Spring 2012 Deerfield Magazine

m a g a z i n e

along albany road

An Ode to Code 20 Welcome to Jonathan Harris’ world

SPF 12 28 Summer Program Fundemantals

All Together Now 34 Re-engineering the scholastic manual

New dorm rising

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Winter 2012

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Comments 3 / Along Albany Road 4 / The Common Room 40 / In Memoriam 91 / First Person: Earl Nelson 94 / Crossword 96

cover + inside spread: Brent M. Hale deerfield.edu

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Out of the Ordinary

Every now and then something extraordinary happens in the Communications Office.

Quite honestly, most of the time we’re much like any other office at any other school—busy with day-to-day projects—doing our best to promote our students, faculty, and staff—and that is often interesting but not particularly extraordinary.

Then, about a month ago, an ordinary day veered toward exceptional when a young man from Mozambique walked through our door.

Even among the above-average Deerfield student body, senior Alcides Soares is noteworthy.

The first thing one notices about “Al” is his smile, which, without fail, is followed by questions: “How are you all doing today? Is it a good day for you?”

Al had come to see our graphic design manager and de facto photographer, Brent, for some help with a videography project; he needed to use some of our camera equipment and said he would welcome any advice, which was ironic considering the fact that back in 2007 Al made the film Home is Where You Find It, which subsequently won multiple awards, including Best Documentary Short at the Manhattan Short Film Festival. (bit.ly/HKQ6Ma) After that initial appearance, Al kept stopping by—never failing to ask how we were, never failing to smile, to laugh, and to impress us with his talent and his attitude. He quickly picked up the nuances of filming with our cameras and produced a vibrant, insider’s view of “Deerfield today.” (vimeo.com – Welcome to Deerfield) The extraordinary part in all this is that Alcides has every reason in the world to not laugh or smile or even care about Deerfield Academy—let alone the adults in the Communications Office. His path from Mozambique to Massachusetts was circuitous to say the least, and began with a horrific tragedy—the death of both of his parents from AIDS. Yet as a Deerfield student, Al has shared the best of himself with the Academy, and in turn, Deerfield has done the same; I think we’re all the better for it.

Watching “Welcome to Deerfield,” it quickly becomes apparent that Al loves the people in our community— students, faculty, and staff—and they respond to him in kind, but Al is also not afraid to speak his mind, and not afraid to possibly offend in an effort to reach higher ground. Early on in his time at Deerfield, Al had the courage to stand up in front of everyone at School Meeting and talk about the Academy’s bounty of riches—from tangible signs of wealth to the more ethereal wealth of opportunity—and he appealed to the community in general not to forget these blessings, and not to take them for granted.

After Deerfield Al will continue his education at the African Leadership Academy—world-renowned for “developing the next generation of African leaders”—and beyond that the future can only be surmised, but I think it’s a safe bet to expect great things from Alcides Soares.

Al’s story underscores Deerfield’s importance in the world, and emphasizes how the amalgamation of an enthusiastic student, no matter what his background, and an equally enthusiastic teacher can produce marvelous results; marvelous results have been Deerfield’s forte for decades. There is a fine example of this beginning on page 20, in “An Ode to Code,” which showcases some of alumnus Jonathan Harris’ best work; “SPF ’12” shines some light on the summer plans of two ambitious young women—a rising senior and a rising junior— and the Academy’s summer research program, headed by faculty member Dr. Ivory Hills; and finally, “All Together Now” explains some new initiatives among department chair-holders, who are stepping up as leaders of a faculty that is more collaborative and reflective than ever before.

As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions— feel free to call, email, or send a letter—we’ll be here, expecting the extraordinary.

—Jessica Day, Managing Editor

Director of Communications

Managing Editor

eCommunications Specialist

Graphic Designer

Production Assistant and Contributing Writer

David Thiel

Jessica Day

Danae DiNicola

Brent M. Hale

Anna Newman

Editorial and Business Office: Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA 01342. Telephone: 413-774-1860, communications@deerfield.edu Publication Office: The Lane Press, Burlington, VT 05402. Third class postage paid at Deerfield, Massachusetts, and additional mailing office.

Deerfield Magazine is published in the fall, winter, and spring.

Deerfield Academy admits students of any race, color, creed, handicap, sexual orientation or national origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or available to students at the academy. The academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, handicap, sexual orientation or national origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship, or any other programs administered by the academy. Copyright © The Trustees of Deerfield Academy (all rights reserved)

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Spring 2012 : Volume 69, No.3

Wi n t e r

z i n e m a g a

2012 oke Th e C r o d Line gs n d Wi n R o ot s a Vo l u m e

Deerfield Academy Archives

On C a l l er 6 9 Nu m b 2

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Comments To English teacher and department chair-holder Mark Ott: I have read your “The Lens of Memory” (Fall ’11) article several times. While I have not read Moveable Feast, I will. However, your/ Hemingway’s thoughts on memory moved me to reflect on many things. My way of recall is to look at pictures I have taken in various places.

My sisters have been pushing me to “get them out” for all to see. Thanks to you and them, I now have. I was tempted to go the easy way out with the title of the exhibition and call it, “The Lens of Memory” but of course fought that to the ground. I came up with “Eye Recall.”

My 30-year-old daughter and I were sitting around one night and I asked her what she was reading . . . she said she needed a suggestion.

Sitting on the floor of the room scanning my bookshelves, I produced The Old Man and the Sea. She looked at it . . . at me . . . at it . . . and said, (as you mentioned in the article) “Heard of him, and the book. Haven’t read it. I’ll let you know how it is!”

Wow . . . the Twitter generation is in for a surprise.

Thank you for the article.

Don McLean ’60 Boulder, Colorado

While I was thrilled to see the boys water polo team featured on the cover of the most recent Deerfield Magazine, I was disappointed to see water polo’s heritage completely neglected in the article.

Boys water polo began in 1963 with a generous gift from the Zuckerman family, which provided goals, balls, caps, and their son, Ken ’63, a California native. We came together around Andre Fogarasi ’63, an experienced player who escaped from Hungary during the 1956 revolution. An essential part of the glue was also the Australian Max Humphreys ’63, also a swimmer. Tony Wilson ’63, a swim captain, Ned Daly ’63, and I, the “All Americans,” swam rings around the competition.

We had no coach, only a faculty sponsor. We had pool time. We created shots and plays that never previously existed. We learned to function as a unit, taking advantage of our unique swimming and ball-handling skills.

As regards our band of brothers, we left not only our blood, sweat, and tears, but a winning heritage.

If we hadn’t won, the sport wouldn’t have attracted more participants the second year, and thereafter. And if that hadn’t happened, I wonder what would have been featured on the most recent copy of Deerfield Magazine.

David L. Hoof ’64 Washington, District of Columbia

Correction: Faculty member Becca Melvoin holds the Distinguished Young Teacher’s Chair, given by Julian H. Robertson P’93, ’97; not the Robert E. Kaufmann Distinguished Young Teacher’s Chair, as it was mistakenly labeled in a headline in the Winter ’12 issue of Deerfield Magazine.

Good News!

Recently, Deerfield Magazine was presented with a Gold Medal from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, District I, for Independent School Publications, followed by a Silver Medal for “best writing” and a Bronze Medal for “best overall” magazine.

In the competition for the latter two medals, Deerfield Magazine was bested only by publications from Tufts University and the Rhode Island School of Design.

deerfield.edu

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TIME:FRAMES Se n i o r C ai t l i n Cook borrowe d a c oncept fro m fe a t u re d al um nus J onat han H arri s ’ 98 (see page 20) and doc um e nt e d sc e ne s from a ty p i ca l D e e r f i e l d day.

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along albany road

Mike Sheridan ’58 P’93,’00,’05, Dr. Margarita Curtis, Peggoty Gilson P’84 G’12, Manning Curtis, David Pond P’92,’98 at the Vero Beach campaign celebration.

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Spring 2012

Five-year campaigns, regardless of institution, often follow a pattern: A rush out of the gate and then a final year defined by a spirited push to the finish line. “It’s those middle three years that can be the hardest,” says David Pond, Associate Head of School for Alumni Affairs and Development. Fortunately, Imagine Deerfield is backed by the strong leadership of the Academy, a clear strategic plan, and alumni, parents, and friends who are committed to ensuring Deerfield’s place as a preeminent boarding school.

“We have such a strong and devoted group,” says Pond, “but we need to stay focused and connected to all of those who will make this campaign a great success in the coming years.

It’s about maintaining our momentum.”

This good advice has been taken to heart.

Since launching in New York last October, Imagine Deerfield has been on the road—holding campaign celebrations in Boston, Houston, Austin, Vero Beach, Palm Beach, Charlotte, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, DC— to share its message and rally support.

Dr. Margarita Curtis, who has attended all of the campaign celebrations, is “encouraged by the number of alumni and parents at these

events and by the deep level of interest they manifest about the school and our long-term priorities. They are reassured by our commitment to preserve important traditions and our emphasis on values and character, while responding to the changes all around us.”

Student Financial Aid, Faculty Expansion, and Faculty Renewal and Development are the top campaign priorities, and Imagine Deerfield is making progress on all three fronts.

“Our commitment to accessibility is the best way to ensure that our students are prepared to lead productive and fulfilling lives in a richly diverse, interconnected world,” Dr. Curtis has said, “and no school can remain competitive without putting a premium on faculty growth and renewal.”

“Thanks to campaign funding,” Dr. Curtis continued, “the faculty has been particularly pleased with the chance to work collaboratively during the summers on multi-section courses and curriculum development, and to travel in teams to different parts of the globe to explore ways of enriching the curriculum with experiential components. The biology department is contemplating an off-campus sustainability

Jenny Hammond

UPDATE

$200 million

Dr. Curtis is “encouraged by the number of alumni and parents at these events and by the deep level of interest they manifest about the school and our long-term priorities. They are reassured by our commitment to preserve important traditions and our emphasis on values and character, while responding to the changes all around us.” program in Costa Rica, while history is considering programs in New Mexico and Brazil as supplements to current courses. By 2015, close to two-thirds of the faculty will have benefited from a three-week, summer travel-study program in China, thus enhancing our understanding of this vibrant, complex area of the world.”

Dr. Curtis points out that “students will be the direct beneficiaries of these experiences,” either as a result of an enriched, highly relevant curriculum or as participants in new travel-study programs that complement their classroom learning.

At the campaign launch last fall—where it was announced that $85 million had been raised toward our goal of $200 million—Dr. Curtis said: “Tonight, I am here to ask your support for a vision of the future that is consonant with the best of our past.” This vision has clearly been embraced by the Deerfield community. At the Board of Trustees meeting in January, the campaign number had increased to $105 million.

“There was more good news to report at the Board’s meeting in April,” added David Pond, when the total thus far jumped to $113 million.

That’s momentum.••

along albany road

$113 million

National Chairs Philip Greer ’53 P’94 G’13 Robert Hale ’84 P’15 Roger McEniry ’74 P’07,’10 Diana and Steve Strandberg P’10,’12 Boston Major Gifts Leaders Dozier Gardner ’51 Bink Garrison ’66 P’94,’00 Neil Jacobs ’69 Chicago Major Gifts Leaders *Roger McEniry ’74 P’07,’10 Julie and Brian Simmons P’12,’14 Metro NYC Major Gifts Leaders *Nancy and Alex Auersperg ’78 P’14 Serena Bowman P’13,’15 Aaron Daniels ’53 P’84 Terry Darling ’87 P’15 Greg Greene ’84 Devin Murphy ’78 P’06,’10,’15 Scott Vallar ’78 P’12,’14 Linda Whitton P’01,’04,’09,’12 San Francisco Major Gifts Leaders *Hilary and Mark McInerney ’81 P’10,’13 Alumni Association Executive Committee Chair Philip Weymouth III ’83 Annual Fund Chair Gordon “Zeke” Knight ’54 G’03 Boyden Society Chairs Craig Fanning ’53 Stan Mansfield ’53 G’03 Marc McMurphy ’82 Senior Parent Giving Chairs Michael and Suzanne Huebsch P’11,’12 Julie and Brian Simmons P’12,’14 *Regional Chair(s)

deerfield.edu

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along albany road

THE NEW DORM

THE DETAILS

• 22,000 square feet, including crawl spaces and attic

• 30 single dorm rooms

• 3 three-bedroom faculty apartments • 7000+ slate shingles on the roof

• 73 photovoltaic panels

• 8 solar thermal panels • LED lighting fixtures

• Hydration stations on the first and second floors • A back-up data center for the entire school will be housed in the basement; network hardware in the dorm is capable of processing

1.2 terabits per second; the entire dorm features wireless connectivity

• Meets LEED certification requirements; the dorm will be ready for students this coming fall—on budget and on time.

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SPRING PRODUCTION: The Dining Room / tickets and information: deerfield.edu/events and . often funny ul “. . and, by the end, “. . . a thosuugpehtfrbly rueverfuly moving.”—NY Times and —Variety

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deerfield.edu

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along albany road

Away from Deerfield

by Director of College Advising Martha Lyman

In a survey conducted by the College Advising Office last October, we discovered that:

91%

of our seniors have traveled outside of their home country

31%

of them had participated in a Deerfield-sponsored trip that took them abroad to develop language skills, participate in a service project, or represent Deerfield at an international conference or competition

40%

Almost 40 percent will graduate with more than four years of language study

13%

are already bilingual

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Spring 2012

Two of our graduates, Ansley and Bentley Rubinstein, recently stopped by and reminded me of the world of work for twenty-somethings these days. Bentley’s first job was for a Silicon Valley start-up, which now, a year and a half later, has been purchased by a large corporation. He told me that he feels he’s coming to the end of his learning curve in that job but, fortunately, his team won the company-sponsored innovation challenge. The reward was three months to focus entirely on bringing their idea closer to implementation—and Bentley was headed for Singapore to do so. His sister Ansley lives in LA, where she is exploring various avenues in the arts world. Simultaneously, she is working for a woman in China whom she has never met.

Ansley was hired via Skype interview to assist Chinese students, via the Internet, with their applications to American schools and colleges.

Given the contemporary work place, global outlook was definitely one of the items admissions officers had on candidate checklists this year.

Colleges are seeking students who demonstrate flexible thinking, openness to multiple perspectives, and an understanding of the world around them. Fortunately, these are characteristics we’ve nurtured in our classrooms at Deerfield, but what are the other indicators that Deerfield students are well prepared for an interconnected world?

My current college advisee group includes one student who spent last year in Beijing at School Year Abroad, and another who built a library at a school in his hometown outside of Kabul with the help of the Charles Piper Cost ’83 Award.

In my group of rising juniors, I have a student who spent a month last summer in the Andes, building greenhouses to expand dietary options for a mountain village with a Round Square group; another has developed a service trip that will take a group of Deerfield students to work with orphans in Calcutta and with high school students at the base of the Himalayas who need to improve their English skills.

Some of our students gain a wider worldview by taking a gap year. One of my most frequent

correspondents has been a graduate of the Class of 2011 who has spent a fascinating year teaching English in X’ian and Rabat and improving her French in Paris. In the spring she’ll get her hands dirty by volunteering as an organic farm worker in Italy. Another member of the Class of ’11 wrote to describe his year studying at a French school as a “momentous evolution; I expect this year will remain one of the major turning points of my life.” Both had college options last year but recognized that an additional year out of college would help them mature and refine their goals.

As a result, both will be even better prepared to take full advantage of the institutions at which they enroll.

Just as students from all over the world want to come to Deerfield, more Deerfield students are seeking higher education outside the United States.

In the early round we had students admitted to American University in Paris and to Exeter and Durham in the UK. As of this writing, two students have already made commitments to attend the New York University program in Abu Dhabi, and another will enroll in the Business and Political Economy Program at the Stern School of Business, which includes three semesters of global study—two in London and one in Shanghai —as a requirement of the program. Last year ten students applied to St. Andrews in Scotland; this year the number of applicants was 18.

Bentley and Ansley came to Deerfield with flexible minds and an open attitude about the world; they honed those inclinations here and eagerly took advantage of opportunities inside and outside Deerfield to understand new people and places. How do Deerfield students in general measure up on the admissions office checklist for global outlook? Some have a natural disposition to seek out different perspectives, but others need more of a push. For those who have not yet ventured too far afield, there are rich opportunities for exploration both abroad and right here in our classrooms and dormitories, with more on the drawing board. Stretching beyond one’s comfortable circle is crucial to current students, not just because it’s a measure for college admissions, but because our graduates need to be globally competent in order to thrive in the world in which they will live and work. We have come to a whole new understanding of Mr. Boyden’s advice to “Be Mobile!” ••

Conrad Pitcher, Robert W. McGlynn Chair in the Humanities

Gabriel Amadeus Cooney

by Rob Morgan

Before teaching at Deerfield, Conrad Pitcher hadn’t traveled very much. “I had never been out of the US.” At Princeton, he studied history and earned acclaim as an all-Ivy track and field star, but “it wasn’t college that opened up my world,” Conrad said recently. “It was coming to Western MA. It was Deerfield.” A familiar sentiment on this small New England campus, as opportunities afforded here have a way of opening doors to the wider world.

In his two decades at Deerfield, Conrad has been chair of the history department, a college advisor, a dorm resident, and a coach. He’s taught courses ranging from US History to African History to Latin American History. And he’s had a chance to see a little more of the world, logging miles to Cuba, India, Italy, South Africa, and Brazil, among other places, to enhance his teaching and bring real-world experiences to the classroom.

A priority of Imagine Deerfield is to unlock global opportunities for students and faculty. Experiential learning allows teachers to better communicate the nuances of cultures, as well as the global marketplace, to our students.

“Travel affords a rich opportunity to experience the world and bring back ideas to inform teaching,” Conrad explains.

“It can be tied directly to curricular pieces—for example, it enriched the units we have on South Africa and Cuba—but travel also helps to develop a sensibility for what our international students are dealing with and what our US students can expect when going abroad. I am more attuned and can read and react to our students better as a result of the travel I’ve done.”

along albany road

Traveling Man

Some of that travel occurred during the 2010-2011 academic year, when Conrad and his wife, Deerfield science teacher, Heidi Valk, were on sabbatical. With sons, Jackson, 12, and Bennett, 10, they spent an enriching month at a school in Rio de Janeiro, visiting classes and working with their Brazilian counterparts. In Costa Rica, Heidi helped design the science curriculum for an emerging educational initiative established by a Deerfield alumna.

When Conrad was volunteering for an Earthwatch program in South Africa, walking transect lines through the bush for two weeks, he flushed out a leopard and a lion and was “treed” by black rhinos—twice! His Deerfield experiences, he insists, have been no less thrilling—or satisfying. As the head coach for boys basketball, he points to a recent win over Choate in the last game of the season as a highlight of the year.

For Conrad—who also coaches track and field—the real victory, however, was not the win, but the way his team pulled together. “We have few great basketball players,” he concedes, “but we have many great people who are eager to represent Deerfield well.”

“The school shapes and builds character. Young people come here and are asked to negotiate the school on their terms, and with support of faculty, they are taught and encouraged to think and make good choices. Hovering over the whole enterprise is the sense, for teachers and students, that we can do better, we can reach new heights.”

Conrad’s Deerfield days, like those of other faculty, are eventful. “I might be Skyping with an admission candidate and potential basketball player from Austria one minute and then leading a discussion on the history of the American West the next. After that, I coach.” In spite of a full schedule— or because of it—“There’s rarely a day here when something doesn’t go right, some moment when the magic of Deerfield doesn’t fall into place.”

Like Robert McGlynn, the renowned English teacher in whose name he holds a chair, Conrad has been committed to Deerfield. McGlynn spent 41 years at the Academy. When asked if he thought he might put in another 20 years himself, Conrad says, “I don’t have a 10- or 20-year plan, but I am eager to keep teaching, learning, and growing. I know there will be opportunities here—that’s Deerfield—and I’m excited to see where they lead.” ••

deerfield.edu

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Girls Squash by Bob York

front: Caroline Kjorlein, Tori Dewey (captain), Carey Danforth, Samantha Chai back: Karinne Heise, Lindsey Dewey, Abby Ingrassia, Emily Jones, Addie Fulton, Katie Swindell Missing: Hunter Sechrest

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Spring 2012

Jeff Brown

along albany road

OFF THE WALL

Less than 48 hours had elapsed since their season came to a close, and the Big Green walked away from the New England Prep School Girls Squash Tournament with a silver medal in hand . . . but by Tuesday afternoon the offseason was already over for some, as a handful of players made their way back to Deerfield’s Dewey Squash Center to get ready for next year.

“It only took me two days to get back here . . . I’m usually good for at least a week between seasons,” quipped Tori Dewey, one of a half-dozen players who were on hand. This visit, however, was probably more for reflection on the past than preparation for the future. Dewey, who was this year’s team captain, was the lone senior on the roster and was thinking what every four-year player would probably be thinking at that particular moment: “I can’t believe I’m leaving.”

Next winter Dewey will be playing squash for the Big Green of Dartmouth, but she certainly helped leave a winning legacy at Deerfield. The team reached the medals podium at the New England tournament all four years with Dewey on board—earning one gold medal, a pair of silvers, and a bronze, and back-to-back second-place showings at the Nationals the past two years.

“Tori had an outstanding season, both as a player and as a team leader,” said Coach Karinne Heise. “She’s totally dedicated to the sport . . . she worked hard during the summer and fall and took her game to a new level.

In fact, her game improved so much that she moved from the number five slot to the number two slot, and at this level of squash, that’s a huge jump.”

Dewey’s improvement was pretty much a necessity this season, because Deerfield lost three of its top six players from last year’s title team to graduation, including its top two players, who just happen to be Dewey’s cousins: Hallie and Charlotte Dewey. There were other pieces of the puzzle that had to fit into place as well for this team to have a successful season—and they did.

Emily Jones ’13, whom Heise hailed as “a very strong player, who worked hard during the offseason to improve her game,” moved up to number one from number three, “and was simply outstanding,” while newcomer Samantha Chai ’15 took over the third spot and won her division at the New England tournament. Another rookie, Carey Danforth ’14, hit it off at number four and placed second at the New Englands, as Addie Fulton ’14 won the fifth spot and finished second at the New England tourney, as well.

Hunter Sechrest ’13 was sixth and another silver medalist at the New Englands, while Tori’s sister, Lindsey Dewey ’14, was number seven, and won her bracket at the NE meet. Rounding out the roster were number eight Caroline Kjorlien ’13, number nine Abby Ingrassia ’13, and number ten Katie Swindell ’14.

Despite losing nearly half of her starters to graduation, including Hallie Dewey, which meant losing the services of one of the premier players in her age bracket throughout the entire country, Heise wasn’t surprised one bit that her charges finished second in New England. “I knew how hard everyone had worked on improving their game prior to the season,” said the Big Green mentor, “and the new kids picked up the slack. I also knew Greenwich (Academy) would be tough to beat, however, they just had too many of their veterans returning.”

Brent M. Hale

along albany road

And sure enough, after watching Deerfield end its 14-year dominance as the premier prep school girls squash program of New England last winter, Greenwich got right back on its high horse this winter and extracted some serious revenge; Greenwich outlasted Deerfield three times during the season: at the Nationals, at the New Englands, and during its regular-season meeting.

Greenwich aside, Deerfield’s team enjoyed quite a ride this winter. Counting its matches during the Nationals, the Big Green went 16-2 and won 36 of 39 matches over the past two seasons. But how the girls won was every bit as one-sided as how many they won. Seven of Deerfield’s 13 league victories this winter came via 7-0 scores, while four others were settled by a 6-1 margin.

“I’m really happy about this season . . . we did much better than many people thought we would,” said Dewey, as she began to drift through the gamut of emotions. “I’m also extremely excited about the opportunity to play at Dartmouth. At the same time though, I’m sort of sad about leaving.

This entire team has really bonded together and that made it a lot of fun—I’m going to miss the camaraderie we’ve been able to create here.”••

Sea and Ski

by Bob York

The direction they were headed—top-to-bottom or side-toside—really didn’t matter. It was how fast they got there that counted. And when it comes to taking the tick and the tock out of the clock, not many skiers and swimmers can bring Father Time to his knees like the Big Green. This winter, Deerfield captured both the boys and girls competition of the New England Prep School Alpine Skiing Championships for the second straight year, while the Academy’s boys and girls both finished second at the New England Prep School Swimming and Diving Championships.

Lauren Stobierski ’14 turned out to be Queen of the Hill as she won both the slalom (63.05) and the giant slalom (75.29) events, while Liza Bragg ’13 ruled the pool. For the second straight year, Bragg carted away four gold medals and the Grace Robertson Most Valuable Swimmer Award, finishing first in the 200 Individual Medley (2:05.57), the 100 backstroke (56.20), the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:35.65), and 400 Freestyle Relay (3:31.49). It was in these relays that Bragg teamed up with Ritchey Howe ’12, Jenner McLeod ’13, and Julie Hwang ’13 to establish a New England record in both relays for the third consecutive year.

Causing some waves on the boys roster were Taylor Clough ’13, who captured a gold medal in the diving competition for the third straight year with 547.20 points, while Quinn Smith ’14 paced the Deerfield swimmers. He won the 100-breast stroke in 59.43, placed second in the 200 individual medley and combined with Austin Bridges ’12, Henry Lee ’12, and Oscar Miao ’13 to win the 200-medley relay in 1:33.92.

Out on the slopes, Annika Trapness ’13 was third in the slalom (64.83), while Beth Lawless ’12 finished seventh in 68.11.

In the giant slalom, meanwhile, Trapness was the only other Deerfield skier to place in the top ten, with a ninth spot in 77.50.

Dylan Alvarez ’13, meanwhile, was the first of three Big Green skiers to earn a top ten finish in the slalom, as he was second in 55.77, just 1.02 seconds off the winning pace. Oliver Hopkinson ’12 placed seventh in 59.51, while Peter Stobierski finished tenth at 60.20. In the giant slalom, four Deerfield skiers reached the top ten, as Alvarez once again paved the way with a fourth-place finish in 67.55. Hopkinson was sixth at 67.97, while Jack Paul ’14 and Reed Horton ’14 were ninth and tenth with times of 68.62 and 68.90 respectively.

Current sports schedules and scores at deerfield.edu/athletics

deerfield.edu

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along albany road

EXTRACURRICULAR LEARNING

Ken Burns: Emotional Archaeologist

Students in Advanced Calculus and Differential Equations use the computer program “Mathematica,” created by Dr. Steven Wolfram, as a power tool to do mathematics not possible by hand. This spring, thanks to the efforts of junior Jade Moon and senior Meghana Vunnamadala, Dr. Wolfram visited Deerfield to speak about his experiences as a CEO in the field of science and technology. In preparation for his visit, the entire class read A New Kind of Science, also written by Dr. Wolfram.

Dr. Wolfram published his first scientific paper at age 15, and received his PhD in theoretical physics from Caltech at age 20. In recognition of his early work in physics and computing, Dr. Wolfram became the youngest recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1981. In addition to creating Mathematica, and writing A New Kind of Science, Dr. Wolfram is the creator of Wolfram|Alpha, and the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. According to his website, Dr. Wolfram has a lifelong commitment to research and education; in addition to providing software for a generation of scientists and students, Dr. Wolfram’s company maintains some of the web’s most visited sites for technical information. He is also increasingly active in defining new directions for education, especially in the science he has created.

retro tv, Craig Jewel

“I am a filmmaker, not a historian,” Ken Burns said at School Meeting on February 23, when the world-renowned documentarian spoke to students, faculty, and staff. Mr. Burns went on to explain his fascination with the United States’ past (and present), and how he has translated that fascination into his numerous award-winning films.

Mr. Burns said that, essentially, he shares a process of discovery with his audience through his work, the style of which allows history to “come alive” as viewers experience the past through photographs, letters, narration, and “the Ken Burns effect”—a type of panning and zooming in Mr. Burns’ films that breathes life into still imagery. Combined with carefully selected audio enhancement, including musical scores, Mr. Burns has created films that have “not only turned millions of persons onto history, but showed us a new way of looking at our collective past and ourselves,” according to David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun. Mr. Burns’ films have received 12 Emmy Awards and two Oscar nominations; he was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Joe Lyons, chair of the Deerfield’s History Department, acted as moderator for the event; Mr. Burns answered questions from the audience and shared clips from his most recent film: Prohibition. When asked how he chooses topics for his films, Mr. Burns said: “Initially, I pick subjects that I want to know l to r: Jade Moon, more about . . . but I am interested in talking to all Americans, Eliza Mott, Mohan Yin, so in the end I pick a topic that I think will speak to everyone.”

Edric Tam, John Lee Mr. Burns also noted that it takes time and patience to find the details in a story, and that in many ways he thinks of himself as “an emotional archaeologist.”

“History comes alive when For over a decade a Deerfield team has competed on As Schools Match Wits, a local public you feel you’re experiencing it,” television quiz show for high school students. This spring the team competed against, and said Mr. Burns. “I make films ultimately bested, Suffield Academy, with a final score of 260 – 235. This score was good that I hope help people to embrace enough to earn Deerfield a place in the show’s quarterfinals, which will air on May 26. our (American) narrative.”

Full episodes of As Schools Match Wits may be viewed on Vimeo.com.

Which Wits Won?

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Retro TV, Craig Jewel; student photo, Sheryl Cabral; Ken Burns, Brent M. Hale

The Man Behind Mathematica

Ailey II, Eduardo Patino; artwork, Tim Trelease

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Fifty Years of “Revelations” On April 9, students, faculty, and staff were treated to a performance by the worldrenowned Ailey II dance troupe. Thanks to the Academy Events Committee, three pieces were performed: “Reference Point” and “Legacy of Inheritance,” which are recent commissions, and “Revelations,”—Alvin Ailey’s signature work.

First performed in 1960, the piece celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and the company produced a short documentary to accompany each performance.

To view it go to: vimeo. com/17307366

“ Inspired Art” in the Russell Gallery “After seeing the exceptional range of quality work being produced by members of Gallery A3, an artist’s cooperative in Amherst (MA), I thought it would be a great opportunity to share this work with the Deerfield community,” said fine arts teacher Tim Trelease.

Mr. Trelease, who is himself a member of the cooperative, added, “I see the Russell Gallery as a teaching gallery, and the idea of local artists showing their work and what has influenced them from art history seemed like a substantive theme for an academic community.”

The exhibit features a wide range of mediums—including photography, videography, sculpture, and painting—in a vast range of styles. Each artist also referenced artists from the past who influence their work, in the hopes of inspiring further study of art.

Following an opening reception on April 20, the Gallery A3 exhibit is now on display through June 1. The Russell Gallery is open daily from 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Half a Life With the 2012 Lambert Fellow

Mr. Strauss spoke at School Meeting, joined an English Department meeting to discuss the teaching of writing, and presented a seminar for students. A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and a win“Half my life ago, I killed a girl,” wrote Darin Strauss in the opening line of his book. What fol- ner of the American Library Association’s lows is the true story of a collision, a funeral, and Alix Award and The National Book Critics Circle Award, Mr. Strauss is also the author the high-stakes court case that are inextricably of works of fiction, and is a clinical associpart of Strauss’ startling past. Half a Life has been called a nakedly honest, ultimately hopeful ate professor at NYU’s creative writing program. The Lambert Fellowship, created examination of guilt, responsibility, and living with the past, and this spring Deerfield students in honor of longtime Deerfield faculty were able to meet Darin Strauss in person as the member Bryce Lambert, brings writers from all over the United States and abroad Academy’s 2012 Lambert Fellow. to the Academy to share their knowledge and craft with students and faculty.

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A Stellar Faculty Member Retires It seems fitting that long-time science teacher and planetarium Director David Howell ’65 P’98, who will retire this June, was a member of the Rockets and Astronomy Club as a Deerfield student, and served as president of the club his senior year. Mr. Howell says it was during that year that the thought occurred to him that “it might be fun to come back and teach . . . ” He also admits he never, ever thought his career at the Academy would span 43 years.

Following graduation from Amherst College in 1969, Mr. Howell’s Deerfield career began slowly—he taught one class and served as corridor master for Pocumtuck III, the same corridor he had lived on as a sophomore. He also traveled back and forth to Amherst to work in the college’s planetarium, which provided him with excellent experience for what was to come . . . 1970 marked the beginning of fulltime work at Deerfield, when Mr. Howell officially joined the Science Department. He also continued to live in a dorm, and in 1971 his bride, Sigrid, joined him on campus.

When plans for a new science center began to develop shortly thereafter, Mr. Howell recalled something Mrs. Boyden had said when an alumnus once asked her what she thought would be vital in a building dedicated to the study of science: without hesitation she had replied, “A planetarium.”

“I was fortunate to have been involved with the design of not one but two science buildings,” Mr. Howell recently commented, “and both of those buildings have had wonderful planetariums.”

As director of both the Peter C. Andrews Planetarium and the Tanoto Planetarium and Digital Theater in the Koch Center, Mr. Howell has presented over 2,000 star shows and hosted over 80,000 visitors, including many from the schools and communities surrounding Deerfield. He said, “David Pynchon, who was headmaster when the original planetarium opened, felt that it was such a great resource that it should be shared with the wider community. I’m happy to say we still do planetarium shows to this day.”

In addition to his work in the classroom, planetariums, and as chair of the Academy Events Committee, Mr. Howell

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(and Mrs. Howell) spent 24 years living with students—from Pocumtuck to Plunkett, to Scaife. They also spent nearly as many years living in Haynes House, but they were asked to move back into a dorm three years ago. “We’ve enjoyed it,” said Mr. Howell. “We’ve been in Louis Marx, and have only eight kids on our corridor. The small number makes it feel homey—we can sit around a table together—and Sig and I feel really connected to the kids.”

Mrs. Howell is almost as well-known on campus as her husband; in their early years at Deerfield she taught elementary school in Amherst, but for the past eight years Mrs. Howell has worked as an interviewer in the Admission Office and served as an advisor to the yearbook. The Howells also became Deerfield parents in 1994, when their daughter Jennifer joined the Class of 1998.

Reflecting on his time at Deerfield, Mr. Howell said, “I often think of Mr. and Mrs. Boyden—especially Mrs. Boyden— I talked with her a lot. It has been amazing to follow the evolution of the school, and gratifying to see that we’re still connecting to the Boydens’ original vision. . . we manage to connect to every student here on some level.” He added, “I also have enjoyed watching the evolution of the faculty—from those quintessential schoolmen to the enormous diversity and creative experience of our current faculty.”

Mr. and Mrs. Howell will now make a year-round home out of their Cape Cod summerhouse and have plans to “make a new life there.”

“My relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Boyden, as a student and as a young teacher, was a guiding inspiration throughout my years at Deerfield,” Mr. Howell said. “We’ve grown and changed during this time, but our core values remain firmly intact. I’ll miss an extraordinarily talented and deeply committed group of teaching colleagues and the joy of engaging daily with so many remarkable Deerfield boys and girls.”

One thing Mr. Howell won’t have to miss in retirement are his beloved stars . . . he has already built a roll-off rooftop observation deck at his Cape house and will keep up with the heavens from there..••

Deerfield Academy Archives

by Jessica Day

Tom Burgess Heads for Home

Magical Moments and Memories Karen McConnell has brought international experience to her classroom for the past 13 years, after teaching in both Germany and Japan before (re) settling at Deerfield. The end of this academic year will also mark the end of Ms. McConnell’s tenure at the Academy, but she will continue to teach—this time in her home state of California at Flintridge Prep, an independent day school.

Ms. McConnell originally joined the Deerfield faculty in the fall of 1987 and taught in the History Department until 1994. Over the years she has taught freshmen through seniors, and her classes have included Western Civilization, Honors US History,

AP Art History, Politics, Leadership, and Justice, the Great Books, and more. Ms. McConnell also served as chair of the History Department and chair of the Philosophy and Religion Department. Other duties have included coaching JV volleyball and swimming, bicycling, and “special ex,” and living in Johnson II. “My fondest Deerfield memories are those magical moments in the classroom when learning, laughter, intensity, trust, and courage converge and a new idea is created,” Ms. McConnell said. “I will miss Deerfield but I am looking forward to returning to California and meeting new challenges.”

Gabriel Amadeus Cooney

Deerfield’s Turn Heads from the Eight Schools Association (Choate, Deerfield, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Northfield Mount Hermon, Andover, Exeter, and St. Paul’s) gathered at Deerfield April 11-13 for their annual spring meeting. This year’s gathering focused on private schools and public education and featured three keynote speakers: Timothy Knowles, John Dewey Director of the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute; Steven Brill ’68 P’02,’03, author of Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools; and Norm Atkins, co-founder of Uncommon Schools. As has become the tradition at the Association’s spring meeting, two trustee representatives from each school’s board also joined the group.

The Eight Schools Association began meeting informally in 1973 and formalized in 2006 with the appointment of a president and an executive director. According to the Association’s bylaws, the ESA was established for “the purpose of mutual support and collegiality . . . ” Its main purpose is to “address critical educational issues in order to ensure the best educational experiences and outcomes for students, explore new research and trends in education, and to develop collaborative programs.”

This spring, in addition to their formal agenda, the heads also took the opportunity to wish Barbara Landis Chase well as she retires at the end of the academic year as Andover’s head of school—a position she has held for 18 years.

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IN THE COMMUNITY

Although he was featured in the Winter 2012 issue of Deerfield Magazine, many members of the Deerfield community had no idea Assistant Director of Safety and Security Tom Burgess had a brotherin-law on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan—or that on May 9, 2011, Sergeant Christopher Demars was hit by a suicide bomber. Sergeant Demars’ injuries included severe shrapnel wounds, broken bones in both legs, three broken bones in his back, and a broken finger; he also sustained a traumatic brain injury, all of his facial bones were broken, his right eye was damaged, he suffered burns on his face and head, and both of his ear drums were blown out.

Since that fateful day, Sergeant Demars has undergone multiple surgeries for his injuries, and more procedures are anticipated.

“To support Chris and other brave men and women like him, I am participating in the 2012 Run to Home Base in Boston on May 20,” said Mr. Burgess. Sponsored in large part by the Boston Red Sox Foundation, the run helps to support soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq and their families. Runners follow a route through Boston, ending with the unforgettable experience of crossing “home base” (plate) at historic Fenway Park.

With a limit of 4,000 participants, the Academy is proud to have one of its own among the ranks.

More information at runtohomebase.org

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A picture is worth a thousand words...

Real work by real Deerfield students

THE CLASS: Advanced Placement Art THE ASSIGNMENT: (A) Draw from a photo (B) Selfportrait with two light sources THE STUDENT: Willa Gustavson ’12

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Harris understands art as a kind of science, and science as a kind of art. Jonathan lives fluidly between and across the two worlds, and by doing so he is able to embody a different kind of skill and talent.

Bjorn Valdimarsson

—John Maeda, president of the Rhode Island School of Design

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<AN ODE TO CODE>

by Nathaniel Reade

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When Jonathan Harris stepped in front of an audience of 80 reporters and staffers in a New York Times conference room one grey, drizzling afternoon in midtown Manhattan, he had an agenda: He planned to tell them what they were doing wrong, and how to fix it.

Harris has a history of delivering criticism to audiences whether they want to hear it or not, and this has landed him in trouble, from the dean’s office at Deerfield following the publication of an edgy, satirical underground newspaper, to boos and a barroom brawl in Brighton, England. Would he pull it off? Would the Times listen? Or would someone take a swing at him here, too?

Jonathan Harris certainly doesn’t look like a rabble-rouser. About 5’9”, he was dressed in a rumpled plaid shirt, skinny blue pants, and hiking boots to address the Times people; with a gap-toothed smile and a halo of curly blonde hair, he almost looked angelic, and his softspoken, tenor-voiced tone seemed both earnest and humble. If this was a sermon, it was more in the style of Saint Francis or Gandhi than Martin Luther or Malcolm X.

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He had been invited to speak by a “data artist” at the Times because at age 32, Harris is a master at using the data of the Internet to create beautiful, interactive sites that some call “web art.” Paola Antonelli, the curator who commissioned him to make a site for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), says she was first drawn to Harris because “his approach to technology is unique. He uses it to know other people better. His work is human but it’s also always visually stunning.”

John Maeda, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, admires Harris’ work because Harris, he says, “understands art as a kind of science, and science as a kind of art. Jonathan lives fluidly between and across the two worlds, and by doing so he is able to embody a different kind of skill and talent.” You’ve heard of STEM, the idea of increasing innovation through science, technology, engineering, and math?

According to Maeda, “Jonathan embodies an education that is less STEM, more STEAM— adding Art at the core.”

Harris, in other words, is one of the world’s leaders in bringing design and humanity to the

Andy Polaine

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thewhalehunt.com

Johnathan Harris Projects

In May 2007 Jonathan lived for nine days with the Inupiat Eskimos in Barrow, Alaska. He joined the Inupiat on a whale hunt and documented his journey, which can be viewed interactively.

“I documented the entire experience with a plodding sequence of 3,214 photographs, beginning with the taxi ride to Newark airport, and ending with the butchering of the second whale, seven days later. The photographs were taken at five-minute intervals, even while sleeping (using a chronometer), establishing a constant “photographic heartbeat”. In moments of high adrenaline, this photographic heartbeat would quicken (to a maximum rate of 37 pictures in five minutes while the first whale was being cut up), mimicking the changing pace of my own heartbeat.” thewhalehunt.com/statement.html

2004

tenbyten.org Process.

Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour’s most important words.

The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record of our world is formed, based on prominent world events, without any human input. tenbyten.org/info.html

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2006

wefeelfine.org We Feel Fine is an exploration of human emotion on a global scale.

Since August 2005, We Feel Fine has been harvesting human feelings from a large number of weblogs. Every few minutes, the system searches the world’s newly posted blog entries for occurrences of the phrases “I feel” and “I am feeling”.

When it finds such a phrase, it records the full sentence, up to the period, and identifies the “feeling” expressed in that sentence (e.g. sad, happy, depressed, etc.). Because blogs are structured in largely standard ways, the age, gender, and geographical location of the author can often be extracted and saved along with the sentence, as can the local weather conditions at the time the sentence was written. All of this information is saved.

The result is a database of several million human feelings, increasing by 15,000 - 20,000 new feelings per day. Using a series of playful interfaces, the feelings can be searched and sorted across a number of demographic slices, offering responses to specific questions. wefeelfine.org/mission.html

2011

cowbird.com Cowbird is a small community of storytellers, focused on a deeper, longer-lasting, more personal kind of storytelling than you’re likely to find anywhere else on the Web. Cowbird allows you to keep a beautiful audio-visual diary of your life, and to collaborate with others in documenting the overarching “sagas” that shape our world today. Sagas are themes and events that touch millions of lives and shape the human story.

Our short-term goal is to pioneer a new form of participatory journalism, grounded in the simple human stories behind major news events. Our long-term goal is to build a public library of human experience, so the knowledge and wisdom we accumulate as individuals may live on as part of the commons, available for this and future generations to look to for guidance. cowbird.com/about/

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Johnathan Harris Projects

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ever-growing global organism we call the worldwide web. He is making art with computer code. And he has achieved his success in large part due to a code of his own.

At Deerfield, Steve Murray, his French teacher, advisor, and coach, remembers Harris as an intellectual sponge, quick to learn, who excelled in such diverse areas as painting, journalism, and water polo. His senior year, Harris painted 31 oil-on-canvas landscapes for his senior Independent Study Project, which were so admired that two of them still hang in the lobby of the Main School Building. He also created The Lower Level, a satirical publication that some found to be overly biting, and even cruel.

Murray says The Lower Level was well done, but also at times cut too close to the bone and caused offense: “People don’t always appreciate being told the truth,” he commented.

Even so, Jonathan Harris says that his wide swath of achievement was simply the ethos at Deerfield. Students, he says, were taught to be “great friends, great students, great athletes, great artists, and great contributors to the community.” At Deerfield and ever since, Harris has strived to be the best he can be in all areas and to continually improve himself. He says this goal is best summed up by an ancient Greek code he learned of at the Academy, called areté, which means quality, nobility, and ultimately striving to become the best you can possibly be.

After Deerfield, Harris went to Princeton, where he intended to study English, fine art, or maybe architecture. A requisite computer science course his freshman year changed all that. For one assignment he built a simple website and uploaded images of the oil paintings he’d done at Deerfield on the homepage. He sent the link around to family and friends, and experienced an epiphany.

“I realized that I had created this public space I could direct people to,” Harris says. “And it didn’t have a curator or an application process.

I had this feeling that in years to come many, many people were going to want to do this— communicate ideas without asking anybody’s permission.” So he decided to enter Princeton’s

high-powered computer sciences program. A self-described luddite who had previously only sent four emails in his life, he now sat beside classmates who had been programming since they were kids. For the first time in his life, he got Cs. Harris struggled to learn computer code but he felt it was a necessity. He believes that every era has its own, dominant mode of expression—there was an age of theater, of novels, of rock and roll, of film, then television. And for his generation, he says the dominant mode is computer code.

“When you think of the number of people a website can reach,” he says, “it’s just orders of magnitudes larger than ever before.”

Following Princeton, Harris travelled extensively and did some soul-searching about his purpose in life. He started a travel magazine.

He won a coveted spot at Fabrica, a small-group incubator for young artists financed by the Benetton Foundation and based in a restored 17th-century villa near Venice, Italy. Before Fabrica, he had worried that his art only had appeal inside the rarified “bubble” of Deerfield and Princeton. At Fabrica, Harris says, he had to work with some of the best young artists in the world, from all walks of life. When he created things that passed muster there, it gave him confidence that he was good enough for the larger world, and it inspired him to combine creative expression with computer code.

Most of us would consider these two things to be polar opposites, but as Jer Thorp from the Times says, “Whenever a new technology comes along, artists are some of the first to use it.” Just as Gustave Eiffel used the new technology of iron beams and rivets to build his tower, Harris used the technology of computer software to build creations from vast quantities of Internet data.

After Fabrica, Harris launched a stream of website-based projects that brought him national and international acclaim. 10x10, for instance, scans global news-sites, determines the 100 words and photographs being used the most that hour, arranges them into ten rows of ten images, then stores them. This allows visitors to go back to a specific hour on a specific date and see what the dominant words and images once

< Despite this success, Harris felt dissatisfied with the Internet, the media, and the cynical state of the world. He says, “there’s a big difference between information and knowledge, and they often get conflated. Too many people believe that given enough data they will understand.

This is a very limited way of seeing things.>

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2007

balloonsofbhutan.org I asked people five questions pertaining to happiness: What makes them happy, what is their happiest memory, what is their favorite joke, what is their level of happiness between 1 and 10, and, if they could make one wish, what would it be. Based on each person’s stated level of happiness, I inflated that number of balloons, so very happy people would be given 10 balloons and very sad people would be given only one (but hey, it’s still a balloon).

Then I wrote each person’s wish onto a balloon of their favorite color.

I repeated this process for 117 different people, from all different ages and backgrounds.

On the final night, all 117 wish balloons were re-inflated and strung up at Dochula, a sacred mountain pass at 10,000 feet, leaving them to bob up and down in the wind, mingling with thousands of strands of prayer flags. balloonsofbhutan.org/statement.php

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were. On December 29, 2008, at noon EST, for instance, they were Gaza, food, and the English soccer team Chelsea.

Another project, called WordCount, constantly scans the web for over 86,000 English words, then ranks and sizes them in order of frequency.

We Feel Fine finds phrases people post in blogs that include the words “I feel,” then converts those feelings into colors and sizes depending on their frequency and other factors. This produces a visual weather report of how the entire blogosphere is feeling, or any geographic and demographic portion of it you might care to choose, such as women in London who are over 30. In 2009, Harris and a collaborator published it as a book. Acclaim for We Feel Fine earned Harris an invitation to give a Technology, Entertainment, and Design Talk (TED Talk)

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and that led to the rare MoMA commission.

For the MoMA, he and a collaborator created I Want You to Want Me, an interactive website that scans online dating sites and converts the postings there into elegant images that Harris hopes illustrate not only the search for love today, but the search for human identity. It was part of a 2008 show called “Design and the Elastic Mind,” which curator Paola Antonelli says shows how “designers, when they’re good, take scientific and technological revolutions and transform them into objects that people like you and me can use in our everyday life.”

Despite this success, however, Harris felt dissatisfied with the Internet, the media, and the cynical state of the world. He says, “there’s a big difference between information and knowledge, and they often get conflated. Too many people

believe that given enough data they will understand. This is a very limited way of seeing things.”

Harris also believes that too much Internet activity is addictive and harmful, appealing to our worst impulses. “A lot of web media is like fast food,” he says. “It provides instant gratification, but in time we become intellectually obese.”

Nevertheless, he also thinks that the Internet is still in its earliest stages of evolution, and that it’s possible to push it in the right direction. “I believe in technology,” he says, but adds that it’s important to guide the Internet’s evolution so it becomes a “space we actually want to inhabit.”

In other words, he thinks the world of computer code needs a moral code. And this belief is what started that barroom brawl in the UK. In 2008, Harris was asked to give the endnote speech at a conference of 1500 software designers who were devotees of a program called Flash. He was originally scheduled to talk about something else, but something bothered him that he felt had to be said. So he told the audience that they weren’t fulfilling their potential—that they weren’t making serious work compared to other artistic mediums, that they were overly concerned with style and technique and not enough with ideas that could improve the world.

He was calling, in other words, for arête.

Some of the Flash fans cheered him for this, but many booed. Later Harris went to the bar where other speakers were drinking beers. One of them told him he wasn’t welcome, and swore at him. Someone shoved someone against a wall; someone threw a punch; several people broke it up. The next day the Flash-o-sphere erupted with talk of the speech and the brawl, much if it filled with Harris-directed invective, and some of them asked a difficult question: Exactly how is Jonathan Harris improving the world?

Like a mystic returning to his mountain-top to meditate, Harris went travelling, looked inside himself for answers, and responded with his latest project: Cowbird.

Harris explained to the Times audience that the name comes from combining two metaphors: The cow, a slow and grounded animal, represents older, more laborious means of communication, such as the novel, whereas the swift, airborne bird can be likened to the Internet. By combining them, he hopes to improve both.

Harris had concluded that humans need their own “myth” in order to feel rooted, that we each need to “create a life story.” So he made Cowbird—a web space where people all over

< I believe in technology,” he says, but adds that it’s important to guide the Internet’s evolution so it becomes a “space we actually want to inhabit.”In other words, he thinks the

world of computer code needs a moral code.>

the world can hopefully cut through the isolation of the Internet and build global bridges to one another, through the exchange of their stories.

He hopes this will create a “gift economy of stories going back and forth, rather than an economy of stuff.”

On Cowbird, participants post a photograph and a short story, which he wants to be inspiring. Harris and his team also periodically create “sagas” there, such as a recent one called “First Loves:” A photographer wrote about how being shot at by the Taliban inspired him to finally marry his girlfriend. A woman described getting a medical diagnosis of heartbreak.

Harris posted a ten-minute audio story about the time his father nearly died, which inspired Harris to finally tell him he loved him.

Cowbird, Harris says, has a threefold mission: He wants it to be a place for global self-expression unlike anything else on the Web. He hopes that it will become a long-lived library of human experience, allowing people to share their knowledge and wisdom in a kind of permanent, web-based scrapbook of their lives. He also thinks it can represent a new kind of journalism, where people report major news events through their own personal stories.

He told the Times audience about Cowbird, and showed them examples.

Then it was time to give them their areté report card. He told them that the media—aka, each of them—generally puts forth a dark vision of things, which in Harris’ opinion could make darkness more likely to come true.

Instead, he told them, “We need to put forward beautiful visions.” He suggested that they strive for authenticity, and even went so far as to say that their most successful writers—Paul Krugman and Mark Bittman, for instance—weren’t necessarily the most objective, they were the most authentic.

Areté demands constant self-improvement. Plato felt that anyone who was trying to achieve it had in fact achieved it, because its value lay not in the destination but in the striving. Harris says that the Flash conflagration taught him a thing or two, and that afterwards he worked hard to improve himself and not sound so arrogant. Apparently he succeeded, because when he was done talking the Times staffers didn’t boo him or try to punch him out. Instead, they gave him a heartfelt round of applause. ••

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Nathaniel Reade has written for dozens of national magazines, including GQ, Men’s Journal, Yankee, and SKI. This is his second story for Deerfield Magazine.

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Here’s a little story about what happens when chance, ambition, and luck converge. During winter break 2010, Joe Sullivan, Class of ’12, was spending time with his family on Lake Burton, GA. “I’m a big lake boarder. I’m always in the water, splashing—and falling,” Joe laughs. “But soon I noticed my contact would rise up in my eye—it wouldn’t stay centered on the pupil.” Joe went to an ophthalmologist his dad knew in Atlanta. But it turned out that his dad’s friend wasn’t in the office that day, so Joe saw one of his colleagues instead. “He told me I had an allergic reaction to the lake water,” Joe says. “Some kind of amoeba caused little red bumps on the inner part of my eyelid, and they would grab the contact every time I blinked.”

A straightforward problem with an easy fix, so Joe and the eye doctor started chatting about other things, like what Joe was studying at school. Joe mentioned he was thinking about attending the competitive Disease Detective Camp at the Center for Disease Control. Which is how it came up that this doctor’s wife works in the Division of Local Readiness at the CDC. And then it was like dominoes falling, one after the next—connection, application, acceptance. A few weeks later, Joe had landed a plum internship, the kind that can help lay the foundation for a career: researching pediatric pandemics at the CDC with the associate director of science.

Joe’s internship, impressive as it was, is hardly unheard of. Students at Deerfield have long spent their summer months in meaningful ways. The circuitous path that led to Joe’s internship is pretty common, too, but that’s about to change.

A new program, launching for the first time this year, seeks to help passionate young scientists find their own plum assignments, so that students’ fortunes won’t depend on who was in the office that day, or who happens to be married to whom.

Instead, they will depend on Dr. Ivory Hills, a former senior researcher at a drug company, who ditched it all for life in academia. With a doctorate from MIT and senior research experience at Merck, Hills came to Deerfield this past fall not only to teach but also to create and implement the new summer program for science and research. For Hills, who had long had the ambition to teach but had been wooed by Big

Pharma, it has been like coming home. “You know, I was a little naïve—I thought pharmaceutical companies were interested in making drugs.

They’re interested in making money,” he says with a rueful smile. “After my decision to leave Merck, I knew that I wanted to teach. I’m most interested in helping foster students’ ability to think critically, and I think that’s best realized in a high school setting, since the students are still in their formative years.” It might seem like a risky move, but Hills points out that moments of risk are when the most interesting things happen—whether you’re trying to break into research internships at 16 or making a career about-face at 34. “Look, there are no guarantees,” he says. “The only guarantee is you can’t win if you don’t play.” It’s age-old advice, and students are responding, opening themselves up to the risk of intense research work. As of this past February, about 30 ambitious kids had already eagerly signed on.

Joe Sullivan ’12

landed a plum

internship, the kind that can help lay the foundation for a career: researching pediatric pandemics at the Center for Disease Control with the associate director of science.

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Hills wasn’t surprised at the quick response.

“Over the last couple years, there’s been an uptick of interest in the sciences,” he notes. “It may be a consequence of students hoping that their interests and ability will be their hook for getting in to the college of their choice; it may also be a consequence of science and technology being more integrated in our lives.” Whatever the catalyst, the result is a thriving science curriculum, with around 125 students taking AP science courses, and 45 participating in yearlong, in-depth research projects. And then, of course, there are those few who are taking it to the next level.

acid sequences define the three-dimensional structure of a protein. “That’s the large question,” she says. “I’ll be working on some smaller questions, such as looking at in vivo proteins and how they fold. We understand amino acid sequences as ladders, which is a two-dimensional idea, but we don’t know how the sequence affects a three-dimensional protein. Understanding that would help us see how protein mis-folding happens, which can be applied to medicine and general science.”

Louisa and Tara are ambitious, driven science students, who would likely find some kind of summer opportunities on their own, but they are

—Ivory Hills

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Louisa Hanson ’13 spent her afternoons last winter at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in nearby Greenfield. She shadowed doctors, witnessing surgery and endoscopy, but she also painstakingly collected and analyzed data, outlining the medical history of patients with diabetes and evaluating the efficacy of their health plans. This summer she’ll be transferring those skills to a project at MIT, studying dyslexia.

“While patients are hooked up to EEG and MRI machines, they’ll identify different words so we can see which areas of the brain are stimulated,” she explains. “It’s interesting because the researchers are helping to define what dyslexia is, what set of requirements to use.”

Tara Murty ’14, a sophomore with a growing science resume, is another student undertaking real research; this summer will find her at UMass Amherst’s Gierasch Lab, exploring how amino

grateful to have a constellation of support. “Dr. Hills encouraged me to look around, to feel free to consider different options,” says Tara. “It’s so great to have Dr. Hills to talk to, see his connections, his ability to reach out to different faculty. Students who are from further away may not know what’s local to them in the Deerfield area.” Louisa worked with Hills to nail down not just where she would go, but why. “Dr. Hills helped me figure out what I actually wanted to do,” she explains. “He helped me realize that you have to think about time constraints, what’s really going to be manageable.

It was helpful to have that resource.”

And that’s a big part of the point: to have a font of information and guidance to help these high-achieving students make their goals a reality.

“How do you do it?” asks Hills. “If you’re doing it on your own, you get on the Internet, or your parents know people.” In other words: Even if you

Gabriel Amadeus Cooney

...my role was to come in and formalize the support and make it more uniform, that addresses the potential gap that exists for whether your parents know someone, or are connected or not. If your parents have a connection, that might be good for you; but now, if any science teachers at Deerfield have a connection, that will be good for all of our students.

While patients are hooked up to EEG and MRI machines, they’ll identify different words so we can see which areas of the brain are stimulated . . .

It’s interesting because the researchers are helping to define what dyslexia is, what set of requirements to use.

Louisa Hanson ’13

spent her afternoons last winter

at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in nearby Greenfield. She shadowed doctors, witnessing surgery and endoscopy, but she also painstakingly collected and analyzed data, outlining the medical history of patients with diabetes and evaluating the efficacy of their health plans.

This summer she’ll be transferring those skills to a project at MIT, studying dyslexia.

deerfield.edu 31

Tara Murty ’14 Tara Murty ’14, a sophomore with a growing science resume, is another student undertaking real research; this summer will find her at UMass Amherst’s Gierasch Lab, exploring how amino acid sequences define the three-dimensional structure of a protein.

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try hard, it helps to have a bit of luck. Consider Joe Sullivan; he’s a go-getter, so he would have found something on his own eventually. But it wouldn’t have been the amazing CDC internship if he hadn’t been in exactly the right place at the right time. “So my role was to come in and formalize the support and make it more uniform,” says Hills. “That addresses the potential gap that exists for whether your parents know someone, or are connected or not. If your parents have a connection, that might be good for you; but now, if any science teachers at Deerfield have a connection, that will be good for all of our students.”

Quiet and approachable, Hills doesn’t seem like a name-dropping sort of guy, but when pressed, he ticks off a few of the connections he personally brings to the table. “Based on my previous experience, I know the chairs of the chemistry departments at almost every East Coast school—Yale, Columbia, MIT; also at CalTech, UCLA—these are the places we’re focusing on.” Academic Dean Peter Warsaw underscores this. “Ivory is incredible. First of all, he’s brilliant, and also incredibly conscientious.

But he also has as much experience as anyone we’ve ever had at Deerfield, and he’s putting all of that to bear on this project.”

Ben Bakker, chair of the science department, echoes Warsaw. He knows all too well how tricky it can be to pin down summer internships. “I went through the process myself with my son,” he says. In his case, it wasn’t scientific research but the stakes felt high just the same. “It would be helpful, really a service, if we could give students good direction on what programs are worthwhile and help them find places that will develop them. It makes sense for us to form a collective source of wisdom.”

When an internship originates at Deerfield, it gives Deerfield the chance to stay on top of what kind of enrichment students are actually getting, points out Dean of Faculty John Taylor. “We’d like to expand opportunities for students, but we also want to have a better sense of the quality of the program,” Taylor emphasizes. “When we organize a language trip, it’s with our faculty, so we have control of the quality. Ivory is speaking with coordinators, developing a relationship, then getting feedback, so we’ll have a much better sense of what programs are worthwhile.”

Since time is at a premium during the academic year, many students use the summer to pursue special interests. “It’s not a new model to enrich over the summer,” Warsaw points out. “What’s relatively new is that scientific research is a sanctioned mode of specialized interest. We are simply helping students consider, among their many alternatives over the summer, the opportunity to spend that precious time developing science skill—if that is their passion.”

The strong student interest at Deerfield speaks volumes. “I think the big picture is we realized students were doing this on their own, and we could help them do it better,” points out Bakker.

“We’re in the business of getting these kids where they want to go, whether in science, in music, whatever their passions happen to be.”

Taylor echoes that sentiment. “Really devoted students have long pursued their specialized interests over the summer. What we’re adding is a new dimension in terms of expanding the options,” he says. “It’s something of an apprenticeship. It’s more profitable for students if we can help them debrief, continue to work on what they’re doing, make it more continuous with what they’re doing here—and then present it to colleges.”

Meanwhile, Hills is also getting the students ready for a little bit of culture shock. These are not typical summer jobs, after all. Let’s circle back to Joe, who got into the CDC’s Disease Detective Camp, where students could attend mini lectures by CDC experts, participate in a mock press conference in the CDC press room, and probe hypothetical disease outbreaks—a tremendous educational experience, no doubt about it. But the internship itself? There was nothing mock or hypothetical about that. “My main task was to help investigate and conduct research for pediatric pandemic preparedness,” Joe explains. “We looked into Hurricane Katrina and how many children were left on the streets, essentially. I prepared a presentation on the subject for the director of science and presented it to the departments of local and regional readiness. The director then presented it to the Institute of Medicine.” This kind of experience doesn’t just prepare students for real-world work; it gives them an opportunity to test the waters of their future ambitions.

Hills is already working to prepare students for what that means. “We believe science is an integral part of society and may hold some of the answers to some of our key problems. If some of our students go on to be science majors in college, then we’ve built a strong foundation for that. If they go on in international policy or theater, fantastic—just having a basic scientific literacy is great too,” Hills insists. “And how are they are going to internalize that basic scientific literacy? Hands-on activities, struggling with problems.” Hills pauses, trying to come up withe best analogy. “I could give you eggs, flour, baking soda, oil, water, and a detailed recipe on how to bake a cake. And if you go bake the cake, hurrah, but who cares, right?” He shrugs. “But what if I don’t give you a recipe. Maybe the first cake you make is completely horrible, and you systematically start changing things. By the time you’ve baked the seventeenth cake, it might even be better than the original recipe I withheld from you.” Hills smiles. “That would be fantastic.”

Hills’ cake analogy is apt, articulating a goal inherent in the school’s strategic plan. Deerfield is preparing the current crop of students, all born at the tail end of the twentieth century, for the realities of the twenty-first—and what defines the twenty-first century? One can argue that so far, it’s the shared access of knowledge via technology. Facts—or recipes— are everywhere, so there’s no premium on simply collecting data anymore. Warsaw feels this acutely. “That means converting from consumers of knowledge to creators of knowledge,” he says. “The more you have students doing actual research and writing their results, presenting them to the Deerfield community and even the greater community in publications, the more you are adding to the world’s knowledge,” he says.

That expectation, bringing knowledge back to the community, is integral to the summer research program’s goals. In the fall, students will contribute to a symposium where they can share their results and experiences with their peers. “In my mind, that would complete one full cycle,” Hills says. Which means the end of summer will not so much be the end but rather to be continued. Tara and Louisa are both gearing up for the expectation that they will present their experiences, and perhaps inspire their peers to tread similar ground. They know they’re breaking new territory, but they’ll be coming back to as supportive a community as they could hope for. “I’ve tried to tell my students to get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Hills laughs. “That’s something they really have to deal with, when they’re not in the comfort zone of their school. That’s part of the reason why I want to be in touch over the summer—you know, ‘How are you doing? It’s okay, it’s fine that you don’t understand everything.’ That’s the point!

The leading edge of knowledge discovery is practically defined by not knowing everything.

That’s what makes it interesting.” •• Naomi Shulman often writes for Deerfield Magazine; her work has also appeared inWondertime, Whole Living, FamilyFun, and The New York Times. She lives in Northampton, MA, with her husband and two daughters.

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RE-ENGINEERING THE SCHOLASTIC MANUAL

BY LINDA CUNNINGHAM AND JESSICA DAY

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HIS430

ENG530

HIS440 GRE100 CLA450 FRE220 MAT301 SPA420

PHY640

35 PHI120

ART245

ENG326 ENG319

ART360

DAN140

REL440 PHY440 ART255

MUS200 THE205

GRE200

HIS122 HEA200

BIO340 AST340

COM500 AST400

HIS446

MAT402 ENG305

MUS280 GEO340 PHY540 ANA375 BIO340

ENG439 HIS124

CHE340 PHY340 PHY220 REL129 PHI120 MAT401

SPA300 MAT101 MAT301

MAT202

SPA400

FRE220 FRE440

LAT300 LAT400 ARA100 ARA200 MUS275 CHI500 CHI801

Dean of Faculty John Taylor seats himself in the conference room before anyone else arrives and quietly sips his mate. Many believe that drinking yerba mate is good for the soul, and can actually be a form of meditation or reflection—simultaneously resting and stimulating the mind. If this is true, then it’s a perfect time for mate, as one by one department chairs join him around the table for their weekly symposium, which is sure to include some intriguing conversation.

In years past, to be a faculty member at an independent school quite often literally meant working independently in one’s own classroom, and as for “chair,” that title was sometimes more honorific than substantial. These days, however, isolationism has become defunct on a global level; it is the same at Deerfield, and Taylor and the chairs agree, that’s a good thing. Today, an interdepartmental sharing of ideas, methodology, and pedagogy is taking shape.

“We bat around ideas,” Taylor says modestly. “We talk about how to make the teaching at Deerfield better but we don’t

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necessarily set policy— I think of our team as providing software to the institution as opposed to hardware.” “Batting around ideas” is a bit of an understatement though, since chairs are leading the charge for some innovative projects that are underway, in addition to other new responsibilities.

“I see chairs as ambassadors and translators between the administration and the teachers,” Taylor says. “Historically, being a chair could be a lonely endeavor; now we are shifting the focus, and asking our chairs to be

instructional leaders and work together as a team.

It’s a challenging job,” Taylor adds. “Chairs are playing a critical role, and providing a link between faculty and administration, but sometimes it’s difficult to be in the middle.”

Responsibility for supporting the chairs and enabling them to be as effective as possible falls to Academic Dean Peter Warsaw, but he is not alone in the effort.

“The work we do in our weekly symposiums and the advances we facilitate are people focused,” Warsaw explains, but Warsaw and Taylor also provide input from a programmatic standpoint, and

equate the weekly symposium to a classroom for adults.

“The symposiums give us an opportunity (and time) to explore what’s going on outside of the ‘Deerfield bubble,” Taylor says. “Chairs are discovering that the best professional development is often colleague to colleague, while simultaneously acting as ‘antennae’ for their departments.”

Warsaw draws on a familiar mechanical metaphor to explain his curricular goals: “Think of a school as a vehicle powered by a program, its internal combustion engine. Faculty are the

pistons moving up and down—working hard— within their departmental cylinders, with ideas and pedagogies acting as spark plugs. But if the pistons aren’t attached to the crankshaft (i.e. the school’s mission), then the vehicle won’t move.

Conversely, if all systems are linked—faculty, pedagogy, mission, and program—then we can move forward and further the work of the school, to the benefit of our students.“

Firing on All Cylinders For the past five years Ben Bakker has served as chair of the Science

Chair

We’re asking for a sophisticated kind of leadership that will include professional development plans, student questionnaires, and curriculum reviews for each department. Essentially, we’re asking our chairs to become academic stewards, ambassadors and translators between the administration and the teachers, and the antennae that keep us tuned into the world beyond the Pocumtuck Valley. teachers

37 Administration

Department; before that he was a ten-year veteran of the Deerfield faculty. Bakker remembers the detached cylinders that departments functioned in, and he’s happy to step away from that model. Today, he is instrumental in moving forward educational initiatives such as the paired classes biology teacher Andy Harcourt and English teacher Mark Schloat will begin

teaching this coming fall. Odd bedfellows?

Not really.

Harcourt and Schloat’s classes will highlight a topic that has been featured in the news recently, and is sure to become even more prominent in the future: water. A science teacher and his English counterpart might just be the ideal team to teach this subject: essential for the living world and the global economy, the Earth’s

supply of uncontaminated water is in danger of disappearing. In order to have any chance of solving this problem, we will need people who have been trained to think critically and creatively, to communicate well, to collaborate, and who are comfortable with inquiry and research. Where better to learn those skills than in classrooms where students will be required to read extensively, present, complete lab work, and conduct research “in the field”?

“It’s not ‘just’ a science course,” Bakker points out. “And it’s not ‘just’ an English course, either. We want our students to carry specific skills from one class to the other—from one discipline to another— and to feel comfortable creating an entirely new skill set by merging them. I’m happy to support a faculty that is working together to become a more powerful teaching force for the preparation of Deerfield students.”

Peter Warsaw echoes this sentiment, and sees the collaboration between departments as an

important step in the Academy’s evolution.

“Individual department chairs can help promote a culture of growth and reflection—a culture that values collective professional development within and across all the departments,” he explains.

However, Schloat and Harcourt’s “H2O class” is for juniors who have completed a year of chemistry . . . what about those “foundation” classes all students need? Chairs are gathering their departments to examine those, too. “It’s a matter of consistency,” Warsaw says. “We are constantly looking at our students’ workloads,

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and considering common texts, units, and exams for ‘multisection’ classes.”

For example, all juniors take US History but logistics and Deerfield’s commitment to small class size require more than one history teacher to teach multiple sections of US History.

So historically, all juniors were studying US History but there wasn’t necessarily anything cohesive to link one teacher’s class to another’s; now, a shared vision has emerged, which includes common units with common texts and a common assessment; shared essay questions at the end of a unit; and primary source documents and secondary readings that have been agreed upon by the history teachers as critical to the teaching and understanding of US History.

Department Chair Joe Lyons comments, “Summer symposiums and retreats where we establish essential questions for our students and develop common units and assessments as well as sharing resources are always great opportunities for collaboration, and my department and I look forward to them.”

“Students deserve a consistently good experience from class to class

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and year to year,” says Peter Warsaw. “The foundation for that is built when colleagues talk to each other about teaching and learning— when we engage each other on a meta level.”

Generating the Spark Clearly it’s not all talk, and sometimes learning new methods requires a.) open minds, and b.) a teacher for teachers: Enter Ainsley Rose, of The Leadership and Learning Center. Rose, a 30-year veteran in the field of education, designs learning structures. He hosted a retreat for the department chairs, and at the top of the agenda was a lesson on developing protocols for examining student work.

“Professional learning communities such as Deerfield need to follow certain steps if they want to gather data about teaching and— in particular—learning, in order to achieve meaningful results with students,” Rose explained. “But the focus has to be on the learning, not the teaching—it must be student-centered.”

Rose then ticks off the steps for inquiry: “What do we want students to learn? How do we know they have achieved that learning? What do we do

if they haven’t? What do we do if they already know what you’re teaching? And the ‘big’ question: How do we teach in order for students to learn?”

Rose acknowledges these are tough questions, and there are no immediate answers, but adds that if teachers aren’t willing to look more critically at themselves and their peers, then there will be no answers down the road, either. “This type of collaboration is so important—learning itself is a collaborative affair,” Rose points out.

“The more teachers work together, the better they will be able to analyze how in a perfect world they would want their subjects to be taught; then, once they assess the gap between the way things are and the way they can become better, that’s when learning achieves a higher ground.”

Chairs came away with a philosophical view of Rose’s process, agreeing that education remains the subtext of all teaching, and that they need to be conscious of how their minds work and how their students’ minds work—in short, taking the time to think about what they think about.

Put mundanely, the hope is that chairs will

become more deliberate about curriculum, and in turn, more supportive of each other across departments.

In philosophy class, Deerfield students learn that Socrates proposed that an unexamined life is not worth living; Ainsley Rose proposes that an unexamined curriculum might not be worth teaching—that’s a statement Peter Warsaw can get behind, too.

“My ‘north’ is growth,” Warsaw says with a smile. “We should be teaching and modeling lifelong learning, and that requires constant reflection, which is essentially what we’re doing when we take the time to examine our teaching. We need to ask what our graduates will need to succeed in the 21st century, and whether our curriculum reflects a world that has changed a great deal over the last 60 years.

This kind of reflection shifts our focus from teachers teaching to students learning, and it ensures that what we’re doing here remains relevant to our students and to the world.”

Ainsley Rose, The Leadership and Learning Center

What do we want students to learn?

How do we know they have achieved that learning?

We need to ask what our graduates will need to succeed in the 21st century, and whether our curriculum reflects a world that has changed a great deal over the last 60 years. This kind of reflection shifts our focus from teachers teaching to students learning, and it ensures that what we’re doing here remains relevant to our students and to the world.”

The Road Ahead

What do we do if they haven’t?

What do we do if they already know what you’re teaching?

How do we teach in order for students to learn?

Self-examination, gathering data, weekly chair symposiums— all this important work takes time, and time is a precious commodity at Deerfield. Collegial summer sessions have yielded good initial results among departments— unified multi-section classes are an excellent example of this—but what about growth during the school year, when time is at a premium and schedules are already full? Taylor, Warsaw, and the department chairs looked to the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Professor Richard Elmore for guidance.

Professor Elmore advocates Instructional Rounds, which is a program of sharing for educators that translates the familiar medical model of doctors sharing knowledge in “Grand Rounds” to the academic world. The key to Instructional Rounds, much like Ainsley Rose’s checklist for self-evaluation,

is to remain studentcentric. “In contrast to individual faculty evaluation, classroom observation is designed to gauge how the institution is doing: What do we want our students to learn, and how well are they learning it?”

Warsaw says.

Back in the conference room, John Taylor has finished his morning mate, and his colleagues have dispersed to their individual classrooms.

He sits quietly again for a few more minutes— a thoughtful expression on his face. “The job description for ‘chair’ is more complicated than ever before,” he comments. “We’re asking for a sophisticated kind of leadership that will include professional development plans, student questionnaires, and curriculum reviews for each department.

Essentially, we’re asking our chairs to become academic stewards, ambassadors and translators between the administration and the teachers, and the

antennae that keep us tuned in to the world beyond the Pocumtuck Valley.” Taylor admits there are challenges to fulfilling this mission but firmly believes the new initiatives are the set-up for a richer student experience.

Peter Warsaw echoes his colleague: “As ‘trustees’ of Deerfield Academy, we have an acute responsibility to create the structures necessary to keep us abreast in a rapidly changing world.

Obviously our past performance has been extraordinarily effective but the world is changing exponentially; Deerfield must progress in a balanced and responsible way in embracing that change—preserving the best of our past, while weighing what might become the best of our future. With coherent institutional growth, we will further the mission of our school and our students—and our faculty will move this vehicle down the road, metaphorically speaking.”••

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the common room

THE COMMON ROOM

Notes from the Deerfield Alumni Association

Spotlights / Books / Upcoming Events / Class Notes

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Spring 2012

Deerfield Academy Archives

Henry Harvey writes: “The recent splendid magazine from Deerfield showed a school so different from the one that I remembered, I thought I should share some memories from 80 years ago.

I entered Deerfield in the fall of 1931 to join the Class of ’34.

I was sheltered in the Howe House and shared quarters with Charles Evan Hughes III ’33, his brother Stuart ’33, and Ben Ames Williams Jr., fine fellows I thought, not realizing until much later that I was in elite company.

Bull sessions were frequent and highly intellectual. Mr. Howe made us feel very much at home. It was only much later that I realized we were to be checked 11 times a day by table masters, teachers, coaches, and the indefatigable Mr. Boyden. Chemistry and mathematics were splendidly taught by Mrs. Boyden, as was history by Mr. Averett. Languages were not well taught in those days. It was all reading rather than hearing and speaking. Later when I was bicycling through Germany, taking a break on a Rhine steamer, I was in conversation with a Catholic priest who noted my poor German and finally asked, ‘Sprechen sie Latinisch?’ Fond memories: climbing Pocumtuck Rock, hiking cross-country to the Connecticut River, attempting to ski with no lifts and no knowledge of how to make a turn, and the long spring vacation due to mud season and the flooding of

the athletic fields. With the aid of Mr. Averett, I and about 30 of my classmates were passed on to Amherst without college boards and some with pre-selected fraternity admission. This meant that class politics at college were heavily influenced by smokers from Deerfield, because that group outnumbered any of the fraternity delegations when it came to electing class officers, editors of this or that, captains of teams, etc.” Henry also replied to a subsequent email from Deerfield: “I had to laugh! Job: Retired the last 25 years. Wedding: 68 years ago.

Still same wife. Babies: Greatgrands turn up occasionally.

Co-ed Deerfield is so different from my memories that I am jealous. I didn’t encounter co-education until I was in graduate school and later at Harvard Med; mine was the first of their classes to admit women, a neat dozen!”

the common room

1934

1937 “The polar bear of Bowdoin met the purple cow of Williams on October 15, 2011, when my grandniece Lindsay Steinmetz, Bowdoin ’03, and Matt Haldeman, Williams ’02, were married at the Wilson Memorial Chapel, Ocean Point, ME, by Rev. Rick Spalding, chaplain of Williams College. The couple gave each of the guests a copy of the delightful children’s book Bedtime For Grace by Matt Haldeman, the bridegroom.

Thanks for encouraging me to keep in touch,” writes Thursty Holt.

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the common room

’37

’37 Willis Sanburn passed away at age 91 on October 12, 2011, at his home in Honolulu, HI, surrounded by family and his beloved Labrador retriever, Annie. He was pre-deceased by his wife of 58 years, Marta, and survived by his four grown children: Laura, Kai, Curt, and Peter, and nine grandchildren. He always loved Deerfield and spoke frequently of Headmaster Frank Boyden—and Mrs. Boyden!—as an important influence in his life.

1938 Charles Kennedy reports, “I gave up my appointments at Georgetown University and the National Institute of Mental Health at the age of 75 to find a home in Maine, having had enough of metropolitan life of the DC area with all of its noise and traffic. My wife’s paintings and sculpture adorn our home not far from Freeport.

The piano and reading fill my days when not enjoying outdoor life. Bowdoin College in nearby Brunswick

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’45 welcomes area residents to audit its courses and also provides magnificent recitals and concerts. Maine Medical Center has gone a long way in keeping me abreast of the fast-moving research in medical science. Our daily companion, a somewhat autistic Papillon, guards the front door. I often reflect on my good years at Deerfield.”

1941 David Cugell was curator of an exhibit that featured the works of Minna and Ray Weiss—“The Art of Traveling Twins”—this past November.

It featured the sisters’ awardwinning paintings, etchings, and watercolors from the 1920s and 30s, which are also part of the permanent collections of the British and Fitzwilliam Museums in London and Cambridge, England, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Museum of American Art, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

Thursty Holt’s (Class of ’37) “Maine” point of view. Willis Sanburn ’37—a loyal Son of Deerfield. Paul Didisheim ’45 in center, flanked by his grandson Neal on the left, and daughter Melinda on the right at “le Tour Eiffel” this past October.

1942

Class Captain William W. Dunn The following obituary appeared in the Savannah Morning News on January 31, 2012: Lee Adler, a native Savannahian, born April 18, 1923, died peacefully at The Oaks on Skidaway Island, January 29, 2012. He was the son of Sam G. Adler and Elinor Grunsfeld Adler. His grandfather, Leopold Adler, came to Savannah in the 19th century and founded Adler’s Department Store. Lee Adler attended the Pape School in Savannah, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA, and is a graduate of the University of Georgia. He served in the U.S. Naval Air Corps during World War II. He worked at Adler’s for a few years before devoting his business career to investment banking at Varnedoe-Chisholm/Robin-

son Humphrey. His avocation was historic preservation. He served as president of Historic Savannah Foundation for six years and was also a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where he received the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award, the Trust’s highest honor. He was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, presented by George H.W. Bush in 1989. He spoke on historic preservation in 38 states and in the following countries: England, Ireland, Japan, Ecuador, and Peru.

Mr. Adler founded Savannah Landmark, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing safe, affordable housing for low-income residents. In Washington, DC, he gave a presentation on this organization at a meeting arranged for Prince Charles, who was interested in this endeavor.

He loved his family and many friends. His enthusiasm and

wife of 58 years, Emma Morel Adler; a son, John Morel Adler and his wife, Leigh Ann Davidson Adler; grandchildren Margaret L. Adler and Leopold (Lee) Adler IV; a brother, Sam G. Adler Jr; a niece, Samantha Dinsmore; and a nephew, Robert G. Adler.

1943

Class Captain Walter L. Fisher Boyden Society Captain Erskine B. van Houten Jr. Rub Cuniberti writes, “With my wife, Carol, whose photo used to grace the top of my dresser at Wells House and the New Dorm, I continue to bask in sunny California in a condo overlooking a

tempting swimming pool. I also continue my work over the past 30 years or more as a Christian Science practitioner. I have never quite made it up to Arroyo Grande to see my classmate, Burt Cochran, (originally from nearby Pasadena), but we would have lots of Deerfield memories to talk about.”

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love of life showed itself in the following activities: fishing, hunting, tennis, and golf.

Many remember his adventures in the gulfstream in his boat, The Sweet Potato, and his classic dove hunts at the family’s farm in South Carolina. He traveled with his family in 42 countries, taking excellent pictures in exotic places. Surviving members of his immediate family are his

1947

Read about current student science opportunities in this issue’s feature story; page 28. deerfield.edu

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“ Heart disease, as far as I’m concerned,” Dr. Esselstyn said in Forks Over Knives, “is an absolutely toothless paper tiger that need never ever exist. And if it does exist, it need never ever progress.”

CALDWELL ESSELSTYN

physician

’52

Food Over Pharmaceuticals Americans are sicker than ever before. Forty percent of Americans are obese; fifty percent take some form of prescription drugs. As a nation, we spend $2.2 trillion every year on health care. And all of that can be reversed, according to the documentary Forks Over Knives, featuring Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn ’52.

Forks Over Knives explores the work and research of Dr. Esselstyn and nutritional scientist Dr. T. Colin Campbell, who both believe that most chronic diseases can be controlled or reversed by switching to a whole-foods, plant-based diet.

Visit forksoverknives.com to learn more about the movie and how to eat a whole foods, plant-based diet. For more information about Dr. Esselstyn’s work and book, visit heartattackproof.com.

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Dr. Esselstyn’s research started in 1978, when, as a top surgeon and head of the Breast Cancer Task Force at the Cleveland Clinic, he started investigating global statistics on breast cancer. He discovered that in areas of the world where people had a mainly plantbased diet, the rate of chronic diseases was low. In the mid-1980s, Dr. Esselstyn started a decades-long study on the effect of a plant-based diet on coronary artery disease. By treating his patients using diet and nutrition, rather than with medication or surgery, Dr. Esselstyn saw his patients’ symptoms disappear and their disease reverse.

“Heart disease, as far as I’m concerned,” Dr. Esselstyn said in Forks Over Knives, “is an absolutely toothless paper tiger that need never ever exist.

And if it does exist, it need never ever progress.”

In 1990, Dr. Esselstyn’s clinical approach converged with Dr. Campbell’s scientific, research-based approach. Dr. Campbell had been studying the link between diet and disease for decades; he authored a groundbreaking large-scale population study in China that became the definitive work on the importance of a plant-based diet.

Forks Over Knives explores the individual experiences and research that led both men to become advocates of a plant-based diet. The documentary also introduces viewers to real patients who have benefited from Dr. Campbell’s and Dr. Esselstyn’s research. Suffering from many chronic diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, the patients’ health dramatically improved and many of their diseases were reversed after switching to the diet.

Dr. Esselstyn has also authored a book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, about his research, which includes recipes and advice for people interested in adopting the diet that both Dr. Esselstyn and his wife Ann have followed for years.

1945

Boyden Society Captain Richardson McKinney Paul Didisheim, “Frenchie” in student days, returned to his Paris birthplace in October accompanied by his daughter and grandson. They spent a week living on the Ile St. Louis near Notre Dame Cathedral and enjoying the Louvre, Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, and other famous sights, and also visiting a number of Paul’s cousins. Paul and his wife Ricky have been living in Washington, DC, since 1986 when they moved there from Rochester, MN, where Paul was a staff physician at Mayo Clinic. At NIH until retiring in 1997, Paul participated in and developed research programs in tissue engineering, biomaterials, artificial heart, and other implanted cardiovascular devices.

During that time Ricky was on the staff of a mental health clinic, where she cared for chronically mentally ill patients. Their three children and six grandchildren live in New England and New Jersey. In their retirement Paul and Ricky are enjoying the stimulating cultural activities of DC. In his 2011 Christmas letter Jack Fogarty wrote, “It’s always nice to think about hearing from each of you each year, even though we have a hard time scaring up new news to tell you.

One thing, though, is Peggy quitting the Sandy Spring Museum after 28 and a half years. It sounds like a

wrench, but the truth is that fewer accessions and more computers have ‘broken up that old job of mine,’ and she’s relieved to have it whimper to a close. Another milestone toppled when our state prison changed the rules, ending our 25-year stint with prison visitation.

Now our Meeting’s Prison Committee’s only activity is their Pen-Pal project, and that’s ok with us. By the way, we did get to Yearly Meeting this year, but we stayed in a motel rather than the university dorms.”

1947 John Davis, prolific chronicler of prominent American families including the Kennedys, the Guggenheims, the Gambinos, and the family he shared with his cousin, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis —the Bouviers of New York and East Hampton—died on January 29 at his home in Manhattan. After nine years at The Browning School, John came to Deerfield, and later went on to Princeton.

Following his Princeton graduation, he was commissioned to the rank of ensign in the United States Naval Reserve. While on duty, John applied for and received a Fulbright Scholarship for study in Italy, where, after completing his service, he studied at the Italian Institute for Historical Studies in Naples. He became fluent in Italian and remained in Italy for 13 years, as founding director of the

American Studies Center in Naples, then as director of Tufts University’s Intercollegiate Center of Italian Studies. Books authored by John include: The Bouviers: Portrait of an American Family, The Kennedys: Dynasty and Disaster, Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family, The Guggenheims: An American Epic, and Jacqueline Bouvier: An Intimate Memoir. He spent his last years at home under the care of his friend Sohodra Nathu, who worked on many of his books. He is survived by his sister, Maude S. Davis.

1948 “I am retired and am living in the Denver, CO, area,” says Mal Cleland. “My wife Martha and I have been married for 54 years. We have four sons, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. We are relatively healthy and are enjoying our lives and our family.”

Alec Robertson reports: “News from Essex Meadows: Unfortunately, I lost my wife of 54 years, Mary Lee, last September 1. I miss her a lot.

She was a talented artist and wonderful wife. I’m here in Essex Meadows, a CCRC, and there are a number of Deerfield men here. Had dinner last night with Harris Parsons ’44 and Chick Williams ’37. Malcolm MacGruer ’38’s sister is here at Essex Meadows, and he stops by often. I see Tip

Atkeson ’53 and Mike Ryland ’53 frequently, and had lunch with Dick Miller not so long ago. Also run into Dave Preston ’51 from time to time.

Classmate Steve Percy recently stepped down as chairman of the Southeastern Connecticut Committee on Foreign Relations, having served six years with distinction, a committee on which I serve as a director.

Son Robbie ’77 is coming from Denver for a weekend, and we plan to visit Peter Hindle ’52.”

“Last April we again enjoyed heli-skiing in the Bugaboos, BC, Canada,” writes Dieter von Hennig. “In early September we visited Ashland, OR, for the Shakespeare Festival. The acting, staging, and three theaters are excellent and state of the art. Skiing, tennis, and hiking continue to provide healthy leisure time activities.”

1949

Boyden Society Captain Gilbert M. Grosvenor A.P. Cook noted: “We have lost our dear classmate George Gallup Jr. George was present at our 60th Reunion two years ago in good spirits!

He played on the undefeated varsity soccer team and was a favorite of Mrs. Boyden.”

When we last heard from Dick Kaiser he wrote, “Winter comes early to the high country. While mountain biking is a bit sketchy, early snow has afforded some nice trips to the back country. We don’t exactly look to the hills, but the peaks are fine.”

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Harvey Loomis (who claims to be healthy, happy, retired (and lazy) living with his wife Linda Francke on the end of Long Island in New York) forwarded the following reports from and about ’49 classmates: “Bob Dewey has sent another stunning report about the Dewey squash distaff dynasty: There are nine granddaughters, eight of whom excel at squash: Hallie ’11, a Princeton freshman, plays at #4 on the varsity, which at last report was in the top five in the country (Hallie also won the Jennie Sheldon award at Deerfield last year, for the school’s top female scholar-athlete); Charlotte ’11 and Katie ’11 are freshmen at Middlebury and play #s 2 and 8 on the varsity; Tori ’12, a senior at Deerfield, is captain of the undefeated varsity; Lindsey ’14 and Cameron ’14, sophomores at Deerfield, are also on the varsity at #s 3 and 5; Robby, 13, and Griffin, 9, are both playing in tournaments.

That leaves Allison ’14, also a Deerfield sophomore, who is on the varsity soccer team and hopes to make the varsity lacrosse team. From John Corry: ‘I’m doing well at 80.

Living in Bronxville, where we’ve been for 46 years.

Retired from Davis Polk law firm at the end of 1996. Since then have raised money for Princeton, written five books on US history, led in founding Gramatan Village, a ‘living in place’ organization dedicated to making it easier for seniors in our area to continue to live in their homes, and I’m doing

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development work for Chautauqua Institution in western New York, where Emily and I spend the summer. We enjoy going to the opera in New York and I play bridge two or three times a week.’ From Dick Kaiser: ‘For the past 20 years we have lived north of Gunnison, CO, for at least six months out of the year, and for the past ten, year ’round. I did my time in the USMC and then as a NavCad and finally as a Naval Aviator in VF-52 flying Baby Blue Panthers at the end of the Korean War. Finally got out, did medical school, surgical and anesthesiology residencies, practiced and taught for many years, retired and moved aboard on our Westsail 32 for three years and then a fifth wheel RV for 22, built a small house this last summer. Two wives divorced and deceased, Barbara Anne and I’ve been married 30 years and still going strong. Three boys, none in jail, all employed, oldest spent 20 years in Seal Team 6, retiring as chief pilot, which makes three generations of Navy pilots in our family. I ski patrolled an area in Reno for 20 years as a National and now just do mild back country for the work out and the gorgeous country and ride the mountain bike. I well remember George Gallup, as following a hockey tournament in the Garden, he decided to stay in our room in NY and share my bed—huge guy, no sleep for me! Stay well, Kaise.’

Don Dwight reports that he and Nancy are thriving (as

are their son Chris ’03 and daughter Helen ’04), but have been engaged in an unsettling real estate juggle for the past few years, which now appears to be heading to a happy resolution: They sold their long-cherished house in Lyme, NH, and after a threeyear struggle with a flaccid real estate market are finally downsizing in Boston—all with a view to building a house in Palmetto Bluff, SC, where they bought property a few years ago. Don commented, ‘This kind of uncertainty is not what I thought I would be living with at age 80 but it certainly isn’t boring.’”

1951

Class Captain David Beals Findlay Boyden Society Captain Robert B. Hiden Jr. “I am presently in central Patagonia overseeing the construction of a new fishing lodge near the little town of Cholila, Argentina, (carrileufuvalleylodge.com),” reports John Bell. “Work is scheduled for completion by spring 2013. This area is famed for its fly fishing and we are able to attract clients from many parts of the world. Already a number of Deerfield friends have visited our present lodge, which needs to update and expand slightly.”

John Morton has organized monthly luncheon meetings for members of the class living in the Westchester and Fairfield County areas. The site changes from month to

month, so send John an email if you would like more information. Recent participants have included ’51-ers Bob Hiden, Dave Findlay, Jim Schoff, and Mike Thebaud.

1952

Class Captain Richard F. Boyden Boyden Society Captain John B. Horton Class Secretary John Robin Allen In October 2011 Dick Boyden celebrated his 78th birthday at the Montana de Fuego Lodge just outside of Fortuna, Costa Rica. Dick and his girlfriend Linda Genest were part of a 16-person group tour “Real Affordable Costa Rica,” sponsored by Overseas Adventure Travel. Earlier in October, Dick drove to Greenwich, CT, and joined John Horton for a drive into New York City to attend the Deerfield gala dinner and evening program at the American Museum of Natural History that kicked off the Imagine Deerfield campaign to raise $200 million for the Academy over the next five years. They mingled with approximately 800 Deerfield alumni, students, parents, faculty, and friends of the school. The din of voices was mind-numbing. They sat at a sort of Class of ’52 table, and were joined by Susie and Art Schwarz, Alan Samuels, Hindle Chair recipient Nils Ahbel, Aaron Daniels ’53 and his wife, and, finally, a

lovely Deerfield senior co-ed member of the Deerfield Chorale that performed beautifully that evening. Dick says, “It was a fun evening of shouted conversations back and forth.”

Bucky Buckwalter writes, “Casey and I just watched Forks Over Knives on DVD. ‘Focusing on the research of two food scientists, this earnest documentary reveals that despite broad advances in medical technology, the popularity of modern processed foods has led to epidemic rates of obesity, diabetes, and other diseases.’

One of those scientists is our very own Essy Esselstyn who gets a lot of attention on his work to reduce heart disease through diet. This is a first-rate documentary; quite convincing that a plant-based diet prevents heart and cancer diseases. This film has actually been in mainstream theaters. I recommend that the Class of ’52 watch what one of ‘our own’ has done.

Some additional players in the documentary are his wife Anne, and his son Rip, a firefighter in Austin, TX. Everyone needs to see this film. I read Essy’s impressive book (Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure, available at bookstores and on Amazon.com), and Forks Over Knives brings it alive.

You can get the DVD through Netflix if you subscribe or other video rental stores.”

(Also see page 44 for more on Forks Over Knives.)

’53 ’54

’55

’55

Dick Montague and his wife Verena trained for their annual winter cross-country skiing pilgrimage to FinnishLapland in February/March.

Prior to the trip Dick said, “We hope to complete more than 400 km on skis this year. It helps to keep us young and active!”

Peter Rooke-Ley recently started another course on computer-assisted design in architecture, and he is using these courses to help his son, Josh, plan a new kitchen for his New York condominium.

’55

“Grandpa,” aka Guy Kaldis ’54, reading a sturdy book to grandson Eli this past October.

Lou Greer ’55 was “Santa’s helper” this past Christmas and led a caroling procession around his neighborhood. l to r: Rob Harwell ’53, John McPhee ’49, Margaret Ann Robinson (a major benefactor of the Nashville Public Library Foundation at whose home the McPhee event was held), and Beth Harwell, Rob’s wife, who was with him during their time on the Deerfield faculty—1960 to 1966.

Mary Jo and Art Atkinson ’55 on one of their recent travels.

Nina and Jim Scott ’55 at their vacation cottage in Friendship, ME, where Jim has been going since “before he was born”; his grandfather bought the cottage in 1918!

A Teacher’s Reflection Book: Exercises, Stories, Invitations Jean Koh Peters and Mark Weisberg ’61 | Carolina Academic Press, 2011

Time Out | In today’s fast-paced world, it is important to set aside time to reflect, especially for teachers.

In A Teacher’s Reflection Book: Exercises, Stories, Invitations, Jean Koh Peters and Mark Weisberg ’61 guide teachers along the path to meaningful reflection on their vocation, classroom experience, and relationships with students and colleagues.

Ms. Peters and Mr. Weisberg’s collaboration began 11 years ago, when together they started facilitating retreats for teachers. With the popularity of their retreats, they decided

For many of us, our days are full of what we might call nonmindful over activity. Life has become too much—even if it is too much of a good thing. Crammed with the important, the urgent, there is no space for reflecting, no pause to breathe, to process.

A teacher moves from one event, activity, class, meeting, exam, conference, presentation, speech, to another, with constant input, constant output, and no time to take stock . . . Reflecting can provide an ongoing process in which teachers remain learners, learning from their rich experience with students, with the academy, and with their scholarship. In this cycle of teaching and learning, teachers renew their perspectives, redeem mistakes, and continue to develop and mature, no matter how experienced or expert they may be. Reflecting invites us to approach our subject with a beginner’s mind, which often leads us to fresh perspectives and renewed energy.

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to collaborate on A Teacher’s Reflection Book, to make the retreat experience available to a larger audience. The goal of the book was (and is) “to help dedicated teachers who were committed to reflection, but who simply couldn’t figure out how to work it into their daily lives, to find that time and structure for reflection.”

A Teacher’s Reflection Book supports teachers as they seek meaningful, self-directed contemplation on their teaching lives.

“At its best, reflection becomes purposeful, lifelong learning from experience, through witnessing that experience, examining it, illuminating and exploring it,” Ms. Peters and Mr. Weisberg write.

“To reflect requires courage and a willingness to look at one’s experience honestly and to be open to the lessons it teaches.”

Through exercises, writing prompts, and readings, A Teacher’s Reflection Book creates opportunities for teachers to reflect on their work. Starting with a chapter on how to develop intentional first encounters in the classroom, the book proceeds to define reflection and explain how to practice it meaningfully. It encourages teachers to develop an “individual reflection event,” to give them time for in depth reflection on an important issue or concern in their teaching lives. Ms. Peters and Mr. Weisberg also guide teachers on an exploration of quality listening, fear of judgment in the classroom, and teaching as a vocation, ending with “saying good-bye,” signaling a close to the retreat and re-entry into the world.

A Teacher’s Reflection Book is a tool that can be used individually, in a group with friends or colleagues, or as a companion to reflection events and retreats. It encourages teachers to engage in regular reflection, responds to their needs as educators in a fast-paced world, and allows them to recommit themselves to their important profession.

1953

Class Captains Renwick D. Dimond Hugh R. Smith Boyden Society Captains Craig W. Fanning H. Stanley Mansfield Jr. Rob Harwell sent in a note and photo from the visit of John McPhee ’49 to a benefit for the Nashville Public Library Foundation. Rob explained, “John McPhee was interviewed by John Seigenthaler, prominent former editor and publisher of the Nashville Tennessean and chairman of Vanderbilt University’s First Amendment Center. During Seigenthaler’s interesting interview with McPhee, John spoke not only about his career as a writer and teacher of writing but about his New Yorker profile on The Headmaster and his introduction to geology in a course with Frank Conklin ’33. The evening was a success. It was a thrill for me to be part of bringing Deerfield Academy before so many folks with a love for books and learning.”

1954

Class Captain Philip R. Chase Boyden Society Captains Joseph D. Lawrence Harold R. Talbot Jr. In December of 2011, two Deerfield graduates, Whitney Evans and David Donnelley ’60 were nominated as Alcalde candidates for Sonoma, CA. Whitney commented, “When you consider that the entire population of Sonoma Valley is only 40,000, this indeed was a ‘small world’ event! To quote our local newspaper, ‘Alcaldes are chosen for their selfless contribution to the community and serve for one year in the honorary role.

David has been a longtime, well-respected teacher at our high school, teaching three honors economics classes and advocating for the best possible education for our students. I have been active as a volunteer with Special Olympics, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and recently as the founding president of the Sonoma Valley Fund, our local community foundation.” In the end, Whitney was named the 2012 Sonoma Alcalde.

“This fall I had the privilege of coaching Ronnie Schneider, the top-ranked junior tennis player in the US, as he won his second Indiana State singles championship for Bloomington South,” says Scott Greer. “One of the highlights of my 53 years of coaching.”

Guy Kaldis reported, “Elijah joined us as the first Kaldis

born in 46 years; Elijah Jerald Kaldis came into the world eight months ago and is a delight. He smiles all the time and my eldest son, his daddy at 51, is very involved in every aspect of his day.

Eli is the fourth grandchild in my family.”

Peter Sellar married Laurie Gundersen, a textile artisan, on November 17, 2010. They moved from West Virginia to Staunton, VA in January 2011. Laurie opened a textiles studio/antiques shop in October of this year, which is doing well so far.

Peter stays stimulated by taking lots of courses at nearby Lifelong Learning Institutes, and hopes to resume tennis this year. He is glad to be closer to all his friends and his two children and three grandchildren.

He occasionally gets together with John Peale and his wife Lydia, who live about 45 minutes away in Charlottesville.

“I still keep busy with various interests and activities—duplicate bridge, chess on the Internet with my Canadian friend, gym training, tons of additional exercise, maintenance of cactus and flower gardens, novel and nonfiction reading, and quite a bit of Spanish study lately,” writes Kim Wood. “I will be traveling to Guatemala in late spring to attend a wonderful Spanish language school in Quetzaltenango and simultaneously live with a Guatemalan family for five weeks. The cost is extremely reasonable.

I will pay $200 per week to

get five hours of private tutoring five days a week for five weeks. This expense includes housing and food costs borne by the host Guatemalan family. What an experience! I attended the school 11 years ago while taking graduate history courses at the University of Arizona, and the teaching is superb. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten a bit rusty in the language since then, and now I’m trying to get caught up with some private tutoring in Tucson so that I will be in a better position when I arrive at the school in April. When I first studied there, I had a different teacher each week—one teacher for the present tense, another for the past and imperfect tenses, yet another for the future tense and so forth. The teachers were exceptionally competent and well organized. The Guatemalan people love you if you try to speak their language, but I’m a long way from fluency.

However, I made friends with some of the chess players in the area and hope to renew those friendships or make new ones. The grandmother in the Guatemalan family I stayed with at that time came to my school graduation, her arms filled with Guatemalan bills. She felt badly because I had been pick-pocketed at a fiesta, but I couldn’t and didn’t accept her money, of course. I was quite touched by the offer. I may have mentioned that I had lots of fun several years ago teaching a 14-week adult

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Arthur Schwarz teaches two ten-week courses each year, is on a few boards, is working on an exhibition for the Grolier Club for 2015 and says, unconvincingly, that he is a “man of leisure.” He writes that next to his Vivat Rex exhibition, the Grolier exhibit will be a “minimum opus.”

Three generations of the Schwarz family visited Deerfield last August: Arthur, his wife Susie, his son and daughterin-law, and grandson, age two.

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honoree

H. RODGIN COHEN

’61

The Sum of a Lifetime After more than 40 years working in the financial services industry, Deerfield Academy Trustee H. Rodgin Cohen ’61 received the M&A Advisor’s Life Achievement Award. According to the Digital Journal, “Mr. Cohen is consistently recognized as one of the most influential people in the world of investment and banking today.

For more than 40 years, he and Sullivan & Cromwell have been at the vanguard of critical issues and developments that have reshaped the financial services industry.”

Currently senior chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Mr. Cohen has been involved in nearly all significant financial sector M&A transactions of the last 30 years, including almost 20 credit transactions during the recent global financial crisis. He has also been described as the “first call for bank bosses” regarding the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Mr. Cohen was honored with the award at the M&A Advisor Awards Gala this past December. In addition to his work in the financial services industry, Mr. Cohen is a trustee of New York Presbyterian Hospital, Rockefeller University, the Hackley School, Hampton University, Lincoln Center Theater, New York City Partnership, and, formerly, the Economic Club of New York. He is also a member of the Harvard Law School Visiting Committee and the advisory boards of Wall Street Rising, United Way of WestchesterPutnam, and the University of Charleston.

“Rodge Cohen is truly one of the M&A industry’s greatest leaders,” said Roger Aguinaldo, CEO of the M&A Advisor. “Mr. Cohen’s initiatives and accomplishments in the financial industry have affected and inspired generations of professionals. We are honored to present him with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership in our industry and his contribution to the many organizations that have benefitted from his wisdom.”

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education course on ‘The Life and Times of Lyndon Johnson.’ Although he wasn’t one of our greatest presidents, he was the consummate politician and an interesting one at that. For a while, I explored the idea of teaching two 14-week adult education courses on the Middle Ages based on two novels by Ken Follett. The first novel, The Pillars of the Earth, was superb, all 1,000 pages of it. But I didn’t like the sequel World Without End nearly as much. I had planned to give 28 one-hour lectures in two course segments, each covering all aspects of life during the medieval period in England ranging roughly from 1000 to about 1400 AD, but the project was almost mindboggling in scope. I finally decided not to continue with it because I have many other reading interests and didn’t want to spend a good part of my life mastering the events and high points of only one period in history. Who knows, maybe I’ll teach a course on the ‘Years of Richard Nixon’ someday. His foreign policy achievements interest me, but Watergate arguably was the worst presidential scandal in US history because of its scope.

When I taught the Johnson course, I had fun developing talks on the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War as well as Johnson’s rise to power. The idea of teaching a course to adults was scary to me when I first embarked on the project, but I did a

tremendous amount of reading and then realized I knew more about the period than anybody in my class.

That experience was good for the ego, but mine isn’t that high!”

1955

Class Captain Michael D. Grant Boyden Society Captain Edison W. Dick Class Secretary Tom L’Esperance Tom L’Esperance reported on the following classmates: Mary Jo and Art Atkinson went to the Biras Creek Resort on Virgin Gorda, British West Indies in January 2012.

“We also had the opportunity to spend some lovely days in Genoa, Italy, after a conference that I attended at the largest children’s hospital in Europe. We still own Paradigm (a magnificent yacht shown in the Spring/Summer 2009 issue of Deerfield Magazine) but did not get to sail her as much as we would have liked to this summer, as it was very hot on the Chesapeake and then the hurricane came along. As far as 2015 (Reunion) is concerned, I hope to still be around and able to come!” In a note to Tom, Brady Coleman wrote: “I’m still doing Screen Actors Guild Union film work.

In Bernie, coming out this spring, I defend Jack Black, accused of murdering Shirley MacLaine, and prosecuted by Matthew McConaughey. It’s an East Texas black comedy indie. True story—check it

squads were in Florida to compete. In July we will be cruising the Danube. Retirement is H#%&, but someone has to set the standard.”

Lynne and Sandy Neave live in Manhattan, where Sandy has practiced law with the same firm for the last 45 years! He specializes in trusts and estates but not on ‘an intense basis’ nowadays. One of his sons is also a partner in the same firm. After Deerfield, Sandy drove 3,000 miles to Stanford University where he spent ‘four of the happiest years of my life.’ 55’ers Fred Wurlitzer and Fritz Maytag are also Stanford alumni. Sandy and Lynne like to travel during his work breaks. Our three-letter man, Dick Smith, together with six classmates invaded Wesleyan after graduating from Deerfield.

A couple of them could now help to pay off our national debt! Dick and Barbara joyfully spend almost eight months a year at a home they built on Cape Cod in Dennis on the bay. Dick had the opportunity to work for the Boydens at their summer home at Lake Sunapee for two summers (two weeks each). A photo of their former home was shown in the Winter ’12 issue of Deerfield Magazine. Dick was affiliated with MeadWestvaco, a global packaging solutions company, throughout his business career and was president of the Envelope Division during his last eight years before retirement. He also served as chairman of the Greater

Springfield (MA) Chamber of Commerce.

Fred Tiley and his wife, Candice, reside in Salem, OR, where he practices orthopedic medicine and conducts forensic examinations. After Deerfield, Fred attended Princeton where he became captain of the football team in his senior year. He attributes his success on the gridiron to Mr. Marr’s ‘single wing’ coaching at Deerfield.

Fred particularly enjoyed the friendship of John McCloy, Adlai Hardin, John Hubbell, and Peter Bauer during his years at Deerfield and Princeton. He continued his higher education pursuits at Princeton, Columbia, the University of Rochester, a residence in orthopedics at Yale New Haven Medical Center, and some time at the Nuffield Orthopedic Hospital in Oxford, England. Fred is semi-retired and serves as medical director of the Willamette Spine Center in Salem, which he founded in 1998.

Jim Scott writes, “I have been retired from high school and college science teaching (thanks to the role model of Helen Boyden) for more than a decade, but I have remained active mainly in two areas: I have been a member of the Board of The Kestrel Land Trust, a Pioneer Valley land trust that operates in 19 cities and towns in the Amherst and Northampton (MA) area. This land trust recently secured the largest ever (3600+ acres) conservation restriction on private land in the history of Massachusetts.

It is very rewarding to help maintain the beauty and open space of the Valley. I have also been active in the Five College Learning In Retirement, an organization for peer senior learning. Last fall I offered a seminar on recent advances in knowledge of the solar system, and this spring I am offering one on ‘The Lust For Spices,’ an investigation into the nature of spices and the history of the spice trade through the ages. My wife, Nina, ‘failed’ retirement from 34 years in the Spanish Department of UMass and is currently chair of the Spanish Department at Amherst College. Our three children all live here in Massachusetts; three of our grandchildren live in Germany and four here in Massachusetts.

The Deerfield/Amherst area continues to be an exciting, stimulating, and beautiful place to live. Here is a photo of Nina and me (see page 47) at our vacation cottage in Friendship, ME, where I have been going since before I was born. My grandfather bought the cottage in 1918!

Friendship is the second largest lobstering harbor in Maine. Now in retirement we tend to spend as much time as possible there from midJune until September. We also spend as much time as possible sailing our Pearson Triton (28´) sailboat. Most of our summer neighbors have been there as long or longer.

Both my brother, Tom Scott ’50 and John C. Armstrong ’45 are Deerfield graduates who also summer in Friendship.”

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out.” Over the past 22 years Brady has appeared in 45 films and television shows including Rough Riders (1997), October Sky (1999), Friday Night Lights (2004), and the upcoming film, Bernie.

Peter Esty reported, “After trying a few times, I finally retired from heading schools on July 1. At the same time I rolled off a couple of timeconsuming boards. The freedom and the new pace have been predictably glorious. In celebration, I went to REI, purchased a new, lightweight, two-person tent, and Happy and I headed into the woods: first the Northern California redwoods, and later near Tahoe in the Sierras. The wind in the pines and their fragrance triggered the bliss and restoration we sought. So much so that we are heading back to camp at Fallen Leaf Lake (Sierras) for a few days next summer with our three kids (Boston, Seattle, and SF Bay Area) and five grandkids to celebrate my 75th birthday and our 50th anniversary. Our lives here in Sausalito are sweet too. Best to you all.”

Tom received the following from Lou Greer: “I was Santa’s helper for a holiday caroling procession around our neighborhood. I know . . . no shame! Hopefully this year I will get my Santa permit! Dee and I left for New Zealand on January 23 and cruised around both islands en-route to Melbourne and Sydney. In March we were off to Florida to watch Amherst lacrosse take on Bowdoin.

Yep, both New England

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Class Captain Joseph B. Twichell Russ Preston wrote, “This past summer we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with a two week trip to Alaska with friends. No Deerfield guys but plenty of wildlife! Still in Palm City, FL, enjoying the good life, both still healthy. My mother-inlaw died this May at 109, so Karen has a way to go yet. Hope to visit Deerfield this year.”

1961

Class Captains Jon W. Barker Thomas M. Poor “Had a great family trip to hike in Majorca in November with the Adirondack Mountain Club and Yellowstone Park over New Year’s, complete with wolves, bison, elk, etc.,” Dick Stuart tells us. “Amazing. Now back to teaching adaptive skiing, counseling, etc. in NH. Come see us.”

1962

Reunion Chairs Peter W. Gonzalez Dwight E. Zeller Boyden Society Captain Howard Coonley II Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

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1963

Class Captains Peter A. Acly Timothy J. Balch David D. Sicher Boyden Society Captain Edward R. McPherson John Berman says, “Being on the west coast, my connection has been mostly with emissaries from Deerfield’s alumni office and letters from the school. If I could get in, I would love to go to the Deerfield of today. I cannot imagine anyone (excluding certain Republican presidential candidates) who wants to step backward, and certainly Deerfield has become awesome. (Being coed brings that type of improvement.)

On a personal note, being a trial lawyer who tried more jury trials last year than the prior five combined, life is not dull. I am helping raise a 13-year-old, who makes me laugh at least once a day, and who growls at me at least twice a day. Our outdoor men’s soccer team is about to start its spring season. It is an over 50 league, which means some even younger players are ‘grandfathered in’ with their teams when they move up age-wise. Our first game is against a near professional team. One of its players was on Ireland’s World Cup team.

So that I don’t give any misapprehensions, fortunately we have several talented players, and I am more tolerated than encouraged. I have appreciated the invitation to attend numerous events on the east coast. If anyone

comes through Portland, let me buy you dinner and introduce you to a really nice town.”

“Hi, all,” writes Bruce Burton.

“If anyone’s interested, I have Bliss’ painting Two Romans.”

Ted McPherson notes, “As chief executive officer and founder of InterSolve Group for 21 years, I continue to lead high-performing project teams of JUST-IN-TIME TALENT TM for Fortune 100 companies and Forbes 400 individuals. My interests in Dallas include serving on the Development Board of the University of Texas at Dallas, which is a growing research institution of 19,000 students.

My wife Sally and I have been involved for several years with the National Advisory Council and the In the Footsteps of Leaders program of the Gettysburg Foundation that built the new visitor center and museum of 140,000 square feet on 100 acres in Gettysburg, PA, where we spend time at my family home, which was built in 1880. My most enjoyable speaking engagements recently have ranged from the evening lecture series at the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition in Pensacola, FL, to remarks on character and competitiveness to the Williams College men’s basketball team in Williamstown, MA, where I have played in the past 12 alumni basketball games.”

1964

Class Captains John L. Heath Robert S. Lyle Charles B. Sethness Boyden Society Captain Christopher G. Mumford Gregor Trinkaus-Randall was awarded the Cunha/ Swartzburg Award for 2012: “The ALCTS PARS committee for the George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award has selected Gregor TrinkausRandall as the 2012 recipient.

“Gregor’s accomplishments in preservation outreach, over a career of more than 30 years, are impressive and highly regarded in the library and archival profession. He has been an important player on the national preservation scene for many, many years through his collaboration with national organizations, and currently serves as the 2011-2012 president of the Society of American Archivists. As chair of the Preservation Section, he was instrumentally involved in coordinating the organization’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and Hurricane Wilma. He has presented hundreds of workshops throughout Massachusetts and beyond as preservation specialist for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. He developed a program to bring environmental monitoring devices to libraries to analyze data, and along with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, set up

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Good Dirt:

Confessions of a Conservationist David E. Morine ’62 | Lyons Press, 2012

Heartland | Over his 15 years as the head of land acquisition at The Nature Conservancy, David Morine ’62 acquired acres of land—and a lot of stories. In 1992, Mr. Morine collected tales of the “more monumental foul-ups” from his career and published Good Dirt: Confessions of a Conservationist. Twenty years later, he has revised and updated Good Dirt for a second edition with lively new anecdotes and an enduring message of the importance of land conservation.

In the time since Good Dirt originally hit bookshelves of nature lovers everywhere, Mr. Morine has written, “The identification and protection of significant natural areas is still the most important thing land conservation organizations could be doing . . .” What has changed are the organizations. “They’ve gotten too big, they’ve taken on too much overhead, they’ve lost their focus. Today, resources that should be going into saving land are being diverted into maintaining the organizations.” Mr. Morine revised Good Dirt to remind conservationists “that the cause is about saving land, not building big organizations, and the fun is getting your hands in the dirt, not sitting in some spiffy office.”

Mr. Morine definitely gets his hands dirty in many stories new to this edition.

“Wormsloe Plantation” details his efforts to start the Georgia Heritage Trust Program, with help from the “Guvnah,” Jimmy Carter. A bishop’s fortuitous sermon leads to $3 million for conservation in “Divine Intervention.” In “Breaking the Ice,” Mr. Morine spins a humorous tale about how a spill through the ice helped him establish Weeks Bay National Estuarine Sanctuary.

Also new to Good Dirt are the lessons that follow each story. These simple, anecdotal endnotes elaborate on themes from the stories and show how much Mr. Morine learned about nature and life while working at The Nature Conservancy.

At the core of Good Dirt is Mr. Morine’s passion for the environment—since leaving The Nature Conservancy he has continued to volunteer for local land trusts—and the heartfelt efforts of many conservationists and volunteers.

Good Dirt is a testament to those people who constantly struggle to preserve the land that they love so much.

I soon heard the professor stomping up the cellar stairs. “Sakes alive! You should see the size of that snake! He must be six feet if he’s an inch. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one quite that big.” He stood in the doorway to the dining room with his arms outstretched. I had read somewhere that the length of a person’s outstretched arms equaled his height, which, coincidentally, was roughly the length of a fathom. All I could fathom from this scene was that there was one big snake downstairs.

Louise and the Professor looked at me.

The message was clear. They didn’t have to say it: What luck! We have the biggest snake we’ve ever seen right in our own cellar, and here’s a professional conservationist to remove it! I felt obliged to say something. “This is really an excellent wine.” I poured myself another glass as I tried to figure out what to do. “Don’t worry about the snake,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. “It’s probably just come in to get out of the cold. If we leave it alone, I’m sure it will find its way out.”

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Lilia was a godsend. The first few days had gone by so slowly. He had followed Emilio around like a puppy dog, studied at the table, taken long walks about the campo, and avoided the dog the family called Tobi as much as possible. Although he had been told in training that it could take months before he’d feel comfortable with his new job and living situation, he was impatient and ready to get on with it. But being here in the boonies, where there wasn’t even a village, what exactly was he supposed to do? There was no office to go to. He didn’t have a boss or anyone to direct him. It was only when Lilia started sitting with him at the table after the evening meal that he felt he was making some real progress. With the patience of a ten-year-old angel, she asked him what he had done that day and corrected his mistakes when he told her. At first she was shy and, out of respect, covered her mouth when he said something stupid. But as they grew more accustomed to each other, she felt comfortable enough to laugh with her whole face one big smile. He would sometimes make a mistake on purpose or play the fool just to see her laugh.

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One For the Road David Mather ’64 | Peace Corps Writers, 2011

Gung-ho and Ready to Save the World | Imagine signing up to spend two years in an isolated farming community in Chile, immersed in an unfamiliar culture, thousands of miles away from home. This is the situation in which Tom Young finds himself at the beginning of One For the Road—and the situation in which author David Mather ’64 found himself in 1968. Mr. Mather spent 1968 to 1970 in Chile as the Peace Corps’ most isolated volunteer, an experience that greatly influenced his life and is the basis for his novel One For the Road.

Published to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, One For the Road is a fictionalized account of a young Peace Corps volunteer living in Cufeo, Chile, and supervising a reforestation project to help save the community.

Tom Young, or Tomás, as he is called by the campesinos, arrives in Cufeo with a grade of “one-minus” in speaking Spanish, unsure of what to expect out of the small community, but eager to do good. “War or no war, he had wanted to join ever since Kennedy and Shriver had gotten things going. What a concept—get paid to travel abroad, live in some exotic place, learn another language, help those not as fortunate, and boost America’s reputation for a change. He was gung-ho and ready to save the world.”

Tomás’s enthusiasm wavers when he arrives in Cufeo and is forced to confront a language and cultural barrier that leaves him isolated and depressed. As he learns the ways of the community, settles into his job, and adjusts to “how things are done” in Chile, he develops strong ties to Cufeo, aided by his growing relationship with a Chilean woman in the community.

The level of cultural detail in One For the Road draws readers into the Cufeo community. Mr. Mather’s own experience living and working in Chile allowed him to create a strong foundation for a narrative that is at times sad, at times heartwarming, but above all, authentic.

1965

Class Captains Edward G. Flickinger Andrew R. Steele

1966

Class Captain David H. Bradley Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

1967

Reunion Chairs Douglas F. Allen John R. Bass George W. Lee Robert Walbridge writes, “After 40 years of life in the Ivory Coast, I have been living as a ‘refugee,’ against my will, in my hometown of Babylon, NY, since last December. This is due to a profound post-presidential election crisis in my adopted country, involving the refusal of the former president to recognize and accept his electoral defeat, followed by a five-month political standoff and a two-week civil war. As a result, I have decided to remain, at least for the time being, in the relative security and tranquility of the USA for the next two years as my daughter, Naky, completes her secondary studies. Still enjoying lots of swimming, walking, reading, and listening to music in my retirement.”

“Just relocated from Dallas, TX, to Atlanta, GA, with my family,” reports Bill Walker. “My wife, Piper, was recruited by the Weather Channel, so we are all very excited about her new job opportunity and are looking forward to getting to know the Atlanta/Marietta area, which actually reminds me a lot of the hills and trees found in Austin, TX. My 10 and 12-year-old daughters view the move as a great new and unexpected adventure. I left/retired from my job in the commercial real estate business and

will have to update you all later on what new avenues and adventures lie ahead for me. Change has been the story of my life since I left Deerfield, and in many ways has kept me young enough to hopefully now keep up with my daughters’ exploits as they head into the dreaded teen years. Also having lived for many years in the Caribbean managing a large scuba diving operation before moving to Texas, I plan to venture underwater in the Georgia Aquarium, which is the largest aquarium in the world (10 million gallons) and offers private scuba dives with the only four captive whale sharks in existence that I am aware of. Would love to someday show my daughters around Deerfield, especially in the fall. Great memories need to be revisited. If you live in the Atlanta area would love to meet for coffee/lunch and get better acquainted with the area.”

1968

Class Captain John R. Clementi Boyden Society Captain Edgar A. Bates III Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

1969

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a communications network with libraries and cultural institutions to respond to area-wide emergencies. This pilot effort has gained recognition for his agency as a national model for emergency planning. This award was created to honor these two leaders in preservation and collaboration, and Gregor is an outstanding example of just such an individual. He has extended the reach of preservation understanding across a state with many small cultural institutions from libraries to archives to museums, and has been instrumental in expanding his preservation knowledge through a wider network of like-minded colleagues across the country. He has greatly impacted the field of preservation throughout his long career.

“The Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS) of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) will present the award on June 24, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2012 American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim.”

Class Captain John W. Kjorlien Class Secretary Doug Squires Recent news from the Class of ’69 may also be found on Doug Squires’ blog: albanyroad.blogspot.com.

Macmillan published Hard Knocks, Howie Carr’s first novel, in January. Howie’s website describes the book as “a gritty noir mystery about the intertwining worlds of crime and politics in Boston,” a subject he previously has explored in two nonfiction works. For more on Hard Knocks, see page 57.

John Mills retired in 2011, after nearly 32 years of government service, and formed Patent Group Counsel with a handful of other attorneys to provide patent law services to inventors, entrepreneurs, and technology companies.

Bob Ashton is president and general manager of Ragged Mountain Resort in Danbury, NH, where he is heading up expansion.

Prior to assuming his current position, Bob spent ten years as president and CEO of the four-season Wintergreen Resort in central Virginia.

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August 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5, 2012

10 C E L E B R AT I N G

YEARS

YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO REGISTER! deerfield.edu/go/ltth Questions? Contact Mimi Morsman at lmorsman@deerfield.edu or 413.774.1586

Hard Knocks Howie Carr ’69 | Forge Books, 2012

Crime and Corruption in Beantown | Fans of crime fiction should welcome Howie Carr ’69 to the genre’s ranks for his first novel Hard Knocks. Mr. Carr’s fiction debut draws from his extensive knowledge of Boston crime; he is also the author of The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century (2006) and Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger’s Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld (2011).

In Hard Knocks, Jack Reilly is an ex-cop, now private investigator, who describes

It was a business decision to clam up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I live by some ancient Sam Spade private-eye code or anything like it. But ratting out a client, even one of the twenty-dollar variety, would be bad for all private eyes, as Mr. S. Spade once observed. Especially for one PI in particular—me.

Ratting out anybody, even a dead ex-con, was the kind of thing that would always be used against you.

In a couple of days, everyone in the world would have forgotten Bucky Bennett. Everyone, that is, except the people who have an ax to grind against me. People like that never forget, and they make sure everyone else always remembers it. Reilly?

They would say, whenever I got a shot at some decent money. Yeah, you could use Reilly, but remember how he spilled everything to the cops when Bucky Bennett got hit?

himself as “a man teetering on that fine line between has-been and never-was.”

Jack is not your typical private investigator. “The services I presently offer include almost nothing you’d want to see embossed on a business card,” he tells the reader, and his early meeting with a client drives home this point. Bucky Bennett, an “associate” of Jack’s incarcerated brother, has gotten his hands on some valuable information and wants Jack to be his “insurance policy.” When, right after their meeting, Bucky is killed, Jack finds himself negotiating a gang of criminals wanting their “stuff” back and the police wanting to know the full story. Along with a cast of colorful Boston crooks, mobsters, and politicians and one persistent—and attractive—reporter, Jack attempts to unravel a mystery entangled in 30 years of crime and corruption in Boston.

Snappy dialogue and touches of humor drive the fast-paced action in Hard Knocks to a speedy and exciting conclusion. Hard Knocks “is a gritty, adventurous romp into the world of politics and mobsters in Boston with enough surprise twists to keep you guessing to the end,” said a review on the website Criminal Element.

Mr. Carr is perhaps most well-known for his radio talk show, The Howie Carr Show. He is also an award-winning columnist for the Boston Herald.

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Deerfield Academy Archives

Class Captain G. Kent Kahle Because so much fun was had at the 40th Reunion, ’70 classmates Duncan Christy, Kent Kahle, Steve Katz, Tim Noonan, Gene Rostov, and Charlie Williams are planning a 42.5 reunion at Deerfield the weekend of October 20, 2012. At least 25 classmates have committed! More information to follow . . .

Michael Berman sent the following update: “Melinda and I are enjoying our winter home-base in Miami Beach—great place for my commuting; the multifamily lending business is still growing aggressively since our sale to Fortress. Our daughter, Emily, was married in Cambridge, MA, last June to a fantastic guy who is a resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston. Our son, Pete, just started up a new business in Chicago—new type of customized athletic tape (Highlight Strip)—and is about to raise some capital.

All good!”

“Initially, I came out to Hawaii for a three to four month break in November 2008,” says Charles Hastings.

“I decided to stay longer and complete my research on ‘chasing the elusive pain signal.’ Well, I did find the palpation needed to successfully decrease the pain signal 40 to 100 percent. In the meantime, I purchased a wonderful piece of land with two geothermal pools

just a stone’s throw from the ocean, built a home, and uh, well, I’m still here. I expect to return to Maine for several months at least one more time, but this Hawaii has definitely claimed me.”

Bob Reed and his wife Debbie live in the resort town of Rehoboth Beach, DE, where they operate a real estate sales company. Their only child, Ashlee, gave birth last year to their first grandchild, Brock. Bob’s passion is recreational sailing and “messing about” with boats, which he pursues at home and in Camden, ME.

1971

Class Captains K.C. Ramsay John L. Reed Boyden Society Captain Edwin G. Reade III “Greetings everyone . . . sorry to have missed the Reunion last summer,” John Embree wrote. “That was the first one I missed in some time. I don’t think I have submitted any news in many years. Since I check our class notes every time I get Deerfield Magazine, I notice that our class is woeful in keeping everyone informed of each other’s whereabouts. So, here goes my attempt to do so, albeit brief: We moved from Chicago to Newtown, PA, in summer of ’08, when I was tapped to be president of Prince Sports. Unfortunately, that opportunity did not live up to my expectations, so after a rough two years, I began a consulting practice

within the tennis industry in the fall of 2010. Consulting is consulting, which has its pluses and minuses. But, in this economy and at our ripe old age, it is tough to find a fulltime scenario. So, I will take what I can get. Meanwhile, we are in the college mode, anxiously awaiting word on where my high school senior will end up. My prep school sophomore son takes after his father in terms of his mediocre academic performance. Might end up moving back to Chicago this summer, where my family remains. By the time you will be reading this, my wife and I will have returned from visiting Kelly and Sam Bronfman in Barcelona, who are spending one year there. Olé!”

Bob Keenan of Bigfork, MT, a former state senate president, was picked by Corey Stapleton to be his running mate in Stapleton’s bid for governor of Montana.

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1972

Reunion Chairs Bradford Warren Agry Joseph Frederick Anderson Michael C. Perry Robert Dell Vuyosevich Boyden Society Captain Robert Dell Vuyosevich Jaime and Senani Babson would like all Reunion classes to know of a spiritually unique Buddhist temple and peace pagoda just a short drive from Deerfield, in Leverett, MA. “It’s a great place to relax and picnic, and it features a great frog pond for children,” they commented. (Visit newenglandpeacepagoda.com)

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Chip Pitcairn ’73 at the International Trap Shooting Olympic selection match.

Bob Reed ’70 and his wife Debbie with their grandson, Brock Hidell, perhaps a member of the Class of 2029?

When Food Network personality Guy Fieri came to town, Bob Beane ’73 (right) was on hand to meet him.

’73

William Holden De Gorter, grandson of Peter De Gorter ’76, was born on February 12, 2012.

Pictured here is Alex Goss—“loving life!” Alex is the son of Dan Goss ’79.

1973

1974

Bob Beane writes, “A few classmates (and instructors) from 1973 will remember our post-graduation party and my out-of-character portrayal of my favorite musician, Jimi Hendrix. OK, so now I’m into food AND music. So, when Guy Fieri brought his Food&Rock Show to Arizona, I couldn’t resist (actually, Linda told me to ‘Go big or stay home’).

Still living in Phoenix and working as a CFO/financial consultant and bicycling advocate . . . when not modifying hair color/style and doing silly things as described above.”

“I was lucky enough to shoot in the selection match for the 2012 Olympic Team in International Trap Shooting,” reports Chip Pitcairn.

“I didn’t win a spot on the team but it was great to compete with some truly dedicated athletes.”

“Returned from Iraq after closing down the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul and earning the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal,” writes George Sibley. “Back in DC now as director of the Office of Environmental Policy at the State Department. In between, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon—my first at age 54 (probably my last too!).”

Class Captains Lawrence C. Jerome Peter D. Van Oot

’70 ’73

’76 ’79

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Class Captains J. Christopher Callahan Geoffrey A. Gordon

1975

Class Captains Dwight R. Hilson James L. Kempner Peter M. Schulte Boyden Society Captain Ralph Earle III Frank Riccio recently illustrated the Teeny Tiny Jigsaw Puzzle: The World published by Running Press and available at Barnes & Noble or online at perseusbooksgroup.com.

Class Captains Marshall F. Campbell David R. DeCamp Boyden Society Captain Henry S. Fox Peter De Gorter is proud to announce the birth of his grandson, William Holden De Gorter. He was born on February 12, 2012, in Charlotte, NC, and weighed 8 lbs., 5 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. “Okay, now I believe I’ve taken the lead from Ben Cart. This is actually my fifth grandchild and number six is due in June. Plus, I’ve got one more son who has yet to start his family. This is getting a bit crazy. P.S. Had an outstanding time at the Reunion!”

1977

Reunion Chairs James Paul MacPherson J. H. Tucker Smith Wayne W. Wall “Greetings, All!” writes Michael Carboy. “After having endured the pollution in Beijing for two years, I relocated to Hong Kong in May 2011, where I head up the China research function for Deutsche Bank’s ‘DB Climate Change Advisors’ unit. What remarkable contrasts between the green tech world in the US, where progress is hobbled by politics, and here in China where progress, albeit sometimes ham-handed, continues as a key element of national strategy. The cultures of Beijing and Hong Kong are pretty darned different and I have yet to decide which,

when finally boiled down, I prefer. The Chinese political antics and deciphering what it all means in both cities keeps things forever interesting. If anyone happens to be transiting through HK, please let me know.

Won’t make the Reunion this year, so best to all! Oh, and if you think you are too old to learn anything new, you can!

Somehow, this linguistically lame fellow managed to learn enough Chinese in 2009 to get around, function as a Beijing resident, and rap a bit with the locals.”

Rob Kerr reports, “I am still in Charleston, SC, but effective January 1, my law firm merged into Moore & Van Allen, PLLC. Moore & Van Allen (MVA) is one of the largest law firms in the Southeast with more than 300 legal professionals and offices in Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC, and Research Triangle Park, NC. The attorneys at MVA provide legal services within their corporate, finance, litigation, and intellectual property legal practices for international banks, worldwide distributors, growing healthcare and technology companies, manufacturers, energy leaders, and more. For more information, visit mvalaw.com.”

From Scott Mackey: “Met up for a few days with Townley Paton in San Francisco earlier this year. He and his wife and young daughter are doing well. Look forward to seeing all you guys that show up for our 35th!”

Journey of Faith

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1976

William C. Skurla ’75 was enthroned this month as Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.

Previously Bishop of the Byzantine Eparchy of Passaic, NJ, he was named as archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI on January 19, 2012.

The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh is the only self-governing Eastern Catholic Church in the United States, directly under the authority of the pope. It stretches from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Texas and has 58,000 parishioners and 65 priests in 78 parishes.

After a post-graduate year at Deerfield Academy, Archbishop Skurla graduated from Columbia University with a degree in philosophy. He then entered the Byzantine Franciscan community in Sybertsville and studied for the priesthood at Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, PA, receiving master’s degrees in both divinity and theology.

Archbishop Skurla was ordained as a Franciscan priest in 1987 and incardinated in 1996 into the Eparchy of Van Nuys, California.

In 2002, he was ordained a bishop, and six years later, he became head of the Passaic Eparchy. Archbishop Skurla has been temporary administrator of the Pittsburgh metropolitan church since the death of the previous archbishop in 2010.

WILLIAM C. SKURLA archbishop

’75

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It was a great experience and yet another opportunity to reinforce the importance of building relationships with global allies on a personal basis . . . Jay Morsman ’55 taught me all of this!

’79

—Brad Butz ’79

1978

Class Captains Paul J. S. Haigney Stephen R. Quazzo Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

1979

Class Captains Arthur Ryan Dwight Daniel C. Pryor Boyden Society Captain John H. Christel “Best wishes to all of my classmates, and the greater Deerfield family!” writes

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Brad Butz. “I spent a little bit of time this past year in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as the senior U.S. Air Force officer assigned to NATO’s Regional Command South (RC-S). It was a great experience and yet another opportunity to reinforce the importance of building relationships with global allies on a personal basis. It is these personal relationships that form the foundations for improving security, enabling military and law enforcement to protect the population, which allows for the development

and sustainment of an economy that fuels infrastructure and education. All of these lead to stability and long-term viability of local, state, and national government for a nation made up of many tribes. Jay Morsman ’55 taught me all of this! We are not close to completing the mission, but the women, children, and families of Afghanistan see the results, the potential, have hope for freedom, and a better future.

Your sons and daughters are serving our nation well! Cheers to all from Yorktown, VA!”

Steve DeMaranville says, “So looking forward to our next Reunion. I have begun a new career as a financial professional with Prudential.

As I begin my practice, I would love to become a resource to all of my classmates and any other Deerfield grads.”

Art Dwight submitted the following notes from his class: Jim Frederick reports: “I caught up with Colin Cooper and his wife Jean Marie at Stratton, where their son Eli was racing. At the time he added, (cont. p. 67 )

The Annual Fund

Please consider a gift or pledge today. deerfield.edu/imagine or use the form on the reverse.

Our teachers need the resources to renew themselves—to learn new skills, to keep pace with a changing world, and to bring cutting-edge practices into the classroom.

Funding Priorities: • Faculty Renewal and Development • Faculty Expansion • Student Financial Aid

The Annual Fund and Class Notes Deerfield Recognition Societies

Make your gift at deerfield.edu/imagine; mail a check to: P.O. Box 306, Deerfield, MA 01342; or use the provided envelope.

ID# (on the address label of this magazine) D00

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Presidents Circle $100,000 and above

■ I/We would like to make a gift annually until my next reunion year.

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■ Enclosed is a check for $

■ Please charge my gift and pledges to: ■ AMEX ■ MC Card Number:

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made payable to Deerfield Academy.

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Employer matching gift form: ■ Enclosed ■ Completed online ■ To follow Name of matching gift company:

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Class Notes: Use the space below, go online to deerfield.edu/alumni/notes, or send news to:

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MAG2Q

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Spring 2012

Thank you for your support.

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Look at This Art Dwight ’79 | Tagral Media, 2011

Stories of Self-Reflection and Inspiration | When Art Dwight ’79 was a junior in college, his English professor cornered him after class one day and unleashed a “verbal nuke” that would change Mr. Dwight’s life: “If you don’t find the philosophical basis for your existence by the time you are 21, you might as well kill yourself.” In the title story of his collection Look at This, Mr. Dwight describes how his professor’s words stayed with him for years afterwards: “They pierced my defenses and grew like spiritual seeds in my heart. I couldn’t shake their truth. He was right. I was wasting my life.” Since then, Mr. Dwight writes, “I’ve learned that every moment contains an opportunity to learn, change, or grow—to elevate myself physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.”

Look at This is a collection of these moments—stories of selfreflection and inspiration that share the lessons Mr. Dwight has learned on his journey of self-exploration. Vignettes date from Mr. Dwight’s childhood through present day interactions with his wife and teenage daughters. In each story, Mr. Dwight shares with his readers honest insights into his thoughts and emotions, as he pursues peace and humility in his life.

Deerfield Academy and some of Mr. Dwight’s classmates from the Class of ’79 make an appearance in several stories. In “The Day I Met Jesus,” Mr. Dwight recounts how one evening, on a walk to the River, he happened upon a long-haired man sitting on a rock, who he thought looked exactly like Jesus Christ. “The river only flows one way. It doesn’t resist or fight what it cannot control,” the man told him. Unsure of what to think, Mr. Dwight considered the options . . . “This guy was very likely psychotic—a knife-wielding Charles Manson disciple who was about to spring from the rock and go Helter Skelter on me, slicing me into a dozen pieces. On the other hand, I couldn’t rule out the five-hundred-trillion-to-one chance that this man was who he said he was.” Years later, Mr. Dwight found meaning in this moment; like the river, he concluded, he should live his life the best way he can, in harmony with the world, leaving conflict behind.

“The Day I Met Jesus” and the other stories in Look at This are a winning combination of humor and introspection. Mr. Dwight’s writing inspires his readers to step back, reflect on their own lives, and discover the true meaning of each seemingly ordinary moment.

With my body screaming, For God’s sake, stop, I confirmed that my original hypothesis was correct, marathoners are insane. But one thought broke through the pain: I must finish this race.

Somehow I willed myself to continue—every painful step felt like I was pushing through wet cement. When I crossed the 14th Street Bridge around mile 20, the full force of the midday sun was bearing down as the mercury rose into the high 70s.

At mile 23, the violent battle between my body and mind had reached its apex; my body was finished. I had nothing left. But just as I was resigned to do the unthinkable, to quit, I heard cheering from the top of a bridge near Arlington Cemetery. I looked up and saw this sign, PAIN IS TEMPORARY, BUT GLORY LASTS FOREVER. The truth of those words exploded in my mind. I realized that my pain exists only in this moment, but the glory of finishing this race, today, will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Read Art Dwight’s “First Person” from the Spring 2011 issue of Deerfield Magazine: deerfield.edu/go/publications

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DAVID von STORCH entrepreneur

’76

Ventures in the Capital PHOTO BY GREG POWERS PHOTOGRAPHY

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David von Storch ’76 has built an empire in Washington, DC. Since starting his first business over 20 years ago, he has expanded his lifestyle company, opened popular gyms, restaurants, and salons around the DC area, and started his own reality TV show. In a recent interview with Metro Weekly, Mr. von Storch discussed his road to business ownership, future plans, and decades-long struggle with HIV. Although Mr. von Storch is now a successful entrepreneur, he recalled his fear before he set out on his own: “I thought through the consequent possible outcomes of being in business on my own, got my hands around what it would be like to be a complete failure at what I tried to do. I thought I would be okay if it were a complete failure [and] that allowed me, freed me up to be successful.” Prior to founding Urban Adventures Companies in 1986, Mr. von Storch received an MBA from Harvard Business School and worked in the corporate world. Business ownership, he found, was liberating. “It wasn’t really the success of the business that defined whether I’d made the right decision,” he said. “It was so liberating for me to be who I was. Before I knew I was successful, I knew I had done the right thing. There was no regret, from the moment I left.”

Urban Adventures Companies encompasses VIDA Fitness, Bang Salon, and the Capital City Brewing Company. After his initial success with

Capital City Brewing, Mr. von Storch was able to invest in interests that he was truly passionate about—fitness and health. The popularity of VIDA Fitness and Bang Salon allowed him to identify his target consumers—how they think and the interests they pursue—and develop a relationship with them that has led to further expansion.

Now Mr. von Storch plans to open a 50,000-square -foot flagship location containing branches of all his businesses, as well as a gay community center. “The world that I live in is profit-based,” Mr. von Storch explained. “It’s young gays and young lesbians being entrepreneurs, creating things, doing things that they’re passionate about, in the community where they live.” Mr. von Storch plans to lease “incubator offices” to gay and gay-friendly businesses, to give them the support they need to succeed.

Mr. von Storch’s latest venture is a reality show, Complicated Order, designed to gain exposure for his company and offer himself as a role model to people who face challenges. Despite being HIV positive for several decades, Mr. von Storch maintains an active life and is open and approachable about his situation. People feel they can relate to him, he noted, for the “genuineness of the discussion about my journey.” And it is a journey that will continue to be inspirational to others as he pursues what he loves. ••

“And next week I’m meeting with Dan Pryor, Parry Gosling, and Kip Howard here in NY. Looking forward to seeing them!” Paul Kruk reports: “My family and I are moving back to the Boston, MA, area after living for six years in eastern NC. I will miss the mild winters there.

Still with FedEx but taking a new worldwide sales manager position. My twins are about to turn 16 and start driving. I was able to live out my longtime dream last summer, when I took batting practice at Fenway Park.”

Brad Palmer writes: “We are still enjoying living in England, with four kids at the American School in London.

We are doing a lot of adventure travel over here. I saw Dan Maynard at a Deerfield event in London and made a visit to Deerfield this past fall. We will be on Martha’s Vineyard in July and August in case anyone is going to be out there too.” From Chris Teevens: “Small World Part I: My daughter and Jim Bloomer’s daughter are roommates and good friends at Dartmouth. Small World Part II: John Lewis’ daughter Maddie and my daughter Lily won the New England field hockey championship for the second year in a row for Thayer Academy.” Dan Goss reports: “I started a new sales job with a Pittsburgh-based firm: Access Data. We’re a division of Broadridge. Our firm transforms data from asset management firms into valuable business information. Still playing water polo

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’79

Chris Hunt ’79 and Steve Schmidt ’79 mountain biking near Mount Tam. with a group of guys largely based on the east coast (former Bucknell, Brown, Fordham, and NYAC ‘athletes’). We’ll be traveling to Irvine, CA, for Masters Nationals come June. Lastly, and most importantly, Alex turned three in February. He keeps us young!” Chip Lewis writes: “I am now a senior program manager for Snapfish by HP, and we operate the Walgreens photo site. On a recent business trip, I connected with Bob Friedman who lives minutes away from Walgreens headquarters in Chicago.

Was just like old times (except we’re both over 50 now!) and great to re-connect. Ralph—next time we will kidnap you for a mini-JW reunion! Also, after three granddaughters, we finally had our first grandson, Mitchell Maddox Lewis born December 1, 2011.” Dave Lucas reports: “Ran into Brad Palmer at DA last fall. His daughter and my son were interviewing. We’ll see what

happens. While visiting, I saw Nick Albertson and had a few laughs when we recalled Jake Murphy’s (Class of ’81) announcement at School Meeting when Mac Jackson and I were his proctors. I would give more details to those who don’t remember, but it would compromise the integrity of this publication.

Still working hard in orthopedic private practice and doing some teaching with the Orlando Health residency program. The house is a little emptier with my eldest now a freshman at Yale and competing on the gymnastics team. She met a hockey player from DA . . . at least he wasn’t from Choate. Please look me up if anyone is down here. Our house is always open.”

Steve Schmidt and his wife Lisa are working on a startup in Silicon Valley called High Energy Audits, helping homeowners save energy through online analysis of their energy use. Part of their inspiration came from

visiting Chris Hunt’s leaky old home in Marin; see above picture of Chris and Steve mountain biking in Chris’ backyard. Dan Pryor reports: “Rick Prum was on the cover of Yale Alumni Magazine, and the story about his academic career is fascinating. Prum’s healthy skepticism about the world has helped him to become one of the most compelling thinkers in the natural sciences. Rick was a knowledgeable ornithologist in 1978, which we witnessed during our occasional hikes up to the Shack. Prum went to Harvard for his undergraduate degree and years later was hired as the head of the Peabody Museum at Yale and won the distinguished MacArthur ‘genius’ award. As the Yale Magazine article says, this ornithologist discovered new kinds of color, proved T. Rex had feathers, and answered the question ‘What is art?’ Visit yalealumnimagazine.com/ issues/2011_11/feature_prum. html for the article.”

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1982

Deerfield Academy Archives

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Hardy was yelling that the man had made it under the bridge, but confirmed that the woman was pinned underneath the bridge. Hutton passed the throw rope to Hardy and then secured his bowline to the guardrail on the downstream side of the bridge as Hardy sent the threaded throw rope under the bridge from the other side and secured it. Hutton lowered himself into the river that was flowing fast enough to send him surfing on his stomach. He grabbed the rope Hardy had secured from upstream and pulled himself under the bridge.

Excerpt from Hope Strong’s “My Name is Derek” / valleycitizen.com

’89 1980

Class Captains Augustus B. Field John B. Mattes Paul M. Nowak Jack Abbott ’72 was executive producer of the TEDxSan Diego event this year.

Dwayne Gathers, who met Jack at the Padres baseball game earlier this summer, attended the event. Very inspiring day of TED talks.

John ’75, Brad ’79, and Jim Butz enjoyed a week in Scotland with their dad.

Jim had to wear the Class of 1980 Reunion shirt.

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1981

Class Captains Robert G. Bannish Andrew M. Blau Leonard J. Buck Kurt F. Ostergaard John H. Sangmeister Boyden Society Captain Peter F. McLaughlin Jr.

1982

Reunion Chairs Samuel G. Bayne Frank H. Reichel William Richard Ziglar Boyden Society Captain Marc L. McMurphy Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

1983

Class Captains John G. Knight J. Douglas Schmidt Boyden Society Captain John G. Knight Charlie Cost was remembered at a recent School Meeting by virtue of a presentation by Ross Gordon ’13, the most recent Cost Award recipient.

Ross spent a month in Dakar, Senegal, and with his $2,500 stipend, worked with two local schools (after winning over the imams and chiefs of those towns), and purchased for each of them a laptop, a multi-function printing device, and a case of paper.

He spent the rest of his time

teaching computer skills and English. Two of the educators from the towns are visiting scholars at Deerfield this spring, and are working with the Arabic and French classes. A life-changing experience delivered by the Cost family—thank you, Charlie.

John Knight writes, “So great to connect with Whit Armstrong, Doug Cruikshank, Doug Schmidt, Ben Patton, and Will Wolf in NYC on January 26. Will wins for best surprise guest—he lives in DC and runs Human Development for Credit Suisse First Boston, spending half the month in Switzerland, a week in DC, and a week in NYC. He was headed

to the airport to fly home when he stopped by for a burger and some hearty laughs. Whit continues to paint, Doug S. continues to deal, and Doug C. continues to keep the banking industry on the straight and narrow.

Ben has written a book, which debuted in March.

Jon Gottscho called in to lament his own absence at the soiree, and others emailed their disappointment at not being available.

When Will saw me raise my phone to take his picture he lamented, ‘Please! No pictures for the blog.’ When I reminded him that it was BECAUSE of the blog (da1983.blogspot.com) that he even knew we were gathering he replied, ‘True enough John, fire away!’ Let that be a lesson to us all— that sharing a moment of ourselves makes our class community stronger. Or just gets you a free burger and a beer! Guess we’ll just have to do it again . . . Feel free to host a gathering in your area, like Don Hindman did in Denver— I can get you some names and emails.”

Sean Nottage says, “Here’s my Super Bowl commercial, youtube/nw1sfjhJov4, which was for the Doritos contest to be selected for showing at the SB. Obviously I didn’t win, but it was fun nonetheless!”

Ben Patton reported, “My new book, Growing Up Patton, was released on March 7 at the Armory in NYC. Visit growinguppatton.com to learn more.”

1984 Stephen Briones is busy leading and managing ING Bank’s commercial and investment banking business in Thailand. He’s also having fun telling his kids, Natalia (14) and Nicholas (ten) about his great times at Deerfield.

He recently wrote a book review that was published in the Bangkok Post: bangkokpost.com/arts-and-culture/ book/268088/around-theworld-after-a-spending-craze.

1985

Class Captains Charles B. Berwick Sydney M. Williams Boyden Society Captain Christopher J. Tierney Solomon Kuehn Gottesman was born on February 2, 2012, to Laura Gottesman and David Kuehn.

1986

Class Captains Henri R. Cattier Michael W. Chorske Boyden Society Captain Todd H. Eckler Richard Bader reports, “After a lifetime of renting, my wife and I finally bit the bullet and bought a house in Northern Virginia, where I’m in my second year as a high school counselor (cue laughter). As a counselor, I have the opportunity to sound just like Mr. Hastings did when we were in school. Needless to say I laugh a little and cringe a little at the same time while the words are coming out of my

mouth. Although I don’t get a chance to get up to the Valley too often anymore, Deerfield experiences are relived in my office on a daily basis as I try to explain how it was that I was always the last one to finish a run around the Lower Level fields (thanks Mr. Henry ’69) but that at least I finished the task at hand. Best to all with whom I’ve been off the grid.”

“Glad to report I am a sergeant now with the NYPD and just passed the lieutenant exam,” says Lawrence Biondo. “My oldest child, Aaliyah, is in the sixth grade and already talking about going to Deerfield. My wife and I have five children, and we enjoy spending as much time on Martha’s Vineyard as our schedules allow us. We welcome any and all Deerfield folks to our home there.”

Keoki Kerr joined Hawaii News Now on January 16.

Mark Platte, news director of Hawaii News Now, describes Keoki as “Hawaii’s premier investigative journalist.”

Chris Martin writes, “My wife and I took a mini vacation in Harbour Island, Bahamas. It was a relatively quiet time on the island, between the holiday bustle and the mayhem of spring break.

And it was even quieter on the beach. I only spoke to one person on the beach—a jovial gentleman 30 years my senior who just struck up a conversation with us (John Marsellus ’56). Within no time we both learned we were DA grads. I ended up seeing him three times on

the first day we met (the island is very small), so on the third time I told him, ‘We’ve got to send a picture to the DA magazine.’ I did have a Deerfield t-shirt with me and am sorry I didn’t have it on.

So here we are.” (see page 73) Charles McGhee-Hassrick is working as a freelance exhibit developer and designer. “One of my recent projects just received its 17th award,” he commented.

“The project was Science Storms, a 26,000 square foot, $38 million exhibit on the physics and chemistry of natural phenomena. Science Storms is a permanent exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. Here are some of the awards we have won: 1. National Association for Museum Exhibition’s 23rd Annual Excellence in Exhibition Award (the American Association of Museums highest honor).

2. AAM Gold MUSE Awards for multimedia and interactive technology, and many, many more. The exhibit was a fantastic project to be a part of, and we had an outstanding design and development team. Currently, I am working on two traveling exhibits that are smaller in size, but no less exciting.

The first is for MythBusters, and the second is for Sherlock Holmes.”

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Church Militant: Bishop Kung and

Catholic Resistance in Communist Shanghai

Paul P. Mariani ’83 | Harvard University Press, 2011

The Faithful | Church Militant: Bishop Kung and Catholic Resistance in Communist Shanghai, by Paul Mariani ’83, shines light on a period of Chinese history that has been overlooked for decades.

By 1952, the Catholic Communist Party (CCP) had suppressed all organized resistance except, recently declassified documents reveal, the Shanghai Catholic community. Church Militant describes how the Shanghai Catholic community resisted CCP control, how the CCP eventually succeeded in crushing the opposition movement by the mid-1950s, and the effect of the CCP’s actions on the modern Chinese Catholic Church.

After the CCP gained control after the Chinese civil war, the party tried to consolidate power and “to form subjects loyal to the state alone,” Mr. Mariani wrote. “Chinese Christians had too often been protected by foreign powers in the past,” he continued. “For these reasons, the CCP would come to see the Roman Catholic Church as ‘a reactionary organization, the source of counter-revolutionary activities in the midst of the People’s Democracies.’” Although religious freedom was established as a basic right in the Chinese Constitution, the CCP targeted Shanghai Catholics for “hiding under the cloak of religion,” operating a counterrevolutionary organization under the cover of religious activity.

The Shanghai Catholic community was successful in organizing resistance because the church had a long history in Shanghai and was deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Shanghai Catholics also enjoyed strong global ties with the Catholic Church, a relationship that was increasingly threatening to the Communists in charge. The CCP focused most of their attention on the “imperialists” they claimed were running the church, hoping to transform the Chinese Catholic Church into a fully indigenous organization and purge the church of all “imperialist influences.”

By the mid-1950s, the CCP had succeeded in crushing Shanghai Catholic resistance through a strategy of co-option, propaganda, mass arrests, and expulsions. Overall, Mr. Mariani estimated that 500,000 Christians died from persecution from 1950 to 1978. Even today, the Catholic Church is deeply divided, as a result of the government’s influence. “This was the enduring legacy of the CCP’s religious policy. It failed in destroying the church; it succeeded in dividing it,” Mr. Mariani concluded.

Church Militant presents a compelling narrative of a volatile period in Chinese history. Solidly researched and highly detailed, its use of recently declassified internal CCP documents gives a rare insider’s view of Chinese religious policy and sets Mr. Mariani’s work apart.

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Catholics were first asked to show patriotism, then they had to “reform” their church by purging it of “imperialist influences,” and then they were pressured to break ties with the pope.

In short, the CCP was trying to use patriotism as a wedge to split the “indivisible” church.

Catholics, for their part, felt the litmus test was not their patriotism but their links with the universal church—their catholicity.

For Catholics, the indivisibility of the church was fast becoming more than a private belief without consequences; indeed, it was now a public belief that kept them united with the universal church.

Catholic belief mattered, not because it was privately held, but because it was publicly practiced.

Soon many Catholics saw the Three-Self Movement for what it was; a direct attack on their church.

We’ve got to send a picture to the DA magazine.

I did have a Deerfield t-shirt with me and am sorry I didn’t have it on. So here we are.

1987

the common room

—Chris Martin ’86 and John Marsellus ’56

’86

Reunion Chairs John D. Amorosi Andrew P. Bonanno Peter Jurgeleit says, “I realize that this news is a bit overdue, but the occasion is still worth celebrating. My wife, Carolyn Morehouse, and I are proud to announce the birth of our daughter, Charlotte Harper Jurgeleit, on September 18, 2010.”

’85

’83

1988

Class Captain Oscar K. Anderson Tareq Hassan has written a book called Trade, a spy novel that is available as an Amazon Kindle download. “If you enjoyed watching The Usual Suspects, you will love this book,” commented Tareq’s brother Faisal ’82. Trade is also scheduled to be made into a movie.

’80 Recently, Joe Kaufman ’85 was selected as one of America’s most influential lawyers by the National Law Journal, due to his work with finance and capital markets.

1989

Class Captains Gustave K. Lipman Edward S. Williams Derek Hutton sent in the following: “An article about a river rescue I was involved in last summer can be found at The Valley Citizen Newspaper, Driggs, ID, under the ‘Your Valley Citizen’ section.

The article is titled ‘My Name is Derek.’ It was an intense experience, and I’m pleased the situation had a positive outcome.”

’80

’87

John Knight ’83 snaps a picture of classmates Will Wolf and Doug Schmidt at a Class of ’83 winter gathering in NYC.

Jack Abbott ’72 and Dwayne Gathers ’80 at TED talk San Diego.

Gus Lipman ’59, Commander Jamie Sands ’88, and Caleb Wiggins ’89 at the 2011 Navy Seals Foundation Dinner in New York.

IHL alumnus Peter Fearey ’87 recently paid a visit to Deerfield, and Director of Annual Giving John Knight ’83 got a picture of him with the infamous trophy.

’80

John ’75, Brad ’79, and Jim Butz ’80 enjoyed a week in Scotland with their dad. deerfield.edu

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Because Deerfield ranks first among the institutions I care about, I’ve considered Deerfield in my estate planning for a number of years. Now, as I approach my 40th Reunion, I’m letting Deerfield know of my intention to name Deerfield as the beneficiary of a retirement account. This bequest will receive credit toward my class reunion total. As an added bonus, it counts towards the total raised in the Imagine Deerfield campaign.

Hopefully, my gift will encourage others to make a similar commitment.

’72

Did you know that your estate gift can support the Imagine Deerfield campaign?

You may receive favorable tax treatment as a result of this gift planning; but the real benefit is in knowing that you will have a meaningful impact on our programs and secure Deerfield’s future.

• Name Deerfield in your will or living trust; or

Have you already provided for Deerfield in your estate plans?

Please let us know the details so that we can count you in our campaign totals.

It’s easy to do:

• Designate the Academy as a beneficiary of a retirement account, bank account, or life insurance policy; or • Make a gift in exchange for a charitable gift annuity; or • Create a charitable remainder trust naming Deerfield as a beneficiary

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Our office is ready to work with you to help you achieve your philanthropic goals.

Contact Linda Minoff, Director of Planned Giving: 413-774-1872 | lminoff@deerfield.edu | deerfield.edu/go/Boyden

June 7-10, 2012â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Deerfield

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’94 Katie Camp and Westray Battle ’94 were married in Boca Grande, FL, on October 22, 2011.

1990

1991

“Entering our 12th year in San Francisco with my husband Billy and our two children, Cole (eight) and Avery (five),” says Kendra Stitt Robins.

“My father passed away a few years ago, but our family loves to spend some of the summer in Colorado with my mother.”

Mark Winslow reports, “This fall my wife Angela and I undertook an adventure and drove a U-Haul truck nearly 4,000 miles from southern California to Anchorage, Alaska. We drove on the Alaska Highway through Canada. During the trip we saw a variety of wildlife.”

Boyden Society Captain David A. Thiel

Class Captain Jeb S. Armstrong

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Class Captain Justin G. Sautter

Alberto Garcia-Tunon writes, “We recently moved to Atlanta from Santa Monica, CA. I am working on the buy-side for a fund that acquires distressed assets in the US, Brazil, and Spain. My parents’ friends have made the transition much easier, but we still miss California quite a bit. Much to the hound’s chagrin, we also recently adopted a stray cat. Prior to leaving LA, I ran into Emery Laiw, Peter Chang, and Mark Yung ’92 at a Deerfield reception in Los Angeles. It was good seeing them again.”

“I recently came across former Deerfield teacher Peter Brush’s Yale University dissertation, ‘Cicero’s Poetry,’

and wanted to share part of his preface, dated August, 1970,” says Kevin Psonak. “It ends with a kind word and a joke: ‘Special warm thanks belong to my friends and students at Deerfield Academy, who have provided a congenial place to work and encouragement, and who, for some unknown reason, have persisted in their belief that I have been up to some good.’”

1992

Reunion Chairs Thomas R. Appleton William J. Willis Thomas Appleton and his wife Monique have set many goals for their family in 2012: First, get the three younger kids out of diapers and cribs.

Second, BURN the changing table and have the Diaper Champ sealed up and deposited with other nuclear

waste in Nevada. Third, and most important, THROW OUT THE BABY MONITOR!!!

They are also very much looking forward to attending Reunions with their eldest child, Kai, age six.

“In October 2011 we welcomed our second daughter, Grace Lenzner, who resembles her mother with her red hair and great smile,” reports Jono Lenzner.

“We are living in Washington, DC, where Matea is a journalist who covers politics and I am a federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice.”

On August 21, 2010, Erroin Martin and Susanne P.K. Martin, MD, were married in Ellmau, Austria, in a small chapel under the Kaiser Wilder Mountain.

Thomas Gibbon and Nelson Martin ’65 P’92 were in attendance.

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’92

’95 ’97

’94

’98

’97

“I’m happy to report that Lauren and I were married on October 15, 2011, at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT,” says Zeke Adkins ’95. “Our reception was at Indian Harbor Yacht Club. l to r: Matthew Hyde ’95, Aaron Kirley ’95, George Gumpert ’95, Steve MacLeod ’95, Willow Adkins Oberweger ’92, Lauren Carlucci, Zeke Adkins ’95, Steve Bixby ’95, Dan Meyer ’95, Tucker Bixby ’93, Brett Cooper ’95, and Clayton Sullivan ’92.” | Erroin Martin ’92 and his bride, Susanne, listen to a reading at their August 21, 2010, wedding. | Jessica Stanton and Ayodeji Perrin ’97 are happily planning for their August wedding. | There was quite the Deerfield contingent at the wedding of Katie Camp and Westray Battle ’94—all Class of ’94 unless noted: top: Steven Smith ’67, Henry Oakey, John Hansel, Chris Harrick, Lawrence Thompson, Mike Glazer, Ben Heyworth, Trent Smith ’96, Mike Gilbane ’00, Jared Paquette; middle: Ted Roosevelt, Todd Rotondi ’93, Westray Battle, Kirk Bedell ’93, Adam Sichol; bottom: Greg Lowry, Ed Amorosi | Leigh Merrigan ’98 and Patrick Moore were married on September 18, 2010, in Wing’s Neck, Poccasset, MA. l to r: Alec Bardzik ’98, Katie Spencer ’98, Elizabeth Creelman ’98, Samantha Saffir Barnes ’98, Thomas W. Merrigan ’45, Thomas T. Merrigan ’69, Thomas Olcott ’98, Rebecca Pond ’98, Jennifer (Howell) Sullivan ’98, Anne Warren ’98, Melissa (Henry) Fisher ’98, and Erin (McMurray) Knolhoff ’98. front: Jill Merrigan ’05, Leigh (Merrigan) Moore ’98, and Patrick Moore | Melinda (Mettler) Pyne ’97 and John Pyne Jr. were married on March 19, 2011, in Tallahassee, FL, at Welaunee Plantation, with many Deerfield friends in attendance: back, l to r: Trevor Gibbons ’97, Alexander Mejia ’99, Catherine Fiederowicz ’97, David Garonzik ’97, and Daniel Paduano ’97; front, l to r: David Miller ’97, Hilary Webb ’97, Holly Whidden ’97, Julie Hand ’97, Margot Pfohl ’97, Christopher Kempton ’97, John Pyne, Melinda Mettler Pyne ’97, Christopher Randolph ’99, Lindsey Burnett Coleman ’98, Alexander Acquavella ’99, and Taylor Whitman ’97. deerfield.edu

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advocate

’90

KENDRA STITT ROBINS

’96

Good Night, Sleep Tight…

A blanket. A storybook. A stuffed animal. All are simple items that, together, provide a sense of security and comfort to a child in need.

Each year, 25,000 homeless children receive these childhood essentials thanks to Project Night Night, a non-profit organization founded by Kendra Stitt Robins ’90.

Currently, there are more homeless children in the United States than at any other time since the Great Depression; Ms. Robins’ awardwinning organization helps these children “to feel secure, cozy, ready to learn, and significant” with its Night Night Packages. The bundles include a security blanket, age-appropriate children’s book, and stuffed animal, all inside a canvas tote bag.

Ms. Robins was moved to action when she observed how important nighttime routines, security, and sleep were for her own son’s wellbeing.

“My two-year-old son Cole was the inspiration for Project Night Night,” Ms. Robins said on her website. “He led me to realize that putting him to bed was one of the most critical parts of his day. Without a full night’s sleep, the next day was a struggle. With this realization came the concern for the many homeless and transient children who lacked the most basic bedtime comforts. These children, just like my son, deserve to have a security blanket to snuggle and a stuffed animal to squeeze as they drifted off to sleep. With that compelling desire to help those too young to help themselves, I left a successful legal career to launch Project Night Night.”

Since its inception in 2005, Project Night Night has donated over 125,000 children’s books and currently has 10,000 volunteers. The organization provides resources to get both individuals and organizations involved in their work. Project Night Night has partnered with hundreds of shelters, established drop-off locations to collect donations of like-new children’s items, and created the Adopt a Night Night Package program to encourage community action.

Project Night Night has received frequent media attention about its valuable work, and was named Best Children’s Charity by San Francisco Magazine and Most Awww-Inspiring Charity by the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Ms. Robins has also been honored by Traditional Home as one of its Classic Women of the Year.

To get involved or find out more, visit projectnightnight.org

’99

’95 ’93

Class Captains Richard D. Hillenbrand Charlotte York Matthews Colby D. Schwartz “My wife Laurie and I just had our third child—and our first girl—Stella Giovanna DeRosa on December 14, 2011,” reports Chris DeRosa.

“She was 8 lbs., 11 oz. and 21 inches long. Our oldest, Domenic, loves his baby sister. Vinny, now the middle child, couldn’t care less at the moment. We are getting used to playing zone defense vs. man on man, so chaos rules . . . having three under age four keeps us running!”

Matthew Heaphy and Clare Robinson were married on September 17, 2011, in the Marin Headlands, north of San Francisco.

Susu Gilson Ribaudo and husband Charles welcomed a new baby just before Christmas—Christopher Tait Ribaudo—born on December 20, 2011. “All is well in Menlo Park, CA,” says Susu, and they are adjusting to life with two babies.

Bria Camille James, daughter of Bridgette James ’96, arrived three months early but is doing great now!

Trevor Byrne ’99 and his wife Hannah welcomed their first child, Declan Christopher Byrne, on September 21, 2011, in Boston, MA. Margaux and Nora Lively, daughters of Ethan Lively ‘95 and his wife Kate, were all set to watch the Choate-Deerfield webcast this past fall from their home in Denver, CO. Stella Giovanna DeRosa, daughter of Chris DeRosa ’93 and his wife Laurie, was born on December 14, 2011.

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“Katie Camp and I were married on October 22, 2011 in Boca Grande, FL,” says Westray Battle. “I also completed the Ironman World Championships (Kona) on the Big Island of Hawaii two weeks prior, left Navy active duty in November, and we are living in Washington, DC!” Chi McClean reports, “I recently released a new, live-in-studio, solo acoustic record titled A Thing Or Three that is now available on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, and several other online retailers.”

Sarah Leonard and Alex Panagiotidis were married on September 23, 2011 in New York City.

Bridgette James reports, “Bria Camille James made an early arrival—three months to be exact—on April 18, 2011.

She is growing and developing well after leaving the NICU in July.” At the time Bridgette added, “She is now seven months old and taking the world by storm.”

Class Captain Daniel B. Garrison

1995

Class Captain Daniel D. Meyer Avery B. Whidden Emily Keating Mortimer writes, “In December, I left The Bump to serve as the San Diego business account manager for ViaCord by PerkinElmer. ViaCord is the leader in umbilical cord stem cell research and banking. I am thrilled to partner with hospitals and physicians to educate expectant families on the importance of banking their newborns’ cord blood and tissue. I am truly amazed by the science and feel so blessed to have this opportunity to help families protect the health of their children.”

Class Captain Farah-France P. Marcel Burke

1997

Reunion Chairs Amy Sodha Harsch Margot M. Pfohl “I’m having a great time beginning a two-year artist residency in Ghent, Belgium, at the HISK,” reports Rebecca Armstrong. “After being in New York for six years, the amount of support for the arts here is overwhelmingly luxurious.” Visit rarmstrongworks.com to view some of Rebecca’s work.

Eliza Barclay notes, “For the last year and a half I have been working for NPR in DC as a reporter and producer on the science desk. And this past fall, I launched our food blog, The Salt (npr.org/ blogs/thesalt). We cover the science, politics, and culture of food, and it has really taken off. I also write and produce a lot of health stories for the web and the air. I love seeing Jill Joyce here in town.

We often talk gardens—she has built a beautiful school garden in Virginia and I have a plot in a community garden in DC.”

Jonathan Barrett writes, “I am still living in Portland, OR, with my wife of seven years and son, Liam, who is now a year and a half old. In the fall I was made the chair of the English Department at the public high school where I currently teach. My latest personal project is training to run my second 50-mile ultramarathon this April. I ran one last year as a scholarship fundraiser for a graduating senior at the school where I work; I am hoping to offer the same scholarship again. More information can be found by going to endurancescholarship. blogspot.com where you can read about the scholarship, last year’s recipient, and the purpose of the whole endeavor.”

“Looking forward to the 15th!” says Hamilton Colwell.

“Until then I’m focused on growing Maia Yogurt beyond the 100+ New England grocery stores (including all Big Y’s near DA!) into the best American brand.”

Ayodeji Perrin reports, “Last May, I proposed to my partner of nine years, Jessica Stanton, who is a political science professor at Penn.

She said yes, and we’re slowly but surely getting things in order for our August wedding. In the meanwhile, I continue to stay active as a law student, heading up the Penn Law chapter of the International Law Students Association, competing on the Jessup International Law Moot Court team, and, as of mid-January, serving as editor in chief on the next

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’95

MICHAEL ELLSBERG Beyond the Books After his op-ed appeared in The New York Times last fall, Michael Ellsberg ’95 found himself at the center of a growing controversy; he was even dubbed “reckless” because of what he had written.

The subject of his piece? How college students aren’t learning the skills that they need to succeed in an entrepreneurial economy.

Citing innovative and successful college dropouts Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, Mr. Ellsberg says that the academic world produces professionals with degrees—lawyers, writers, professors—but not what the United States needs right now: start-up entrepreneurs, a.k.a. job creators.

Start-up businesses are the “true engine of job creation in America,” Mr. Ellsberg maintains, and “our current educational system is acting as the brakes.

Simply put, from kindergarten through undergraduate and grad school, you learn very few skills or attitudes that would ever help you start a business.” Creativity, sales, networking, and comfort with failure are all skills that college students can’t learn in a lecture hall; they are acquired, Mr. Ellsberg argues, in the real world. “Classroom skills may put you at an advantage in the formal market, but in the informal market, street-smart skills and real networking are infinitely more important.”

Although Mr. Ellsberg pursued a traditional college education, graduating from Brown University, he found that his lack of “street smarts” led to a chaotic post-college life. “I went through the system and my 20s were a complete mess,” he said in an interview with the International Business Times. “Financially, emotionally, I was a mess. I think this is true now for many, many twenty-somethings. People are very lost and confused now when they get out of college, and I was one of them.”

Mr. Ellsberg says he learned the most important lessons of his life outside of college, in the “real world.” His experience led him to write a book, The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think, and It’s Not Too Late, in which he expands upon the

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themes from his op-ed. The book is a guide to developing practical skills for success in an entrepreneurial economy and includes interviews with millionaires and billionaires who don’t have college degrees.

A college education can be a valuable experience for many people, Mr. Ellsberg acknowledges.

Unmotivated students may need the structure of a formal educational institution to guide them onto a career path. On the opposite end of the spectrum, students who want to become doctors or lawyers, for example, need the proper education and training that they can only find in an institution of higher education. However, he said to the IB Times, “I’m trying to promote job creation, and those are not the people who are creating jobs.”

Mr. Ellsberg advocates for the government to promote creating a start-up business as a “worthy, respectable alternative” to academics. Like the successful entrepreneurs he highlights in The Education of Millionaires, young people should get out into the world and lead. “You don’t lead in a classroom, you lead out in the real world,” he said. “If you have the ambition and the desire to do things, you don’t need this college stamp of approval.”

More about The Education of Millionaires and Mr. Ellsberg’s work at ellsberg.com

’97

four issues of the Journal of International Law. I’m looking forward to the 15th Reunion, and I’ll be spending my summer at Morgan Lewis & Bockius in New York and hoping to catch up with classmates there as well.”

1998

Class Captain Thomas Dudley Bloomer

’90

“Last July Kate Szilagyi and I were married in Northern California,” reports Scott MacArthur. “My brother Hayes ’95, along with ’98 classmates Cameron O’Mara, Gov Graney, Seamus Somers, Ian Franke, Andrew Norton, Nick Leibowitz, AJ Lika, Joe Tarr, Chris Dirkes, Ethan Meers, and Spencer Cherry, as well as Chris Wallace ’99 and Dan Rhoda ’95 joined us in the Carmel Valley.”

Page McClean writes: “Hello! I am doing my MA in Visual Anthropology in London and would love to catch up with anyone who’s living in the UK or may pass through town at any point!”

Todd Yates and his wife Cristiany, along with children Julia (age three) and Edward (age one), recently relocated to Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Todd’s new role as a product manager for Google+ is keeping him busy, but they’ve found time to enjoy their new hometown.

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My latest personal project is training to run my second 50-mile ultra-marathon this April. I ran one last year as a scholarship fundraiser for a graduating senior at the school where I work; I am hoping to offer the same scholarship again. —Jonathan Barrett ’97

1999 “Lindsay and I would like to announce the birth of our first child. Jacoby ‘Jake’ William Aroesty was born on January 16,” writes Michael Aroesty. “He is a happy and healthy little guy. We hope to see him manning the blue line at Deerfield in 16 or 17 years.”

Trevor Byrne and his wife Hannah welcomed their first child, Declan Christopher Byrne, on September 21, 2011 in Boston, MA. Trevor currently works in Boston as a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley; he and his family reside in Hingham, MA.

A sample of the wildlife Mark Winslow ’90 and his wife saw on their journey from southern California to Anchorage, Alaska.

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Deerfield Academy Archives

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’02

Just got back from playing in the US Pond Hockey Championships in Minnesota with my brother Chip’00 and Wes Fox ’99. Tremendous annual event that features 250 teams from around the world with all games played on one lake. —James Canner ’02

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Class Captain Lisa Rosemary Craig Emily Jean Dawson “I have been living in London for three years, but I’m moving back to Boston to join Highland Capital Partners, where I will be working with my friend and classmate Andy Hunt,” reports Jeremiah Daly.

Robertson Follansbee says, “My wife Katie and I had a baby boy on November 4.

Daniel is growing like crazy, much to the chagrin of his mother who would like him to be a baby forever. My mom, Kathy Robertson, is doing a great job in the early stages of grandparenthood.”

“Life and work continue to keep me busy and happy,” reports Amanda Herzberger.

“Jeff and I are moving up to Northern Vermont in the coming months, which is exciting and a long time coming. Last year I had the pleasure of working with four Deerfield alums and photographing their weddings: Talley Burns ’01 and Zach Mayer ’01, Alice Brown ’98, and Amy Sodha ’99. Next year I’m working two—a fun connection and a great way to stay in touch!”

Katie Fay Long reports, “Nick and I were married in October in Newport, RI. We were so lucky that many of our Deerfield friends were in attendance for the celebration and that we had our friend and classmate, Dennis Kwan, as the wedding photographer!”

“I just started as a tenure-

track professor in the Earth and Oceanographic Science Department at Bowdoin College,” writes Emily Peterman.

“I’m loving teaching and looking forward to bringing students along with me for field studies in Argentina and Death Valley this year.”

2001 Meghan-Michele German writes: “Hi Deerfield: Life is great. I completed my Master of Arts degree in American Studies from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in May 2011. I’m currently producer at HeartVault Productions in Fort Green, Brooklyn. I have a few projects on the horizon, including the soonto-be released film He’s Way More Famous Than You. I was producer and production coordinator on this independent film.”

“Last May I accepted an associate position with Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, LP in their Baltimore, MD, office,” says Laura Jacque. “My practice areas focus on medical malpractice and professional liability defense, although I also handle cases in other areas of insurance defense litigation. After almost three years practicing in New York and New Jersey, I am happy to be making Maryland my new home.”

Katie Rutledge is in the midst of a credential program for Mild/Moderate Special Education at Notre Dame de Namur University. “I am also

about to start a job as a one-to-one student aide in a kindergarten class,” she says.

“And I’m currently a reading and writing tutor for students with learning disabilities. If any Deerfield alums are in the Bay Area, I’d love to meet up!”

Kevin Wei notes: “After a short time designing buildings, I now work from my solo-enterprise Kevin Wei New York, where I create jewelry and sculptural objects at the intersection of luxury, technology, and storytelling. Check out my ongoing work at: kevinwei. com. (See page 88.)

2002 Reunion Chairs William Malcolm Dorson Robert Agee Gibbons Terrence Paul O’Toole Dorothy Elizabeth Reifenheiser David Branson Smith Serena Stanfill Tufo When we last heard from James Canner, he said, “Just got back from playing in the US Pond Hockey Championships in Minnesota with my brother Chip ’00 and Wes Fox ’99. Tremendous annual event that features 250 teams from around the world with all games played on one lake.”

On December 14, 2011, Ryan Hart was admitted as a member of the Bar for the State of Maryland. He is now serving as the judicial law clerk for the Honorable Timothy J. McCrone of the Circuit Court for Howard County, Maryland.

“After five years at Penn, I finished my PhD in electrical engineering (robotics) this past October,” reports Goran Lynch. “I moved to Seattle a few weeks later and have been enjoying my job as a project manager at Synapse Product Development since then. Drop me a line if you’re in the Pacific Northwest, and if I can make it to the 10th Reunion this year (whoa!), I’ll see you there!”

When we last heard from Graham Rosser, he was engaged to be married in Victoria, BC, on March 31. His fiancée, Genevieve Houdet-Cote, is a speech pathologist from Victoria, originally from Quebec. They met through mutual Seattle friends. They planned a small

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2000

Katie Fay ’00 and Nick Long were married on October 15, 2011, in Newport, RI. In attendance were: Kady Tremaine Buchanan ’00, Kelley Drake ’99, Hilary Kallop ’00, Andrew Armstrong ’00, Will Kallop ’00, Molly Fay Urquhart ’02, Maggie Brown ’00, Katie Fay Long ’00, Nick Long, Jon Meachin ’00, Katie Hunt ’02, Megan Adams ’00, Mimi Krueger ’00, Ashley Hilton Kadakia ’00, Dennis Kwan ’00, Andy Hunt ’00, Karina Meckel Heffers ’00, and Mieke Baran’00.

Daniel Follansbee, son of Robertson ’00 and Katie Follansbee, was born on November 4, 2011.

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family wedding in Victoria, and then a US wedding party in the summer, “after they sort out green card issues.”

According to Graham, they’re both snowboarders and rock climbers and adventure travelers and fitness freaks. Graham cooks, and Genevieve not so much, so they should be good. “Life marches on!”

2003

Class Captain Kara Susan Durocher Jamie Luckenbill writes: “I feel lucky to report that this past July 30, 2011, Valerie Coit agreed to marry me at her parent’s home in Portland, OR. The Green and White made a strong showing. Oliver-Blade Barron, Sam Reid ’04, Dave Helfand ’04, Jake Pinkston ’04, Parker Blackiston, Perry Palmedo, Phil Meachin, Brooks Hopple, Morgan ’02 and Meredith Olson ’05, Jim Olson ’65, and Eric Grossman all made the trip, with only one appearing in the Coit pool later in the evening, still in class dress, of course.”

James Spiller and Rachel Broek are happy to announce their wedding, which took place on October 1, 2011, in Des Moines, IA.

2004

Class Captains Nicholas Zachary Hammerschlag Caroline C. Whitton Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

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2005

Class Captain H. Jett Fein Bentley J. Rubinstein Torey A. Van Oot Annie Gibbons writes, “I’ve been working as a technology consultant at Bluewolf in San Francisco for almost two years. Last month I used all my airline points from traveling for work to fly to Bali and trek around the Gili Islands!”

2006

Class Captain Kevin C. Meehan Blair Brandt traveled to Cambridge, MA, to host a private cocktail party for Harvard juniors and seniors.

The event was designed to be a meet and greet between Harvard students, Blair, and his business partner, as an opportunity to introduce them to their company, The Next Step Realty. “A few of our brand ambassadors at Harvard are Deerfield alums, and a few of the other attendees were Deerfield alums too, so we got lucky and captured a moment of us all together. (See page 87.)

In other news, we’ve actually expanded our brand ambassador network to almost 400 students across country, and will be closer to 1,000 before the Class of 2012 graduates from college. More interesting, though, is that nearly 100 of the current ambassadors are also Deerfield alumni who have taken a particular interest and enthusiasm to the company, especially

after many of their friends interned for us this summer in Manhattan or posted a link to the company on their Facebook profiles, mentioning that a Deerfield alum had started the company.

Including DA alums in our brand ambassador network has been something I have felt strongly about doing from the get go. I’d imagine that my time as a campus rep for the Gordie Foundation encouraged this belief.”

“Hello, Deerfield!” writes Charlie McSpadden. “I have had an exhilarating and exhausting year and a half in the film industry, working on the set and in the production office of four feature films made in New York City. I began on the Whit Stillman film Damsels in Distress—his first in 13 years, and in which I have a brief cameo— followed by the Steve McQueen sex-addiction drama Shame, which garnered awards and praise for its stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. I then worked on the pre-production of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, for which I retrieved my trusty copy of the Fitzgerald classic, replete with notes from Ms. Buron’s junior year English class. During a rehearsal one day, having just come from my 5th Reunion weekend, I bonded with lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio over his The Departed character’s Deerfield heritage. Finally, this past fall I worked on Stuart Blumberg’s Thanks for Sharing, another addiction

narrative, which featured Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, and Gwyneth Paltrow. I recently wrote an article for the Duke magazine about my experiences that you can read here: dukechronicle.com/article/reel-world-reflections. I have been blessed with great opportunities thus far and eagerly await future projects.

Hope all is well in the Valley!”

2007

Reunion Chairs Matthew McCormick Carney Elizabeth Conover Cowan Jennifer Ross Rowland Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

2008

Class Captain Taro Funabashi Kate Canty was named to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association All-Academic Sailing Team as an honorable mention selection following the 2010-11 season. The team honors sailors who have achieved excellence in national and inter-conference competition as well as excelling at the highest academic level. All those nominated must have at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale with junior or senior academic standing in addition to playing a role as a key starter or reserve on the sailing team. Currently a senior at Georgetown University, Kate is majoring in biology and hopes to become a pediatrician. She has tallied a number of wins

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’03 l to r: David Coit, Oliver Barron ’03,

Eric Grossman ’03, Jamie Luckenbill ’03, Valerie Coit Luckenbill, Andrew Wood, Andrew Kabatznick, Taylor Kilian, and Sam Reid ’04 at Jamie and Val’s July 30, 2011, wedding.

Graham Rosser ’02 and his fiancée, Genevieve Houdet-Cote, had a small family wedding in Victoria on March 31, 2012. l to r: Will Nitze ’09, Oliver Lee ’10,

’06

Blair Brandt ’06, Pete Berg ’09, and Liza Cowan ’07 at a The Next Step Realty event in Cambridge, MA. Will and Oliver represent Next Step at Harvard. l to r: Elliott Smith ’05, Sara

’02

Hutchins ’05, Woodrow Travers ’05, Philip Baity ’05, Killian Clarke ’05, Meredith Olson ’05, Kevin O’Rourke ’05, Julia Conway ’05, Reggie Snipes ’05, Ian Thomson ’05, Michael Zapas’05, Garrett Bewkes ’06, John Dema—not pictured: Katy Laird, Melissa Warnke ’04, Laurel Detweiler, Antonia Bartoli, Alex Blaney

’05

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Stories From the Past—to Wear Today Kevin Wei ’01 is telling stories and bridging cultures from different millennia—through his jewelry designs.

An emerging artist and designer in New York City, Mr. Wei uses a contemporary technique called 3-D printing to create handmade jewelry inspired by the past.

3-D printing, or additive manufacturing, is a technique that is revolutionizing the fields of design and engineering. “Precision robots stack very small layers of material one on top of the other to build a three-dimensional object,” Mr. Wei explained. “It allows me to digitally design incredibly intricate patterns and complex structures, a class of jewelry quite unlike most other jewelry.” The robots build Mr. Wei’s designs using engineered wax; the bangles, pendants, and earrings are then cast using sterling silver, and Mr. Wei polishes and finishes each piece by hand. This blend of the efforts of human, computer, and machine is redefining what it means for an object to be “handmade.” Mr. Wei calls the robots “an extension of my hands, as I have instructed them on their every action.” The process is not simply an assembly line. “These robots build things that the human mind can imagine, but that the human hand cannot accommodate.”

Mr. Wei fuses this contemporary technique with historical themes to create intricate, architecturallyinspired jewelry. “I’m not interested in style or fashion, but I am fascinated by history and how architecture used to be an edifice for recording our greatest stories,” Mr. Wei said. A former architect, Mr. Wei turned to jewelry design as a medium “for recording

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the extraordinary time in history that we live in.” He seeks to tell stories from the past in a new way, instilling them with meaning for a modern world. Jewelry is “a collection of artifacts that translate old stories for a new millennium,” said Mr. Wei. “In my mind I make jewelry-sized buildings, so in this way I never really left architecture, just as I was never only a building maker.”

Three pieces from Mr. Wei’s ongoing collection Series I—Cosmatesque are on display in the exhibition PRINT/3D at Material ConneXion in New York City. Inspired by a style of 11th-century Byzantine mosaics, the Cosma bangle, Beraldo bangle, and Drudo pendant are all intricate works, based on the geometric patterns of mosaic tiles. While contemporary architecture is based on simple repeating patterns, bound by physics and advanced mathematics, Byzantine artisans constructed complex repeating patterns, explained Mr. Wei. “To put it another way, you could see a square transform into a pentagon, and then into a star, and watch it break apart into lines shooting out in all directions before it repeats.”

Mr. Wei’s jewelry re-interprets the Byzantine techniques. “To see Cosmatesque concepts rendered using contemporary technology reminds us of what is lost and what is gained as our ideas and techniques have evolved over the last 1,000 years. It’s important to carry these lessons with us as we move forward, and I hope my work can add this extra dimension of inquiry to the field of contemporary art jewelry.” Mr. Wei’s work will be on display at Material ConneXion through May 11.

artisan

’01 See more: kevinwei.com

In a roster that includes many picks from the top ten rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft, Jeremiah Bayer ’05 may seem out of place.

Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 30th round in 2009, Mr. Bayer is the second-oldest pitcher on the minor league Salem (VA) Red Sox. Yet he is still making an impact on the team, according to an article on MassLive.com.

Pitching out of the bullpen, Mr. Bayer’s versatility has impressed the Red Sox front-office staff. Last year, Ben Proctor, assistant director of player development for the Boston Red Sox, commented: “Jeremiah has had a very good year. His numbers match up with anyone in the organization, especially with getting groundballs.”

Salem Manager Bruce Crabbe echoed the praise. “He has been very versatile for us.

He has filled in gaps for us. The guy throws strikes. His groundball ratio is second to none.”

“The season has gone well,” Mr. Bayer said. “I was happy to come here (with Salem) and start the season. I have been lucky to stay healthy and throw a lot of innings.”

Mr. Bayer was drafted by the Red Sox following a record-breaking season at Trinity College.

He set the school record for wins in a season, with 12, led Division III in innings and ERA—0.85 ERA in 95 1/3 innings—and was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pitcher of the Year.

at various regattas, including a first-place finish in the B division at the 2010 Coed Atlantic Coast Championships and a first-place in the B division at the 2011 MAISA Conference Championship, among others.

2009

Dave Cawley, Salem Red Sox

Class Captains Elizabeth Utley Schieffelin Nicholas Warren Squires Joshua Krugman continues to study philosophy, dance, and environmental studies at Wesleyan University, where he often sees Michael Yee ’10 (Misha, to his Russian-speaking friends), and Cornelia Lorentzen. This past fall Josh’s poems appeared in the journals Osiris and Ostranenie, as well as The Swedish Dance History 2011 out of Vienna, Austria. In the fall he was a winner of the “Wesley-

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Big League Dreams

The Greenfield, MA, native finished the 2011 season with a 7-4 record and 3.26 ERA in 91 innings pitched.

an Student Poetry Competition” and gave two readings on campus. Two of his poems will be published in the The Bitter Oleander this spring.

2010 Please send us your news and notes! See page 64.

2011 Sean Barnett writes, “I am currently attending New York University. I wanted to drop a line about two recent accomplishments—while still attending school at NYU, I will be working two days a week at GQ Magazine as a fashion editorial intern. The second achievement is that I was recently in an independent comedy short that was submitted to a pilot competition for Comedy Central in late January.”

SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS & CLASSNOTES deerfield.edu/alumni/notes

DEADLINE: JUNE 14, 2012 Photos will be published based on quality and available space.

Please be sure to identify everyone.

Snail mail: Class Notes, P.O. Box 306, Deerfield, MA 01342

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No one knew what to expect when David Pond and Bill Barry called together a group of seniors this past fall, and really, anything was possible. Mr. Pond and Mr. Barry had gathered the group at the request of the co-chairs of the Senior Class Campaign, who were hoping for some insight as to what the Class of 2012 wanted to leave Deerfield as their special legacy; what they discovered wasn’t particularly astonishing, but the result has been phenomenal.

“They had many ideas,” said Co-chair Suzanne Huebsch, “and having their perspective was invaluable to us.”

Possibilities ran the gamut from supporting international travel to putting the class’ name on a section of the Academy’s newest dorm, but one theme definitively emerged: students wanted to support teachers.

“As a whole, they raved about the teachers and adults on campus as being the ‘secret sauce’ for what makes Deerfield special,” explained Mrs. Huebsch. “They also talked about teachers providing new perspectives and helping them to stretch their minds. My children have had the privilege of being in classrooms with visiting teachers; they bring a whole new perspective—one that sometimes challenges current thinking and learning styles—and that’s good!”

In the end, the results of the senior gathering were twofold: The Class of 2012 Visiting Teacher Chair was decided upon, and the class also took responsibility for the remodeling of the Deerfield Room; they said that many Deerfield students share a common bond through the Deerfield Room and an ethics

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A Senior Moment class that has been taught in it by a “wonderful teacher.” In the future, it will be known as the Class of 2012 Deerfield Room.

Co-Chair, current parent, and Trustee Brian Simmons added, “It was the kids’ idea to support teaching, and it’s our hope that this student-led initiative will inspire all parents to participate. We also hope that those who hold this chair in the future will bring new energy and new teaching methods to the Academy as well as forging true bonds with students and discovering the best of the Deerfield community and its traditions.”

As of mid-April, the Senior Class Campaign leaders were thrilled to report a total of $1.4 million raised so far, with a 50 percent participation rate. “Typically,” said Director of Parent Giving Bill Barry, “we get more than 80 percent participation, so we have a little further to go this year but even so, the response has been great!”

Mrs. Huebsch, whose son Hunter graduated last year and whose daughter Elizabeth is a member of the Class of ’12, summed up many parents’ feelings when she said, “Deerfield is a magical place for a whole host of reasons . . . But uppermost in my mind and what I am most grateful for is the commitment of the adults at Deerfield to our children. They clearly have a stake in every student’s future and make that apparent everyday through their interactions in the dorms, the classrooms, on the fields, and in the studios. Deerfield’s faculty is dedicated to graduating not only well-educated young women and men but also to graduating young people with impeccable character.”••

in memoriam 1937

Robert Thayer Patey September 7, 2011

1939

Charles Griswold Abbott December 21, 2011

James Horn Gilbert * September 4, 2011

1940

Richard Hulbert Groves

Gilbert Sears Davis *

John Hagy Davis

February 12, 2012

January 29, 2012

1943

Waldo Hutchins, III

William Alexander Guthrie June 4, 2011

Judith Allen Lawrence

June 27, 2011

Frederic Page Jones

Livingston Titsworth Mulligan

1945

David Earle Gredler

August 23, 2011

August 28, 2011

1941

Richard Mershon Sheirich

William Bedford Lloyd November 28, 2011

Henry Parker Smith October 17, 2011

December 18, 2011

John Worthington Shumway

1955

Richard Andrew Hunter * January 5, 2012

1953

Donald Malcolm Wilson

1944

November 20, 2011

1962

March 27, 2007

December 26, 2011

James Waldron Botkin

February 7, 2012

January 1, 2012

November 29, 2011

1961

Donald Lefferts Spurdle November 25, 2011

1956

Rodney Danforth Hardy *

Samuel Arthur Rea, Jr.

1972

Andrew Fraser Tracy MacGruer November 11, 2011

1974

Thomas Crispin Vary July 8, 2010

December 1, 2011

1960

*Member of the Boyden Society

Douglas Keith Nelson February 23, 2012

December 11, 2011

1947

Jerome Boyce Angell June 14, 2010

1942

Leopold Adler II January 29, 2012

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REGIONAL & CLUB EVENTS

DEERFIELD

On February 25, 12 alumni traveled from all over to the valley for their beloved Deerfield Alumni hockey game. The group was split into two teams made up of all age groups from the class of 1961, to the great class of 2010, and various years in between. It was a great weekend for all who participated and one that this group aims to make an annual event. -Steve Kelley '10

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Alumni Hockey 1 back, l to r: Thomas Yum ’14, Kurt Heise ’12, John Jackson ’14, Tim McVaugh, Brian Fry, Chris DeRosa ’93, Chase Coleman ’93, Steven Kelley ’10, Bryan Ciborowski ’03, Bradley Johnston ’96, Mark Warcup ’96 front, l to r: John McAtee ’85, Andrew Slade ’12, BJ Mackasey ’03, David Koeppel ’76, Craig C’Miel ’93, Gregory Hayes ’96, Eric Hall ’61

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DEERFIELD CLUB OF HONG KONG

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5

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Sugarbush 6 Al Hobart ’55, Win Smith, Jr. ’67, Jay Caldwell ’81, Breck Baldwin

Doris Tam P’12, Javier Chang P’12, Rita Chang P’12, Mingfang Zhang P’16, Renbo Tu '16, Edric Tam '12, Paul Miao P’13

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’81, Hal Findlay ’76, June Tang P’03,’06 meet for First Tracks 7 Clay Sullivan ’92 with nephew Thomas and Christa Calagione Donnellan ’93 with their son Blake 8 Hearty Breakfast in Timbers before a full day on the slopes: Hal Findlay ’76, June Tang P’03,’06, Breck Baldwin ’81, Jay Caldwell ’81, Jay Kempf, Peter Van Oot ’73, Alice Worth, Ben Mallory ’76 Visit deerfield.edu/alumni/clubs for club photo galleries.

Jenny Hammond and Jessica Pleasant

Serena Tufo ’02, Jerome Brathwaite ’04, Charles Buaron ’04, Felix Ramirez ’03 3 James Slattery ’02, Billy Bryan ’95 4 Matt Carney ’07, Dan Piemont ’07, Tom Melly ’07

D E E R F I E L D C LU B O F N YC

2

6

DEERFIELD CLUB OF NEW ENGLAND

Happy Hour 2 Brooks Scholl ’04,

I M A G I N E D E E R F I E L D C E L E B R AT I O N S

VERO BEACH

1 Mike Sheridan ’58 P’93,’00,’05, Dr. Margarita Curtis, Peggoty Gilson P’84 G’12, Manning Curtis, David Pond P’92,’98 2 Becca Melvoin, Kathy Robertson P’93,’00,’05 3 Marshall Evans ’60, Tony Buford ’59, Doug Tansill P’92 4 Carol Graves, John Heath '64, Terry O'Toole '02, Sara Myers '98, Chuck Krogh '64, Ellen Duenow 5 Phil Collias '80,

Jigme Nehring, Ben Chou '85, Julie Wright, Victor Wright '84

Upcoming Events: deerfield.edu/events-calendar

1

May 9: Deerfield Club of the Rockies: A Taste of Scotland’s Whiskys at the Cactus Club 22: Deerfield Club of New England: The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney

June 2

3

7-10: Reunions 2012 21: Deerfield Club of DC: Washington Nationals Game 22: Deerfield Club of Southern California: Opening Night at the Hollywood Bowl

SAN FRANCISCO

26: Deerfield Club of the Bay Area:

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San Francisco Giants Game 30: Deerfield Club of New England: A Prarie Home Companion at Tanglewood

July 17: Deerfield Club of New England: Boston Red Sox Game

August 2-5: Look to the Hills Summer Institute—

LOS ANGELES

Celebrating Ten Years

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Invitations are mailed approximately six weeks before each event. If you have not received an invitation and would like to attend a particular event, please contact the Office of Alumni and Development: events@deerfield.edu or 413.774.1474.

the common first person room

For the Love of Baseball

by Earl R. Nelson

Eddie was a master at Deerfield Academy, and also the hockey coach. He said he was looking for an assistant and wondered if I would be interested. I had never heard of Deerfield, and I was not interested in coaching or teaching.

But he went on to say that the Headmaster, a Mr. Boyden, coached baseball, and that he too was looking for an assistant coach. With that my ears perked up, and I asked, “Are you sure?” My first love was baseball . . .

Mr. Boyden called to invite me to interview with him in Deerfield right after New Year’s Day, 1928. When I arrived on campus, Mr. Boyden was headed to Boston, where he had an appointment with President Coolidge; he had me come along.

I sat in the front seat with Jack, the chauffeur, while Mr. Boyden sat in the back and dictated to his secretary the entire trip. When we arrived, we took the secretary to the station and she took a train back to Deerfield, and while Mr. Boyden met with President Coolidge, Jack and I went to a movie and then he took me on a tour of Boston.

My interview with Mr. Boyden took place during our return trip to Deerfield. We had talked for about 15 or 20 minutes when I noticed that Mr. Boyden’s eyes were closed and that his chin was resting on his chest . . . that was the end of my interview but I got the job.

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Spring 2012

I was assigned to a suite on the second floor of the new dormitory, where I was in charge of 10 or 12 boys. I also taught an algebra class, held one or two study periods, and assisted in the afternoons first with hockey, and in the spring, to my great pleasure, with baseball. I even helped Mrs. Boyden plant her garden, and did the weeding and whatever other chores she asked me to do. Every Sunday morning she invited the single masters for a wonderful breakfast before going to church. We never missed being at that Sunday morning breakfast.

Between the hockey and baseball seasons, I accompanied the basketball team on its out-of-town trips. On one return trip, the bus skidded off the road and turned over—tearing all five doors off the side. I was seated in the back, over the gas tank, and my overcoat got soaked with gasoline. Although the engine caught fire, Mr. Boyden and I managed to get all of the boys out and check them for injuries. Amazingly, only one was hurt—and although his ear was nearly severed, it was a minor injury considering the circumstances.

The next day Jack and I went back to the site of the accident to arrange for the bus to be repaired. When I saw how close we had come to disaster, I really got a chill . . . had we skidded off the other side of the road, we would have fallen into a river and all of us might have been killed.

Deerfield Academy Archives

It was a cold December day in 1927 when I ran into Eddie Switzer while sitting around an open fire, warming our feet after a good time of ice-skating in Aurora, Illinois. Eddie said to me, “Earl, you’re a darn good skater!” I thanked him but couldn’t return the compliment.

The bus was completely rebuilt. On the first trip afterward, Jack made a wrong turn on the way home and we ended up against a pile of logs in a lumbering camp. This time no one was hurt, but the bus was blocked by logs and couldn’t be maneuvered until we had gotten the lumberjacks out of bed to move some of them.

On the morning after this second mishap, I contacted Ralph Oatley, the music instructor. I knew he sold life insurance as a sideline, and that is how I came to buy my very first life insurance policy. It was for $5,000, with double indemnity for accidental death, of course!

During baseball season I coached the pitchers and catchers. I also hit fly balls to the outfielders while Mr. Boyden hit ground balls to the infielders. He insisted that every player be able to lay down a bunt.

I usually coached third base in games; if we had a runner on third base with less than two outs, Mr. Boyden would signal for the squeeze play, in which the batter was to bunt. It usually got us a run. In later years when I would see major league players fail in attempting to bunt, I would think of Mr. Boyden—too bad they didn’t have him to teach them that art.

I learned something valuable from Mr. Boyden in the very first game of the season. We had built up a big lead going into the ninth inning, so I told one of the boys to start gathering up the bats and other equipment. Mr. Boyden said, “Earl, the game is not over until the last man is out.” Years later I immediately thought of him when the great New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”

At the end of the school year I told Mr. and Mrs. Boyden how much I enjoyed my short stay, but that I wanted to get back to the business world . . . but the happy memories of my time at Deerfield contributed substantially to the choice of my only son, Paul, who graduated from the Academy in 1948. •• Mr. Nelson passed away in 1997; his “remembrance of Deerfield past” is published with thanks to his son, Dr. Paul T. Nelson ’48.

FACULTY NOTES Gabe Temesvari was back on campus in April to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. He presided over an evening that featured movies, music, and memorabilia of the voyage, as well as dinner in the Dining Hall where the menu for the evening was that of the Titanic’s second class passengers. Gabe also continues his baltimoreradio.com shows, including one dedicated to the Titanic.

William Thomas, who taught history at Deerfield from 19861988, recently published a book—The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War and the Making of Modern America. The Iron Way presents the Civil War as part of a longer period of American expansion and national formation, one largely dominated by the dynamic growth of railroads and telegraphs. Beginning with Frederick Douglass’ escape from slavery in 1838 on the railroad and ending with the driving of the golden spike to link the transcontinental in 1869, this book charts the convulsive working out of war, technology, and the modern nation.

The Iron Way is available from Amazon.com and through the Yale University Press.

deerfield.edu

95

Final Exam by Danae DiNicola

ACROSS 1. SAT alternative 4. ___ de deux 6. Hogwarts implements 9. Snow glider 12. Diffident 14. Meadow 16. Regard 18. Knightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;suitâ&#x20AC;?

20. 70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Carradine series 22. Bleat 23. Attention-getters 24. Ingratiate 25. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gotten ___ you?â&#x20AC;?

27. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;? problem 28. Ray type 29. Of a word class 31. BlasĂŠ 35. Admission type 37. Review type 38. Like old recordings 39. â&#x20AC;&#x153;___ Mariaâ&#x20AC;?

40. Fibrous plant 42. Grainy 43. Reproductive cell 46. Prettifies 47. Even if, briefly 48. Black, in poetry 49. Posts 50. Structuring

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53. Borer 55. Hideous 56. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Themâ&#x20AC;?

57. Boredom 59. Unload, as stock 60. ___ gestae 61. Reef material 63. League members 64. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Awesome!â&#x20AC;?

65. Equally 66. School pal 68. Refusal 69. Blood carrier 70. Earnestly 76. Persia, now 77. Hard to lift 79. Cry 81. Contending 83. Rough to the touch 86. Innate 89. Drops on blades 90. Type style 91. Deerfield ___ 92. Mr. Ashley DOWN 1. Inspire 2. House of risk 3. Atlanta-based station 4. Beep

5. C deficiency 7. Urbanely 8. Caribbean, e.g.

10. Shish ___ 11. Anger 12. Absorb, with â&#x20AC;&#x153;upâ&#x20AC;?

13. â&#x20AC;&#x153;48___â&#x20AC;?

14. Fencing action 15. Characterized by union

of sames 17. Neptune may be described

this way 19. Time keeper 20. Ship fee 21. Tap 25. Sport type 26. Tumults 30. Plants of the rose family 32. 1935 Triple Crown winner 33. Armageddon 34. Senior female 36. Punisher 41. Sayings 42. Current 44. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ___ Daba Honeymoonâ&#x20AC;?

45. Noblemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s territory 50. Chemistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solution 51. Concerns 52. Gull product 54. Brio 56. Bed part 58. Common contraction 61. Decorative molding 62. Layered dish 66. Laughed 67. â&#x20AC;&#x153;First Bloodâ&#x20AC;? director Kotcheff 69. Reed ___ Center 71. Inner ear part 72. Brownish 73. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dearâ&#x20AC;? one 74. ___-tzu 75. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Victâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ry for ___ we chooseâ&#x20AC;?

76. Common verb 78. Aims 80. You and me 82. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I do,â&#x20AC;? for one 84. â&#x20AC;&#x153;___ we having fun yet?â&#x20AC;?

85. New DA musical tradition 87. Indefinite article 88. 25 Down locale

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Answers for the Winter 2012 puzzle: / 2 2 ) $ 6

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object lesson

Vintage Blueprints (circa 1920s) One firm’s vision for the expansion of campus—obviously this design was scrapped in favor of another one.

The shaded structures were proposed buildings, and the others represented existing buildings, such as John Williams.

Interestingly, Main Street was referred to as the “Highway.”

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Deerfield Academy | Deerfield, MA | 01342

Burlington, VT Permit No. 19

Change Service Requested

Baseball and construction (of Barton Dormitory) 1962