News From Friends | Spring 2014

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SPRING 2014


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Bardo #160 (2013), Phyllis Trout

Phyllis Trout exhibits nationally and internationally. She was a MacDowell fellow in 2001 and currently teaches printmaking at Parsons School of Design in New York City. She has taught shop at Friends Seminary since 1990. The above photo of old Yankee Stadium was shot from the roof of a bowling alley across the street. It is part of White Nights, a series of photographs depicting cityscapes and landscapes illuminated by intense artificial light at night, caught somewhere between night and day.  www.phyllistrout.com


nf f features

departments

10 | Architecture at Friends

2 | Mission Statement

12 | An Ever-Present Sense of Place

3 | A Message from the Alumni Council

Peter Chermeyoff ’53

14 | Hidden in Plain Sight

4 | Opening Shots 6 | Buzz on 16th Street

Caroline Kane Levy ’79

8 | Sports at Friends

16 | Q&A with Joan Dineen ’75

9 | Notes on Silence

18 | The Architecture of Community

24 | Back in the Day

25 | Class Notes

Tony Shitemi ’82

20 | The Meetinghouse

44 | Tributes

24 | Art Preview 25 | Strategic Plan For exclusive online content including a feature on Tory Brewster ’09 and Jordan Feinstein ’09, check out www.friendsseminary.org/NFF

News from Friends is published by the Office of Institutional Advancement at Friends Seminary two times each year for alumni, parents, grandparents and friends of the School. The mission of News from Friends is to feature the accomplishments of alumni, while capturing the School’s remarkable history, values and culture. Each issue will have an underlying theme, such as (but not limited to) the sciences, the arts, athletics, history, literature and service. Additionally, the magazine gives insight into recent events at Friends Seminary. Editor Ernie Grigg Graphic Designer Rae Grant Design, NYC

Photographers Brian Crowley, Shea Furey-King, John Galayda, Ernie Grigg, Stephen Yang

Principal Robert “Bo” Lauder

Director of Alumni Relations Katherine Farrell

Director of Institutional Advancement Katherine Precht

Database Manager Valerie Delaine

Development & Special Events Assistant Kate Radlauer

Database Coordinator Corey O’Connell

Director of Annual Giving Jenny Nichols

Director of Communications Ernie Grigg

Campaign Director Susan Wilen

Communications Coordinator Shea Furey-King


our mission Friends Seminary educates students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, under the care of the New York Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Through instruction and example, students follow their curiosity and exercise their imaginations as they develop as scholars, artists and athletes. In a community that cultivates the intellect through keen observation, critical thinking and coherent expression, we strive to respond to one another, valuing the single voice as well as the effort to reach consensus. The disciplines of silence, study and service provide the matrix for growth: silence opens us to change; study helps us to know the world; service challenges us to put our values into practice. At Friends Seminary, education occurs within the context of the Quaker belief in the Inner Light – that of God in every person. “Guided by the ideals of integrity, peace, equality and simplicity, and by our commitment to diversity, we do more than prepare students for the world that is: we help them bring about the world that ought to be.”* * This last sentence is adapted from Faith and Practice: The Book of Discipline of the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (1974).

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a message from Alumni Council Currently comprised of 19 members ranging from the classes of 1951 to 2009, the Council is the representative body of the Friends Seminary alumni community. We seek to ensure that our School’s enduring values of community service, respect and diversity remain at the heart of all alumni activities, give voice to alumni concerns and act as a liaison with Friends students, faculty and administration. Greetings Fellow Friends Seminary Alumni, We wanted to update you with what the Alumni Council has been up to as we strive to connect you better to Friends Seminary and to one another. It has been a busy year with 18 different alumni events around service, networking, mentoring and athletics. While most of our activity has been on 16th Street, alumni also convened for gatherings in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. In addition, 27 fellow alumni returned to Friends in the 2013-14 school year to share their expertise with current students in a classroom or assembly. This is a number of which we are very proud. To make our alumni outreach even better, we are pleased to inform you of our plans to launch a comprehensive alumni survey. Not only will this facilitate the accuracy of our alumni data, it will also allow us to improve meaningful engagement within our alumni community. The information gathered through the survey will help us connect around shared educational affiliations, industries and interests. We will continue to share with you news of this project as it develops. One of our priorities as a Council is to strive to be a well-informed volunteer body. We have made a concerted effort to learn more about the current programs at Friends and, at our recent Council meetings, have heard from Athletics Director David Lieber and the new Academic Dean, Will Hopkins. We also enjoyed the opportunity to discuss our recent work and priorities with the School Committee. As we look ahead, we believe it is important to our success as a Council to reflect on our work and discover better ways of doing things. Guided by this sentiment, we conducted an examination of alumni leadership bodies at peer schools to identify activities and programming that

might benefit our community. We will continue to look to other schools and non-profits for models of successful volunteer leadership and engagement as we evolve our own alumni programs. Along those lines, we invite you to share with us your own experiences with similar groups upon which we can reflect as we develop our approach at Friends. While learning from other alumni bodies will surely help us to become a stronger Council, so too will participation from different alumni over time. Currently, we are seeking nominations and applications for alumni to serve on the Council for the coming three-year term (Fall 2014 – Spring 2017). To apply or nominate an alumnus or alumna to be considered for service on the Alumni Council, please visit: www.friendsseminary. org/alumnicouncil. The Nominating Committee is

seeking representation across class years, gender, industries, interests and demonstrated involvement in the community. Recommendations for service will be extended in the interest of achieving this balance. The deadline for nominations and applications is May 31, 2014. We hope you will consider applying or nominating someone whose voice would be a thoughtful addition to this team. We encourage you to share ideas with us on how you believe we can build a stronger alumni community and we look forward to seeing you at an alumni event, on East 16th Street or elsewhere, sometime soon.

Joanna Hunter August ’02 & Josh Isay ’87 2013-2014 Alumni Council Clerks

2013-2014 Alumni Council Members Stephen Chinlund ’51, Martha Manheim Green ’52, Elizabeth Peale Allen ’60, Valentine Hertz Kass ’64, Alvin Mack ’77, Andrew Owen ’78, Marc Rachman ’82, Schuyler Allen Kalb ’86, Rachel Shapiro Axinn ’86, Josh Isay ’87, Jordan Barowitz ’89, Michael L. Bedrick ’90, Boji Wong ’92, Sandra Jelin Plouffe ’93, Samantha Liebman ’94, Joanna Hunter August ’02, Eric Obenzinger ’03, Naledi Semela ’06, Francesca Acocella ’09 spr in g 20 14 | 3


Lost Alumni Beonne Boronda '30

Eleanor Wierum Hall '30 Boris Israel '30 Augustus M. Kelley '30 Barbara Joy Magnus '30 Ann Sibley Post '30 Gwendolyn Purdy '30 Elmer King '35 Jeanne Bonneville '40 Burnham Carter '40 Kathryn Gates '45 Richard Herman '45 Jane Gutfreund Schmidt '45 Niels B. Back, Jr. '50 Alison Carter '50 Barbara Franzman '50 Elayne Grey Jordan '50 Nina Lane Payne '50 Joseph M. Walsh, Jr. '50 Liane Stevens '55 Virginia Worthington '55 Nickie Shoemaker Haggart '60 Peter Kortum '60 Cynthia Locke '60 Judith McVeigh '60 Martha Reed '60 Karen Regan '60 Victor Ross '60 Jean Wilson '60 Susan Reid Cameron '65 Stephanie Chamberlin '65 Frank Albert Fetter, II '65 Christopher Hart '65 Sarah Henderson '65 Stephen Kende '64 Kathie E. Strauss '65 Ellen Carol Unterman '65 Eliot R. Clauss '70 Robert Cohen '70 Robert Luttrell '70

Mitchell Myrin '70 Michael Ober '70 Gabriel Weiss '70 Miriam Aleman '75 Anthony Benis '75 La Mott Britto '75 Raymond Collins '75 Robert Hamilton '75 Lisa L. Harms '75 Sharon Haviv '75 Theodore Kalem '75 Robert C. Mohr '75 John B. Owen '75 Susan Patterson '75 Cassandra RampaulGreen '75 Nicholas L. Rogers '75 Celine Scudder '75 Peter Vanamee '75 Liza Wollman '75 Bryan C. Wright '75 Suzanne Pearl Bakst '80 Laura Bickford '80 Alice Brown '80 Judith Rose Goldberg '80 Cameron Gordon '80 Andrew Graves '80 Tim Mangin '80 Wayne Martin '80 Sally M. McKay '80 Teri Kovacs Morgantini '80 James Murray '80 Yvette Neufeld '80 Christopher Owen '80 Brett Parker '80 Pam Raymond '80 Wanda Rivera '80 Robert Sadler '80 Erika Silver '80 Lee Sobel '80 James Burger '85 Douglas Danoff '85

William De Leon '85 Peter Kern '85 Lucas La Fontaine '85 Kam Lam '85 Jonathan Leshanski '85 Eben Levy '85 Nina Manno '85 Christopher Margerin '85 Joel McHugh '85 Carolyn C. McKee '85 Leslie Diane Moore '85 James Nicol '85 Amanda Weltman '85 Dean Williamson '85 Alexander Winter '85 Ann Wojtasik '85 Sacha Bacro '90 Steven N. Bass '90 Amanda De Leon '90 Fred Falkson '90 Gregory T. Gladstone '90 Simon Lo '90 Waswa Molenje '90 AnnHallie Purrington '90 Danielle Queller '90 Mike E. M. Rosaly '90 Irving E. Santana '90 Yaron M. Urbas '90 Leslie Hope Wildman '90 Nicholas Bacro '95 Rebecca Cohen '94 Sarah Eckfeldt '95 Iku Fujimatsu '95 Andrea Green '95 Philip Levie '95 Jennifer Mayers '95 Rebekah Maysles '95 Melissa I. Miles '95 Amber Nowling '95 Frances Obregon '95 Emily Kelton Owens '95 Xoli Redmond '95

Jennifer Rifkin '95 David Scott '95 Michael Shopsin '95 Adrien Bibiloni-Morales '00 Leigh Cass '00 Leon Michels '00 Max Mishler '00 Naomi Raab '00 Alexis Renvoize '00 Lauren Wohl '00 Maud Deitch '05 Andrew Falkenstein '05 John Faloon '05 Heather Finney '05 Alex Jarrell '05 Ucheena Mathurin '05 Maia Peck '05 Amanda Schreiber '05 Sarah Jane Walker '05 Louis Weiss '05 Alexander Anapol '10 Maia Brown-Jackson '10 Harry Cammer '10 Grace Dunham '10 Amber Figueroa '10 Robin Giordani '10 Hart Gliedman '10 Barbara Herfarth '10 Brian Koenigsberg '10 Nicholas Kriegman '10 Ghislaine Mareneck '10 Edward Margules '10 Andrea Montesdeoca '10 Angelique Ogilvie '10 Erica Perednia '10 Madeline Porsella '10 Emma Smith '10 Rebecca Stern '10 Ryan Tongue '10

We are looking for you...

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If you have contact information for any of these alumni, please notify Katherine Farrell in the Alumni Office: 212.979.5035 ext. 106 or kfarrell@friendsseminary.org


opening shots

opening shots

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16TH S TR E E T

Buzz on 16th Street Visited SEPTEMBER 23 David Plouffe, former special advisor and campaign manager to President Obama, talked with the Upper School about his career in politics. | OCTOBER 16 Daniel Maree, the founder of MillionHoodies and the original MillionHoodies March, spoke to students from Grades 7-12 about how the Trayvon Martin case inspired him to become a social change agent. | OCTOBER 23 Legacy Russell '04 spoke to Upper School Students about her adventures in the art world. | NOVEMBER 7 Ritu Pande (Kisna ’24 and Bansu ’25), spoke to students about Diwali. | NOVEMBER 13 Lieutenant Lucas Miller '84, detective squad commander of the NYPD’s 13th Precinct, shared stories and valuable advice with students from Grades 7-12. | NOVEMBER 21 on the afternoon before the opening of her debut play, The Commons of Pensacola, Amanda Peet '90 visited two acting classes at Friends to share with students advice from her experience as an actress turned playwright. | DECEMBER 6 Judge Laura Ward ’71 talked with Grade 4 about the Constitution and the three branches of the federal government. | DECEMBER 8 Grade 1 interviewed Dave Isay ’83 about founding StoryCorps and being a changemaker. | DECEMBER 18 Isaac Solotaroff ’88 spoke to the Upper school about his GQ webseries, Casualties of the Gridiron | JANUARY 14 Alice Roi Blumenthal Beckman ’94 hosted a fashion field trip for Fiber Arts students. | JANUARY 17 Adrian Croke ’04 talked about serving in the Peace Corps and being a changemaker in a Skype chat with Grade 1 | FEBRUARY 2 Gary Giddins (Lea ’07), the world's preeminent jazz critic, spoke to Upper School students about the role that jazz plays in African-American history and by extension, US history.

Top: David Plouffe, Middle: Lieutenant Lucas Miller '84, Bottom Steve Borowka, Amanda Peet ’90 and Bob Rosen, Bottom left: Daniel Maree with Friends students and faculty

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FROM LEFT: Leitzel Schoen, Neil Blumenthal ’98, Maggie Doyne, Oliver Rothschild ’98 and Bo Lauder

Peace Week FEBRUARY 6 Neil Blumenthal ’98, founder of Warby Parker and former director of VisionSpring, and Oliver Rothschild ’98, founder of Generation Rwanda and Kepler, spoke in the Meetinghouse as part of the annual Peace Week Lecture. Maggie Doyne, founder and director of the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, School and Women’s Center in Nepal, spoke about how she built an orphanage during her gap year and eventually founded an international nonprofit. She also spoke with Upper and Middle School Students in a separate event.

Homecoming On December 20, scores of alumni returned to Friends for various Homecoming activities. Schuyler Allen-Kalb ‘86, Paul Testa ’87, Jennifer Usdan McBride ’91, Akaash Mehta ’01, Tamara Leacock ’05, Jeffrey Manian ’05, Maya Chase ’07 and Ariel Cruz ’09 offered career advice to students in student-organized networking seminars. Later in the day, more than 20 members of the classes of 2011— 2013 shared lessons from their college experiences with seniors. In the evening, more than 30 alumni returned to play in the annual Alumni Basketball Game. Thanks to all alumni who participated for helping make Homecoming a great success! To see photos from the networking and college panels, go to http://www.friendsseminaryphotos.com/Alumni/Homecoming-2013.

Hands On DECEMBER 9 to DECEMBER 16 As part of Computer Science Education Week, Lower School students learned to program games, Middle School students studied basic Javascript and Upper School students discussed career paths with computer programming professionals. | JANUARY 15 to FEBRUARY 15 Students Emma Higgins ’16, Kira Felsenfeld ’15, Brigitte Seeley-Messick ’14 and Ben Wong ’16 worked with Sustainability Coordinator Antonia Daly and Building Supervisor Gordon Hulse to encourage the Friends community to conserve energy as part of the Green Cup Energy Challenge. The team helped Friends rank 12th in the regional competition and presented its findings to Upper School students on February 28.

To Come Please be sure to watch for the next issue of NFF for information about a transformational architectural project that we are planning. spr in g 20 1 4 | 7


Sports At Friends

Varsity Boys Soccer

Cross Country

CROSS COUNTRY

✯ Girls won the ACIS championship. ✯ Boys finished second. ✯ Hannah Kates ’14 qualified for the New York State Federations Championship meet.

WINTER TRACK

✯The team of 30 sent five athletes to the New York State Federations Championship meet. Will Berg ’14 competed in the 300m dash, and the relay team of Felix Parker ’16, Dominic Ansel ’14, Phillip Messineo ’14 and Chi Osse ’16 competed in the 4x200m race.

SWIM TEAM

✯ Boys finished an amazing year with Friends’ first ACIS Swim Championship. ✯ Girls had a strong year finishing fourth in the ACIS Championship.

Varsity Boys Basketball

SOCCER

BASKETBALL

✯ JV Boys (8-5-2) won the ACIS regular season title but lost the tournament final to Packer on penalty kicks.

✯ JV Boys (18-5) won the ACIS regular season championship and advanced to the tournament final against Dwight.

✯ Girls Soccer and Volleyball had rebuilding seasons. Their energy and dedication didn’t always translate to the scoreboard, but next year should be strong for both teams.

✯ Varsity Girls (7-10) earned the fourth place seed in the AAIS tournament.

✯ Varsity Boys (12-4-2) won the ACIS regular season title, going undefeated in league play. They played Dwight in the ACIS Tournament final. The team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NYSAIS tournament.

✯ Varsity Boys (16-10) finished third in an extremely competitive league. The team lost a tough ACIS semifinal game to the eventual champion, Dwight. The boys qualified for the NYSAIS Tournament for the 11th time in 12 years and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Winter Track Varsity Girls Basketball Swim Team visit visit http://www.friendsseminary.org/friends-athletics to toget getthe thelatest latestteam teamupdates. updates. 8 | nff


notes on silence by Yarrott Benz

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HE DESIGN of a Quaker Meetinghouse claims revolutionary status among the world’s religious buildings. Unlike temples, churches, synagogues, and mosques, there is no central object lifted high to command your focus. There is no single processional axis. Instead, you sit in the round so that the faces of others are in your field of vision. There is no call to prayer from a minaret, no peal of bells from a campanile, no musical prelude from an organ to define the beginning of worship. The silence commences the same way a snowfall begins… gradually, until you realize you are in the middle of it. What Quakers had already instinctively understood for 250 years, psychologist Carl Jung called the Collective Unconscious in the 1920s. The idea is that there is an invisible connection among people, particularly when they sit quietly in a room together. While the concept may be met with skepticism, animals demonstrate that capacity to communicate silently all the time. When a flock of birds is clapped off the sidewalk, why don’t they collide into each other? How do geese fly in precise formation so easily? Aren’t we animals? If you are a visitor to a Quaker school, there is nothing more memorable than watching for the first time as silence floods a room of energetic teenagers when no person has initiated it. The collective has realized the time to begin. And if you, the visitor, sit across the way from a teacher, you will see him settle and shift on the bench, thinking perhaps about the test he will be giving the next class. A student four rows behind him may be anxious about that same test. These concerns occupy their minds at first and only for a while. Other thoughts will follow. It happens involuntarily, like breathing. You look around the room and before you know it you have lost yourself in a shadow on the wall. A student slowly stands. There is a slight rustle as the room waits for her to say something. In a young,

“The idea is that there is an invisible connection among people, particularly when they sit quietly in a room together.” halting voice she admits to the room how she has grown accustomed to the homeless woman on her street corner. The girl says she no longer feels a twinge of discomfort for her. She tells herself out loud that she is finding it hard to remember how to care. Then she sits down and the room becomes still again. You think to yourself how you, too, have grown so numb to homelessness that it feels normal to step over people sleeping on the sidewalk. Your thoughts trail again across the beige wall. There is another rustle, a clicking of a wedding ring on the back of a bench, and a teacher rises. She says simply and clearly, “Let’s look at the pigeons!” and drops back down in her seat, stunned by what she herself said. The shaking of hands sweeps across the room, accompanied by the instant chatter of conversations and a wheel immediately starts turning again. For 20 minutes the mechanism that drives the school day has stood still. In the silence, you and 400 others have drifted in a room designed like a riverbank, a smooth channel for a current of thoughts and words.

A visual artist for several decades, former faculty (1991–2005) and art department chair Yarrott Benz has recently published essays and short stories in The Montreal Review, Gulf Stream, Existere and Diverse Voices Quarterly. He currently lives in Los Angeles where he hosts silent meetings in his classroom at Sierra Canyon School.

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Architecture AT FRIENDS

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ARCHITECTURE PLAYS a larger role in educating students than you might think. In addition to housing the School’s basic operations and resources, the buildings around Friends Seminary provide context for the learning experience. Pick any year from your time in School, and you will remember spaces around you just as vividly as your teachers, classmates and lessons. A lifer at Friends spends 13 years forming a distinct relationship with various locations around campus. Students are free to explore. The physical plant gives them access to resources for personal growth as well as educational development. On a daily basis, students make discoveries, and the architecture of the School may figure prominently in those breakthroughs. Think about the intimate confines of a language classroom and how it encourages you to speak without inhibition. Now imagine trying to capture that same energy in a spacious Meetinghouse. Likewise, try holding orchestra practice in a science lab. The space in which we learn is just as important as the content. Within the curriculum, students have the opportunity to observe the “built” and natural worlds through the eyes of a designer. From Kindergarteners constructing bridges to Upper School students taking a full year architecture course, students learn to recognize space as more than a container of events. They consider function as well as style, and they figure out how to translate their ideas and drawings into three-dimensional models. Architecture is also your first impression of the School. Friends moved to Rutherford Place as the Civil War was brewing. As the campus expanded over the decades, each new building represented a new era and reflected a new way of learning. When you view the campus, different periods of design form one Friends Seminary. PHOTOS: Renowned architect Charles Renfro of Diller Scofidio + Renfro served as Friends’ first Visiting Scholar during the 2009-2010 school year. Throughout the year, he worked with students in a combination of lectures, workshops and field work at Diller Scofidio + Renfro project sites. He also particpated in the final critique of Jesse Pasca’s architecture class.

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Peter Chermayeff ’53

An Ever-Present Sense of Place: The Redefinition of DESIGN

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EGARDLESS OF A child’s proximity to his or her school, it is relatively safe to assume that the early morning walks of varying length do not completely fade from memory. Peter Chermayeff ’53 then is no different as he can recall his own trip to Friends Seminary, where he matriculated through Grade 6. It may very well be that his earnest and enduring attention to our relationship with space began in these same formative moments of transition. As the son of an architect, Peter eventually found his way to this dignified discipline in kind. However, while fully engaged in his graduate work at Harvard, Peter had to acknowledge that other interests were taking over. Film was one such area that he thoroughly enjoyed, and it was the perfect medium for exploring seemingly divergent paths. One day in 1962, as he exited a local post office, he received a brochure with instructions for building fallout shelters. Driven by a palpable consternation, he decided to make a documentary that would shed light on the destructive effects of nuclear weapons. He received a small grant, but government bureaucracy stalled permission to use the Department of Defense archival footage on which the film depended. The production had to be abandoned. Around this time, Paul Dietrich, a student of his father’s, asked him to consider starting a design firm. “I was doubtful at first,” said Peter, “but Paul insisted.” It gradually occurred to him that he need not abandon filmmaking and social-mindedness for a more traditional brand of architecture. Within the span of a few months, the pair enlisted five others to help build a firm. A particular early project— both seminal and thrilling— dealt with the environmental redesign of Boston’s public transportation system. The transit authority wanted to consider the riders’ experience and how all the components could be improved. Peter and his partners developed new guidelines and remodeled a pilot station driven by a key notion: “Knowing at all times where you are and where you are going.” They promoted transparency in station architecture and ways to make stairs, passageways and way-finding clear and direct. He and his partners proposed that end stations no longer name the transit lines. Instead, the names corresponded to proposed color coding: Red Line, Green Line, etc. This simple innovation took place all over the city, with bands at station platforms and ubiquitous signage and maps. The long official name of the whole system was even

whittled down to the “T.” One could easily see a striking parallel with the Quaker testimony of simplicity which has proven increasingly difficult to realize given certain challenges of the modern age. The design ideas included large graphic panels along the station platforms. As Peter put it, “The notion was that a rider might not only read the word ‘Arlington,’ but readily recognize such images as Arlington Church or the Public Garden’s swan boats directly above, thereby gaining a sense of place while passing under the city.” In some respects this hearkens to the Friends mission in its “cultivation of intellect through coherent expression.” Peter’s enthusiasm about nature drew him to focus on aquariums—starting with Boston—­and the possibilities of exposing people to the wonders of diverse life through the use of architecture and graphics and the many diverse realms of design. The third of these was in Osaka, Japan. “It’s a biogeographic tour of the Pacific,” Peter revealed, “from Japan around the ocean in an underwater labyrinth, between walls of acrylic, northeast to the Arctic, then southeast to California down via the tropics to the Antarctic, and northwest until the visitor reaches Japan once more.” Another aquarium in Genoa, Italy celebrates the Columbus story and makes the visitor’s viewing of ocean life into a time warp—first at an upper level following a journey westward, above the Atlantic’s surface in the 15th Century, and then at a lower level returning to Europe 500 years later with a journey underwater. Yet another achievement in Lisbon, Portugal speaks to the notion of a global ocean. People can visit four distinct ocean places while always coming back to a center since these great bodies of water are themselves interconnected. In making deliberate choices about the building of specific environments, the animals to display, the pathways for the public and the ongoing needs of a given institution, there is an underlying advocacy of global stewardship. Embracing the spirit of transitions, Peter has recently settled into a semi-retired lifestyle. He takes on new ventures as they arise from his home office and now collaborates with other full-time firms. He feels extremely lucky to have worked with so many brilliant minds: “Together we have reinforced a sense of place and, furthermore, contributed to a transformation of place.” It seems only fair then to recognize Peter Chermayeff as a man who has not simply accepted the world as it is, but who has helped to bring about a “world as it ought to be.” spr in g 20 1 3 | 13


HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT:

Architectural Secrets of New York by CAROLINE KANE LEVY ’79 HAVING WORKED AT New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission for more than 25 years, when I was asked to list my favorite Landmarks for this article, I was faced with an impossible task. How do you pick from among so many wonderful buildings and sites? I have my all time favorites, Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building, Central Park, but those are everyone’s favorites. I thought of including one from each borough, but that might make it hard for a quick visit by the Friends‘ community. I then thought of including lesser known Landmarks, and decided to limit the group to those within easy access to the Friends campus—below 23rd Street and above Canal. They also illustrate the range of restoration projects I have been involved with in some form or another over the years. You may be familiar with them, or maybe not. You may have admired their beauty or walked by them without noticing, but if you take a good look, they will reward you with surprises. The New York Marble Cemetery, 2 nd Avenue between 2 nd and 3 rd Street. Hidden away and entered through a narrow gated passage, this little green oasis bordered on every side by tenements and rowhouses, was created in 1830 as the first non-sectarian burial ground open to the public. There are no tombstones, instead 156 vaults were created of Tuckahoe marble—from which the cemetery received its name—and marble plaques identifying the burials lined the surrounding stone walls. Check the website for days in which its open to the public. A sister cemetery, the similarly and confusingly named New York City Marble Cemetery opened in 1832. It is located on a neighboring block facing East 2nd street and can be seen from the street, which makes it less of a secret. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, 23-29 Washington Place, now called the Brown Building, part of the New York University campus. What now looks like just another unassuming late 19th/early 20th century neoRenaissance style industrial building is the site of New York’s worst industrial disaster. In the early 1900s, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was one of the more modern New York workplaces, despite being overcrowded and lacking clear fire exits. On March 25, 1911, fire broke out and 146 of the factory’s 500 employees died in the blaze or jumped to their deaths, most of them young immigrant women and girls of Italian and European Jewish descent. The disaster led to intense debate on workers and women’s rights and was the catalyst for changes to workplace safety laws and building codes. Caroline Kane Levy ’79 has worked at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission since 1987, and she currently serves as the Deputy Director of Preservation. She has also worked on a team developing the Historic Structures Report for Ellis Island National Monument. Caroline holds an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University and a BA from Cornell University. She attended Friends Seminary from 1974-1977. She lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband, Stephen, and two children.

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The Siegel-Cooper Dry Goods Store, 632 6 th Avenue, between 18 th and 19 th Street. In the second half of the 19th century the area between 15th Street and 23rd Street, from east of Broadway to West of 6th Avenue was the premier shopping district in New York. Known as the Ladies’ Mile, the avenues were lined with major department stores including B. Altman, Lord and Taylor’s, Arnold Constable and Tiffany’s. The largest and most opulent of these stores was Siegel-Cooper, built between 1895 and 1897, and designed in the American Beaux Arts style by DeLemos & Cordes. Henry Siegel came from Chicago, home of the 1893 World’s Colombian Exposition. As a retailer, the fair inspired him to use monumental architecture to attract customers. This grand shopping emporium was the first on the Ladies’ Mile to boast free samples and air conditioning. The vast building had a telegraph office, a foreign money exchange, stock trading services and even a dentist.

The Houghwout Building, 488-492 Broadway. Perhaps the finest example of cast iron architecture, located in what is arguably the best collection of cast iron architecture in the world (the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District), the Houghwout Building was constructed between 1856 and 1857. It was designed by John P. Gaynor and commissioned by E.V. Houghwout for his fashionable china, silver and glassware emporium. The famous Daniel D. Badger’s Architectural Ironworks manufactured the iron components, and the building housed one of the first elevators in the world, made by the Otis Elevator Company. The original elevator cab remained in place until a few years ago. Cast Iron buildings were popular between the 1850s and early 1880s because of the speed with which they could be erected and the material’s strength and facility—once painted—for imitating more expensive stone. The American Seamen’s Friend Society Sailors’ Home and Institute, 505-507 West Street, now the Jane Hotel. Designed by William A. Boring and financed primarily by Olivia Sage, one of the era’s leading philanthropists, this brick building stands at the end of Jane Street facing the Hudson River. Built at a time when New York was the busiest port in the world, it operated as a hotel, offering inexpensive lodgings to seamen and indigent sailors. Among its amenities were a chapel, a concert hall, a bowling alley and a swimming pool, as well as a polygonal corner observatory from which a beacon shone up and down the river. Surviving crewmembers of the ill-fated Titanic were brought here for care and recuperation. From 1944 to 2007, it was a low end hotel, or SRO. It’s now a trendy boutique hotel with a hot bar scene. Ask to see a room. The tiny ship-like quarters have been fitted out with builtin beds and have been decorated to make the most of limited space. Guests still share bathrooms. The Lockwood de Forest House, 7 East 10th Street, now part of New York University. Lockwood de Forest, the first owner of this house, was a leading decorative designer of the late 19th century, and an associate of Louis Comfort Tiffany. After visiting India, de Forest established a wood workshop in Ahmadabad and incorporated Indian decorative pieces into his designs. The extraordinary teak detail on the façade of this rowhouse was commissioned in 1887.

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Q&A J e s s i c a H u a n g ’15

s at d o w n w i t h

J o a n D i n e e n ’ 75,

an influential architect and interior designer based in

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New York.


JH: When did you first become interested in architecture? JD: I think at a really early age. I knew I wanted to do it in high school, certainly. I think it's because I grew up in Stuyvesant Town in Peter Cooper where everything was the same box and I wanted so much to have something different, to create something different from what I was used to. JH: In this field, is it difficult not having a set list of rules and having to depend so much on your own creativity? JD: I struggled with thinking that it all had to be self-created, but it doesn't have to be. There really are a lot of rules. I think the thing I like a lot about architecture is solving problems. In college, one of the things I loved doing was writing computer programs. Of course, in those days, it was a very different thing. It was like building a mud hut. I found the two processes very similar because you were trying to build an edifice that achieved something and to do it as elegantly as possible: simply, clearly, etc. There is a lot [in architecture] that is grounded in a realistic process. JH: And you did engineering for a bit? JD: I did. I was at Friends from 9th grade to 11th grade, and at that point, I had finished all my requirements. It was easier in those days to then go straight to college, and I really wanted to get started. So I started a five-year program in architecture at Cornell instead of going to 12th grade. It was a very intense thing to leave New York City for the first time and be in a giant school like Cornell. The demands in the architecture program are just unbelievable, so after two years I decided I needed to step back and transferred into engineering because I figured that was less fraught philosophically. I had learned things that I wanted to learn, not just for architectural purposes, but also in the world. I finished the engineering program, worked for a year as an engineer and then went to a graduate program in architecture. It was really different. It was a big cultural difference for me,

so it became kind of a challenge to succeed. There were very few women in engineering in those days, and the atmosphere was generally slightly hostile to very hostile, and that of course, made me want to succeed. The architecture students, I understood—I could relate to them. We had similar cultural references. I think I had gone into engineering in a search for that kind of certainty that was missing in architecture. Then I learned that engineering isn't so much about ultimate truth. It's how to get stuff done. I realized I would never really be at home in the culture. JH: Where there any other things that interested you before architecture? JD: Sure. I mean, I grew up wanting to be an astronaut. I came from a small elementary school, and when I looked around for high schools, I wanted to go somewhere where Latin was taught because I had thought that I wanted to be a doctor and that would be good. JH: Were there any surprises when you started practicing architecture? Did you have any previous misconceptions? JD: School doesn't teach you anything of any practical importance to an employer especially if you want to go build something. I think I was sort of surprised that three years of grad school and two years of undergrad led to an apprenticeship, which is the basis of your true professional life. I don't see any way you can get around that. What you're taught is an incredibly necessary intellectual foundation that you get in school, and you can't eliminate that. So you're sort of thrown out into the world to learn how to swim. JH: Do you have any advice for someone interested in going into architecture? JD: Great computer skills, graphically. The more fluent you become in modeling software you can use to create your own vision. Interestingly, math and science, you don't really need them—only to support a healthy mind. I think maybe just in terms of self-satisfaction in what you're learning and condition your brain. It's great to do, but I wouldn't say it's on

the necessary track. JH: What have been some of your favorite projects? JD: See we've gone in a very different direction. After [graduating], I worked for I. M. Pei and Partners and found that I really did not love being in a big office. It just wasn't for my personality. So from the beginning, I went out on my own and did smaller projects that I could handle. Sometimes I've had lots of people working for me, now it's just us. Probably about 15 years ago, I realized that if I wanted to be well enough known to get good clients in New York City, I needed to be an interior designer. Our practice is completely integrated with interior design. Many architects are genuinely not interested in it. They're creating space. I can understand that, but I am genuinely interested in it and see that, for me, the two have to be integrated. We've spent a lot of time lately, focusing on show-houses and getting our name out there, and it's really fun. It took me years to actually get the courage to do it. JH: Where do you find your inspirations? JD: Magazines, travel, art. This past summer, I finally got to see the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and I was really glad to have gone, but what truly excited me were the Richard Serra sculptures. They fill a hall that's a thousand feet long, and you walk inside them. The plates are very tall, and the space changes and it curves. To me that was one of the most inspirational things because it's about space. It's not about architecture, but it is an incredibly poetic, powerfully emotional thing that doesn't exist unless you walk. If you look at it, and you think "Ok, so that's a bunch of steel plates." And that's what architecture is that's different from sculpture. It's the motion through space. It's the human perception of it. It doesn't exist as art until you move through it, and that's why these arcs from Richard Serra were so architectural. But it has no function. It is art.

spring 201 4 | 1 7


T o n y S h i t em i ’ 8 2

TH E ARCHITECTURE OF COM MUNITY B y J oB y-SJ oa-Sra rDD aav i s - D a c i o ’0 9 vis-Dacio (09’)


“Supporting

those who are e c o n o m i c a l ly d i s a d v a n t a g e d i n reality makes the whole s o c i e t y b e t t e r ,”

T

HE BUILDING’S FACADES feature a colorful design mimicking woven African textiles. Inside, a circular mural of women embracing hands welcomes visitors. Here at the Kandake House, women affected by substance abuse come to heal and restart their lives after prison. Tony Shitemi ’82 of Urban Architecture Initiatives (UAI) designed the East Harlem facility for Greenhope, an organization that provides treatment services to formerly incarcerated women. With limited funding, the nonprofit agency faced an unknown overhaul of its aging facility. While every major architecture project faces financial obstacles, nonprofit and community organizations face additional burdens with their limited resources and budgetary restrictions. Tony’s firm addresses these challenges by becoming as much financial counselor as design firm as it help nonprofits like Greenhope secure critical economic development grants and incentives. “Housing is a huge component to these women’s receiving help,” said Tony. Supportive housing projects such as the Kandake House benefit from the intersection between public and private interests. “The government issues bonds and tax incentives; there is a role for the private sector to invest in this common good. They benefit, and those who can use the help benefit, so it’s a good combination,” Tony said. UAI, which Tony opened in 1996 with David Hirsch, has designed solutions for 64 clients—most of whom are nonprofit and government agencies in sectors as diverse as education, healthcare, housing and religious groups. Tony sees these supportive and affordable housing projects as a way to create balance within the city. “Supporting those who are economically

disadvantaged in reality makes the whole society better,” said Tony. Because his clients work primarily in underdeveloped parts of the city, the firm repurposes vacant properties to help grow the local economy and respect the historic aesthetics of the area. Rejuvenating these properties brings tax revenue back to the city and encourages a healthy community. UAI relies on dialogue with the community to illuminate nuances that can help their designs better meet the needs of the client organization. The financial limitations faced by nonprofit organizations present unique design challenges. “The pressure’s more intensive, so the quality of space within is hugely important,” said Shitemi. Because Greenhope’s programming aspirations were ambitious, UAI had to create a design for Kandake House that best maximized space. To meet these needs, the architect created community areas that can easily convert from daytime to nighttime use. Keeping in mind future financial and environmental sustainability, the design also exhibited both active and passive energy-saving techniques, and earned the Energy Star Building certification by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Tony has brought his expertise back to Friends on many occasions since earning his Bachelor of Architecture with honors from Pratt Institute in 1987. In 2011, he sat on a panel of alumni sharing experiences of their work in the field of architecture. He also served on the School Committee from 1997 to 2002 including the Building & Grounds subcommittee. For Tony, his work in architecture is about helping “the working class folks,”—a sentiment surely cemented at Friends.

Jo-Sar Davis-Dacio ’09 is interning with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, also known as the NYC Development Hub. He also takes graduate courses at Hunter College and coaches gymnastics and tennis at the 92nd Street Y. Jo-Sar has a BA in Environmental Design from the University of Buffalo. spr in g 20 14 | 19


THE MEETINGHOUSE

For more than 300 years, Quaker meetinghouses have embodied the ideals of simplicity, plainness and equality. Unadorned, yet beautifully distinguished, New York State possesses a superb array of meetinghouses that reflect the development of the Quaker religious movement. These excellent examples of religious architecture stand out not because of steeples or stained glass, but by simple, domestically scaled buildings.

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THE TYPICAL QUAKER MEETINGHOUSE is a two-story wood-frame building with two separate entrances on the principal facade, a large first floor meeting space with benches and an interior second story gallery. The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, was one of a number of Nonconformist Christian sects that arose in England in the 17th century. It attracted a large following in England and New England through emphasis on individual truth (known as the “Inner Light”), simplicity in behavior and worship and opposition to violence. However, the Governor of New Netherlands, Peter Stuyvesant openly reviled Quakers and their radical religious views. He outlawed Friends meetings throughout the colony. Nevertheless, their numbers increased, and by 1681, Quakers were worshipping and convening in the open. By the mid-18th century, Friends in America were free to conduct their meetings openly, which resulted in a surge of meetinghouse construction. The architectural design of American Quaker meetinghouses developed independently without formal directives other than “the sense of the meeting.” They were domestic in scale and character without steeples and tended to appear in quiet rural settings often accompanied by cemeteries. Plainness, simplicity and symmetry were fundamental design principles, and any functional requirements were minimal. Since worship involved silent waiting for God without ritual, there was no need for an altar, pulpit, sacristy or other liturgical features. The physical arrangements of the meetinghouse quickly evolved to a typical plan: a plain, unornamented rectangular wood building with two doors along the principal facade. Women and girls entered on the left, men and boys on the right, to sit on long wooden benches on opposite sides of a large central room. Older members would sit on raised benches on the far wall, which enables everyone to be seen and heard. Often a second story gallery provided extra seats. Following worship, it was common for a movable partition to divide the central room and allow for separate men’s and women’s business meetings. Some meetinghouses were designed with a single entrance, or lacked partitions, so that men and women entered and sat together for business. The use of partitions declined in the late 19th century—persisting longest among more conservative meetings. In the early 19th century, the Hicksite Schism split the Society of Friends into two branches. The more conservative Hicksite Friends preserved the traditional Quaker style of worship and reliance on the Inner Light. The Orthodox Friends aligned themselves with mainstream Christianity incorporating sermons, hymns and biblical Sunday schools. Orthodox Friends tended to build new chapel-style buildings with single entrances under a gable roof to suit the new style of worship.

Flushing Meetinghouse, built in 1694, is the oldest house of worship in New York City.

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In an ironic twist, the Hicksites acquired a plot of land on the former Peter Stuyvesant Estate, where fashionable homes had begun appearing. Society of Friends member Charles Bunting not only designed but oversaw the construction of the Rutherford Place Meetinghouse and the adjoining school building. His red brick structures, drawing from Federal and Greek Revival designs, are simple and straightforward. The Meetinghouse sits back from Rutherford Place at the corner of 15th Street. The Greek Revivalstyle end returns of the roof cornice mirror the shape of the pediment over the plain porch. Four white wooden columns support the porch. Unadorned window lintels and sills speak to the simplicity of the lifestyle of the Society of Friends. Next door, the original Schoolhouse nearly matches the Meetinghouse. Placed closer to the street, its porch is shallower, and the corners boast attractive stone quoins. The T-shaped school has a separate entrance on the 16th Street side. The resulting complex is architecturally charming and serene. In 1958, the two branches of the Society of Friends reunited. Their beautiful and uncomplicated red brick buildings on Stuyvesant Square remain integral components of both the Friends Seminary campus and the surrounding Stuyvesant Square Historic District. Friends Seminary, Stuyvesant Square

22 | nff

References Daytonian in Manhattan, “The 1860 Meeting House in Stuyvesant Square” New York Landmark Conservancy, “Quaker Meetinghouse Architecture”


Did You Know? FACTS ABOUT ARCHITECTURE AT FRIENDS

CHARLES F. BUNTING, A QUAKER, WAS BOTH DESIGNER AND BUILDER OF

FRIENDS SEMINARY, THE RUTHERFORD PLACE MEETINGHOUSE, AND THE

FRIENDS MEETINGHOSUE IN BOERUM HILL, BROOKLYN.

IN THE 1920S, THE ORIGINAL PLANS FOR THE CORNER SCHOOL BUILDING’S

BASEMENT SPACES INCLUDED AN INDOOR POOL NEXT TO THE CAFETERIA

UNDER THE INNER COURTYARD. School gathering, circa 1864.

❂ DEVELOPER HARRY HELMSLEY, THEN A QUAKER AND MEMBER OF THE

SCHOOL COMMITTEE, OVERSAW THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 1964

BUILDING, NOW NAMED HUNTER HALL.

THE TOWNHOUSE AT 214 EAST 16TH STREET WAS BOUGHT DIRECTLY

FROM THE SOLOMON FAMILY, WHOSE CHILDREN ATTENDED FRIENDS,

JUST A PARTY WALL AWAY!

Opening Day, 1964

ALL KINDERGARTENERS TAKE AN ARCHITECTURE ELECTIVE ON

FRIDAY AFTERNOONS, LEARNING BASIC VOCABULARY, HOW

TO LOOK AT BUILDINGS AND HOW TO CONSTRUCT

AND DECORATE MODELS.

THE CAMPUS NOW INCLUDES EIGHT STRUCTURES

AND PROVIDES ABOUT

INSTRUCTIONAL SPACE.

90,000 SQUARE FEET OF INDOOR Kindergarten class, 2014. spr in g 20 1 4 | 23


Art Preview at Phillips FROM LEFT: David Rockwell, Charles Renfro, Josephine Meckseper, Terrie Sultan and Barry Schwabsky

The Contemporary Art Preview once again took place at Phillips. Guests had the opportunity to view a selection of works that later sold at the annual auction. The evening began with a panel discussion, “Collaborations: Artists and Architects Sharing Space.” Contemporary artist Josephine Meckseper and Terrie Sultan of the Parrish Art Museum on Long Island represented the art world. David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group and Charles Renfro of Diller Scofidio + Renfro offered the point of view of architects. Art critic Barry Schwabsky moderated the discussion, which attempted to answer the question, “What roles do art and architecture play in an age defined by the blurring of disciplines?” Ms. Sultan pointed out that because art is often housed within architecture, there must be a symbiotic relationship. The panel agreed that architecture influences the interpretation of art. Ms. Meckseper, who spent her childhood as part of an artist colony in Germany, found that the overlap between the two

media is seamless. “Artists built everything in the village,” she said. “So everything presented the opportunity for a work of art.” The idea of temporality played a big role in the discussion. “Architecture is the beginning of a conversation,” Mr. Rockwell said. He talked about how buildings have a basis in movement. In the case of a museum, flow is important. The architecture must “move” you through the exhibit. Art is a destination of sorts. Mr. Renfro added, “Art can be hidden when you’re sick of it. Architecture has no place to go.” Ms. Sultan pointed out that just as it is impossible to design a building that lasts forever, artists don’t set out to create a masterpiece. “In each situation, the designer is doomed to fail.” Mr. Renfro summed up the conversation best when he said, “Artists and architects are lovers and enemies. Discourse is important.”

Forever Friends: Auction 2014 The annual auction and dinner returned to Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers. Attendees enjoyed a spirited night, and the School raised record numbers in the silent bidding. Many thanks to the auction committee for their hard work! 24 | nf f


Planning for the Future

T

HROUGHOUT the 2013-2014 school year, Friends Seminary has worked on its strategic plan. This process, which all schools usually undergo every three to five years, will set the School’s future priorities while keeping in mind its 228 year history. As the charge from the School Committee states, “this is an opportunity, indeed, to ask timely questions, strategize, recommend priorities, and to dream.” The Strategic Planning Committee selected Triangle Associates to serve as consultants. The firm comes highly recommended by peer schools in New York and has worked with several other Quaker educational institutions across the country on their strategic plans. In the fall of 2013, the Friends community participated in an exercise called Portrait of a Graduate. Members of the community formed groups and received outlines of actual students. The groups framed the portraits with words or phrases that would describe the ideal Friends graduate. Through this exercise, the community began thinking about the qualities we hope our students will embody regarding intellectual abilities, their physical and emotional well being, their social responsibility and spiritual development. All of the portraits were on display in the Rosenquist Gallery during most of the winter. In January of 2014, members of the community completed the Strategic Planning Survey. Triangle Associates reported that compared to other schools, record numbers participated in the survey. Participants answered a wide range of questions about the School and their experiences within it. Triangle also facilitated focus groups so that representative members of the community could elaborate on their thoughts. After Triangle compiles the data, it will issue a report with recommendations, and the Strategic Planning Committee will develop the final plan. For continuous updates on the Strategic Plan go to www.friendsseminary.org/strategicplan

STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE Co-Clerks Matthew Annenberg ’83 Leitzel Schoen

Committee Members Laura DeMare Andy Doan Cella Irvine ’75 Sandra Jelin Plouffe ’93

Ariel Kitch Jamie Lieberman Micah Morris Audrey Reynolds Pankti Sevak

Ex Officio Elizabeth Enloe Bo Lauder Scribe Gloria Foti spr in g 20 14 | 25


Public Collection of the New York

Library

back in the day

A Glimpse of Our History

Photograph by Tom Fletcher

by Barry Benepe ’45

I

N SEARCHING THE history of Friends Seminary, which I attended as a child from 1934 until 1939, I relied on two documents. One was the 1969 Designation Report for the Friends Meetinghouse and Friends Seminary. The other was Children of Light (Nancy Gibbs ’78, 1986). The earliest mention of a Friends Meeting in Manhattan is 1687. Nine years later the first meetinghouse was built on Little Green Street, now known as Liberty Street. The Quakers had to endure the enmity of Governor Peter Stuyvesant who in 1656 ordered the villagers of Flushing “not to admit, lodge or entertain . . . any one of the heretical sect called the Quakers.” The next substantial brick meetinghouse was built on Pearl Street in 1775. The non-violent Quakers tried to avoid taking sides during the revolution. A third, more substantial meetinghouse was build on Hester Street in 1819. The first 30 years of the 19th Century saw the development of a major schism between the more orthodox Friends and the followers of Elias Hicks when “Quakerism had ruptured and entered its decline. . . Yearly and Monthly Meetings fell apart and remained divided for the next hundred years.” This rupture is still visible today in the presence of both the former 1859 Meetinghouse on Gramercy Park South and ours erected in 1861 on Stuyvesant Square. The two sides healed their differences in the 20th Century. This “Hicksite” Meetinghouse and Seminary were built ironically on land formerly owned by Peter Stuyvesant who so opposed the Quakers. In 1976 it was incorporated into the Stuyvesant Square Historic District. The report states, “The elegant restraint of the design may be attributed to the natural conservatism of the Friends.” The low gable above the Meetinghouse entrance porch has a bisected lunette window above a datestone. It reflects a modest Greek Revival style so prevalent in the mid-19th Century. The T-shaped Seminary repeats this form in a modest, friendly manner. Both face Rutherford Place. Together with the 1846 Romanesque St. George's Church, designed by Leopold Eidlitz and Otto Bleach, these buildings form one of the most beautiful public settings in New York City. Unlike Gramercy Park, Stuyvesant Square is unfortunately bisected by Second Avenue. Access to the park could be improved however by widening the sidewalk along Rutherford Place. We are indeed fortunate to have Friends ensconced in such an outstandingly beautiful setting. Barry Benepe ’45 is a planner and architect as well as an acitivist. He is a founder of Transportation Alternatives, which promotes city cycling and public transportation. In 1976, he founded Greenmarket, the first farmers market in New York City since 1935. Barry is a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Jane Jacobs Medal and ABC World News has named him a Person of the Week. He holds a BA in Fine Arts from Williams and a Bachelor of Architecture from MIT. He currently lives in the West Village with his wife, Judith.

26 | nf f


class notes KNOW YOUR REPS cs

class secretary

ca

class agent

rc

reunion chair

ac

alumni council member

collects Class Notes- send your news to this rep! fundraises for the Annual Fund coordinates Reunion provides strategic direction for alumni program

VOLUNTEER TODAY Please contact Katherine Farrell at kfarrell@friendsseminary.org or at 212.979.5035 ext 106. Special thanks to Jessie Chafee ’97 for editing Class Notes.

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1935

1943

Richard Hanau CS CA 300 West Farm Pond Road, #230 Framingham, MA 01702-6248 rlhanau@gmail.com

Eugenie Grey Laidler CS 45 Whitney Gln, Unit 000103 Westport, CT 06880-3701

1938

Please see page 43 for a tribute to Marion Cleveland Cohen.

Alexander M. Watson CS 80 Loeffler Road, #G209 Bloomfield, CT 06002 ampwwatson@comcast.net

1944

1939

Please see page 44 for a tribute to Martha Muse.

Barbara Valentine Hertz CA 441 Valencia, #1001 Coral Gables, FL 33134 hertzbv@gmail.com Please see page 43 for a tribute to Donald Swain Pratt.

1941 Barbara Kugel Herne CS c/o Mary Herne 16650 Calle Haleigh Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Hope Franz Ligori CS 32-27 Murray Lane Flushing, NY 11354-3217

Please see page 44 for a tribute to Eleanor Fuchs Hoeffler. Hope Franz Ligori writes: “70 years ago we graduated form Friends! I took the opportunity to call classmates. Teddy Oakes O’Hara is still in Little Compton, RI. Mary Ann Willson Logue, a retired Episcopalean priest, is still in Hamden, CT. She is not far from Janet Davidson Caulkins. Jean Haney Hoagland has moved to

Swingerland, NY, after selling her house and spending a short time in Delmar, NY. When I spoke to Tim Foote he was in California with his son for a visit, but he receives his mail in Livingston Manor, NY. I am sorry to report that Eleanor Fuchs Hoeffler, living in Florida, passed away unexpectedly waiting for minor surgery. I left messages for Joan Hitchcock Rich, and hope to talk to her soon. Arline Cinamon Mirantz is in Florida but will return to Albany in May. Madge Morse Muckenhaupt, Helen Sonnenberg Tucker and Adele Kostellow-Morrill are on my “to call” list.”

1945 Marion Hausner Pauck CS 141 Del Medio Avenue, #206 Mountain View, CA 94040-1053 Marion1426@att.net Marion Hausner Pauck writes, “gave the Banquet Address at the North American Paul Tillich Society meetings last November. I am past president of the Society. The address will be published in

J. Richard Hunter CS HC 1 Box 1155 Tafton, PA 18464

1942 Margaret Dorkey McCormick CA 18 Still Street Brookline, MA 02446-7044 mdmtjm@comcast.net Richard Scully CS 2021 Tunlaw Road NW Washington, DC 20007-2220 Please see page 43 for a tribute to Gordon R. S. Smith.

Bo Lauder, Edes Powell Gilbert ’49 and Bodie Brizendine.

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1946 Stuart Robinson CS 3635 7th Avenue, #1E San Diego, CA 92103-4343 trauts2@cox.net Please see page 44 for a tribute to Joyce Walsh Ware.

1947 Jean Taylor Kroeber CS 226 St. John’s Place Brooklyn, NY 11217-3406 jeantkroeber@gmail.com

1948 Anne Codding Tonachel CS 26 Bethune Street New York, NY 10014 ahtonachel@aol.com

1949 Please see page 45 for a tribute to Clare Greenberger Freedman. Bo Lauder and Bodie Brizendine, Head of School at Spence, hosted a farewell party for Edes Powell Gilbert ’49 before she moved west

from NYC to St. Louis. Edes remains an active Friends alumna and is a past Head of School at Spence and former School Committee Member at Friends.

class notes

the North American Paul Tillich Society Bulletin. I have been invited to lecture on Paul Tillich at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria, and at the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Institute in Salzburg, Austria, in June. I continue to give lectures in my special field, and to work on several manuscripts, as well as my memoir. The biography of Paul Tillich co-authored by me and my late husband, Wilhelm Pauck, will be re-published by Wipf and Stock later this year. Harper San Francisco published the original edition in 1976.”

1953

1950

Nora Palen Roberts CS CA 4185 70th Street Circle East Palmetto, FL 34221 mom.nanny20@gmail.com

Henri P. Caldwell CS 5 Woodside Park Winthrop, MA 02152 henri.caldwell@gmail.com

Joan Parker Wofford CA 30 Crabapple Lane Northampton, MA 01060 joan@joanwofford.com

1951

Please see page 46 for a tribute to Andre Schiffrin.

Stephen J. Chinlund CS AC 445 West 19th Street, PH.D. New York, NY 10011-3844 stephenchinlund@verizon.net Stephen J. Chinlund writes, “During Reunion Weekend, the Class of 1951 had a lovely dinner at the home of Linda Frankel Cahill. Besides Linda and me, accepting were Charles Woodford, Dick Wedeen and Jeffrey Simpson (with spouses). Sending warm notes of regret were Blair Gates Brumley Kenney, Sofia Liljencrants Wentz, Jane Di Stasi Winant, Dorrit Werner Purdy Kazmer, Catherine Knies Newman McCall and Christian Wolff. We realized the school has been a launching nest for us all to focus on the things in life that are most important: love, justice, compassion and peace. We had inspiring teachers who created an atmosphere of respect and hope which has nurtured us all, in different ways, right to the present moment.”

1952 Martha Manheim Green CS AC 2 Montague Terrace Brooklyn, NY 11201-4105 marthamgreen@gmail.com Please see page 45 for a tribute to Peter A. Rona.

As reported by Nancy Dry Sumner: “We're not having much luck keeping up our news. I surely would like to know what all of you are doing with your socalled Golden Years... Is everyone by now retired? If so, what are your current involvements and activities? Bill and I have moved into a Retirement Community, a far cry from a ‘Nursing Home!’ The average age is mid-70's and almost all residents participate in activities (physical, social, intellectual) on a regular basis. We're truly thrilled to be free of the responsibility of house ownership! My RA has pretty much destroyed my music, but children and grandchildren keep me very occupied and challenged. Now it's YOUR TURN.”

1954 Constance Black Engle CS 244 Englewood Drive Hendersonville, NC 28739-7429 connie.engle@gmail.com Judith Owen Bates Lopez CS 5630 Spring Watch San Antonio, TX 78247 retiredinsa@sbcglobal.net Constance Black Engle writes, “Dick & Lucy Sallick had a two week safari in Zimbabwe

spr in g 20 14 | 29


this winter, traveling with a group of friends. Dick is working less, which is good for stress levels and practicing for full retirement. Harry Moses wrote and produced a two hour special, ‘Where Were You?,’ which aired on NBC on Nov. 22, 2013 marking the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination. Tom Brokaw was the correspondent. Harry is currently writing a memoir entitled Difficult People: Colliding with the famous, the obsessed and the powerful during 50 years of making documentaries. The subtitle may not survive, but gives an idea of what the book is about. Harry had lunch with Jeff Davidson in New York in January. Jeff is well and is still supervising postproduction for Sony/Columbia's films released abroad (in Germany, France and Italy, the countries whose languages Jeff speaks fluently!). Instead of language fluency, Harry's tennis game keeps improving! I (Constance Black Engle) had a successful second heart surgery in May of 2013 and swim regularly to keep in some semblance of shape. Earl and I made several short trips in our Roadtrek before winter set in. I manage the Blue Ridge Ringers, a community handbell ensemble that I started 20 years ago. I own the five octaves of handbells used by the group. I also ring English change ringing bells in the local church tower and on visits to other towers in the US and UK. Virginia Paine DeForest reports that a new grandson, Caleb Wu DeForest was born on Nov. 14, 2013 to her son Greg DeForest and her daughterin-law Judy Wu. She says it's fun to start over when other grandkids are ages 11 to17.” Richard M. Sallick writes, “I'm still in Connecticut, still working some and doing a little community service. Lucy and I are traveling more, trying to do the right things to stay healthy (so far, so good) and enjoying time in NYC periodically. Three grandchildren 30 | nf f

are in college and one is in high school. Talking with them about the college application process and post-college plans sure highlights how long ago it was that we left FS.”

1955 Jackson R. Bryer CS CA 4205 Glenridge Street Kensington, MD 20895 jbryer@umd.edu Gail Richards Tirana CS 203 West 81st Street, #6B New York, NY 10024-5802 gtirana@gmail.com Anne Carriere writes, “The current Friends Seminary is not the place I loved and grew up in. For that reason, I have no attachment to the School anymore, and haven't for years, ever since the building program started. Except for the Meetinghouse (which has many different memories because I'm a Quaker and attended First Day Meetings there for years), the entire building is something else entirely, not where I went to school, hung out, loved my teachers, developed crushes on classmates... none of that. The funniest thing I remember about the original buildings is that Lynn Frank (also attending Quaker Meeting) and I decided one First Day, when meeting was too boring, to explore the boys' locker room in the cellar, where Tiny's classroom was (remember Tiny Nordstrom? Hot air rises and cold air rushes in to take its place? General Science, I think that course was called). While in the locker room, Lynn broke her strand of pearls, which, of course, raced all over the floor. And so did we, trying to catch them all, but, because of fits of giggles, we were found out and pulled back to proper Quaker worship. We never did hear if anyone discovered the

pearls we were unable to retrieve. Nor were we ever reprimanded. PS: I broke my nose running into the end wall in the all-purpose gym. I was a very good forward (basketball). Dedicated, I'd say.” George French writes, “A friend of mine brought up a website about old NY buildings. I was amazed that the Friends Meetinghouse was highlighted. It brought back memories of the assemblies, the slippery wooden benches, Mrs. Winterbottom's piano in the corner under the balcony. I remember sitting in that balcony, and the gym, the small play yard and the old cafeteria; the stuffy classrooms in the basement, and also the beautiful trees outside Mr. Wilcox's classroom. Strange how all these rush back… and also the old El trains and a hot dog stand on 14th Street.” Arthur Goldschmidt writes, “Coming from a pioneering progressive school in Washington, D.C., my first impression of Friends and its location was that it seemed very old. As I got used to it, I was impressed that almost a century's worth of boys and girls like us had somehow received their primary and secondary education in the same building that we were in. It also amused me to learn that we were situated near a public park that was named for Peter Stuyvesant, who wasn't friendly to Quakers. The physical structure of the school has changed so much since the 1950s that I now need a student to guide me, or at least a map to find my way around it.” Steve Mittenthal writes, “What I remember most about Friends’s architecture/space was its almost spartan simplicity, quite in keeping with Quaker values and principles. As far as what I am doing, I'm retired now (though retired from what, I don't know) and contemplating writing a spy novel about Russo-German espionage during WWII. You remember WWII: the last of the ‘good’ wars, the war we grew up on.” Nan


Krulewitch Socolow writes, “I have no class note for right now, except hugs to all and remembrances of the dear classmates we lost— Sue Mok Einarson, Lynn Frank Randall, Bill Lewis, Beth Gerry— and the teachers who have gone on to Valhalla.” Gail Richards Tirana writes, “I pass Friends every day—the Meetinghouse, School and front yard of FS in our era—in a drawing in my hall. It was a small, quiet corner of NY, surprising and special, even in the more modest city of the 50s. I think any moment, students will tumble out, carrying on the vibrant and ad hoc life of our multi-use spaces inside. Especially the gym, where we had publications' offices, dances and plays even, in addition to lots of sports; and the Meetinghouse, where we had study hall and club meetings and music classes and more plays. Like most (or many), I endured weekly meetings, hiding homework, sure I'd never rise and speak (I finally did, once). But if not then, soon after I realized that I admired the value given silence, stillness, thought. Of all the remembered spaces at FS, the Meetinghouse remains most alive. I am very grateful.” Diana Crafts Turner writes, “The Meetinghouse: open, airy, high-ceilinged, arched windows, solace, reflection, peaceful! I loved the top floors (far from the lower school) with Mr. Hinman's science room—dark

1956 Peter Filene CS 215 Markham Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27514 filene@email.unc.edu Please see page 47 for a tribute to Richard F. Edlich.

1957 Stephen G. Rostand CA 3078 Overhill Road Birmingham, AL 35223-1246 srostand@uab.edu John Schwartz CS 126 East 16th Street, #4A New York, NY 10003-3501 john.schwartz@ag.ny.gov David E. Wartels CS 48 Williams Avenue Westerly, RI 02891-4509

1958

class notes

Drawing by Victor DePauw (father of John ’55)

and brooding like him—and Mr. Reinhart's art studio, full of easels and smelling of oil paints, where the sun was always shining. I remember going through Mme. Carmen's crowded room to Miss Ehler's Latin and German classes at a refectory table, like a nunnery for meals; Dr. Hunter's stacks of books blocking light from arched windows; and Mr. Wilcox's domain next door. I disliked the basement's below-ground spaces—not very conducive for eating in the cafeteria, but also where we would find Mr. Mirick, Mrs. Nordstrom, the girls' locker room (several of us found a crawl space for forbidden smoking) and Mr. Lonergan's interesting woodworking shop.” John DePauw writes, “Who can forget the el? Scores of FSers rode the el to/from FS, as in this drawing by my father (Victor DePauw), and for all of us it was an integral part of the FS ‘space’ and experience.”

Nicholas D. Etcheverry CS braamore466@aol.com Thomas Munnell CS P.O. Box 1217 Marion, MA 02738 tcmunnell@gmail.com Congratulations to Roger Rosenblatt on the release of his book, The Boy Detective, published by HarperCollins.

1959 Frederic J. Buse CA RC 3 North Lane Loudonville, NY 12211-1629 fbuse@shggroup.com Christopher B. Cerf RC 146 East 62nd Street, Apt 1E New York, NY 10021-8142 chriscerf@aol.com Helen Davis Chaitman CS RC 115 Fairview Road Frenchtown, NJ 08825-9740 hchaitman@bplegal.com Hilary Fleming Knatz RC 41 Alpine Drive Lincoln Park, NJ 07035 hilaryknatz@gmail.com Abigail B. Calkin reports, “The second edition of The Carolyne Letters, my novel about the choices a young woman faces while pregnant, was released in September. The publishing company is Familius. It is available in print and as an e-book. I've also been doing a lot of educational consulting at schools and universities lately in the areas of psychology, special education and behavior analysis in Alaska, Russia and Belarus. I head to Ethiopia in March.” Abigail Thomas writes, “I just sold my seventh book to Scribners. I have four grown kids, and 12 grandchildren (which I consider my own accomplishment). I still live

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in Woodstock, NY, with four dogs, and a couple of kids live nearby. I give writing workshops, the most important of which is a memoir writing workshop at the Cancer Support Center in Kingston, New York, from which I have learned more in two years than the 70 preceding ones. I've learned that if it isn't life and death, it isn't life and death. I send love to everyone.”

1960 Elizabeth Peale Allen AC 665 Quaker Hill Road Pawling, NY 12564-3435 LAllen3559@aol.com Catherine Munnell-Smith CA 23 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29401 smith7cm@gmail.com Liz Lyons Stone CS 415 Ash Street Mill Valley, CA 94941 stone.elizabeth@sbcglobal.net Derek Van Hoorn CS 1741 Arlington Boulevard El Cerrito, CA 94530-2005 dvanhoorn24@yahoo.com

Class of 1964 at Boulderwood

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As reported by Catherine Munnell Smith: “Jane Edelstein Rosenbloom wrote in to say that she has fond memories of lunch in the cafeteria and of the cement playground where we jumped rope and played softball. Susie Kintner also remembers the play area for softball: ‘one huge square with wire fencing, severely lacking in artistic form but very functional.’ Jenny Roper remembers graduation: Her parents were standing outside after the ceremony, just under the edge of the portico in front of the Meetinghouse. Her mother felt something wet land on her head. She looked up and saw a pigeon, of course. Jenny says she and her parents had a good laugh about it! Neil Mitchell wrote to report that he is now in a new NYC office building. He has retired as a partner of Winston & Strawn LLP and embarked on a new career in third-party litigation finance. He is now President of Fulbrook Capital Management, LLC (www. FulbrookManagement.com), specializing in obtaining funding for meritorious commercial (not personal injury) lawsuits where the litigant is unable to continue because of future projected costs

until judgment. Neil says the title of ‘President’ needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as it is a twoman company with Neil as number two. Much of Neil's background is international arbitration/litigation, so he concentrates on obtaining third-party funding for clients in this area. Neil says the best part of his new job is that he no longer has to keep time entries of all his client-billable activities in 6-minute increments (tenths of an hour), which he did for 44 years. He says, ‘It is as if a ball and chain were unshackled from my leg.’ Thinking back to Friends and architecture, Neil says that not even Proust could explain why Neil so distinctly remembers the balcony over the gym, the smell of the maroon seat cushions in the Meetinghouse, Dr. Luft's sunlightfilled corner classroom, Tiny Nordstrom's gray suits, Mrs. Terrell's sweaters (perhaps he can figure out why he remembers them), the changing color of the red brick façade throughout the day, the new gym electronic scoreboard and the smaller of the two playgrounds, where one softball an inning would go over the fence into an irritated neighbor's yard. ‘Fond memories,


1961 Barbara Hertz Burr CS 55 Hemenway Drive Canton, MA 02021 wburr6@verizon.net

1962 Steve Lipmann CA 201 East 17th Street, #23B New York, NY 10003-3680 shlipmann@gmail.com Jean Seligmann CS 201 East 83rd Street, #14D New York, NY 10028-2870 dearjean@earthlink.net

1963 David Lowry CS 6501 City Place Edgewater, NJ 07020 davilowry@gmail.com Stephanie Van Hoorn CA PO Box 2326 Sebastopol, CA 94573 74sevh@gmail.com

1964 Barbara Carey CS RC 166 East 96th Street, #8-A New York, NY 10128 careybarbaraj@gmail.com

Valentine Hertz Kass RC AC 125 Wolfe Street Alexandria, VA 22314 vkass@comcast.net Jonathan Y. Nareff RC 26 Cabana Drive Rockport, ME 04856 jnareff@gmail.com Louise Walsh RC 414 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20003-4008 ldwalsh@earthlink.net Please see page 47 for a tribute to John Fisk. Louise Walsh unearthed this photo of many of her class members taken at Boulderwood, the home of classmate Lizi Eames’ great-aunt, Helen Price Roebling, and her husband, John A. Roebling II, son of Washington Roebling, the builder of the Brooklyn Bridge. The names of the girls, from left to right, are: Barbara Carey, Valentine Hertz [Kass], Elizabeth Heilman, Sharyn Finnegan (friend of the class), Jill Ross [Stewart], Jacqueline Lea, Elizabeth Eames [Roebling], Addie Porrino [West], Louise Walsh, Cornelia Lyons [Bonhag], Margot McGeorge [Burke] (deceased), Susan Localio, and Judy Hudson. The boys, left to right, are Christopher Gilson, Douglas Wally, John Anholt, Michael Doyle, Jonathan Nareff, Jonathan Cerf, Peter Gabel (friend of the class), David Moyers (friend of Lizi’s family), William Localio, Bruce Muchmore, John Foss, and Jonathan Prude. Small World Department: Interestingly, in 1941, Helen and John A. Roebling II donated a thousand-acre estate in Florida to Archbold Expeditions, and that property has become the Archbold Biological Station, a field station where scientists conduct research on the ecology of native plants and animals of central Florida. 1964 classmate Mark Deyrup is the Senior Research

Biologist there! As reported by Barbara Carey: “Everyone who wrote in expressed enthusiasm for getting together for our 50th reunion. Valentine Hertz Kass writes that that she is so lucky to have had the National Science Foundation grant her a year-long sabbatical, with the PBS NewsHour as her host institution. Though she has worked in media most of her professional career, this is her first foray into news. Valentine comments, ‘I am in awe in how, with few people and modest resources, the NewsHour staff produces a daily hour-long news program . . . live at 6:00 pm no matter what.’ On the family front: Valentine is thrilled at the big news that her son Sam is marrying Alex Wagner this summer. Arthur Fink writes that he spent a week in January photographing at Auschwitz and Birkenau and is now looking for venues to present some of his images, and to start ‘a discussion about what this means for us today.’ He is spending less time on technical work and more time photographing dance, and working with nonprofits to help them refine their mission, vision, governance, and how they deal with conflict. He is awaiting his next return to Holland. Arthur gladly offers to share his pamphlet about listening: ‘Hurry up and finish speaking so I can tell you why you're wrong.’ Christine Hehmeyer Rosso writes that after 30 years of practicing law in Chicago, she moved with her husband, David, to Milan for almost five years, where he started up and headed the Italian office of Jones Day. They loved Italy, got to have their two kids visit often, and traveled a lot. Now back in the U.S., they divide their time between Chicago and a house in Sailfish Point, a gated community on one of Florida's east coast barrier islands, with a major trip every year or two (China, South Africa, S.E. Asia). Florida, Christine says, is like being at summer camp—lots of outdoor activities, interesting friends, as much community involvement as

class notes

all,’ he writes. As for me, Cathie Munnell Smith, I remember the sunlight of the kindergarten room (and the day one of the one-yearolder boys got his mouth washed out with soap for saying a bad word). I also remember the musty cramped library outside of Mme. Carman's classroom. I loved it and often stood reading in the stacks before class when I really should have been reviewing French verbs. In the new news category, I report with great joy that, with the birth of twins in December, Ras and I now have three grandsons in New York.”

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you want, and activities and parties galore, since many of the people living there are at least partly retired. Christine confesses that about a month ago, they did have 13 3/4 inches of rain in less than three hours, causing streets to become canals, and drowning their car, which had to be replaced (water in the air intake is not good for a car). Christine writes, ‘It has taken me years to get used to not living where I could walk to wherever I needed to be, but I have learned there are trade-offs to just about everything.’ Bruce Muchmore writes, ‘No milestones for me in 2013, just dwindling labor hours from clients, which is fine because I'm tired of working anyway. I'm just ever-averse to commitment, not willing to say “I'm retired.”’ Bill Localio writes, ‘It's amazing how close I feel to Friends even though I left after 8th grade to attend a boarding school that I don't feel nearly so close to. Not only the memorable teachers but the whole feel of the place.’ Chris Gilson both wrote and contributed a note on life after Friends/architecture (from his essay, ‘From Bauhaus to Mickey Mouse,’ available online . I accept his request for a selfie doing the Twist for old times' sake—if, as he suggests, I happen to pass the old Peppermint Lounge with my camera at 2AM. Chris writes, ‘I moved from Manhattan to Miami for the architecture. Years ago, I flew to Miami on business and happened to drive past the "building with the hole in the middle" that opened the '80s TV show Miami Vice. I had always dismissed the "hole" as a computer graphic, because “Profiles In Courage” wasn't written about real estate developers. Who would ever sign off on a building that playful? But it was real. And I knew in a Malcolm Gladwell blink that I needed to be part of a city that confused fun with business. By sunset, I managed to buy the apartment off the "Skycourt"—a space punched into the building 15

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stories high, sporting a blue tile Jacuzzi, a bright red staircase, and a giant palm tree. I could open my new back door, hop in the Jacuzzi and see, beyond a forest of flame trees, a skyline that looked dipped in gold. On the other side, I had a clear view of yellow cigarette boats slicing through Biscayne Bay at a decibel level of Manowar concerts. Over a single day, my sense of "home" had migrated from businesslike, Bauhaus Manhattan to Mickey Mouse, memory-free Miami. I kept my place in Manhattan in a brownbrick tower designed to efficiently warehouse Yuppies. But my heart belonged to my new perch over the city Time called "America's Casablanca." The air was thick with sweet bougainvillea, capitalism in the raw, a 24/7 party in Spanglish, and a roaring sense of possibility. . . . I met my wife Carolyn here in South Beach 22 years ago. We designed our forever beach house together. The two dolphins spitting across our pool come from the Fontainebleau Hotel's pool, circa 1959. A little tradition is good. But not too much.’ Robert Rostand, who will, unfortunately for us, be away on a gardening tour of England at reunion time, offered these reflections: ‘Some of my fondest memories of FS include: music appreciation club with sunlight filtering through the shades to give the room a golden hue in the late afternoon; sitting in the back row and gazing out the window into the play yard while Dr. Hunter droned on about something; running laps in the park during PE in the spring; embarrassing Mrs. Haidemenakis during biology class; and, best of all, going to a concert at Town Hall with David Saidenberg '63 and Mr. Shank. Since graduating, the usual stuff: college, med school, marriage, one daughter, 35 years of medical practice and, since October, 2013, retirement,’ which is wonderful, Robert says, despite what he has been told. He says he is busy doing

what he likes to do best—playing piano (lessons with a very Russian teacher whose highest praise is ‘not bad’); travelling—often to visit his daughter in Los Alamos; swimming—‘finally been able to do what my doctor has been telling me to do for the last 30 years—exercise and lose weight. It's hard to do when you've spent all day in the office and come home whipped’; and working at a local community clinic for indigent people two mornings a week. We have given some thought to moving to Durham, NC or possible New Mexico to be closer to daughter and grandson. Susie Localio poses a definitional question that should awaken some memories: ‘Architecture??? Do the toilets with the boxes above them (overhead flush kind of thing) count? Other than that and Mrs. Casey's Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns, architectural memories give way to daily life: missing the cross-country skiing available when we lived in Colorado, Daniel and I are off across Snoqualmie Pass to cross-country ski near Lake Chelan. Otherwise, Port Townsend suits us very well. We are converting the garden to raised beds, cedar being readily available around here for the building of them, which Daniel does because, despite those years with Mr. Lonergan, I would rather never have to build anything ever again.’ Susie and Daniel babysit for their granddaughters Ana Rose (7) and Etta Pearl (1), and are ‘learning about all sorts of wonderful children's books that I missed when I was dragging older kids through “Macbeth.” ’ Their latest favorite is ‘Rooftoppers’ by Katherine Rundell, which takes place partly on the rooftops of Paris. Other activities include ‘playing in the park pretending to be Jack or Merlin or whatever Magic Treehouse character I am assigned to play by Ana Rose. Often I have to play several parts. Last week we were pirates, too.’ Susie concludes,


class notes

Emily Bregman Rizzo ’65 and Pam McWilliam Nugent ’65

"maybe the architectural subject is supposed to be metaphorical. How we built a life. That kind of thing. But although some may have built a life, I do not think I did. It evolved and does so still. I am still incredibly busy, but it is stuff I want to do, and if that is gardening and making lentil soup and playing with grandchildren, so be it. I guess what it comes down to is that I do not want to have to even think I must do something "important." This is the last stage. Let me do what I want. Let me hike along streams and dig in the dirt and eat good bread and read to my grandchildren and check on my elderly neighbor, who is 89 and sharp as a tack. That is, I guess what I want most: Not to lose my mind before I go.’ Louise Walsh also addressed the architecture theme for this next issue: ‘The mats. I remember lying down on long, narrow benches on the Meeting Room balcony where we took our naps. The mats cushioned us from the hard wood. We were young and small and the soaring ceiling in this Quaker space silenced us, at least for a while. On the School's top floor was the large art room where 'Riney,' as we called Stewart Reinhart, warmly welcomed us for our weekly art classes. I remember twirling his handlebar moustache while others waited to jump on his lap, too, and tell him their stories. He let me pour and mix paints from huge jars of bright colors into small, shallow dishes for an entire art period. Magenta was my favorite. Just

Laura Davidson Tanna ’65 and Susan Reid ’65

saying the word made me feel important. It wasn't his fault we didn't all learn to draw. Many of us developed a life-long love of art instead. The freedom Riney gave me to mix paints in his classroom explains a lot about my love of art.’ Jill Ross Stewart adds, ‘I did enjoy reading about all the sports entries, just didn't have time to add my “two cents.” These days I am fortunate to say that my life is happy and busy. We live in Norwalk near our grandkids, and, of course, I love being a “grammie.” My husband, Corky, and I have the time to be involved in all kinds of community programs. I particularly feel useful working with children in an afterschool program at the Open Door Shelter in Norwalk. (Not too different from our Yorkville Youth volunteer work in high school!) We squeeze relaxing time in for boating on the Sound as well as skiing at Okemo in VT. As for me, I retired from my job heading up the Labor, Employment, Benefits and Workers' Compensation Group of the Con Edison Law Department on Oct. 1 of last year. I have almost always wanted to retire ever since I started working, and I am very happy to be retired. Once my new hip, which I acquired on Feb. 18, is settled in, I'm hoping for more time with friends, more museums visits, more painting and writing and reading and gardening, and more and more staying up and getting up late. The delicious feeling of sitting in the kitchen with that second cup of

coffee at 8:30 or 9:00, instead of feeling stressed and guilty for not being at work or worrying that I cannot get there on time, is something I hope I never forget to enjoy to the fullest!’ In attempting to track down more classmates, I was sad to learn of the death of John Fisk, a sweet man and very independent thinker who was a perennial classmate and who I first knew when we played together in the sandbox at the foot of 57th Street when we were probably about three. Greg Fuchs, who wrote the piece, seems to me to have captured both John's spirit and his accomplishments, though not, perhaps, his crazy doodles or his early claim that he was ‘born on the Moon and his mother wasn't there,’ which I think he would have gotten a kick out of remembering.”

1965 Scott Garren CS 135 Spring Lake Road Cuttingsville, VT 05738 scott@garrenshay.com As reported by Scott Garren: “Class notes time again find me on board my boat in Belize reading about the dreadful weather up north, but luckily I have internet access. I know I'm gloating, but can you really blame me? My earliest memories of Friends date back to kindergarten, when we went to the Meeting House balcony every day for ‘rest period.’ The peacefulness of that space remains

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with me to this day. Emily Rizzo writes that she has had enough of shoveling snow off her 400 foot driveway in the mountains of north central Pennsylvania, especially after her husband had emergency open heart surgery in November, so they are moving to Venice, Fla. in a couple of months. Until then, she is keeping busy as the secretary of the Tioga County Democrats and the County Coordinator for the Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania. Pam McWilliam Nugent writes, ‘Spending 13 out of 14 years in a gorgeous old brick building can't help but evoke some kind of reaction to the architecture that was part of my life for such an extended period of time. Yep, I was a lifer. Maybe my exposure at Friends to classic architecture is why I love old buildings, and for all of my married life, we have only owned old houses, all in need of some loving renovation. Our current home in Maine is an 1880 Victorian Italianate with a mansard roof. While at Friends, I remember having an utter fascination with the huge, multi-paned windows that were part of the old building, as well as the long window pole required to raise the lower sash to let air into the room. As a small child, I was just awed by the size of the windows, so much bigger

Ken Dodge ’67, Susan Martin ’67, Pierre Lehu ’67 and Leslie Horowitz Rahl ’67

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than the relatively small casement windows in our apartment. The wooden water tanks high above the toilets are also memorable, but they are still not as compelling in my mind as those old windows, especially the ones in lower school that fronted on Rutherford Place. The wavy old glass made them even more special. I suppose they were single-paned windows that leaked air at an unbelievable rate, but it was their sheer size that fascinated me. However, I can't say I ever remember being cold in the classrooms. I know I firmly remembered how to tell my left hand from my right hand in third grade because my left hand was on the window side of the room when I was seated at my desk, and for a long time after I had moved on to fourth grade, I kept my left and my right straight by closing my eyes and imagining myself sitting next to those big windows. Those bigger-than-life windows were somehow an invitation to the whole world. They let in light. They provided wonderful daydreaming possibilities, which did not please my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Casey. I loved to watch the snow through those old panes. I got to see the goings on in Stuyvesant Park and the wonder of the mottled trunks of all the London plane trees that were growing there. I could check whether the Good Humor man would be in the park during the lunch hour. The possibilities were endless. Our Victorian home has an extraordinarily large number of windows, and they are all huge. For example, there are seven in just the parlor alone. They are one of my favorite features of our house, but they're not nearly as big as the ones at Friends. After all, our house is residential architecture. With all those windows everywhere, there is nothing about our house that is dark or brooding, a common stereotype about Victorian homes.

On the contrary, it's light and bright. Sun streams in, so much so that we had to block out the UV rays with a thin plastic film on the panes to protect the upholstery and wallpaper from fading. I've never made the connection before, but I do think my love of big windows stems from my time at Friends. And, yes, we have lots of wavy old glass panes.’ Emily Bregman Rizzo visited us with her husband, John, in Maine this past April. We hadn't seen each other for 48 years, but conversation flowed as though no years had intervened. Tom and I had a great time with them both. Carl Waldman writes, ‘I came over to Friends in the 9th grade after graduating from Grace Church School. Since I was a newcomer, I was assigned a fellow student as a welcoming friend and guide—it was Peter Rosenblatt, who had been at Friends since kindergarten. We took off into a hallway of the original school building. I was a basketball enthusiast, having been captain of the team at Grace (following in the footsteps of Lee Jones —he and I would later become co-captains of the Friends varsity), and after the first bit of our tour, I asked my guide where the gym was. Of course, the preexpansion gym was in the middle of the original building—a tiny basketball court with walls all too close to the out-of-bounds lines. Peter replied with a straight face, “I don't know where the gym is." We stumbled upon it a few moments later. "Oh, here it is!" he exclaimed and then said, with regret, "I guess now I'll have to go to gym class." After many more wisecracks and lots of laughter during the rest of the tour, I felt at home in my new school. He and I remain good friends to this day.’ Susan Reid writes, ‘After many years of no contact, Laura Davidson Tanna and I reconnected at the 2005 class reunion and have since enjoyed renewing our friendship. Jamaica,


1966 Anne Shapero Adler CS 938 Lake Avenue Greenwich, CT 06831-3032 anneadler11.11@gmail.com

1967 Pierre Lehu CS 153 78th Street Brooklyn, NY 11209-2913 pierre@pierrelehu.com Peter Michaelson CA 1520 Spruce Street, #500 Philadelphia, PA 19102 pnmichaelson@yahoo.com Please see page 48 for a tribute to

Richmond Kelly. Pierre A. Lehu writes, “The class of ’67 held a mini reunion in Naples, FL at the home of Leslie Horwitz Rahl in January. Susan Martin, who lives in the Tampa/St. Pete area came down with her husband Jim and escaping the cold were Ken Dodge and your representative, along with his wife, Joanne. A great time was had eating, drinking as much of Andy Rahl's (Leslie’s husband) wine collection as possible and we shared a very pleasant pontoon boat ride on the canals. The potential is there to make this an annual event. Of course much of our discussion centered around the loss of Rick Kelly and we all shared our many memories of him. Another topic of discussion was that the four of us had all attended the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show 50 years ago. It was hard to say what was more amazing, that we were all at that historic event or that so many years had passed.”.

1968 Sandy Baum CA 161 East Chicago Avenue, #45C Chicago, IL 60611-6679 sbaum@skidmore.edu Penny Craven CS 1550 York Avenue, #7B New York, NY 10028-5972 penny@cravenfilms.com Barbara Kates-Garnick CA 289 Marlborough Street, #2 Boston, MA 02116 bkatesgarnick@gmail.com

1969 Michael Beckerman CS 24 Waverly Place Room 268 New York, NY 10003 michael.beckerman@nyu.edu

As reported by Michael Beckerman: “Susan Shaw is still working full time as an artist with a lot of time for vacations, traveling to Cambodia, Vietnam, Egypt, Iceland, France, England and Alaska. Susan is a recipient of a Wexner Center Art & Tech residency, a Puffin Foundation grant, and a Vermont Studio Center residency fellowship. She also received a fellowship to paint in Rome for a month last summer—the espresso was terrific! Public collections currently include: The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The International Museum of Photography and The Israel Museum. Recent exhibitions include: Shifting Crossroads, The Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University; Moving Violations: Recent work by Susan Shaw at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, La.; Inaugural Exhibition at the Lower East Side Visitors Center, NYC; FEED_BACK, at the Los Angeles Center For Digital Art; NYC Trashed, at The Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University; Snippets Samplings Static at The Ernest Rubenstein Gallery, NYC. Susan has also received recognition for her work in video. Her videos have been official selections at the Davis, Female Eye, New Jersey, Sacramento, Cinema on the Bayou, Coney Island, Southern Appalachian International, NY Independent Film and Big Apple Film Festivals. She received two AVA gold awards: in 2009 for Michael's Snow; and in 2008 for The Mermaid Parade. The music in her videos has been a collaborative effort with American composer Conrad Cummings. She also designed the digital scenery for the Lincoln Center Rose Theater production of his opera, ‘The Golden Gate.’ She is a current artist member of the Dieu Donné Paper Mill, the Center for Book Arts, the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop and the New York Artist's Circle. Her

class notes

longtime home of Laura and her husband, was the venue for our most recent visit in January. The Tannas were consummate hosts, generously sharing their life on this beautiful island with us.’ Photo: Laura and I at Strawberry Hill in the Blue Mountains. Susan Reid also writes , ‘I just discovered an unusual architectural link to Friends. I've mentioned that when we are not in Canada, my husband and I live in a tiny village in the south of France. Well, it is here in Caunes Minervois that I met a few years ago Stephanie Chamberlin, who had attended Friends Seminary for a short period of time around 1960. This week I learned that her great, great grandfather, Charles T. Bunting, had built the Friends Meetinghouse on Rutherford Place in 1861, as well at the Brooklyn Meetinghouse in 1857. I've attached a link that describes Bunting's contribution and the relationship between the Brooklyn and Manhatten Societies of Friends. As time goes on, this world gets smaller and smaller! http://www. bldgdb.com/friends-meetinghouse.

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Gathering at Nelson Chang ’70’s Ranch

art blog is currently read in more than 40 countries. Kurt Hoss has slowly transitioned over the last 10 years from IT back to art. Starting with an artist's residency at The Vermont Studio Center last winter, he has been immersed in a long term project of a graphical novel covering the last 60 years of New York. Michael Beckerman lives in New Rochelle with his wife, Karen, and their dog, Luna. He teaches music at New York University. His current projects include organizing several conferences dealing with music and censorship and working on a marionette play about Dvorak's time in the United States. He finds it strange that when he first went to Friends in 1967 (47 years ago) it had only been 72 years since Dvorak had walked those very same streets to teach at the National Conservatory, now Washington Irving High School. And where we used to run in Stuyvesant Park was where Dvorak walked when he got really nervous before conducting concerts. Michael De Smith lives in the very small town of Winchelsea (www.winchelsea.com), founded in around 1288 by Edward I, a place with lots of historical interest and the first town in England to have a grid-layout (some say it was the inspiration for New York's street pattern!). Michael has worked in academia and the commercial world since the early 70s, after completing degrees in the United States and Canada. In recent years, he has run part of a Master’s program at University College London, and he

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Class of 1973 at the Seattle gathering

runs several websites of an academic nature (statistics, geomatics, etc.) and a software and digital rights management service that is used around the world. Frank Weiss writes, ‘I've been working in Los Angeles in the animated TV series field for over 20 years, doing shows for Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, and other studios you haven't heard of unless you work in the business. My name has been on the front or end credits of shows such as “Spongebob,” “Hey Arnold!,” “Scooby Doo,” “Winnie the Pooh,” and “Phineas and Ferb.” For a while (mid/late 90s), it was very good. I made enough to buy a house, a car, a have a wife and a baby. I thought all would be well, but over the last 10 years, I've been through a long period of ups and downs. Lots of downs. I met my wife at a swing dance club when swing was the hot thing. We continue to dance and I teach ballroom dancing with her at our local YMCA. Coincidently, she is a storyboard artist. She was was working on “The Simpsons” when we met. We have an adorable 11-year-old daughter and, as a result, I get to experience firsthand how generally awful and bureaucratic the public educational system is. The business seems to be picking up and I remain hopeful that some of that work will be done by our family. I'm too old to get into another field. Going to Friends was the best thing my parents did for me. It remains a happy memory.’”

1970 Belinda Broido CS 300 West 14th Street New York, NY 10014-5002 belindabroido@gmail.com Please see page 48 for a tribute to Randy Morrison. Belinda Broido writes, “A warm hello from your Class Secretary. I have been motivated to reach out for news after another loss in our small 70’s family. Sadly, Randall Morrison passed away around New Year’s. A beautiful memorial service was held for him, and the outpouring of people who worked with him in the New York Theater Community was a testimony to the incredibly kind, sweet, devoted friend and colleague he was. Randy's passing brought an outpouring of memories and stories through a flurry of emails from many in our class. I am now hoping that as our class size appears to dwindle at an alarming rate, we will start to share more as we head towards our (gulp) 45th Reunion in 2015. I am still living in the West Village. I am happily married and dividing my time between NYC and London, with more of an emphasis on NYC in the coming year. After 30 years in advertising, culminating as a Creative Director at JWT NY, I quit to put my skill sets into freelancing, building a website and generally changing it up a bit. My daughter is also a writer, living in


Heights Library. Their Citizens Defending Libraries Organization along with his blog, Noticing New York, primarily target the sell-offs of our precious libraries and work to protect. Ileana Porges-West was recently awarded an Endowed Teaching Chair in Banking and Finance at Miami Dade College. As I read through the school's announcement, I am struck at how distinguished an honor this is, as only an elite few professors are recognized this way. It is especially meaningful as her continued goal is to make quality education a top priority. Congratulations from all of us. While on the subject of education, I hope I speak for our entire Class of 1970 when I take a minute to celebrate and value our own special Friends education and community. Many have written saying they very much look forward to our 45th reunion next year and are wondering what we can do as a class to show our support and thanks. So, who's in charge of planning? Have a wonderful spring!”

1971 Mindy Fischer CS 275 West 96 Street, #26B New City, NY 10025 Yehudamom@yahoo.com Laurence Seegers CS 25 Parkway Katonah, NY 10536 jemskatonah@optimum.net Laura A. Ward CS 510 East 23 Street, #5F New York, NY 10010 laura.a.ward@gmail.com Barry White CA 1403 Chesterfield Estates Drive Chesterfield, MO 63005-4467 dbgr95b@hotmail.com Submitted by Barry White: “This fall, Barry White ’71, Lindsay White

’72, David Medine ’71 and Richard Horowitz ‘71 joined Nelson Chang ’70 on his Montana ranch to celebrate their birthdays.”

1972

class notes

LA and newly engaged. Life is good. Andrew Mosner continues to enjoy life in suburban Philly (his homein-exile from Northern California for nearly 20 years), where he works full time from home with two devoted dogs for company. He and his wife, Karen, celebrated 30 years of marriage last year. His twin daughters are thriving, as Rachel works at a literary agency in NYC while Maya's in her first year in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at UNC Chapel Hill. Lucy McVitty Weber is tirelessly pushing bills through her (now) fourth term in the New Hampshire House, and remarks that herding cats would be an easier task than some of the demands of her fourth term. Lucy dreams of convincing our fellow classmate, Anne Patterson Baier, to run for the House as well, forming a Friends caucus. Anne's photos of her happily on snowshoes and enjoying her grandchildren seem to make that political powerhouse unlikely. Peter Weinberg has been working as a pension and insurance lawyer for a large financial services company for the last 20 years. He is divorced with two grown children. Peter continues to write poetry, and for those of us who remember what a terrific writer he was (and those who were unaware), check out his website at peteraweinberg. com. Richard Stabler reports from Pennsylvania, where he works in the Emergency Department, that with the total chaos of dealing with the horrendous winter weather and the havoc it brought with it in terms of accidents and patient care, he is more than ready for spring. Other than that, life is great and, like others in our group, he wants to make sure he starts to consider retirement while he can still enjoy it! Michael White was just named one of the Top Ten Most Influential People in Brooklyn Heights. Not surprising, as New Yorkers have been following Michael and his wife Carolyn's tenacious and heroic effort to save the Brooklyn

Cynthia Fissel CA 10569 Moorland Heights Way San Diego, CA 92121 cynthiafissel@gmail.com Jay Goldman CA 160 East 84th Street, #6E New York, NY 10028 jg9354@aol.com Emily Medine CS 1800 Beechwood Boulevard Pittsburgh, PA 15217-1703 emilymedine@aol.com Pamela Perkins CS 340 East 51 Street, #7K New York, NY 10022-7819 pamelaperkinsny@gmail.com Pamela Perkins writes, “A fundamental concept in architecture and design is that of the genius loci–cannot find italics –when I think of this idea –the Meetinghouse – Friends – Spirit – Quaker–Light it–here is my contribution below–The Meeting house–genius loci–the Solace of Communal Silence–the Windows – Light Heart/h of Friends”

1973 Barbara Michelson CS 89 Steele Road Peterborough, NH 03458 highlylikely@gmail.com Lisa Ernest Mierop CS 120 Walnut Street Montclair, NJ 07042 ljmierop@yahoo.com David M. Wertheimer writes, “On Nov. 11, I hosted a gathering of alumni at my home in Seattle. We

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achieved perfect attendance at a regional alumni event—a Friends Seminary first! Pictured left to right are: Louis R. Rowan (Former Faculty), Andrea Auge, Katherine Farrell (Alumni Relations Director), Susan A. Weiss ’70, David M. Wertheimer ’73, Pamela Winters Dorrance ’59, Sturges Dorrance ’59, Virginia Paine DeForest ’54, Win DeForest, Faith Hagenhofer ’73 and Off White.”

William Webb CS P. O. Box 420 Old Saybrook, CT 06475-0420 bill@billwebb.net

1974

Alvin Mack, Jr. AC PO Box 1366 New York, NY 10011 almack2014@yahoo.com

Kenneth Grossman CS 18 Norfolk Road Great Neck, NY 11020-1716 jgrossbal@aol.com David Hochman RC 305 East 24th Street, #2C New York, NY 10010-4021 hochmand@mac.com Jonathan Kaufman RC 27 George Street Newton, MA 02458 jonathankaufman617@gmail.com Ivy Baer Sherman CS RC 45 Park Avenue, #301 New York, NY 10016 ivybaer@gmail.com

1975 Francesca Bruno CS 75 King Road Middle Grove, NY 12850 franbruno1017@yahoo.com Cella Irvine CS 257 West 17th Street, #3D New York, NY 10011-5364 cella@nyc.rr.com Please see page 55 for a tribute to Jeanne McAlister Griffiths.

1976 Suzanne Telsey CS 400 East 85th Street, #18B New York, NY 10028 suzanne_telsey@mcgraw-hill.com 40 | n f f

1977 David Greenbaum CS 644 San Fernando Avenue Berkeley, CA 94707-1650 dag@berkeley.edu

Peter Moulton CS 140 Riverside Drive, #PH-C New York, NY 10024 petermoulton@prodigy.net

1978 Andrew Owen CA AC 257 Castro Street San Francisco, CA 94114 drewster.owen@gmail.com Barclay Palmer CA 118 West 79th Street, #15C New York, NY 10024 barclay.palmer@gmail.com Antonia Torres-Ramos CS 1484 Evans Farm Drive McLean, VA 22101 tonietal@yahoo.com

As reported by Darcy Flanders: “Nathan Resika is living with his wife, Judit, and 7-year-old twins, Fabian and Flora. They live in Washington Heights and are contemplating a move to Westchester. Judit teaches math at the Browning School. Nathan was the United States Senior CoChampion of Chess in 2013 and has been singing operas as well. His website is www.resika.com and you can see a review of his recent performance in “Don Giovanni” at www.theday.com/article/20130511/ ENT12/130519960. Nathan also teaches chess to children at the Trevor Day School, Heschel School, and Kinneret Day School, as well as others. My (Darcy Ann Flanders) design firm, BaselineGroupNY (www.baselinegroupny.com), was awarded its first city contract and was selected by The New York City Campaign Finance Board to develop and execute a memorable theme for the official New York City Voter Guide, covering the 2013 municipal elections that would resonate with all NYC voters. Inspired by the CFB's campaign logo, “NYC Votes,” BGNY’s thematic solution integrated the tagline, “make your mark—vote,” with the visual concept of a multicolored thumbprint. The result of this collective effort is a dynamic graphic/ tagline lockup that represents the unique perspectives of every voter. Over three million copies of the

1979 Darcy Vassiliadis Flanders CS 2617 Farsund Drive Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-3341 darcy@baselinedesign.com Stephanie Golden RC 600 Columbus Avenue, #13K New York, NY 10024 sgolden600@me.com Victoria Wightman Pierce CS RC 163 West 18 Street, #4B New York, NY 10011-4144 Nathan Resika ’79 and family


class notes

Terri Bender Greenwald ’81

Primary Election Voter Guide were distributed throughout the five boroughs in five languages.”

1980 Karen Gross Fittinghoff CS CA 473 West End Avenue, #8B New York, NY 10024 karenfittinghoff@gmail.com Michael Golden CS 65 Springbrook Road Springfield, NJ 07081 mg1325@att.com Sarah Edmunds Goodwin CS 1500 Twiford Place Charlotte, NC 28207 scegoodwin@mac.com Michael A. Golden writes, “Hi, Class of ’80. Next year is our 35th, let's start planning for it! Two cool announcements: Nina Wolff Feld's book, Someday You Will Understand: My Father's Private WWII, a story about her father's flight from pre-war Germany to his return during WWII as a U.S. soldier, will be released in August; Brian Delacey has a show at the Westbeth Gallery on April 12, 2014, with one piece that is a wall sculpture he made using a fragment from the original Cedar Tavern. The show is titled Witness—The Cedar Tavern Phone Booth. Best wishes to both of them. Craig Walker, Jeffrey Upton, Thorson Rockwell and Cameron Gordon sent lengthy notes to all of us, which included the following highlights: Craig is happily living in Atlanta, still works as a public

Rachel Dorin Jones ’81

finance investment banker, has two grown children. He discovered a passion for politics and worked in Iowa during the caucus for the '08 Obama campaign, and he looks forward to connecting with fellow Friends alumni through social media! Jeffrey, Lauren and their two children are living in Massachusetts, where he is a partner in the Boston office of the Jones Day law firm. His daughter and son both greatly enjoy performing on stage, with recent appearances in Boston productions. Jeff also reports that his sister, Kathleen Upton Finch ’79, was recently promoted as President of Scripps Networks Interactive Home Category, overseeing HGTV, DIY and Great American Country network—congratulations! Cameron loves being down under in Canberra, and is winding down his academic career teaching at the University of Canberra. He recently wrote a play and looks forward to further exploring his artistic side. ‘Visitors are always welcome,’ he says, ‘G'day mate!’ Watch out for Thorson on the streets of NYC: yes, he is that Wall Streeter you see traveling all over the city on his skateboard. He is the proud father of Annabella, a junior at Mount Holyoke, and is thoroughly enjoying life. Bayard Carlin has been traveling lots for work, and his class note was sent from Israel, where he was on business. He is loving life in San Francisco and is still working in tech. For fun, he is an avid cyclist, chef, music-lover and bookworm. Tom Law is enjoying being an empty nester in NYC and is ready

Lisa Krohn ’81’s children

to arrange a basketball game for the old crew. When he isn't working, Tom spends lots of time working with kids in Chinatown through his non-profit youth basketball organization.”

1981 Rachel Dorin Jones CS 5048 West 95th Street Inglewood, CA 90301 drrachel@sbcglobal.net From Rachel Dorin Jones: “Hello, Class of 1981. I hope that all of you are starting to enjoy this new year of the horse. I am confident that this New Year will bring new beginnings and allow you to jump ahead and lunge forward into your experiences. I am sure that all your new experiences will allow you to appreciate the old and familiar memories, such as those we have from Friends. My memories of this great place and its unique space include the old library. I remember climbing the stairs to get into the crowded space where I would be surrounded with books and small compartments and private spaces. I will always remember it as a tree house-like space, a private little haven to reflect, study and relax. That was the old Friends, but even now there are so many new havens and corridors where you can find peace and solitude, so not much has changed—the architecture has just transformed. It is still a warm, welcoming and homey place to grow and develop. The space within Friends

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has only ripened over the years, much like all of us. I have gone through great change personally and professionally. My veterinary practice (www.marinavet.com) is developing professionally and becoming established as a cutting edge alternative medical facility, allowing me to heal many pets in a natural way that is positive and ethical and serves the community of Los Angeles and beyond. I am also bringing my work to New York City, where I am starting to do house calls, which allows me to travel back and forth from the west coast more often. In other news, Terri Bender Greenwald (tbgreenwald@ gmail.com) got her Master’s in Library Science in May 2013 and is currently subbing in the Stark County Library System in Ohio. She has been married for 20 years and has three boys. The oldest is headed to Cleveland State University in the fall. The youngest has been playing lacrosse for five years and just had his Bar Mitzah in February. Her middle boy is in marching band in the percussion section and she is thrilled he doesn't practice at home! ‘If anyone is in the neighborhood,’ she says, ‘Get in touch!’ Lauren Elvers Collins (lauren.collins00@ gmail.com) has been Executive Director of the Church Avenue Business Improvement District since 2010. But as of December 2013 she is now Executive Director of the Church Avenue Business Improvement District. The two BIDs work to promote the area as a shopping destination and to keep the streets clean and safe. She comments, ‘And while I remember creating a model home out of foam core for architecture class at Friends (the creation was loosely based on my Malibu Barbie Dream House!), one of my BIDs just received a large grant from the State to reimburse our businesses much of the cost of renovating their storefronts.” Lisa Krohn, creative director at Krohn Design, let us know that all is well for her in Los Angeles. She

is busy with work and her children. Holly Sklar is also a part of the Los Angeles crew and is still busy with work at Warner Brothers. She enjoys working hard there, but appreciates time off to enjoy whatever time she can with her husband and kids.

1982 Elizabeth Baer CS 32 Hubbard Street Lenox, MA 01240-2330 lizajane@gmail.com Liz Brownrigg CA P.O.Box 40 8 North Road Carson, NM 87517 egb@elizabethbrownrigg.com Sarah Halley Finn CS 2437 Moreno Drive Los Angeles, CA 90039 sarahfinn@earthlink.net Marc Rachman CA AC 150 West 26th Street, #603 New York, NY 10001 marc.rachman@gmail.com

1983 Jason Ablin CA 8832 Pickford Street Los Angeles, CA 90035 jablin45@gmail.com Martha Ehrenfeld CS 1379 Sixth Avenue

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San Francisco, CA 94122-2503 MarMac@aol.com Keith A. Smith CS 8 Harris Street Cambridge, MA 02140 keith.smith@aya.yale.edu Peter Ansel reports that he is alive and kicking! Timothy Barry writes, “I have recently invented a revolutionary new structural building system (it is for a massive skylight project, but it can be used for anything structural) that reimagines the elegant structural steel members of industrial revolution-age design (think Eiffel, etc.). It uses hot rolled plate steel and computer-controlled plasma steel cutting technology.” Julia Bates writes, “I remember Diane Hulse's architecture class in 6th or 7th Grade. She taught me a lot in a number of classes in middle school about good subjects and also about myself as a student and being a better classmate. I loved the architecture class, learning how to do architectural renderings with graph paper and building models with foam core. My dad got a kick out of the projects, too. I contemplated becoming an architectural major in college after a year of the intro course, but veered to art history instead.” Welcome to the world Astrid Aurelia Infantino born last May. Jim writes from the South End of Boston, "We live in a boxy loft-style place. We have built a wall for the

Rebecca Moore ’84 and Suzanne Gottlieb ’84


1985

1987

Nina Christopher CA 7 East 85th Street, #9D New York, NY 10028 ninachristopher@gmail.com

Ellen Deutsch Diamond CS 31 Hope Street Rumford, RI 02916 ellen_diamond@me.com

Anne E. Kner CS 201 Clinton Avenue, #15G 1984 Brooklyn, NY 11205 Suzanne Gottlieb Calleja CS CA RC akner@mindspring.com 5450 SW 58th Avenue Miami, FL 33155 Robert Longley CS scalleja@palmertrinity.org 407 Norwood Road Staunton, VA 24401-1849 Alexandra D. Levinsohn CS roblongley1@gmail.com 53 Greenwich Avenue, #1 New York, NY 10014 adl@core.com 1986

class notes

girls’ room, but have only walled in our own room with giant cabinets. Someday we intend to make walls, but the open space feels so different and interesting. I imagine a door will be really nice in the future if we stay there. "

Josh Isay AC 789 West End Avenue, #8C New York, NY 10025-5431 joshisay@gmail.com Robin Weiswasser Markus CS 60 East 8th Street, #21E New York, NY 10003 robinjmarkus@gmail.com Leslie Werthamer Rottenberg CS 144 West 11th Street, #2 New York, NY 10011 LesRotten@gmail.com

Amanda Southon Miller RC 414 East 52nd Street, #12A New York, NY 10022 amanda.miller@ralphlauren.com

Schuyler Allen-Kalb CS CA AC 169 Engert Avenue, #1 Brooklyn, NY 11222 skylarock68@gmail.com

Lucas J. Miller RC 200 Sixth Avenue, #5 New York, NY 10013-1229 lukemil@gmail.com

Rachel Shapiro Axinn CA AC 420 12th Street, #F1R Brooklyn, NY 11215-5188 rachelaxinn@att.net

Rebecca Moore CS 2710 Downing Street, SE Huntsville, AL 35801-2247 edna.freefall@gmail.com

Matthew Breitman CA 400 East 85th Street, #10J New York, NY 10028 matt.breitman@gmail.com

Cory Diamond CA 266 President Avenue Providence, RI 02906 corydiamond@gmail.com

Suzanne Gottlieb Calleja reports “Rebecca Moore and Suzanne Gottlieb Calleja met in Miami during Winter Break. Both women work at Independent Schools as Directors of Communications.” Rebecca Moore writes, “Daisy Ho ’92 and I got together in Paris this summer, reminisced about Friends, the squash team and Phil Allen, and played petanque in the Palais Royal on the 4th of July. Daisy is living in Paris and runs THATLou Treasure Hunt at the Louvre, which I enjoyed doing with my family. I coached the squash team at Friends from ’90.”

Nat Caldwell CS 35 1/2 Convent Square Burlington, VT 05401 nat_caldwell@yahoo.com

Alexander Kriney CS 640 Clayton Street San Francisco, CA 94117-2927 alexander.kriney@kaspersky.com

Lida Moore Musso CA 30 East 9th Street, #4B New York, NY 10003 lidamooremusso@me.com

Wyeth McAdam CS 2606 Saint Margaret Court Alameda, CA 94501 wyethmc@gmail.com

Larissa Thomson CA 51 Warren Street, #4W New York, NY 10007 Larissa_Thomson@condenast.com

Jennifer Padgett Orser CA 95 Woodland Avenue San Francisco, CA 94117 jporser@mac.com

Paul Testa CA 515 East 14th Street, #7A New York, NY 10009-2912 Ptesta@gmail.com

1988

Alexandra Mairs Tart CA 317 Degraw Street Brooklyn, NY 11231 alexandratart@me.com

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Susannah Friedman Vickers CA 209 Lincoln Place, #6A Brooklyn, NY 11217 susannahvickers@gmail.com

1989 Bess Abrahams CS 401 10th Street, #2 Brooklyn, NY 11215 bessabrahams@mac.com Jordan Barowitz RC AC 75 Livingston Street, #20A Brooklyn, NY 11201-5053 jbarowitz@gmail.com Mialisa Tania Villafane Bonta RC 1130 College Avenue Alameda, CA 94501-5412 mialisab@gmail.com Suzanne Cohen RC 101 West 12th Street, #9N New York, NY 10011 suzcohen@hotmail.com Weston Konishi CA RC 9201 Kingsbury Drive Silver Spring, MD 20910 wkonishi@gmail.com Kareem Lawrence RC 52 Cheever Place, #1 Brooklyn, NY 11231 katananokissaki@gmail.com Josh Wachs CA RC 3307 Macomb Street NW Washington, DC 20008-3329 joshwachs@gmail.com Indira Wiegand CS RC 524 East 13 Street, #E2 New York, NY 10009-3510 indinyc222@verizon.net

1990 Michael L. Bedrick AC 33 Fifth Avenue, #10CD New York, NY 10003-4377 bdbedrick@mac.com

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Daphne Dufresne CA 11409 Spur Wheel Lane Potomac, MD 20854 ddufresne@rljequity.com Nico Marcellino CS 333 East 30th Street, #16-J New York, NY 10016 nico@adlubow.com Belkis Rodriguez Talarico CS 1 Greene Street, #112 Jersey City, NJ 07302 beltala@hotmail.com From Belkis Rodriguez Talarico and Nico Marcellino: “Sunny Salutations to the Class of ’90. While recuperating from the lingering effects of the polar vortex, it dawned on us that Friends has instituted a new policy with respect to this publication. If you have been paying attention, you will have realized that there have been at least three instances in which they have provided us with a theme. Obviously, the sole purpose of this policy is to deter you from contributing to this publication. We readily admit that it is very difficult to create witty and entertaining submissions without also adding conditions to your endeavors. Therefore, we are deeply appreciative when you carve out the time in your demanding lives to share any information with us. The lucky recipient of our eternal gratitude this time is Elizabeth Wolff. She was kind enough to share this wondrous imagery of architecture at Friends: ‘When I think of the spaces at Friends Seminary, the one that comes immediately to mind is, of course, the Meetinghouse. Anywhere your eye might fall, you will find beauty. Over my many years in the Meetinghouse, I often found myself looking at the beautiful medallion in the ceiling. Imagine everyone's surprise one morning when during

Silent Meeting, snow began falling through the open woodwork of the medallion! It floated softly down the full height of the Meetinghouse to the floor. Mischievous seniors had pranked us all by making their way to the attic and shaking paper "snow" though the holes of the medallion during the silence. Before the snickering took full force, it was a magical moment.’ Till the next issue, Bel and Nico.”

1991 Nicholas Testa CS 1424 North Ogden Drive Los Angeles, CA 90046 nicholas.testa@gmail.com Josh Nasser writes, “I am the legislative director for the United Auto Workers (UAW). I have held the position for the past two-anda-half years. I work on issues such as health care, human rights, immigration reform, and trade. I moved to Washington, D.C. in 2000 and live on Capitol Hill.I have also worked for airline pilots, as a staffer for Representative Jan Schakowsky from Illinois, as a vice-president with the Center for Responsible Lending, where I testified before Congress and appeared on NBC Nightly News and CNN during the height of the mortgage crisis. I was also the assistant legislative director for the Service Employees International Union. My wife, Amy, is a nurse practitioner. We have two energetic and joyful daughters, Naomi (6) and Justice (2).” Tristen Gottlieb Sturm reports that she and her husband live in San Francisco where she still enjoys teaching second grade at San Francisco Day School. Her 8-year-old daughter is in second grade at SFDS and her 5-year-old son will start kindergarten in the fall. Tristen likes San Francisco, but looks forward to her summers


1992 Jessica Wapner CS 434 7th Street, Apt 4 Brooklyn, NY 11215-3655 jwapner@gmail.com Boji Wong AC 121 Reade Street, #8M New York, NY 10013 boji123@aol.com Alexandra Zissu CS 152 Butterville Road New Paltz, NY 12561 az@alexandrazissu.com Jessica Wapner write, “Hello to all. First off, happy 40th birthday to all or most of us, as 2014 has brought the inevitable. In astrology, they say the crisis often experienced when people turn 40 is really about casting off whatever holds us back from turning our visions into reality, with the courage to make big changes. So in that spirit, happy new times, everyone! Now onto the updates and some recollections of architecture (the building and the learning of ) from a few of us. Daisy Ho was leaving for a trip to Vienna when she wrote that her THATLou museum treasure hunts are now expanding to include THATD'or (Treasure Hunt at the Musee d'Orsay; www.thatdor. com) and THATRue, a street-based hunt. As for architecture, she recalls loving a class with Mr. Rubin, which later helped inspired a summer

Larkin Bliss Moorehead (Nick ’92)

spent drawing plans for an elaborate boarding school. She also writes, ‘I love the peaceful light, lines and air of the Meetinghouse during silence.’ Cara Cibener is still living in Park Slope and teaching 6th grade in the East Village. She recently completed a second Master's degree in Adolescent Literacy at Hunter College, and is now teaching a class at Hunter in the same program. Her architectural memories are of the Friends Seminary building itself: ‘I will always remember the quiet, secret space of the “fish stairs.” Its mysterious depiction of life underwater to life on the beach captured my imagination. These stairs/mural led from the library to the art room, also favorite haunts. The library, with its small reading room for little kids and larger room with the card catalog seemed like a happy, independent place to be. Then you could climb the back stairs to the art room, with its kiln and pottery wheels, cassette tapes to be played while you worked, or the sunny space beyond where we did line drawing and listened to folk tunes. Nice memories.’ Lila Margulies also remembers places that don't exist anymore, ‘like the library and its little reading nooks and card catalog”—those card catalogs sure to induce the nostalgia!—” and the tiny little stagelike balcony with study cubicles.’ Lila still loves being at Friends,

where she continues to work. She writes, ‘These kids work so hard, and I feel so grateful every day that I finished high school.’ She has started teaching a 10th grade health class and while she does not show her students Degrassi Jr. High, she does sometimes show episodes of Freaks and Geeks. Her daughters are now 5 ½ and 2 ½, and seem to love each other the majority of the time, ‘which is the best thing ever to witness.’ As for Dave Zirin, he has no specific architectural memories to share—“I liked sitting on the front steps?” he says—but he does share the nice news that he's currently working as an advisor for Ang Lee for a film he's making about the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier rivalry, which he says has been a lot of fun. Anna Crafton Walker recently moved to Nashville, where she is consuming as many biscuits as possible before moving back to Boulder in the spring. She is now a mom of two, after giving birth to Juniper in 2013. (Please see Anna's Facebook page for pictures of one seriously cute baby.) Noah Gaynin is still working as Creative Director/CEO has his company, Playground Group (www. playgroundgroup.com), a digital agency in DUMBO, Brooklyn. He's particularly proud of the work his company has done recently with non-profit organizations The Well Project (TheWellProject.org), a global organization for women with HIV, and Occupy.com. His son is now in 5th grade at the NEST+m school on the Lower East Side, and recently added snowboarding to his skill set (in addition to skateboarding, karate, and running his game arcade site, www.milesgames.com). Helping Michael Bachrach celebrate his 40th birthday were Ben Levitzky (who made the trip from Boston), Jon Jacoby, Aundrea Fares, and Josh Silver '93. Michael was in vacationplanning mode when he wrote, and he was debating between Iceland, Paris, and St. Petersburg. Speaking of travels, Jon Jacoby was fresh

class notes

home in NYC.” Nick Testa writes “I am still firmly grounded in Los Angeles where I live with my wife, Mariko, and two daughters, Mika (3) and Kira (6). I recently left LA County+University of Southern California, where I had been working for the past eight years as an ER doctor, to take to position as Chief Medical Officer at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.”

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back from a trip to Miami with his wife and twin sons, who are now 2. Jon says that they ‘have become regulars at the Gramery Diner.’ Nick Morehead reports completion of his home on Shelter Island and the arrival of his daughter, Larkin Bliss Morehead (see photo), on July 25, little sister to Cayman Clark Morehead, now 4 ½, who is ‘being great to her now that he realizes she's here to stay.’ As for architecture, he has fond memories of starting off mornings in silence in the Meeting House and the occasional peace and tranquility that came with those moments. After a short stay in Beacon, NY, I'm currently living in Brooklyn (where I have happily seen Cara, Lila, and Noah) and am very relieved to be breathing the fresh city air again. On the horizon at the moment is an upcoming trip to New Orleans to write about the HIV crisis in the area, and starting work on a second book soon. The paperback version of ‘The Philadelphia Chromosome’ comes out in May. My daughter, Daphne, turns 5 in March, and she and her brother, Lukas, 7 ½, continue to brighten life every day. Wishing you all a wonderful spring. And remember: 40 is sporty!”

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and skills needed to succeed at school, at home and in life. The partnership with Friends Seminary began in 2009, with the School housing four GO classrooms. The partnership evolved over the years and deepened in the summer of 2013, with the school increasing GO's access to include the entire Annex space for all 125 GO Middle students. This past summer, three high school interns from Friends also provided tutoring and mentoring to younger GO students. Friends parents, students and alumni (like Ross Mechanic ’13, Andy Deng ’13, Christian Hoyos ’13) have played an active role as volunteers and advocates for this unique program. If you'd like to learn about more about this project, visit: www.goprojectnyc.org.”

Sarah Greenbaum CS 4333 SW Mills Street Seattle, WA 98136-1746 sarahgreenbaum@hotmail.com Bonnie Bucknell Morris CS 201 Lock Street Chesapeake City, MD 21915 bbucknell@hotmail.com

1996 Sarah Cox CS 10286 East 31st Avenue Denver, CO 80238 sarilc@hotmail.com

1997

1994

Brian Davis CS 199 State Street, #2A Brooklyn, NY 11201 brian.davis25@gmail.com

Jodyann Blagrove CS RC 428 Josephine Street Dallas, TX 75246 jodyb30@gmail.com

Janelle Garrett CS 3340 Toledo Terrace, #581 Hyattsville, MD 20782 janellegarrett@yahoo.com

1993

Stephanie Davis Hazelkorn CS CA RC 239 East 79th Street, #7N New York, NY 10075 shazelkorn@gmail.com

Sandra Jelin Plouffe CS AC 112 East 19th Street, #9F New York, NY 10003 sandra.jelin.plouffe@gmail.com

Samantha Liebman CA RC AC 350 East 62nd Street, #4E New York, NY 10065 samantha.liebman@gmail.com

Helen Rhim CS 1623 3rd Avenue, #8J New York, NY 10128 helen_rhim@yahoo.com

Georgia Lindahl Lopez RC 141 Southside Avenue, #3 Hastings on Hudson, NY 10706-2207 georgiallopez@gmail.com

Sandra Jelin Plouffe writes, “Keeping with the architecture theme, did you now that the Friends campus is also used for service? I am on the Host Site Partnership Task for for the Go Project, a nonprofit that provides year-round educational and family support services to children performing below grade level at the earliest stages of their academic careers and equips them with the confidence

January Massin RC 201 East 17th Street #16 New York, NY 10003 januarymassin@hotmail.com

1995 Benjamin Ensminger-Law CS 500 West Superior Chicago, IL 60654 ben77el@gmail.com

1998 Samuel Blake Hofstetter CS 11 Fifth Avenue, #2T New York, NY 10003 thisissam@gmail.com Robin McKinney CA 807 East 3rd Street Royal Oak, MI 48067 robin.mckinney@gmail.com Lee Rothchild CS CA 30 Waterside Plaza, #7E New York, NY 10010 leerothchild@gmail.com

1999 Adam J. Honig CS RC 1234 Knickerbocker Avenue Mamaroneck, NY 10543 adam.honig@gmail.com


Please see page 59 for a tribute to Lucy Childress ‘99. Adam J. Honig writes, “Lauren Burgreen, now known as Charlie Faye, released her third record this year, which rose to the top 20 on the Americana Radio charts. She recently had the opportunity to perform at NPR's Mountain Stage, and to tour nationally promoting the album. When she's not on the road, she's at home in Austin, TX.”

Charlie Faye (Lauren Burgreen ’99)

2000 Lisa Hofstetter Frank CS 11 Fifth Avenue, #2T New York, NY 10003 lisa.hofstetter@gmail.com David Gilbert CS 3278 Wilshire Boulevard, #803 Los Angeles, CA 90010 davidwgilbert@gmail.com Fred T. Isquith, Jr. CS 103 East 84th Street, #2C New York, NY 10028 freddyisquith@gmail.com Russell Labiner CS 430 West 24 Street, #12F New York, NY 10011-1339 rustyscott@gmail.com As reported by Fred T. Isquith, Jr.: “Elizabeth Martin lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Julian Brelsord. She currently works for the University of Pennsylvania, where she is a library human resources coordinator. Peter Bierhorst will be graduating from

Tulane University with a Ph.D in Mathematics. Peter is also happy to announce that he will be getting married to Lauren Turner this upcoming summer and could not be the rest of his life with her. Robert Farren resides in Brooklyn where he and his wife Nikki continue to life to the fullest. His band, Isle of Rhodes, continues to get wide praise from industry insiders and has been featured in “Elmore Magazine” and MTVU. For more information on Isle of Rhodes, please go to their website (http://isleofrhodes.com) or Facebook page. Michio Aida continues to be a jack of all trades. He and his wife, Elena Aida, and their daughters, Mila and Reika, will be moving from Syracuse back to New York City, where Michio will be expanding his award winning application, Wishr (www.facebook. com/thewishr). Michio will also continue his career in political consulting, and various other independent projects. Morgan Kaschak continues the family tradition and is now working at New York University where he is the Help Desk Manager for University Development and Alumni Relations. Joshua Schnakenberg is happy to announce his marriage to Megan Stubbendeck in October of 2014. Evan Rothfarb continues to practice law and is the founding member of Rothfarb Law, PLLC. He is also happy to announce his engagement to Devorah Kessler. Evan could not be happier at the prospect of spending the rest of his life with her. Brandon Lotti continues to work to be involved with the New York Teaching Fellows. After a great run of 15 years, Brandon and his brother Griffin Lotti ’03 have branched off from the epic Friend Seminary band, Social Hero, and are performing now as Zr. King. You can check out the band at www.zrking.com and attend one of their many concerts. Alexander Markowitz is taking the skills he learned at the Berklee College of Music and applying them to his successful band, Stroamata. He encourages everyone to check out their music and upcoming

concerts at www.stroamata.com. They can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/ Stroamata/33022490799.'

2001 Ashley Herriman CS 29-26 Bell Boulevard, 1st Floor Bayside, NY 11360 aherriman@gmail.com

class notes

Andrew M. Laird CS 22 Florence Avenue Milford, CT 06460 andrewmlaird@gmail.com

Joey Shapiro CS 110 East 13th Street, #5B New York, NY 10003 joanna.shapiro@gmail.com From Joey Shapiro: “The class of 2001's second generation is growing by the day! Matt Seltzer and his wife, Lauren, recently welcomed their second child, Jake Ryan, while Lauren Harte-Hargrove and her husband, Kevin, are proud parents to now 6-month-old Ellis. The Seltzer clan still lives in New York City, while Lauren reports that her family relocated to Houston, Texas last summer, where she telecommutes to her job in an NYU neuroscience lab. Ashley Herriman, who accepted a position as the editor of startup horse racing website (thoroughbredracing.com), caught up with Andrew Ousley, Frank Keller and me for a mini-reunion in the East Village recently. Frank's back in New York after spending the last few years working in the Pacific Northwest, while Andrew is still working in classical music, now for Warner Music, and he plans to run the New York City Marathon in November. Finally, big Class of 2001 congratulations go out to Thomas Gilliland, who got married on Valentine's Day, 2014!

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2002

2004

2005

Alex Agnant CA 45 West 132nd Street, #7K New York, NY 10037 alexagnant@gmail.com

Mary Gaynin Agnant CA RC 45 West 132nd Street, #7K New York, NY 10037 mary.agnant@gmail.com

Cole Blumstein CS 55 East 11 Street New York, NY 10003 coleblumstein@gmail.com

Joanna Hunter August CS AC 105 East 63rd Street, #8D New York, NY 10065 joanna.h.august@gmail.com

Jennifer Conrad CS 100 W 73rd Street New York, NY 10023-3042 jennyconrad1@gmail.com

Nusrat Chowdhury CS 2566 Woodhull Avenue Bronx, NY 10469 nuspurple@aol.com

Richard Barbieri CS CA 433 East 83rd Street, #3D New York, NY 10028 richard13@aol.com

Kyle Gilbert-Gregory RC 175 Amity Street, #D3 Brooklyn, NY 11201-6230 kylemgregory@gmail.com

Ucheena Mathurin CA 67 Wall Street, Apt. 22A New York, NY 10005 ucheenamathurin@gmail.com

Nicolaas van der Meer CS 220 E 31st Street, #3 Los Angeles, CA 90068 nic.vandermeer@gmail.com

Jesse B. Mark CA 264 Sixth Avenue, #1K Brooklyn, NY 11215 jessebmark@gmail.com

Sam Rabinowitz CS CA 562 West End Avenue, PH A New York, NY 10024 samuel.rabinowitz@gmail.com

2003

Ivano Pulito RC 275 Greenwich Street, 7N New York, NY 10007-2153 ivano.pulito@gmail.com

2006

Hallie Davison CS 132 Havemeyer Street, #3C New York, NY 10016-6303 hallie.davison@gmail.com Eric Obenzinger CA AC 235 West 102nd Street, #10G New York, NY 10025 obenzinger@gmail.com Danny Willner CS 75 Saint Alphonsus Street, #1911 Boston, MA 02120 dawillner@gmail.com

Ellis Hargrove (Lauren Harte-Hargrove ’01)

Legacy Russell CS RC 315 West 98 Street #3A New York, NY 10025 LegacyRussell@gmail.com James Sumers CS CA 7 Soldiers Field Park, #7D Boston, MA 02163 james.sumers@gmail.com Nurse Christina Conta is pleased to announce the engagement of her son Anthony Conta to Carrie Neff. They are planning for a wedding in April 2015. Jake Seltzer (Matt ’01)

Aaron Bloch CS 266 East Broadway, #B906 New York, NY 10002 amb3kb@virginia.edu Nailah Cummings CA 117-12 224 Street Cambria Heights, NY 11411 nai.cummings@gmail.com Zuzanna Drozdz CS 152 Kingsley Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301-3539 zuz.drozdz@gmail.com Cory López CS 497 Greenwich Street #7A New York, NY 10013 cory.levine.lopez@gmail.com Cameron McCully CS 42 Beach Street, #7D Boston, MA 02111 ckm32@cornell.edu Naledi Semela CA AC 2242 Clarendon Road, #1C Brooklyn, NY 11226 nellysemela@gmail.com

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Rachel Colberg-Parseghian CS 301 East 21st Street, #14HN New York, NY 10010 cprachel88@gmail.com Taylor Owens CS 440 West 21st Street New York, NY 10011 tro2102@gmail.com Molly Seegers CS 222 Park Avenue South, #9A New York, NY 10003 jem.seegers@gmail.com

2008 Hayden A. M. Hatch CA 522 West 161st Street, #12A New York, NY 10012 hamhatch@gmail.com Jackson Sinder CS 844 South Curson Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90036 jacksonsinder@gmail.com Brynn Wallner CA 1627 North Laurel Avenue, #1 Los Angeles, CA 90046 brynnwallner@gmail.com Alex Winter CS 234 West 14th Street, #2F New York, NY 10011 awinter@forosgroup.com

2009 Francesca Rebecca Acocella AC 631 Bloomfield Street Hoboken, NJ 07030 fracocella@gmail.com Gabriella Ansah RC 47 Malta Street, #1A Brooklyn, NY 11207 gabriella.ansah@gmail.com Travis Bogosian RC 100 Hudson Street, #8B New York, NY 10013 travis.m.bogosian@gmail.com

Claire Brennan CS RC 449 East 14th Street, #8D New York, NY 10009-2735 cbren3591@gmail.com Tory Brewster CA RC 345 West 13th Street, #3D New York, NY 10014 vcbrewster@gmail.com Lauren Chin CS 100 Beekman Street, #23C New York, NY 10038 lachin@vassar.edu Harper Gany-Beitler RC 121 East 23rd Street #16B New York, NY 10010 harpergb91@gmail.com Allison Hartel CS 1725 York Avenue, #18E New York, NY 10128 allieh123456@aol.com D’Meca Homer RC 590 Fort Washington Avenue, Apt 3L New York, NY 10033 dshomer91@gmail.com Taku Ito RC 165 Montrose Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11206 taku.ito1@gmail.com Cristian López-Balboa CA RC 1155 Park Avenue, #10SW New York, NY 10128 chl2128@gmail.com Tyler McCully RC 340 East 23rd Street, #5M New York, NY 10010 tyler_mccully@yahoo.com Emma Weinstein RC 520 West 22nd Street New York, NY 10011 emmarweinstein@gmail.com Nicole Zenker RC 252 Seventh Avenue, #7I New York, NY 10010 nszenker@gmail.com

2010 Ellen Mayer CS 825 Carroll Street Brooklyn, NY 11215 ellenrebecca.mayer@gmail.com

class notes

2007

Alexander Shepherd CS 165 East 32 Street, #6E New York, NY 10016 xander214@gmail

2011 Myles Davis CS 738 East 22 Street Brooklyn, NY 11210 modavis@students.colgate.edu Andrew Ghalili CA 223 West 29th Street, #1 Baltimore, MD 21211 andrewghalili@gmail.com Cooper McLane CA 1 Lexington Avenue, #11B New York, NY 10010 cooper.mclane@gmail.com Alison Weiss CS 60 East 8th Street, #8K New York, NY 10003 alisonjweiss@aol.com

2012 Tamar Davis CA 404 East 16th Street Brooklyn, NY 11226 tamar.sarai@gmail.com Simon Pritchard CA 400 Riverside Drive, #3B New York, NY 10025 spritchard527@gmail.com Patrick Smith CS 315 West 23 Street, #8B New York, NY 10011 pshizzle1284@gmail.com Sarah Tisch CA Box 2587 class of 2016 815 N Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Stisch@skidmore.edu spr in g 20 1 4 | 4 9


Elizabeth Weiss CS 205 West 89th Street, #8H New York, NY 10024-1835 lizzykweiss@aol.com

2013 Audrey Engelman CS 4830 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244 audreyrengelman@gmail.com Christian Hoyos CA 1262 Paresky Center Williamstown, MA 01267 hoyos.christian.hoyos@gmail.com Jordan Kasarjian CS 67 Spear Street Millis Room 220, Box 374 Burlington, VT 05405 Jkasarjian1@gmail.com Shivanii Manglani CA 605 Asbury Circle PO Box 124278 Atlanta, GA 30322 shivanii.manglani@gmail.com Dyulani Thomas CA 1596 E115th Street, #202D Cleveland, OH 44106 akolebi@gmail.com As reported by Audrey Engelman: “This summer Quinn Batten worked as a freelance photographer. At Carleton, he is in the outdoors club and the photography club. This term, he is taking ‘Art, Interaction, and Robotics,’ which combines sculpture and basic programming to teach how to create interactive sculptures. Jesse Pascas's architecture class junior year was one of the highlights of high school for Quinn. Ian Garland also remembers taking Jesse's architecture class with Lindsey Feinstein and Liam Brooks as a sophomore and being clueless about what to do! Ian is loving George Washington University. After spending his tenth summer as a counselor at Camp Becket, he started school and joined the club ultimate frisbee team and rushed Sigma Phi Epsilon. He's loving his game theory class and is declaring 50 | n f f

a major in geography and a minor in sustainability. James Richardson decided to continue his study of classics at Bucknell University with a double minor in classics and theatre and a major in mathematics. Ross Mechanic is majoring in computer science at UPenn. Simone FillionRaff is in Cuenca, Ecuador with a program called Global Citizen Year. She is working with at-risk children from the ages of 3-5 and taking Spanish classes. She has been able to travel around Ecuador both by herself and with the program. For her final project with the program, Simone is making a promotional video for the organization she works with so they can use it to explain what the organization's mission is. Olivia Creamer is an editor for the Gallatin Literary Review and is planning on concentrating on gender and sexuality studies and creative non-fiction and fiction writing. Elise Ferguson is probably going to major in environmental studies, but she is considering doing something with sociology and philosophy. She is involved in the Vassar Greens, an environmental club; On Tap, a tap-dancing club; PEACE, an organization that goes to local middle schools and helps second graders write pen pal letters to second graders at other local schools; operation food donation; and VARC, the Vassar Animal Rights Coalition. However, the activity Elise is most active in and enjoys the most is the fossil fuel divestment campaign. She writes, ‘Divestment is really important to me because it is related to environmental justice, animal rights, and social justice issues.’ Olivia Daddi is involved in the Peer Sexuality Educators Club and the Architecture Club. She is planning to major in architecture and minor in urban studies and is taking advantage of the drop-in yoga classes at the gym. Since graduation, Ruvianne Torres-Fetsco spent some time in NYC before moving to San Francisco for school. Since then, she's been exploring the city and getting into the art world out there. Last semester, she had two shows and

she is currently working with some other students on a show coming up in March and two smaller shows in May. Though she is undeclared, Ruvi has been showing a lot of installation sculptures, digital and film photography, architectural design pieces and performance and video art. Chelsea Ettlinger has been pretty busy. She's doing a lot of improv and is learning to play the steel drums in a group called O Steel (Oberlin Steel), which is awesome. She just spent a month learning about sustainable living while living on a farm in beautiful Carmel, CA, and she says that it was an amazing experience. She met people from all over the country and the world and got to live a very different kind of life from the one she left back in New York and at Oberlin. Perri Haser and Anna Mairs spent their summer hiking The Long Trail in Vermont before heading off to Dartmouth and Mount Allison, respectively. Over the summer, Molly Revenson traveled to Paris, Bordeaux and Hawaii and did some acting work. Now she is studying at Tisch School of the Arts in New York City as a drama major. Rosa Shipley spent her summer packing rations and equipment for outdoor trips at Camp Nor'wester in the Pacific Northwest. She is currently at Kenyon College, studying English. She is involved with the studentrun arts and music gallery and the Farm. Sonia Brozak is a member of the Washington and Lee Mock Trial Team, which is headed to the American Mock Trial Association's Opening Round Championship Series. She recently pledged Pi Beta Phi sorority, Virginia Theta chapter, and she is majoring in Medieval Studies and Art History. Sonia is also a part of SPEAK, a women's organization working to raise awareness and prevent the spread of rape culture. I (Audrey Engelman) just declared a double major in Strategic Communications and Sport and Event Management. I have been very involved in Elon Local News, our local news program, and the Student Union Board.”


tributes

from left

Gordon R. S. Smith ’42, Marion Cleveland Cohen ’43 , Martha Kathryn Muse ’44 , Eleanor Fuchs Hoeffler ’44, Joyce Walsh Ware ’46

Donald Swain Pratt ’39 passed away on January 3, 2012. A true gentleman, he will be missed by his family and friends. Gordon R. S. Smith ’42 died Sunday July 7, 2013 in his Elkton, MD home surrounded by his loving family. Born in New York City on April 30, 1924, he was the son of the late W. Seymour Smith and the late Adelaide Ross Smith. An alumnus of Williams College, he studied chemical engineering at Columbia University, attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. He spent 27 years at the Johns-Manville Corporation in New York City and Denver, CO, specializing in industrial filtration. In 1991, he retired from W.L. Gore & Associates, Elkton, where he specialized in liquid filtration. Gordon was a Charter Member and Past President of the Rotary Club of North East, Member Emeritus of the American Chemical Society, a member of the American Filtration Society and a member of the American Society of Chemical Engineers. He also served as worship leader and choir member at St. Mary Anne’s Episcopal Church in North East, MD. Survivors include his loving wife of 60 years, Carol

W. Smith, his children, Pamela Seymour Smith Sharp and Scott Ross Seymour Smith, two sisters, Alison S. Hannan ’43 and Noel Smith Fernandez and two granddaughters, Elizabeth Seymour Smith and Erika Gove Smith. Marion Cleveland Cohen ’43 died at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire on February 21, 2013 from injuries sustained in a fall.
Known for her captivating charm and elegant style, Marion was the daughter of Francis Grover Cleveland and Alice Pardee Erdman. Her maternal grandparents were Charles R. Erdman, a Presbyterian minister, and Estelle Pardee, of Princeton, NJ. Her paternal grandparents were former president Grover Cleveland and first lady Frances Folsom Cleveland.
Marion was born in Belmont, MA, and moved with her parents to New York City, where she graduated from Friends Seminary before attending Smith College and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While in New York, she studied acting and modeling before settling into a career in the travel business. Her work took her throughout Europe where she met her husband, Fred Cohen,

president of the Alfred Cohen Travel Agency. They married in 1968 and settled in Rome.
When her husband retired in 1973, the couple moved to Baltimore where Marion was an active volunteer for Planned Parenthood and the Baltimore Zoo as well as the annual Smith College Book Sale. She was an energetic and generous supporter of a number of causes and organizations, particularly those that championed the rights of animals, the environment and a woman’s right to choose.
Marion was a lively hostess and an inspired cook as well as an accomplished seamstress and formidable tennis foe. In Baltimore, she was a regular attendee at the opera and subscriber to Center Stage.
In 2008, Marion moved to Tamworth, NH, where her parents had founded The Barnstormers Theatre in 1931 and where she had spent many summers. There she folded easily into the fabric of year-round village life as an active patron and solicitor for The Barnstormers and friend to many of the town’s roughly 2,800 residents.
Marion was known for her quick wit, intelligence and definite opinions. She learned—but happily avoided—the computer. She adored her cats. She had a distinct

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from left

Clare Greenberger Freedman ’49, Peter A. Rona ’52, Andre Schiffrin ’53, Rick Kelly ’67, Randy Morrison ’70

mix of chic and flair, whether sporting a classic Pendleton jacket or her turquoise, flowered cowboy boots, or driving through town in her custom-painted, neon-yellow Subaru. She could equally enthrall a garage full of her favorite mechanics or a roomful of potential theater patrons. Her stories were legend, and she never failed to remark on how lucky she was to have lived a life as rich with friends, family, travel and opportunities.
Marion is survived by her stepson, Livio Cohen and his wife, Simonetta, two stepgrandchildren, Chiara and Ricardo Cohen, numerous dear friends and cousins. Martha Kathryn Muse ’44 died on February 9, 2014 in Stuart, FL after a brief illness. Martha was born in Dallas in 1926, the daughter of John Blackburn Muse and Kathryn Poole Burbank but lived in New York City for most of her life. She maintained residences in New York, Connecticut and Florida. Her principal interests focused on Latin America, but she contributed substantially to educational, corporate and nonprofit areas. Martha was a founding director of the Tinker Foundation. She served as its president for 27 years and its chair for 33 years, retiring

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in 2008. Under her direction, the Foundation became a leading funder of Latin American-related activities providing support for educational, environmental, security, economic, legal and governance issues. Martha received her undergraduate degree from Barnard College in 1948 and a master’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 1955. In 1981, she received an honorary doctorate from Georgetown University. She was the first woman elected as a trustee to Columbia University and was among the first women named to the Board of the New York Stock Exchange and the Council on Foreign Relations. She served on numerous corporate boards including The Bank of New York, May Department Stores, Sterling Drug Inc., ASARCO, ACF Industries and Associated Dry Goods. Her nonprofit boards included the Americas Society, the Spanish Institute and the Luso-American Development Foundation. For her many contributions to the field of Latin American relations she received numerous awards: Orden del Sol del Peru, Order of Bernardo O’Higgins (Chile), Order de Mayo al Merito (Argentina); Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul (Brazil), and awards from the

Spanish Institute and the Americas Society. She was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Colony Club, the Huguenot Society and the National Society of Colonial Dames. One of her final directives to the Tinker Foundation was incorporating Antarcticarelated subjects under its funding mandate. Her support of Antarctica was recognized in 2009 by the establishment of the Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica, an award for mid-career Antarctic scientists and policy makers. Eleanor Fuchs Hoeffler ’44 passed away unexpectedly while waiting for minor surgery in Florida where she lived. Joyce Walsh Ware ’46 “From the first meeting with Joyce, I felt she was unique—no comparisons could be made with anyone else I ever met. I envied her self-possession throughout all our lives. All our lives I’ve been grateful to have her friendship. We lived for more than 40 years in Sherman, CT. Joyce and her husband Wilson spent all of those years serving in many activities for the benefit of the town: on the Board of Education, the Board of Selectmen, the Library, the Sherman Players, Wilson as Judge of Probate. The two of them chaired more committees than I can


recall. Not content with becoming indispensable at home, they spent years serving the students at the Buxton School in Williamstown, MA. There, Joyce organized the library, and Wilson taught art and architecture. Their personalities were a boon to the students they knew. If Joyce became interested in something, she set out to become an expert. Bonsai, gardening in New England, cuisine, Oriental rugs, romance fiction—she wrote and was published on all of the above as well as travel articles in The New York Times. She could harmonize any tune to which she was listening, whether she knew it or not. She could render in usually hilarious verse almost any topic presented to her. She was witty beyond almost anyone I ever met. Joyce Walsh Coates Ware leaves a son, Arthur Eric Coates and a major void in the lives of all those who knew and loved her.” — Joan Maitland LaPrade Cannon ’46 Clare Greenberger Freedman ’49 and I walked to School together every day—unless one of us was sick—from Grade 7 until Graduation in 1949. She lived at 10th and Fifth Avenue and I grew up on Washington Square. We usually walked home as well, sometimes stopping at The Fat Man’s Shop on 3rd Avenue, the clothing business owned by her family. We shared the secrets, triumphs and heartaches of our lives, in and out of School. One of the high points of our Grade 9 year was her inviting me to join her and her parents, to my first Seder. As we grew up, and she went to Barnard and I to Vassar, our lives diverged and then came back together in the early 1960s. She and her husband, Walter, a physician with a specialty in obstetrics and gynecology moved to the Boston area where I was living at the time, and Walter was part

of a specialized medical training program. Throughout the years since, Clare and I stayed in touch sharing the joys and vicissitudes of our lives by letters, phone and then email. In addition to raising their two daughters, Clare was a dedicated and effective teacher of English as a Second Language. She devoted hours each week to this work and touched the lives of countless adults. She and Walter lived for many years in Denver, Colorado, and she died this winter in Tucson, Arizona, where one of daughters lives with her husband. How to describe my dear friend and do justice to her? She was above all, a gentle, principled, caring person. Her intelligence was unassuming and authentic. Her intuition was unfailingly accurate. Her sense of privacy was keen. Her pride in Walter and her girls was profound. She never sought the center of attention and was quick to see through any lack of authenticity. Her work ethic was admirable and many times, in our high school years, her steadfastness kept me on track when my attention was straying. Clare was a loyal advocate of Friends and all that it stands for—during her years as a student and in later years when we would reminisce about the Class of 1949 and our teachers. She believed in three central tenets of life and lived them fully: devotion to family, appreciation for high standards of education and character and working to make a contribution to the greater good in her community. In a world of ever-increasing speed and sense of urgency, Clare was a centered, thoughtful woman who graced the lives of all of us who knew and loved her.” — Edes Powell Gilbert ’49 Peter A. Rona ’52 an oceanographer who dived into the depths of the world’s seas and

surprised his peers by discovering vast mounds spewing hot smoke at the bottom of the icy Atlantic, exciting interests in deep-sea mining and the origins of life on earth, died on February 20, 2014 in Plainsboro, NJ. He was 79. The cause was complications related to multiple myeloma, according to Rutgers University, where Peter was a professor of earth and planetary sciences. Fascinated by the mysteries of what he called “the last frontier on earth,” Peter specialized in exploring the dark abyss for more than a half-century, starting around 1960. He dived in miniature submarines dozens of times, led scientific expeditions, wrote hundreds of papers, published an atlas of the central North Atlantic seabed and served as a consultant to the United Nations on seafloor mineral resources. A major success came in 1985, when he led the expedition that discovered hot springs and their associated lifeforms in the deep Atlantic. He and his colleagues showed that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a craggy seam between tectonic plates that bisect the Atlantic, boiled with hot jets that hosted communities of animals that had been unknown to science. From 1999 to 2003, he and his colleague Richard A. Lutz served as science advisers to “Volcanoes of the Deep Sea,” an IMAX film that took viewers down to the hot springs of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Globally, the film has been seen by 165 million people. The film also featured Peter’s long hunt for the living fossil, an organism a bit larger than a poker chip. Its ancestors, known as Paleodictyon nodosum, were some of the planet’s earliest forms of complex life. Peter graduated with a bachelor’s degree in geology from Brown University in 1956 and a master’s in geology from Yale in 1957. He worked for the Standard

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Oil Company from 1957 to 1959, exploring the American Southwest for promising sites. In December 1958, while visiting his family in Manhattan for the holidays, he met oceanographers who had moored their research vessels to West Side piers. The scientists, in New York for a meeting, spoke of a vast new world under the sea. He went back to school, doing research on oceanographic gear at Columbia University, and in 1967, he received a PhD in marine geology and geophysics from Yale. Soon, Peter was exploring the deep Atlantic for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. He used dredges, cameras and echo sounders that mapped the seabed, and it was while doing that work that he found the hot springs. In 1987, the Commerce Department awarded him its gold medal for exceptional scientific contributions to the nation. He joined Rutgers in 1994 and taught oceanography. Peter’s wife of more than 40 years, Donna, died in 2013. He is survived by his daughter, Jessica. André Schiffrin ’53, a publishing force for 50 years, whose passion for editorial independence produced shelves of serious books, a titanic collision with a conglomerate that forced him out to stem losses, and a late-in-life comeback as a nonprofit publisher, died in Paris on December 1, 2013. He was 78. The son of a distinguished Paris publisher who fled Nazi-occupied France during World War II, André grew up in a socialist New York literary world and became one of America’s most influential men of letters. As editor in chief and managing director of Pantheon Books, a Random House imprint where making money was never the main point, he published novels and books of cultural,

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social and political significance by an international array of mostly highbrow, left-leaning authors. But in 1990, after 28 years at Pantheon, André was fired by Alberto Vitale, the chief executive of Random House, in a dispute over chronic losses and André’s refusal to accept cutbacks and other changes. His departure made headlines, prompted resignations by colleagues, led to a protest march joined by world-renowned authors, and reverberated across the publishing industry in articles and debates. In 1992, André and Diane Wachtell, a former Pantheon editor, founded the New Press as an independent, nonprofit publisher of books “in the public interest,” funded by major foundations. He likened it to public television and radio, a house to supplement university presses in publishing riskier books. The enterprise flourished, and André its editor in chief for more than a decade, remained as founding director and editor at large until his death. André Schiffrin was born on June 14, 1935, in Paris to Jacques and Simone Heymann Schiffrin. His father, a Russian émigré, founded La Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, which published editions of the classics, and in 1941 fled from the Nazis with his family and settled in New York, where from 1943 until his death in 1950 he was editor and vice president of production at Pantheon Books. André grew up in a multicultural household, immersed in languages and literature and a milieu of Jewish socialist intellectuals. He worked summer jobs at Pantheon, a prestigious house founded in 1942 by the German émigrés Kyrill S. Schabert and Kurt and Helen Wolff, and knew the book list “the same way another boy would know the stock of his father’s candy store,” a Book World profile said. After

graduating with high honors and a degree in history from Yale in 1957, André studied at Clare College, Cambridge University, where he became the first American to edit Granta, then the school’s literary journal, and earned a master’s degree with highest honors in 1959. In 1961, André married Maria Elena de la Iglesia, known as Leina. André is survived by his wife and daughters, Natalia and Anya Schiffrin, a journalist married to the Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, and three grandchildren. In 1962 André joined Pantheon, which had been bought by Random House a year earlier. He edited his first best seller, “The Tin Drum” by Mr. Grass, shortly after his arrival. He became editor in chief in 1963 and managing director in 1969, often subsidizing important works with profits from commercially successful books. At the New Press, André published best-selling fiction and books on race relations, civil rights, AIDS, black culture, history, economics, the environment, feminism and other subjects. He wrote for The Nation, The New Republic and European magazines and was the author of “A Political Education: Growing Up in Paris and New York” (2007) and “Words and Money” (2010), in addition to his memoir. André taught at Princeton and the New School in New York. He served on the boards of the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Council of the Smithsonian Institution and the New York Council on the Humanities. Since 2005, he and his wife divided their time between homes in Manhattan and Paris. Richard F. Edlich ’56 died at his home in Brush Prairie, WA on Christmas morning after an heroic battle with Multiple Sclerosis. Richard an MD, PhD and Professor Emeritus, had a


distinguished medical career at the University of Virginia Medical School, which benefitted thousands upon thousands. He entered New York University Medical School at the age of 18 on early admissions from Lafayette College. After receiving his medical degree, Richard completed general surgical residency at the University of Minnesota Health Services Center. His teacher and mentor was the famed teacher, Dr. Owen H. Wagensteen, friend and role model for his subsequent teaching career. He completed his plastic surgery residency at the University of Virginia and began teaching as an assistant professor in 1973 eventually becoming Distinguished Professor of Plastic Surgery and Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He is the coauthor of seven books and more than 800 scientific articles. During his years at the University of Virginia, Richard founded, designed and served as director of the 16 bed University of Virginia Burn and Wound Healing Center. Treatment of burn injuries and complex wounds at the center was a multidisciplinary research effort involving basic scientists as well as health care professionals. Collaborative efforts resulted in numerous innovative products, surgical techniques and tests used throughout the world. The Reinforced Steri-Strip (3M, Minneapolis, MN) has been used in more than a billion patients for wound closure. A wound cleanser has successfully decontaminated wounds in more than ten million patients without a single reported toxic reaction. As a result of his research into the toxic effects of the use of powdered latex gloves, alternative gloves are now standard in hospitals and the medical profession. In 2000, Richard received the Harvey Stuart Allen

Medal from the American Burn Association in recognition of his significant contributions to burn care. Today, the Edlich Henderson Invention of the Year award is given to inventors of Technology at UVA who have developed technology of notable value to the society. From 1971 until 1982, Richard was Director of the Emergency Medical Service at the University of Virginia Hospital. Richard and Dr. Ernst Attinger developed a comprehensive medical system in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They championed the development of basic and advanced lifesupport training for physicians, a telemetered medical system for emergency care, a rape crisis center, a crisis center for psychiatric emergencies, and the Pegasus Flight Operations. Richard volunteered as the physician technical advisor for emergency care for Washington, DC, Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania under Dr. David Boyd with the Department of Health and Human Services. As a result he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2008, Richard received the James D. Mills Award, the highest academic honor given by the American College of Emergency Physicians. In recognition of his commitment to teaching, the University of Virginia Alumni honored Richard. John Fisk ’64 died quietly in his Lower East Side apartment on December 20, 2004, after a yearlong encounter with bone cancer. John was the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church’s broadcast consultant for over 20 years, directing the audio of all events, from readings by quietly powerful poets like Bernadette Mayer to multimedia extravaganzas coordinated by producers like Hal Wilner. John was known for many years during the 1970s and

1980s as the host of “Digressions,” a WBAI 99.5 FM program that aired every Sunday night into Monday morning, where he weaved an eclectic mix of commentary, music and poetry. Through his duties as broadcast consultant, John amassed a remarkable collection of contemporary poetry recordings— made distinctive due to the Poetry Project’s de facto mission of presenting as many emerging writers as established ones. Along the way, John also recorded Allen Ginsberg’s workshops at Brooklyn College. In 2003, when John began to experience difficulty walking he was given the cane that steadied the gait of Allen Ginsberg and filmmaker and musicologist Harry Smith before him, a literal transfer of a countercultural baton. John knew everybody—Vincent “the Chin” Gigante, poet Bob Kaufman, Yippie! Party co-founder Abbie Hoffman and Patti Smith—but he never name-dropped. The connections were revealed anecdotally while swapping life stories. It was precisely John’s discretion, generosity and modesty—peppered by his confidence of intellect—that made him such a desirable companion. Friends surrounded him right up until the moment he passed away. John was a great mentor because he was open to information. His knowledge was free of prejudice, rooted in continual learning. John especially loved music, philosophy, poetry and politics. One area of his apartment was stacked floor to ceiling with books, compact discs and tapes. Aside this wall was situated John’s mission control center: television, radio and the ergonomic Aeron chair where he read, received the news and digressed. John Coletti and I recorded John last April telling a brief history of his life. I waited to listen to the tape until the day after

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he died. I cried. Even in the throes of pain and under the influence of pain relievers, John was articulate and sharp. He shared a significant moment in his adolescence. After touring a prep school with his father, who wanted John to go to Princeton, he decided that he did not want to attend the school. He explained, “After that, I was up and running. Of course the process of becoming an individual is complicated for everybody but somehow, somewhere in there, I found my self. And thankfully my parents had a theory of child rearing that had nothing to do with telling a kid what to do.” John will be greatly missed. He simply enjoyed listening to and reading poetry. He was an extremely loyal friend. Thankfully, his spirit will continue to inspire future generations through the wealth of material that he left behind. — discovered online and shared by Barbara Carey ’64 Richmond “Rick” Kelly ’67 died on August 4, 2013, after a courageous battle following surgery at YaleNew Haven Hospital, never losing hope that he would come home. He was born on December 16, 1948, in Brooklyn, NY—the only child of John Henry Kelly and Helen (Richmond) Kelly. Rick was involved in scouting from the age of seven, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. He was always proud to have attended several Boy Scout Jamborees throughout the United States. He graduated from Friends Seminary in New York City in 1967, Temple University in Philadelphia in 1969 with an associate degree in engineering and the University of Dayton in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in technology. He began his career at Arc Electric in Manhattan as an electrical project manager for many important construction sites including One City Place in Lower

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Manhattan. He joined his college friend, Les Tager, at his family business, Baldwin Stewart Electric of Hartford and New Haven. In 1983, he joined Northeast Utilities at Millstone Power Station and remained with the company as it transitioned to Dominion Nuclear of Richmond, VA. Over his 30 year career, he held a variety of positions at Millstone. His most recent was the site coordinator for the motor pool: “If it moved or had wheels, Rick had his hands on it.” Rick was always proudest of his Quaker education at Friends Seminary. It instilled a philosophy of tolerance and acceptance of all people. He loved European travel, food, spending time with his family and reminiscing about growing up in Manhattan. He was the ultimate handyman with many unfinished projects at the time of his passing. He thought nothing of traveling across three states to get a great meal. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, his daughter Emily Richmond Kelly, and his cousins, Dr. Maureen Kelly, Kathleen Kelly, William Kelly and his wife, Jane. Nicholas Randolph “Randy” Morrison ’70 passed away on December 29, 2013 after a short illness. Randy was the son of Elizabeth (Betty) Smith and Hobe Morrison, the renowned theatre critic for Variety. Sharing his father’s love of theatre, he gave up playing drums in a rock band to become a stagehand and in 1974 proudly joined IATSE Local One. He eventually moved into sound production and worked at the Shubert Theatre for more than 23 years. Randy was known throughout the Broadway community for his generosity and kind spirit and was always eager to lend a hand to anyone who needed it. He had a love of photography, technology and music, and he

always enjoyed sharing his passions and talents with friends and coworkers. His colorful Hawaiian shirts were his trademark. Randy was so loved and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A beautiful memorial service was held for him, and the outpouring of people who worked with him in the New York theatre community was a testimony to the incredibly kind, sweet, devoted friend and colleague he was. Randy’s passing brought an outpouring of memories and stories through a flurry of emails from many in his class. Survivors include his brothers Christopher and Douglas and his beloved cats, Midas and Pandora. Jeanne McAlister Griffiths ’75 died on December 30, 2013. A celebration of her life took place in the Meetinghouse on January 10, 2014. In attendance were: Jean Ball, Katie Weil, Diane Gordon, Sarah John, Julie Fenster, Susan Kane, Delice’s Donchian, Sue Schwartz, Mindy (Hertz), Rhonda Orin, Marcy Wachtel, Cella Irvine, Robin DeSilva, Gil Fleitas, Bill Lauffer, Gilbert Harrison, Richard Fisher, David Hirst (by FaceTime from Hong Kong during dinner), Gordon Rich’s widow Maryanne, Adam Owett, Marshall Heinberg. These tributes were made at the service: I know I am echoing what others are saying today, and what many of my classmates shared on emails in the wake of Jeanne’s passing, but that’s because Jeanne was consistent, not just with me, but with all of us. She did not adapt depending upon whom she was with. She was Jeanne. Always. We shared many great times together, and some of our experiences I shouldn’t go into today, but I would like to focus on the more personal, intimate side of Jeanne, the Jeanne whom you and I both knew. These were formative years for all of us at


Friends. We learned about ourselves, becoming self-aware. We learned, often the hard way, about building relationships. About what it means to be a true friend. Perhaps because Jeanne didn’t have my overt tendencies toward insecurity or anxiety, she was able to be present for me, as she was for others she loved. This was one of Jeanne’s great gifts. “Be here now.” She was a patient listener, confidant, and “comforter in chief.” She helped me to see the glass as not just full, but overflowing! I know you know this too. We were intertwined in so many ways and everything was so intense! We talked about anything and everything in the late night hours at each other’s homes and on the phone. I can see myself sitting in her bedroom at UN Plaza talking about our girlfriends, the boys in our crowd, our love interests, our dreams for the future. Sisterhood she was like a sister in many ways but we also both had our own sisters - this was a big topic too. She as the older sister, I as the younger had different perspectives, so we helped each other learn how to become our own selves while still nurturing lasting bonds with our parents and siblings. Of course we also talked at length about less heady things such as what we were going to wear the next day and “did you see the way he looked at her?” The unspoken rule no matter the topic was that there was no holding back-not just in terms of what we revealed but also not stopping halfway in terms of how we responded to each other. Honesty. I admired and loved the self-assuredness that Jeanne projected. She seemed to feel good in her own skin and helped others feel that way too. Can’t you picture like it was yesterday that beautiful silky yellow gown she wore to our high school graduation in this very room? She was grade. Quickly, we became fast friends; that’s how bold.

She put herself out there. Jeanne was the glue for many of us; she was a connector. When I was about to go off to Trinity College, she introduced me to another incoming freshman, Carole McCabe - the daughter of a close family friend. Knowing we would both be a little shy and know no one, Jeanne brought us together—helped break the ice. She was adept at first tuning into what other people needed and then acting on that. Carole and I began a friendship spurred on by Jeanne that continues today. I am forever grateful. People often say that as adults we become more mature versions of our younger selves. And so it was with Jeanne. Given her life-long passion for nurturing people, are any of you surprised that she started a catering business? She had a life long passion for nurturing people in more ways than one. I loved reading recently that she created a work-life that enabled her to be at every sports event for her sons. I’m not surprised to hear this and thought to myself, “this is the Jeanne I remember,” and I’m sure dedication to her family is what she would most want to be remembered for. Yes, it was tremendous fun to be with her, but more importantly, she had a laser focus on what mattered most: being present for her family. I’m not sure if there is any greater legacy a person can have. Part of her long letter to me in my yearbook summed it up. And here you get a reminder of how articulate Jeanne was: “To always be able to talk about anything and everything - discuss problems, work our way out of a bad situation and enjoy all the good things has brought us so close that the only way to explain what we mean to each other is to say that we are a part of each other - we are each other.” Self- assured, unconditional love, upbeat and positive, a huge heart, a good friend - these were Jeanne’s

gifts and we were all lucky to have her as a friend, to be in her orbit. For me, even to this day, seeing the glass as full as Jeanne did, and focusing on what’s in front of me still does not always come easily. But then I try to remember Jeanne’s impact on me, her positive energy and enthusiasm for life and I push myself a little harder. As many of us here today can attest, intense, symbiotic high school relationships are rarely sustained at that same level over time. That Jeanne and I established careers, married, and raised families, doesn’t diminish the enduring warmth from the emotional ties that connected us early on in our lives, a warmth that even on this sad day and for years to come will always connect us. — Diane Gordon “Safe in her Shadow” Since Jeanne died there have been blizzards, arctic freezes, extreme winds, fast thaws, record highs followed by sleet, sheet ice, and fog./ Weather that mirrors my feelings as I try to comprehend the sudden and shocking loss of my sister Jeanne/ Jeanne was my big sister, we grew up together, shared a bedroom. She taught me how to survive as a girl growing up in New York from no eye-contact with strangers to how to cart wheel - to music/Watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan with Louise, Jeanne showed me how to faint in ecstasy at the mere sight of them I did not get it, but she did, she felt things, deeply./ She played me James Taylor, Carole King, Dory Previn, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Aretha, Stevie, the Beatles;/I remember Let it Be wafting down from the smoking lounge/I was too young to enter./Jeanne and I shared a beautiful love but we were not at all the same./Jeanne was an optimist - she was not a person to dwell in dark places/This was just not her way./Jeanne was trusting and without guile—as Friends kids we

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shared a pacifist world view, were horrified by racism, the multiple evils we heard about and saw everyday in the streets of the city/ She stood up for me always/ Terrified the girl who threw an iceball at my forehead, in kindergarten/The message - don’t mess with my little sister/And we had Louise in our life…/Jeanne was loved, loved, LOVED more than she thought she was./Strong Impetuous Wild Sensitive/With So Much Love to Give! Such joy in sharing it /A Fierce love for Brad and James, her husband Chip, her niece, Kate, all of us were enveloped by Jeanne’s spirit./Like a mama bear; We called her Bear./ Jeanne was my beautiful loyal older sister,/I will always remember her shining, generous warmth/Recently she told me she wished she could have protected me more and I replied I wished she’d let me protect her./Jeanne knew how to give love Better than how to receive it/Our beloved Jeanne was strong, But not as strong as she thought she was. — Deborah McAlister Jones ‘78 I met Jeanne in kindergarten here at Friends. I was one of the quiet ones, and Jeanne… wasn’t. She was one of the louder kids, but as someone recently said, she was always loud in a good way. Something fun or funny (or both) was always happening around her. Your day was happier if you were in her orbit. One more thing about kindergarten… After lunch they would bring us here, to the balcony in this room, for rest period. They gave us mats to put on the benches and we had to lie down and be quiet for 15 minutes. Some of us liked it and others could barely manage to do it. If I could find Jeanne’s report card from kindergarten, I’m pretty sure it would show that Jeanne excelled in all areas… except rest period! When Jeanne moved uptown from Peter Cooper, she moved very close to my house, and we began to spend more time together. Later on she would

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often come over in the morning and pick me up so we could go to school together. She was an early bird and I… wasn’t. It was often a struggle for me to get out on time. Anyone else would have got frustrated and stopped coming in the morning. It couldn’t have been worth the constant risk of being late to school. But Jeanne didn’t get frustrated like other people. She was always such an optimistic, upbeat person. I can just picture her leaving her house in the morning with a smile on her face, thinking, ‘Today is going to be another great day, and Katie is not going to be late! Being in Jeanne’s positive, upbeat, fun orbit was a godsend, especially in that treacherous middle school period. Since I currently have a daughter who is 14, I’ve just had a refresher course on the challenges. You are changing mentally and physically every day in ways you can’t control or predict. Your awareness of the world and people around you is growing exponentially. You constantly question who you are, how you fit in, and what other people are thinking about you. For most people, it is the height of the painful, self conscious years. But Jeanne wasn’t like most people. She hardly ever got embarrassed, and didn’t worry about what other people thought. If something embarrassing happened, she usually thought it was funny. She always laughed at herself, and got us to laugh at ourselves. She didn’t overthink things or get bogged down with indecision or fear. She always seemed to like who she was, know what she liked, and she just went for it…. I can picture her at a 7th grade dance, wrapped around a boy who was about a foot shorter, with a big smile on her face! I remember her shouting with unabashed joy and running down the hall at school, after she got the news that her sister Liz was born, that it was a girl. I remember her screaming with excitement when I

got accepted to a School Year Abroad program… she was more excited than I was! Jeanne just radiated enthusiasm and positive energy. She was usually the first to raise her hand or volunteer for anything. She was captain of the girls basketball team. She was a varsity cheerleader for 3 years, which also suited her personality perfectly. She was an editor of the yearbook, and a dedicated member of the high school chorus. She got me to join the chorus, and we loved to sing together, just for fun. One day we were sitting in the Common Room during lunch, singing something in harmony, and Mr Davis the music teacher happened to walk by and hear us. He said, “You girls should form a barbershop quartet! I’ll help you!” Unlike me, Jeanne did not hesitate for a second. We formed the quartet, and had so much fun rehearsing and performing...I remember discovering this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, while looking for a quote for my senior page in the yearbook. It didn’t seem appropriate for me, but it does now, for Jeanne (except that she wasn’t the sort of person who had any foes). My candle burns at both ends;/It will not last the night;/But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends-/It gives a lovely light! — Kate Weil ’75 I’m Cella Irvine, and it was my luck and joy to know Jeanne for 56 years. We met when I was three weeks old, and she was seven weeks. She was four times my size. My mom went, sobbing, to the pediatrician to have me checked for a growth deformity. Jeanne, with all that abundant good humor, loved that story - when we became adults, and if we were together and met someone new, she’d tell it to them and then she’d throw her arm around me so it was clear that she had a good four inches of height on me and say, “And see! Look! It’s still the same!!” As early as I can remember, was brimming with good will, strong and assuring. I can


still remember walking up to Friends my first day in 7th grade, nervous as heck, and seeing her standing on the top of the front steps, looking out for me, calling hello, waiting so she could take me into the building under her arm. Other friends have spoken about Jeanne’s enormous impact on our school years. I’d like to share the note I received this week from Paul Supton, our 7th. “Your news is heartbreaking. I have a vivid image of Jeanne as I knew her, a young teen, radiating enthusiasm, irrepressible, ever sunny. I miss her.”It was wonderful to know Jeanne when we were young. It was a privilege to know her as an adult. Jeanne called me at 9am the Monday morning after our 35th high school reunion. She wanted to talk about everyone who’d been at the reunion, and I thought, awesome, because, let’s face it, after 35 years there’s something to dish about. But that’s not what Jeanne had in mind at all. She wanted to talk, at length and in detail, about how great everyone was: that our host was so kind, and had such a beautiful apartment and family. Hadn’t this particular one of our girl friends found the perfect guy? Then there was the person who Jeanne didn’t know well, but whom I did - wow, what a remarkable woman she was - could the three of us spend some time together so Jeanne could get to know her better? Jeanne and I, two talkers enabled by modern phone technology, talked about our class on and off over three days. There was from her not one unkind thought. Not one moment of gossip. At one point, I slipped in something less than positive, and she would have none of it - my comment about the person was wrong, and I was wrong to say it. And she was right on both counts. This is who Jeanne had evolved into being over the course of her life: someone whose heart was so packed with generosity and love that there was no room for anything less. Irma, my mom has always talked about how warm and

welcoming you were to her in Peter Cooper all those years ago. Jeanne had that from you in her, and that’s what of her I will carry with me and try to be. — Cella Irvine ’75 First, the four of us representing Jeanne’s years at Friends just want to thank her family for allowing us to speak. We are all very grateful and honored. I’m Jean Ball. Jeanne and I met in Kindergarten. I’m proud to say that Jeanne was my first best friend and I was hers. No offense intended if anyone else thought they held that role. I’m sure she loved you too! She was Jeanne so I was Jean. We both were lefties and she was 8 days older than me. She called herself “fatty” (that came from her, not me) and me “skinny”. We even had nicknames. She was Lamb Face and I was Honey Lamb When we were older, Jeanne gave me what looked to be an antique lamb pin. Irma, I hope you knew she took that. If not, I still have it. Since we both lived in Peter Cooper, we spent lots of time at each other’s houses. Mine was better for snacks, as when we would go to hers, Louise, her beloved baby sitter would ask, “Jeanne McAlister, did Jean Ball come here to eat or play?” There were many benefits to being Jeanne’s best friend. One was being able to cross 20th at the time, but only with Jeanne holding her hand. I also remember wearing hideous, flowered hats at a mayday celebration in the swing playground. Cella shared in that occasion as well. I have a great picture of us from that day and no one looked cheerier than Jeanne. Luckily we were too young to know how ridiculous we all looked. One of the worst days of my childhood was finding out that Jeanne was leaving Peter Cooper to move uptown. I still remember exactly where I was standing in my parent’s bedroom…so you can tell how traumatic that was for me. Sleepovers continued but were a bit hard for me. I was a homesick child

and Jeanne would fall asleep by 730, at the latest, every time. Thank you Andy for sitting up with some other parents’ crying child! Finally, I remember, being 13, standing together in the common room, when some unpleasant lady announced Jeanne’s sister Lizzie’s arrival with, “McAlister, it’s a girl.” I saw Jeanne at many events over the years. She would always throw her arms around me and cheerfully announce to anyone who was nearby, “this was my first best friend!” I fully expected her (without asking) that she would cater our boys’ BNAI Mitzvah 2 years ago. Unfortunately, she was planning a move and couldn’t commit. But in true Jeanne style, she read the different proposals and planned the menu from afar. Jeanne had a major impact on my life. Childhood and the people in it form a lot of who we are. I was privileged to have a best friend like her. — Jean Ball Scheinert ’75 Lucy Childress ’99 passed away on November 22, 2013. A service was held in the Meetinghouse at Friends to celebrate her life on January 11, 2014. These tributes were read at the service: Hello friends. I am profoundly sorry that I am not with you in person today in the Meetinghouse, but I am very glad that Julia can read this to you. My heart is there, and it is hurting alongside yours. I enjoyed Lucy as a student here in photography and art history every day for four fantastic years. It was an enormous honor to be one of the people, along with Daphne Taylor, to open the doors of art for her. And it is no surprise how the brilliant Lucy bolted through those doors with immense curiosity and courage! Struggling to make sense of her death, I searched through my bookshelves and found an unforgettable photograph she put in the School photo journal in 1999. It strikes the viewer as powerfully now as it did 15 years ago.

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photo source http://bferry.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/home-invasion-new-editorial-for-brooklyn-mag/

Lucy Childress ’99

Inside a dark square, as deep and black as ink, a small hand reaches toward the viewer. The arm seems to streak behind the hand like a comet. The disembodied image is haunting, yes, but it is also strangely loving and pure. Each time I see the photograph, I am struck by its power. In this series, Lucy explored human qualities using only a commonplace Barbie doll, and she was able to breathe into plastic a remarkably rich poetic voice. Her artistic vision was extraordinary, even at the young age of 17. Now this picture feels almost miraculous and prophetic to me. In what seems to be a gesture of kindness, the hand bridges through the darkness to us like the gentle touch of a nurse, to offer us some kind of condolence, perhaps even some guidance. The hand reminds me that human connections give life some of its most important meaning. An open hand offers compassion, assistance, and the feel of a warm touch. All of you in this room have a connection with each other in the form of an exquisite thread called Lucy. In the silence of this room, perhaps this very connection she once told us about in a photograph will help all of us find some peace. — written by Yarrott Benz and read by Julia Stiles ’99 I met Lucy in the Abingdon Square sandbox at age one. She was my first friend. After playing next to each

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other in our earliest years, it was only natural that in nursery school we were inseparable. As a child, Lucy was determined and outspoken— qualities that led her to time outs for being too rambunctious. As her friend, I was thrilled she was so entertaining and would sit with her during time outs and play quiet games until we could get rolling again. Lucy and I grew up only a few blocks apart, and our houses became second homes to each other, and our parents a second set of parents. Lucy’s house was magical— and not only because her father performed magic tricks. She had a puppet theater in the basement that provided hours upon hours of entertainment. There was a koi pond in the back yard and infinite hiding spots throughout the house. We were always up to something— making something, baking something, playing doctor, torturing her guinea pig. Lucy was incredibly creative from day one, and her passionate character stayed with her into adulthood. Memories of Lucy are woven throughout my life. At a slumber party in middle school Lucy dared us to eat cat food, which some of us did ending in dyspeptic results. In high school here at Friends, we wrote our own music and played in a grunge rock band we called I Scream of Jeannie. Lucy created our band logo, and our flyers and posters were all hand made by her.

When our parents came together for our first show, her beautifully handmade tip jar brought in some serious cash. Similarly, the notes Lucy passed in class were written and illustrated in the most beautiful way. She had a distinctive eye and appreciation for beauty. Lucy was a devoted friend and in times of need would drop everything for her friends. I remember the time in our mid-20s when I called her late at night desperate because my living situation wasn’t working out anymore, and she took me in for a week. I think this beautiful quality of loyalty came from her close family. Lucy loved her parents so much and was so proud of them. When we got together, we would always ask about each other’s parents and Lucy always had fond stories from the last time she had dinner at their house. She adored them, and it showed in the way she talked about them, but also in her actions and devotion to her relationships—both romantic and not—relationships, friendships which she took very seriously. Lucy was a lover of all things beautiful— not objects necessarily, although she had her own fabulous style and a thousand dresses. She found beauty in everyday life. She was compassionate, non-judgmental and had the ability to feel all emotions— but especially of love—very deeply. Lucy has been a constant and a fixture in my life—one I certainly took for granted. Our memories were so intertwined. We had no trouble understanding that we would grow old together just as siblings do. But life is very fragile, for all of us, and all I can do now is cherish the times I had with her, hold her close and know that she will continue to influence my life moving forward. Here’s to the beautiful Lucy, and to all the joy she gave us. — Lindsay Key ’99


Marge Gonzalez, former faculty at Friends Seminary, and her husband Don Routh.

In 2010, I married Don Routh. Couples blend their values when they come together, and Don introduced me to something that has made a significant impact on my life. Don comes from a tradition of tithing—giving to those less fortunate than yourself. I come from a tradition that benefits from generous tithers—my father was a minster, and all we had was from gifts people gave to the church. When we were married and combined our finances, I was surprised at how much he gave to our church and to scholarship funds at institutions with which he has a connection. Don urged me to add Friends Seminary to our charitable giving because he understood how important this institution had been to me for the 34 years of teaching. So now every month when we have money left over, we make a gift to Friends. Last year we made a gift every month. When I asked why giving is so important to him, he replied, “Because after you make a gift, it feels so good.” Indeed, my first impulse had always been to save any extra funds for progeny and frivolity. I am happy to have discovered, somewhat belatedly, the immense pleasure of giving and the continued connectedness it brings me to a School community I believe in.

Friends for the Future, our planned Giving Society, honors those members of our community who have arranged to support Friends Seminary through a planned or estate gift. These donors have helped provide for the School’s future through a variety of gift planning vehicles including bequest intentions, testamentary trusts, gift of real estate, and other deferred gifts.

For more information on making a planned gift, please contact Katherine Precht, Director of Institutional Advancement, at 212 979 5035 ext.180 or kprecht@friendsseminary.org. if you have made a provision for Friends in your estate plans, plase share this information with us so that your generosity can be acknowledged.

FR I E N DS FO R T HE

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