teachers should approach politics in the classroom, and whether they should share their personal views with students. Silbaugh stayed away from the word “neutral,” opting instead for words like “careful,” “circumspect,” and “respectful.” “Our responses and comments need to be tempered enough

spring 2017 I 33

that students can state their ideas without a feeling of unfair judgment,” he says. He confesses, “I find it personally very challenging.”

Some NMH teachers turned to media coverage of events, or primary government documents. In the history department’s Foreign Policy course, teacher Charlie Malcolm asked students to examine the National Intelligence Council’s report on Russian “activities and intentions” during the 2016 election; a few weeks later, his focus was Trump’s approach to Asia — the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the one-China policy, and North Korea.

In Tim Relyea’s World History class, students assessed the media characterization of Trump’s populist rise — whether his appeal to blue-collar workers and his targeting of Muslims bore any resemblance to the rise of authoritarianism in 1930s Germany, with the German response to hyperinflation, the promise of a better future, and the scapegoating of Jews.

English teacher Margaret Eisenhauer asked students in her Ancient Epic class to put themselves in the shoes of former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, who in January issued a legal statement against President Trump’s first travel ban and was fired within a day. “In the Iliad, we see men willing to fight [to the death]: for timê, for aretê, for kleos; for friendship, for kinship, for revenge,” Eisenhauer wrote in her assignment. “If you truly believe in something, you are willing to accept the costs. What are you willing to fight for?”

The students read and discussed Yates’s statement, and then wrote their own personal statements.

Outside the classroom, that travel ban, one of Trump’s first executive orders as president, caused mild panic on campus, where 25 percent of the student body is international and where more than one-tenth of the student body participates in study-abroad programs every year. The ban affected

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Try to keep moving from principles to action. We’ve all got principles, but it’s the action that’s invigorating.” two students directly, yet many more worried it could somehow limit their academic careers in the U.S. Hager says, “They were asking, ‘Who’s next? Am I not welcome in this country as an international student?’”

The travel ban also reverberated in NMH’s admission office. Dean of Enrollment Claude Anderson had to reassure parents of several prospective students from Mexico, who asked how safe their children would be at NMH. One family reported that their child was choosing between NMH and a school in Canada, which they felt would be a “friendlier place for international students,” Anderson says.

AS WINTER turned to spring and Trump established himself in the White House, students showed up at campus discussions about the travel ban and the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota, yet the overall feeling of political urgency waned. After Inauguration Day, Hunt says he tried to move on.

“I have to stay focused, do my job as a student, do well on the basketball court, make my family proud, because they sent me here for a reason,” he says.

“That’s the beauty and maybe the curse about teenagers — they compartmentalize,” Hager says. “They go to class, do their activities, apply to college.” What NMH can do for them, Neubert says, is “to keep coming back

to the school’s mission and ask, what groundwork are we laying for you? How are we empowering you to act with humanity and purpose?” Humanity and purpose, after all, don’t belong to only one political side.

For starters, Shea suggests that students write letters to government officials, sign a petition, attend a rally, or raise money for a cause they believe in.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport; it’s a day-to-day thing,” he says. “Figure out what your rights are and how you can protect them and exercise them … And try to keep moving from principles to action. We’ve all got principles, but it’s the action that’s invigorating.”

Halsey, who is 17, has an ambitious action in mind: She’s considering a run for the presidency in either 2034 or 2038. Her platform is still undeveloped, she says, but she wants to combat the tendency she sees in her peers to close themselves off from people who think differently than they do. She steers clear of aligning herself with a specific political party. “I don’t like the idea of playing for just one team,” she says. “I’m open to change.” [NMH]

Several dozen NMH students joined the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21, 2017.

WHEN AN ESTIMATED HALF-MILLION PEOPLE descended on the nation’s capital on Jan. 21 to participate in the Women’s March on Washington, 35 NMH students and more than a dozen faculty and staff members were there.

They carried signs that declared, “We ALL Can Do It” and “Fight Like a Girl.” They hung on the words of speakers that included Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, and Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Kamala Harris of California. They got to be “a part of history,” says faculty member Margaret van Baaren, who led the NMH group to Washington.

Grace Briggs ’19 had heard about the event from her mom, and signed up for the NMH trip because, she says, “The whole idea of marching for women’s rights — I thought that was over, that we were OK now, but I saw throughout the election that’s not really true. I want equality, so why not fight for it?”

Most of the NMH contingent paid their own way to ride an overnight bus to Washington, with several

PHO TO: SU Z AN N E C L E ME N T S

donations from parents and NMH employees funding students who couldn’t afford the travel.

One of the students’ favorite moments of the event was when feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who spoke at NMH last spring, took the stage early in the rally.

“Her visit to campus was what motivated me to start thinking differently about female-to-male issues,” says Zach Weiss ’18. He joined the trip because “with some of the themes of the Trump campaign, it seemed like people’s rights were being devalued. Even if you can’t change who is in the government, you can try to change what people view as OK or not OK.” It was a long day of marching, listening, cheering, and bus riding, but for Mia Flowers ’19, getting on the bus was a no-brainer decision. “As a woman and as a person of color, I feel like if I hadn’t gone, I would be subjecting myself to a world where I don’t have a say,” she says. “The march was a continuation of what I’m trying to do at NMH overall — be involved as much as possible.”

spring 2017 I 35

ALUMNI HALL

A L U MN I C O U N C I L PROFILE

W E ND Y A L D E R MA N C OH E N ’ 6 7

Hometown: Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts ​ Education: Simmons College, bachelor’s in biology

New Boathouse on Deck Rowing is one of the few sports that teenagers can try for the first time in high school and end up on an elite college team just a few years later. That’s what happened for Tessa Gobbo ’09, who was introduced to rowing NMH rowers go on at NMH and went on to a 2013 to nationally ranked NCAA championship at Brown collegiate programs, including: and a gold medal in the 2016 University of Summer Olympics (“My Twin, the Pennsylvania Olympian,” Fall 2016).

Harvard University NMH rowing coaches will be University of Virginia better able to support studentBrown University athletes like Gobbo when the University of Michigan school opens a new boathouse on Syracuse University the Connecticut River. NMH has U.S. Naval Academy unveiled plans for a 7,000-squareWesleyan University foot facility to replace a 50-yearTufts University Northeastern old building that has long been University too small for the program it serves Rochester Institute today. NMH parents Rob and of Technology Michelle Smith (P’15, ’15, ’17, Princeton University ’19) have led fundraising for the project, giving $2.7 million toward an estimated cost of $6 million.

NMH offers competitive rowing in both fall and spring. Approximately 70 students

36 I NMH Magazine

participate, making it one of the school’s most popular sports. The current boathouse does not accommodate all the racing shells required by this number of rowers, nor does it have running water or full electrical service, or space for “erg” training, boat rigging, and team meetings.

Gobbo, who returned to campus last fall to talk about her Olympic experience with students, says, “I received a great education at NMH, and the school deserves to have a rowing facility that matches the quality of its program.”

The new facility will include a two-bay boathouse, new docks, and improved river access, with space for all of the team’s boats, as well as a large multipurpose room overlooking the river that can be used for indoor practices and special school and community events. The facility is expected to help draw top student rowers and strong coaching staff; it will also allow NMH to host more regattas.

“We have a thriving crew program and a beautiful river to row on,” says boys’ head coach David Reeder. “This new boathouse will link the two in spectacular fashion.”

Learn more at nmhschool.org/boathousestory.

RENDERING: ARCHITECTURE RESOURCES CAMBRIDGE

Profession: Retired high school/middle school science teacher, 34 years ​ Volunteer positions at NMH: Reunion co-chair, 35 years; Reunion Advisory Committee, 2007–15; chair, 2010–15; Alumni Council secretary, 2015–present Why volunteer: NMH made a huge difference in my life, and my biology teacher (Jean Hatheway) had a major influence on my career.

Volunteering is a way to say thank you and help the school move forward. And I simply love the place.

Most satisfying Alumni Council experiences: Representing the Northfield School era as the council has grown in size, effectiveness, and influence; working with alums of all ages, and with outgoing council President Carrie Niederman ’78 — she’s been inspiring.

Secure your future ... and the future of NMH

FOUNDERS’ CHALLENGE

Donors Honor Moody In February, NMH’s second annual Founders’ Challenge raised more than $400,000 in four days, celebrating not only the birthday of school founder Dwight L. Moody, but also other NMH “founders” who have adopted the school’s “head, heart, and hand” philosophy to steer their own businesses.

Sam ’88 and Mariah Draper ’89 Calagione P’18 of Delaware — who more than 20 years ago established Dogfish Head Brewery, one of the fastest growing independent breweries in the U.S. — were this year’s Featured Founders. Their challenge: If 1,370 donors (to honor 137 years of school history) participated in giving to the NMH Fund, they, together with seven of the school’s youngest trustees, would collectively donate $137,000 themselves.

Success: The challenge attracted 2,078 participants, a 28 percent increase over last year. And the feel-good fundraising event didn’t just take place online; NMH hosted 15 Founders’ Fests that were attended by more than 600 people across North America, as well as a celebratory postchallenge event at Dogfish headquarters in Delaware.

By the Numbers

181

Number of donors making either their first gift or their first since their senior year

179 Number of parent and grandparent donors

277

Number of donors who graduated in the 1980s

219 Number of current students who donated

A charitable gift annuity gives you: • Fixed lifelong payments • Favorable annuity rates • A secure investment • Tax benefits • A gratifying legacy Sample rates based on a single life CGA* Age 68 73 78 83 Rate 4.9% 5.5% 6.4% 7.4%

Visit www.nmhschool.plannedgiving.org 2016–17 ALUMNI COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE www.nmhschool.org/ alumni-get-involved Caroline N. Niederman ’78 President Wendy Alderman Cohen ’67 Secretary Molly Goggins Talbot ’93 Vice-President

Carolyn “Ty” Bair Fox ’59 Nominating Committee Co-chair Tanya Luthi ’96 Nominating Committee Co-chair

Thomas Baxter ’59 Awards Committee Chair Stephen Green ’87 Reunion Advisory Committee Chair

Stuart Papp ’93 Strategic Advisory Committee Chair

Courtney Fields ’06 Tracy Korman ’81 Diversity Committee Co-chairs

Brendan Mysliwiec ’04 Advancement Committee Chair

Kate Hayes ’06 Young Alumni Committee Chair

or contact:

Jeff Leyden ’80, P’14

Director of Capital and Planned Giving 413-498-3299 jleyden@nmhschool.org

Sue Clough P’06, ’08

Senior Associate Director of Planned Giving 413-498-3084 sclough@nmhschool.org *Rates displayed are for illustrative purposes only.

PHOTOS: GLENN MINSHALL

spring 2017 I 37

CLASS NOTES

The Mount Hermon snack bar in 1970, documented by a student photographer and published in The Bridge.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF NMH ARCHIVES

CLASS NOTES

VITAL STATISTICS page 92/ IN MEMORIAM page 94

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Northfield Elizabeth Jane (B.J.) Smith Johnson robert.johnson53@comcast.net

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Northfield Dorcas Platt Abell sabell3@nycap.rr.com

Meredith Pattison Gaskill lives in Kirkland, Wash. She was in Northfield’s East Marquand Hall, but due to the death of her father, she had to leave just before the end of her junior year. Meredith has a son who lives in an apartment next to her and takes care of “all the things that owning a house” produces. She has 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grands. Meredith keeps busy and is in good health; she’s also involved with Sibling House, a children’s foster-care nonprofit (siblinghouse.org). • I hear from Louise Pfuhl Darby every Christmas.

She lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and celebrated her 90th birthday with a big party.

Louise is volunteering at a thrift shop for her church and keeps busy with family and lots of social functions. • Sadly, Eleanor Shedd Whitehouse passed away on 9/11/16 after a bout with pneumonia. She and I had a wonderful month together in Portugal a few years ago.

Eleanor had two sons who went to Mt. Hermon, and I met one of them with his daughter while attending a reunion. • I am hanging in at 92 and in fairly good health for my age. I’m planning to spend three months in Florida and will get to see my sister, Virginia, and her two daughters, who live in Ft. Myers. Still enjoying bridge a few times a week and I love to read. Son Paul is now living with me and is a blessing. • Would love to hear from more of you. I just reread my ’41 Northfield Star and it sure brought back memories!

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Mount Hermon Carleton Finch zeke137@aol.com

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Northfield Cora Lee Gethman Gibbs coraleegibbs@aol.com

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Mount Hermon Loren Bullock mlbullock9@gmail.com

I remember my first Christmas Vespers, sitting in our chapel (I joined the choir the next year) when the processional of “Sing We Noel” started, and it was the first time that we heard the Northfield girls’ soaring voices after hearing only boys’ voices the previous months. I still remember the thrill of that sound. Angel voices! Mel Gallagher gave me the basis for joining choirs in every church since then. Art Miller remembered how, in processing, Gallagher insisted that the column

process one foot in front of the other so as not to wobble side to side. In all of my subsequent choirs, the choirs all wobbled from side to side, or even worse, some would almost ramble rather casually down the aisle! • Woody Wood remembered his freshman year in 1938 when the hurricane knocked down so many trees, especially along the entrance road that is now named Lamplighter Way. Many wonderful memories of a great school.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

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Northfield Mount Hermon Charlton R. Price charltonrp@gmail.com

Amazing! As of this writing, there were still enough of us available to have space for only some of our news! Those of you not yet heard from: Please email me right after you read this, so I will have more to tell in the NMH Magazine fall 2017 issue. • First, here are reports from our co-class presidents: Yvonne “Vonnie” Snyder Elliman is still in New York City and in Westhampton, Long Island. Despite a bad fall and major surgeries, Vonnie continues to travel around the U.S. and abroad. Last year, she visited both Alaska and South Africa, and plans trips this year to the Caribbean and down the Danube, as well as to Budapest and Prague. Jim Babcock and Billie, still in Glastonbury, Conn., find that “house-husbanding full time seems to leave no time for anything else,” said Jim. • Jean Bliss Smith is in Bay Village, Ohio. Polly White Phillips is in “senior living” and near family in Dover, N.H. • Nancy Bartram Beecher, erstwhile longtime NMH trustee and Northfield ’44 class president, has, like many of us, been “flying solo” since last year. She spent some time with a daughter in Colorado and now lives mostly in Ft. Myers, Fla. • Charlotte McCorkindale Smith, in Northfield, Minn., has a happy memory of “workjobs, in smocks and snoods.”

Beverly Grove Olson (Portland, Ore.) fondly recalls the charm of wartime Thanksgivings on campus in Northfield “because we couldn’t go home.” The still sport-loving Barbara Fink Renfrew (Raleigh, N.C.) enjoys Ping-Pong, shuffleboard, and biweekly golf-putting. Others of Northfield ’44: Please keep emailing me about where you are, how you are, and

FOLLOW NMH ON:

KEEP IN TOUCH Address updates addressupdates@nmhschool.org Send news for the magazine nmhnotes@nmhschool.org Join NMH’s online community community.nmhschool.org

what you’re remembering about Northfield days. • John Addison and his wife both retired after career-long teaching and counseling in the Arvada, Colo., schools. • Ev Sherwood “enjoys the climate” in Boynton Beach, Fla. • Peter Harkness (Port Washington, Long Island, N.Y.), a retired school superintendent, is still an ardent photographer and filmmaker.

• We’ve learned that Don Vincent, who was lifelong in scouting around Pittsfield, Mass., passed away on 11/21/13; he had moved to Paoli, Penn., to be near family. • Ed Valpy died in Portland, Ore., on 7/21/16; he had relocated to Portland from the East Coast in the 1950s. • Another academic and a Mt. Hermon valedictorian, Dick Moench, noted anthropologist and specialist on the Arab Middle East, spent most of his academic career at SUNY Binghamton and in recent years has lived in both Florida and at his family apartment in Cairo, Egypt. • Bill Compton and his wife, the late Mary Lighthall Compton, ran the Northfield Summer School for many years.

Bill now lives with his son in South Hadley, Mass. He represented all of us at the memorial at Smith College for Dick Unsworth ’45 (my college roommate). Dick was NMH headmaster (1980–89), pastor at Smith, and held other academic posts around New England. • We learned from a nephew that Bill Harris, a professional artist, died in September 2011 in Hamden, Conn. • Ken Kolkebeck and his partner, Maryann Duffy, in Salisbury, N.C., have gone through months of convalescence after Maryann had major surgery, but are doing OK. Ken also reported that Charlie Young, now in Spring Hill, Fla., was shooting his age in golf last year. (You know what his score was, because Charlie is the same age as the rest of us.) • As he’s done annually for more than 70 years, Co-Class President Jim Babcock again urges us to continue, as much as we are able,

NMH

FACEBOOK • TWITTER • FLICKR • YOUTUBE • LINKED IN • PINTEREST • INSTAGRAM • NMH APP • NMH CONNECT

spring 2017 I 39

CLASS NOTES our support for the NMH Fund and/or the Class of ’44 Scholarship. And “if you’ve never done so, it’s not too late to start!”

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Northfield Arlene Finch Reynolds arlenerey@aol.com

45

Mount Hermon Pete Devenis ingadevenis@aol.com

Our class of 1945 had 138 students who were listed in our yearbook and an additional 45 who left the school for various reasons or were added to the class later, for a total of 183. Right now there are about one-quarter of us left. Our current class list contains a total of 43 former students, of whom 34 were in the yearbook. From the select group of 30 of us that attended Mt. Hermon during all four World War II years, there are only five left: Peter Devenis, Richard Kessler, Charlie McVeigh, Paul Rinden, and Cal Swan. I have been in touch with all of them at various reunions, and by phone periodically. Cal Swan and I get together every year; he is in very good shape, and we usually play a few rounds of golf. The students that were at Mt. Hermon for three years are a bit more plentiful. There are seven of them left out of the original 27. I will write about them in my next class notes listing. • During the last three years, we have had five to six deaths per year. Since my last class notes, three more classmates have passed away. • Geoffrey Groff-Smith passed away on 2/24/16. He was born in Peking, China, and lived in Bothell, Wash., at the time of his death. Geoff graduated from Harvard University in 1950 and worked as a cultural affairs officer for the U.S. State Department in many countries, including Turkey, Italy, India, and Finland, as well as in Washington, D.C. After retirement, he pursued a second career in real estate in Woodinville, Wash. At Mt. Hermon, he was active in soccer, skiing, and tennis, as well as in art and photography clubs.

I have a pleasant memory of an excellent lunch with Geoff and his father at the Northfield Inn after they picked me up hitchhiking near Northfield. Geoff is survived by his nieces Nancy Whitely and Gwendolyn Buswell, stepdaughter Sheila Mattos, and other relatives. • Winthrop “Wink” Cornwell passed away on 8/15/16 at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He was born in Middletown, Conn., and graduated from Bryant College in Providence, R.I., in 1949 after serving as a paratrooper in the Air Force during World War II. He owned and managed Fairlawns Convalescent Home in Norwich, Conn., until he and his family moved to North Palm Beach, Fla., in 1968. Wink was very athletic at Mt. Hermon and served as captain of the wrestling and soccer teams. He was my roommate during our second year there. We remained friends, visiting each other’s families and playing (and sometimes winning) golf tournaments at our golf clubs. Wink is survived by his wife

40 I NMH Magazine

of 62 years, Priscilla, who remains our good by daughter Patsy, coupled with some friend, and by his children Stephen, Winifred, serious sorting of stored boxes. Alice and William, and David, and 10 grandchildren. • Patsy have enjoyed yearbooks of messages, miniatures of campus, pictures of classDick Unsworth died on 9/14/16 in Needham, mates, and even textbooks from way back Mass. He was born in Vineland, N.J., but when. • Jeanette Vigneron-Mitchell writes lived most of his life in Massachusetts after graduating from Mt. Hermon. Dick met from Paris: “Yes, I am still here. Taking care his wife, Joy Merritt, when they were both of my teeth and eyes — typical of people our age! We have had a lot of pollution of students at NMH schools. He graduated the air because they love diesel cars.” • Lois from Princeton University in 1948, and Joy from Wheaton College in 1949. After they Shipton Brunton has very sad news: her were married in August 1949, they took turns husband, Hal, died on 7/7/16, and that supporting each other while attending schools “he was ready to go.” He was in very poor to obtain advanced degrees: Dick from Yale condition, so Lois and Hal celebrated 61 Divinity School in 1954, Joy from Smith Colyears of marriage and a happy 95 years for lege in 1959, and Dick again from Harvard Hal before his downturn in health. “After University Divinity School in 1963. At Mt. recovering from caregiver exhaustion, I am Hermon, Dick played in the band, orchestra, back to swimming laps and playing tennis and Hermon Knights, and sang in the choir with other seniors,” writes Lois. “Very and a cappella. He continued to enjoy singing blessed.” • As for me, Betty Bolger Fleming, and music throughout his lifetime. He served I also have sad news. In late fall 2015, both as assistant chaplain at Yale University, was a Bob and I became ill at once — Bob from faculty member and chaplain at Smith College, a variety of physical issues, and I from the professor at Dartmouth College, headmaster at stress of caregiving. Having help in the NMH from 1980–1989, and president from home proved to be impossible. I could 1989–1991. Dick is survived by daughters write a book saying why. Our sons sold Lucy (Unsworth) Slosser ’82, Molly, and Sarah, our home, and we both entered an assisted and son John. • My letter to Edwin Pinkham living home here in Princeton, N.J. After a long, hard year, Bob died on 10/1/16. I to his previous address in St. Petersburg, Fla., have done reasonably well and am now eventually found its way to Waterville, Maine, considering moving back to independent where he is now living with his wife, Frances. living. That’s the news for now. I send my Edwin has a pacemaker and does not drive best wishes to you all. anymore. He is active in the Masons and is driven by others to play the piano or organ at Northfield various local Masonic Lodges. Ed served in the Meredith Cushman Ransohoff Navy and later the Marines during the Korean mransohoff@aol.com War. He did not graduate with our class, but • Anne Hardman Allen came back to Mt. Hermon later to finish his missing courses in French and English in order ahafma@yahoo.com] From Anne: As we age, I think we become to graduate. more conscious of the importance of family and friends in our lives. One of our classmates Northfield has expressed this feeling by publishing a Betty Bolger Fleming delightful children’s book, Forever Friends. betty.fleming6@gmail.com Connie Callahan Hornickel spent a delightPriscilla Hartwell Hansen has written a beauful week at her daughter’s in Raleigh, N.C., tifully illustrated story that conveys a universal last year. Her oldest granddaughter was message about friendship, family, and love in married in Plymouth, Mass., in November, a way a child would understand (and an adult and her three younger grandchildren are would enjoy). I received an email that Priscilla busy: one in college; one juggling work, was having a book signing in Nashua, N.H. Army Reserves, and college; and one As I consider her one of my “forever friends” still in high school. Connie continues to from Northfield, I drove there from Rhode Isvolunteer at her local City Mission as well land to surprise her. We had a chance to spend as church, but she still has time for bridge, some time together. She was inspiring! Despite the symphony, and brass band concerts. having health problems and a large, scattered “My best to all Northfield classmates,” says family (she had six children) to keep up with, Connie. • Elaine Wilson Kuck sold her Priscilla is pursuing things on her “bucket list” with amazing energy and drive. (I hope it’s condo in Darien, Conn., and now lives in contagious and that those who read this will Rowayton, Conn., in a small two-bedroom be inspired!) • Meredith: Janet McKee retired cottage. “No stairs, thank goodness,” says Elaine. She has two daughters living last year after a 35-year career as a clinical within one mile of her cottage. Elaine social worker in Gaithersburg, Md. She has adds, “Two other daughters coming from three sons and four granddaughters, one of Massachusetts and California, along with whom is living with her. Janet’s husband, John grandchildren, made Thanksgiving a great Silard, died seven years ago. She still lives in day.” • Alice Elder Leake has been reliving the house they built 55 years ago. Janet and I plan to get together for a visit.

Northfield thanks to a visit from Canada

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CLASS NOTES

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As our 70th reunion approaches, here are two stories about classmates. One is a tribute to the many people who, long before there was a green movement, worked to preserve the environment; the other is a mystery about our time on campus that remains to be solved. • Chet Andrews, who passed away on 4/12/14 in Scottsdale, Ariz., served as an officer in the Seabees after earning a degree in engineering from Lehigh University. He left the Navy, married, and moved to Scottsdale, where he worked on the Salt River Project, dealing with irrigation and water issues. Besides raising a family, he was very active in preserving natural areas — particularly in McDowell Mountain Regional Park. The result is the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, the largest urban conservancy program in the country, and 47 acres of trails and recreational land. Included in the park is the Chet Andrews Amphitheater, a space for public entertainment and educational programs. When you go to Scottsdale, check it out. • The second story is a mystery that can perhaps be solved at our reunion in June.

Arthur Collins recounted his adventure from our senior year: He was called into the headmaster’s office and informed that he would be taking a “vacation” from campus since he was under suspicion of painting the Senior Rock.

Arthur managed to convince Dr. Rubendall of his innocence and was reinstated. He graduated, went on to a career in teaching at NYU, and only now is revealing this unsolved mystery. Who painted Senior Rock? Your help is needed to end the suspense of seven decades.

All responses will be held in strict confidence until reunion. • Hope to see you at Reunion 2017. And if you can’t make it, use this opportunity to send me a letter about your experiences, fond (or not-so-fond) memories of school, blind dates, Chateau Dance, etc.

We will share these at reunion.

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Mount Hermon Charles A. Kennedy chask@myfairpoint.net (603) 223-0731

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Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

We are saddened to report that Nancy Heflin Johnston died on 11/28/16 at the Blakehurst Retirement Community in Towson, Md., of complications from multiple myeloma. After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1952, Nancy moved to Manhattan and went to work at a Madison Avenue advertising agency. She later returned to Connecticut and in 1957 married Robert Johnston. A longtime docent at the Johns Hopkins Homewood Museum, Nancy also supported the work of the National Wildlife Federation. Additionally, she was a sustaining member of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Yale Club of New York. She traveled around the world on the Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth II, and spent summers in Madison, Conn., on Long Island Sound.

Northfield Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Mount Hermon Jim Hanchett jch46@cornell.edu • David Durham dedur@aol.com Paul Jaques (Meredith, N.H.) has given up

skiing, even though he has a lifetime lift pass.

He fell for the first time in years, landing on his back. So he knows how a turtle feels when it flips over. Paul had to shed his skis while supine. Indoors, Paul sings with two groups: one, a triple quartet; the other, a large chorale.

They sing everything from classical to pop. • Marylander Ken Fisher uncovered a 1950s Mt. Hermon alumni magazine and observed that the class of 1924 was listed first in the class notes section. This year, the class notes leader was ’39. We’re moving along all right—we’re now a mere decade from placing numero uno. • “I appreciate what the school did for me,” Elliott Serafin writes from Ada, Mich.

He was planning some winter skiing as well as winter visits to Florida with a daughter, and summer 2017 European jaunts with progeny.

• “Whether it has anything to do with the perspective of an 86-year-old or not,” George Hamilton writes from Vienna, “I continue to battle, with modest success, for education (humanities, languages, literature) in the U.S. rather than support the tendency for higher education becoming expensive and glorified trade schools.” George was appointed to the Syracuse University European Regional Council, which includes 15 alumni helping the university with its five campuses and curricula in Europe and toward the Middle East. He is a donor to the Vienna Konzerthaus, a major city music venue, complete with his name on a marble plaque in the main stairway. He’s also involved on the boards of two contemporary music groups and a new museum dedicated to the Strauss family. George keeps busy. He’s also working to save a museum dedicated to the history of older musical instruments. Last summer, he dropped in on St. Louis, Chicago and Quincy, Ill., Albuquerque, and Madison, Wisc. Back in Vienna, George stays in touch with Johnny Woods (still in Sweden) “to hash over European politics and our ideas of what’s right and wrong, so we also manage to keep up with the old school.” • Paul Dubeau has no physical problems since he’s recovered from two previous heart surgeries. His wife does have some physical problems, though — he’s been doing the housework and shopping.

Paul remembers being in one class with Dick Gilder ’50, and remembers hitchhiking to Cornell and back with Don Mayhew after our ’49 graduation. • Tom Hexner (Cambridge, Mass.) is up to “the same as always, a bit of consulting.” He encountered an old Harvard roommate, John Burrington, for good conversation around and about the “Vard

Yard” on a visit from John’s Colorado home. • Ann “Corky” Pattison Casey was wondering whether I could track down a photo of her, Jean “The Lock” Laughlin Moulton, Herman the Duck (mascot of the Hermon football team), and the “cheerpersons” from Northfield. Corky and Carroll McConnell Manning were recalling a Northfield romance: Zummy, aka Robert Zaumseil ’41, a Hermon teacher — whom Northfielders viewed as a Greek god — and Ruth Jones, who became Mrs. Zaumseil. Carroll, Corky’s Northfield roommate, remembered that Corky had introduced Carroll to Jim Casey, a Cornell football player of note and singer with Cornell’s Cayuga’s Waiters triple quartet. Carroll has moved into an assisted living cottage near Rochester, N.Y. “The children moved me here since the M.D. said I would have memory problems. So, I forget things. And I write.”

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Northfield Mount Hermon Janet-Marie Fitzgerald Whitley janwhitley@aol.com

As reported in the fall issue, we lost three class members within the last year: Marion Clausen Gray, Emily Richard, and Kenneth McLoon.

Marion was class secretary many years ago and served as reunion chair; she was at our 65th reunion. Emily was in Hillside-Crane with me.

And Kenneth lived in Londonderry, N.H. Our condolences go to their families and friends. • Jane Heywood Brown still plays 18 holes of golf and walks them, no rides. She has five grandchildren aged 34, 33, 21, and 2-year-old twins. • Lois Seekamp Dole has had three good monthly checkups since her endometrial cancer operation and, aside from running out of steam at times, is feeling well. She stopped taking jobs driving clients to Portland, Maine. Instead, she’s working in the garden doing handwork and walking for exercise. Her family is well; daughter Alicia, who has an apartment in the house, helps with computer glitches and does their long-distance driving. • Jean Cook Glidden enjoys living in Lititz, Penn. Daughter Jen and her husband are building a new farm closer to Jean. Granddaughter Erin lives in Nashville, Tenn., and granddaughter Jessie lives in Richmond, Va. Daughter Beth lives in Delaware with her husband and son. Daughter Victoria lives in Portland, Ore., and has her own consulting firm. • Diana Bond Holtshouser worked seven hours at the polls on Election Day in November. She still sings in The Voluntaires, entertaining people in nursing homes. Diana is keeping up her photo skills in a group of much better photographers. She spent Thanksgiving in North Carolina with her two families there, and enjoyed grandson Brian’s last football game in the marching band at University of North Carolina. • Lenny Krull Hirschberger has good health, continues sailing, weaving, steel drumming, and choral singing. She enjoyed a delightful Oberlin alum trip in October to France’s Dordogne. • Constance Streeter Reilly says that everything is going well for them. •

spring 2017 I 41

CLASS NOTES Patricia Lawrence Schwartz visited her daughter on her boat in Grenada last year. It was a good trip, but “a little more than my 85-year-old body could take.” She still lives in Leisure World, Calif., and has 15 great-grands. • Bruce Dunn’s third book of his series has been released. He and his friend (and ex-wife), Kitty, made a car trip from Calgary to Madison, Wisc.

They spent a week at Kitty’s brother’s home and headed back via a route that took them through the South Dakota Badlands, the Black Hills, and Deadwood. Before the trip, Bruce was wiped out by his 6-year-old grandson while hiking around the Royal Tyrrell Museum. In the fall, Bruce drove to his son’s place in British Columbia and did their annual autumn tomato canning. • Lang Hatcher enjoyed reading in the last NMH Magazine issue about his Mt. Hermon friends, with many vivid memories.

Here are a few: Lang first saw Roy Meeks having lunch with his parents at the Williams Inn. Turned out they were headed for the same sophomore class. Sadly, they shared the same loss in 2016 of their excellent wives of 60 years.

In his junior year, Lang, Dick Whelan, and Bruce Roberts showed up in 4th North, where he roomed with Jim “Squeak” Hanchett ’49, who was destined to become his class’s long-serving class agent and the Hermonite’s sports editor. Bruce’s father was the Episcopal bishop of Shanghai. Bruce roomed with Dave Burdge, Mt. Hermon’s unlimited weight class wrestler, who stood about 6’3” and weighed 300 lbs. Dick roomed with the late Dave Fitch.

Although Lang has been through surgical adventures, he is having good health and makes it to the gym three times weekly. He has written a book, A Godly Heritage Gone Wrong, available on Amazon, and deals with the consequences of what the textbook calls “insufficient management.” • After 38 years in Westford, Mass., Jim Lacy and wife Mary retired to Paris, Tenn., in 2004 to be near their son, who lives nearby. Leaving New England where Jim was born and raised was difficult for him. He is still active in the computer business. More history about him and his family can be found at: photos.jamarassociates.com. • Stuart Lohr’s life continues to be blessed with good health as he and his wife celebrate 60 years of marriage this summer. To celebrate, they’ve booked a two-week trip to Calgary, Victoria, and the Vancouver Islands. Stu has shifted from tennis to pickle ball. He participated in the USAPA Atlantic Regional Tournament in Portland, Maine, as the only competitor of over 300 in their 80s. He is able to hold his own against players 10 to 30 years his junior. He and wife Kathy will be at our 70th class reunion in 2020, where they look forward to seeing the building donated by classmate Dick Gilder. • Roy Meeks wrote from his 60-foot trailer, watching his new hotel being constructed. He spent the holidays in St. Kitts with son Carson and Carson’s wife, Janet. Roy was planning a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam in April with a college group. He sends his best to everyone. • Fred Monett had a

42 I NMH Magazine

great trip to Israel in November. He developed a sore knee while there, but managed to hobble around most of the sites on the tour. He sent pictures of a model of the old city of Jerusalem, which reminded him of the temple model that was on the Northfield campus many years ago.

As I write this in December 2016, Fred is undergoing knee replacement. • Vic Scalise has become part of a book club; their first book discussion was about Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kruger. Vic found it to be an excellent book. His favorite subject is U.S. presidents — he just finished American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant by Ronald C. White. It gave him a new appreciation of Grant. He feels White is a fantastic writer and his Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural is a must-read for every American. His own published memoir, The Influence of Others, is available on Kindle/Amazon, and a condensed version on Amazon Audio. Vic and wife Carolyn are active at the University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, where he leads a discussion group. They participate in an exercise class at the local pool and Vic walks three miles per day.

He wishes a good quality of life for all our classmates. Thanks, Vic. • John Stabler is more dependent on others due to his age, but he has help from many caregivers: a dog, several doctors, and his wife and family. He’s finished a first draft of his autobiography — written for a distant, not-yet-born relative. His memories of Mt. Hermon are vivid, and he recollects people who were good to him more so than he thought at the time. • Roy Terwilliger lives on Cape Cod, where he celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary in September and renewed his vows.

His wife, Roxana, had a bout of sepsis that hospitalized her for a week, but she is recovering quite well. He still races his small sailboat (Beetle Cat) in the summer, but had to give up skiing after two knee replacements. • Bill Usher is a retired USAF major general. He’s visiting with more and more doctors lately, and is tethered to an oxygen tank, which limits mobility. Bill continues his 20-year Mushroom Club and is still in his local chapter of the Old Bold Pilots Association. His first grandson — the son of Adrienne and Chip — is not yet 2.

Bill is also very active in his church. • Dick Whelan’s oldest son is head power train mechanic for Hendricks Motor Sports, his daughter runs a social service agency in New York and is active on the state and national levels, and his younger son is a firefighter/ paramedic who helped set up a SWATparamedic program. Wife Carol’s older daughter is a bank executive, her second daughter is an American Airlines senior flight attendant, and Carol’s son owns a homeremodeling company in Houston. In Dick’s spring Yale alumni magazine, there were 16 entries for his class and 12 of them were obits.

The good news: he was not one of them. • Ron Wertheim is a retired judge of the D.C. Superior Court and lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, painter Elizabeth Osborne. He returns

to D.C. half time for work at the court as a senior judge, but otherwise only does occasional private arbitrating. He has a daughter and granddaughter in California, another granddaughter in Vermont, and a stepdaughter in Maine. Ron says hardly a week goes by that he does not recall Mt. Hermon as one of the best things that ever happened to him. • Faith White is still trying to motivate herself to move more “stuff.” The first of her nine grandchildren — another Bob White — was married in October. Hard to believe Bob has been gone over two years. • James Whitton, widowed in 2009, has remarried and lives in a retirement community in Ft. Myers, Fla. Three or four Northfield girls live in his community, as well as Hugh Barbour ’49. James spends his summers in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Boone, N.C. He wants to see his name in the magazine at least once before he’s in the obits. Well, here you are, James! • After leaving Mt. Hermon, Raymond Wilcox spent a year at Stockbridge School of Agriculture, but it was not for him.

He enrolled in the apprentice course for tool and die-making at GE River Works. Four years later, he joined the Army Medical Corps; most of that was in Kure, Japan, where he met his wife. Upon return to the U.S., he worked at the machining trade; he had his own contract machining business for 29 years before retiring in 2001. Raymond and his wife have traveled to Canada, Alaska, Europe, and South America.

Now they live quietly in Sterling, Mass. They are both in reasonably good health. Raymond hopes to attend our 70th. • Thanks to the guys for being so responsive. Gals, they are doing better than the Northfield side. I will be requesting news in May for a June 15 deadline.

Here’s to a healthy and prosperous 2017 for all.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Pat McCormick Hoehing sylv.snail@bex.net • Frederick W. Miller fwcemiller@sbcglobal.net

From Pat: It’s not easy to write a column for a spring issue on December 7, the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. That event, so fresh in our minds as students, is now history. As you saw in the fall ’16 issue of NMH Magazine, our Northfield and Mt. Hermon class columns were also relegated to history; it only made sense to merge the two columns into one. • Don’t be concerned if you hear Charlotte “Charlie” Gulick Hewson is off her rocker! She plays keyboard in Off Their Rockers. Sounds like fun for the geriatric crowd! • Ann “Mitch” Mitchell Seemann is an enthusiastic Unitarian and considers the church her community. She sings in the choir, participates in enlightening discussions, and serves on various church committees. Mitch and Nina Collier see one another frequently. • Each of those who attended our 65th reunion provided a one-word memory of her Northfield years.

Eliminating redundancy, these words were: beauty, friendships, adventure, chapel, sing-

CLASS NOTES ing, salvation, gratitude, and challenging. • Last September, Herb and I went to a family wedding in Baton Rouge, La. We enjoyed a large McCormick reunion and three days of fun, food, and family. • Marilyn “Skip” Smith Noll is grateful to the Madwomen in the Attic Writing Program at Carlow University in Pittsburgh for publishing her poetry book, Ordinary Tasks. They sponsored her public reading in October. Skip earned her M.F.A. in creative writing at American University in 1994. She’s a member of the Pittsburgh Poetry Society.

Her sonnet, “Turning Back the Clock,” concludes: “We live our fleeting hours till they’re gone. Awake. Be early risers. Claim each dawn.” • From Fred: Henry “Hank” Putsch, secretary of our graduating class and a lifelong singer, educator, and photographer, died peacefully at his home in Kansas City, Mo., on 4/22/16. A three-year Hermon man, Hank sang in the Triple Quartet, choir, Glee Club, and a cappella choir. He was also a student deacon and played soccer and tennis. Hank graduated from Yale in 1955 and later earned his master’s at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was a teacher of English, film, and theater, and was an arts administrator. After moving to Kansas City in 2007, Hank became co-director of Downtown Outreach — the mission of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church — working alongside his wife, Sharon, to feed the poor and hungry.

Hank held positions at Millbrook School in New York and Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia. He and his wife were instrumental in leading Lyme Academy in Old Lyme, Conn., to national college accreditation. Hank is survived by his wife, brother Robert Putsch ’56, seven children, 21 grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. • Bob Janes writes from Williamstown, Mass., “I am healthy and quite happy in retirement after serving as town and city manager in four states over a career in local governments. I graduated from Drew University, N.J., with a B.A. in political science, and in 1956 from The Maxwell Graduate School of Public Administration and Citizenship at Syracuse University.” Bob and his wife, Marge, met at Drew; they celebrated their 60th anniversary last summer. Bob was soccer team manager during junior and senior years at Hermon. • Bob Burnham reports that after enjoying good health, he was laid low by a serious urinary tract infection last September, spent a week in a Portland, Maine, hospital, and was later in a rehab center to gain his strength back. “Ten years ago, I sold my home in Hinsdale, N.H., and have been full-timing in the motorhome — six (winter) months in Florida and splitting the summer months between my daughters’ homes: Laurel-Beth Burnham Cashman ’78 in Wardsboro, Vt., and Susan Burnham ’81 in Windham, Maine.” • “I was sorry to miss reunion,” says Don Russell. “My plans had been made to attend and all the reservations were in place, but two days prior to leaving, I ended up in the hospital. Now everything is back to normal and my wife and I are enjoying

email Julia Farmer, reunion@nmhschool.org, our wonderful retirement at Croasdaile Village or call 413-498-3065. The school has sent in Durham, N.C., and are near our daughters out a list of local accommodations but they in Durham and Cary.” • Charlie Hume lost his fill up fast during graduation season. By the wife, Patricia, to ALS last year, and he is now time you receive the newsletter, you will have living in a retirement home in Maine. • “My been told that there are dorm rooms available; best to everyone,” says Arthur Schuman from remember that they are made for teenagers!

West Hartford, Conn. “My oldest grandchild • The November 2016 reunion message to graduated from college in three years and is our class stated: “As a member of the class of going to Spain for a year to teach English as a 1952, you will receive special benefits at NMH second language. We graduated [from college] Reunion 2017. Reunion registration fees are and looked for jobs, and today’s kids are exreduced, and volunteers from our Reunion panding their educations and seeing the world.

Advisory Committee will be on hand to assist How lucky they are to have this opportunity. I you while you are on campus.” The school still go to work every day and will continue to do so as long as I can still make a contribution.” housing registration opens in early spring. • Here are some of the names of classmates who • Bo White lost his wife, Joan, to cancer in June have told us they plan to attend the reunion 2016 after a period of treatment. “She was in June: Russ Broad and Carol Sellman (poshoping to make it to our 60th anniversary in August,” said Bo, “but she went peacefully here sibly), Ken Golder and Elizabeth, Jud Wells at home.” Bo is enjoying his retirement but and Ann, Bob Halkyard and Susan, Anne has had to adjust his activities after quadruple Lanoue Weber, Stape Roy and Elissandra, bypass surgery in February 2016. “Miss the Bruce Holran and possibly Barbara, Wayne golf the most, but physically feel far better Parker and Anne, Diana Armen Cowles and now,” adds Bo. “Hope to see some of you guys John, Dick Spearel, Mimi Brewster Hollister this spring at reunion time.” • From Madison, and Don Gardner, Sybil Benton Williamson, Wisc., Guy N. Webster writes, “I retired from Bill Fivaz and Marilyn, Steve Waters and the Navy and auto glass specialties in 1996, Jane, Mel Smith and Anice, Dave Hartman and then started my photography business. My and Mary, Jean Munro Bedell, Marcia Ottey second wife died in 2014, so I’m single again.

Raushenbush and John, Suzanne Brown Currently taking harmonica classes, yoga, and Longacre and John Gideonse, Doug Wicks water class.” Guy volunteers for Hospice for and Carolyn, Bruce Gordon, George Bissell is Veterans, the V.F.W., and a food pantry, and he hopeful, Judy Richardson Beers, Anne Scovel rings bells for the Salvation Army during the Fitch, and your scribe, Julie Taylor Clemens Christmas season. He also finds time to play and Drew (only part time due to granddaughbass in three “old timey” and bluegrass bands. ter’s graduation at Williams). There are others, • Richard Ravotto had surgery last year and is but these names have come to me directly.

Did Melissa Walker say that she would be at now without pain. He’s had two good careers in engineering — with J.C. Penney and Avon the 65th after attending two minis and being Products. Richard and his wife, Brigette, who enthusiastically welcomed by Ian Walker? is mostly bedridden with back problems, share There are also those who cannot make it due their house with one son. An adopted Korean to scheduling conflicts or medical difficulties son is a state trooper in New Jersey. Hailing who will be sorely missed. • If you have a from Unite City, N.J., Rich played hockey, change of address, contact NMH by emailing ran track and other sports, and sang in choir, addressupdates@nmhschool.org. Remember Glee Club, and a cappella. • Harold Holappa’s to relay when your new address takes effect, so you can receive all the alumni news, especially wife, Dorsey, writes, “Thanks for keeping me about the 65th reunion. • Suzanne Brown informed of Harold’s beloved Mt. Hermon.

We were in Chicago [in fall 2016] and drove Longacre has been residing in her seasonal by our old homestead in Winnetka. Brought home, a catamaran named Zeelander. She and back many memories.”

John were at Marathon Marina in the Florida Keys last year. Suzanne bought a campervan Northfield Mount Hermon online last August, flew out to Los Angeles in Julie Taylor Clemens September, and picked it up to drive it back to jtclemens@cs.com New Jersey via the central national parks and • Bruce G. Holran campgrounds, viewing astounding scenery and bruceholran@comcast.net having many adventures. “Great fun for us ocNow that all alums have received NMH togenarians as a land-cruising alternative,” said calendars and NMH reunion reports, you Suzanne. • Bruce Gordon was named ‘Citizen have most of the information you need to of the Year’ by Georgetown, Ky.’s chamber plan for our 65th reunion. There have been of commerce. “I do a lot of charity work many reports about the class through the supporting immigrants,” writes Bruce, “and NMH Communication Network during the Toyota gave me a $10,000 grant to continue year. This will be more recent news, which my work with immigrants. I’m 82 years old will also be sent immediately to the class. • now, but my wife, Midge, and I are still going Questions about 65th reunion, June 1–4, strong! I have learned to make videos at home.

2017: If you have a question, such as whether I am a Vietnam veteran with 132 combat you can park a campervan on campus, please missions with the USAF, and now have about

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spring 2017 I 43

CLASS NOTES 22 videos about flying on my Facebook page, ‘Spirit of Attack.’ I have also written a book by that name available on Amazon.” Now, that’s a concise and meaningful update, Bruce — many thanks. • Sadly, Luella Wilson Rainbow’s husband died suddenly. There was a memorial service in Cocoa, Fla., in December. • Marcia Ottey Raushenbush and Julie Taylor Clemens had fun realizing that they both had granddaughters who are attending Williams College; the girls even know each other. • Mary Merin Tinkham went on an exciting trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, with Road Scholar, which she recommends highly. Her life includes singing in the Portland (Oregon) Peace Choir and chairing its board of directors, facilitating a support group, serving lunch to the homeless, participating in the Village movement, enjoying her stimulating book group, and, of course, being with family. “Unfortunately, my grandchildren are growing up much too fast,” says Mary, “but that is not news to anyone!”

She adds, “May peace break out, even if only a little bit, in the world.” • Doug Wicks and Carolyn having been spending much of their time on the dance floor. “Carolyn and I have enjoyed some blues, zydeco, Cajun, and swing dancing throughout the year. This year we attended a dance flurry in Saratoga, N.Y., which is a three-day extravaganza.” Doug continues to practice law. His children and grandchildren are fine; one grandchild is a freshman at University of Oregon. “Mortality is on the front burner after one attends numerous funerals, but that is somewhat balanced by the weddings that bring family members together in a special way,” wrote Doug. • This report will be sent to classmates through the Communications Office at NMH so that you can get the recent mail more quickly. Also, one can put more personal news such as addresses and phone numbers in the more secure site (compared to the newsletter in print). Do send email addresses to NMH if you want to be on the regular class communications list. • Much love and warm greetings to all with hopes that you can make it to the 65th reunion at NMH, June 1–4, 2017. Fondly, Julie

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Northfield Mount Hermon Will Lange will@willemlange.com • Abby “AJ” Nicholson Hodges ajhodges@comcast.net

From Will: The class of ’53 is scattered all over the map, so it’s really great when you come together now and then with your news. • Ken Lindfors writes, “Betsy and I were able to make it to NMH for the service celebrating Deane Lanphear’s life. It was a beautiful fall day and there were a good number of people in attendance, including Bill White’s widow, Marilyn Dimon White, and Bill’s brother Bo White ’51. John Leyden’s son, Jeff, who looks so much like John and now works in the school’s development office, was also there.

We saw Dale Conly ’52 and his wife, Jeanne,

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and former faculty member Bill Compton. It was in many ways a wonderful gathering of people who loved this remarkable classmate and cherished friend.” • The summer “Maineiacs” gathered once again for a mini reunion in Freeport. Bob Chutter reports, “Six of us gathered in Freeport for lunch: Bev Bolton Leyden, Jean Fuller Farrington, Eileen and Howard Stiles, and Aileen and I. We toasted Deane, whose memorial service had been the previous Saturday. Lots of updating from each of us to include in the 2018 reunion! One would recognize those in attendance, even with graying hair and a few added pounds.” • Ida and I had to miss the Freeport gathering, as did Dick Handy, who had missed the luncheon invite. He and Barbara continue to live in Atlantic Heights, a continuing-care community in Saco, Maine. • Bob George is still with us. “We are still above ground and hope to go to Palm Desert, Calif., then Bellingham for 2017,” says Bob. He gets my weekly column via email and often comments; though a continent apart, we stay in touch. • Ellin Messolonghites Johnson is far too busy. “Fletcher and I started New Year’s 2016 in Washington, D.C., and New York City before a spring-into-summer in Portland, Ore.,” writes Ellin. “We had a number of trips to Palo Alto, Calif., to see friends and the San Francisco Ballet, and were in Indian Wells, Calif., for the BNP Paribas tennis tournament, followed by visits with family in Los Angeles. Lots of work in preparation for our garden being on a benefit tour last May. I captain a USTA tennis team and play on a city league team. My project this year is preparing my nearly 40,000 pages of a journal kept since I was 12!” • Gus White, like Ellin, is too busy. Still working full time, he’s had several scholarly articles published. My less-thanbrilliant brain has difficulty with even the titles, but they cover mainly the issues of racial bias in the practice of medicine. He admits to “contemplating slowing down in the next year or two.” We shall see. • Right in the middle of perfectly normal class news, Gus, Bob George, and Bob Engvall got into a discussion about a famous “bootleg” football play devised by Coach “Bull” Rineer that, if it had worked as well as the conversation claimed it did, would have put them all into the National Football League. Classmate Charlie Wood chimed in by phone to correct a few errant “facts.” But they were right about one thing: the fall of 1952 was a great football year. • Andrea “Andy” Bear Rugh and Bill moved into a retirement community in Hingham, Mass., last year, giving up their 100-year-old house in Maryland.

To ease the transition, they spent five months in Woods Hole on Cape Cod. Bill is teaching a course on the Middle East at Northeastern University and Andrea is writing her “last” book. Though something tells me this won’t be Andy’s last book — only her latest. • Is anyone surprised that Bev Bolton Leyden’s news is domestic? Bev wrote in December, “Just

finished making three batches of Chex mix, which should last through the next couple of weeks, almost time to start on cookies. Jeff’s two (Laurel is in Philly and works for St. Aubain, and Luke is a junior at Ohio Wesleyan) will be home for Christmas weekend. Jeff has invited me to come to Northfield. I think this is my last winter traveling alone for Christmas. I’m hopeful of short visits with my three great-grandchildren.” • After graduating from Worcester Tech and spending six months as a second lieutenant at Ft. Belvoir, Bob Engvall was employed by The Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology (where the birth control pill was developed). He moved to Astra Pharmaceutical (now AstraZeneca) in 1967, and then relocated to West Simsbury, Conn., to join Mutual Life in Hartford (now part of Mass Mutual). Bob writes, “We moved to Savannah in 2000. I enjoyed tutoring math at Bethesda Academy, founded by an evangelist in 1760 as a boys’ orphanage. I stopped a couple of years ago due to macular degeneration. Enjoyed playing golf thrice weekly until three years ago, when my knees began to dispute me.” • At their continuingcare community, The Crossings, Bob Holton and a couple of buddies have the wood shop up and humming, and wife Karen is chair of the activities committee. Their children and grandchildren are booming and blooming, just as you’d expect if you knew Bob. • Holly Goodhue VanLeuven is still having far too much fun. Like most of us, she has some health stuff, but her Facebook photos are all of a lovely, smiling lady in everything from tweeds to a sarong, and everywhere from a classic speedboat on Lake Winnipesaukee to a thatched-roof restaurant by the Caribbean. Go, Holly! • At the turn of 2017, Howard Stiles wrote, “Here’s to a great new year.” He spent Thanksgiving in Wisconsin with one son and his family, and another son joined them from Portland, Ore. Howard then spent Christmas in Portland with his Oregon son, along with a 4-year-old and 7-year-old. Howard adds, “Eileen and I spent 24 years with the Army, living from Germany to Hawaii, with many stateside assignments in between. We retired from the Army in 1983 and wound up on Sebago Lake, Maine. We enjoyed 31 years there and have moved to the retirement community where Deane also lived prior to his death.” Howard sees Bev Bolton Leyden from time to time, as well as Aileen and Bob Chutter when they visit a family compound up the Maine coast in the fall. • Here in Vermont life continues quietly — though as I write this evening, it’s below zero and blowing 40 out there. The blowing snow keeps setting off my motion detector light on the barn, and the wind chimes on the porches evoke the sound of a rough day on the coast of Maine. Ida’s been in either hospital or rehab center for about 10 months now, battling cancer and a couple of other problems that are keeping her from getting the treatment she needs to recover. Luck-

CLASS NOTES ily, she’s nearby, so we’re together twice most days; and our younger daughter, Martha, is a big help. Like Gus, I’m still working — radio commentaries, the newspaper column, and the TV show. I really enjoy the stimulation and the exercise, and the old prostheses are still holding up. I still love talking to various groups about how wonderful and funny life in New England was, not so long ago. I hope you all have a wonderful year. You may, like me, be scattering anomalous objects around the house and in the car to remind you to do things; but at least we’re still able to do them.

54

Northfield Mount Hermon Dennis Kelly dskelly1935@gmail.com • Be Jay Froehlich Hill bhill24@juno.com • Dan Fricker dcfricker@videotron.ca

From Dennis: We are saddened by the passing of our classmate Bill Kirchner on 2/21/16. Bill was from South Hadley, Mass., spent two years at Mt. Hermon, and later went on to Dartmouth. He then entered Northwestern University to pursue a doctorate in history, but never finished his thesis. Ultimately, Bill earned a master’s degree in library science at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; worked at libraries in Georgia; and finally settled in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he ran his own bookstore. Unfortunately, Bill had to deal with some major medical issues, but he persevered. Bill is survived by his sister, Barbara Kirchner ’56, and his wife and children. Our sympathies are extended to his family. • We are further saddened by the passing of our classmate David Westfall on 2/14/14. Dave was from Bronxville, N.Y. After Mt. Hermon, he went on to Bucknell University with me, earned a B.A. in economics, and then entered the wine business in Raleigh, N.C. His company was acquired by Pepsico, from which David later retired. Dave played violin in the Mt. Hermon orchestra and the Bucknell orchestra, as well as in orchestras in Westchester County, N.Y., and Raleigh, N.C. He is survived by his wife and two children. Our sympathies go out to his family. • Stu Leyden and his wife, Donna, have moved to a retirement community just outside of Atlanta called The Park at Johns Creek, Ga. Stu still plays tennis three times a week. His sister and her husband live on Hilton Head Island, S.C. • Last October, my wife Betty and I had the honor of attending a lively dinner party at Ed and Ann Newman Sundt’s lovely home in Garrett Park, Md. In attendance were: Toni Browning Smiley, Toni diStefano Norton and husband John, Nancy Wickens, and Marcia Samuel. Toni and John drove down from their home in Boston, and Nancy, who lives in Mebane, N.C., was on her way home from a visit in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Marcia lives in Hackettstown, N.J., and Toni Browning Smiley lives nearby

in D.C. Each year, Ann and Toni Smiley arrange a mini reunion of their Northfield friends and plan an outing or adventure. Betty Vermey came down from her home in Bryn Mawr, Penn., for a catered affair the following evening. We all drove down to Annapolis the following day for a personal guided tour of the US Naval Academy, conducted by the Sundts’ granddaughter, Hannah, a second-year midshipman. She looks just like Ann. • Toni Browning Smiley has been an enthusiastic opera fan for many years and actively participates as a supernumerary at the Kennedy Center in Washington. A supernumerary is a part-time opera performer in a non-speaking or singing role. She had a Halloween party last year for all her other supernumerary friends, called “supers,” and they all came dressed as devils to mock the Washington Post’s opera reviewer, whom no one seems to like because of his poor reviews. • I had a nice letter from Charlie Blatchford, who lives in Fair Oaks, Calif., near Sacramento.

Charlie discovered an old letter written in 1901 by his grandfather sent to his own father (Charlie’s great-grandfather). The letter described a cruise in a 36-foot sloop that his grandfather had taken with some friends along the coast of Maine. Charlie remembered that I often cruise the coast of Maine in my own sailboat. I could have written the same letter last August, as it described all the harbors and coves that I have cruised to in Maine — nothing much has changed in 116 years!

Charlie and his wife, Judy, celebrated his 80th birthday last July with visits from his children, who flew in from Denver and New York. He and Judy then took a tour of the California wine country. They both have had to deal with some serious medical issues, but have made good recoveries. On the plus side, his grandson, Cole, has been recruited by the US Air Force Academy for his baseball skills and will enter as a cadet in the fall, making everyone proud. • Debby Brown Boots lives in an independent-living facility on Hilton Head Island. Hopefully, we’ll get together in the winter, along with Susie Craig Hastings, who rents a place near me in the winter months. I want to play dominoes with them. • Dave Jansky had open-heart surgery in 2015 to replace his aortic heart valve. He still umpires 100 ball games a year in the women’s softball leagues of central Pennsylvania, and he recently took a 10-mile hike on the Golden Eagle Trail with a dozen other hikers through the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania. Dave attends the Jansky Lectures at the University of Virginia once a year. The lectures are given by leading scientists in radio astronomy and honor Dave’s father, Carl Jansky, who is considered the original pioneer in the field of radio astronomy for the work he did at Bell Labs in the 1920s. A large radio astronomy antenna is located at Green Bank, W.V. • Bill Young had some serious medical issues recently that prevented him from even walking, let

Ann Newman Sundt ’54 and her granddaughter, Hannah, at the U.S. Naval Academy in October 2016.

alone playing golf. But he’s made a remarkable recovery with the help of one of the country’s leading hospitals and is now up and playing golf again. Bill’s firm makes a unique marine product that I often recommend to my marine survey clients. He lives in Scituate, Mass., on the south shore of Boston. Bill was our varsity golfer at NMH and played throughout college at the University of Massachusetts. He set the course record at the Northfield Golf Club under the coaching of Jack Baldwin, our beloved English teacher at Mt. Hermon. Bill’s father was a professional golfer at several country clubs in central Massachusetts. • After 49 years, Ralph Perry sold his lovely home in Pasadena, Calif., and he and his wife, Betsy, moved to an independent-living facility in Alphadena, Calif., an unincorporated area adjacent to Pasadena, where they are living comfortably as inmates. Ralph still sings in the choir of the largest Episcopal church west of the Mississippi River, where he frequently sees Phil McKean. Ralph and Betsy went to Cuba a short time ago with a group from their church.

Ralph practiced corporate law in downtown Los Angeles for many years and still plays handball. He was our top runner on the 1953 champion NMH cross-country team and ran the mile event on the track team. We look forward to seeing Ralph at out 65th. • Stan Peck lives in Glen Rock, N.J., and was a Merrill Lynch stockbroker. He and his wife, Nancy, are both recuperating from several different medical issues — we wish them well.

Stan rents a house in Long Boat Key on Florida’s west coast in the winter months and often stops for a visit with me in Hilton Head on his drive south. • I was saddened to learn of Rueben McDaniel’s (’53) passing on 2/7/16.

He did the high jump and the shot put on the NMH track and field team when I was a lowly junior on the team. Rueben was at NMH on a scholarship and played end on the football team and center on the basketball team. He was from Petersburg, Va., and went to Oberlin College. I ran into Rueben in 1959 on my first job at the Univac Corp., an early computer manufacturer in Philadelphia. He was bent over a drafting table in the engineering

spring 2017 I 45

CLASS NOTES department. Rueben was later a tenured professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Texas in Austin. • Last August I probably took my last sail along the coast of Maine. I sailed with my lifelong best friend, Peter Germond, and his son-in-law, Ned, on Pete’s 40-foot sloop, Shadow. We met up in Booth Bay Harbor and sailed on to Mt. Desert Island before returning to Pete’s home in Manchester-by-the Sea, Mass. • I called Phil McKean, who comes east to his summer home on the coast, to see if we could meet for cocktails and dinner, but Phil was busy with grandchildren and family. I still managed to do several yacht deliveries this past summer and fall for a couple of female clients. We took a 48-foot motor yacht from New York to Boston and a 36-foot motor yacht from the Jersey Shore to Norfolk, Va., where I managed to escape from the owner, who was off her medications. • Again, if any of you can make it to Hilton Head Island, S.C., in the fall or next winter, please come for a visit. The house rarely rents in the fall and it would be nice if it were occupied — plus the price is right. It has four bedrooms with balconies that overlook a beautiful lagoon and has a large deck. It is located in the heart of Harbourtown of the Sea Pines Plantation, 10 minutes from the beach. The door is always open; you’re always welcome! Hilton Head is not only a beautiful island, but one of the country’s major highend destination resorts, with lots of things to do and see. You’ll have a great time — trust me. If you come by in the winter months when I’m there, I’ll make up some of Toni Browning Smiley’s wonderful homemade ice cream! • Thank you all so very much for your generous contributions to the McVeigh Scholarship fund; it now totals well over $190,000. Let’s try to make it $200,000 by our 65th reunion. Stay healthy, eat wisely, get plenty of exercise, and we’ll meet again in June 2019 for our 65th. Save the date!

55

Northfield Mount Hermon Lisa Tuttle Edge etedge@aol.com • Don Freeman d.freeman4@verizon.net

From Lisa: Janet Bear McTavish and her daughter, Karen, our talented artist-activists, created a magnificent quilt for an art exhibit to benefit the Standing Rock Indian Reservation protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Duluth News Tribune wrote, “The centerpiece of the show is an elaborate quilt made

by McTavish that features two blended scenes — one traditional and one of the protesters, who describe themselves as ‘water protectors’ — built from a mosaic of thousands of photographs and other Standing Rock images … and sewn together by artist daughter Karen McTavish.” A poem written by Janet runs around the frame of the quilt and features the words, “Today I cry out with the people at Standing Rock.” To read the full article

46 I NMH Magazine

and view their quilt, visit duluthnewstribune. com/news/4168125-exhibition-duluth-willsupport-standing-rock. Congratulations, Janet and Karen, on another masterpiece. • Diane Woods had a fabulous trip with Road Scholar in May to the Grand Staircase in southern Utah, which included visits to five amazing national parks and Lake Powell in Arizona.

Diane has adopted “an adorable, lively minipoodle and Cairn terrier mix who is the love of my life.” She had a hip replacement last autumn and is now doing very well. Whenever there is an opening, she plans to move into a one-bedroom apartment at RiverWoods, a continuing-care retirement community in Exeter, N.H., happily giving up the responsibilities of an aging house in Durham. Diane was last planning to go on a Grand Circle river cruise in Eastern Europe this spring. • We extend our sympathies to Nancy Lees Christiansen, whose husband, Arthur, passed away in November 2016. • Eunice Whitney Heinlein has moved to Seabury, a continuingcare community in Bloomfield, Conn. “Selling my 2,400-square-foot home of 30 years and moving into a 630-square-foot independentliving apartment was a challenge. Becoming part of this dynamic community was not, thanks to the experience I gained at Northfield.” • Barbara Zschiesche Cooley moved to Camphill/Ghent, a co-housing community in Chatham, N.Y., and loves it. She explains, “It is a small community of seniors who are interested in simple and natural living and environmental caretaking, [are] back to nature in their outlook, which suits me very well. I enjoy connecting with my Albany and [Unitarian Universalist] friends on Sundays. John Cooley lives eight minutes away, and Susanna Whitney Grannis lives nearby. Helen Bogle Crawshaw, Susanna, and their husbands and I all enjoyed a tour of a juried sculpture garden event at John’s in August [2016]. We completed our reunion with a lunch. It’s fun to stay connected.” • Elizabeth Tuttle Edge and her husband, Don, toured Croatia, Slovenia, and Trieste, and Venice, Italy, in October.

The Adriatic area is well worth a visit, but it is very popular — so choose May or October.

• From Don: It’s my sad duty to report the death of our senior-year class president, Jim Richardson, on 8/5/16. Jim grew up in

The Reverend Bill Kolb ’55

Connie and Don Hiller ’55 on vacation in Croatia.

Holyoke, Mass., and played varsity football at Mt. Hermon. He went on to Williams College, where he roomed with fellow Hermonites Jay Hodgson and Ernie Imhoff. At Williams, Jim majored in history and played football and lacrosse. Jim was one of several people who raised a three-story ladder to rescue Ernie from the roof of their fraternity house during a fire in their senior year. After graduating from Williams, Jim went to Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., and served three years active duty in the Navy. He was a stockbroker and investor with several Wall Street firms, retiring in 1999. Jim and his wife, Barbara, later moved to Williamstown, Mass., to be near the college, where he served on the executive committee of the alumni association.

• The Rev. Bill Kolb helped lead a discussion group, “Current Events in Light of Our Faith,” last fall at Calvary Episcopal Church in downtown Memphis, Tenn. • Ben Lindfors continues to amass academic honors. His fourvolume biography, Ira Aldridge, published by the University of Rochester Press, won the 2015 George Freedley Memorial Award Special Jury Prize “for an exemplary work in the field of live theatre or performance.” The award is presented annually by the Theatre Library Association in recognition of excellence. Congratulations, Ben! • Ernie Imhoff has written a book, Pine Cobble Knapsack: A Longing for the Hills, a collection of evocative essays about his climbing experiences around his native Williamstown (Mass.) and other locations, from Mount Whitney, Calif., to the Scottish Highlands. “It’s my romance,” Ernie writes, “of honoring the heights — some of my favorite places.” I’ve read some of it and it’s easy to see how Ernie rose to become managing editor of the Baltimore Evening Sun. Classmates interested in obtaining a copy, which I highly recommend, can reach Ernie at ernimhoff@gmail.com. • Connie and Don Hiller took a two-week trip in May 2016 through Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Slovenia.

Highlights included Lake Bled and the Caves of Postojna in Slovenia; Tito’s birth home in Croatia; Zagreb and the Plitvice Lakes; and the 1984 Olympic village and stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia. There was significant damage remaining from the Serbian bombardment in the early 1990s. “Good food, warm hosts, and beautiful countryside,” he writes.

CLASS NOTES

56

Northfield Mount Hermon Nelson Lebo nlebo@nmhschool.org

I am pleased to relay to you the concurrent publication of books by classmates John Lubetkin and Bill MacKinnon by the University of Oklahoma Press: Road to War, The 1871 Yellowstone Surveys by John. (“Road to War tells the fascinating story of the inevitable clash of wills between a fierce, proud people fighting to retain their traditional way of life, and a devout man who, with the full support of the president and the U.S. Army, was intent on carrying out what he believed to be God’s will and America’s destiny.”); and At Sword’s Point, Part 2, A Documentary History of the Utah War, 1858–1859 by Bill. (“Drawing on author-editor William P. Mackinnon’s half century of research and a wealth of new material, At Sword’s Point presents the first full history of the Utah War through the voices of participants — leaders, soldiers, and civilians from both sides. MacKinnon’s lively narrative, continued in this second volume, links and explains these firsthand accounts to produce the most detailed, in-depth, and balanced view of the war to date.”) • As you may have noticed in the latest edition of NMH Magazine, Steve Clapp authored Fixing the Food System, changing how we produce and consume food. Steve also gave an alumni seminar presentation on this topic at our 60th reunion. Sadly, I must add that Steve passed away on 12/1/16. We send our condolences to Steve’s family. • Ron Lotz reports on a “staff ride” with trustees and friends of Norwich University this past summer in France, touring battlefields where the American Expeditionary Forces fought in World War I in 1918. Ron has been a trustee and alumni president during the last 40 years of volunteer work for the university. • Kathryn Allen Rabuzzi, Ph.D., has published her book, Rotting Floorboards and Debut Dreams: Tripping Through Childhood Before LSD. The book is a fictionalized memoir, so Northfield is included. • “I recently took advantage of the University of South Carolina’s policy of allowing us old crocks to class, free of tuition and on a space-available basis,” says Ashby Morton. “I was still good enough to be placed in French 310, advanced oral communications. Every day I thanked T.D. Donovan for the foundation that he gave me in first-year French. He was a role model as a neat dresser and he illustrated teaching points with great funny cartoons on the blackboard.” • Neil Sheeley retired from the Naval Research Laboratory in November. He’s still doing math and physics, and he heard from his former Crossley roommate, Bill Kneedler, who lives in Utah. “It was a pleasure to hear from him,” said Neil. “Maybe we can all meet in another reunion sometime, if we keep well. I enjoyed our last one in June.” • “This May I hope to be on campus once more as my granddaughter, Shannon ’17, will be graduating,” says Harlan Baxter. For four years, she has been

the recipient of a very generous class of 1956 scholarship. Without that help, she would not have been able to attend NMH. “We are proud of all that she has accomplished and of all that NMH has done for her,” remarked Harlan. “She has consistently been on the high honor roll while participating in varsity sports. Thanks to all of our class members who have provided generous support for NMH. ” • Carol and Nelson Lebo missed out on their planned Christmas trip to Colorado because of Carol’s cervical spine surgery. They plan to travel to New Zealand in March, though.

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Northfield Mount Hermon David C. Williams revdcwms@metrocast.net • Jeanne Schwartz Magmer jeannem57@gmail.com

From Jean: Our 60th reunion is only a few weeks away, and it’s looking like a good number of us will be on the Mt. Hermon campus to catch up with each other and see how far we and our schools have come since we collected our diplomas that sunny June morning 60 years ago. • Kudos to Ellie Bullis, Judy and Darrell Cooper, Pat and Dave Williams, Jeanne Schwartz Magmer, Jocelyn Merrick, Joyce Moore Arthur, Lloyd Mitchell, Randy Foster, Sarah “Terry” Drew Reeves, and Julie Farmer from the Alumni Office for planning what promises to be a spectacular event. • Social media does work. In addition, 34 of the 67 profiles posted on our Northfield Mount Hermon School Class of 1957 website are Northfield classmates. Check them out at classcreator.com/Mount-Hermon-Massachusetts-Northfield-Mount-Hermon-1957. • Lloyd Mitchell created the website after our last reunion, and it’s gratifying to see more and more of you using it. It’s a great way to post updates and photos. So if you have a profile, be sure to add to it. If you don’t have a profile, sign up today on our class website. • Ginger Roe Lang, Dave Williams, and Ginger’s daughter, Priscilla, competed in the NMH Pie Race. Ginger got her pie and David is challenging the rest of us to participate in this event next year … walking, not running. • Although Beth Brown Parrott hasn’t kept in touch with NMH much since graduation, she is planning to come to our 60th reunion. She writes that after many years in New England, she moved to Charleston, S.C., in 2003 to be near her daughter, Marna ’90, and her family.

“My grandchildren are Mac (12) and Sadie (8),” writes Beth. “I love it here, and return to New England most summers to visit friends in Connecticut and Massachusetts and for an annual week’s sojourn with friends on Devil Island, Maine.” Beth keeps busy with stimulating activities: she seasonally prepares taxes and manages an office for H&R Block, performs as a standardized patient at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), publishes knitting books and teaches knitting classes, and volunteers as a

Alums like you frequently say, “I wish I could do more.”

You can.

By including NMH in your will.

With that simple act, you can have an impact on NMH students for generations to come.

Call 413-498-3084 or go to nmhschool.org/plannedgiving

senior mentor at MUSC and as a reading tutor for the Charleston County School District. • Marti “Betty” Welsh Goldstone and Jeanne Schwartz Magmer spent two weeks in September 2016 with 20 other women on a hiking trip in the Parco of the Dolomiti and Lake Barcis areas of northwestern Italy; then on to Istria and Croatia, visiting medieval hill towns on their way to the Adriatic Sea. They ended their trip with three days in Trieste, which included hearing Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in the famous Teatro Verdi, where both Mahler and Toscanini conducted. Marti will miss our 60th reunion — she has signed on with the same women’s group for a two-week barge trip from Passau, Germany, to the Black Sea. • Susan Tower Hollis will see us at reunion. Meanwhile, she writes from the November 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature/ American Academy of Religion in San Antonio, Texas: “Gail Minault and I had lunch here on the Riverwalk, did some catching up, and are planning to meet again at reunion! I will have retired by then to finally finish my long-overdue book for the publishers on the early roles and origins of five major ancient Egyptian goddesses, and to begin editing an Oxford handbook on ancient Egypt and the Hebrew Bible. So my colleagues ask, ‘Retirement? What retirement?’ Before reunion, I will have traveled to Raja Ampat, Indonesia,

spring 2017 I 47

CLASS NOTES

Jeanne Schwartz Magmer ’57 (left) and Marti Welsh Gladstone ’57 visited the Skocjan caves in Slovenia in September 2016.

to snorkel with whales and dolphins, and scuba dive with my daughter, as we live on a 138-foot schooner. We dived with sea lions in the Sea of Cortez off western Mexico in August 2016 and in the Virgin Islands [December 2015]. So, why in San Antonio? To give an invited paper on the biblical narrative of Joseph in relation to the ancient Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers (think the Joseph and Potiphar’s wife story).” • Donna “DeeDee” Woodward Hawes wrote in December, “Life in Florida ain’t like Massachusetts. Here it is Christmas and the thermometer is still pushing the 80s. Our church’s Cantata is Sunday; it’s good, but never like Vespers.”

DeeDee’s daughter, Kim, has reached the top employment advancement in her school.

Kim’s husband, Charlie, is the head electrician in the county school system. Their daughter works clerical in one of the elementary schools and their son is a sergeant in the Air Force, teaching pilots how to maneuver drones.

DeeDee’s daughter, Sandra, is sent all over the world by her firm as a telecommunications expert and is in charge of new installations in various countries. Sandra’s partner, Mirta, has retired after 30 years as manager to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s CEO. DeeDee’s husband, Bob, is an elder in the church, runs the Worship Committee, and is church organist.

Numismatics keeps him busy with his leading and speaking at clubs, as well as being CEO of the Korean War Veterans. DeeDee is a deacon at her church and is secretary for the Greater Daytona Beach Coin Club and the Korean War Veterans. Her main love is The Embroiders’ Guild of America, learning new stitchery!

“I am grieved that age and health will not allow me to attend reunion,” says DeeDee, “but I’ll be waiting to hear all about it!” • Beth Vaughan O’Gorman has heard from Robin Foster Spaulding and is hoping to work with her to get as many West Gould attendees as possible to reunion. Beth joined the Torrance Woman’s Club 10 years ago and has been volunteering to help raise money for the club (to give away): almost $20,000 last year. Since her knee replacement in 2008, she has met women that “race” in 5Ks. “I put the ‘race’ in quotes because we don’t actually run them, but walk fast,” says Beth. Regarding her multiple fundraising, she adds, “I haven’t found a cause yet that I really want to dedicate all my time

48 I NMH Magazine

to — there are so many wonderful groups dedicated to helping others, mostly children, that it is hard to choose.” Beth looks forward to seeing many of us at reunion. • From David: I’m writing this just a month after Ginger Roe Lang and I walked and ran in the “oldest continually run road race in America” at NMH — the Pie Race! By now, we in New Hampshire have already experienced more winter weather than we had all winter past.

Tomorrow the temperature is predicted to be 2 degrees! You will be reading these words just days before many of our classmates will be gathering for our 60th reunion on June 1, 2017! • Samuel S. Greene, math teacher par excellence and coach to our track and cross-country runners, left us on 11/27/16, and a number of us attended his memorial service in Bath, Maine. That leaves only Richard Kellom as the sole surviving teacher of our years on Hermon’s hill! After our reunion in June, I will list those classmates who have departed this life in the last five years because we will be remembering them as we gather. • The list of those who will be joining us on June 1–4 is growing, and if reading these words prompts you to register, it may well not be too late to do so. • Richard Goodman has retired from his law practice and spends winters in Houston and summers in Bloomfield, Conn., which puts him close to NMH. We hope he will join us for reunion.

Richard, wife Lea, and their seven kids gather every summer in Charleston, S.C. • Barbara Ann and Steve Springer have established their primary home in Silverton, Ore. (near their two sons), but still have property in Randolph, Vt. Steve never misses a reunion and even gets to an occasional Sacred Concert. • Gordon Valentine is doing well in Lexington, Va., and is coming to reunion! • Aldie Howard reports that “after 20 days of cold Oregon rain last winter, I decided to move to St. Petersburg, Fla., to American Cove mobile estates.” He’s planning to join us at Reunion 60! • Most of the “regulars” made it to our annual summer Maine Madness event last August. That event may not happen again, even after 15 years at Judy and Darrell Cooper’s home in South Portland. Those classmates will be at reunion, for sure. • Martha Johnson is still on her late-in-life mission as a “life journey guide” and is author of life journey books. We hope she will get to campus for Reunion 60! • I started off with the Pie Race, so I’ll close with that. In 1981, Paul Reyes had recently been divorced and was working out his 40th-year crisis by running when not flying. We were then on the planning team for our 25th reunion. Paul challenged me to get my running gear on and invited our classmates to run the Pie Race. Only 47 Mt. Hermon classmates had run in 1956 (our senior year), and we actually got seven to the starting line 25 years later. Most of us managed to get under the 33-minute goal to get a fresh-baked apple pie from the school bakery. Through the

years, those of us who continued running got a pie when they gave us 40 minutes as the challenge. Now all we need is to run, walk, or crawl across the finish line. • Yes, you heard it right: last November, Ginger Roe Lang and I got our pies. She walked with her daughter and they finished before dark — and were not the last to finish. I managed to cross the line, half-walking and half-running, in 57 minutes; well ahead of many students! To make the day really special for me, my grandson, Ben (an NMH senior and a member of the JV cross-country team) was the 57th runner to earn his pie! • Ginger and I have vowed to run/walk the Pie Race until we have to crawl!

We are now inviting/challenging our NMH classmates to join us. It is usually in midNovember, when the weather can be balmy or icy. The 4.3-mile course is not easy and surely requires some walking regimen and diet — and we invite you to join us! I’m going to see if the school will host us with supper in Alumni Hall! • Speaking of running, I just learned that Frank Shorter ’65 will be the keynote speaker at NMH graduation on May 21, 2017.

Leading up to his incredible victory at the 1972 Olympic Marathon was his winning the Pie Race in 1964 and setting the cross-country course record that year under the watchful eye of Coach Sam Greene. I’ll be at that event because my grandson, Ben ’17, will be graduating and heading off to St. Lawrence University, as did both of my kids. Wow! • When all is said and done, we thought that our 50th reunion would be our “biggest and best,” and now it appears that our 60th may get close. So do try to get there on June 1–4, at least to the banquet on Saturday evening.

Short of that, please send me a note that I can share at our class meeting!

58

Northfield Mount Hermon William Hawley hawleys@acsalaska.net • Helen Engelbrecht Ownby helen.ownby@gmail.com

From Helen: I have notes from eight of you!

Will start with the joint NMH news from Ellie Watson Payzant and Tom Payzant, Joan Millet Walker and Steve Walker, and Trinka Craw Greger and John Stone. • All 16 of Ellie Watson Payzant and Tom Payzant’s family members had a wonderful gathering in Oregon last summer. Ellie and Tom have been busy with driving practice for their 16-yearold twins (brave grandparents), soccer games, and trips to the gym. They sing in their church choir and had hoped to sing Sacred Concert, but it’s the same weekend as their grandson’s college graduation. The coming summer will include a granddaughter’s wedding and 55th reunions at Connecticut College and Williams. “We are coping with what lies ahead around the world and in Washington,” they said. • Trinka Craw Greger writes, “John Stone and I spent Christmas cruising the Rhine, from Amsterdam to Basel,

CLASS NOTES

Kitty Little King ’58 (left) and Conny Bais Schreuders ’58 made a fabulous trip to Iceland in September 2016.

ending with a trip into the Alps to see the Jungfrau close up. Our summer sailing plans were put aside when John was scheduled for open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve.

We took a three-week road trip through Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton. So we have enjoyed the summer and fall in Stonington and John is recovering well.

Our 60th reunion is in the works, so please keep June 2018 in mind.” • Joan Millet Walker and Steve Walker stopped in for lunch and a visit with Dennis and me on their way back to Florida this fall. They had a good summer with a new boat in Rhode Island. • Carolyn Penta Coolidge-Riggs retired as a nurse practitioner but continues to volunteer and enjoy lots of music, both choral and with her viola da gamba. Durham, where Carolyn has been living, is “upscaling,” but the downside to increased arts, culture, and good eats is increased rents and property taxes for long-term residents. She and Tim have signed up for a continuing-care community nearby and are sorry to leave their 1922 bungalow, where they have lived for 22 years. • Claire Kurtgis-Hunter did not attend a Williamsburg Family Christmas in order to allow Paul more recovery time after some health issues, which included a medical flight from Nantucket to Boston. They missed seeing Joan and Steve Walker on the island this summer. • Lynne Williams Kern and Bill are living at Carmel Valley Manor and encourage visitors to come to the central California coast. They celebrated their 50th anniversary last August with a trip to the Caribbean. Their oldest grandchild will head to college this year. Lynne and Bill are keeping their second home in Pebble Beach for family holidays. • Peg Herron Haring and her family just returned from Volcano, a small village perched on the edge of the Kīlauea crater on the Big Island of Hawaii, where they have spent Thanksgiving for the past five years.

The volcano’s lava lake began to rise, sputter, and fountain. • Astrid Lundberg Naviaux is delighted to announce that their oldest grandson attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He is following in his father’s footsteps, who is also a Boy Scout leader, and will be attending the World Jamboree. • Good friends for nearly 60 years, Conny Bais Schreuders and Kitty Little King have been visiting each other in the U.S. and in various European countries

(primarily Holland, where Conny lives). They recently went to Iceland together. Their common interests in music and hiking have kept them together, and now with the aid of Skype. Conny retired as a doctor last year and has been working for the Parkinson’s Institute since her husband passed away with Parkinson’s five years ago. She keeps in touch with her two children and four grandchildren. She also plays piano for different chamber music ensembles and still golfs twice a week. • From Bill: Sadly, Samuel Greene, our class advisor, died in Brunswick, Maine, on 11/27/16. Mr. Greene was a highly respected member of the faculty and the math department. He later became the headmaster of Pittsburgh’s Shady Side Academy.

He was also our very successful cross-country coach. Mr. Greene, together with Fred McVeigh, led the Mt. Hermon cross-country team to an undefeated season and to first place in the New England Championships in our senior year. John LeBaron said that Sam Greene “lived the good life in every possible way.” John recalled that Mr. Greene was a strong supporter of the United Nations, and had said that “talking is better than war.” • As a 40-year lakeshore resident and retired civil engineer, John Abel is a board member of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, striving to help protect the watershed. He participates in the administration and the annual symposia of his favored professional organization, the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS). John attended the managerial meeting at IASS headquarters in Madrid last spring and combined this with tourism in the Spanish city. In September, accompanied by his son, Bill Abel ’91, John traveled to Tokyo for IASS, which included touring in and around the city and Kyoto. At home, John is still working on the history of Cornell civil engineering, one of the oldest departments of the university. A highlight last year for John was addressing a session of convention days at the Women’s Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls, N.Y., about the first U.S. woman to earn a civil engineering degree, Cornell 1905 alumna Nora Stanton Blatch DeForest Barney, who was also the granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. John welcomes classmate visitors to upstate New York. The “Abel B&B” in Ithaca has plenty of room and zero rates for alumni; for advance reservations, contact john.

abel@cornell.edu. • Dale “Beetle” Bailey and Arlene have settled in Roseville, Calif., after 40 years in rainy Seattle. Dale says that he is a “reunion junkie” and will definitely return for our 60th in 2018. • As our class’s sole representative, Norm Barstow ran the Pie Race in November and finished the 4.3-mile course in less than an hour. His effort and time, combined with the fact that he is “old,” qualified him for a fresh pie! Norm said the apple pie was “very delicious.” • Carol and Bill Campbell purchased a home in Middlebury, Vt., and have moved there from Queensbury, N.Y. • Steve Fuller is part of the meager number of our age group still counted as part of the U.S. workforce, the 12 percent of men and women aged 75 to 79 working or seeking employment. Steve was scheduled to retire from George Mason University after 23 years (following 25 years at George Washington University) earlier this year. But the university made him an offer that he couldn’t refuse — the university has established a new institute in his name (the Stephen S. Fuller Institute for Research on the Washington Region’s Future Economy) with full funding, from private sources, for three years if he would stay on to direct it. Steve also writes, “As an NMH trustee, and now board chair, I visit campus at least five times a year and spend countless hours on conference calls discussing NMH business, plans, and projects. This exposure has given me an enhanced appreciation for what NMH is accomplishing and for its potential to raise the bar for what secondary education needs to be in order to prepare Generation Z to be the leaders the world requires to keep society moving forward. If you haven’t visited campus recently, by all means go. Attend a class. Get involved. We should all be very proud of our school. With our 60th reunion in June 2018, we can show the others one more time that the class of ’58 is still leading the way. Join us in Gill and let’s make some noise.” • Last fall, John Patten and wife Carol took a six-week auto tour of Canada and the U.S. John had earlier brought his son and daughter to Alaska and drove the pipeline from end to end. John hopes to be in Gill, “if he is still vertical,” for the 60th. • Paul Severance devotes his time to mobilizing elders around the country to provide a non-partisan voice for action to address

From left: Tom Chase ’58, Trinka Craw Greger ’58, Linda Chase, John Stone ’58, and Joan and Steve Walker ’58 dined at The Old Grist Mill in Seekonk, Mass.

spring 2017 I 49

A CLOSER LOOK

Long Walk As a freshman at Mount Hermon, Soren West ’59 started hatching plans for a 2,100-mile adventure on the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Maine to Georgia. He’d caught the hiking bug after his first trek as a 12-year-old boy in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

But life as a student and then as a family man and civil attorney in Pennsylvania delayed West’s boyhood plans — until a few years ago.

“It was something that got planted in there and it just seemed an inevitable thing that I would have to answer to,” West told Lancaster Online.

With saddlebags full of gear and his golden retriever, Theo, as a hiking companion, West set out in February 2016, having prepared with brisk walks and mini treks on Pennsylvania’s trails.

Leaving short-haired and clean-shaven, he returned in October almost unrecognizable, with a long beard — and a loose tooth, toe and fingertip nerve damage, and shoulder bursitis.

While several falls and bouts of loneliness challenged West, he became the oldest person to through-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2016. He also was featured in Healthy Aging magazine.

West’s son, Soren West Jr., says of his father, “The moment he set out on the trail, he formed a legacy for his descendants. The moment he completed it, his legacy became monumental.”

— Kris Halpin

50 I NMH Magazine

climate change while there is still time to avoid catastrophic impacts on the world. He helped initiate Elders Climate Action (eldersclimateaction.org) and serves as co-chair.

Paul spent most of his working life as a community organizer in Rochester, N.Y., and Indianapolis. He founded and was executive director of an Indiana senior citizens advocacy organization for 27 years. Paul and his wife, Robin, live in Beech Grove, Ind. Their two children, two grandchildren, and great-grandson live nearby. Robin and Paul spend February each year in their camper in Oscar Scherer State Park near Sarasota, Fla. • Bob Starzel’s life after Mt. Hermon benefited from job jumping — starting with the Air Force, then the Foreign Service and State Department, followed by law school, law practice, and then an interesting 20 years with The Anschutz Corporation of Denver. When the corporation bought the Southern Pacific Railroad, Bob moved to San Francisco. Bob’s wife became sick in 2005 (his “best job” was taking care of her) and he returned to work in 2007 after taking the California bar, retiring from the practice in 2011. Bob reactivated his law license to take on a case in Montana, and he is currently fighting with transportation agencies of San Francisco.

This recent experience has given Bob a new view of government. He wonders whether the best thing a government agency could have would be an outsider who challenges and criticizes existing practices. Maybe this new administration will improve government. San Francisco could use that. • John Stone and Trinka Craw Greger have begun work on organizing our 60th reunion. Alumni will be guests of the school, while accompanying guests will be charged a modest fee. In the meantime, John and Trinka hope to sponsor a number of mini reunions at locations scattered across the country. They are tentatively planning for events/parties at NMH local clubs in October 2017 (Mountain Day), Vespers (New York, December 2017), Founder’s Day (February 2018), and the Boston Marathon (April 2018), leading up to our reunion. They ask that you mark your calendars for June 2018 and that you plan to attend. • Steve White is nursing an arthritic knee, but suggests that we all return to NMH for the 2017 Pie Race.

59

Northfield Mount Hermon Nancy Bissell Goldcamp 2002 Chantilly Drive Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 ngoldcamp@cox.net • Ty Bair Fox tybfox@aol.com • Tom Baxter baxtg741@comcast.net

From Nancy: My thanks go to Ty Bair Fox for pinch-hitting for me during the last class notes cycle. Bill and I were in Tucson from mid-May, when he had his surgery, to early July. Bill is still doing rehab here at home with some good physical therapy and hopes to be standing and

walking on his own within the next couple of months. • We were all deeply saddened to hear news that Barbara Mackin Kondras had died on 7/30/16. We could hardly have found a better example of a good and faithful servant to the NMH community. She served alumni in many capacities, both formal and informal.

For 20 years or so, she and Jim attended every reunion, where Jim hosted the 12-step meetings. As the word got around about those meetings, many alums said that just having them available during reunions helped overcome any skepticism they might have had about the wisdom of attending. Bill and I always enjoyed Barbara and Jim’s visits to Arizona during the winter months, and Jim even made his usual trip out west last summer.

• Helen “Lennie” Moss Ogden and Betsy Hammatt Hawes rendezvoused at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in September.

Lennie writes, “We were roommates as juniors.

We went our separate ways after graduation and hadn’t seen each other since! However, we found each other on Facebook and have had a grand time connecting and conversing. We’ve found that we think alike on many issues and have fun sharing posts. Betsy lives in Blooming Grove, N.Y., and I now live in Gorham, Maine. We both love gardening, so the Coastal Gardens was a perfect spot for a reunion. I suspect we won’t wait 57 years to do it again!” • Victoria Travis is having fun reinventing herself! “I’m keeping busy with my recruiting and coaching businesses,” she says.

“I decided to shift the paradigm and get stronger as I get older; I’m doing Olympic weightlifting three times a week to accomplish this and am hoping to compete in July 2017 in San Diego. I’m now able to squat 154 pounds! I feel wonderful, my brain and body are very happy, and my balance is great. My grandson, Dylan, is finishing his first semester at Duke. My son is creating new senior medical programs for Humana.” • Emily Tucker Dunlap had a busy 2016. “I attended the Frank McCourt Creative Writing Summer School in New York City, a productive and fun four days culminating in a brunch at McSorley’s Old Ale House. A week later I was off for a 10-day trip to Paris and Barcelona.

After recuperating at home for two weeks, I journeyed west to Seattle. My son and his family took me to the Turtle Bay resort in Hawaii for a belated birthday present — great weather, flora, fauna, and food! When I returned, I spent two weeks in Woodstock, N.Y., at the Peripatetic Writing Workshop. I spent the fall recuperating some more, then went to Seattle again after Thanksgiving.” • Although J. Reilly Lewis didn’t attend NMH, I’m sure any alums who ever lived and sang in the Washington, D.C., area, myself included, were deeply saddened to learn that he died suddenly last June; he was a few years younger than us.

Nancy Johnson kindly kept me informed about memorial services for him and what the choral groups he was associated with are doing

CLASS NOTES in his absence. Some of my fondest memories from the 30 years I spent in the D.C. area are associated with him and the beautiful music he helped create. • From Tom: It’s not too soon to start planning to return to campus for our 60th reunion. • Art Cofod is still motivating in Stockton, Calif. — a bit creakily but is in reasonably good health. He has a son, a daughter, and four grandkids (ages 2 to 11).

His son will be head of school at Foothill School of Arts and Sciences in Boise, Idaho, and his daughter is a publishing manager in California. Art retired from the law 35 years ago and from computer programming three years ago. He likes walking his dog, Dulce, reading, Web surfing, enjoys films and junk TV, napping, and relaxing — he’s really well adjusted to retirement. Art will seriously think about attending our 60th. • Frank Partel has made Bishops Bread from a recipe provided by Helen Gould Bennett, Northfield class of 1928. “The end result was perfect,” said Frank.

• After graduating from NMH, David Lunde attended Knox College (Illinois), where he became interested in poetry. At the end of his college senior year, poet Archibald MacLeish visited campus for writing discussions and encouraged David to apply to the prestigious University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. After graduating at the top of his class from Iowa, David worked in the English department of State University of New York at Fredonia. In addition to teaching for 34 years, his illustrious career has consisted of writing his own poetry as well as translating poetry from other languages (one of his translations won the PEN U.S.A. Translation Award). Read more about David’s career at davidlunde.com.

• Peter Welsh says, “As you know, my life has ‘gone to the dogs.’” He is still breeding standard poodles: solid “colors” and multicolored. Each year, Peter and I remember our years on the hockey team. Peter says he doesn’t get enough time to reflect, but did enjoy the memory of hoping for ice and one memorable session on Shadow Lake (or is it pond?) when it was superb, smooth, black ice. The puck slid forever. • Fraser Wright had the pleasure of lunching with Ken Holden ’58 and his wife, Jane. “Ken and I played baseball together at Mt. Hermon,” says Fraser, “and he was a nifty control pitcher.” Ken and Fraser have hooked up several times since they both retired. “Ken told me that he ‘lost’ his arm in college,” Fraser continues, “so, unfortunately, his baseball career came to an end then. As for me, I developed rotator cuff tendonitis when I was 41 and haven’t been able to throw since then — but it hardly matters.” • Bob Friedman’s son married last summer near Bob’s Maine home on the coast, adjacent to the Pemaquid Point lighthouse. Friends and family came from all over the country to attend. Bob and his wife, Win, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Sarasota, Fla., last year. Friends and family came from Anchorage, Alaska, New York City, and Atlanta to help them celebrate;

Betsy Hammatt Hawes ’59 (left) and Helen “Lennie” Moss Ogden ’59 visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Victoria Travis ’59 exercises at the gym.

friends in the Sarasota area also attended. Bob and Win’s anniversary consisted of dinner at the Laurel Oak Country Club and a catered brunch at their home, complete with a professional jazz pianist. “We didn’t feel 50 years should be allowed to pass without a major blowout weekend,” says Bob. Bob lives in Sarasota in the winter months and resides north in Storrs, Conn., and New Harbor, Maine, during the summer. Bob takes multiple courses during the winter in Sarasota, attends the Sarasota Symphony, and loves to be out of the serious New England winters. • Bob Meyers told me, “I am very sorry that I have not slipped across the Delaware Bay to visit. Have had it in my plans to join you for lunch at the Millville Airport, and I have not had a day when I could have the weather cooperate. Our Cessna 172 is in for its annual inspection at Aerodyne in Chesapeake. As soon as it is finished, I will make some more attempts to see you.” • Len Wurman still goes questing for the colorful Asian rooster; this year will be an international quest. • Nev Davison spent Christmas in California with his son. • C.B. Loth writes, “Upon retiring from Union Bank of Switzerland, financial services, at the end of May 2013, I started as treasurer of the New England chapter of an international charitable organization. This is still my primary focus. I remain on the boards of several companies. Our concert facility in New Hampshire is doing quite well, and the Country Music Awards just named us one of the top five venues in the nation again. Our property borders Lake Winnipesaukee, and we are now the largest employer in the county. I was honored to be elected a trustee of a national charitable foundation. I’m still driving my old English car and still manage to get some flight time in. I highly value my friends from NMH.” • In closing, I would like to say that we are spending as much time with our daughters and grandchildren as we possibly can. That involves trips to Rockwood, Maine, where we enjoy Maine in the summertime and fishing together. I just finished my eighth home for Habitat for Humanity and am now working on a project for Amazing Grace Ministries that will provide mini-homes for veterans with PTSD. Somewhere in there I made three quilts. I get to return to the NMH campus two or three

times a year for Alumni Council events. Hard to grasp that my great-niece, Shannon ’17, has completed four years at NMH and will graduate this May.

60

Northfield Mount Hermon Phil Allen philhallen@gmail.com

This past September, a small group of NMH friends traveled again to the North Maine Woods for a stay at Attean Lake Lodge on Birch Island in Attean Lake. Organizer Albie Booth was joined by Bill Thibault, Karl Radune, and Karl’s son, Matthew Radune ’95, who is an architect in New York City. On their second day, they left the island to have lunch in the nearby town of Jackman with classmate Ron Gerard, whom they hadn’t seen for 56 years. They all absorbed stories of Ron’s life and his multiple careers over lunch at Mama Bear’s Restaurant. After graduating from Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, Ron managed Anthony’s Pier 4 restaurant for two years. Following several years with Merrill Lynch and 10 years with Tom’s of Maine in foreign operations, he and a partner developed a successful gel cap pill for arthritis. After selling the rights, Ron was part of group which tried, unsuccessfully, to buy Burt’s Bees from Roxanne Quimby. Roxanne is the same person who donated land for our most recently created national monument. Ron married a former Miss Maine and has four children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He is currently a licensed Maine guide, working out of his homes on Damariscotta Lake and in Jackman, Maine. He is a sporting clays enthusiast, winning several U.S. Open class titles. • Albie Booth is fully retired, living in Far Hills, N.J. He is on the board of the New

From left: Bill Thibault ’60, Albie Booth ’60, Ron Gerard ’60, and Karl Radune ’60 had lunch at Mama Bear’s Restaurant in Maine.

spring 2017 I 51

CLASS NOTES Jersey Land Conservancy, working to conserve land in New Jersey and a portion of the Appalachian Trail in northern New Jersey. He is excited to be able to contribute time and energy to this worthy cause. • Bill Thibault lives in the Los Angeles area. He recently worked for another year as a thoracic surgeon after being called back from retirement. He has one son in Ithaca, N.Y., and another in Reno, Nev.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Alexandra Groome Scopteuolo sandis10992@yahoo.com • Craig Walley operacraig@aol.com

From Sandi: Another year is over. Where does the time go? I read on Facebook, “I thought it would take longer to get old!” • Ayo Weiri Shanti writes, “So sorry to have missed everyone at reunion last year. And really missing Gretel Porter, who passed away shortly afterward. We spent many long nights at Gould talking about the state of the world and what we envisioned for the future. It was Gretel that arranged my first trip to Bhutan, which transformed my life. I have been involved in local, global, and cyber community building. Last year, I attended the U.N. conference on women and sustainable development (and will do so this year) as a representative of the Program on Women’s Economic, Social, and Civil Rights. I gave an online presentation on “perspective” for Espavo, a global organization promoting awakening, awareness, and empowerment.

Was on a panel discussion at Hunter College about forms of militarization in our society and stories of healing and reconnection. Have worked on my wonderfully diverse neighborhood as part of communal ways to connect and work though challenges of diversity. And have been actively engaged in and promoting New York City’s new composting program.” • Elizabeth Burton Matuk shares, “Charlie, my husband of 50 years, died two years ago of mesothelioma. I’m now looking for a fresh start; daughter Lynne and I are moving (with our six dogs) to Gig Harbor, where we have just bought a house. I have raised and shown English cockers since the early 1990s and look forward to continuing in the Washington area.

I will be retiring at age 74 and now want to get a Washington license. Lynne is also a family nurse practitioner, and she’ll be working in the V.A. system in Tacoma. I am well, full of good energy, and am eager to dive into a new community and a new life.” • From me … my whole extended family went on a Mediterranean cruise this summer. We went to my mother-in-law’s hometown in Italy and all the usual tourist stops. We did Alaska last year. I was promoted to executive marketing director in “Youngevity” and am enjoying it. My older daughter is director of the breast clinic in Greenville Hospital in South Carolina. My younger daughter is taking over my husband’s development company. Two grandchildren

52 I NMH Magazine

Lucy Benjamin Hazler ’61 (left) and Susan Meader Tobias ’61 attended the Burg Theater Open House in Vienna.

entered college last year and they love it. • Just a reminder: all financial gifts to NMH count, no matter how small! Grants are judged on the percentage of alumni that donate, not just the amount. Until next time, have a wonderful life, and be healthy and happy. • From Craig: John Hahn and Chuck Bennett attended an Alumni Council meeting on the NMH campus in October, where the members were updated on the NMH strategic plan and on issues involving the school. Contact either John or Chuck for more details. • My wife, Connie, and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with visits to Athens and Rome and several of the Balkan countries. • Peter Johnson reports the sad news of John Berlin’s death last year.

John was a very interesting person and a fine writer. There is a short example of his writing in the 50th Reunion Class Book, recounting his first exposure to faculty member Harry Snow.

62

Northfield Louise Cole Nicollet lnicollet@gmail.com

Many of you were as shocked and saddened as I was to learn of Clare Dingman Rhoades’s passing on 3/3/16 in the fall issue of NMH Magazine. This bright and athletic girl who succeeded in all she undertook at Northfield — my roommate our freshman year — was president of our class junior year and was a senior “cop” in Wilson. Susan Shepard was, among others, a dear friend of Clare’s throughout their four years at NSFG. An excerpt from Clare’s obituary, printed in the Santa Fe New Mexican, reads: “Clare Dingman Rhoades was struck by a truck while riding her bicycle in Tucson, Ariz., with her group of Seniors On Bikes (affectionately known as the SOBs). She originally came to Santa Fe to work for the Southwest Outward Bound School, but then embarked on a career as a nurse. She retired shortly before her death after 30 years of caring for patients in northern New Mexico as a family nurse practitioner, including serving in Santa Fe’s first AIDS clinic.” Clare’s life was also a long series of amazing adventures (hiking, backpacking, trekking, skiing, running rivers), and when she died she was preparing for a summer expedition to Machu Picchu with her husband, Richard Hughes, and her daughter, Caitlin. Some of you may remember

David Chandler, husband of the late Susan Saunders Chandler ’62, and Louise Cole Nicollet ’62.

Clare’s sisters, who also attended Northfield: Mary Dingman-Abel ’56 and Lori Dingman Wadsworth ’59. Clare is also survived by her brother, Tom. Clare lived without fear or hesitation and felt lucky to be surrounded by the community of friends who joined her adventures and shared her passion for life.

She was a generous and devoted friend to many. Her vivacious spirit and compassionate heart will be sorely missed. • I was also very sad to hear that our classmate Victoria “Vicki” Koo Hitchins passed away on 6/17/16 in Rockville, Md., as a result of an automobile accident. Her husband, Dr. Tony Hitchins, and her two daughters, Kathleen and Kristina, and other relatives survive her. Vicki, who was a Wellesley alumna with long graduate studies and postdoc research at three different universities, had a Ph.D. and was a research microbiologist. Vicki was an officer in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration); as a Corps officer, she participated in their Hurricane Katrina response, among many other public-health initiatives. Vicki loved cooking, entertaining, animals, classical music concerts, and traveling.

• When we submitted pictures of Cindy Kidder and Kate Dennison Chipman with Landon “Ladd” Jeffers at the 2015 Sacred Concert for NMH Magazine, little did we imagine that Ladd, my first sweetheart (we met in 1961 at a Northfield/Mt. Hermon senior mixer) and my boyfriend for six years, would be gone by now. Ladd died on 9/1/16 from complications of pancreatic cancer. Ladd is mourned by his ex-wife, Kathy Murphy Jeffers; his daughter, Julia Jeffers Brown; his family; his beloved companion for six years, Liz Burke; and his many friends. • This fall, Jean-Claude and I had a wonderful visit here in France with our friend David Chandler, Susan Saunders Chandler’s husband, up from Australia to do some research in Europe. David is a retired professor of Southeast Asian studies (Monash University, Melbourne); he stays intellectually active and despite his sadness at losing Susan, keeps a great sense of humor and finds joy in his work, his three children, and his grandchildren (the latter all live in Melbourne). • On a brighter note, I just had the most delightful visit with a lady who isn’t our classmate, but whom I “found” four years ago (after over 50 years!)

CLASS NOTES

The late Vicki Koo Hitchins ‘62

and who has become a dear friend to both me and my husband, Jean-Claude. Perhaps some of you will remember that intelligent, darkhaired beauty who spoke French with us and presided over language labs. Michèle Butzbach was a French assistant in our senior year and came to Northfield thanks to my wonderful French teacher, Nancy Wilkins Klein, who was a group leader for “The Experiment in International Living,” in which Michèle participated in summer 1961. Michèle had three children with two Spanish husbands and has lived in Barcelona most of her life.

She was a teacher and trainer in French as a foreign language and is the co-author of several textbooks in the field. She still works as a consultant at the age of 74! She also has an organic orchard in Alcanar, south of Barcelona.

Once a year at Christmastime, on her way to Belfort in Alsace to visit her family for the holidays, Michèle stops by our house in Genay to leave us a load of produce, including organic olive oil and organic grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, and lemons. • Ingrid Maidel Krohn had been lost to NMH for a long time, but we were fortunate to find her again around the time of our 50th reunion. Ingrid was such a help to me in dealing with the loss of Susan Saunders Chandler, my beloved lifelong friend, who died in October 2015.

Ingrid writes, “Greetings, everyone, from the Lone Star State! My husband (MIT nuclear physicist; we met at Stanford) and I moved to far west Texas shortly before Gary’s passing.

Gary always wanted to live in the West, and he had a short time in the high desert to call his own. My house is in the Davis Mountains, cattle ranch country, and every one of you is welcome here anytime! Come in August for the Ranch Rodeo! Just one hour from Big Bend National Park and close to McDonald Observatory. I spend my time oil painting and writing. I don’t miss the ice ages I spent in science publishing in Manhattan and Boston one bit. Thinking of moving, so don’t wait too long to visit. Many blessings to you and yours!” • Carol Beyer Renwick writes, “For the past four years my husband, Hugh, and I have spent winters in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We love the Mexican people, culture, and climate. Turning up in the central plaza, we might find a wedding procession on foot complete with 10-foot-high puppets, a parade

of native people in full regalia, always families, and sometimes donkeys or limos. There are always small mobile food stands, roasted corn on sticks, ice cream, tacos, and fresh fruits.

The mix of Mexican and European cultures is very pleasing. If I go on any longer I will sound like a travel brochure! Greetings to my classmates.” Carol closes with a seasonal memory of Northfield: “I was walking downstairs a couple of days ago carrying my iPad that was playing Christmas carols when I had a sudden memory of being awakened for Christmas vacation by the sound of angels singing in the corridor. I truly did think I had been transported to heaven.” • When you read this column, the holidays will be over. I hope that you all had a happy time with family and/ or friends. What I hope even more is that you’ll ring in my New Year with an “avalanche” of (good) news for the next issue!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Diane Sewall Chaisson diane@meadowlarks-farm.net • Willard Thomen wthomen@stfrancis.edu

From Diane: I’m writing while listening to Vespers and preparing for Christmas. After mining Facebook and the responses to my usual plea, I find one thing comes up frequently: 2016 seems to be the year we are searching for who we are on a cellular level.

Ancestry DNA seems to be a common thread.

I also know that many are disturbed about the political outcome. Now is the time to rely on what we were taught at Northfield. Your reunion team will be planning for 2018 starting in June as we observe 1962’s 55th. • Carol Tyler Kirk graduated from Cherry Hill Seminary in the summer of 2014 with a master’s of divinity in pastoral counseling. “At the time, I was doing volunteer work as a Mount Hermon hospital chaplain at our local hospital,” says E. Scott Calvert Carol. “I became one of the instructors at scottcalvert@mac.com Cherry Hill in the new master’s program to It is with deep sadness that I report the death prepare military chaplains. So far, I have of two classmates: Landon “Ladd” Jeffers on taught ‘Religion, Ethics and War’ and ‘The 9/1/16 and John Van Horn on 11/3/15. Their Experience of War.’ And in the next semester obituaries can be found on Legacy.com. • I’ll be teaching ‘Counseling Military Families.’”

Ladd Jeffers was a class stalwart. He loved • Cheryl Ortstein Wilson spent an afternoon in NMH with a passion, visiting each year for Liberty, Maine, with a friend of her cousin: 50 years, and he believed that NMH turned Muriel Maxwell Nelson ’49. • Lydia Adams his life around. Having fought pancreatic Davis has been involved in festivals, area clubs, cancer for 14 months, Ladd died of cardiac and teaching American Sign Language and arrest. Following Dartmouth, he had a long early-music classes. • Molly Hogan had a car career as an equity trader on Wall Street. He accident last May, resulting in a broken left was best known by our class and his many wrist. She was in Palestine twice last year, and friends as an avid choral singer, a baritone was invited to a wedding (an over-the-top soloist, and a chorus member with the two-day celebration with dancing all day, both Long Island Choral Society as well as with days, and beautiful costumes), then out to the multiple churches. Ladd often returned to desert above the Dead Sea. • Joan Erlanger’s NMH to sing as a chorister and soloist for husband is retiring from Lincoln City Council Sacred Concert. Ladd was a regular at NMH after serving for 12 years. “I’ll be less of a phonathons in New York City. He lived life meeting widow,” says Joan. “Two grandkids to the fullest, with a particular passion for are now in college. I’m still playing in dirt choral music, the Latin language, horticulture, every chance I get. I’m planning a road trip to and “driving fast and artfully.” His ear-to-ear Santa Fe, N.M., to visit an old friend.” • April smile and deep baritone will be sorely missed. • Dennis Lyon retired after 45 years of John Wilson learned of John Van Horn’s death international travel as a flight attendant for through a colleague who worked at Williams Pan Am and then Delta. She had a knee College, where John was a chef. John was an replacement last spring (and is now back to avid camper and member of both the Wiltennis and golf ), and spends her winters with liamstown Grange and New Hope Methodist her new gentleman friend in Florida, but she Church. • You will note that this column is still has her house in Connecticut. April spent essentially a repeat of the September email. I called for class notes input in November and received nothing. As I keep saying, it’s your column. If you did not receive the September email, it is because your email is not registered on the NMH website. We will be using emails more often in the years ahead, so please go to the NMH website under Alumni, Stay Connected, NMH Community, and register your email. • We meet on June 1–4 at NMH for our 55th reunion. I’m told you will receive this before we meet. Join us!

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Cheryl Ortstein Wilson ’63 (left) spent an afternoon with Muriel Maxwell Nelson ’49 in Liberty, Maine.

spring 2017 I 53

CLASS NOTES two sons-in-law) and two grandsons (ages 4 and 9), Liz sold her Virginia home of 33 years.

“We can now all get together for holiday meals without anyone having to do long-distance travel,” wrote Liz. • Margery Attwater Mosher writes, “Keith and I moved into an in-law apartment in our younger daughter’s house in March 2016. We are enjoying the two grandchildren who live there (they will be 7 and 4 in May). We had our 50th anniversary last August — now that’s something to wrap your head around! We took our first trip David Robinson ’63 with his wife, Felicia overseas to the U.K., and my sister, Marilyn Attwater Grant ’66, and her husband went with us. Plans to visit Elise Elderkin fell two fabulous weeks in Rajasthan, India, except through due to a family emergency, but I did for the terrible smog in Delhi! “I hope to connect with two relatives on my paternal continue to travel, seen so much but want to grandmother’s side. It was an amazing trip, see more,” April writes. Meanwhile, she’s with all kinds of adventures driving on the enjoying retirement and her family. • Harriet narrow country roads on the right side!” • Goff Guerrero attended the Partnership 2016 From Willard: As I compiled these notes in Inclusion and Innovation in the Americas cold December, I was just coming off conductmeeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, with the ing two Christmas concerts with my University of Minnesota. This meeting was community chorus here in Joliet, Ill., and an part of the Partners of the Americas program advent music service with my church choir in connected to the U.S. State Department; it Downers Grove. I used two traditional French dates back to the time of JFK’s Alliance for carols, one for each group, which Al Raymond Progress program. Their presentation was used for Christmas Vespers: “I Hear Along called “Sending Diverse Students from Our Street” and “Sing We Noel Once More.” I Minnesota to Cuernavaca.” The U.S. try to carry on Mr. Raymond’s cheerful ambassador to Mexico opened the meeting European carol selections whenever possible. and Harriet met people from all over the As for the 12 days of Christmas, I escaped hemisphere. “I even met some women from Illinois for the delightful climate of San Diego.

Barranquilla, Colombia, where we lived when I was at Northfield,” says Harriet. “In October, • John Gamel had heart surgery in December to replace his aortic valve. He was born with a a citizens’ group called Identidad Morelos gave bicuspid valve instead of the usual tricuspid. me a recognition for the work I have done He was in his 40s when this problem was over the years promoting our state of Morelos discovered and was told he would have to deal as a Spanish-language destination. I was with it when he reached his 70s. Even though deeply honored. Richard Lussen recently came a nearly five-hour operation was planned, his to study with us for two weeks. He had only took three hours due to his “healthy brought a group of students from Northfield living.” His arteries were clear of obstructions to study with us in Cuernavaca in the late — no sludge! Prior to his surgery, John had 1990s.” • Elise Elderkin spent five wonderful helpful conversations with Holt Anderson days with Kathy Shordt in The Hague in about Holt’s bypass surgery. Both shared the October. “My trip came very soon after an “sternotomy” experience, where the sternum exhausting stay in British Columbia, where bone is parted to allow access to the heart. It my daughter was having a rough time after the takes six weeks for the bone to knit back birth of her second daughter,” wrote Elise. together. John is recovering well and expects “Kathy spoiled me rotten. I went home feeling much restored! Nothing much happening here, to take a motorcycle trip down to North Carolina in April to visit with Holt. • Lloyd if you discount the fact that this year I voted Jones and his wife, Anne, enjoyed a bountiful on the losing side twice (I voted for the U.K. Maine harvest of vegetables last fall and their to remain in the European Union). All one can do is pray that the future may be all right.” perennials bloomed until mid-November.

Lloyd was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, • Carol Waaser cycled from Copenhagen to so he’s now using a CPAC machine to get a Berlin last August. she had never been to better night’s rest. He still enjoys both party northern Germany or Berlin and found it very and duplicate bridge, and he’s looking forward interesting. She was making plans to attend a to attending his 50th class reunion from cycling “camp” on the island of Mallorca Colgate in June. Lloyd is the only member of earlier this year; “it gets me in shape after the his class directly related to one of the original winter doldrums,” says Carol. In June she will be cycling in the Dolomites in the Italian Alps. 13 Colgate founders. • David Robinson is the primary caregiver for his wife, Felicia, who is Carol loves being retired in New York City suffering from metastasized ovarian cancer.

— “there is much to see and do … and eat.” • She responds well to hospice care at home and Liz Martin O’Toole has moved to Pasadena, expects to live several more months. Dave is Calif. After years of traveling from coast to retired, living on Social Security, and working coast to visit her children (two daughters and

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part time teaching court-mandated divorcing parents with young children how to co-parent to minimize the negative impact of divorce on their children. He also sings with the 24-voice Chamber Singers of Keene, N.H., and the Unitarian church choir. • Kurt Swenson went through a major change last September when his family sold the Swenson Granite Company (SGC) and all its subsidiaries to Polycor Stone Corporation. Started by his great-grandfather in 1883, SGC has been owned by the family since then. With no current family members involved or interested in the management of the company, and it being the largest dimension granite producer in North America, the family unanimously voted to sell to Polycor Stone, the largest Canadian dimension granite supplier. It is a growth scenario and to Kurt’s delight, all of his employees have been retained. Having served as the long-term chairman of the board and CEO, he is now finally retired, with no stock holdings or employment. He has no seller’s remorse and feels a burden of responsibility has been lifted from his shoulders. He and his wife of 50 years, Elaine, spent several months in a rental house in the Caribbean last winter, enjoying visits from children and grandchildren. Kurt keeps busy transferring all the historical records of SGC to the New Hampshire Historical Society, and serves on nonprofit boards. • Rick Watson is happily walking around on a new knee that works better than the old one. I suggested he contact Dave Hilliker, who had his knees replaced last summer. • With support from the Duta Fine Arts Foundation, Ricker Winsor had a painting show at Jakarta’s prestigious Surabaya Museum last fall. Rick teaches writing to two classes of 9th graders — all Chinese Indonesian youth — at a Christian school twice weekly and supervises writing for advanced students. Rick came to Indonesia seven years ago to teach studio art at the school. He and wife Jovita celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary in Singapore. They were in Ubid, Bali, for Christmas, and plan to be in Europe this June. While there, they will spend a week in Wales with Glenn Correia and his wife at their cottage. They will be in London, Paris, and Aix-en-Provence. Rick paints every day, does some writing, reads a lot, plays chess online at a high level, shoots pool, and goes to

Johan Carl ’64 explored Machu Picchu.

CLASS NOTES the gym for light weights and swimming. He ordered Rafael Fraguada’s book about his experience as a combat Marine in Vietnam, Red Dancer. Rick keeps in touch occasionally with his Mt. Hermon roommate, John Robinson, and sees Rick Weisman and Larry Bernstein on Facebook.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Robert Eastman rheastman4@comcast.net • Pamela Street Walton pawalton@myfairpoint.net

From Pam: If you did not receive the “Pam the Grinch” email, NMH does not have your current email address … please update ASAP. To all who did receive my email and sent info for this column, you will be lucky in 2017! • Last July, 21 people with Northfield connections had a luncheon (orchestrated by Marcia Eastman Congdon) at Alumni Hall on the NMH campus. In attendance were: NMH staff Gail Doolittle ’89, Jennifer Williams ’87, Josie Rigby; spouses George Congdon, Sally Eastman, Ken Walton; local 6th-grade teacher Helen Gorzocoski; local high school classmates Judy Davis Johnson and Molly McCollum Anderson; NMH day students Nancy Schouler Smith, Jane Abbott, Marcia Stacy Kemp Bartus, Jean Thompson, Carol Atwood-Lyon ’62, Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65, Deborah Mayberry ’67, Marcia Eastman Congdon; and boarding students Bob Eastman, Jeanne Wright Moore, Gail Myers Pare, and Pam Street Walton. NMH graciously provided the room and delicious food, and Gail surprised the group with a cake to celebrate many 70th birthdays. Over $400 was collected for the NMH Day Student Scholarship Fund. Thank you, NMH! Contact Marcia Eastman Congdon (geocongdon@aol. com) or Gail Myers Pare (gmpare@comcast. net) if you wish to join in the festivities in July 2017. • Last summer Liz Spear Graham hosted lunch for Franny Bridges-Cline, Aline “Bunny” Kirtland Coffey, and Bunny’s husband, David, at Liz’s family farm in Hartland, Vt. Unfortunately, Debbie Blodgett Cummings and husband Frank couldn’t make it due to the passing of Debbie’s father. Last September Liz and her husband welcomed their sixth grandchild, Sebastian. Her novel, Light Afflictions (with a chapter on Northfield in the 1960s), is a good read — check it out on Amazon. • Another New England gathering took place at Wynne Greenlaw Keller’s house in Norridgewock, Maine, in September.

Wynne hosted Hibbard friends Kit Andrews, Cindy Livingston, and Lynne Schneider with her husband, Dick. Lynne said it was great to reconnect and spend a few hours with longtime friends. Previously, Lynne and Dick had visited Kit at her condo in Burlington, Vt. To avoid the winter in Ohio, Lynne and Dick spent the season in Hawaii. Ohio spring and fall, New England in the summer, and Hawaii in the winter … nice arrangement. • Travel in

2016 for Faye Lavrakas — a California girl — was by car, plane, and boat. In May she took a road trip to Salt Lake City, Flagstaff, and Santa Fe. In August she flew east for Kathy Marsh’s birthday celebration (which included delicious lobster salad). October brought a cruise to Mexico for R&R. • Nancy Jackson Moncure and husband John had lots of contact with Brian Farrell in 2016, as he was their broker in the sale of John’s sister’s co-op in Manhattan. Nancy noted that Brian was a “godsend” in helping them locate a buyer and dealing with all the red tape. The Moncures also traveled for work and pleasure.

In May they flew to Geneva, where John attended an aviation exposition in his role associated with the redevelopment of the former Brunswick, Maine, Naval Base, a trip that also included three days in spectacular Chamonix, France. Then in October they flew to San Francisco to visit Nancy’s brother, Bruce Jackson ’61, and a college friend of John’s in San Diego. • San Diego resident Sue Delaney McConchie and husband Don travel more than most of us. In 2016 they made trips with choirs to Hawaii, Spain, and Portugal, which included a side trip to Scotland, a trip back to Hawaii with family, and another to explore Cabo San Lucas. At some point there was an overnight stay with Marty Reinisch Gillies in London, and later a couple of trips to Australia. • After Anne Farnum Fix and husband Gary returned from a cruise to Copenhagen, Norway, Iceland, and Nova Scotia in October, she had her second knee replacement. Besides travel, she dabbles in the arts: painting in watercolors, sewing, and crafting. • Mary Howard Callaway and husband Jamie traveled to Europe with a special purpose in mind. In 2016 their daughter, Hannah, received her doctorate in history from Harvard and the Sorbonne. They made the trip to Paris to watch Hannah defend her dissertation in a three-hour exam in rapid French, followed by lots of champagne when she received highest honors. Both Mary and Jamie are continuing to work. Jamie is running the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion, a worldwide organization that brings together students and college administrators across the globe. Mary

is teaching Old Testament at Fordham University. This year saw publication of her piece “Medieval Reception of the Prophets” in The Oxford Handbook of the Prophets. To quote Mary, “It all goes back to my first religion class at Northfield, on Old Testament, with Mr. Hathaway, who was then completing his doctorate at Harvard Divinity School.” • Alison Phillips Cushing celebrated her 70th birthday by river cruising in Germany with husband Randy. Kathy Childs Jones, Becky Elwell Axelrod (with daughter Abi), and Bob and Gayle Landgraf Leaversuch met at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., to appreciate special exhibits. • Betty Newton Antony visited Marcia Eastman Congdon in Arizona. It was the first time they had seen each other since graduation. Jeanne Wright Moore, who moved to Tucson for the winter, wrote: “Marcia and her husband, George (who live in the same development), have done a lot to help us get settled.” • Sue Chapman Melanson says that “maple syrup is flying off the shelves and business is booming at the cottages at Oak Hill Farm (oakhillfarm.com).”

Painting, chairing school board committees, and cottage renovations are some of Sue’s endeavors in South Hiram, Maine. • After moving back and forth between Florida and points north, Dana Hastings Murphy has settled in Norfolk, Va. Most necessities are within walking distance, there is a body of water nearby, and museums/local theaters abound. She works full time as a magazine editor, telecommuting to Rockville, Md. Her son, Jeremy, lives in D.C. Sadly, her muchloved pastime, reading middle Egyptian texts with a group of like-minded souls, ended with the death of their teacher. She would appreciate suggestions for another difficult but satisfying endeavor. How about reading Old English documents? • Catherine “Toushy” Bliss Squires notes that “all are worried in the U.K. about the unrest in the world.” She started a B&B (peppercottage.org). Still grappling with the challenges of switching from being an urban animal to a country one.

Toushy would love to show us around their beautiful Cotswold hills! • Vivien Gall Gibney and husband Noel live in Rutland, England’s smallest county, with a house in the Charente

A mini reunion for NMH 1964 included (front row, from left): Nancy Schouler Smith, Josie Rigby (retired NMH staff), Bob Eastman, Gail Myers Pare; (back row, from left): Jean Thompson, Marcia Stacy Kemp Bartus, Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65, Carol Atwood Lyons ’62, Marcia Eastman Congdon, Jeanne Wright Moore, Deborah Mayberry (in hat), and Pam Street Walton.

spring 2017 I 55

CLASS NOTES

Betty Newton Antony ’64 (left) and Marcia Eastman Congdon ’64 reunited in Arizona.

Maritime in France. The death of a stepdaughter in 2014 was a great loss. • Regarding the political climate, Norma Jean Chatfield sent a paragraph that will put a smile on your face.

She wrote, “Our mother, Helen, is 95 years old. Helen hadn’t voted in probably 10 years, but during [last] summer started talking about possibly voting this year and how great it would be. On November 8, in a jubilant mood, my brother and I took our mother to vote for our favorite candidate. Helen duly voted, surely the senior-most voter at the polling place.” • Holly Smith is partnered with a man she met in 1968, but at that time they took separate paths. Today they are reconnected and live in Kittery, Maine, volunteering for various organizations. Holly’s children and grandchildren live nearby, so she sees them regularly. • Karen Singer Baker emailed on her way to visit her son, Justin, in Minneapolis in early December. She is working hard at her job as a substance-abuse and mental health counselor for recovering addicts in residential treatment who are pregnant and parenting.

Karen writes, “I never could have imagined their heinous family histories so many years ago while at Northfield. Even now, what I hear is not only unbelievable but incredibly sad.”

Hanging out with her healthy, happy, beautiful children is what keeps her going. • Rosemary Bauer Palmquist and her husband, David, enjoy winter in Key West and summer in the Hudson Valley. They continue to restore their farmhouse in Kinderhook, N.Y. Rosemary says, “Extensive gardening, creating art quilts, making ornaments from antique and vintage jewelry and/or shells, other arty stuff, and gadding around on day trips are my passions. Following knee-replacement surgery two years ago, I had a tiny, but serious, brain-stem stroke, resulting in lousy balance and less endurance. I get around quite well at home and use a walker elsewhere. For gardening I adapted a four-wheeled hose-reel cart with a basket into a yard walker. This time of year I’m remembering the vibrancies of Mountain Day and the thrill of our Christmas Concert (oh, that clap of thunder!). Blessings to everyone! You’re still crystal clear in my memories and I treasure them all.” • Karen Holvik Deitemeyer was surprised (February 2016) by her son and daughter with a 70th

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birthday party. Last October she and her husband, Bill, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! Karen continues to be active at the federal, state, and local levels, raising awareness of COPD (progressive lung disease), and was recently elected to the governing board of the COPD Foundation’s Patient Powered Research Network and to the board of the U.S. COPD Coalition. For relaxation, she plays Words with Friends online with Sara Simon Stevens. • Virginia “Weegee” Look Brooks writes, “I’m enjoying life in Cambridge and have been lucky enough to finally have an overnight visit with Anne Wadleigh McAnulty on her way to Falmouth, Mass., last September and a visit from Judith Bryant and Peter Marsh in October. I’ve also dined with Brian Farrell in New York. Thanksgiving was spent in Tacoma, Wash., with my daughter, Hannah, and her family, and I got to spoil two of my three grandchildren, which is always a delight and a consternation to their parents.” • Hearing from so many classmates was delightful. Remember that our 55th will arrive before you know it. Keep yourselves healthy, and as Bob “Easty” Eastman would say, send some change (or more) to the Class of 1964 Scholarship Fund. • From Bob: Rick Tucker moved to Norwich, Vt., and is now working at Norris Cotton Cancer Center (DartmouthHitchcock) in Lebanon, N.H. • Peter Guild continues on the board of NMH as the audit committee chair and visits campus often. He traveled to California in December to celebrate Clif Cates’s birthday. • Bob Sparks writes, “I completed 11 years as director of the University of British Columbia, Canada School of Kinesiology in July 2015, and since then I have been on academic leave and traveling a lot.” Bob will retire in September.

Bob and wife Kathy visited the Island School in Eleuthera during a nearly three-month sailing trip in the Bahamas. “The school has many similarities to NMH,” continues Bob, “and we understand that NMH students have participated in semesters there. Sailing in the Bahamas was all that it’s supposed to be! In George Town, Great Exuma, we ran into old friends from the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School in Maine — Kathy and I had both worked there.” • Dave Singer has a new granddaughter: Ashley Brooke. With his significant other, Elaine, Dave went on a cruise last spring, which ended with three days in Bora Bora and a Tahitian wedding ceremony, “which has no legal or religious effect in the U.S.,” says Dave. • John Merriman writes, “I continue doing architectural work at TranSystems and have projects in many airports across the country. In my ‘spare time,’ I’m also designing a house on Cape Cod and one on the shores of Lake Champlain. It is a joy to receive the alumni magazine and read about all the wonderful happenings on campus, including all the new buildings. I’ve not seen any of our classmates since the reunion.” • Jim Ault is still living in

Northampton and producing documentary films: one is about the exemplary educational work of an organization with a middle school, high school, and college serving the poor communities of North Philadelphia. Jim also filmed an event on the Northfield campus celebrating the legacy of NMH founder D.L. Moody. “It was part of the development of a new Moody Center on that campus, which gives some hope that productive things will happen there,” says Jim. His wedding to Margaret Keyser, a theologian and conflict transformation practitioner from South Africa, may have made world history by being the first wedding officiated oceans away through Skype, with Jim and Margaret in Massachusetts while Margaret’s family were “attending” via computer 8,000 miles away. • It has been a big year for Gregory “Bill” Holden and his wife: they moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., and “retired” to new positions. After 10 years as a geriatric care manager, Bill’s wife is now a caregiver for their young grandson so their daughter-in-law can complete her master’s in nutrition. Bill works for one of his sons, who owns a business in St. Petersburg. Another of Bill’s sons works for Google in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Holdens have also been traveling extensively to such spots as Seattle and Victoria, Atlanta, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and even a cruise on the Rhine in Europe. • Johan Carl says, “No new grandkids, not even a new car, so am still driving my three ‘no check engine light’ classics. My second daughter got married in Colorado in July, so that is the last big check for Dad, although my friends tell me I’m dreaming. Most importantly, it was another year without a failed marriage. I spent a week trekking the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in Peru and then a week knocking around Quebec, so I went from working my Spanish to French in a three-week span. While climbing Machu Picchu, I found that my cardio was fine, but that I’m not the ‘billy goat’ that I used to be.” • David Mensel is finishing up a fiduciary fraud case, after which he will be completely retired. “Forensic accounting has been a great career,” says David, “but the professional world is moving too fast for this old fellow, especially in the computer area.

Will fall back on my genealogy studies, camping, and building as intricate as I can make ‘them’ bridges, buildings, and scenery for the Bellows Falls Division of the Boston & Maine Railroad, my scale-model railroad.”

David and his wife, Annie, have made several trips in their mobile home. They are still amazed by their 7-year-old granddaughter, Olivia, and visit with her once a week. Their daughter, Makayla, writes a “Children’s Corner” article for local newspapers each week, as well as books for young readers. Their son, John, is a computer security expert and enjoying his stature as a relatively old guy in an industry mostly made up of youngsters. • “I thought I was winding down my work at the

CLASS NOTES U.S. Institute of Peace,” writes Dan Snodderly, “but then the publications director quit and I got drawn back in. I’m also starting a revision of a short book I published in 2011, Peace Terms: Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. Retirement will just have to wait.” • Andy Lubin retired from the University of Delaware in July 2015 and re-activated his real-estate development and consulting business in Wilmington. He is currently developing a new campus for Wilmington University and working with the governor’s office regarding the DuPont/Dow merger and its impact on Delaware. Andy and his wife, Sarah, have four daughters: all married with their own families, and nine grandchildren ranging in age from 13 to 3.

Two of the families live in Wilmington, one in Charlottesville, and one outside of Boston.

“We are very active in their lives between athletics and social activities,” says Andy.

“Sarah retired from the judiciary and is planning her next move. I have no current interest in retiring, but we do have plenty of travel plans, all of which seem to involve golf.”

• Steve Newcombe wrote during the past winter, “It’s been snowing here in Oregon for a couple of days and the skiers are delighted. I don’t ski anymore, but it used to be my passion. Back in the 1970s, I was stationed in Utah and spent weekends in Park City. One week I was there on leave, skiing every day. I finished a run and got on the next [lift] chair.

The blond-haired guy on my right looked like a mountain man with a long red beard, heavy gloves, and huge goggles, and he was covered in snow. We got to talking and I thought I recognized his voice. I subtly gawked at him for a while and then blurted, ‘Hey, you’re Robert Redford?’ He was so thrilled to finally know who he was that he invited me to shut up for the rest of the ride. We actually did make three or four really good runs that afternoon, so we decided to sneak in a couple of brews at the lodge. He doesn’t like being recognized, so he kept on all his gear as we snuck up to the lounge. Some woman, however, stopped dead in her tracks, looked at me, and asked if that was Redford. I said, ‘Hell, no, lady, but I did just see Burt Reynolds go into the ski shop.’ She wheeled like a champion and was off like a shot. ‘Bob’ bought the drinks.” • Terry Sweetser moved

Margo Margolis ’65 exhibited her artwork in Boston in December 2016.

Linda Ames Nicolosi ’65 traveled to the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite.

his retirement interim ministry from the Unitarians in Summit, N.J., to the Unitarians in Wellesley, Mass. He and wife Susan are living on beautiful Plum Island while she serves the Unitarian Church in Newburyport.

They are still enjoying retirement and their two grandchildren. “I have joined the pacemaker club,” says Terry. “By the time you see this, I hope to be running around like the Energizer bunny.”

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Northfield Mount Hermon Wendy Swanson-Avirgan wsavirgan@aol.com • Henri Rauschenbach henri.rauschenbach@gmail.com www.northfieldmounthermon65.com

From Wendy: On behalf of the class, our deepest condolences go to Derry and Susan Brunnckow Oke, whose younger daughter, Debby, died last June on Susan’s birthday after a brief illness. Debby leaves her husband and 4-year-old daughter. • Last May Linda Ames Nicolosi hiked from Yosemite Valley to the top of Glacier Point at Yosemite Park. “I feel very blessed to remain healthy and active,” says Linda, “in spite of some old horseback-riding injuries that have left me with a tricky back and a fused ankle. My adrenaline rush is still hiking the Sierras, kayaking, and snorkeling the crystal-clear mountain lakes, especially Lake Tahoe.” • Ellen Anthony is grateful to have lived on Cape Cod for 33 years. In 2016 she performed a one-woman show, reupholstered her sofa by hand, assembled products for a robot toy (income), sang in the Outer Cape Chorale, and went to an Indian ashram for the fourth time. She’s very active at her Unitarian Meeting House, focusing on racial truth and reconciliation. She also teaches Chi Kung and a seminar on active listening. • Sally Atwood Hamilton writes, “Mark and I met Char Lucas Small again in Portland [Maine] for lunch in October with a mutual friend who was in our congregation in Florida. Last June it was great being on campus working reunion weekend as a member of the NMH Alumni Council. It was great fun to see people from the class of ’66.” • Cynthia Boice Hunt is a part-time physician at Lasell College in Newton, Mass., and enjoys summers in Kiawah, S.C. She writes, “Last summer I went to San Francisco for dear friend Diantha

‘Dede’ Dunn Bell’s (’64) 70th birthday party.

There were 24 of her closest women friends, all with interesting life stories. I was honored to be her friend for the longest period of time!” • Leslie Buffinton Dunn serves on the planning board in Seekonk, Mass., and helps son Eli bake pies at his restaurant, Eli’s Kitchen, in Warren, R.I. In the summer Leslie and her husband sail around the southeast coast.

“When we’re ashore, I mind the Seekonk Community Garden,” writes Leslie. “The best news is three grandchildren!” • Stewart and Esther Coe Williams and Warren and Coco Pratt Cook enjoyed a mini reunion in Cooperstown, N.Y., in October 2016. • Jan Finney Schilling shares, “I’ve been busy with babysitting and volunteering…[I’m] planning a short cruise to the Bahamas for my 70th birthday! Then my son will return from China with his family. After a short training, he will go to Pakistan. So, starting in June, I will have all four grands living close. Yay!” • Perry Hay Huntington and Greg alternate time at home in Florida and at their converted church house in a small historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. For the past three years, they have put together gift bags for a men’s shelter run by the St. Petersburg (Florida) Free Clinic. Perry writes, “I have been doing consulting work as an expert witness in a large commercial dispute; and [last] fall I did voter registration and canvassing in some of St. Petersburg’s underserved communities. For the past three years, I have taken trips with a friend to Jordan and Cuba, and [in 2016] walked on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I was happy I was able to do it, since I broke my hip and leg two years ago. I trained for several months before, walking up to eight miles a day.” • From Cathey Hyde Gage, “I’ve moved from the Disability Board of Charleston County to Interim Healthcare. Still spend summers in New Hampshire.” Cathey enjoys spending time with sons Shea and Chad. • James and Cynthia Gilbert-Marlow “moved to Florida in June,” says Cynthia. “We are renting a condo on the 12th floor on North Hutchinson Island, just south of Vero Beach. It is a challenging experience living in a red state. The shining light to the world that once was America is vastly diminished. Fear and avarice rule now.

It seems many Americans no longer value truth, ethical behavior, or the very earth and air upon which we depend.” • Emily Johnson is a reading specialist and thinking about retiring, but no commitments yet. She and her husband traveled to Italy last summer, Emily’s second trip to the country since her college semester in Florence in 1966. As a Stanford student, Emily helped rescue books from the basement of the Biblioteca Nationale after a serious flood. During her Italian trip last summer, she met a man who remembered the Stanford students’ help and referred to them as “angels.” • Barbara Lanckton Connors writes, “I’m still working three days a week coordinating the tutoring program at Front

spring 2017 I 57

CLASS NOTES Range Community College. I still play tennis and my husband is still happily retired. Our son lives with his wife, Sara, in Richmond, where he is a product manager for CarMax. The biggest drama for us and for our country has been watching the political debacle unfold.

I worked hard for the Clinton campaign and have shared the sense of despair that many people are feeling. Trying to figure out a way forward, but it is difficult.” • From Elinor Livingston Redmond last June: “We are busy From left: Suzanne Pelton ’66, Barbara Howe Shields ’66, in Maine … two family weddings within Henrietta deVeer ’66, Barbara Hazard ’66, Susie Rheault ’66 weeks of each other (one in the Berkshires, one in Denver). I keep busy trying to teach ing classes and works with the quilt guild at our golden retriever good manners and keep the State Fair in Sacramento. • Anne Panofsky him exercised, [am] spending time in the is still working as a psychologist in Los garden, at yoga class, tending my bees, Angeles and living in a condo complex that knitting, and volunteering at a soup kitchen used to be part of MGM Studio. “Living here and church. This past week I had lunch with has inspired me to have some of my songs three Northfield friends; in the past, we were recorded by professional musicians,” says members of the Maine Northfield Club. The club is long gone but the friendships remain.” • Anne, “and I would like to make a CD. I have lost a lot of hearing and have a hearing dog. I Ellen Lougee Simmons writes, “It was a busy last half of 2016 for my family, as my daughter, just bought a new hearing aid that uses Bluetooth; it has made me more independent.”

Winifred, was married in Maine over the July Fourth weekend to a fellow Houstonian. Then • From Nan Waite, “I keep in touch with Gail Watson Nozik and Janetha Benson. Tony on November 10, my fourth grandchild was Cantore came to my writing class at New York born to daughter Emma and her husband in Law School last spring to talk with the Sausalito, Calif.; little Elias is a great blessing students about how legislation is drafted. My to all of us!” • Charlotte Lucas Small was English-as-a-second-language class continues planning to go to Boston for Christmas to be a challenge, and my students continue to Vespers and hoping to see Barbara Steenburg amaze me with their perseverance.” Nan’s Denver and her sister Suzie Steenburg Hill ’66 classes have included students from all over there. • Margo Margolis had an exhibition of the world. She was also a “Clown Captain” her paintings and drawings at the Beth again last year for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Urdang Gallery in Boston in December and Parade, and she continues to volunteer as a January. • Alison Marshall Zanetos writes, clown at Stamford Hospital. • From Beth “Deborah Monroe and I got together last May Zelnick Palubinsky: “In late September, for our annual lunch/drinks in Venice, Calif. I William Stearns made the trek from love reconnecting with Pam LeClair-Rogers, Brattleboro to Philadelphia to visit Al and me. although I have been remiss in keeping in I was recovering from an injury and emertouch with old friends like Debbie Peck, gency brain surgery I’d had in June [2016], Deborah Epstein Popper, and Barbara and William’s visit was a tonic. More recently, Lanckton Connors. Mark Vonnegut and I our friends Peter Weis ’78 and Lydia Perry exchange Christmas cards. Liz Spear Graham Weis ’80 (who married last August at NMH) ’64 and I are still in a book club and walk spent a weekend with us. I first got to know together most weekends. I’m still working for Peter, NMH’s outstanding archivist, some Neil Diamond: 40 years. Dean and I still live years back when I chaired some ’65 reunions, in the Hollywood Hills under the sign.” • and I met Lydia through some PhiladelphiaMargaret McGown writes, “I am grateful to be area alumni events. Weddings and other alive. I was very ill in June [2016] and, from life-cycle ceremonies keep me busy and happy. what I have been told, came very close to not Soon I’ll begin to work again with Bernardine surviving. Mark and I continue to own our Watson, my longtime friend and poetry/music ambulance business but have time to travel collaborator; we think our next program will also.” Margaret and her husband plan to visit focus on resistance, protest, and hope, as we the Virgin Islands and Hawaii in 2017. • Last strain to see some light through the clouds summer Rich and Judy Mintie Scollay took a hovering since the recent presidential election. motor-home trip to Oregon, Washington, and It’s as Leonard Cohen wrote, ‘There’s a crack British Columbia, enjoying visits to a Boeing in everything, it’s how the light gets in.’” • factory, University of British Columbia’s Robert Kowal visited Arizona last spring and Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, and discovered that Elena Berg Zimmerman lives Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Judy had fun in Tucson. “I met her at her and her husband’s collecting patterns at quilt shops along the beautiful desert-setting home,” says Robert, way. Besides enjoying aqua aerobics classes, “and we shared memories of our dating at biking in the gym, researching family NMH, going to the senior dance and the genealogy, and visits with kids and grandkids, who all live nearby, Judy teaches heirloom sew- Chateau, and New Year’s in New York City ringing in 1965. From Senior Dance to now

58 I NMH Magazine

From left: Stuart Bennett ’66, Heng-Pin Kiang ’66, and Alan Coulter ’66

being senior citizens, life has treated us both well.” • From Henri: We have had quite a wonderful few months basking in the afterglow of our 50th reunion. But the beat goes on and it’s time to look forward to the 55th. • Things have been active with the class of ’65 with a recent Boston dinner. This past November, a group of us gathered in Boston’s historic North End for a classic Italian meal.

Joining us were: Mark Boeing, Matt Couzens, Peter Barber, Bob Van Wyck, Tim Schiavoni, John Eager, and Charlie Washburn (whom we now think has ancestral rights to half of the European continent). Dave Zimmerman was passed around the table on a phone, which was somewhat abstract but it worked. Chris Murray let us know that he’d love to do this in Tucson, so we’ll work on that. Dick Deroko also expressed interest, but the middle of the country is in the way, as he lives in California.

Chris Parker couldn’t make it at the last minute. Bill Murray’s wife said she would encourage him to come. David Stone is looking for a dinner as a result of this, so we’ll see if we can work that out. Bob Kowal almost was able to put it together, but being from Spokane, Wash., got in the way. John Clark wanted to bring his wife, as did Mark Vonnegut, but neither of them were able to join us. Frequent Massachusetts visitor Peter Ticconi couldn’t make it. All in all, we had great conversation and a lot of fun. As I will travel extensively again this coming fall, I will see if we can do more of these across the country.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Jean Penney Borntraeger Wheeler theinn@ferrylanding.com • Frank Sapienza sapienzafc@cdm.com

Hello, classmates! As we write these notes, it is right before Christmas and we are frantically tending to our to-do lists. • Great time was had by Nancy and Jim Weiss, Suzie Steenburg Hill, Susie Rheault, Betsy Johnson, Leslie Ahlgren Homans, Constance Kane, Arden Edwards, Gail Boettiger Ide, Ben Blake, Frank Sapienza, Barbara Steenburg Denver ’65, and Charlotte Lucas Small ’65 at the Christmas Vespers service held in Boston in December. Thank you, Suzie and Jim, for organizing. Afterward we mixed and mingled with lots of other alums, including Peter Savas ’67 and Dana Gordon ’67, at the reception

CLASS NOTES at Tico Restaurant. • Jim Van Fleet’s hot tub and sauna store, Mainely Tubs, became the latest Maine company to convert ownership to an employee stock ownership plan. Jim, who bought the business in 1993, will remain CEO for the foreseeable future and has no plans to retire. Mainely Tubs is now 100 percent owned by its 39 employees.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Donna Eaton-Mahoney dmeato@outlook.com • Dana L. Gordon mounthermon1967@comcast.net Will Eddy’s son, Max, married Jessica Frey in August. They honeymooned in Montauk, N.Y., and in Maine, where Jessica was filming.

Will and his wife were excited about visiting Max in Pittsburgh to see his performance as Happy in Death of a Salesman at the Public Theater, but not before escaping the cold with a family trip to Zihuatanejo, Mexico. • Dr. Bill Johnson is semi-retired. He continues to work one day a week for his old practice in primary care medicine. He took a road trip last fall to Florida for his daughter’s destination wedding in Sarasota at the Mote Marine Laboratory, a unique venue that fit into her passion for ocean conservation. Bill visited a med school classmate in Pinehurst, N.C., and reconnected with a 40-years-ago partner in practice from the Indian Health Service during Bill’s time at Pine Ridge Indian reservation. • Gary Barnes still enjoys golf and is hoping to someday return to the cockpit as a private pilot. He is one of the stalwarts who regularly attends our annual South Florida mini reunions in early March in the Ft. Lauderdale-Delray-Palm Beach area. Anyone who is interested in being kept up to speed on these gatherings can email Dana Gordon at mounthermon1967@comcast. net. • Eliza Childs and Will Melton are the proud and delighted grandparents of identical twin boys, Elias and Garrett, born last October to Will’s son, Cooper, and Cooper’s wife, Wendy. The boys join older sister, Lucille (6). • Wendy Alderman Cohen also celebrated the birth of a grandchild, Alexandra, to son Peter and his wife, Lisa. Wendy and husband Jeff are enjoying the special delights of being first-time grandparents to an adorable little girl. • The stork continued to be busy in November, bringing a first grandchild to Melinde Hatheway Kantor. Mackenzie Jean was named in honor of Melinde’s mother, biology teacher Jean Hatheway. The following day, Donna Eaton Mahoney welcomed her first granddaughter, Frances. • Ritchie Davis Dow retired from engineering in 2013, but continued working on an as-needed basis for a couple of years. While she does almost no engineering now, she decided to do some tutoring online with the company tutor.com. Ritchie helps students with various math subjects and with essays. Her rewarding work is flexible, so she can work from home. Husband Lance Dow worked as an electrical designer as well as

in a variety of fields; he is now fully retired.

Ritchie loves her retirement, is a five-year breast cancer survivor, and values every day that she’s in good health. She focuses on being as physically and mentally active as possible, with pickle ball and long walks. Ritchie volunteers for local organizations Partners for World Health (PWH) and Portland Housing Authority (PHA). PWH collects unused medical supplies and ships them to physicians and hospitals in countries of need. PHA serves a diverse community of immigrants and people of all backgrounds; Ritchie helps by tutoring. If all that were not enough, she is in the beginning stages of co-authoring a book with her sister-in-law. • Paul Shekleton lived in Barcelona in the 1970s, where he met his wife, Clara. They now live in Manchester, Conn., and have three grown kids: Elena in Aurora, Colo.; Mark in Vernon, Conn.; and Alex in Chicago; and one grandchild. Paul spent most of his career rehabbing, repairing, and maintaining rental units around Hartford.

Now retired, Paul spends a few hours a week at the local community kitchen. He’s part of the West Hartford Fiction Writers Group, producing somniferous short fiction. He also teaches biblical history courses at the church they attend. Paul says, “I am officially el chacho around the house while Clara brings home the bacon.” • Charlotte Valliere Hord checked in from St. Andrews, Canada, where she spends time with her mother, Lois Borden Hord ’40. Charlotte feels freer without a cell phone, television, or Facebook, but finds herself at a disadvantage when she occasionally tries to use those tools. At press time, she was debating between attending our class reunion or walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. • Lorry Gresham Kenton retired after 40 years in nursing. She and Marc, her husband of 33 years, have two sons: Ante is a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry and Steve lives in Seattle. Lorry spends her time volunteering at her church and various community organizations. Marc, an engineer, continues to work at his own business. They have lived in Hanover, N.H., for 19 years, having moved from Chicago, where they met. • Wendy Kimball Pirsig is the grandmother of two from her daughter, who graduated from NMH in 1999.

Wendy will be unable to attend reunion due to her husband’s health issues, but she sends a hearty hello and warm wishes. • We have learned of the August 2013 death of Betsy Eckfeldt from cancer. Betsy attended Northfield for sophomore year. She graduated from Middlebury and became a preschool teacher in Waitsfield, Vt. She also taught yoga and mindful meditation to children. • Each year, in addition to the one held on campus, there’s an off-campus performance of Christmas Vespers that alternates between Boston and New York. The December 2016 venue was Boston, and as has become customary, a group of ’67 classmates got together to attend. Before the service, Peter Savas and his wife, Jane, hosted

a reception at their Beacon Street home. Enjoying the hospitality were Wendy Alderman Cohen, Bonnie Parmenter Fleming, Becky Parfitt Kennedy, Vin Kennedy, Bill Johnson and wife Pat, Dana Gordon, and Jen Williams ’87 of Northfield Mount Hermon’s alumni office. They were joined at the church by Dick Bautze. Following the service, the school held an after-party at Tico Restaurant, which was attended by Peter, Wendy, and Dana. Also in keeping with tradition, the trio outlasted all other classes, both older and younger, and were the last to leave. • Many of the abovelisted classmates are among the more than 120 members of our class Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook and not already a member, you can join by going to facebook.com/groups/ nmh1967 and requesting membership. You can also keep up with the class at our website, nmh1967.com.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Kris Alexander Eschauzier pkeschauz@maine.rr.com • Peter L. Eschauzier pkeschauz@maine.rr.com • Mark G. Auerbach mgauerbach@gmail.com

Your 50th Reunion Committee has been working to plan a great reunion for us in June 2018. Co-chair Gary Hopson, along with Pam Beam, Fred Cook, Dave Hickernell, Jeff Miller, and Jay Ward, returned to campus last October to continue work that the committee started after our 45th. Want to join the committee? Let Becky Bright Freeland (rbfreela@ gmail.com) or Gary Hopson (utu1361@yahoo. com) know that you’re onboard. • Karen and Bill Newman hosted their much-anticipated annual dinner for D.C.-area classmates.

Among those in attendance were Deborah Sliz and husband Alan Yandow, Gary Hopson and wife Shelley Cabbell, Anne and Rafe Sagalyn, Harry and Alison Ely Barschdorf, Marjorie Swett, Eric Jankel, Jeff Sliz, Cap Kane, Denise and Fred Cook, and Mark Auerbach. • We share some sad news that two classmates, Jeff Close and Mike Walther, have passed away. • Becky Bright Freeland is still working, joyfully, at Syracuse University and writes, “The kids keep me thinking young. Jim and I are anxiously awaiting the birth of our second great-grandchild.” Becky looks forward

From left: Dee Duffey Glas ’68, Susan Donaldson James ’68, and Margaret Bixby ’69 relived their Northfield days at a Maine mini reunion.

spring 2017 I 59

CLASS NOTES

From left: Deborah Sliz ’68, Mark Auerbach ’68, and Alison Ely Barschdorf ’68 met for dinner in Washington, D.C.

to seeing us all at our 50th reunion next year.

• Harriet Chessman’s fifth novel, The Lost Sketchbook of Edgar Degas, was released on the Outpost 19 imprint last year; she’s done a series of national readings and book signings.

She also wrote the libretto to Jonathan Berger’s opera, My Lai, commissioned and performed

by Kronos Quartet in Chicago. My Lai also played in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in September. Harriet moved back east to Guilford, Conn. She has one son at UMass Amherst and two other children in Kansas City and Los Angeles. • Susan Donaldson James, Dee Duffey Glas, and Margaret Bixby ’69 relived their Northfield days in Moore House at a reunion in Maine last fall. • Tony Dubois checked in: “I retired from teaching after 40 years: 34 years at Keene High School and six at Keene State College (New Hampshire). American studies was, and is, my great passion! I have had a rather tumultuous past several years. Coming out at my age was a strange and very difficult event. Divorced after 37 years and painful in so many ways, but it is wonderful to live honestly now … finally!

My life now is very much centered on being a primary caregiver for my parents. So far, they have been able to stay in their home. I am glad they live so close. My son, Joseph, lives with me; we are in the midst of a major house makeover. Due to my proximity to [NMH], I rarely miss Vespers or Sacred Concert. I was delighted to join Mark Auerbach and Ted Finlayson-Schueler at Steve Tower’s memorial service, which was a beautiful event.” • Evie and Jay Haberland took classmates Karen and Bill Newman, Peter and Kris Alexander Eschauzier, and Buddy Whitehouse for an enjoyable boat ride around Boothbay Harbor, Maine, in August after a lovely lunch at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. • Judy Molesworth Darnell shares, “After a rough couple of years with several losses in our family, 2016 brought joy with the birth of our first granddaughter. We are now proud grandparents to Dante (9), Dean (7), and Baby Mila. I still work full time at United Ways of California, overseeing our state and national policy in health, education, and financial stability. I love the work, but it just got a lot more intense.

My work takes me to D.C. a few times a year, and in July I got to connect with four classmates: Deborah Sliz, Alison Ely Barschdorf, Bill Newman, and Gary Hopson, for a great

60 I NMH Magazine

evening. I had Thanksgiving with Betsy Brunner Lathrop and her family. We both have two children and three grandchildren, so the house has become a lot more crowded over the years.” Judy traveled to Seattle and Mount Rainier, Wash., as well as the coast of Oregon to celebrate her 42-year wedding anniversary.

She also went on a ski trip with her grandsons.

• Pete and Kris Alexander Eschauzier dodged a bullet last fall when Pete’s kidney cancer was discovered very early (stage 1A) and removed with a partial nephrectomy. • Larry and Becky Schrom Lamb became grandparents to Ashtyn Adeline in September 2015. Son David is a financial advisor in Steamboat, so they get to see Ashtyn frequently. Becky is still brokering insurance, with no plans to retire. Her tennis team won district championships and attended regional championships in Denver both for summer and fall leagues. The Lambs have been remodeling their home for the past few years and are nearly finished. Becky looks forward to Reunion 2018 and is excited to be on the committee. • Don Stanton completed his assignment as aviation advisor to former Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and has moved to Colorado. “I am thankful to have the opportunity to teach a University of Colorado course, Introduction to Public Service, at two high schools as part of the ‘C.U. Succeed’ program, which aims to encourage students who may be the first in their families to attend college,” says Don. • Ruth Stevens taught marketing at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology business school for the fall 2016 term. She had the chance to meet up with NMH advancement chief Allyson Goodwin ’83 when a group from NMH visited Hong Kong.

• Randall Volkert is a U.S. government retiree with 35 years’ experience in the USAF, Naval Reserve, and Air National Guard, plus some civilian years with the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has worked in Texas, New Mexico, Germany, Thailand, Florida, Vermont, and Massachusetts, with stopovers in Ireland, Spain, Japan, and Alaska. He and Karen have been together 22 years. Their adopted son, Joey, is now 20 and enrolled at American International College in Springfield, Mass. Randall loves to see Facebook updates from classmates.

From left: Bill Newman ’68, Jay Haberland ’68, and Buddy Whitehouse ’68 met up in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

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Northfield Sue Pineo Stowbridge sue.stowbridge@gmail.com

Dottie Bauer will retire in June from her position as professor of early childhood education at Keene State College in New Hampshire, and is looking forward to new challenges and opportunities. Her grandson, Samuel, and his parents live in Connecticut, so spending time there is certainly on the list, as is building an energy-efficient small home to age in place with husband Jim, singing, and volunteering for hospice. Growing up as a “fac brat” on the Mt. Hermon campus, Dottie has deep ties to NMH, which were celebrated with the first Fac Brat Reunion in June 2016. She says it was such a treat to be together without also mourning the loss of another parent and/or close family friend. • The other ’69er who was in attendance at the Fac Brat Reunion was Chris Cartwright, and Eric Whyte’s two sisters brought greetings from Eric to the gathering.

As a group, the Fac Brats also raised money for the new NMH Early Childhood Education Center and its playground. Dottie Bauer says, “For those of us who grew up at Northfield/ Mt. Hermon, the school is much more than our high school experience; it’s the foundation of who we are from early childhood on.”

Contributions for the center were also made in memory of Peter Kropp. • Susan Griggs is still on the West Coast enjoying her work as pastor of a small United Methodist church in Winlock, halfway between Olympia and Portland in southern Washington. Her daughter is now settled in Ketchikan, Alaska, with her three children, while Susan’s son is living on the edge of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington with his two children. • Now that Jean Kirkpatrick Lederer’s husband, Gary, has retired, they are as busy as when he was working. Both are guardians ad litem in Florida and find the work challenging and rewarding. They enjoy traveling, including a trip to Iceland last year with dear friends, and to Scotland for the wedding of a friend from their U.K. days. Jean and Gary also visited a California winery for their youngest son Stephen’s wedding, after which the couple and all four parents had a “family-moon” on the Big Island of Hawaii. • Katie Marshall Greenman’s move to Orland, Maine, involved a couple of transition years while selling their home in Old Town. Katie finished teaching at Eastern Maine Community College and 10 years of singing and publicity work for Voices for Peace. She now works part time from home as a certified foot reflexologist while also helping to organize Maine’s annual Peace Walk in October. Katie shepherded the Alamoosook Lake Association through its 100th anniversary and helped ease the way to its nonprofit status. She also joined the Orland Comprehensive Plan Committee to learn more about the town and local politics. Katie continues her work helping a local sister-city organization that works in solidarity with a community in El Salvador, which she

CLASS NOTES has visited five times over the past 13 years.

Husband John helps local community radio station WERU and is recording all the works of Mark Twain, available on Librivox.org.

Their daughter, an art educator in South Portland, and her husband, an associate professor, and granddaughters (ages 9 and 6) live close enough to visit often. Katie’s son got married last spring in Ireland and continues his work in alternative energy. In closing, Katie says, “It’s a time for building connections within our communities, nurturing our ability to listen to each other and understand our differences, so that we will be strengthened, not divided. And it’s a time for standing with and supporting, in any way we can, the indigenous peoples of this country, the protectors of water and land. It’s not too late to slow our destruction of Mother Earth.” • Beyond the individual news, several ’69 “girls” enjoyed a long weekend rendezvous exploring the Boston North Shore this past September. Christy Adams, Kerry Brougham, Anne Dain, Ann Jones, Katie Lane Margo, Sarah Ward Neusius, and Polly Willard Marvin shared a rented B&B that brought back memories of Hibbard days. • Last October, the class of ’69 attended another 50th reunion planning session. Madeline Baum, Alice Wimer Erickson, Chris Fleuriel, Faith Goodwin Hodgkins, Karen Hoff McMahon, Sue Pineo Stowbridge, and Gretchen Vandewater represented the Northfield side of the class. The Mt. Hermon side has left us in a cloud of dust with their Mail Chimp class database they developed. We are working on one of our own for our class communications, so please get in touch with me or others on the committee if you’d like to be on our private list. This is a way to get back in touch yet maintain distance from NMH, if that is more to your liking.

Great communications will make for a great party in 2019, and we really need to catch up with Mt. Hermon! Be there or be square.

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Mount Hermon Roland Leong rl99@me.com

Dave Stupak has been a lawyer for close to 40 years. He and his wife have four wonderful grandsons that they visit often. Dave thinks about Peter Kropp often. “What an infectious person he was,” he said. • Don Hodgkins’s daughter graduated last spring from the University of Miami Medical School. She starts her residency in June at the pediatric hospital on Northwestern’s medical campus in Chicago. • Robert Longley writes, “Most days I go to my studio, paint, go home, have a beer, go to bed. So much for the glamorous life of an artist. We spent the summer in Provincetown again. I show in a gallery there and have a studio that is open to the public, so I invite any of our classmates to stop by if they are on the Outer Cape next summer. I also show in a gallery in New Canaan, Conn. In August (2016), Jon Strongin and I had a very nice lunch at a spot with a fabulous view of

Wellfleet Harbor.” • Bruce Bender retired from the Federal Highway Administration in 2015, where he was the team leader for environmental policy. He moved back to Santa Fe, N.M., in January, “where I had lived previously during my peripatetic career,” says Bruce. “I volunteer for SMART Recovery, a mutual support program for people with addictive behavior that provides an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs,” Bruce adds. • Rick Stone has resurrected his work with storytelling and organizations called StoryWork International (storywork.com). “Our son, Ben, finished his Ph.D. in human genetics this past summer, and is now working with Winship Cancer Institute studying multiple myeloma,” says Rick. “My wife is embarking on a three-year study program to become a spiritual director. I have continued to pursue painting and photography when I have free time.” You can check out Rick’s work at richardstoneart.com and richardstonephoto.com. • George Chaltas traveled to NMH with Brian Bauer for a 50th reunion planning meeting. George says, “A highlight for me was handing our school archivist the original reel-to-reel tapes of the jingles and public service announcements that Steve Harris and I recorded for WMHS in 1968–1969. After the meetings, Madeline Baum and I spent a wet afternoon poking around the Northfield campus taking photos for dorm decorations for our reunion. Then Boston for Pepe’s Pizza with Brian, Don Hodgkins and Faith Goodwin Hodgkins, and Steve. Later, I drove up to North Sandwich, N.H., to spend a few days with Ben Bullard.

In November, I attended the wedding of Rob Steinberg’s eldest daughter in Palm Springs, and my wife, Paula, and I carved out some time for a great brunch with Jason Matthews and his wife, Suzanne. Jason tells us that his first novel, Red Sparrow, is being made into a film with Jennifer Lawrence.” • “I guess I can count myself among ‘The Retired’ since joining the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement last year,” says Jonathan Strongin.

“The members are quite mentally agile and have interesting life and occupational experiences.” Jonathan and wife Ellen have traveled to Portugal four times as well as Spain in the last year alone. Their son, Matthew, lives in Chicago, and daughter Jessica and her husband live in Providence, R.I. In health matters, Jonathan was forced to stop work suddenly when he developed myelofibrosis (bone marrow failure) in 2009. In May of that year he enrolled in a clinical trial for an experimental treatment, which has since been approved by the FDA and brought to market.

“In reading our class notes, it is apparent that others are dealing with their own health issues,” says Jonathan. “I would be glad to speak with anyone about their (mis)adventures in dealing with our dysfunctional health-care system and give my advice as a physician, patient, and lab rat.” • Ray Rose travels to Maine each summer

Roland Leong ’69 (left) with Al Gilbert ’69

and then to New Hampshire and New York City from his home in Durham, N.C. “I’m completing my 39th year of teaching English this year,” says Ray. “It will be my last.” He and his wife, Julia, drove through the Northfield and Mt. Hermon campuses last August. “I shared some memories and took pictures to show our kids and grandkids,” Ray shares. “Sad to see the state of Northfield’s campus. It’s been a while.” • After leaving Mt. Hermon in June 1969, Rick Bethea studied at Rollins College in Florida and graduated with a double major in German and English in 1973. After graduation, he taught at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Fla., and then in Vermont, after earning his master’s at Middlebury College’s German Language School. He later left teaching to earn an M.B.A. at the College of William and Mary.

He had worked in the hospitality and convention sales business since 1982 before retiring in 2016. Rick and his wife, Gail, reside in Bluffton, S.C. They have two children. • Stan Stalla ’70 writes from the Middle East: “I spent the past year in Amman, Jordan, focusing on the U.S. government response to the Syria crisis. In the best of times, the Middle East is like a piece of baklava — layer after layer of complexity, competing forces, unpredictable consequences.

In the worst of times (like now, in Syria), it’s a heartbreaking mixture of political, cultural, economic, and social turmoil that exacts an enormous humanitarian toll. My next stop is Nigeria, again to participate in our government’s response to another humanitarian crisis, with Boko Haram as the provocateur majeur. I hope to wean myself off the international issues and on to a life centered on midcoast Maine challenges.” • Michael Aisenberg’s day job continues to be involved in legal and policy support to an agency of the intelligence community and he is active in the American Bar Association technology community as an officer in the Section on Science and Technology Law. In May of last year, Michael was appointed senior fellow of the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security. • David Lansdale has been teaching entrepreneurship in Ecuador and is working on a new initiative, Smart Destinations, inviting eco tourists to become stewards in the communities they visit. • John M. Fitzgerald says, “After over two years of litigation in federal court, [we] have managed

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CLASS NOTES so far to save the forest-canopied Georgetown Branch of the Capital Crescent Trail that helps to link Rock Creek Park and the C&O Canal National Park by winning court decisions requiring a reassessment of a $6 billion project that would have clear cut scores of acres of trees, opened up hazardous materials sites, and posed risks to endangered wildlife and migratory birds (as well as cyclists and pedestrians).” • William Bretschger is swamped in grandchildren and is known as “Campa” to a crew of 13 that stretch from North Carolina to Boston to Toronto. “No greater value than time spent seeing the world through their eyes and helping them understand it,” writes William. He adds, “I have a couple of chronic ailments plaguing me, so I can’t fly. My hearing has gone, but occasionally I pick up an Eastern European radio station in the middle of the night. I have been working on two boards and a commission, so [I have] little time to play.” • William Ward sends this: “The big event last year was dodging a late-season hurricane in Port Orange, Fla. We evacuated our home for the fourth time in 26 years to avoid getting blown away by Hurricane Matthew. Returned to, thankfully, find only trees down but no house damage; sadly, thousands of others were not so lucky.” • David Ross attended Vespers at NMH in December. “The service was a good, temporary escape from the despair, pain, and fright generated by the [presidential] election,” David says. “I have a few more years on the bench and continue to feel I am making a difference. In my free time I pursue my love of photography. [Wife] Myra continues to work as a college advisor in Amherst, Mass. [Daughter] Karen is working part time as a librarian.

[Daughter] Janet works at a school by night and sings in groups and at a church in the Boston area. [Son] Daniel is an attorney for MFY Legal Services in New York City, fighting nursing and residential-home abuses. Proud of them all.” • And from me (Roland Leong), it’s a privilege being your class notes editor. You allow me to email you and fill your inboxes with our class nattering. Most importantly, you’ve allowed acquaintanceship to nurture into friendship and, as I get older, friendship is something that I’ve come to treasure.

Class of ’70 Hillside alumnae (from left) Stefani Danes, Katie Whitehead, Carol Ramsey, Linda Keniston, and Amy Wong met in Washington, D.C.

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Northfield Katherine Truax katetruax@aol.com

Greetings, classmates! Our Facebook group, the Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) Class of 1970, is always open to new class members, so please join if you’re interested. Lots of posts, discussions, and photos! • Last fall, a group of Northfield and Mt. Hermon classmates met on campus to discuss our 50th reunion in June 2020. We took on the responsibility of planning and recruiting volunteers for various tasks, communications, and fundraising.

Teams were created to either work throughout the planning period and/or take on tasks that will dissolve once that task is complete. • Carol Ramsey will act as convener of teams so that the timing and progress of work can be coordinated. Others will act as team leaders. Anyone who wishes to participate in reunion planning and production will be part of the Steering Committee. We will do much of our work via phone conferences and Skype. In-person meetings will occur when there is need, desire, or opportunity (e.g., a campus event), but they will be infrequent until we get close to reunion time. • The Steering Committee volunteers who attended the September meeting included: Sylvia Marshall Bailey, Tess Pemantel Dunhoff, Claire Schmidt Jones, Neil Kiely, Enid Sodergren Oberholtzer, Carol Ramsey, Martha Seely, Dale Silver, James Singiser, Ann Smith, and Katherine Mary Truax. • Others who helped with the 45th reunion are welcome to join the Steering Committee. Please let Katherine Truax know (katetruax@aol.com) if you wish to participate in any of the following activities (there will be many additional roles to play as time moves on) … • Lost and Found Team: Those of you who have access to databases or directories that will help us find the lost or silent classmates are needed on this team. We want to reach out to everybody we can. Others who enjoy reaching out through Facebook, Twitter, or the internet and reconnecting with classmates can also help us find our friends. • Fundraising Leadership Team: At the 50th reunion, accumulated gifts made by members of the class since the 45th reunion and any planned gifts will be counted as our 50th Reunion Gift.

The class of 1966 made an aggregate gift of more than $3 million. We can beat that.

Remember: Everything counts. • Communications/Media Team: This group will work on projects like an art exhibit (Linda Kellogg Glover has already agreed to curate), building a website for communications and networking with class members, and planning newsletters, or deciding when, whether, and how we will produce a 50th reunion yearbook or similar documentation of who we have become (oral histories, anyone?). • Other teams that will have short-term assignments include a Budget Team; a 65th Birthday Team; a Music, Arts, and Entertainment Team; and a Dorm Decorating Team. It’s going to be fun. Let’s

make it a 50th to remember! • Classmates across the country have been gathering for mini reunions in 2016, in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. • Carol Ramsey, Amy Wong, Tess Pemantel Dunhoff, Ricky Brown, and Ray Ramsey were among the NMH crowd attending Gretchen Law’s play, Turn Me Loose, about the life, politics, and humor of comedian Dick Gregory. The New York Times named her play one of the best shows in 2016.

• Holly Babbitt Cobb writes, “Muffie Michaelson recently hosted a mini reunion at her home in Atlanta. My senior-year roommate, Kitty Scott, and I attended. We laughed, reminisced, and will stay in much closer touch. I live and work in Roswell, Ga., [and have] been here for 16 years. My daughter, Whitney, and her husband relocated to Atlanta a little over a year ago. Daughter Blair was married in Charleston last October and gives me a reason to visit Los Angeles. I’m loving the reunion momentum and am happy to facilitate.” • Martha Nace Johnson lost her dad last year, but she said he got a good send-off. She retired from the Obama administration in 2012 and has since published a novel and two management books. She’s also doing consulting and coaching, quilting, and is chair of the board of the Haiti Reforestation Partnership. Her husband, Steve, collapsed last August from West Nile viral encephalitis. “He was unresponsive for 36 hours and then came back to us,” says Martha. “He’s home and on the mend.” Daughter Anna advocates for sustainable agriculture and women farmers, and son Lucas is at Yale working toward a double master’s in business and forestry. A resident of Annapolis, Md., Martha would love to reconnect with other alums. • Kim Wade Ryan and her husband, Jim, moved from the Boston area to West Chester, Penn., to be close to grandchildren. “The year has been hard dealing with our son Scott’s cancer death last December, but we are blessed to be part of his family’s life on a day-to-day basis.

Our second son and family are a quick drive to Maryland, so we get to see them frequently.”

Their youngest son has relocated to Chicago, so Kim will take a few trips to Illinois as well. • Sylvia Marshall Bailey and husband Dennis traveled to Cuba in September. “The country has so much beauty in its landscape and people,” writes Sylvia. “So much history, culture, and talent, as well as wonderful cuisine. Forgot my NMH reunion hat, though.

Shortly after our return, we were visited by Hurricane Matthew here in Beaufort County.

Our first major hurricane experience. We consider ourselves very fortunate that we did not have any damage to our property and were able to safely evacuate and return. Many friends and colleagues were not so lucky, though. I am still enjoying my retirement, and we added a golden retriever puppy to our quiet home. He has turned our life upside down,

CLASS NOTES Monterey Jazz Festival and Scotland. Look for a letter from me as plans solidify! These destinations in themselves are amazing, but to share them with classmates takes it over the top. Hope to see you in 2017!”

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Mount Hermon Neil Kiely neil@marketinginmotion.com

From left: Holly Babbitt Cobb ’70, Muffie Michaelson ’70, and Kitty Scott ’70 met up in Atlanta.

but he is fun, busy, and will grant us many rewards in the years to come.” • Classmates, friends, and family attended a mini reunion in Washington, D.C., in December. Carol Ramsey organized a tour of the new African American Museum of History and Culture.

Amy Wong writes, “The day was gorgeous as Carol waved a familiar NMH banner to gather us all together. Once inside, we found the museum packed with people and exhibits. We wandered around at our own pace for hours until sensory overload set in. That evening everyone convened at a nearby restaurant for gabbing, dinner, and drinks.” Besides Amy, attendees (some with spouses) included: Amy Chang, Jane Ellen Reid, Katie Whitehead, Tess Pemantel Dunhoff, Stefani Danes, Linda Keniston, Enid Sodergren Oberholtzer, Sylvia Marshall Bailey, Carol Graves Zahm, Carol Ramsey, Vin Kennedy ’67 and Becky Parfitt Kennedy ’67 (advisor to our 50th reunion planning), and Katherine Truax. “It was satisfying and heartwarming to see how well classmates have fared over the past 46 years,” adds Amy, “with each aging into a finer version of her younger self. Check out Facebook for photos from the event!” • I received a wonderful message from Tess Pemantel Dunhoff regarding possible mini reunions in 2017: “Carol asked me to write a blurb about birthday minis being planned for 2017. Although there are none officially planned yet, it’s a great way to broadcast our idea! I have had a wonderful year reconnecting with classmates in New York City, Northfield, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. During these mini reunions, the idea came to me that in 2017 most of our classmates will be turning 65. I am in the process of planning mini reunion birthday celebrations around the country (or maybe around the globe) during 2017. Several destinations have been discussed.

Turn Me Loose, a fabulous off-Broadway play about Dick Gregory’s life, and written by our own Gretchen Law, will be moving to Los Angeles. It is riveting, to say the least, and lots of classmates have expressed an interest in seeing it. You will be getting letters when we have a date. Ken ‘Spoon’ Hoke-Witherspoon and Bonnie MacKinnon would like us to travel to Austin to see the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and enjoy the Austin night life. The Pink Jeep Tours and local wine tasting in Sedona, Ariz., was suggested by Cindy Stinchfield Ryan. I will be following up on the

In addition to running the original family farm in Gill in retirement, Richard Girard has two blacksmith shops. He and wife Janet continue to sing; Richard sings barbershop with the Narragansett Bay Chorus. Two of their sons chose music for their careers. • Stan Stalla spent the last year in Amman, Jordan, focusing on the U.S. government’s response to the crisis in Syria. He is hoping to “slowly wean off international issues and toward a life centered on issues affecting the Maine coast,” where he will settle in retirement. • In order to stay in tune for what we all hope will be a 50th reunion musical extravaganza, A.J. Eckert joined a new band called OC/DC. The band has many experienced musicians to the point where “I am the youngest in the band,” says A.J. • Skip Hansen’s wife has taken a new job in Tucson, Ariz., where they moved earlier this year. Skip telecommutes, so there’s no change to his schedule. He was convinced to try a half-Iron Triathlon. He cramped up during the running portion of his first one, so he’s gearing up for his next attempt in Chattanooga in May. • Robert Horne has cut back to part time as director of marketing at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. “This allows me to resume stand-up comedy classes, which I last took in New York City in 1978,” says Robert. I can see a talent show being part of our 50th reunion! • Bruce Berk will retire from Derryfield School at the end of spring, even though he still has a child in college. • Steve Chiassen reports that the Belfast, Maine, cohousing community is starting to feel like home. All units have been sold. Steve traveled to St. John and went on a seven-week cross-country road trip (including Canada), which he says was “fantastic.” • Mark Carta just celebrated the five-year anniversary of his own law firm in Darien, Conn. He is blessed with two wonderful partners in the concentration of employment law. He continues to serve on the board of A Better Chance of Wilton — an educational nonprofit he helped found 20

years ago. His three daughters have completed their formal education and have launched careers as diverse as they are. Mark is getting married in June to a “wonderful woman whose patience is astonishing.” • Steve Johnson sold his 1799 home on Lake Champlain, Vt., so he now resides full time in Lincoln, Mass. After four years running a family philanthropic foundation, Steve is returning to his roots as a consultant. • Rajan Batra enjoyed a Viking Cruise from Athens to Venice and up the Dalmatian Coast. He continues to insist that a cruise would make for a fabulous class of ’70 mini reunion. • Jeff Marks was honored with the John Hogan Award for his contributions to journalism by the Radio Television Digital News Association. Jeff continues to be asked to speak about “How to Prepare for the Unexpected” and “How to Be a Leader in Times of Crisis” after two of his employees were shot to death during a live segment in August 2015 at his station in Roanoke. • Bruno De Paola was married last October. He had been enjoying retirement and was on a pre-wedding vacation when he was asked to work for a small hospital in Bressanone, Italy.

The hospital had needed a good trauma surgeon immediately, so within three days Bruno accepted the position, married, and moved.

He is now “working the same schedule I had 35 years ago and love it.” • Edmund Dehn cofounded a small theater company in London called Entire Theater Company. The name is appropriate because the entire company consists of two actors, one director, one writer, and one producer. First production, Orbits, played in London, Germany, and Poland. • I reconnected with Dave Hawley and was not aware that he remained on campus and graduated with the class of ’71. He says he identifies more with our class, so hopefully he’ll come to our 50th. Dave attended Ripon College and moved to Florida, where he worked at Disney University. He then became an EMT, met his wife through work, and recently retired after 35 years as quality director for the medical director’s office in Orange County. He moved to Knoxville, Tenn., two years ago to be closer to his daughters and grandchildren. Dave loves to golf and works at his son-in-law’s church.

• Several issues ago I reported on the saga of Peter Huntsman and wife Deanna’s attempts to adopt three young children from overseas.

I’m happy to report that after a lengthy legal

From left: Class of ’70 alumni Alex Lotocki, Mark Carta, Jake Duvall, Neil Kiely, Steve Johnson, Mark Vokey, Dave Ericson, Dale Silver, Bruce Berk, Gene Ward, and Bob Horne held a mini reunion in Maine.

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CLASS NOTES process, they became the proud parents of Joshua, Jasmine, and Angel in August 2016. • The latest Hogger Adventure Mini Reunion took place last August in Rangeley, Maine, with 11 attendees, including first-timer Dale Silver. It was another terrific and diverse trip that included: hiking, fishing, power boating, tubing, skeet shooting, kayaking, and a party boat tour of the lake. You might be surprised to learn that with all of those activities, we still had time to eat like kings and enjoy some wonderful selections from class sommelier Jake Duvall. By the time you read this, the 2017 trip will have been announced — so if you are interested, let me know immediately. • Thanks to Dale Silver and Jim Singiser for joining me for a 50th reunion planning work weekend on campus in October. We joined several Northfield women for a wonderful couple of days. We attended several classes, which could not have been more interesting. The Northfield Mt. Hermon students of today are an impressive group; they were anxious to hear about the school “back in the day!” I would say that we laid the groundwork for a spectacular 50th, but there is still so much to do. I hope that many of you will be able to help ensure our success in some small way. Stay tuned and mark your calendars for June 2020. If you haven’t received our Jackie Robinson commencement speech, it is because I don’t have your email address.

Happy to forward it … just be in touch.

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Northfield Cathy Shufro cathy.shufro@yale.edu

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Mount Hermon David C. Eldredge d.eldredge@verizon.net

Still riding last summer’s reunion high, yours truly and wife Jill kicked off the holiday solstice season with a trek up to New Hampshire to meet with Jon Whitehouse, wife Miriam, and son Jesse; Lin DeGarmo; Cindy Kitchen Hogan, and Dennis Phillips and daughter Olivia at our annual “Canadian Thanksgiving” confab, hosted this year by Anne Marie and Stets Heiser and family at their still newish, more expansive, and retiree-friendly abode in the hills of Suncook — or is it Pembroke?

The good food and great companionship (alas, always too fleeting) were savored by all.

• One good turkey leads to another, and no sooner had we tucked away the final leftovers of our home’s American Thanksgiving when what should arrive at our door … yes, indeed, Jason “Jay” Moehring! On his first stateside swing since decamping for retirement in Thailand, Jay stopped by for a few days in the midst of East and West Coast reunions with his mom, kids, and grandkids. When told this would be fodder for the next NMH class notes column, he insisted on emailing the following in lieu of trusting my memory: “I had a terrific visit with Jill and Dave in New York City just after Thanksgiving weekend. It was at the end of a whirlwind visit from my

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home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to see my mom and two kids (Remi ’03 and Cody ’06) in California and my daughter, Dyllan, and my three grandchildren in Bucks County, Penn. I just left an HR position with a tech company based in Chiang Mai and am seeking less boring and more fulfilling endeavors. I happily help my fiancée, Tanutcha, with her cosmetic business startup and her rubber tree farm in northeast Thailand. We also support a Buddhist temple and children in need in Tanutcha’s rural Issan village. I was elated to miss the U.S. election and crazy politics. I’m staying in Thailand for the long run and wish you all good luck.” • Bill Parker writes, “After working in a variety of corporate positions most of my career, I moved to the nonprofit sector three years ago. I currently work as a major gifts officer for the Salvation Army in Philadelphia and it has been a very rewarding change. We support 24 different programs and talk to some pretty amazing people. The environment is low pressure and my co-workers are a great group of folks. While I may not always agree with all the organization philosophies, I have found that it is a very dedicated group who truly do work in some of the worst inner-city and rural poverty.

As a result, we help thousands of people who really need help. Our leaders are all ministers who make minister salaries — very different from many NGOs. I remarried and have four adult children and a granddaughter graduating in nursing from University of Massachusetts in December. We live in an 1869 house, which gives me goose bumps when I think about the floor boards coming from trees living when Abe Lincoln was alive. I enjoy family genealogy and have done some weeklong 300-mile bike hikes with my closest friends on rail trails. I also sing in a local chorus and help with their fundraising. I was excited to see mention of Phil Jamison in our last newsletter; he and I did a 1,500-mile bike hike in 1972 in England and Scotland after finishing our year abroad in British boarding schools. I enjoyed our 45th reunion — so much that I am volunteering to help our 50th reunion chairs. I recommend coming back to sing in Sacred Concert in the spring, which I have done a few times previously; it’s a great experience. Come on down, fellow singers!” • Best wishes, and whether you sing or not, stay tuned and keep in touch for the next five years and start planning now to attend our 50th!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Karen Beshar Zakalik karen.zakalik@gmail.com Facebook.com/Groups/47624874849 • Tom Sisson 1972NMH@gmail.com Channing Harris welcomes anyone who might

help with the upcoming 45th reunion, or particularly the 50th five years away. He has had great times at the past four reunions, made many new friends, and finds NMH is still a remarkable place of education in a

stunningly beautiful New England. Other recent reunion classes have been reconnecting over biking, singing, learning, rowing, playing (with instruments or not), sharing, dancing, communing, talking, talking, talking, or none of the above. Did he mention eating and drinking? What activities would draw you to revisit and perhaps raise a hand to assist?

Don’t miss the convergence of the first (and best) NMH class. Vespers was especially good this year, and the class of ’71 used it as a time to do some of their 50th reunion’s advance planning. I’m suggesting this now for the class of ’72. • Mary Jo Sullivan lives and works in London, having spent more than three decades in investment banking there and in the U.S. Mary Jo married Redding Thompson ’73 in 1980. They have a daughter, Kate, who lives in Washington, D.C. They see Dave King ’73 and David Wright ’73 whenever they have a chance. • Steven Whitney is doing well, living in Worcester, and works for BerryDunn, an accounting firm in Portland, Maine. He is the financial services practice lead within Berry Dunn’s government consulting group. The firm helps state and local governments gain a better understanding of what drives their costs and revenues, and helps them improve their cost effectiveness either by lowering costs, increasing revenues, or improving business processes. Steve has a 26-year-old son who lives and works on Cape Cod, and a 20-year-old daughter who is a sophomore at North Carolina’s High Point University. One of Steven’s main pursuits is rugby; he plays in an over-35 league, so he is competing against people that are more than 20 years younger than he is.

Steve is a trustee of the Mystic River Rugby Club; they are the defending national champions, so if you live in the Boston area and want to see excellent rugby, go see Steve play at Pine Banks Field in Malden, Mass. He will be coming to our reunion in June and looks forward to catching up with everyone. • Craig Ward’s son, Michael, is a sophomore at the University of Utah, where he’s studying physical science. Michael’s career on the U.S. Nordic Combined Team is voluntarily on hold since he doesn’t want to come off the team in his 30s without an undergraduate degree. Craig and Becky concur! • Erik Lindgren has recently released “Bespoke” on the Albany Records label. The music CD contains original acoustic chamber works from the past decades, and selections can be heard on YouTube. “Extreme Spirituals,” a 25-minute work for orchestra that features Atlanta bass baritone Oral Moses, was performed by the Brockton Symphony in April. • Dan Haslam spends half the year at home on the ocean in Cape Cod and the other half in sunny San Diego. Sixteen years ago he traded in his law practice for a tour guide’s life and now leads walking tours around the world.

• Peggy Stone writes, “I am really indebted to all our classmates who sent me the most wonderful messages of support while I was going through treatment for breast cancer. It

CLASS NOTES was tough going at times; the lowest point was when I fainted and broke my ankle three days after my final chemo cycle and had to camp out on the sofa bed in our living room for two months. Now it’s all behind me and I feel like dancing, which is exactly what I plan to do at our 45th reunion next June. Can I request ‘Holiday’ by Madonna?” (From Tom: Our prayers have always been with you.) • Shirley Sulyok Klinger is now a grandmother! The baby’s name is Lucas and he enjoys being spoiled by everyone. Shirley tells us that retirement is supposed to be fun and relaxing, but for her it has been a series of arthritis and surgeries. She hopes to be a babysitter soon for Lucas and that she will be able to do it. Shirley’s husband plans to retire next year, as his health hasn’t been great lately. Her youngest son married last summer in the Bahamas. “It was an honor to be there for them,” she said. Shirley still has her 17-year-old horse and two dogs. She also “doggy-sits” other dogs as needed. She hopes everyone is having a good year. • December found Frank Brewer recovering again from cardiac catheterization and a total of three stents. He is looking forward to retirement in September 2018 and is a new grandfather to baby Cameron. Frank’s boat, Wicked Blues, is put away on the “hard” for the winter and will be ready for the 2017 rockfish season on the Chesapeake. He is still living in Gaithersburg, Md., but is looking in Delaware for a retirement home. He’s hoping to attend our 45th reunion. • Crispin Philpott met up with Nick Biddle and Bob Burke at Mango Rosa in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, on the eve of the U.S. presidential election. Nick owns a home there; they link up periodically … the now-not-so “Traumatic Trio,” former NMH roommates showing their age. “See you next June at our 45th,” says Crispin. • I (Tom Sisson) am still working because I want to. I run a large Boy Scout camp in Rhode Island that hosts over 6,000 young men for a week in the summer. My daughter turned 40 this past September; I may have the oldest child in the class of ’72. Perhaps for the next issue of NMH Magazine we can compare notes on that. With four grandkids and a bucket of projects, I tend to keep busy. Oh, yes, and class secretary — always begging for notes fills some spare time as well. I am on the Alumni Council’s Awards Committee and am enjoying that. I am also finishing my book on the MODO’s trip to Romania in 1972. I hope to have it done for our reunion. We’ll see!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Heather Blanchard Tower smtower@comcast.net • Bill Stewart billstewartnmh73@gmail.com

From Heather: Thatcher Stone loves living in Albemarle County, Va. He is a small-town personal-injury lawyer raising flowers and vegetables and happily riding his John Deere tractor as he mows his four acres. He is active in the town, including sitting on the board for

the local opera company. Visitors are welcome; just let him know. • Mark DeGarmo continues expanding and perfecting his wonderful dance company in New York City. He is giving so many children an opportunity of a lifetime, and creating some pretty memorable moments for himself. I know he’d love to see anyone coming to the city. • Jim Aronson writes, “Nancy and I reside both in Longmeadow, Mass., and Naples, Fla. It is wonderful to be able to live in Florida more than half the year.

I continue to work as an insurance financial wholesaler and estate planner on a national scale and do not expect to retire anytime soon. Our daughter, Lauren, is a pension actuary for Deloitte Consulting and is living in Denver. Our son, Jason, recently married and lives in Charlestown, Mass. Jason is a portfolio manager for a Boston-based hedge fund and financial services company. The last classmate I saw was Ron Sussman and he is doing well in the law profession. We enjoyed spending time together at the Gaylord Hotel in Washington, D.C. I would like to extend my best wishes for a wonderful 2017 to all my classmates and especially my closest friends at NMH.” • Here in Northfield, I’m (Heather) still working on figuring out how to live now.

My community is amazing and so supportive.

I’ve gotten to some arts programs at NMH this fall: all is great with them! The musicianship of the students is unbelievable. I have to remind myself that they’re only in high school.

And for having been in school for a month and a half before their first concert: look out world. • The fall was short and beautiful, with warm days and lovely colors. As I write this, Vespers is next weekend. We’ve already had some snow, and I’m expecting more soon. Do keep me and Bill Stewart on your lists for news. We look at the notes section first, so let’s have lots to fill it up! Our 45th is coming … • From Bill: Jane Murray writes, “It has been a great year for us here in Jamestown, R.I. My husband, Doug, had several years of chronic Lyme disease and two spinal surgeries, but 2016 was a healthy and disease-free year for him. My career as an Alexander-based body mapping teacher is developing well. In addition to working with student and professional musicians in my home studio, I presented a workshop at the International Double Reed Society Conference last June and will teach a body mapping course in the music department at Rhode Island College this spring. I am still teaching oboe and pedagogy at University of Rhode Island and am busy playing oboe and English horn in the Rhode Island Philharmonic. I played in the ensemble for a world premiere ballet, Second Star to the Right, at Fort Adams in Newport, and I play regularly in the orchestras for The Chorus of Westerly and the Rhode Island Civic Chorale. I’ve come a long way from my first oboe lessons with Caroline Sly at NMH!” • Rob Howland enjoys shuttling between two great New England states: Vermont (home) and New Hampshire (work). He

is encouraged by the enthusiasm people have for increasing the use of renewable energy. He is appreciative of Rick Epstein, Bill Stewart, Larry Nez, and all the others who joined in the “Rope Pull” fundraiser for NMH and helped our fine class of ’73 beat ’72. We have never lost a rope pull to the class of ’72! • After more than 37 years in higher education as an instructor, coach, and administrator in athletics and student life, the last 17 at Oberlin College, Betsy Bruce took the early retirement “byeout” from Oberlin College at the end of the fall semester 2016. She remains busy, though.

Betsy taught her final winter-term group project, “From Yarn to Garment,” where students designed a wearable garment, wove the cloth, and then constructed their garment in less than a few weeks. Students then modeled and later hung their garments in a weeklong exhibit at the local art center. Betsy submitted her Peace Corps application and hopes to be interviewed for a position that will take her somewhere far away for two years. “It’s time to travel, share my skills, give back, and continue to learn,” says Betsy. • Nancy Elkington had a dismal six months without a single sighting of ’73 classmates! She’s had a busy time moving house, renovating, and settling in, but she’s heading to the northern coast of France in May. • As for me, I’ve completed a full year as pharmacy manager at AHF Pharmacy in Oakland, Calif., and it’s been a very rewarding challenge. Music is a big part of my life: serving on the board of the San Francisco Early Music Society, playing recorder with the Barbary Coast Recorder Orchestra, and taking up violin after 35 years or so to play with Berkeley Baroque Strings. One of my sons, Christopher Livengood, has just moved to San Francisco with his partner, Jamie Leightal. It’s nice having family close by.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Peter Allenby peterallenby@gmail.com

Many of us turned 60 in 2016, and ’74 Facebook page admin John Burnham asked his classmates what was best about the experience and what was the biggest surprise. John wrote this review, excerpting many of the responses.

Thank you, John! • Chris Boyd jumped in the pool first and re-posted what he wrote on his big day: “The day arrived with an unexpected new sense of serenity. I am happy.” • That prompted several upbeat sound bites of self-reflection. Lyn Tranfield Bennett: “Becoming more comfortable with who I am and being OK with it.” Ginny Risk: “I’m happier every year, but I can’t say why. I don’t feel wiser, but my perspective is stretching.”

Claire Bamberg: “Knowing my best days are truly ahead, as I settle in to ‘just’ being me.” • The class humorists weighed in. Michael Price: “Knowing in another year you’ll be 61 and no longer 60 …” Helen Stookey Jones: “Amid all the wonderful things about turning 60, which I can’t seem to remember right now …”

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CLASS NOTES Barbara Newman Wroncy: “How great the pot is …” • Chip Reardon ignored the instruction on brevity: “On the day it arrived, I was immediately overwhelmed thinking, ‘now, I am officially old,’ and then immediately rethinking my approach as I am quite active — ski, mountain bike, officiate lacrosse … It’s an age that’s only a number as long as one remains active. Yes, the hair is getting grayer, midsection could use some additional exercise, but if you feel great, age cannot slow you down. I did not do anything crazy on the birthday, but did go skydiving with my son last summer, breaking my vow not to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!” • Others echoed Chip, such as Anne Lawrence Sallee: “As I anticipate turning that page in a few days, I have been thinking long and hard. I’m not one to pay much attention to the numbers as the years pass. This one has me reflecting with amazement on all that has been accomplished and experienced and all there is left to try. I look at pictures of my grandmothers at this age, and they look much older. The best thing about turning 60 is that I don’t feel old yet!

The biggest surprise is that I am loving the new career I began at 57 and have no intention of slowing down!” • Nobody in ’74 was surprised to hear Charles Johnson take it up another notch: “The best thing about turning 60 is that it doesn’t feel any different from when I turned 40 or 50; life just keeps getting better. The biggest surprise for me was that I finally managed to merge my youthful dreams and aspirations with my adult actuality and learned I can live quite happily with the modest me I have become!” • It was no surprise to hear an authentic view from Andre Fleuriel: “Turning 60 has helped wear down some of my sharper edges. It has also strengthened my resolve in other areas. I never thought I would be married at any point in my life and now I am.” • And speaking of honesty, Betsy McConnell: “Best thing? I care less about what people think of me. Biggest surprise? I still get zits. But I don’t care!” • Stephanie Gerson: “There is wistfulness for not having reached some of my goals (I forgot to get married!), but also excitement in making new plans I only considered recently (Madagascar and Machu Picchu, here I come!).

Turning 40 was exciting. When I turned 50 I thought, ‘life keeps getting better.’ Now I hope I can live my life without always worrying what everyone thinks of me. Oh! I do find that simplifying makes everything better.” • Many are focused on achievement.

Adam G. Thomson: “I finally have a job working a computer numerically controlled wood milling and routing machine, which I have wanted to have for 20 years. Learning that design program is complicated, and lifting those heavy 8-foot-by-21-inch table tops onto the routing table, I am going to have to get used to that also.” • Bonita Hyman, our favorite mezzo-soprano for the last 40-plus years, wrote: “Sixty has been, hands down, the

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best year of my life. I have traveled and experienced so much, and have never been happier. The biggest surprise was having a lifelong dream come true: making my Met debut as a soloist one week after my 60th birthday. I could not have asked for a better birthday present.” • Apparently, Keith Gray isn’t slowing down either: “The biggest surprise for me is that I feel like I’m 30. I never expected youthful thoughts, optimistic outlooks, and future goals and dreams to still drive me. As friends and family are dying with a higher frequency, I am constantly reminded that this is not a dress rehearsal. I am grateful.”

• Enjoying the gravitas he’d achieved at 60, Eric Teot was also the first to admit to taking it a bit easier: “The best thing is I’m finally getting gray hair and don’t look like I’m 40 anymore!

The biggest surprise is that I can still do all the things I love, but have to do them a little more cautiously.” • Doug Shaw added, “The best thing is having more time to do what you want to do. The biggest surprise is seeing that white-haired, older guy looking back at me in the mirror.” • We heard from two other faculty brats. Peter Allenby wrote, “The best aspect of these milestones is the digital ease with which we all connect and recognize each other’s day of birth. The most surprising aspect? The aches, the pains, the thinning hair; as I slide down the backside of life, the pitch of the slope gets a wee bit steeper.” David Jones added, “For me, no tectonic plates suddenly shifted and I experienced no epiphanies.

Strangely, my kids keep getting older. What’s up with that?” • Class of ’73 member Lisa Stein, an honorary member of our class, reminded us how much each day counts: “The best thing about turning 60 last year was that I made it. My mom, a Northfield grad, died at 59 of a brain tumor. During the few years before my 60th, I was nervous. It felt like uncharted territory, and it was a relief to make it.” • Andre Fleuriel thanked Lisa and shared his story: “For those of us who lost parents at relatively young ages, living through the age of their deaths can be challenging. The question in my psyche is whether my father’s destiny is my destiny. My father died when he was 62.

We both had or have depression. The significant difference is that mine is treated and his was not. The moral of the story is that I have many of the same building blocks as my father, yet I can to a large degree build my future based on my input and not fate alone.” • Ginny Risk admitted to similar fears and Holt McChord wrote: “My father passed away at 59, right after I graduated college, and I was so happy to make it to 60. Clearly, the best thing is that I feel much younger than the gray-haired person in the mirror and have no intention of slowing down.” • Steve Meyer wrote from the Netherlands: “I was thinking about John (Burnham)’s post, and I happened to be doing it as I rode my bike into the center of The Hague. There was a light drizzle, and that means dealing with wet tram tracks. They

lie in the middle of the street, which is paved with bricks. When the steel of the tracks polished by the tram wheels gets wet, they become extremely slippery. One picosecond and you are completely upright, and the next you are on your side, sliding down the street.

As I rode along thinking about being 60, in the back of my mind I was also thinking, ‘Watch out for the wet tram tracks.’ I made a turn off the tracks and as I did, my rear tire completely let go, skidding on the track. The only way to recover is a full-body push into the skid, trying to keep the bike upright. I caught it in time and after a sickening lurch, the bike straightened up. I went on my way as if it hadn’t happened at all. I thought to myself, ‘So, that’s what’s best about life at 60 — being able to handle wet tram tracks with aplomb and grace.’” In an extraordinary turn of events, mere days later, Steve had a heart attack and died on 12/19/16. Steve handled the wet tram tracks with aplomb and grace one week and left us missing him the next. Such is 60. The dance of life, ever more precious. Steve was an adventurer, cyclist, swimmer, sailor, and geologist. In December he wrote, “I retired from Shell International and the oil business at the end of 2015. After 36 years it seemed a good time to do something else. Continuing to live in The Hague/Leiden, The Netherlands.

Concentrating on getting my daughter, Justine (17), through her last year at the International School of The Hague and off to a U.S. college.

There’s an open invite to any ’74 travelers who end up coming through here to visit; I can guide you around the Netherlands, viewed from the inside.” There was a memorial service in Holland in January, and another will be held in his home state of Maine this summer.

Steve leaves his fiancé, Jose. Please write Steve Meyer’s family and daughter, Justine Meyer, at Vlierboomstraat 630, Den Haag, The Netherlands 2564JR. • David Trout died from cancer on 10/3/16. His childhood friend and NMH buddy, Dave Schut, writes, “His hobby was growing and painting lilies, and he was proud of his large collection. We were close friends growing up in Kalamazoo, hanging out, golfing, staying at his Klinger Lake summer cottage, even chasing the same girls.

That Kalamazoo connection, Moni Thomas, convinced me to come to NMH junior year; I convinced Dave Trout and Chip Barr to come senior year. Dave fell in love with New England, eventually attending Bennington College. He always called it like it was. We weren’t as close these last 10 years, and now I miss him. Perhaps one thing about this age is being better able to express what other people have meant to us.” • Chris Boyd met Dave Trout at NMH 44 years ago. “I’d never heard of Kalamazoo, but thanks to Dave, I went to college there. Welcoming me there my first day, we boldly asked out the two prettiest girls; one remains a dear friend.

During college, Dave’s friends became my own, even my mom made him a distinguished honorary Boyd, a connection standing the test

CLASS NOTES

Dave Trout ’74 at NMH by Jim Garst ’75, circa 1974.

of time. Then we married off, the long Boyd parties slowed, children came. I drove 2,000 miles to Dave’s wedding to Lori. Two years ago, I sat beside him at his Detroit birthday bash, picking up where we left off.” • Mike Price, who kept in touch with Dave from Florida, more so during Dave’s cancer treatments and last days in hospice, wrote on October 3: “Dave Trout is no longer with us.

It was a great ride.” See desmondfuneralhome. com/obituary/David-Graham-Trout/_/1659590.

• These close NMH ties have lasted for years.

Let’s all remember our old connections, picking up where we left off, creating new bonds, and nurturing connections. • Ironically, on 10/4/16, Steve Meyer wrote of Dave Trout: “I have a great memory of David. I ran into him somewhere on Northfield campus, spring of 1974. He looked at me, and said, ‘Life. One thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were dead.’ He turned and walked away, saying nothing else.”

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Northfield Mount Hermon Veronica Froelich Adams veronicafadams@gmail.com • Carrie Roantree Ahlborn crahlborn@gmail.com

From Carrie: Abigail Mack Cook is president of Reed Cook, LLC. She has extensive experience in financial markets across multiple businesses and institutions and is recognized as a top performer in the field of foreign exchange and global markets. She is managing real estate portfolios in Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Abigail’s daughter lives in Seattle and works for the weekly paper and has finished a short-story collection, which she is discussing with Southern Publishers. • Hollis and Christine Blount Graves moved to Sunderland, Mass., last September and they are loving the quiet life of a small community. Chris is newly retired, but Hollis is still working full time. • Gary Thurston was in Albuquerque, N.M., for the winter. Since getting married in 2012, he’s been spending the cold months there instead of at his home in Sault Saint Marie, Mich. He likes shoveling the sunshine a lot better than shoveling the snow! His wife, Diana, attended our class reunion with him for the first time last year. She especially liked meeting Jamie Robinson and the food served in Alumni Hall. • Steve Batchelder,

who lives in Norfolk, Va., has been a machinist at Abacus Racing in Virginia Beach for the last 17 years, restoring sports and race cars.

He finished his last round of chemo for colon cancer and needs another surgical procedure to get rid of all traces. Steve writes, “My wife, Beth, and I celebrated our 37th anniversary with a weekend away and an exhilarating drive across the Blue Ridge Parkway! Our oldest daughter, Becky, works for one of our local hospitals. Our middle daughter, Carrie, graduated from nursing school and has a position in the cardiac care department of another local hospital. And our youngest daughter, Kaila, also works at one of our area hospitals as the exit coordinator for any patient needing aftercare once they leave the hospital. Beth is still working with challenged kids as a job coach, a cooperation between the public schools and Norfolk General Hospital. [I’m] thinking of possibly retiring and going back into senior care. Strive, ’75!” • Gail Majdalany Heaslip is a lower-school librarian at Ridgefield Academy in Connecticut and adores her job working with the young minds there! She continues her diving and is getting ready for the “Worlds in Budapest” in August 2017. Gail also volunteers with a refugee resettlement project in Ridgefield. Along with 100 other volunteers, Gail and NMH classmate Heidi Weber are helping a Syrian refugee family who arrived in December 2016 get acclimated. • Channing Harris ’72 wrote on Facebook, “NMH Christmas Vespers was rich, sometimes lively, and the candlelit chapel was resonant with beautiful voices and instruments: Student vocal soloists were great; traditional carols, three parts of ‘Messiah,’ and scripture readings in many languages; a delightful version of ‘Ukrainian Bell Carol’ played by plucked strings of orchestra; ‘Lullaby’ by young composer Dan Forrest with slightly complex harmonies was new to me; and ‘Silent Night’ sung softly, then with solo counterpoint, then hummed, as the last candles were put out one by one, left us in the dark to ponder.” Channing is a senior associate at Towers/Golde, a landscape architecture firm in New Haven, Conn. A graduate of Hampshire College and Harvard Graduate School of Design, Channing was president of the Connecticut chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, an active member of the Society for College and University Planning, an American Institute of Architects Connecticut affiliate, and a director of the New Haven Trust for Historic Preservation. • Sandra Gustafson Long published her first book last September, LinkedIn for Personal Branding: The Ultimate Guide, and consults with corporate sales and human resources clients. She lives in Westport, Conn., with her husband, Tom. Both of their children are getting married this year. • Ronni Froelich Adams moved back to her home state of Michigan after over 30 years away. She is reconnecting with her passion for socio-political organizing and hopes to be back working in the nonprofit

sector. • As for me, Carrie Roantree Ahlborn, I continue my work as director of annual giving at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Foundation, now overseeing our regional development officers. I have been spending a lot of time in the past few months reflecting on the importance of family, colleagues, and friends, and have been making more effort to stay in closer touch and maintain these important connections. My mom passed away in June 2016, five days after my second granddaughter was born, and these impactful events help me better understand the circle of life and keep things in perspective. • Here’s to you and your families, colleagues, and friends. And just as Channing did at Vespers time, think of an NMH memory — past or present — and share it on our Facebook page (search for “Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1975”) or with Ronni or me!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Susan Loring-Wells susanloring@me.com • Joe Mcveigh joe@joemcveigh.org

From Joe: My son, Nat, is now a seventhgrader in middle school in Middlebury, Vt. He enjoys playing keyboards in the jazz band and has started cross-country running, hopefully following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. • My old roommate from Hayden, Alan Bressler, and his wife, Sue, live in Montana. They returned to the East Coast last fall to climb Mt. Monadnock. Alan then ran in the Pie Race for the second straight year and won a pie. He noted with amusement that today’s students are fairly oblivious to the alumni runners until the old folks start passing them on the hills, at which point the students respond with looks of incredulity. Alan has switched from rock climbing to kayaking and makes an annual trip to paddle on the Salmon River in Idaho. • Debbie Rooney deHaas lives in Newburyport, Mass., with adopted twins, Darya and Mikhail.

They are 16. “I can’t believe they are driving,” she writes. Debbie’s internet marketing business, deHaas Creative, keeps her busy (dehaascreative.com). She would love to connect with any classmates visiting Newburyport. • Mark Bidwell is an attorney in general practice in Syracuse, N.Y. He is an avid rollerblader, downhill skier, and water skier. He also enjoys the local symphony and caring for his classic 1970s cars — a Camaro and a Trans Am. • Terry Green is now director of multi-family policy at the Federal Housing Finance Administration, overseeing billions of dollars in loans. The organization works to ensure liquidity for affordable and underserved housing. Terry commutes 30 miles daily by bicycle. Last November he traveled to Morocco and Cambridge, England, where his eldest daughter lives. • Susan Sunday retired in 2014 from the Canadian Foreign Service.

She worked on the Canadian Federal

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CLASS NOTES Government Census and on the Akwesasne reserve, ensuring that the population would be counted for the first time in 55 years! Susan and her husband, Stefan, met up with Beth Brown Madsen and her husband, Brian, in December. Susan enjoys seeing the photos classmates post on our “NMH Class of 1976” Facebook page. • Adam Saffer and wife Alison moved to Cairo, Egypt, where they have traveled to the Sahara Desert and dived into the Red Sea. They frequently visit Alexandria and the area near the Great Pyramids. • Stu Frankenthal and wife Kim have been married for 31 years. They lived in Louisville, Ky., for much of that time and are now living in Chicago. Stu is self-employed in the commercial real-estate business with a portfolio of properties in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. They have three sons: Seth (29) lives in Chicago and works in sports marketing; Jeremy (27) lives in Los Angeles and works in business development in the entertainment world; and Andrew (24) is in his second year of law school at the University of Miami. Stu is in touch with Helen Coons, who relocated from Philadelphia to Denver. Helen is active with the American Psychological Association and frequently presents at conferences. • Travis Hudelson still plays drums and sells software. His wife, Patty, is a realtor with Coldwell-Banker. Daughter Molly is a concert photographer and journalist.

Daughter Maddie is a freshman studying musical theater at Elon University. Son Luke spent a year teaching in Thailand and Vietnam.

The family visited Luke and saw elephant rescue efforts and many Buddhist temples. Travis is in touch with Eric Sternbach, who divides his time between Oregon and New York City.

Travis is also in touch with Mike Loewenberg, Jim Trapp, and Jim Steinwedell, who lives in Southern California. • Steve Smith lives in Rochester, N.Y., with his wife, Liz. Daughter Sarah received an M.S. in accounting and is a certified accountant. Steve met with Phil Mead and wife Carolyn Fox Mead ’75 at the Head of the Charles in Boston last fall. Steve coaches for the Fairport Crew Club; one of his novice crews won the New York State Championship two years ago. • Jeff Chase lives with his wife of 26 years, Caroline, in Wilmington, N.C. They love the beach, the boating, and the mild weather.

Their three children are all in their 20s. Jeff sold Chase Gallery in Boston after a 20-year run, but has continued in the art world as a painter and photographer (jeffchasestudio.com). He is a real estate broker by day. Jeff writes, “My two years at NMH were a highlight of my youth, and I feel so fortunate that I was able to attend.” • At our class meeting in the Blake Student Center in June 2016, we talked about how alumni of our generation — our class in particular — can make a difference to the school of today by increasing our financial giving. Many thanks to all of you who respond generously to those letters, emails, and phone calls to help us meet our goals for dollars and participation. Keep it up! • We

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Adam Saffer ’76 and wife Alison visited the Pyramids.

would love to stay in touch with you. Make it easy for us by making sure we have your current contact information. Send the school your up-to-date email and postal address by emailing addressupdates@nmhschool.org. Opt to make your information shareable on the NMH online community and on the NMH Connect mobile app and join the NMH Class of 1976 Facebook page. We are happy to help you connect with old friends; just send us an email and if we’ve got their contact info, we’ll pass it along. • From Susan: Kathy Ballou Sanford loves living in Rowayton, Conn., and is active in her church. Her daughters, Katie and Heidi, each got married last year.

Daughter Caroline is a graphic artist in Boston, and Lil, her youngest daughter, is a junior at Davidson College. Kathy is in her 16th year as the owner of her retail store, Chou Chou, in Connecticut, and is designing a line of golf clothing for women. She would love to connect with any classmates who are passing through. • For 20 years since graduating from NMH, Peter Parker lived in Rhode Island, Indiana, Isla Vista and Santa Barbara, Calif., Maine, Michigan, Oregon, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Felton, Santa Cruz, and Auburn, Calif. Since 2003 he’s been living in Fair Oaks, Calif., with wife Rosalie (married 32 years). His stepson, Phaelen, his wife, Crystal, and their baby daughter, Sierra Maria, live 20 minutes away.

Peter’s daughter, Sharma, her husband, Alex, and their three children also live close by. Peter is happy to be a grandpa. • Dongsok Shin and his wife are experiencing an empty nest after their third child went off to college. Daughter Samantha (26) lives in Brooklyn and works for a robotics firm, while daughter Linnea (24) lives in Seattle and works for Amazon (and is now married). Dongsok’s son, Adrian (19), started at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., and retired from competitive figure skating. Dongsok’s wife, Gwendolyn, continues her activities with her early-music group, ARTEK, and as a performer on ancient pipe organs. Dongsok is still with his early-music group, REBEL, participating in concerts all over the U.S. He is also a keyboard player at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. He had dinner in D.C. with Caroline Hemenway and Thomas Schiller.

Dongsok attended our 40th reunion with his

Alan Bressler ’76 won a pie at the 2016 Pie Race.

wife and Charlotte Bacon Holton. “One of the most gratifying aspects of Reunion 2016,” he writes, “was that everyone I talked with seemed to be on the same page socially and politically. I think we all came out of NMH with similar values and have retained them during our lives, no matter where we ended up living or what we ended up doing.” • Rich Davis was in Japan during last year’s reunion.

He writes, “With the knowledgeable assistance of one of our fellow ’76ers, our trip to Japan was greatly culturally enhanced, although we never were able to meet in person.” Rich lives in the beautiful beach town of Ventura, Calif.

“All is well here. The sun still rises and the tides are still coming and going. Fall had turned our few leafed trees to golden ambers and pastel reds. The pines and palms stay green. The winter chill moves us into the upper 40s at night, a far cry from the teens and sub-zero days of NMH. One cannot hang the cider out the window here to make apple jack and there is no forecast for snow in the near future.

Although, by driving a mere 40 minutes into the mountains, you can make all the snowmen and angels you wish. For a number of years, the sons were able to make snowmen in the hills and then we drove to the beach to play in the ocean. For any NMHers wishing to get together, just let me know.” • Jennifer Nash Morgan Johnson writes, “After bouncing around in my 20s, I finished nursing school and joined the Army — loved it — [and was] stationed in San Francisco, West Point, and San Antonio. I left the Army after seven years, got my advanced practice degree, and ended up back in an Army hospital running a heart failure clinic for another 12 years. Then we bought a boat, sold the house, and retired to go sailing.” Jennifer currently lives in the southern Bahamas aboard a Manta catamaran.

Her two oldest girls will be married next spring: one finished law school in Texas and the other began grad school last fall. Her son works in foreign policy in New York City, and her youngest daughter relocated to Salt Lake City after college. • Claire Gutekunst is now president of the 74,000-member New York State Bar Association (with bar-related duties unfortunately causing her to miss our 35th reunion) after serving as president-elect the previous year. Although a volunteer position, it’s a full-time job with lots of travel around

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the state and country, meetings with bar Northfield Mount Hermon groups, and lobbying in Congress and the Anne Howson New York State legislature. Claire’s big ahowson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu presidential project is a joint domestic Laini Rudsten Andrews: “In the last few years, violence initiative with the Women’s Bar we (she and Philip Wieler) have been enjoying Association of the State of New York. When sailing brokered sailboats one at a time from Claire’s term ends in May, she will return to Maine to Grenada! What also keeps us very building her mediation and arbitration busy is our medical transcription and billing practice that she started in 2013. After 25 company! We look forward to catching up years in apartments in Manhattan, Claire and and seeing everyone at our reunion!” • Sarah her husband moved in June 2013 to a Williams Goldhagen moved with her husband, beautiful two-and-a-half-acre 1898 home in Danny, and their two children, Veronica (20) Yonkers, just north of the Bronx, where they and Gideon (16), to New York City three both work from home. He writes books and years ago and landed in a converted church in lyrics for musical theater and, over the years, East Harlem. “We adore living in New York has had productions in New York and various City and totally love El Barrio and our home. regional theaters around the country. Their My new book, Welcome to Your World: How older son went to Yale; he is moving to Upper the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives, will Manhattan and doing test prep and tutoring be published by HarperCollins in April. It’s a after spending most of a year in Zimbabwe deep dive into how people actually experience and a month in South Korea. Their younger the environments we live in and all the ways son went to Brown and lives in New Orleans that good and bad design shape our sense of doing marketing work remotely for a identity, emotions, social relations, and cognicomputer software company based in Boston. • tions. Very excited about it and grateful to Claire and her NMH (and Brown) roommate, NMH for having been part of my formation! I Sonia Lewin, have kept in touch over the years. spent a lovely couple of hours last month with Sonia is a pediatric emergency-room doctor at retired teacher Louise Schwingel in Arlington, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Mass., where she now lives. We picked up our That came in handy when Claire broke her book-laced conversation that we’d left off 40 wrist in Newport, R.I., while on a cruise in years ago as if the intervening years had never late 2014 and Sonia quickly helped get her happened. It was wonderful.” Read more fixed up at Mass General while she was in port about Sarah’s work at sarahwilliamsgoldhagen. in Boston, which allowed Claire and her com. • Jeff Aliber spoke with Elaine Johnson, husband to continue the cruise. Sonia’s his dorm parent in East Hall, for the first time daughter went to Columbia and is in medical in 39 years. “Elaine is now 82 years old and school at Brown. Her son went to Harvard living in San Ramon, Calif., with her daughter, and is working at a startup on the West Coast.

Catherine Johnson Lewis ’79. We had a won• Mary Thoms Madden and her husband, Mike, derful conversation, and I am pleased to report live in Temple, N.H. Mary works from home, that she is still as tuned-in and up to date and their two children are both out on their on current events as ever. We even compared own and working. • Chris Kraus is still acting notes on what it’s like to date post-divorce in chair of the Near Eastern Languages and your 50s. Not surprisingly, we are completely Civilizations department at Yale, but hopes to aligned with regard to our view of a Trump return to self-governance and to her normal presidency.” • Joanie Kaplan Williams writes, place in the classics department. Though she “I can’t believe our 40th is coming up already! couldn’t make it to our 40th reunion, she was I can’t wait to see everybody. I have been so delighted to catch up with Terry Green and busy with our company, Watercrest Senior David Bernstein at Pepe’s Pizza in New Haven, Living, which my partner and I started just Conn., on their way back south from NMH. after our last reunion! We just closed on our Chris’s daughter, Eleanor, finished her first seventh new development project and last term at Haverford, which she loves! week we opened our fourth building. We are now up to 250 employees, and we have 207 residents so far, with all our communities filling up well ahead of budget. It has been the most difficult yet rewarding thing I have ever done, and every happy associate, resident, or family member I hug makes the immense risk we have taken all worthwhile. Phil and I are heading to Acqualina, a five-star resort in south Florida for the holidays so I can pamper myself and recharge.” • Paul Crowder has been living near Boulder, Colo., for the past 36 years. “I spend two weeks each month in Europe and Africa for work,” says Paul. “This has In June 2016, some ’77ers gathered in Boston for a dinmade it possible for me to do a fair amount of ner: (front row, from left) Matt Thurber, Pamela Watsonrock climbing in South Africa, along with a Hogan, Judge Arcaro, Anne Howson; (back row, from left) chance to be introduced to new wildlife risks Carol Hills, John Spence, Jeff Aliber, and Neil Johnson.

like the black mamba, Mozambican spitting cobra, and boom slang. My South African climbing partner usually goes first when walking through the bush because he knows where we’re going and what these critters look like. As he would be bitten first, not me, it is a significant side benefit from my perspective; he says if he is bitten by a snake, I am to kill the offending serpent and bring it to the medical clinic so the clinic knows what antivenin to give him. I’m not sure how I feel about my part in that strategy. My daughter, Hollis, is working on a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at a small school in the Bay Area (California). My daughter, Gaelyn, attends college in Florida on a soccer scholarship. I have a girlfriend, Lizz, who is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospital in Denver, and that relationship has lasted several years in spite of my brutal foreign travel schedule.

I’ve been spending some good quality time in South Africa with Steve Ablondi, who lives there during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer season and lives in Vermont during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer season. A few months ago I went climbing with Steve and Bryan MacDonald in Connecticut, and we all attended a dinner party at Jon Rubin’s house.

The climbing part was hysterically funny and the party part was a lot of fun.” • Our condolences go out to Mary Murphy, who wrote, “I was and am so moved by my classmates and what they said after my husband [Robert] died in October. What great people, what a connection. Thanks to all.” • Christina “Tina” Neal says, “It is hard not to wax political this year. I have been the scientist in charge at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for almost two years. With two eruptions at Kilauea Volcano and Mauna Loa Volcano restless, it has been a busy time. In January 2016, Carrie Niederman ’78 and I traveled on a bucket list adventure to Antarctica, which was truly amazing. Even after my 25 years in Alaska, I found the Antarctic landscape was jaw-dropping. I don’t know how long I’ll be here in Hawaii; I had so wished to end my federal career working for a Clinton administration and the election outcome was a terrible disappointment. We will see what is ahead for federal science and the country. I will say the state of the nation and political and cultural dialogue convinces me more than ever of the need for NMH as an institution, helping to inform our leaders of tomorrow.

Next June is 40 years? How can that possibly be?” • Anne Howson: “I spent Thanksgiving with David Allen and his wonderful family: wife Holly Hazen Allen ’74, son Richard, daughter Page, mother Edna, and sister Melissa Allen Fitzgerald ’84 and her family. Holly and David were east from Michigan, where he teaches at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

At Thanksgiving, David and I discovered there are more ways than one for turkey in the oven.”

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Northfield Mount Hermon Carrie Niederman thedoc@txequinedentist.com • Cathy Abraham Hopkins cathy.hopkins@gmail.com

From Cathy: Kerry Howard Dahm wrote about her epic Pacific Crest Trail trek last year: “With the fabulous support of my husband, Brian, I was fortunate and stubborn enough to successfully thru-hike 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada; 152 days of hiking. The simplicity of doing nothing but ‘eat, hike, sleep’ is incredibly freeing. I learned to let my mind go and developed a deep trust in my body’s capability to meet such a physical challenge. We met wonderful people from all over the country and around the world. We also learned about the vastness of this land, the welcoming of small towns, and the incredible willingness of total strangers to help others on and off the trail.” Kerry would love to hear from anyone else who has spent time on the Pacific Crest Trail and to share stories. • Bill Woods’s wife, Kekuhoumana, passed away from a sudden heart attack on 01/29/13. They had been together for 21 years but had finally married on 01/10/13. “It’s been a long hard road since, but I have been blessed along the way, most especially by my new wife, Maria Paula, and my new stepdaughter, Carolina. Carolina, from Rio de Janeiro, was my dog walker and she introduced me to her mom when Maria Paula came to visit her in December 2015. We hit it off very well and Maria Paul came back to stay with me from Rio about a month after going back home. We were married just a couple months later. We recently went back to visit my family in Boston and had a great time.

I hadn’t been back east for about 20 years!”

Bill says he’s planning on coming to Reunion 2018! • Peter Weis and Lydia Perry Weis ’80 were married on 8/20/16 at Memorial Chapel by former NMH chaplain Betty Stocky. Peter writes that “all manner of NMH faculty and alumni celebrated with us. We were sorry we couldn’t invite everyone.” We forgive you, Peter.

• From the guy who seems to connect with more alums than anyone else I know, Chris Crowder: “From the Crowder household, a couple of NMH ‘near misses’ last summer.

First, I did my second installment of the D2R2 (Deerfield Dirt Road Randonee) in August. In 2015 I ran into Chris Clement during that scenic ride through the back dirt roads of western Massachusetts and southern Vermont.

This time around, despite doing the long (180 kilometer) version, I still missed Chris. Also in August I did the Copper Triangle ride in Colorado and had planned to catch up with Sally Willis ’82, as I had arrived several days prior to adjust to the elevation. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for her, Sally was doing her epic drive across America. So another time! I did not miss riding on my brother Paul’s (’77) coattails and attended a September BBQ hosted by Sheri and Jon Rubin ’77 in Guilford, Conn. Paul, Bryan MacDonald ’77,

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and Steve Ablondi ’77 (and spouses) were all there. Turns out Bryan and Jon work down the road from me in Westport, Conn., so no excuses! [I’m] planning on bringing my bike to our 40th in 2018, as well as to the reunion ‘practice’ for the class of 1977’s 40th.” • Karen Badger Wespi retired last October after receiving a diagnosis of ALS. She is striving to face this gracefully with the help of her husband. With humor intact, Karen said that her “speech is nearly gone … which is kind of funny for a coxswain.” Karen’s four children attended NMH: Ben ’04 (in Thailand, working for the embassy), Scott ’01 (has a software company in Nashville), Eric ’01 (works for Boston Scientific in Minneapolis), and Maisie ’06 (in medical marketing in Carlsbad, Calif.).

Karen has two grandchildren: George (3) and Eleanor (2)! We send our love, positive energy, and prayers. • Katy Hauke DuGarm writes, “The first Midwest Mountain Day was held at the end of October. Alumni from six decades were present. We hiked in a Minnesota state park by the St. Croix River, then retired to the visitor center for potluck. There were lively conversations among people who were strangers until that morning. That’s how it is with NMH people. A cross-country ski adventure has been suggested. There may also be an event around music in Minnesota, land of 10,000 choirs. Otherwise, Delano and I spent two weeks this summer in Norway and Sweden, traveling by train, ferry, and bus. We saw an opera in a coastal fortification and another opera in an 18th-century palace. We did a one-week trip by train from Denver, Colo., to Savannah, Ga., then back to St. Paul, Minn.

Now we have no travel until the end of the legislative session in May.” • Finally, Tom and I celebrated the arrival of our grandson, Owen, in June and 35 years of marriage in September.

It’s been like an ultra-marathon, with ups and downs and a few walls along the way, but nothing we couldn’t come through together.

Please put Reunion 2018 on your calendar; it will be here before we know it.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Paige Relyea Lehman Paigerelyea@Yahoo.com • Cary Liebowitz Bonosevich Bonosevich@Hotmail.com

From Paige: William Heidbreder writes, “I am busy expanding my scholarly editing business: college papers, theses, and dissertations; journal articles for students, domestic and foreign, and professors writing in university contexts in English. I’m trying to learn internet marketing through ‘search engine optimization’ and it’s a bit of a bugbear since I’m a nerd but not a tech geek, but I’ll slog through it. Otherwise, if you or anyone you know who writes well and has relevant experience would like some regular or occasional work, drop me a line (editor@academicenglishediting.com). The work is sometimes fun. Some of the professors and grad students have interesting ideas and

Karen Wespi ’78 spending time with her family: (back row, from left) Ben ’05, Scott ’01, Eric ’01, and Maisie ’07; (front row) Karen and husband George.

it helps me feel like I’m part of the broader world of thought. But what I am really into is seeing films and enjoying the world of the arts in New York and writing on film, contemporary French and Italian radical philosophy (post-Heidegger), and kvetches about American society, having recently returned from studying in Paris and feeling very much estranged in permanent exile, if refusing silence.

In 30 years of heavy film-going I seem to have seen most of the films of the major filmmakers in Europe after the war. I have recently started writing on film and I have half a dozen film reviews on my blog, including a piece on Bertolucci’s imminent critique of both the sexual revolution and feminism in Last Tango in Paris.

I have the best analysis of what both Trump and Clinton are about, and am also writing a personal memoir focusing on police harassment and the fascism of the mental health system. See questionsducinema.com (film) and refusalofsilence.com (political philosophy and society).” • “I am still involved in education,” writes Jennifer Baker Warren, “and have been for nearly all of my adult life. I teach sixthgrade English and am the admissions director for a neat international baccalaureate school in Santa Fe. I’m also starting to get political and am involved in a number of action groups. No room for complacency! I’m also part of the local search and rescue, so I am still getting my wilderness fix. My daughters are on an incredible gap year, almost done in South America: 10 countries and Easter Island!” • Mike Wise says, “I’m having a great time transitioning to Boston from 20 years in Cleveland. I’ve got a new job with a payroll and human resources tech firm in Natick. Diane and I will be living in Hopkinton for six months and will then see where the spirit leads. We stumbled across a great Bible church to invest in, fcch.org. I’m also involved in the new NMH Boathouse Project, connecting with classmates who rowed. (If you have a story to share, please message me.) This has tangentially brought me into collecting stories about Coach Hamilton, who did some remarkable things for students and alumni. Empty nest? Downsize, shed, distribute, engage, trust, live. Let me know if you’d like to meet up. I’m running all over New England. Such an incredible place on the blue planet.” • Peter Coan is senior editor at

CLASS NOTES Smithsonian Channel and completed a film about the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, and had put together a film about the National Park system. “My biggest distraction is kitchen staff from a restaurant immediately beneath my office,” says Peter. “A least twice a day they empty bottles into a dumpster, with garbage trucks coming in immediately afterward to haul everything away. I feel like the Grinch, annoyed by all the noise. I’ve spent a lot of time cycling on Maryland roads north of D.C. and have found a good group whose pace isn’t scorching. I escaped the heat in August with what has become an annual trip to Maine to see classmates from the Williams-Mystic program and to sail small boats. I had a great time catching up with M.J. Curry and Sarah Browning in October during a visit to the newly reopened east wing of the National Gallery. I met Casey Vollinger ’01, who grew up on the Northfield campus and whose dad is still teaching math. He moved back to NMH and is working as associate director of alumni and parent programs in the Advancement Office. It was a lot of fun to talk about NMH and all the great things it did for us.” • All is well in the Estelle Dorain Burgess home.

“Our girls are healthy and happy. Ray and I have had a busy year with traveling, boating, skiing, and snowmobiling. I also have been experimenting with my artistic side with some painting! Two more years until our reunion!

I plan on visiting campus and reuniting with classmates! Put it on your calendar! A fun time will be had by all!” • “Now that my wife and I are empty nesters,” says Bev Schwartz, “we are downsizing from a three-story house to a two-bedroom apartment. We are looking forward to the carefree life!” • Chris Neumeyer moved to Taiwan 17 years ago. He has a beautiful wife and a 12-year-old daughter who is bilingual in English and Mandarin due to attending schools in Taiwan. Chris manages the Taipei office of Duane Morris, a global law firm based in the U.S. that focuses on technology and intellectual property. Chris says, “While Taiwan is a great place to live, with beautiful scenery, low cost of living, great food, excellent public transit, and virtually free health care, it’s always a thrill to return home to the States. I’m hoping to move back someday, though I’ve been saying that for a decade.”

• After 25 years in Pittsburgh, Jennifer Thomas McGrath and her husband moved to St. Louis in 2013. “We really enjoy life in the Midwest,” wrote Jennifer. “I became a stay-at-home mom a few years back following a 20-year career of marketing, writing, and editing. I am a volunteer for the American Red Cross, I lead a short-term mission team to Nicaragua at my church, and my dog and I are a pet therapy team at an area hospital. My kids are 29, 27, and 19, and I became a grandmother three years ago, which is the best job in the world!”

• Angelique “Amy” Sabo writes, “I’m living in Lafayette, Colo., raising two young ladies, working in a family business, doing acupunc-

ture, figure skating, competing with a fun synchronized skating team, volunteering as a test chair for a skating club, and continuing my education in sports medicine acupuncture.”

• Cary Liebowitz Bonosevich is still living in New Hampshire, working full time for the U.S. Postal Service. Cary and her husband, Len, have been living and working apart for over three years. They’re looking forward to moving into their new home in Rhome, Texas, this year. “Amazing what we survive for the benefit of retirement (and the opportunity to start my own business),” says Cary. • As for me, Paige Relyea Lehman, I spent 2016 back in school! I completed the professional certified coaching program at University of Miami and have launched Lehman Coaching (lehmancoaching.com). It’s been quite a journey not only to return to school to pursue a passion, but to become an entrepreneur for the first time in my life and leave behind the nine-tofive routine. My focus will be coaching business people and those transitioning to a “second act” (sound familiar?). As always, it’s wonderful to hear your news — keep in touch! We have an active Facebook page at “Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1979.” Join us there!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Jack Farrell jack@jackfarrell.org • Antony Pang aa1105@yahoo.com • Lynelle Kucharski lynelle@lynellekucharski.com • Kristin Kellom kkellom@nmhschool.org

From Kristin: Lydia Perry Weis and Peter Weis ’78 were married at NMH’s Memorial Chapel on 8/20/16. Susan Waterman, Kristin Kellom, Cynthia Berglund Smith, Lee Coykendall, Anne Shepard, Sarah Browning, and Jeff Leyden attended. Joining Peter, who serves as NMH school archivist, Lydia now works in Alumni and Parent Giving and Programs.

Daughter Thalia is NMH class of 2020! They live on campus in Dwight’s Home. Lydia notes, “Lots of changes!” • Antony Pang quit his job and is “searching for the meaning of life,” and will take some time off looking into many options. He was in Taipei in March to study Mandarin in a 12-week one-on-one immersion program. He said a long-term goal is to move to Africa. No idea to do what, but is just in love with the place. • As is so often the case, poignant gatherings for memorial services become bittersweet reunions for friends and family. The September 2016 service for Deane Lanphear ’53, our interim headmaster, was indeed that. Among those attending the memorial service for Mr. Lanphear, our interim head of school, were Catherine “Cuppy” Howe Gordon, Joanne Hart ’79, and Sam Pettengill, along with Jeff Leyden, Lydia Perry Weis, and Kristin Kellom. Sam is now a fellow colleague as he has been teaching photography at NMH this year. We were all glad to spend

some brief time with members of the Lanphear family, Karen, Brad, and Kristin. • Jack Melanson returned to NMH as our new class gift chair and enjoyed an afternoon of class organizing and volunteering. • Sarah Browning came to campus as a guest of the English department to offer an evening of poetry and to serve as a guest teacher. According to faculty in the English department, she was quite a hit with the students! Sarah’s freshman son is at Wesleyan. Another empty nester! • Returning to run the Pie Race were Viva Hardigg and Dan Martin. Dan’s daughter, Anna ’18, is a junior at NMH and involved in the performing arts. Similarly, Amelia Maloney’s daughter, Isabella ’17, is also quite involved. Both girls were soloists at Vespers in December. Also attending off-campus Vespers in Boston were Mitzi Fennel, Heather McEvoy Keane ’81, and Ellen McVeigh Crawford ’78. A number of mini reunion opportunities were visible as members of the classes of ’56, ’66, ’67, and ’71 seemed to be out in force. Perhaps there is an idea here for our class? • Elisabeth Carter lives in the Boston area and continues her passion for Irish music and playing with fellow musicians. • Josh Novick lives in Arizona and works for Jeff Leyden’s brother at Southwestern Academy. • John Lin wrote from Hong Kong and extended best wishes for the New Year. • Jim Hurwitz has been active in energizing the NMH-Bay Area Club. If you live in the greater San Francisco area, consider getting involved! As we have noted before, in the day of Facebook and technology, class notes can get forgotten or become older history, but do consider sharing your news or pictures for this column. Not all of us are active online, and class notes is still the first place alumni go to learn of classmates and those in neighboring classes! • From Lynelle: Hi, everyone! Hope this finds you well in whatever corner of the world you are in! • Jae So hosted a gathering of Washington-area NMHers in September at her beautiful new home (and Julie Shea ’78 lives across the street!). Catherine Dempsey and her boyfriend attended. Catherine still works as a psychologist for our military men and women. Jude Lane Landis and her husband were also in attendance. Jude continues to work for Fannie Mae. The couple left to visit their son, who was home from Emerson College. • Karen Lange was fun to see, too; she continues to write for the Humane Society’s magazine and will be traveling to Africa to cover a story on monkeys. • Peter Coan ’79 also came and reminisced about the Northfield campus. I (Lynelle Kucharski) was kindly being hosted by Jae for a couple of days while on a road trip from Connecticut to Florida with my daughter. We missed others in the area who couldn’t make it: Ann Titcomb Loew, Hanif Moledina, Abby Millager (whose daughter was getting married!), John Mannino, Henry Wooster (who was in Amman!), and Chris Lindstrom Schaeffer (who started a new job in hospice work). So good to see everybody and

spring 2017 I 71

CLASS NOTES we look forward to the next gathering! • Last winter Karyn Ginsburg and I went on a tour of Costa Rica with our husbands. What beautiful scenery with the lakes, volcanoes, and beaches!

We did a canopy tour while walking across 26 bridges and were lucky enough to swim in the volcanic hot springs from Arenal Volcano. • You can always send me any news using Facebook.

Hope everyone enjoyed a beautiful snowy, serene winter! And spring has made a comeback!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Frank Chandler frankchandler1@verizon.net • Marina Colman marinacolman727@yahoo.com • Lilian Blacken Hannapel lilhannapel@gmail.com • Class of ’81 Website: www.nmh81.us Tracy W. Korman is the managing partner for Health Data Sciences Group, which provides analytics, infrastructure, and population health strategies. She plays squash frequently and cycles as much as she can. In addition to being our class treasurer, Tracy is active with the NMH Alumni Council, where she serves on the diversity, equity, and social justice committee. Wife Joan has shifted to part time with Princeton and is using her other time to pursue a master’s in information sciences with Rutgers and to figure skate. Son Milo ’11 graduated in 2015 from University of Chicago and has completed the first year of his astrophysics graduate studies at Case Western.

Daughter Sylvie ’14 is a rising junior at Barnard and is focused on directing Shakespeare and studying postmodernism.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Sally Willis willissally@hotmail.com • Michael Rickard mrickard330@cox.net

From Sally: Have you all signed up for Reunion? It’s right around the corner, and I hope to see you there. Check out our class website, nmhschool.org, or the ’82 group page on Facebook for more info. • Charlotte Alston Legg says, “John and I moved from Dallas this summer and are now in Westport, Conn., where our third child is a freshman at Staples High School. The other two are in college: Cassie at St. Andrew’s and Charlie at University of Texas, Austin (he’s our boots on the ground). Love seeing Katrina Harriman Conde, who lives minutes away in New Canaan, and I look forward to seeing Andrea Sferes, Per Furmark, Lisa Motyl Deutsch, Lydia Greene, Juan Conde, and all others who are nearby.

We should have a ‘pre-reunion reunion’ to get energy drummed up for number 35.” • “Sandy and I still live in Fairfield, Conn.,” writes Kate Stookey Haviland, “where our daughter, Grace, is a high school senior. She’s eager to study government and history at college. Our oldest, Charlie, is finishing his third year at Northeastern University, where he’s majoring in computer science, business, and ethics. His

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second work experience will be at a startup tech company in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I continue to enjoy my work as director of advancement at The Unquowa School, a K–8 progressive independent school in Fairfield. Sandy has a small investment-banking firm; the only upside to all his traveling are the frequent flyer miles!

Last summer we had a wonderful adventure through Italy, Croatia, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. Having missed our 30th, I’m determined to make it to the 35th!” • Sara “Stubs” Stabins-Freda is a community development coordinator for Jefferson County, N.Y., where she resides in her childhood home in Watertown. Her husband runs the Junior ROTC program for a nearby high school. Their children — Louie, Joe, and Vera — are full-time college students. “I enjoy skiing locally and, when time permits, scrapbooking,” says Sara.

“If anyone is headed to northern New York State, please look me up.” • My apologies to Brett Jacobs Axelberg … I missed adding her notes the last time around. Brett writes, “My husband, Marc (and I from the volunteer side), retired from the Army (fall 2015). Marc was on active duty for 28 years, and we were at 11 duty stations. We are in Carlisle, Penn., now and staying put for a while. I look forward to showing him NMH one day soon.”

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Northfield Mount Hermon Allyson Goodwin agoodwin@nmhschool.org • Angela Lambert drangela@mac.com

From Allyson: I have the great fortune to travel all around this country and beyond for NMH, and often run into classmates, which is great fun. Karen Faucher Gaddy and I connected in Florida in February. She was on the verge of moving to her new farm in Kentucky while her daughter finished up high school.

She is working for Pfizer and has three kids. • I saw Alice Fisher Fazekas in May at her new farm in Kentucky, right after Karen’s permanent move there. Alice writes, “Karen’s place is gorgeous; her kids are bright, personable, and nice. And she just keeps getting better! We are here looking for an eventing horse for Liesel [Alice’s daughter], who has outgrown her pony.

Karen has so many great ideas on how she wants to fill her paddocks with rescue horses.

Those horses certainly would be pampered.” • I was lucky to see Tim Lam in Hong Kong in March. He is doing very well, and we had a blast at a very special gala to kick off the “Hong Kong Hall” challenge in the new math and science center. • I caught up with Courtney Small Francis on a rainy night in Chicago in April. She and her family are doing well, and she is going to help us reach out to our alumni of color for networking and connection. • Lea Baran and I had fun in New York City in April. She is living in Brooklyn and working in graphic design. • Heather Jones Sano was not only back on campus to sing for Sacred Concert (which is still held in the audi-

Janice Russell ’83 (left) and Helen Engelbrecht Ownby ’58 on a Christmas Markets cruise.

torium), but she assisted Sheila with conducting the group this year. Heather conducted Sacred Concert back in the early 1990s when Sheila was on sabbatical, and Heather was the only alumna to ever conduct the iconic concert. • I seem to keep missing State Trooper Michael Rickard ’82 at Bradley Airport, where he works. Hopefully, I’ll run into him on one of these trips! • Finally, I met up with Jon Pucker in April at his beautiful gallery on Boston’s Newbury Street. He generously helped NMH art department chair, Philip Calabria, acquire art for the school. Jon has also offered to host events at the gallery, and will be working on curating some exhibits at NMH in the future, hopefully during June 2018 for our 35th reunion. He gets together annually at his summer house on Pleasant Lake, N.H., with counselor Tim McCabe and classmates Mark Rigdon, Dave Farnsworth, Pete Leinbach, Rich Gavalya, and Rob Tanenbaum ’84. • In March, John Dobbertin, Jon Duffy, Terry Connors, and Chris Stiepock got together for their annual meet-up in New York City. It’s the “Big East Tournament” get-together, including b-ball, food, and fun. Next time, snap a photo to send along to us, boys! • Courtney Small Francis writes, “Our 15-year-old son goes to Costa Rica this summer to work on a community service project. Two years ago, he went to Italy to be an ambassador/judge in the Giffoni Film Festival. My daughter, who graduated from Northern Illinois University with a major in psychology and a minor in black studies, went to Amsterdam to study public health last year. I regret not taking a term abroad at NMH, and so I am living vicariously through my children.” • “After arriving in the New York area,” says Bill Rowe, “Paul and I have finally found a cute house where we are in a cab for just 25 minutes from midtown Manhattan. My work continues to challenge and our company is continuing to grow.” Bill and Paul went to Ireland in June with friends Sheila Heffernon, Bill Hattendorf, Barbara Tweedle Freedman ’66, and Anne Zimmerman ’66. Bill continues, “I was asked to join the Alumni Council this past year and it has been a fun and challenging adventure. My mother passed suddenly this past winter and then we had to say goodbye to our 16-year-old golden retriever. I look forward to seeing fellow alums again soon.” • Writing from Nigeria, Leila Abu-Gheida says that

she is still based in the D.C. area, working at FHI360. “My job is challenging and takes me to interesting places and situations,” says Leila.

“For the foreseeable future, Nigeria will remain a focus. Interesting NMH link: My daughter’s tutor, Su Hong ’00, is also an alum. Su figured this out because my daughter was wearing an NMH sweatshirt. Su recently confirmed her suspicion that I was on the Northfield campus (smile), so the legacy perseveres!” • Sue Swift Warner was on campus in the spring for daughter Katie’s lacrosse game. Katie goes to Loomis and her prom date was an NMH grad.

Sue writes, “NMH ties run deep!” She plans to be on campus again for future lacrosse games and to be at our 35th reunion. Reunion’s in June 2018, so it’s not too early to plan! • Kirsta Schmitt Davey, Thekla Smith Alcocer ’84, and Sue Leonard Toll ’81 were victorious in an 11-person ice hockey shoot-out to win their division of the April Showers Tournament. Kirsta’s photo business (kirstadaveyphotography.com) continues to grow. Two of her photos were featured in the March/April 2016 issue of Yankee Magazine. Chris and Kirsta’s eldest, Sara, was married in August; Margaret is attending Connecticut College; and their son, Walker, is a sophomore at Groton School.

• David Hendricks writes, “My wife, Jennifer Rocco Hendricks, and I cannot believe that it’s been almost a year since we moved from Stamford, Conn., to London. The move came at the heels of a big funding round for the company I co-founded in 2009, LiveIntent. I am expanding our growing company across Europe from a base in central London. Our three children, Anna and Lily (15-year-old twins), and son,Will (11), have adapted well to London life, riding the double-decker bus to a private school in North London, where we live a hybrid city-suburban life among Edwardian terraced houses. Jennifer is tutoring and working on some volunteer projects at local schools while navigating the U.K. culture.

Ask her about the driver’s license test! If you find yourself in London, please don’t hesitate to look us up!” • Daniel Bellow was working at Salmon Falls Stoneware in Dover, N.H., while waiting to get his building permit to install a new kiln at his great new studio in Great Barrington, Mass. While in New Hampshire, he stayed with Angela Lambert, and they

Lulu Lason Cannon ’83, children Alex and Mackenzie, and husband Michael (far right) spent New Year’s Day in Ann Arbor, Mich.

had a fantastic time catching up and sharing memories of NMH and their fabulous time in Morocco as NMH students.

A CLOSER LOOK

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Northfield Mount Hermon Liz Mayers lizmayers@outlook.com

Jim Heller is alive and kicking in Montgom-

ery, Ala., and has been a geologist with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for almost 21 years. He works in the department’s groundwater branch on hydrogeological and groundwater quality issues.

He’s also the state government representative to the Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists. Jim writes, “Do you need a license to study rocks? No; however, you need one to conduct professional practice, another animal altogether.” • Ron Porcello, living in Germany since 1993, currently resides in Munich. He’s curious if there are any classmates living in Germany; he’d be interested in an alumni get-together if there are folks in Munich, Frankfurt, London, or Rome. After graduating from University of New Hampshire, Ron started working in Europe for a California startup in Italy. He earned his M.B.A. from Bocconi in Milan, and later moved into sales and sales management with HP and Dell in Europe. He started his own network security company and worked there until 2004, but now consults for the fashion industry. Ron has two children (10 and 15). He writes, “I loved my time at NMH and made some wonderful lifelong friends. I visited campus last November with my daughter when my mother passed away. It looks so much smaller than I remembered it.” He hoped to see Chris Zurcher ’82 in St. Gallen later in December. If you’re passing through Munich, look Ron up. • Heidi Lawson Sheldon has been living in Anchorage, Alaska, since 2010, when she married her second husband. Prior to that, she lived in Glennallen, Alaska. She has two children, Takodah and Akilena, and two step-children, Madison and Allison. She’s loving her Alaska life. In November, she traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to be with Thena Berry and her family, as Thena’s sister, Kat Berry, passed away after battling myasthenia gravis for four years.

Heidi notes that it was a bittersweet reunion. • Gene Lipitz lives in Seattle and serves on the board of SPLASH, a nongovernmental organization committed to safe water-system deployments to institutions serving children in the developing world. He plans to travel to Addis Ababa and Kathmandu for this work, helping to make sure that every child in both cities has access to clean water and good sanitation for many years to come. Gene also attended the Sundance Film Festival to see his sister’s documentary, Step. “When I put this on Facebook,” said Gene, “I was delighted to receive an effusive post from my dear roommate, Hassan Medbouh, whom I recall with great fondness.

Perhaps my travels will take me close enough to Morocco to pay a visit soon.” • Heidi Kro-

Lit Trip The phrase “literary salon” conjures up a bygone era of Gertrude Stein’s Parisian sitting room or Virginia Woolf’s luminous Bloomsbury Group in London.

Yet Toby Brothers ’83 transcends time in both cities, with a program called London Literary Salon (www.litsalon.co.uk), which she founded in Paris and London.

Originally from California, Brothers settled in London via Paris more than 10 years ago. Her graduate degrees and expertise in education and literature make her a natural teacher for salon participants. Earlier this year, Brothers led a group of readers to Ireland to culminate their months-long study of James Joyce’s Ulysses, which is compelling, lyrical, known for changing the face of literature — and also famous for its density.

Brothers acted as both literary interpreter and on-the-ground escort. “The complexity of our humanity requires time … description … expansion,” she says. “Any single person has more sides and edges than even a 1,000-page work can contain.”

Brothers also leads workshops on Shakespeare, Dante, Woolf, and Homer, among others.

Brothers credits NMH English teacher Audrey Sheats with showing her the power of literature, and for leading her to examine and share great works with other students, young and old, one literary journey at a time.

— Kris Halpin

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CLASS NOTES

From left: Jennifer Price ’84, Liz Rowley ’84, and Lisa Foy ’84 celebrated Liz’s 50th birthday in Baltimore.

nenberg, Caitlin Dyk Palacios, Debbie Shope, and Kerry Doyle got together to celebrate their 50th birthdays last summer at Heidi’s house in New York, and all went to see James Taylor at Tanglewood. Heidi writes, “It reminded us of being at NMH, so it was perfect. We stay in touch and see each other several times a year.” • Jon Hicks enjoys life in Chicago with his terrific wife and four children: his oldest is off to college. He works in mergers and acquisitions for The Heico Companies and lives a few blocks from Wrigley Field (how ’bout those Cubbies!).

Jon enjoyed a visit by Kwang Hee Lee last summer and reports that Kwang is living in Korea, doing great at Standard Chartered Bank, and he would love any of you to join him on the golf course. Jon would also love to hear from his North Crossley friends. • Eliza Edwards Burden lives in Arlington, Mass., with her husband and three kids, ages 13–19. She notes that there are a surprising number of familiar NMH faces in her town, including former NMH teachers Dick and Louise Schwingel! Eliza has a garden consulting business that keeps her active and creative. She’s become involved in NMH’s B.L.A.D.E. committee, a group of NMH rowing alums committed to generating interest and support for the construction of NMH’s new boathouse. “It has given me a great excuse to reach out to rowing classmates that I haven’t heard from in decades,” Eliza says. • I spent quite a bit of time this year traveling around, visiting friends and family. Last September, I spent a beautiful week exploring Yellowstone.

At the Pie Race, I enjoyed catching up with Marggie Slichter and Molly Greany, and then I walked around the NMH campus thinking of all the good memories I have of my time there.

• If you’re on Facebook, why not join our class group? Search for “Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1984.”

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Northfield Mount Hermon Jennifer Buell Horschman jenhorschman@yahoo.com

Nice work, class of ’85: keep paving the way of excellence! • Anytime a classmate passes, it is an opportunity to come together and celebrate that person. Our dear Eric Squire passed away on 10/31/16, and many have written to acknowledge his life and legacy. Molly Sterner and Rob Weiss were able to see Eric in Bend, and Jay Tolo talked to Eric right before he

74 I NMH Magazine

Kwang Lee ’84 (left) and Jon Hicks ’84 reunited.

passed. We hold Eric deep in our hearts. • Dru Fritzel’s daughter, Hutton ’17, graduates from NMH this spring. “It is so much fun seeing through her eyes,” writes Dru, “but it has been strange being on the parent side of things. We welcomed our first grandchild in November, but I’m still feeling too young to be a grandparent … I’m loving every minute of it.”

• Lori Roberts Lowe is still residing in Nassau, Bahamas, and has been married for 20 years.

She has one stepson, is an attorney specializing in real estate, and is president of the Bahamas Sailing Association. Lori represents the Bahamas internationally as a springboard diver, in sailing, and, more recently, also as a sailing juror, judge, and umpire. “Most of my sailing over the years has been in Snipe Class sailboats and at a Snipe World Masters, which my club hosted two weeks after Hurricane Matthew.

Regatta was a great success notwithstanding.

No damage to our house from the hurricane.

I think often of my time at NMH and look forward to hearing news of my classmates.” • Shannon Worthy resides in Atlanta, works with AGCO Corp., has been married to Mardrey for 26 years, and is blessed with two “young ladies”: Elanna (23) and Sydnee (17).

Shannon tries to speak to Matt Roche, his roommate from Hillside, every year. “Will forever keep NMH on the brain! Met some great people and the school resonates amazing stories and experiences,” says Shannon. • Heather Hewitt Main is raising two boys with her husband, David, in Burlington, Vt. She’s self-employed (Main Wellness Works), bringing health promotion and fitness programs to workplaces, and teaches fitness and yoga in a fitness studio she and David built. • Ann Hinckley writes, “I am still living in Florence, Italy. It has been about 26 years living here, both in Florence and Pisa. My two kiddos are both in school in the States. My daughter, Alex, is a sophomore at Smith and my son, Michael, is finishing senior year at Williston (sorry, NMH) and will be going to Brandeis next year. My husband, Paolo, and I spend time in the States each summer. We kind of have the best of both worlds, even though we always miss where we aren’t!” • Abigail Seymour is finishing her third year at Elon University School of Law, and will be working at an immigration firm where “I get to use my Spanish. I will take the bar exam in

July. When I’m not studying, I have enjoyed reliving my NMH rowing days as a member of Greensboro’s new crew team. Husband Paul is a pharmacist and our kids are 9 and 10.” • Alden Wallace shares, “I had an amazing 50th birthday hiking Mt. Fitzroy in Patagonia, Argentina. I live and work in New York City, where I get to see NMHers on a regular basis.

The 30-year bond is strong!” • Ceylan Onor’s update: “After 27 years of living in central Vermont, I moved to San Marcos, Calif. I am working as a therapist in a group foster home for traumatized adolescents.” Ceylan is working toward licensure as a professional clinical counselor and loves Southern California. She got together with former NMH faculty member Sue Gentile, who flies out to Los Angeles a few times a year to teach for Antioch. Ceylan has also seen Nicole Armstrong Williams ’84 and Nicole’s daughter, Payton. • Jens Hofmann moved from Reutlingen, Germany, to El Paso, Texas, in the fall of 2014 on a three-year assignment to work in an electronics plant in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, right across the border. “It’s a great and interesting thing to live between the cultures of the U.S. and Mexico, crossing over every day,” says Jens. “I had a wonderful time with David Mitchell, my Gould Hall roommate, and his family last June in New York City on a stopover to Germany. We had not seen each other for 20 years. Next summer we are planning to move back to Germany.” • Stew Leviss catches up with Todd Mayo ’86 every few months in the New York City area.

“Been putting lots of cycling miles on the ‘Pie Ride’ kit (cycling jersey) from the last reunion.

Life is good in New Jersey. Regards to all,” writes Stew. • Robert Fisher sent news in December: “My wife, Sarah Hersant Fisher ’86, the younger kids, and I are spending a week visiting our oldest in Bozeman, Mont., for Christmas and it is great to have all three kids in one place. Mac, our oldest, will graduate this year from Montana State. He and I summited Denali [in the] summer after a failed attempt last year. Nothing like doing things with our children! Lil, our middle child, is pursuing her Nordic ski career at Stratton Mountain School, while our youngest is in 8th grade and is in love with soccer. We still live on the farm where I grew up in Vermont. We are also very proud of Whitney Tilson for his win of his age group in the world’s toughest mudder! Go, Whitney!” • Doug “Diego” Gregory continues to work as a federal prosecutor for the Department of Justice. He specializes in high-level narcotics and gang prosecutions. His 6’1” daughter, Joanna, won the Class AA large school New York State Volleyball Championship last fall, where she made the All-Tournament Team and was selected First Team All-New York State. She will attend Gannon University on a scholarship this year. “Shoutout to all East Hall and NMH hoopers!” says Diego. • Ken Lee’s family had a wonderful year: “My daughter,

CLASS NOTES

lives one block from a horse farm and five miles from downtown Atlanta. She’s happy to have found “the love of her life” and to be in milder weather away from New York City.

While applying for a Georgia clinical psychology license, Alysa is also searching for teaching work in the local college and university circuit.

• Nilda Lopez had a mini reunion last summer with Laura Longsworth ’87, Kendel Leet, and Julie Pearse Sullivan at Julie’s home in Marshfield, Mass. In December, Nilda visited with Holly Bachman Bennett, and Julie also

just happened to be in New York City for this reunion. Nilda also met with Brita Muller during Brita’s New York work trip and later visited with Bebe Brown. Bebe spent a week in New York with her daughter, Kathryn, to enjoy the seasonal fair and escape the hot and dry Arizona climate. • Bruce Mendelsohn and his wife, Heather, met Ben Robertson for Christmas Vespers and shared dinner in Alumni Hall (the old West Hall). Bruce has been in touch with Julia Callahan Streit about our 35th reunion in 2021. Last summer, Bruce visited Eva Burt Dillon and attended a BBQ at Chuck Abel’s house. Bruce is between jobs and has been doing freelance work in digital marketing, content development, and social media.

He and his wife moved into a new house in Millbury, Mass., and he is quickly improving his “handyman status.” You can find him on Facebook and Twitter (@brm90). Ben lives in Keene, N.H., and blogs about web design while building a business at menadena.com. • Donna Kadis and her brother, Danny Kadis ’88, visited Sam Calagione ’88 and Mariah Draper Calagione ’89 at Sam’s famous brewery, Dogfish Head, in Milton, Del. Donna has gone back to teaching 2-year-olds, which is a big, yet welcome, change from kindergarten.

• Christina Haas Deprez is loving her empty nest and has gone back to teaching preschool part time. Her older son, Zinho, is living on the West Coast seeking advertising work, and Loften is a freshman at Yale. • United States Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Richard D. Sanford Jr. has retired from the Navy. He began his Navy career in 1991 following graduation from the University of Rochester, where he was a member of the NROTC program. • Melissa “Missy” Crowe lives in Jensen Beach, Fla. When she is not actively trading the global commodity markets, Missy creates energy-adjusting pyramids that combine carefully selected crystals and metals in cast resin. You can find her shop on Etsy at OutermostOrgone. She also mentors other traders in an ancient Japanese form of technical analysis known as Ichimoku Kinko Hyo. You can read more about this at cloudchartist.

From left: Julian Dodds ’85, his niece, Eleanor, Julian’s son, Oliver, and Julian’s brother, Jason, celebrate Julian’s birthday.

Front row, from left: Altan Onor, Ceylan Onor ’85, Payton Williams; (middle) Taner Onor, Sue Gentile; and (back row) Nicole Armstrong Williams ’84 at Manhattan Beach Pier.

It’s the ’85ers at their reunion!

Elaine, had a great summer research internship at Stanford’s political science department and is loving her sophomore year at University of Pennsylvania, where she’s studying international relations, and is president of their tae kwon do club. And my son, Andrew, was selected to be this season’s concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, won honorable mention in violin from the National YoungArts Foundation, and was admitted to Princeton University.” Ken and his wife, Jacqueline, will be empty nesters this year. Ken now works at Dell Technologies, helping to expand their marketing reach into some of the fastest-growing service provider market segments in technology. • Syed Asim Razvi writes that he “went to college, then medical school.” He’s been married for 20 years, has three children, and is a managing partner of a large medical practice in southern New Hampshire. He said that he seems to have lost touch with NMH, but he sends his best regards. • Julian Dodds and his wife, Wendy, had a very pleasant Christmas; it was his son Oliver’s 10th one. • “Things are good here in Austin, Texas,” says David Tait. “I’ve lived here for 24 years. I synced up with Jack Foster and Pete Craig [in the summer of 2015] for the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary concerts in Chicago.” They also ran into Rob Weiss, the late Eric Squire, and Dana Kulvin on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building for happy hour. “I started a new job at Oracle in December 2015, which I love,” adds David. Jack, Pete, and David raced in the Figawi regatta on Jack’s sailboat, the Lunasea, from Hyannis to Nantucket. “It was a great time; the Dark and Stormys were flowing, and we had a blast in the joke tent.” David, Jack, and Dean Simpson are planning an adventure to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, for a Spanish immersion course (led by Dean) as well as a few Phish shows. • Gayle Murray has been doing the same work for the past 16 years and is now taking art classes. • Graham Harriman lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Scott Kirkham. He’s been working for the New York City Department of Health for six years as the Ryan White program director, which funds care for low-income people with HIV. Graham sees a lot of his sister and Connecticut resident, Katrina Harriman Conde ’82, and her husband, Juan Conde ’82. Graham’s other

sister, Melinda Harriman ’81, lives in Denver with her husband, John. Graham and Scott often escape to Maine in the summer months.

• And from me, Jen Buell Horschman, we are now living in Asheville, N.C. I am the director of a middle school for girls, The French Broad River Academy. My older son, Nico (15), made the junior varsity high school basketball team, and my younger son, Henry, is solid on his 7th- and 8th-grade b-ball team. My husband, Rob, is a paramedic at Mission Hospital and is on ski patrol at our local mountain, Cataloochee, where we ski a lot in a southern small-fry, snow-blowing kind of way. We bought an energy-efficient house and are settling into a grounded life here during our kids’ next high school years. Salud to all!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Geoffrey Locke gwlocke@gmail.com

Alysa Ray has moved to Decatur, Ga.; she

spring 2017 I 75

CLASS NOTES com. • Our class had a respectable showing at the Pie Race. Chuck Abel, Jim Rymes, Schuyler Bush, Anne Bartfay Platzner, Julia Callahan Streit, Bay Brown ’85, and Ellen McCurtin ’85 all finished and afterward had pizza and pie in Greenfield. Ellen recently traveled to South Africa and was looking forward to hiking Mt. Washington on New Year’s Day, weather permitting. Anne moved to western Massachusetts last August so her daughter, Lizzie ’20, can attend NMH. Anne returned to clinical practice in October at Valley Medical Group. She joined my family for Thanksgiving and enjoys New England life and being an active member of the NMH community.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Kit Gattis kitnmh@gmail.com www.facebook.com/nmh1987 website: nmh1987.org

The wheel turns again and I find myself in a wintry Boston, having just taken my Russian final exam and about to face sub-zero temperatures. To paraphrase the Talking Heads, “I may ask myself, well, how did I get here?” • All of us working in “Reunion Central” are excited about our upcoming 30th reunion. I hope you’re able to come! Please reach out to all of your classmates and encourage them to come back, or perhaps share video blogs if they cannot make it. • Since I last checked in, I’ve started taking improv classes, inspired by my brother, Drew ’91, who took me to the Del Close Festival in New York last June. We also ran the Pie Race together in November.

Drew came in 108th, and me: 145th. We both got pies! • I made my debut with Boston Bollywood this fall, and also landed a gig in Boston’s long-standing burlesque retelling of The Nutcracker. • Once again, I’m looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you this summer! • Federico Garcia lives outside of Kenwood in Northern California. He continues to really enjoy working as a somatic therapist, specializing in c-PTSD and psychosomatic disorders. Federico and his wife live on a farm with vineyards and orchards, similar at times to beautiful Northfield. Federico’s father passed away last July; may he rest in peace. • John Bete continues to defy the laws of gravity and continues to stamp out pain and disability at Cape Cod Hospital; he is supported by wife Robin and children, Jack and Maris. He’s learning guitar and hopes to gig out soon. • Hoon Shin writes, “I did my M.B.A. back in 1996 (Boston University) after two years of mandatory military service for my country, Korea. I have three daughters: two of them that study in Korea and travel with their mother to visit their sister (my eldest daughter is currently enrolled in middle school in California). If I can get to go with them, I will have a chance to visit NMH.” • Kris Kruger Brewitt enjoyed catching three shows of her favorite band from Glasgow, Teenage Fanclub,

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From left: Kendra Davis ’14, David Williams ’57, Ben Davis ’17, Jen Williams ’87, and Ruthie Davis celebrate the 60th anniversary of when David Williams won the Pie Race.

with Jen Kim Brownfield ’88 in D.C., Rick Burtt in Cambridge, and Kris’s brother, Scott Kruger ’88, in New York City, where they shared a pint or two with the band. Great music with great people. Kris also caught up with Wendy Hefferan Price in North Carolina and Emma Leheny in D.C. Lots of laughs were had; felt like no time had passed. • Christina Wright DeFranceaux wants to call on Charlie Todd, Ted McCutcheon, Anette Wilson, Josh Friedlander, Matty D., Alison Iselin, Jenny Gessner, and Kathrine Clark to all get their butts to reunion! • O’Shea Gifford got married over the summer at his home outside of Austin. The ceremony was homegrown and fantastic! He and his new wife, J.R. (jrrapier. com), honeymooned in the Pacific Northwest on the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, then met up with their kids for two weeks in Glacier National Park.

O’Shea has plans to build a retreat pavilion on his land so he can host/facilitate various events for up to 50 guests. • Paul Horton lives in Sandwich, Mass., with his wife, Erin, and two boys, Max (4) and Charlie (2). Paul has been teaching music for a number of years as well as performing at several restaurants and pubs in the Cape Cod area. Although Paul only spent his freshman and sophomore years at NMH, it’s had a lasting impression on him. • Katherine McGee Warren started a freshwater trout farm in Oregon and has been named by the president to run People magazine. I said that I didn’t think this one would fly, but she said that they’re flying trout, so here it is. • Chuck Linton and family are doing well. His two girls are now 8 and 10 (however, the 10-year-old thinks she’s 16). Last summer they visited family in Jakarta, Indonesia, and had a great time.

• Yolanda DeHoyos McEvoy ’88 and her son, Ronald, drove from Las Vegas to San Diego to attend the celebration of the life of the father of her NMH roommate, Kristin Lang. Kristin lives in Luxembourg with her three children and husband. • Rosie Compres Navarro wants to call out Carl Oppenheimer, Philip Carey, Jay Jacobs, Adam “Lou” Cat, Jason Dumont, Phyllis Bohan Pischke, Cara Ballard, Rebecca Booth, Kristen Downey Helton, Jamie Walters, Jackie Greetham-Robbins Smith, and everyone (really) to come to our 30th reunion in June. If anyone reading this is in touch with

From left: Yolanda de Hoyos McEvoy ’88, Kristin Lang ’87, and Ronald Stock

anyone on this list, please tell them to attend. •

Will Sheats is still in Columbus, Ohio. He has

taken a break from the grueling unforgiving life of a chef to get caught up on all the nights, weekends, and holidays that the industry has leeched over the years. He is currently working for Cavalier Distributing, which is a craft beer company, drives a truck, and he’s hoping to morph into sales. Will is also working on becoming Cicerone-certified, which is basically the beer equivalent of a sommelier. “Looking forward to the new 420 laws and hope they are in place in Massachusetts in time for reunion,” says Will. “Also, cannot wait to be irresponsible with Jim Edelhauser, as we will have the most epic light display/pyrotechnics ever!” • Jackie Greetham-Robbins Smith lives in sunny Los Angeles and has a successful real estate business, four kids, and has been married for 17 years. She ran into Henri Dragonas at one of her open houses. Turns out he lives in the same neighborhood. “Oldest daughter is about to get her driver’s license,” says Jackie. Yikes, we’re old! • Since moving to Boston after graduating from NMH, Antonio Tambunan finally packed up the family and moved to Santa Monica last June. Everything seemed to be going well until one of his high school sons joined the regional novice crew team and expressed his desire to one day row for a school in New England. Other than that, Antonio’s team successfully brought part of an actual 747 as an art car installation to Burning Man this year. The rest of the plane is still in the Mojave Desert but is scheduled to make it there in 2017, making it the world’s largest art car. • Luis Del Valle takes solace that Kathleen Barber, his beloved high school history teacher, never got to see the outcome of the 2016 election. • Jennifer Williams says hello from campus! She’s in her 10th year working at NMH and can’t wait to see all the other ’87ers at reunion. Jen’s son, Ben ’17, is graduating this May and heading to St. Lawrence next fall. As a ’17er, Ben and his mom will always celebrate reunions together. Pretty fun. Jen’s dad, Dave Williams ’57, ran the Pie Race this year, the 60th anniversary of when he won it in 1956. Think we’ll all be running the Pie Race in 30 more years?

CLASS NOTES

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Northfield Mount Hermon Anne Stemshorn George anastasia.s.george@gmail.com Barbara Thomas has cycled off her many roles

on the NMH Alumni Council but still maintains a constant connection with the school as an NMH parent to her son, Connor ’19. In October, Barbara and her husband, Timothy Wall, visited NMH for Parents Weekend and cheered Connor’s JV cross-country team against Exeter. On campus, they also connected with NMH alumni parents Mariah Draper Calagione ’89 and Sam Calagione, as well as Shawn Foster ’87. Connor came in 20th in the Pie Race. His selfie with his pie closely matches Barbara’s with her own pie from 30 years ago. The tradition continues!

In December, Barbara attended the Boston NMH Christmas Vespers, where she got to compare NMH parenting stories with Jennifer Williams ’87. She also connected with past and present NMH Alumni Council members Wes Mason ’05, Wendy Alderman Cohen ’67, Benita Pierce ’56, and Brian Bauer ’69. • Kevin Fisher completed his master’s in education leadership and academic administration.

His daughter, Sandra (11), won the 7th-grade spelling bee for her school and county. Kevin’s son, Konor (6), has completed the kindergarten curriculum, and is readying himself for NMH! Kevin has had a great hunting season, including a beautiful eight-point buck, and his daughter killed two turkeys with one shot on her first turkey hunt! • Matthew Hand is a pilot and financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors in Boston. • Blayney Norton-Hayes is now upper-school art teacher for grades 6, 7, and 8 at The Pennfield School in Portsmouth, R.I. “It is a very nice school founded on joy, understanding, and respect,” says Blayney.

She is enjoying working with middle school children and finds the kids at Pennfield very creative. She misses all her NMH friends, and wants to give a shoutout to Jeremy Steinberg, who talked her through her father’s brain surgery for normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Jeremy is “not only a kind and dear friend, but he is a wealth of knowledge on the brain and this particular condition,” Blayney said. Her dad is doing better, and they are hoping for continued improvements. • Henry Wheaton teaches and performs circus arts at his circus school, SHOW Circus Studio, in Easthampton, Mass. He also teaches at the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro, Vt., where he is the co-head of the flying trapeze program and a catcher. He can also be found designing, building, and running aerial rigging systems for shows around New England, including for the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge. • Jennie Kent continues life in Bogotá. Her kids are getting big and are almost all in adult bodies. Her educational consulting business continues to thrive. She is passionate about financial aid, especially for international students, and has had the chance to work with students from all

over the world. Jennie also changed publishing houses and relaunched her bestseller with a special 10-year anniversary edition. • Tom Cecil is alive and well and continues to walk the straight and narrow. He still serves as a naval aviator and captain in the Navy, and is currently located in southern Maryland with his wife, Abby, and three children. Tom was sent to class in Newport, R.I., and managed to swing by NMH to take a stroll down memory lane. • Sam Ganly was in New England last summer and it reminded her of how much she misses it. “Note to self: make it to the next reunion,” says Sam. She caught up with Christopher Peck ’87 and his wife while they were in Asheville, N.C. They had lunch at a favorite lunch spot. “The entire time I was wondering how it is possible so many years have passed.

It doesn’t seem that long ago we were living in Crossley.” One final bit of news from Sam, “As I write this, my firstborn is in Marine Corps boot camp.” • Liz Maclachlan married Jacqui LaCoste in August 2016 in Puerto Rico! Congrats to Liz and Jacqui! • Fina Conde Arnold and her family have returned to Pasadena, Calif., after living in Nicaragua for the past three years. “Lots to get used to here after living in a slum,” says Fina. • Chip Hall celebrated seven years at Google. He bought a beach house in Capitola, Calif., to escape the craziness of Silicon Valley. He says that it is “very chill and fun to go surfing with [his] son.” His daughter, Sabrina (16), is a junior at Palo Alto High School, and his son, Tommy (13), is big into hoops and baseball. Chip got him hooked on following NMH basketball on Instagram; he can’t believe how good NMH’s basketball team is now! Finally, Chip is in his second year as president of the Palo Alto Little League and is having fun running a nonprofit that teaches life lessons to 1,000 kids through baseball. • Jeffrey Epstein is enjoying his eighth year at Disney. During the holidays, he went on a Disney Cruise vacation with Nicole Dancel ’09, and then spent a weekend in Houston with Kathy McGee Warren ’87. • Will Hutchins moved to Kennesaw, Ga., north of Atlanta, three years ago when his wife, Jen, accepted a teaching job at Kennesaw State University. He still works for FedEx, flying out of Memphis, and has been upgraded to MD11 captain. He regularly sees Sandy Bergman ’87, who also upgraded to MD11 captain. His daughter (5) started kindergarten last fall; his son (4) will be following in her footsteps shortly. Will would love to reconnect with any other NMHers in the Atlanta area. (Use the NMH app!) • Holly Hornor Cleary had a great reunion in New York City with Kira Dworkin Shepherd, Farnaz Vossoughian, Karyn Burtt Banks, Beth Wetherbee Klein ’89, and Nicole Kaldes. • Julio Salcedo is the chair of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and sustainability at City College, and he is working on a modern eco home in Ossipee, N.H., as well as an urban violence prevention project in San Salvador. When he’s in New Hamp-

shire, he dines with Norman Tregenza. • Cam McWethy writes, “Notorious bachelor Cam

McWethy and his rib made a couple of babies, welcoming boy/girl twins, Max and Ren, in March [2016]. He wonders why he waited so long, and anticipates needing the aid of a walker and adult diapers by the time they hit college.” • Josh Kwiat moved to Las Vegas and has no regrets. • Richard Lampe returned to the U.S. after many years of living in Paris. He currently lives in Connecticut and for the first time since graduation, he ran the Pie Race in November, finishing 23rd. Not bad for an ’88 grad! He cruised through the Northfield “ghost” campus and said how strange it was to see zero activity there. Having lived overseas for half his life, he has acquired quite the passion for great wine and food, and will continue this habit as he sits in front of the fireplace on snowy New England days. His job still keeps him busy globetrotting around interesting spots in the world.

• Spencer Luckey heard that Mike Ladd was in touch with Rob Guiler, who has Jon Gintzler’s phone number in Los Angeles. That would be quite a feat! • Thanks to everyone who submitted! I look forward to hearing from more of you. You can find me on Facebook or at the above email address. Please consider joining the Class of ’88 Facebook page if you haven’t already. And check out the NMH app if you are looking for classmates!

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Northfield Mount Hermon Chris Roof roofsound@comcast.net • John Carroll jcarroll@nmhschool.org • Caryn Crotty Eldridge slickcke7@gmail.com

My godson, Nat Simpson’s oldest son, headed off to college this year; scary how time is flying. • Gail Marie Doolittle is still working at NMH and living in Vermont. She’s happy to entertain a visit for anyone passing through and is continuing the tradition of making NMH ornaments for fellow employees. • Derek DeCoste hung out with Eric Eisner for a bit in Brooklyn this fall. They enjoyed catching up and commiserating over the presidential election. • Mark Medeiros shows his pride parading his “NMH89” license plate all around New England and being noticed at times by classmates. • Alexander Felson is an associate professor at Yale University, a landscape architect, and an ecologist. He also founded and runs the Urban Ecology and Design Lab, working on resilient ecosystems, including climate and coastal adaptation, green infrastructure, and engineered ecosystems. • Colleen Nielsen Gibney will be starting with the US Army Medical Research Material Command at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., to help small businesses develop new products for service members in the field.

Colleen writes, “Daughter Gemma is trying out my old French horn for 4th-grade band and husband Paul ensures that there is always

spring 2017 I 77

CLASS NOTES fresh homebrew on tap for anyone visiting.” • Katie Clapp Sonin had a play date with Alicja Trout and her daughters when they made their annual family visit to Lexington, Mass. She also had lunch with Larisa Mendez-Penate. Katie met with Casey Vollinger, whose family was in Marquand when he was a child. Casey now works at NMH and makes periodic trips to the Boston area to chat with fellow alums. • Kara Seager is extremely grateful for classmate donations to the ALS Association during her Marine Corps Marathon fundraiser. Despite fainting due to the heat at mile 15, she did manage to complete the 26.2 miles and raise over $1,600.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Robbianne Mackin robbianne.mackin@gmail.com • Travis Lea travislea@gmail.com • Kristin Steele kaste@conncoll.edu • Toryn Kimberley Stark torynk@yahoo.com Dave Arend’s jazz recording with Alchemy Sound Project, on which he played bass and also produced, has been named one of the best albums of 2016 by Down Beat magazine. • Laura Lifland and Dawn Crosby celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday together with their kids in Paraguay, where Dawn is currently working for the Peace Corps. • Jan Schubach Casper is married and has three children: Jannes (10), Alma (8), and Rika (2).

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Northfield Mount Hermon Dairo Moreno demoreno@post.harvard.edu

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Northfield Mount Hermon Jennifer Sadula deVore devorejr@msn.com • Ini Obot iniobot@yahoo.com • Cate Steele Hartzell cate.hartzell@gmail.com

The nature of this magazine means that as I write this column, it is December. Honestly, I’m not sure how it’s December because it feels like just yesterday that I sat down at my house in New Jersey with Jennifer Foxworth, Ini Obot, Kate Vail, and Elizabeth Bard. We looked at our reunion spreadsheets containing 414 names of our NMH classmates and had a collective moment of “Yikes, where has the time gone?” But that was October. And by the time we’re reading this column, it will be May. Our 25th reunion is truly right around the corner. • On behalf of our little reunion group, it has been a blast trying to reconnect with members of our class. Facebook certainly makes it easier by allowing us to skip over the outdated email addresses some of you still have on file with the school, and message you directly. You’re on Facebook, but never saw a message from one of us? Check that pesky “Other” folder. Outside of Facebook, we are working with emails and last-known phone

78 I NMH Magazine

From left: Dawn Crosby ’90 and her kids, Roque and Josie, enjoyed Thanksgiving with Laura Lifland ’90 and her son, John (front), in Paraguay.

numbers that the school has on file, and we are slowly checking off the names on these spreadsheets and tracking you all down. • Dan Brody has been in China since 1996; he moved to Hong Kong with his wife, Eva, and their son, Ian. They welcomed their newest family member, Ethan, in September. Dan sends his regrets that they will not make the reunion this year, but hopes anyone passing through Hong Kong will look him up. Also unable to make it: Ron Dolin, his wife, Nikki, and their three children will be celebrating their oldest daughter’s bat mitzvah that weekend. • Ini Obot is now assistant principal of math at Herbert H. Lehman High School in the Bronx. Last summer, she met up with Shanti Prasad ’91, and attended the wedding of Metta Dael ’93 and Martha Neubert (congrats, you two!). • Louise Dyer Yinug works for the Library of Congress and lives in D.C. with her husband and two daughters. • Rachel Stavely Hale teaches high school math and was a semi-finalist for 2017 Teacher of the Year in Massachusetts. • Jamie Hirsch Pitt Miller and her husband, Barrington, are enjoying life in Denver with their daughter, Mariella. • Heidi Ulbrich Algara is still loving Portland, Maine, where she lives with her kids, Quinn (10) and Sadie (8), and husband Mark. Heidi is a nurse navigator at Maine Medical Center.

Heidi conveyed that she will definitely be at our reunion, along with Dave Jasper. • After 17 years in New York City, Andrea Wolcott moved to California in 2013. A year later, Andrea opened the doors to Wolcott Financial Solutions. Hopper, her adorable canine sidekick, sleeps under her desk. • I enjoyed lunch in New York City last summer with Jennifer Foxworth. Jennifer works in the diamond industry, and I had the unique pleasure of meeting her at her office in Manhattan where, once I made it past an insane amount of security, she let me try on a diamond ring that costs more than my house. • Andrew Mudge is a filmmaker living in Boston. He recently wrote and directed his feature-length debut, The Forgotten Kingdom, set in Lesotho, South Africa. • Phil Stevens got married, refinanced his house, bought a car that was only 10 years old, participated (without dying) in his fifth

Enduro car race at Thunder Road, spoke at the graduation at New England Culinary Institute, and rigged a presidential election.

OK, one of those things might not have happened. Phil is looking forward to seeing folks this summer, although attending reunion would apparently require him to skip out on his first wedding anniversary. (Phil, how about a romantic anniversary weekend getaway to fabulous Gill, Mass.?) • I managed to connect with Sachi Kumazawa, a fellow Marquand resident, who might consider making the trip back to NMH for our 25th. Sachi and her husband currently live in South Japan, where they have started a farm and are enjoying life with their 9-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. • John West promised to save the date for our reunion in his calendar, and I believe our collective group has also received similar promises from Jill Morgan Baker, Laura Brooks, Sally Hitch Harrison, Jennifer Sadula deVore, Aaron Guiterman, Megan Bathory-Peeler, Alexandra Fast Kennedy, Clifton McHale, Jamie Hirsch Pitt Miller, Rohit Pursram, Brad DeBoer, Santosh Dhanalal, Catherine Campbell, Tam Le, Andrea Wolcott, Steve Koldis, Margo Eddy Fraker, Gene Ehrbar, and Jodi Lomask. All are planning to make the trip back to campus to celebrate 25 years. Even Brandon Little Elk Glenn didn’t rule out the possibility. He informed me that he is currently rocking both an eye patch and short hair! When I asked if he had any words for our classmates as we move toward our 25th, he said, “Just tell everyone to remember to smile.” Little Elk enjoys hearing from old friends, so drop him a note if you haven’t in a while. Sometimes he comes out of those mountains in Montana to check email. • It’s a good start, but we have a long way to go to place a check mark next to all 414 names on these spreadsheets. When you read this, I hope that we will have connected with many, many more of you. I, for one, am looking forward to being back on campus in June. Even though I still mourn the loss of my beloved Northfield campus, I will say that each time I have returned to the Mt. Hermon campus, I have been pleasantly surprised at how it still feels like home to me. There must be something in the air up there. It smells the same. The trees have an overwhelmingly familiar look to them.

The buildings are still beautiful and imposing.

And the early-morning fog rolling off the river and blanketing the campus somehow connects it all. If you haven’t been back in a long time, I urge you to return. • Twenty-five years, my friends. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you very soon.

93

Northfield Mount Hermon Susannah Sprong Cahillane coloradocahillanes@mac.com

Robin Erthal Corrozi received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. This honor is given to outstanding K–12 science and mathematics

Peter Weis ’78 and Lydia Perry Weis ’80 were married at NMH’s Memorial Chapel.

NMH represented at the Mower-Tisdale wedding last July, including (from left): Liz Donald ’07, maid of honor Victoria Tisdale ’11, bridegroom Jacob Mower, bride Emily Tisdale ’07, Rebecca Donald ’07, and Ned Perry ’64.

CELEBRATIONS!

Rosa Blau ‘06 married Tilman Daiger in August 2016.

From left: Karman Shu ’98, Brian Pressman ’98, Paul Barclay ’98, Lekecia Underwood, Cristian Rosaria ’97, Andrew Huggett ’97, and Kortni Lane at the Barclays’ wedding.

NMH alumni reunited at the Glode wedding in June 2015, including (from left): Laurie Knouse Glode ’62, C. Andrew Glode ’92, bridegroom Matthew Glode ’00, bride Kasey Stever Glode, James Henderer ’00, Alyssa Cutler Fleishman ’00, and Barbara Glode Holland ’91.

John Bleh ’07 and his wife, Rachel, on their wedding day in July 2016.

Justin Eli ’02 married Rona Yang at the Massachusetts Audubon Society in October 2016.

Josh Throckmorton ’08 and wife Tessa’s wedding was officiated by Johnny Arena ’14.

spring 2017 I 79

CLASS NOTES teachers from across the country. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators following an initial selection process at the state level.

Winners receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion, and are invited to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony, educational and celebratory events, and visits with members of the administration. Congratulations, Robin! We are all extremely proud to have you as our classmate and not at all surprised by your success! You are and have always been amazing! • Ryan Kimberley and his wife, Tracy, had a boy, Jesse Quinn, on 7/31/16. They live in Front Royal, Va., and Ryan works for the National Park Service.

94

Northfield Mount Hermon Carol Koldis Foote carol.foote@gmail.com • Dan Furlong furlongtime@gmail.com

From Carol: Zoë Van Cott van der Meulen is the executive vice president of her family’s structural wood manufacturing firm, Unalam, in upstate New York. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and home brewing with her husband, Rik. She is a dedicated community and international volunteer, and in 2017–18 will serve as the district governor for Rotary District 7170. • Christina Lamb Sidell writes, “Philip and I are curling after a year break at Broomstones. We recently found that my work friend is a Hogger — Eric Ogren ’73! And Eric works with Yoshi Joschka Tryba ’07. It is amazing how an NMH T-shirt can bring so many together. Also, I stayed with Carol Koldis Foote again for our ‘annual sleepover’ for the NMH Alumni Council Weekend in October.

We spent that weekend meeting and hanging with Emily Bennett’s dad, Chuck Bennett ’61, whom we tagged as an honorary member of the class of ’94. • Laura Snyder Craford writes, “Life is moving along sometimes at that hectic pace that makes you want the pause button, but no complaints here. We have three healthy and generally happy kiddos (two tweens), lots of travel this past year (Alaska, Hawaii, Costa Rica), and I started a new job as a social worker at an alternative high school. Love my work, although it reminds me every day how much I have to be thankful for, especially my

From left: Camille Kubie ’94, George Tiggle ’94, Chuck Bennett ’61, Carol Koldis Foote ’94, and Christina Lamb Sidell ’94 at the Alumni Council Weekend last fall.

80 I NMH Magazine

NMH experience. Something I have loved is reconnecting with Emily Bennett since she moved to Portland last summer!”

95

Northfield Mount Hermon Caroline Leonard carolinecleonard@gmail.com

96

Northfield Mount Hermon Patrick Davis patrickdavisknows@gmail.com

It’s November, and the Pioneer Valley has seen its first snow event of the season. The squishywhite slush takes me back to wet-footed days of trudging across a winter’s campus on Northfield. The temperatures are cooling, but I am reassured by wood stoves and warm hard cider that this season will be filled by family, friends, and joy. I wish the same for you and your households. • I have been busy at work, where I serve as COO of a forestry equipment manufacturing company. My two children, Siobhan (14) and Cathal (12), play soccer like it’s their job and keep their mother and me in perpetual motion. We live 15 miles from NMH in Orange, Mass., where we also helped establish and open a co-operative grocery store, Quabbin Harvest. • In November, we lost our courageous friend, Jennifer Kelly, after a valiant battle against cancer. Jennifer knew who she was and wasn’t afraid of it; she had a quiet self-confidence that I wished I could have possessed at 17. She has left behind a vibrant community of friends and family who memorialize her as brave, dignified, and loving.

Please keep her and her family close in your thoughts. • Anne Gulick writes, “I’m an associate professor at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, where I teach post-colonial African and Caribbean literature and live with my husband, Phil, and our 4-year-old, Oscar, who is one day going to lose his mind when he learns that I went to a high school where people made maple syrup (one of his favorite foods). I miss New England in June, but not so much in January. When I’m very lucky, I run into Brita Dempsey and her family during brief and all-too-busy visits to Massachusetts.”

• Brittney Latuorelle O’Grady welcomed a second daughter, Elise Lorraine, on 7/31/16. She is adjusting to life with two kids and hopes it gets easier with time. I can personally attest to the fact that it gets different, but never easier!

• Evie Stone and her husband, Ali, welcomed baby Julian last July! They live in Washington, D.C. Congratulations! • Speaking of D.C., Patrick Guarasci sent his regards from the campaign trail. This election cycle hadn’t killed him yet. • Tanya Luthi writes, “Great seeing so many of you at reunion! For everyone who couldn’t make it, see you at the 25th. I’m enjoying being back on the East Coast; this year I moved to Jersey City (once a Jersey girl, always, I guess) and started a branch office in New York City for the engineering firm I was working for in Vancouver. I don’t miss all that Pacific Northwest rain! I’m starting my second year on the Alumni Council; it’s been

really fun reconnecting with the school and seeing all the cool things that are happening.

Almost makes me wish I were back in high school … but not quite.” • Shawnee Russell is finishing her master’s in teaching Chinese in Shanghai. After over a decade living in China, she is moving with her family (four kids now!) to Berlin, Germany, to begin the next adventure! • Sonali Kumar got together with Ted McCormick in D.C. in July while Ted was researching at the Library of Congress.

Sonali is currently a librarian at Georgetown Day School and Ted’s a historian based in Montreal. They had a great time reminiscing about their years on the Northfield campus. • Thomas Pieper was promoted within Ford Motor Company to a management position in the Ford Middle East and Africa region and has moved from Vienna to Dubai. His new position is franchise manager for Middle East and North Africa in the market representation department. • My old friend, Jehanzeb Ilahi, seems to always be traveling the globe! I enjoy watching his exploits on Facebook, as well as checking in on all of your lives. Stay safe, travel light, and take chances. — Patrick

97

Northfield Mount Hermon Laurel Havas laurelsuzanne@gmail.com • Julia Cohen jmacleodcohen@gmail.com

Hello, wonderful classmates! We hope you’re all well, and we’re looking forward to seeing you all at our 20th reunion in June. • Emily Dakin finished her time in South Sudan, where she was leading USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance and overseeing the U.S. government’s humanitarian response there. She then headed to Iraq in January to lead the U.S. government’s humanitarian response efforts across the country and will be there for a couple of years. “If anyone is passing through Baghdad or Erbil, look me up,” says Emily. • Luke Williams has a new position: head of consumer experience (CX) at Qualtrics. He and his wife, Anna Koren, divide their time between their homes in New Jersey and Utah. Way to go, Luke! • Laurel Havas also has great news to share: “On 7/23/16, I was lucky enough to marry Phil Hayes, in North Beach, Md. Claire Taylor West ’97 was present, along with the spirit of Frances Bean

David Graham ’99 (right) dropped by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco to visit Seth Schoen ’97.

’97, who was unable to attend due to her own growing family! On October 30, Phil and I welcomed Bella Diane into the world, and I’ve been grateful for all the advice from the NHM mothers who came before me! Phil, Bella, and I will be moving to Moscow in the summer of 2018 with Phil’s Foreign Agricultural Service position, so if you know anyone in Moscow, please be in touch! We will be there for at least three years and would love visitors and to meet any alums. We’re hoping to make it to the reunion this summer and to see many of you there!”

98

Northfield Mount Hermon Brian Pressman brainjpressman@gmail.com

Hello, all! I was lucky enough to attend Paul Barclay’s wedding in New Orleans on 10/21/16. Paul married Lekecia Underwood, and they currently live outside of Chicago.

Several alums attended, including Karman Shu, Andrew Huggett ’97, and Cristian Rosario ’97. • As we move into 2017, please do send me your notes so I can include them in our column!

99

Northfield Mount Hermon Audrey Korte aekorte@cox.net • Melia Knowles-Coursin meliakc@gmail.com • Molly Loveday chefmollyloveday@gmail.com David Graham writes, “Last March, I went on a whirlwind road trip, visiting Margaret Kimball Curtis ’00 in Maine, Molly Loveday, Em Joy Anderson (all of whom either just had a kid or were about to), and NMH campus itself — including attending a basketball game with NMH faculty Meg Donnelly and Glen Minshall and eating in Alumni Hall (how I miss that food!), and Zach Haase and his wife, Jodi, in New Hampshire. It was great to see everyone. I also had a chance to discuss the Jonas Reed Klein ’93 Memorial Fund and the person for whom it was named, and NMH generally, in a speech in the Canadian House of Commons related to my support for the seal hunt, born of an event in the campus auditorium at NMH. This may be the first time NMH has been discussed in a foreign parliament; I would love to know for sure! I look forward to seeing you all again and welcome anyone who wants to visit me and my young family

Sarah Doherty Thompson ’00 and husband Jeff hold their infant son, Dylan, and toddler daughter, Caitlin.

— my partner, Mishiel, and my 3-year-old daughter, Ozara — here in Canada. Find me on Facebook!” You can view David’s speech in the Canadian House of Commons at youtube. com/watch?v=uLczpsWQ-FU

A CLOSER LOOK

00

Northfield Mount Hermon Rose Jackman Spurgin rosejackmanlynch@gmail.com

Sarah Doherty Thompson writes, “I wanted to

announce the birth of my son, Dylan Miles, this past August. Jeff and I also have a 2-yearold little girl named Caitlin Sophia.” • In additional baby news, Brittany Simons Field and her husband are still living and working in the Philadelphia area. They welcomed their amazing baby boy, Russell, into their lives in April 2016. “He surprised us by arriving three months early,” says Brittany, “but after spending 85 days in the NICU under the care of some of the most amazing people we’ve ever met, he came home healthy and thriving in July.” • “I bought a little vineyard on Howell Mountain,” writes Ralph Hertelendy, “and started my own boutique winery in Napa Valley producing Bordeaux varietals, and a Chardonnay out of the Russian River Valley. [Leading U.S. wine critic] Robert Parker said it ‘merits serious attention’ and awarded my inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon vintage 95 points!” Visit hertelendy.com. Ralph also enjoys keeping in touch with NMH folks through Facebook and NMH Magazine’s class notes. • Thank you to everyone who checked in this round. Please keep the notes coming; it’s a great way to stay connected to NMH and our classmates.

01

Northfield Mount Hermon Josh Grubman joshuagrubman@gmail.com • Christopher A Zissi christopher.zissi@gmail.com

02

Northfield Mount Hermon Danielle Henry Beale dhbeale@gmail.com

Kelvin Martinez is now a faculty member and varsity soccer coach at Fay School. His team went undefeated at the Eaglebrook Tournament in fall 2016. He lives on campus with his wife, son, and daughter. • Evan Russell Rusoja completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University. • Jonathan Muehlke has been working in public education in Arlington, Va. “Good teachers are priceless. Thank you, NMH!” he writes. Jonathan attended an NMH alumni gathering in D.C., and reported that it was filled with lots of really talented, bright, and interesting folks. Well, of course, Jonathan! • Geoff Gonzalez received a second bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and has captured it perfectly: “I was literally humming ‘Jerusalem’ as I was walking into my capstone project presentation, as if to conjure its warmth and immense powers.” I think I speak for us all when I say, “Bring me my arrows!” • Elisabeth “Bitsy” R. Perlman earned a Ph.D. in economics from Boston University. Her

Symphonic Spirit “Ravishingly beautiful,” “invigorating,” and full of “mystery and sensuality” are a few descriptors of the recording by composer Adam Schoenberg ’98: American Symphony–Finding Rothko– Picture Studies, released earlier this year by Reference Recordings.

“I have dreamt of having an orchestral disc of my music since first becoming a composer,” says Schoenberg. He cites these symphonic pieces as the embodiment of his growth from student to professional composer. “They each explore different styles, but my artistic voice remains consistent throughout.”

Schoenberg is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School, and now teaches at Occidental College. His music has premiered at the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, and with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Two of the three pieces — “American Symphony” and “Picture Studies” — were commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony.

Termed “distinctly American,” Schoenberg’s work, at once gentle and uproarious, has been compared to the iconic modernism of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring.

Learn more at referencerecordings.com.

—Kris Halpin

spring 2017 I 81

CLASS NOTES

Kelvin Martinez ’02 (top right) poses with his undefeated Fay School varsity soccer team.

first NMH economics teacher, Peter Snedecor, was at graduation. “I don’t know that I would have started on this path without him,” said Bitsy, “but his class and the Federal Reserve Challenge team he led were what first drew me in!” • Justin Eli and Rona Yang got married on 10/16/16 in Boston at the Massachusetts Audubon Society with 100 of their close family and friends. They continue to reside in Boston’s Back Bay with their dog, Poppy. Justin works at Deloitte in mergers and acquisitions, and Rona is a litigation attorney.

03

Northfield Mount Hermon Dee Guo deedith@gmail.com

04

Northfield Mount Hermon Jamieson Baker jamieson.baker@gmail.com • Jane Lilly Warren janelillywarren@gmail.com • Daniela Frias daniela8_5@hotmail.com

05

Northfield Mount Hermon Donnie Blackwell ptowndon@gmail.com • Arjun Pant arjunpant@gmail.com • JingPing Zhang jingping.ellen.zhang@gmail.com

From Jingping Zhang: Hello from New York City, ’05ers! I’m writing to you after attending a fun holiday party with NMH alumni here.

Loved seeing new faces and catching up with friends, including my C5 housemate, Laurel Edson; my SWE sister, Tania Plaisimond and her brother, Charles Plaisimond ’03; classmate Merle J. Smith; and Francis Bea ’06, who now works in Beijing. Always a good time! • Katie Guffin says, “Rachel Disbrow and I embarked on a trip together to Vietnam! We started our adventure in Ho Chi Minh City, then traveled to the Mekong Delta, where we visited the floating markets with the most recent NMH Magazine in hand! We then explored Phú QuÕc Island before I had to head back to the States.” Rachel stayed behind to continue the adventure. • Remember to join our Facebook group, “NMH Class of 2005,” to stay in touch with your classmates.

Wishing everyone a happy 2017!

Bitsy Perlman ’02 (right) with her Ph.D. advisor, Bob Margo … you can see Matt Berntsen ’01 in the background sipping champagne.

06

Northfield Mount Hermon Ramon Guadalupe rmg57@cornell.edu • Collin Lever collinlever@gmail.com Amanda Elizabeth Kusek lives in New York.

She recently earned a promotion and is now the marketing and brand innovation manager in the lifestyle division at her company.

Amanda continues to be involved in the NMH community by serving on the Alumni Council. She moved from NMH Young Alumni to Nominating and is still “writing, writing, writing.” • “I’m currently working in media and entertainment with a goal of working in brand partnerships,” says Devin Hill. “I still reside in Harlem.” • Rachel Forbus Blanchard is a fertility care coordinator in the infertility department of a specialty pharmacy in Portland, Maine. She and her husband just bought a four-wheeler that they use to plow the driveway. • Rosa Blau writes, “I’m currently pursuing my Ph.D. in social policy at the University of Oxford in the U.K. The highlight, however, is that I got married to the love of my life, Tilman Daiger, on 8/27/16.”

07

Northfield Mount Hermon Dith Pamp dith.pamp@gmail.com

A group of us are working to plan the best 10th reunion ever! We can’t wait to see you in June! If you have a note to be included in the next NMH Magazine, please send me an email! • John Bleh got married to Rachel Pidgeon on 7/30/16. His best man was Jeff Breau and Tim Lam was a groomsman. • Theo Samets saw Jordan Desnick at Jordan’s

Rachel Disbrow ’05 (left) and Katie Guffin ’05 enjoyed Vietnam … and a recent issue of NMH Magazine!

82 I NMH Magazine

engagement party in Miami. • Donnie Smith is living in Brooklyn, N.Y. He says, “It’s been great to be back in New York, and I continue to connect with so many NMHers. I work at Brooklyn Friends School doing admissions, and it has been a great move and a wonderful community. I had the pleasure of having dinner with Roberta Taggart, Kate Hayes ’06, and Laurel Edson ’05 in December. I hope to see many of you at reunion and beyond.” • Bill Ward works at Palantir Technologies and lives in Brooklyn, which he thinks is awesome.

He’ll gladly show off the neighborhood to anyone passing through and is looking forward to seeing everyone at reunion in June.

08

Northfield Mount Hermon

Emily Jacke ejacke@middlebury.edu • Sarah-Anne Tanner tanner.sarahanne@gmail.com

From Emily: Josh Throckmorton had an eventful summer and autumn of 2016. “In August, I joined fellow Hogger Windsor Jordan ’03 in the admissions office at Swarthmore College,” wrote Josh, “where I’d been coaching baseball for the past four years as a counselor, and in November … I got married! My wife, Tessa, and I held a small ceremony on the rocks in Ogunquit, Maine, with most of the Arena family in attendance, and with his holiness, Johnny Arena ’14, officiating. It was everything we could have asked for!” Congratulations, Josh!

09

Northfield Mount Hermon

Daisy Letendre daisycletendre@gmail.com • Eshalla Merriam eshallamerriam@gmail.com • Pamela Chen pamchen13@gmail.com • Fayette Phillips fayettephillips@gmail.com • Anna Stevens annagstevens@gmail.com • Galen Anderson gjande01@syr.edu

10

Northfield Mount Hermon Eli Spector elishsp@gmail.com • Jed Kundl kundlj@gmail.com

From Jed: Hey, all — I hope everyone is doing well! Maxine Yakobi is still living in the San Francisco Bay Area, working as lead product specialist for ad interfaces at Facebook. In her free time, Maxine has been doing some Bear Grylls–style backpacking in the West Coast wilderness, fixing motorcycles in her garage (she’s all about those vintage Hondas), and working on software for sustainable closed-loop farming for urban environments. • Sharon Dunmore finished law school at Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, N.C., and graduated in December 2016. She takes the North Carolina bar exam this year! • As for me, I’m still living and working in the Boston area. I spent some

CLASS NOTES time last summer backpacking around the Colorado Rockies. I’ve also become a wedding officiant in Massachusetts, and in September I had the honor of officiating the wedding of two close friends. Until next time …

11

Northfield Mount Hermon Olivia VanCott vancott.olivia@gmail.com • Nisha Malik nishamalik92@gmail.com • Olivia Wolpe oliviawolpe@gmail.com

From Olivia Wolpe: In full disclosure, at the time of writing this column it was already four days late. And in an effort of even fuller disclosure, most of these updates were sent to me because I began to make up information and threatened to publish that column. • Ashley Grevelink wrote something about a microchip and Reddit’s conspiracy page and it is yet to be determined if that was sarcasm or a description of her life. • Savannah Yates and her fiancé just bought a house! To juxtapose my own situation, I was going to make a semi-autobiographical joke about shoplifting deodorant, but was told that it would be “distasteful” and “imprudent.”

(Thanks, Dad!) • Elizabeth Pratt Marlowe started a contract position with the American Battlefield Protection Program and will be finishing her master’s degree in the spring! • Oliver Dormody is still living in San Francisco and working at Pandora. Hanson Cheng is also in San Francisco, staying busy with work at an architecture firm and developing an app, and has recently started a jewelry line with a friend.

Jenna Florio lives in Berkeley and works with a researcher studying ants at the Academy of Science — she’s loving it. • Jamie Williams is an associate at ICR Public Relations by day and the drummer of New York City–based punk band, Phil from Accounting, by night. • Natalie Hutton lives in Vermont and is a direct-care professional at an agency that provides support for individuals with developmental disabilities.

She’s recently seen Kendall Farabaugh, Maire Bartkus, Mackey Hemphill, and Mackenzie

Maxine Yakobi ’10 camped near an alpine lake in the Sierras.

Collins. According to Natalie, Mackenzie is

dominating athletic events (still) and “slaying Tinder” (whoa — quit bragging, girl). • Geneva Jonathan works at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, developing mobile health tools for severe mental illness. • Adam Rosenthal works in the math department at a high school in Burlington, Vt. Kendall Farabaugh is also in Burlington, and is continuing his pursuit of comedy. He also appears to have a man bun; so is that a part of your act, Ken? • Zach Bitzer completed his master’s at UMass Amherst and is working at a sustainable energy nonprofit in Greenfield. • Alejandro Sutphen lives in Boston and also works at a nonprofit.

He welcomes visitors if you’re ever in the Jamaica Plain area. • Speaking of people with jobs, Sierra Dickey was laid off, but instead of entering a downward spiral, she was immediately selected as the beneficiary of a trip to Cuba, and was chosen because of her writing prowess.

She also just ran into Levi Newbury at NMH for Vespers! • Tenzin Masselli has come out of left field with a very impressive feat. In response to a prison joke I made at his expense, he wrote in that he opened a board-game café in Middletown, Conn., called The Board Room.

Business has been going well for two years now, and they’re looking to expand soon! • Now let’s bullet-point some fun ones: Morgan Wilkinson hates herself; Mike Malinconico might get arrested in South America; Junius Ross-Martin’s Instagram handle is junius_fan_page and it’s a

mess; Julie McCausland is a degenerate. • I will close with a quote from Sierra Dickey, who just texted me in response to this column: “I commend you for practicing realism in your alumni updates despite the status quo.” Cheers, y’all. • From Olivia VanCott: Hello, fellow classmates. I apologize for not reaching out to get updates, but thank you, Olivia W., for picking up the slack and putting something together so quickly! My only update is that I have started a new career as a fulfillment specialist (recruiter) at a great company that hires physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. I enjoy every day of it and finally feel like a real adult! I will also be getting married September 2017 in the beautiful Mt. Hermon chapel, and I can’t wait! I still live close by, so feel free to reach out if you would like a place to stay while you visit.

I hope you all are doing well. Until next time.

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Northfield Mount Hermon

Parker Peltzer ppeltzer@gmx.com • Wilson Josephson josephsonw@carleton.edu

13

Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

14

Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

15

Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

16

Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Faculty Please send news to: Josie Rigby jrigby@nmhschool.org

Philip Calabria Retires For those lucky enough to have had my father for a teacher, Joseph Conrad’s words from Heart of Darkness will sound familiar: “I don’t like work — no man does — but I like what is in the work — the chance to find yourself.”

This meditation, given out on the first day of class, was meant as both an invitation and a reminder.

Starting with a 35mm SLR and a bathroom that doubled as a darkroom, then graduating to a large format field camera he hauled around Albuquerque, New Mexico, in graduate school, my father honed his craft. Teaching at NMH and passing skills on to students provided him with great fulfillment and joy. Beyond his technical knowledge and expertise, his convivial nature and outside-the-box way of engaging students gave them something special: the opportunity for self-discovery and the creative prowess to convey their own stories.

Though he loved his role as a teacher — he had the longest tenure of a visual arts faculty member in NMH’s history — my father wore many hats during his career. He chaired the art department for 28 years; coached baseball for 19; and advised the arts publication Mandala for 12.

Meanwhile, my father continued practicing photography, and saw his work installed in a number of permanent museum collections. He also built NMH’s own professional art collection and curated shows for The Gallery at the Rhodes Arts Center. Impressive as these contributions are, I believe my father will be remembered most for his gregariousness, humor, and lasting friendships with faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

—Stefan Calabria ’03

spring 2017 I 83

CLASS NOTES

Vital Statistics BI R THS

1992

Ethan to Dan Brody and wife Eva September 2016

1993

Jesse Quinn to Ryan Kimberley and wife Tracy July 31, 2016

1996

Emily Tisdale to Jacob Mower July 30, 2016

2008

Josh Throckmorton to Tessa Bailey-Findley November 2016

D E AT H S

1934

Bella Diane to Laurel Havas and husband Phil October 30, 2016

Evelyn Schwanda Dalpian September 5, 2008 Survived by Joseph Schwanda ’40, Alan Schwanda ’41, Robert Schwanda ’60, Nancy Schwanda Kida ’61, Bruce Schwanda ’61, Benedict Schwanda ’62, Brian Schwanda ’65, Joan Schwanda Formeister ’70

2000

1935

Elise Lorraine to Brittney Latuorelle O’Grady July 31, 2016 Julian to Evie Stone and husband Ali July 2016

1997

Dylan Miles to Sarah Doherty Thompson and husband Jeff August 2016

M A RRIAGES

1980

Lydia Perry Weis to Peter Weis ’78 August 20, 2016

1988

Liz Maclachlan to Jacqui LaCoste August 2016

1997

Laurel Havas to Phil Hayes July 23, 2016

1998

Paul Barclay to Lekecia Underwood October 21, 2016

Courtland Van Deusen November 9, 2016 Survived by Richard Van Deusen ’43, Christina Van Deusen ’62, Courtland Van Deusen IV ’65, David Van Deusen ’73 Elizabeth Morse Weyrauch May 17, 2008

1936

Margaret MacBride Borkland November 17, 2013 Robert Holzworth May 8, 2014 Survived by Jean Holzworth Cornwell ’37, Carol Raynor Hornbeck ’43, Priscilla Raynor Barringer ’46 William Horn August 3, 2016

1937

2000

Barbara Drew Atwood March 11, 2012

2002

Barbara Kelley Johnson September 10, 2016 Survived by Betsy Johnson ’66

Matthew Glode to Kasey Stever Glode June 13, 2015 Justin Eli to Rona Yang October 16, 2016

1938

Rosa Blau to Tilman Daiger August 27, 2016

Virginia Robertson Baldwin August 19, 2016 Survived by Marguerite Hickernell ’66, David Hickernell ’68

2007

1939

2006

John Bleh to Rachel Pidgeon July 30, 2016

Rosemary Robertson Kelly December 10, 2016 Edith Bender Southwick March 9, 2015

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Franklin Pierce June 15, 2016

John Dayton December 11, 2016

Betty Raeburn Sanford December 9, 2015

Corinne Gonya Graham January 21, 2017

1940

1943

W. Noel Jameson October 8, 2016 Survived by Deborah Jameson ’67, Linda Jameson ’70, J. Samuel Winkler ’06

Doris Lindecrantz Colby December 22, 2016

Ernest Groth November 30, 2016 Survived by John Groth ’47, Barbara Groth Gilbert ’49, Judith Porter Pascoe ’55, Harold Groth ’64, Ann Gilbert ’73

Elbridge Gerry September 22, 2016

1941

Louise Thomas Cooley October 21, 2016 Henry Fisher April 26, 2015 Marie Townsend Morrison October 11, 2015 Survived by Joan Carter Chevalier ’44, Helene Carter-Griswold ’54, Joan Chevalier ’73 Mabel Frances Osler Pinault December 8, 2012 Norman Sills August 28, 2016 Survived by Virginia Sills Filkins ’76, Robin Sills ’06 Margaret Wolfe Tuller June 20, 2012 Survived by Timothy Sullivan ’63 Eleanor Shedd Whitehouse September 11, 2016 Survived by Marian Melby Abbott ’41, Edward Melby ’46, Arnold Whitehouse ’68, Jonathan Whitehouse ’71

1942

Pauline Tringa Beckley August 27, 2016 Catherine Marian Davis Emens July 16, 2014 Hans Engel June 21, 2011 Cora Lee Gethman Gibbs September 29, 2016 Survived by James Gibbs ’68, Judith Gibbs Shaw ’70 Richard Gustin September 5, 2016 Marjorie Twombly Hoopes July 26, 2016 Norman Nau March 26, 2012 Survived by Steven Nau ’73

Catherine Bentley Browning December 23, 2016

Heather Clarke Comer August 18, 2016 Nelson Deveneau October 11, 2015 Survived by John Deveneau ’45, Emily M. Jacke ’08 Mary Ullman Getty September 9, 2016 Ruth Keating Hyde November 18, 2016 David Rollason December 17, 2016 Survived by David Rollason ’69, Louise Rollason Daniel ’70, Amy Rollason Feran ’71

1944

Robert Cookingham October 4, 2016 Arthur Coy December 17, 2016 Kenneth Forman July 15, 2015 Survived by Ian Forman ’42 Christine Taylor Frazier November 21, 2016 Survived by Jonathan Frazier ’69, Taylor Frazier ’11 Louise Adriance Gardner May 29, 2012 Survived by Mary Adriance Cook ’53 Clyde Goldthwaite April 28, 2013 William Harris September 29, 2011 Donald Little November 28, 2011 Alan Moore January 19, 2017 Helen Martin Raisz July 16, 2016 Richard Stevens November 2, 2005 Edward Valpy July 21, 2016 Donald Vincent November 21, 2013

1945

Winthrop Cornwell August 15, 2016

John Marsland February 8, 2016 Priscilla Mattinson Moore December 24, 2015 Survived by Elizabeth Moore O’Meara ’67 Richard Unsworth September 14, 2016 Survived by Lucy Unsworth Slosser ’82, Thomas Unsworth ’05

1946

Ann Fuller October 12, 2016 Ann Osuna Lebedeff November 1, 2016 Mary-Lou Walker Scarani September 17, 2016 Survived by Betsy Walker Rogge ’40

1947

John Albert October 28, 2012 Chester Andrews April 12, 2014 Joan Anderson Atterbury September 21, 2015 Stephen Berman October 3, 2016 Edward Braye June 4, 2016 Survived by Timothy Tildon ’45, James Braye ’47, Edward Braye ’74 A. Bradford Drawbridge April 4, 2015 Elizabeth Ormond Frankwich November 11, 2013 Survived by Alexander Ormond ’51, A. Curtis Ormond ’54 Charles Marsh January 24, 2012 Dwight Marsh November 14, 2016 M. Gail Kuhns Nickerson November 17, 2016 Joy Hodgkins Plunket August 22, 2013 Survived by Janice Hodgkins Bruemmer ’43

CLASS NOTES Elizabeth Oldham Scott December 6, 2016 Survived by Richard Oldham ’51

1948

Hester Davis December 30, 2014

John Field January 26, 2017 John Hart October 12, 2014

1952

Amy Milkey Dayton September 7, 2016

Leanna Young Brown December 15, 2016 Survived by Lucinda Young Kelly ’56

Jeremiah Ellsworth December 16, 2015

Philip Cone May 1, 1997

Nancy Heflin Johnston November 28, 2016

William Edwards August 22, 2016

Richard McLoon October 26, 2016 Survived by Lawrence Williams ’53, Marjorie Marshall Houle ’59

Edward Hazelden October 4, 2014

Helen Patten Williamson August 28, 2016

Michael Saharceski August 15, 2016

1949

1953

William Mather January 5, 2017

Michael Atheneos December 8, 2014

Alan Fogg March 20, 2015

Ridgely Dorsey April 9, 2014

John Griffith August 31, 2016

Geoffrey Houghton October 14, 2016

George Kreye June 28, 2016

Amy Stoddart Hughes December 31, 2016 Survived by Ann Pattison Casey ’49

Robert McDade March 17, 2016

Iliana Semmler June 17, 2016

1954

Marian Robbins Shields November 27, 2011 Harland Williams January 24, 2016 Survived by John Addison ’44, Robert White ’51, Donald Williams ’55, Robert Williams ’60, Iris Helk Williams ’62, Jean Thompson ’64

1950

Harriet Baldwin Bryan January 2, 2017 Survived by Barbara Baldwin Knapp ’45, Gunnar Baldwin ’77, Kristina Knapp Schwarz ’77, Daniel Corn ’02, Christopher Crown ’00 Daniel Olsen June 5, 2015

Brian Olsen December 23, 2016 Margaret Einsel May 21, 2016 Survived by Elizabeth Einsel Libby ’53 Joan Mag Karff September 2, 2016 Survived by Margery Mag Andrews ’49

1955

Helen Stillman Coolidge June 26, 2013 Survived by Jennifer Coolidge ’87 James Groth July 20, 2007 Survived by John Groth ’47, Barbara Groth Gilbert ’49, Judith Porter Pascoe ’55, Harold Groth ’64, Ann Gilbert ’73

1951

Joyce Arbour Montgomery September 26, 2013 Survived by Joan Arbour Goldsmith ’71, Alison Harvey Kellegher ’72

Patricia Nair Carver August 3, 2007

James Richardson August 5, 2016 Survived by Judith Richardson Beers ’52

Ann Worcester Walsh August 25, 2016 Polly Milne Budridge August 27, 2016

Sydney Chapin September 2, 2014 Survived by Patricia Chapin Perez ’53

Douglas Stotz December 10, 2016 Survived by Kerwin Stotz ’49

1956

Stephen Clapp December 1, 2016 Survived by David Clapp ’60 Kenneth Gibson February 20, 2016

1957

Gwendolyn Clapp Blaskewicz September 16, 2015 Survived by Elma Clapp Smith ’53 Ruth Goodchild Paige December 27, 2016 Survived by Irwin Goodchild ’46

1969

Robin Hulton December 14, 2015

1970

Derek Cavanaugh January 16, 2017

1971

Ronald Denison September 2, 2016 Survived by Megan A. Denison ’10 Nancy Lyeth Purcell August 1, 2014

1973

Marilyn Taylor August 4, 2015

Harry Blackgoat August 18, 2016 Survived by Heidi Sorci Young-Blackgoat ’98, Thomas Sorci ’00

1958

1974

Russell Roy December 24, 2015

David Trout October 3, 2016

John True November 1, 2016 Survived by Rachel True Billings ’60, Rebecca True Norman ’67, Heather Billings ’91

1976

Mary Mitchell July 2, 2015

1960

Nancy Bass Wolfram August 23, 2016 Survived by Louise Forbush ’62, Virginia Allen Loven ’62

1961

John Berlin 2016 Survived by Jill Berlin Georges ’62 James Sarvis December 17, 2014

1962

Landon Jeffers September 1, 2016 John Van Horn November 3, 2015 Clare Dingman Rhoades March 3, 2016 Survived by Mary DingmanAbel ’56, Lori Dingman Wadsworth ’59, Nancy Watson Keane ’74, Victoria Wideman ’85

Stephen Meyer December 19, 2016

Kimberly Moulton December 28, 2014 James Norton November 13, 2016 Survived by Bettina diStefano Norton ’54 Robert Tischler March 3, 2015

1977

Susan Moss Homola August 3, 2016 Survived by Hugh Moss ’73

1979

Jeffrey Belluschi January 12, 2017

1985

Eric Squire October 31, 2016

1987

Alice Pierce Balcer October 31, 2016 Michael Crotty October 7, 2010 Survived by Maureen Crotty ’84

1992

Jimmy Hastings January 11, 2017

1965

1993

1967

1996

1968

Jennifer Kelly November 8, 2016 Survived by Joo Kim ’90

Peter Johnston June 17, 2016 Betsy Eckfeldt August 13, 2013 Michael Merritt September 15, 1993 Survived by Deborah Urtz Mansour ’84

1997

Matthew Kohansky January 15, 2017

2006

William Culbert June 26, 2016

2011

Liam Phillips August 9, 2016

F O R ME R FA C ULTY A N D S TA F F Helen Barber August 15, 2016 Shirley Bennette September 16, 2016 Almira Campbell October 12, 2016 James Curley October 7, 2016 Survived by George Hamilton ’54, Thomas Curley ’92 Samuel Greene November 2016 Survived by Martha Payne Greene ’49, Lydia Greene ’82, Steven Kearns ’12 Cynthia Harris December 12, 2016 Survived by Gregory Harris ’02 Karin Koldys November 28, 2016 Donald LaChance October 19, 2016 Survived by Michael LaChance ’76, Christopher LaChance ’78, Susan LaChance LaPan ’79, Lori LaChance ’80 Sherry Margeson August 15, 2016 Survived by Cameron Margeson ’09 Ernest Murray October 27, 2016 Survived by Paul Murray ’75 Patrick Taylor September 2, 2016 David Williams October 8, 2016

Sang Kim October 6, 2016 Reghan Walsh Carll January 23, 2014

spring 2017 I 85

CLASS NOTES

In Memoriam

B Y J EN N IFER SU T T ON

Rev. Richard Unsworth Richard Preston “Dick” Unsworth ’45, the headmaster of Northfield Mount Hermon from 1980 to 1989 and president of the school from 1989 to 1991, died Sept. 14, 2016, at the age of 89.

He was a Presbyterian minister, an academic, an author, a skilled and versatile musician, and a lifelong activist for human rights and justice. “Dick stood tall, literally and figuratively,” says Head of School Peter Fayroian. “He was immensely intellectual; a gracious, elegant, and talented man. I’m privileged to follow in his footsteps.”

Unsworth was born in 1927 in Vineland, New Jersey, the younger son of the late Joseph Lewis and Laura MacMillan Unsworth. After graduating from the Mount Hermon School for Boys, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and went on to receive degrees from Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School. It was at Mount Hermon that he became a teacher for the first time, in the Bible and English departments, from 1948 to 1950.

It was also where he met his wife, Joy Merritt ’45, who was a student at the Northfield School for Girls when he attended Mount Hermon.

They were married for 66 years and raised four children together. Joy passed away in 2014.

Unsworth became headmaster at NMH nine years after the school went coed through the merger of Mount Hermon and Northfield.

Unsworth brought stability to the institution, reinvigorated many of the schools’ traditions, and oversaw numerous building renovations.

“Dick provided the firm hand of an effective leader,” says William Rowe ’83, who got to know the Unsworths while he was an NMH student working in Ford Cottage, the Unsworths’ home on campus.

“Together, he and Joy were great role models — critical thinkers and generous, spiritual educators. They went to great lengths to represent the best of NMH.” Joan Pack worked as Unsworth’s assistant, and she watched him arrive at his office on the Northfield campus every day. “Dick was dedicated to NMH, to his students, and to faculty and staff,” she says. “He had a slight forward tilt when he walked … His head was always up, ready to speak with anyone walking his way. When he was headmaster in the 1980s, he likely knew 1,200 teenagers on a first-name basis.”

Unsworth was shaped by and believed deeply in NMH’s mission to act with humanity and purpose, and he was committed to upholding the school’s history of inclusion, internationalism, and egalitarianism.

He used his power as a minister to serve social justice causes, especially during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, when he marched in Selma, Alabama; raised bail for jailed demonstrators in Birmingham; and joined a 1964 sit-in where he was arrested for integrating the restaurant at the Ponce de León Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Florida.

Unsworth’s commitment to social justice and nonviolent resistance drew him to André and Magda Trocmé, French pacifists who organized their tiny village of Le Chambon to shelter Jewish refugees, especially children, during the Holocaust. Unsworth worked for years with the Collège Cévenol in France, which the Trocmés founded, and wrote a joint biography of them, A Portrait of Pacifists, published in 2012.

Besides NMH, Smith College was an institution dear to Unsworth.

For more than 50 years, in several separate appointments, he served the college as a chaplain, a member of the faculty, and a senior fellow of the Kahn Institute for Liberal Studies. Unsworth also spent time as the assistant chaplain at Yale, a professor at Dartmouth, and head of Berkshire School.

Sheila Heffernon, NMH’s performing arts department chair and director of choral music, was a student of Unsworth’s at Smith in the

86 I NMH Magazine

Rev. Unsworth in 1984. Photo: Courtesy of the NMH Archives

1970s. She remembers the benediction that he recited to end his chapel service each Sunday at Smith: Now go out into the world in peace, be of good courage; Hold fast to that which is good; render no one evil for evil; Strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak, Help the afflicted, honor everyone.

Unsworth is survived by his children, Lucy Slosser ’82, Molly Gotwals, Sarah MacMillan, and John Unsworth, and their spouses; eight grandchildren; one great grandchild; and other relatives who cherished him. He was honored during a memorial service in Northampton, Massachusetts, last December, and is buried on Mount Washington in the Berkshires, next to his wife Joy and their daughter Jane, who died in infancy.

CLASS NOTES

B Y N O EL L E A NS ON

Cynthia Harris Cynthia “Cindy” Mildonian Harris, 63, much-loved registrar, faculty colleague, student advisor, and friend to many at Northfield Mount Hermon, died at Quabbin Valley Healthcare in Athol, Massachusetts, on Dec. 12, 2016, after a long struggle with breast cancer.

Cindy and her twin sister, Sandra, were born in 1953 to Harry A. and R. Virginia (Pearson) Mildonian of Athol, Massachusetts, who also had an older son. She grew up in Athol, was educated in local schools, and graduated from Athol High School in 1971. After earning an associate’s degree at Springfield Technical Community College, Harris earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in therapeutic recreation at Springfield College, finishing in 1975. She had met David Harris, her future husband, first in nursery school (neither remembered, but were reminded by her parents), and then while working at Mildonian’s, her parents’ restaurant in Athol. They married in 1975, relocated temporarily to eastern Massachusetts, and returned to the Athol area, where their son, Gregory ’02, was born.

After a series of responsible but unsatisfying jobs, Harris began working at NMH in 2000 as a mail service assistant after her son began attending NMH, as a way to help with tuition. According to retired math teacher Jeanne Rees, “It quickly was apparent to everyone that we had a skilled administrator in our midst. It was also apparent to Cindy that she had found a place that felt like community.”

Harris spent a year as supervisor of the mail centers, then became the manager of Safety and Support Services before being named assistant registrar and head of the Work Program. She was named registrar in 2003 and found it suited her perfectly; she remained in that position until illness forced her to resign in 2015.

Cindy loved quilting, English country and square dancing, baking, and ice cream. She was also a Hospice volunteer.

Former faculty member Lara Freeman, who worked with Cindy on the dorm staff in Crossley, wrote in a birthday tribute, “You were clear,

Cindy with her husband, David, 2010.

transparent, selfless, and honest. Plus, you knew the whole picture from headmaster to sophomore girl — you translated for me. To this day, I am grateful for your kind, understated mentorship.” Another former colleague, TJ Skulstad-Brown, who helped chaperon a trip to India that Cindy and one of her advisees created, wrote in the same birthday letter, “You were the most gracious traveling partner in India … Whether it was hiking together, floating down the Ganges, going to an Indian wedding, or agreeing that students could not rappel down the side of a cliff, you always combined good judgment, great style, and compassion.”

Science teacher Jay Ward ’68 succeeded Cindy as registrar, and says, “Cindy was a great problem solver, able to look at things from many perspectives and find solutions.” He adds, “She refused to let her illness define her in any way … As I sit in the office each day, I frequently find myself wondering, ‘What would Cindy do?’”

Jeanne Rees, as a cancer survivor, shared a special bond with Cindy.

In 2009, Rees had completed a 60-mile cancer-research fundraising walk, and after Cindy’s surgery and treatment, Rees suggested that the two of them join the 2010 volunteer team that provides support to the walkers. Cindy, however, “wanted to WALK,” Rees says. With their 10-member team, the “Blue Footed Boobies,” Cindy walked all 60 miles. “It wasn’t easy for her, because she was still having chemo treatments,” Rees says, “but she did it with great gusto, inspiring not only the 10 of us, but many of the other walkers as well.”

Cindy Harris is survived by her husband; her son, Gregory ’02, his wife, Dania, and son Emmett; her twin, Sandra King; her brother, Harry Mildonian; and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. Gifts in her memory may be sent to the NMH Advancement Office, 1 Lamplighter Way, Gill, MA 01354 to support students and their non-tuition needs.

Photo: Glenn Minshall

spring 2017 I 87

PARTING WORDS

Fast Enough

Good company and 20-minute miles on the Pie Race course

by WILLEM LANGE ’53

Everything changes — or at least appears to — and the older we get, the more we feel the acceleration of the pace. But the two red-brick posts at the entrance to the long, pine-sheltered drive up to the Northfield Mount Hermon campus seem remarkably the same as when I first saw them in September 1950. A tiny stream runs under the drive just outside the posts. That first fall, my roommate and I — outsiders, both of us, living in the attic of a faculty house near Shadow Lake — discovered it was full of brook trout. That’s probably not true anymore, and if it is, I’m inclined these days to leave the fish alone.

Each year, when the school’s fall events calendar arrives, my eyes are drawn irresistibly to the date of the Pie Race. Like an old fire horse whose nostrils still flare at the sound of the alarm, I wonder if there’s another one left in me.

I ran it first as a sophomore, in 1950. A year later, as a junior varsity cross-country team member, I actually got second place. That was probably the high point of my life at Mount Hermon; the red-ribboned medal sits in a little box in my odds-and-ends drawer four feet away as I write. Senior year’s result wasn’t as notable; then life and raising a family intervened. I did return in 1977, on the 25th anniversary of my last run, and still won a pie. That winter my orthopedist decreed an end to my running, and a few years later began replacing joints and repairing bones

88 I NMH Magazine

in my legs. But none of that killed the urge, which remains strong.

When I heard from the school last fall that any old alums who even finished — let alone within a certain time — would win a pie, the die was cast.

I emailed the alumni office to let them know I was returning. They were probably thinking about a standby ambulance, but they couldn’t have been more welcoming.

The weather, too, was lovely, and the gazebos set up in front of the gym gave the event a festive atmosphere. A tall young man approached, introduced himself, and announced he’d be walking with me. Uh-oh. A minder.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “You have no idea how slow I am. It’ll drive you nuts.”

“That’s OK,” he assured me. “It’ll be fast enough, whatever it is.”

If I meet an NMH person anywhere in the world, I know something about him or her. Our shared experience, even though it may be separated by decades, engenders a mutual trust, and even an affection. I liked this kid immediately.

Estevan Velez was his name. Class of 2016, now a freshman at Amherst. On the cross-country and track teams and involved in a student-run EMT program. Aha! So that was it! But at least he wasn’t carrying an oxygen bottle.

The usual speeches. The gun went off, and so did we. The very serious runners, many of them alums, took off like a shot. I was encouraged to see there were plenty of walkers, too, but as we passed Crossley and then Wallace, I noticed that just keeping up with them

was about all my cane-assisted legs could manage.

Luckily, it was just legs, not lungs; so Estevan and I kept up a lively chatter all the way around. He wondered if the school was as I remembered it.

Essentially, yes, it was: still the emphasis on hands, head, and heart. But it was no longer “coed with a five-mile hyphen,” as we called it, which was a tremendous improvement. The place felt a lot happier now.

Each mile on the course was marked.

I’d been hoping for 15-minute miles, but managed instead only a steady 20.

It became obvious, as we turned at the far end of the course and headed back downhill toward the campus, that the watering stations were closing up shop after we passed.

I couldn’t believe Estevan’s cheerful patience as we broke out of the woods at Shadow Lake and headed into the last half-mile or so around Overtoun.

The race still ends today as it did when I first tackled it 66 years ago, with that lovely uphill to the gym and the waiting crowd. But there wasn’t any crowd; almost everybody’d gone home except the timers, the photographer, and the pie carriers. And the headmaster, who, along with his small daughter, Sofia, had come walking back along the course, looking for his two lost sheep and reminding me once again why I love the place so much. [NMH] Willem Lange is a writer, storyteller, radio commentator, and Emmy Awardwinning public-television host who lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

PHOTOS: COUR TESY OF WILLEM LANGE, NMH ARCHIVES, U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

GIVING BACK

The Mystery of Inventor Maximilian Hachita Maximilian Showzu Hachita of the Class of 1896 is among Northfield Mount Hermon’s more visible donors these days, despite the fact that he died nearly 50 years ago.

He’s also been one of the most surprising. While Hachita’s gift helped fund the new Bolger Center for Early Childhood Education, which opened last January, NMH had no idea it was named in his will until decades after his death.

Hachita was born in Sanuki, Japan, in 1875. He traveled as a young man to New York City, and, sponsored by missionaries, applied for admission to the Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1894, right around his 20th birthday. He had been working as a cook and seems to have struggled in life.

On his Mount Hermon application, one of the questions was, “Has the candidate shown an ambition to excel in anything?” The answer: “Nothing.” “Has he formed any purpose in life?” “Nothing.”

“Has he had bad companionships?” “Yes.” But Hachita knew more was possible. He was asked on another document, “What reason influenced you most in coming to Mount Hermon?” He answered, “to be wise and better.”

And during and after his Mount Hermon days, Hachita turned his life around. He went on to Lehigh University, where he graduated as the valedictorian. He became an engineer, settled in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and in the 1920s, he invented and patented an apparatus used in the mining and treatment of coal.

He died just over 40 years later, in 1968. And here’s the mysterious part: Hachita had established a trust that included two beneficiaries; NMH, unbeknown to any school officials, was the second. After the first beneficiary died, NMH learned in late 2014 that it would receive a gift of $379,000 — to be used in any way that the board of trustees determined, as long as part of the gift served to recognize the Northfield School for Girls. Hachita’s wife, Daisy Ann Merriman Hachita, had graduated with the Class of 1896.

“Mr. Hachita’s gift demonstrates the impact that planned giving has on NMH,” says NMH Director of Capital and Planned Giving Jeff Leyden ’80. “This gift, established many years ago, has made a real difference for NMH today. Mr. Hachita understood the importance of paying it forward for generations to come.”

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Magazine

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RI S E UP Commencement morning, Thorndike Field, 2015 PHOTO: DORIS (YUNZHUO) ZHANG â&#x20AC;&#x2122;15