Matt Henderson Ellis ’87
M
att Henderson Ellis ’87 returned to the Island on April 1 to share his recently published novel, Keeping Bedlam at Bay in the Prague Cafe, with Loomis Chaffee juniors and seniors and to talk with students about his journey to becoming an author. After graduating from Loomis, Matt attended Bennington College. “When I graduated [from college], I decided that I really needed to get out in the world and live life the way that I had wanted to. I went to Prague for roughly nine months, and while the time I spent there was brief, it was beyond transformative,” Matt told the students. “It was really interesting to not only experience a foreign culture but to see the fetish with American culture and see the American culture as viewed by foreigners.” Matt’s novel, which takes place in the 1990s in the Czech Republic, conveys the atmosphere of a city in transformation and portrays attempts to make postCommunist Prague safe for capitalism. Matt didn’t try to write a first draft of the novel until 10 years after he had left Prague and the publishing industry in New York City. “That time in Prague was encapsulated in my mind, and I knew I had to do something
1984
“Life is good!” reports Tess Jackson Albert. “Our daughter is a freshman at Wheaton College (Mass.) and loving it, and our son is a freshman in high school. I continue to teach little ones (2-and-a-half- to 3-yearolds). Charlie and I celebrated 21 years of marital bliss!” John Rosenberg writes: “After years of bouncing around North America, and some Latin America, I now live in Greenwich, Conn., with my wife, Whitney, and our children, Hadley and Lucas. I recently launched an investment fund focusing on the water sector and certain adjacencies in clean tech and agriculture. I fondly recall many memories from the Island and to this day cringe when I hear the word ‘awesome.’ Thank you, Dr. Ratté.”
1986
“I have been living in Atlanta, Ga., since 2006 working with United Technologies Corporation as senior counsel in the
with it,” he said. “I wanted to write, not work on other people’s writing.” After composing four vastly different handwritten drafts, Matt finished his book in 2003, and received his first rejection shortly thereafter. “I thought that the book I had written was original, and it was so disheartening when I received the rejection letter,” he said. “It’s extremely hard to write an entire novel and evolve an idea across that many pages — most of what you learn about your writing happens when you are writing. My best advice is to be persistent and don’t quit.” Matt initially self-published his novel and marketed it on Amazon before the publishing house New Europe Books picked up the novel. The reviews have been universally positive. Matt’s talk at Loomis was the first lecture of the year sponsored by the Joseph S. Stookins Lecture Fund, an endowed gift from Richard J. Mackler ’57 to support visits of noteworthy literary or arts speakers.
Legal Department,” writes Dwinette Johnson-Bailey. “My husband and I enjoy metro Atlanta, but miss our New England home.” Philip Rudnicki writes: “Enjoyed visiting our son Caleb (sophomore at Loomis Chaffee) several times on campus since he enrolled in the fall of 2011, and got a chance to see him start in goal for the boys JV hockey team last winter. He loves everything about LC. He’s a tour guide, and he got to meet Jill Traverso Vogel at the beginning of December when she was visiting with her daughter and family.”
1987
For his political service, Charles Barwell was appointed an officer of the order of the British empire in H.M. The Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. Honours recognize those who have made a significant impact in British society. In March, Charles and his wife, Juliet, visited Buckingham
Palace, where the Queen bestowed on him a medal at the investiture. The award capped a wonderful year for Charles, the highlight of which was the birth of his and Juliet’s first child, a son, James, in October 2012. Thomas A. Foster is the editor of a new book, Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources for a History of Sexuality in America, published by the University of Chicago Press. Included are 72 historical documents that trace the history of sexuality in America from the colonial period to the present. Tom is associate professor and chair of history at DePaul University. He is the author of Sex and the Eighteenth-Century Man: Massachusetts and the History of Sexuality in America (Beacon) and editor of Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality in Early America and New Men: Manliness in Early America (both New York University Press). Cathryn Prince Saldinger’s new book, Death in the Baltic:
’89
Shannon Leary Knall ’89, newly-appointed to the Simsbury (Conn.) Board of Selectmen
The World War II Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, was released in April by Palgrave Macmillan. (Note: Cathryn publishes under the name Cathryn Prince.)
1989
Marjorie Jaffe Goldner writes: “I have just started the most wonderful company and have to share the news. After a successful career in public relations and advertising, I have launched PregPrep, a new company dedicated to offering safe, natural products to promote fertility and healthy conception. Created by a team of four women (we are all family members!), our mission is to empower women to take control of their fertility. Our first product offering, the Make That Baby (MTB) Kit, is a two-month supply of three doctor-formulated products that optimize a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant. Check it out at www. pregprep.com.” Marjorie also offers this update: “I have lived in New York City since graduating from Boston University loomischaffee.org | 47