here in NY called Making Home (making-home.com).” A quick sound bite from Brett Miller: “I am running Gucci.com for North America and getting ready for another trip to Italy next week. Still doing some artwork from time to time. Our son, Hudson, is 14 and goes to Friends. Amanda is doing well.” Emily Bickford Lansbury remembers, “I came in tenth grade and had missed any formal Quaker education, so, like you, Martha, I learned about Quakerism from meetings as well as from Barclay and Joyce’s philosophical talks and occasional ramblings. I remember sadly the day John Lennon was shot and we had meeting most of the day and people poured their hearts out in songs and poems—to me that was a great example of how a Quaker community responds to a tragic event. I also learned about a Quaker worldview from teachers like Charlie Blank, who took many opportunities to weave Quaker philosophy into his social studies curriculum; I especially remember the class he called Peace, as well as Model United Nations and an independent study in which I took care of the elderly and the very young. It was just infused in everything we did—even the outdoor education program, which was pretty radical back then. When you asked me to think about it, I realized that more than any other philosophy, Quakerism has had a lasting impact on my life, as a parent, in my 25-year marriage and in my professional, creative and volunteer work. One funny memory is that I often felt like I had something I wanted to share in silent meeting, but the idea of speaking in public totally terrified me. But sometimes as I sat in silence, keeping my thoughts all bottled up, I worried that, like a can of seltzer exploding, some inappropriate expletive was just going
Susannah Friedman Vickers ’88 catches a lift from Kim Azzarelli ’88 and her pilot husband Mattia Filliaci from West Hampton to Block Island
to come flying out of my mouth. I don’t think I ever did ‘share’ in meeting, but I eventually learned to be at ease with the silence, which I believe is the whole point. I think I will make a New Year’s resolution to learn to meditate.” Keith Smith updates us based on my Quakerism prompt: “Like you, Martha, we had a Quaker-style wedding, sitting in silence with our families and guests and letting people speak as they were inspired. It was magical. And because I liked Friends so much, we sent our daughter to the local Quaker school— Cambridge Friends School. There I learned that there are all sorts of things I didn’t know about Quakerism. Did anyone else learn about the six Quaker testimonies, also known as the ‘SPICES’? The ideas were completely familiar but I don’t remember ever hearing Quakerism defined that way— despite taking the Quaker Studies class in 6th grade! CFS ended at 8th grade. But our daughter missed the community of a Quaker school so much that it
became an important criterion in her college search. She is now in her first year at Bryn Mawr College and loving it! Not much else is new. I had dinner and drinks with Jim Infantino a couple weeks ago and commiserated about the election.” Susan Bronzaft Santoro writes, “I definitely came in after the Quakerism class. Although I didn’t appreciate meeting, I could certainly use that time each morning to collect my thoughts. Nothing new and exciting, except my daughter is getting ready to go to college and my son is in middle school.” Susan Lowen Maniatis writes, “I am doing well with my family in the DC suburbs. My daughter, Daphne, is in 10th grade at Sidwell Friends and is on her way to becoming a ‘lifer.’ It is interesting to hear her talk about the Quaker parts of the school—mainly Meeting for Worship in much the same way we all did when we were in high school and I wonder if her attitude will sp r in g 2 0 1 7 | 5 6