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John French III: “Recently married Carole Parsons Bradley. The picture used a couple of times in alumni publications of the old pond, with a reflection of the shoreline, was taken by me as a photo editor of the 1947 yearbook. I have the original!” (See John’s letter to the editor on page 3 about his trip retracing explorer Ernest Shackleton’s journey.)
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Ruben G. Batista*: “Where is Ruben Batista? Excellent question. I am Jim Moffatt, class of 1948, and I roomed with Ruben for two years. I was given an address for him, I wrote, and even though we were the best of friends in the 1940s, I received no reply. Ruben badly wanted me to attend Lawrenceville with him, but I opted for Kent School, less expensive than Hotchkiss, Groton and Lawrenceville. Ruben was the son of the president of Cuba, as you may also know. “What you may not know is that the big source of entertainment for the boys back then was the Saturday night movie in what I think was called the Boathouse. Not only were the films dreadful, they were ‘silents.’ And most, if not all, were westerns. So you would see a horse galloping over the plain, but no sound as his hooves hit the ground. I think I saw my first television when the class was invited to Montague’s house to watch a World Series game.” *The alumni office did an Internet search for Ruben and found him listed as deceased, since November 2007. If anyone has other information, please let us know.
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Class Agent: John G. Davis, 843-720-1231, johnd2000@aol.com
John G. Davis: “I have made ‘Giving Back’ a major part of my life. (See page 8 for more on John’s volunteerism.) A lot of my philanthropic spirit is due to the fact that while I worked hard all my life I never made much money as a graphic designer/photographer, but I had the good fortune to inherit enough money to live comfortably. My inheritance also allowed me to make substantial gifts to a wide variety of nonprofits. When I came to Charleston in 1992, the word got out that there was a ‘sucker in town’ who would do design work for free, and I found myself working full time again as a designer/photographer of brochures, annual reports and newsletters for various philanthropies. But the folks in the nonprofit sector are often a lot nicer than private industry tycoons, and I enjoyed all the community projects and activity. I also served as president of two local charities for eight years each, and along the way I made four trips to Honduras as a medical mission volunteer. It truly is not in character for me to blow my own horn, but if it does inspire others it’s worth it.” John sent us this press release about his receiving the Haven Award in 2006 (Press Release 11/18/2006): Coastal Community Foundation (CCF) is honored to announce that this year there are two winners of the prestigious Haven Award for Selfless Community Giving. They are John G. Davis and George W. Miller. The Haven Award honors those who always gave more than is expected to help others in the community.
Alumni Reunion
Oct. 26, 2013
Varsity Games, Reception, Special Day for Classes Ending in 3 and 8 Davis and George Miller now share the company of 23 others who have received this prestigious award as a testament to their extraordinary generosity in giving back to their community either through their time, talent, resources or all three! John Davis has been giving back nonstop since his arrival in Charleston in 1993, both financially, professionally (graphic artist and advertising expertise) and as a board member to a range of charitable programs with special focus on Darkness to Light and the Charleston Concert Association.
Quiz Answers from page 41: 1. Mona Watts Lyons gave an enema for any ailment. 2. Mrs. Baldwin taught reading. 3. Stafford dorm. 4. 2003 Adam Sharon, Ian Lichtenstein, James Deckinger, Larissa Mooney, Ingrid Jordan ’94, Ted Millar, Ted Coats, Jennifer Cartin, Nadia Murray, and John Walsh at L’Orange Bleu located down in Soho (NYC). 5. Rich Beck, Tom Dodd, Peter Duncan ’65, Mike Wise ’63, Hoge Caswell, John Gobel. 6. The Walk List, to work off demerits. 7. The bell rang for dinner and is now in the Middle School. 8. O’Malley dorm. 9. Tennis ball was thrown trying to hit the top of the flagpole. 10. Lev Smith served for 27 years, as math teacher and Headmaster from 1936–1963. 11. Billy the Horse. 12. Original Carter farmhouse, eventually called the Carter House or Head’s House. 13. Mr. Shea, Shea House (also called the White Cottage). 14. Founders Day. 15. Pocantico club banner. 16. Herbert Carter ’19 graduated from Princeton in 1923. 17. Vice-Chair of the Board and father of two Harvey boys, Tom ’73 and John ’74. 18. The pond to the left and in front of the main building, Sylvan Hall, shown as built and painted by teacher Richard Coe. 19. Headmaster was thrown in the pond by a championship team. 20. Cinderella; student-directed The Drip and Difficulties of Building a Time Machine.
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