FROM THE ARCHIVES
The legacy of
kent evans ’73
M
any are familiar with the
story of how, in 1968, four Lakeside School students formed the Lakeside Programming Group (LPG). Fewer know the story behind the name of the Middle School’s Evans Theater and the large lecture hall in Allen-Gates, known simply as “Kent Evans.” Kent Evans was one of the founders of LPG with classmate Bill Gates ’73, who considered Kent his closest friend at the time; Paul Allen ’71; and Ric Weiland ’71. Kent’s accomplishments by age 16 were impressive. With the LPG, he wrote a program to run payroll for a Portland computer service company. The four also taught computer programming to Middle School students—developing curriculum, writing comments, and assigning grades. Beyond computers, his interests included politics and backpacking. At 16, he enrolled in a basic university-based
Courtesy Pearl’s Boy: A Memoir by Marvin Davis Evans, 2010
mountain-climbing course. Tragically, on
Kent Evans ’73 at the Teletype machine (a predecessor to the personal computer) at Lakeside School, circa 1968.
May 28, 1972, during the final climb, Kent fell to his death on Mt. Shuksan. Kent’s legacy lives on at Lakeside through Allen-Gates Hall, funded by Gates and Allen, and dedicated in Kent’s memory in 1987; the building’s lecture hall, named for Kent; Evans Theater, dedicated in his memory in 1999 by Gates; and the Kent H. Evans Memorial Scholarship, established in 1973 by the Evans family. To learn more about Kent Evans, visit the archives’ most recent virtual exhibit, Kent Hood Evans
Mary, Marvin, and Kent Evans with Bill Gates ’73 and Jim Munro aboard the Evans’ boat, 1970.
’73: Lakeside’s Ubiquitous Student at www.lakesideschool.org/archives (click on “Special Exhibit”). ■ Leslie A. Schuyler is archivist of the Jane Carlson Williams ’60 Archives at Lakeside School. You can reach her at 206-440-2895 or archives@ lakesideschool.org. Please contact her if you have questions or materials that you wish to donate, or visit the archives’ Web page.
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LAKESIDE
Spring/Summer 2012
Courtesy Pearl’s Boy: A Memoir by Marvin Davis Evans, 2010