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Equity and Justice Profile
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notes Equity and Justice Profiles In celebration of Indian Springs’ 2010-2011 theme, “Equity and Justice,” we highlight alumni whose class notes reveal efforts — both vocational and volunteer – that bear out this theme. We commend all our alumni who work tirelessly on behalf of others in their everyday lives.
Equity and Justice Profile Carlisle Towery ’55 Carlisle Towery continues his work as President of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, a community-building organization that plans and advances revitalization efforts in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, N.Y. — one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the nation. Among GJDC’s programs are partnerships with private developers in creating mixed-use developments, a Revolving Loan Fund providing below-market rate loans to “nearly bankable” local businesses, retail and commercial attraction and retention programs, and neighborhood initiatives to promote public safety, beautification, and quality of life. GJDC also owns and operates parking facilities and several properties including Jamaica Market, a combination food court and farmers market. Towery has long been at the heart of justice issues, advocating for civil rights for African-Americans as a student at Auburn University in the late 1950s, and has had a long career bringing equity and justice to the people of Jamaica, Queens.
Kenzie Brannon ’56 Kenzie Brannon, a retiree for 10 years, works for equity and justice through his weekly volunteer activities — preparing high school dropouts for the GED, tutoring four kindergarten classes, delivering Meals on Wheels, serving as a ComPeer for two mental health patients, building with Habitat for Humanity, and taking on various jobs at church. “My wife, Gene (Miree), and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary this summer with an Alabama Alumni tour in northern Italy,” he writes. “My best wishes to all of you in the Class of ’56!”
ISS MAGAZINE , SPRING 2 0 1 0
The first ISS soccer team was formed in the 1958-1959 school year under Bob Pieh and played other private schools in the state and region such as McCallie School, The Lovett School, Darlington School, The Westminster Schools, St. Bernard Prep and Marion Military Institute, among others. Thank you to Ray Wright ‘61 and Leo Kayser III ‘62 for offering this information.
CLASS OF 1959 News from Bob Athey Jr.: “The most significant event going on for us here was the marriage of our son, Michael, at the end of April. Unfortunately, preparations for this preempted us from going to Alumni Weekend this year. I continue to be married to my wife of 44 years and to work with my outpatient private practice, a group I formed with colleagues at the Menninger Clinic in 2001 when we decided not to relocate with Menninger to Houston, Texas. I hope to see many of you at next year’s Alumni Weekend.”
CLASS OF 1962
In April, Jim Mustin III traveled to Gisenyi, Rwanda, to present on Restorative Circles to the Ihumure Association, a local peacemaking and reconciliation group. He also spent a week working on video and fund-raising projects with Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services in Bujumbura, Burundi.
Danner Frazer Jr. writes, “I am practicing law, trying cases and delighted to be able to work. I have three sons, three grandsons and a fourth on the way. Much free time is spent with those children, and the fun it provides is beyond my capacity to describe. The first 66 years have been an absolute blast, and I hope to have a lot more.” From Bill Viar Jr.: “After practicing surgery for 30 years, I am thoroughly enjoying retirement. Barbara and I split our time between Birmingham and our vacation home in Linville, N.C. She is an avid golfer and bridge player. I am an avid hunter and fisherman. (I play golf and bridge when I “have to.”) Between us, we have five children and four grandchildren, none of whom live in Alabama — the family dynamics are always interesting. I hope we have a terrific turnout for our 50th reunion in 2012.”
CLASS OF 1961
CLASS OF 1963
David Darby writes, “Last September, my wife and I moved from Florence (Ala.) back to the West for retirement. We will divide our time between a not-so-big home in Billings, Mont., and a condo in Seattle. The West got into our blood during the many years we lived and worked there. We also enjoyed working throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union beginning in the mid-1990s, and we will miss the fascinating life overseas. It was good to reconnect with 1961 classmates recently by email, although we missed our 50th reunion. I have many fond memories of Springs and the enriching experiences it offered.”
In February, the Alabama Architectural Foundation named Gray Plosser Jr. of Birmingham’s KPS Group this year’s Distinguished Architect. Plosser was recognized for a lifetime of achievement and for professional excellence.
CLASS OF 1960
Equity and Justice Profile
Phil Laney Jr. ’56 (left) and John Ross Jr. ’56 (right) pause during their January visit to Springs to take a photo with one of their teachers, Mac Fleming, who has been on the faculty since the school opened in 1952. Fleming now concentrates his efforts on the school’s archives. The alumni enjoyed their outing to the school, which included a visit with Fleming and a drive around campus.
Clarification to ‘Springs Celebrates 50 Years of Soccer’
J o h n T h a m e s J r. ’ 6 1 John Thames Jr. is spending his retirement just as he spent his working years — helping people in need. He has retired from being a Helpline Counselor with the Alzheimer’s Association and is now a full-time volunteer in the Atlanta area. “I work as a Helpline Counselor for the Clark Howard Radio Show, where I get calls from all over the country on debt, mortgages, investments and consumer fraud,” he says. “It is amazing work, and there is something new to learn every day!” He also teaches citizenship classes to U.S. immigrants who are preparing to take the citizenship exam, volunteers for the American Heart Association, and teaches English as a Second Language to new U.S. residents.!
CLASS OF 1967 Last year, Tom Byers turned 60 and completed his 30th year on the faculty at the University of Louisville, where he received the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Service Award for service to the University. He celebrated these passages in Paris, where he spent a semester as a Visiting Professor (Chaire Dupront) at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne). While across the pond, he also gave papers at conferences in Dublin and in Kazan, Russia, and delivered invited lectures at American Studies colloquia in Madrid and at the Paul Klee Museum in Berne. In addition, he was recently quoted in the New York Times on the film “The Big Lebowski.” His son, Jack, graduated from Amherst and is now working in Washington, D.C. His daughter, Anna, has just graduated from Bowdoin and spent the fall of 2009 in Namibia. Byers writes that he can be reached at tom.byers@louisville.edu and that “he did not make up any of this.” The latest book by Robert Friedel, A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium, is a wide-ranging survey of Western Technology since the Middle Ages that received glowing reviews in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Before coming to the University of Maryland, where he works as Professor of History of Technology and Science, he was a historian at the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Glen Howard has been named General Counsel at The Pew Charitable Trusts. He began work there in June 2010.
Equity and Justice Profile J o h n Ta n n e r ’ 6 7 John Tanner spent his career working for equity and justice — quite literally! He retired from the Justice Department on Independence Day 2009 after 34 years in the Department’s Civil Rights Division, and he now has a private voting rights law practice in Washington, D.C. He writes that he has been doing “extensive barbecue research” and also some writing and teaching, with stints at Alabama, Cumberland and Baylor Law.
CLASS OF 1968 “Life in Birmingham has been good for this 1968 ISS graduate,” writes Stuart Royal. “Barbara and I have a granddaughter, Nadia McDonald, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is cute as a button. The proud parents are Rachael and Matt McDonald. Our son, Jeremy, who is married to Dayna Royal, has a child, Jacob Royal, who is sweet and endearing to his Birmingham grandparents. I continue to work at Children’s Hospital in radiology and Barbara continues to run her women’s leadership program called Momentum. The best new news from me is that I have joined a poker group on Wednesday nights that includes two of my ISS buddies, Martin Damsky ’68 and Alan Matthews ’68. As I enter the third out of four of my anticipated life phases, it is wonderful to renew old friendships.” From Henry Davis McHenry Jr.: “In 2009, I completed nursing school, passed the license exam, and am as yet undiscovered by employers. So I’ve returned to my former life of substitute teaching in high school, leading my Shakespeare seminar with seniors, helping my wife dig holes in the garden, attending my son’s soccer games, and observing classes and play rehearsals at my daughter’s college (Kenyon). It is a fabulous life, apparently uninterruptible by work. I feel the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg upon me.”
CLASS OF 1970 Algert Agricola Jr. served as General Counsel for the Alabama gubernatorial campaign of Robert Bentley, and he now represents Gov. Bentley in litigation filed against him by the Alabama Education Association. He also serves as an Administrative Law Judge for the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board, the Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Board, and the Alabama Department of Public Safety, and serves as Committee Counsel to the Alabama House of Representatives’ Committee on Constitution, Campaigns and Elections for the Alabama Legislature’s 2011 Regular Session. He and his wife, Bash, will celebrate 34 years of marriage in October. Their middle daughter, Erin, and youngest daughter, Barbara, were recently sworn in as lawyers, and their oldest daughter, Lindsey, was married in March 2011. George Harper Jr. and his wife, Anne, have finished their work in Croatia and are returning to the Philippines, where they will teach and help administer the programs of the Asia Graduate School of Theology, a consortium of eight evangelical seminaries. He will be Program Director for Theological Studies and Director of Program Development and edit the Asia Theological Association’s journal, the Journal of Asian Evangelical Theology. “In SPR ING
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