Nobles Magazine Spring 2015

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

The Accidental Pioneer

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

PHOTOS OF THE DECADE 1975–1984

A Return to the Sea

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

PHOTOS OF THE DECADE 1985–1994

On the Front Lines

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

PHOTOS OF THE DECADE 1995–2004

A Rhodes? Nothing Special

contents SPRING 2015

Prior to coeducation, Nobles boys sat in rows of desks in what is now known as Gleason Hall.

IN EVERY ISSUE Letter from the Head

3 Reflections What Nobles folks are saying on campus and online

2

4

The Bulletin News and notes

12 Sports Another season of success 14 Development We are getting closer

PHOTOS OF THE DECADE

16

2005–2015

Off the Shelf All about the books we read and write

20 Perspectives Girdles can be liberating 58

FEATURES 22 Cover Story: The Fabulous 40 What happens when you just add girls?

56

Decades of Dedication These are the faces of forces who’ve shaped our school

Cover photographs by Kathleen Dooher and Adam Komich

Graduate News Nobles graduate updates: what, when, where, why and how Nobles grads are doing

82 Archive In the stacks: seniors get silly

Nobles

letter from the head

SPRING 2015

On Coeducation FOR ONE YEAR I ATTENDED THE “OLD” NOBLES, the one that was

on this campus from the time the school left Boston in 1922 until the fall of 1974. There were three remarkable headmasters in those 52 years: Wiggins, Putnam and, at the end for three years, Gleason. Then things changed. This change, coeducation, was as momentous as the move out of the center of the city to Dedham and the Castle. And yet, through this transition, the heart of the Nobles experience remained intact. It is still true today. When 50th reunion classes from the old Nobles come to visit every May, I believe that while those graduates may have some trouble finding their way around new buildings, and while the idioms of adolescence have shifted, they find the essential ethic of the school quite familiar.

In fall 1973 I arrived at Nobles as a new member of Class III, fresh from a large suburban coeducational public junior high school, landing on what felt like an alien planet. I remember nervously finding my desk in the old study hall (a space we now call Gleason Hall), wearing my coat and tie, thinking, “What have I done, tearing myself away from close friends and familiar patterns to come to this serious, austere and thoroughly male place.” To be honest, I never quite felt at peace with the single-sex Nobles, and I might not have come to the school at all had I not known coeducation was right around the corner. And yet, from the start I was engaged in the classroom at Nobles, motivated and inspired, developing important relationships with my teachers. Most notably in those first months, I bonded with my advisor and biology teacher, the delightful Mary Wells (later Mary Wells Sargent, after she married math teacher Manny Sargent), who was also new to the school, hired for the role of “coordinator of coeducation.” She was a huge support, and we would talk about what was to come in the following year.

Coeducation changed many of the rhythms and patterns of the school, but it enhanced its soul. Under Ted Gleason’s leadership, Nobles was deeply committed to coeducation, and very quickly (as compared to many institutions) the school moved to parity in numbers. The number of women on the faculty and in administrative roles climbed a bit more slowly, but even in that regard Nobles was a leader. Ceci Clark, for instance, became the first female athletic director in our league. Nobles became a healthier, better balanced, more ambitious and more spirited community.

Still, the essence of Nobles remained the same; the commitment to a life of service to others, the emphasis on relational pedagogy, and the expectation that students should fully engage in the classroom and well beyond are as true today as they were in the school I attended in 1973.

It is a joy and a privilege to celebrate 40 years of coeducation at Nobles, especially as we approach the sesquicentennial of the school. There are certainly still challenges with gender in our community. After all, we mirror to an extent our general culture. I believe, however, that we continue to lead in regard to gender equality and associated issues. This edition of the magazine will lend readers some insight into where we have been and where we are going. The ethos of Nobles has been unshakeable through this process, and it is with genuine pride that I point to the Nobles of today as a community dedicated to gender equity as the core of our commitment to diversity, with a focus on attitudes, practices, culture and opportunities, all with the intent of developing tomorrow’s leaders for the public good.

—ROBERT P. HENDERSON, JR. ’76, HEAD OF SCHOOL

Editor Heather Sullivan DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Assistant Editors Kim Neal

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Ben Heider

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCER/WRITER

Michele Costa-Bell

WRITER AND DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER

Want to read more community musings? Go to www.nobles.edu/blogs.

You can also follow us on Instagram at instagram.com/nobleandgreenough.

It was a night to remember because of the inspiring players, staff and families from the Cotting School, and the enormous outpouring of love and support from the Nobles community.

—DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS ALEX GALLAGHER ’90, AFTER THE ANNUAL GAME VERSUS THE COTTING SCHOOL

Design 2COMMUNIQUÉ WWW.2COMMUNIQUE.COM

Photography Tim Carey Kathleen Dooher Michael Dwyer Ben Heider Adam Komich Kim Neal Leah LaRiccia Nobles Archives Risley Sports Photography The Editorial Committee Brooke Asnis ’90 Greg Croak ’06 John Gifford ’86 Tilesy Harrington Bill Kehlenbeck Nobles is published three times a year for graduates, past and current parents and grandparents, students and supporters of Noble and Greenough School. Nobles is a coeducational, non-sectarian day and partial boarding school for students in grades seven (Class VI) through 12 (Class I). Noble and Greenough is a rigorous academic community that strives for excellence in its classroom teaching, intellectual growth in its students and commitment to the arts, athletics and service to others.

For further information and upto-the-minute graduate news, visit www.nobles.edu.

Letters and comments may be emailed to Heather_Sullivan@ nobles.edu. We also welcome old-fashioned mail sent c/o Noble and Greenough School, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026. The office may be reached at 781-320-7268. © Noble and Greenough School 2015

The Nobles community seemed a lot closer than my old school. Kids were more inclusive and less likely to judge you based on your interests....I’m given a lot more responsibility at Nobles; there’s no one hovering over me and telling me what to do and when to do it.

The school lets you guide yourself and make your own decisions.

— OLIVER CONSTABLE ’18, ABOUT HAVING TRANSFERRED FROM ANOTHER SCHOOL (ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NOBLEMAN ONLINE)

Like their children, parents, too, have been conditioned to be resilient and learn quickly from their mistakes. Each generation of Nobles parents, challenged and aided by cultural shifts, continue to move forward, and at their best welcome the opportunity to be guided by their own children.

Within today’s culturally and technologically complex world, present-day parents, like their own parents who ducked and covered, seek to sift through the latest flotsam and jetsam in hopes of finding a common ground with their children that will stand the test of time. To varying degrees, it has always been that way.

—PROVOST BILL BUSSEY, NOBLES PARENTS’ NEWSLETTER

Mind wandering—also known as day dreaming and zoning out—usually has a negative connotation associated with it….Mind wandering is when you are not fully engaged in a task and your thoughts are loosely connected. This is when they say we are in our most creative state, so mind wandering is a good thing. This new research is showing that time when you are not consciously engaged in thinking about a specific thing can actually be valuable toward what that specific goal might be.

—EXCERPTED FROM THE PODCAST “THE STUDIES SHOW: MIND WANDERING,” HOSTED BY GIA BATTY AND THE ACADEMIC SKILLS OFFICE

JANUARY 20, VIA INSTAGRAM

JANUARY 3

Nobles Girls basketball playing against the Rivers School at the TD Garden

The Nobles Outing Club summited Mount Chocorua via the Piper Trail

For some, the cold months signal a time to head indoors and hibernate for a while. For others, winter presents an incredible opportunity to get outside and experience the beauty and wonder of nature.

—MATHEMATICS FACULTY MEMBER ERIC NGUYEN, NOBLES OUTING CLUB BLOG

2 Nobles SPRING 2015

SPRING 2015 Nobles 3

the bulletin NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUS & COMMUNITY

Getting the Boot

Curtis Mann makes meticulous incisions on reverse of a print.

Viewing Verso

Congratulations to Caroline Kinghorn ’19, whose ceramic work “Bean Boot” was selected from among 1,409 entries for exhibition in March at the Annual National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition in Providence, R.I. “One of the hardest (and most exciting) parts of the assignment is that students are asked to make mud look and behave like other materials that function very differently,” says visual arts faculty member Lisa Jacobson.

“I chose to create a clay model of the L.L. Bean boot because I thought it would only make sense to construct a shoe I wear almost every day,” says Kinghorn. “I also wanted to choose a shoe made of leather. I wondered if I could replicate the texture using clay.”

Jacobson says that Kinghorn was extremely patient and methodical while working on her project. She explains how Kinghorn “tried to show the gummy bumpiness of the sole and the different kinds of smooth textures in the leather and rubber on top of the foot. Incidentally, in order to make the exact texture of the sole, which looks like a chain, Caroline made a clay stamp of the design from her real shoe and then used her stamp to imprint into the sculpture.”

Marking its 18th anniversary, the exhibition is a juried ceramic competition that “showcases the best K-12 ceramic work in the country.” The jurors are selected from the top rank of American ceramic artists, according to the National K–12 Foundation.

IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, the Luce Gallery in Turin, Italy, featured the latest pieces by visual artist and Nobles visual arts faculty member Curtis Mann. Gallery manager Nikola Cernetic discovered Mann’s talent and fresh perspective during the 2010 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Mann, who earned an MFA from

Columbia College in Chicago, has had solo exhibitions throughout Europe, Asia and the United States.

“Nikola is passionate about and supportive of the work of contemporary, emerging artists, especially those who are experimenting with mediums and exploring abstraction and materiality,” says Mann of the collaboration.

The exhibit, Verso, which means the reverse, back or other side of some object, references the approach Mann took in reversing large photographic prints of the gallery and surrounding areas so the printed image faced the wall. He then meticulously cut hundreds of tabs in the paper with a scalpel and folded them back to reveal the images in a way that could be described as a modern departure from pointillism.

The image itself is deconstructed into hundreds of points of color, and the most holistic view only appears from the side toward which the tabs open. The

assembly highlights

promote the upcom-

Cold-Blooded

Mass Audubon at the

Gathering the Goods

as part of their event

December Jazz/Blues/

version of “Knock

and includes a rhythm

Waffles for Sunshine

sale to benefit this

ing dance concert.

Nobles’ Environmental

Broadmoor Sanctuary

Students brought

singing at Immanuel

Drum Concert, the

on Wood,” fronted by

section of electric

Camp Sunshine

organization for chil-

Church in Boston.

Nobles Blues Band

Chris Desanges ’16.

and bass guitars,

volunteers, led by

dren with cancer and

performed a loyal

The band performs

keyboards, drums and

faculty member

their families.

A modern departure from pointillism

overall impression of each piece shifts with the movement and perspective of the viewer.

“I cut and altered photographs to experiment with how one perceives images and deals conceptually with their physicality. The idea was to push and push and push, until the image became something more interesting and created a larger dialogue,” Mann explains.

This was Mann’s third solo exhibition at Luce Gallery; next he hopes to create sculptural work that speaks to ideas in photography.

—KIM NEAL

—MICHELE COSTA-BELL

Solid Gold

and a group of faculty

The troupe rehearsed

Action Committee

to bring her reptil-

in canned goods for

Clad in gold lamé

and staff unleashed

in secret to per-

(EAC) welcomed con-

ian friends for some

Nobles’ gospel group

vests, Jillian Grunnah,

their Dancing With

fect the surprise.

servation biologist Joy

close-up encounters

Imani to donate to the

Knock on Wood

rendition of Eddie

American blues music

percussion, a full horn

Lindsey Tonge, an-

director of dance,

the Stars moves to

Marzolf ’86 from the

with students.

Waltham Food Pantry

In anticipation of the

Floyd’s original 1966

from the past 60 years

section and vocalists.

nounced their waffle

4 Nobles SPRING 2015

SPRING 2015 Nobles 5

the bulletin

Fiona Splaine ’15 examines a prosthetic foot.

Engineering for Humanity ON JANUARY 23, Robotics and Electron-

ics Design students were treated to an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the M.I.T. Media Lab, thanks to Nobles parents Larry and Dawn Weber (Geoff ’15, Hannah ’09, Julia ’11 ), who have a

longstanding relationship with the lab’s co-founder and former director, Nicholas Negroponte. Larry befriended Negroponte while helping engineers there market their products. Now, Larry says, current director Joi Ito and the robotics team are

developing solutions to pressing world issues like education, water conservation and hunger. “This is not just engineering for engineering’s sake,” he says. “It’s engineering for the betterment of humanity.”

The focus of the visit was the Robotics and Prosthetics Lab. Recently, the lab’s team of engineers helped Boston Marathon bombing victim and ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis realize her dream of dancing again. “They incorporated neurological signals from the brain connected with the prosthetic limb to create legs that worked [via her] brain’s commands. They are still perfecting the project, but it is pretty amazing to see this woman moving her legs just as she had dreamed,” says Dawn.

Robotics and Electronics Design teacher Dominic Manzo, who has been fascinated by Legos and erector sets since he was a boy, started offering Robotics seven years ago and Electronics Design & Engineering just this semester. He says the trip to the MIT Media Lab introduces students to the idea of what it would actually be like to pursue an internship or career in science, computer science or engineering, and to have limitless opportunities to invent solutions.

“The students thought visiting the lab was eye-opening and said they could imagine working there. My goal is to create a pipeline for them to explore engineering in college and possibly inspire them to go into the field. It’s especially rewarding to encourage more underrepresented groups, like female students and students of color, to increase their numbers in the field,” says Manzo.

ISRAELI AUTHOR SEEKS HONEST CONVERSATION Ari Shavit, acclaimed Israeli columnist and author of My Promised Land, spoke at a long assembly on February 6.

Shavit acknowledged the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “Too many treat us [Israelis] as though we are either angels or demons,” he said.

“We are humans. We are humans with a rather remarkable, unique story.”

Shavit shared his family’s narrative— the decision of his great-grandfather, though successful, to flee the anti-

Semitism of late 19th-century London.

“They realized that there was no future for us in Europe,” Shavit said. Israel represented a safe haven for Jews, whose population was decimated by a third between 1941 and 1945.

“We are an endangered nation and an endangered species,” he said. “While we live on the edge, we live with

intensity.…Israel is a celebration of life.”

Of the ongoing conflict with Palestine, Shavit said that Israel has done much wrong—he opposes Palestinian settlements, for instance—but said that his people want peace. “I want Palestinians to have a free state.”

He said that the Middle East as a region is in trouble.

“The tragedy of the region I come from is that it fails to give hope [to young Arabs].”

Healing Ferguson Librarian Talya Sokoll had been following the story developments in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting of Michael Brown. She also checked in with the Ferguson Public Library.

With schools closed and families stressed, the library had become an ad hoc community center, offering free Wi-Fi and lunches provided by Parents for Peace.

As the library began to gain attention for its community support, the staff there added “how to help” information to its website, attracting more than $500,000 in donations as well as about 2,000 books.

Knowing she had two weeks free for the winter holiday, Sokoll emailed the Ferguson librarian, Scott Bonner, with an offer to help catalogue and process the incoming books.

“I wasn’t there for political reasons,” Sokoll says.“I knew that they needed help and that I have a particular skill set that could help them. My faith as a Jewish person commands me to engage in Tikkun Olam, or helping to heal the world, and I felt a responsibility to use my skills to help their library.”

She acknowledged that she witnessed complicated race relations in Ferguson. “It had definitely calmed down a bit, but it was still the first thing on people’s minds and something that was present everywhere I went.”

Sokoll’s work in Ferguson was supported by a faculty grant from Nobles. Her work there was also featured on the Rachel Maddow Show on December 23, 2014.

Mittens, Snowflakes

individuals were

spend it on them-

annual Mitten/Snow-

toys to snow pants.

Families in Arlington,

and Brooke Strod-

lowing the grand jury

was not to condemn

like this country, just

presented a moving

Alzheimer’s. Her

and Stars

asked to spend a sum

selves. She encouraged

flake/Star Project. In

Approximately 300

and Self Help Inc. on

der, both ’15, received

ruling in Ferguson,

police, or even the rul-

leave,’” she said. “I say,

NED Talk describ-

message was to make

Community Service

of money on others,

the Nobles community

December 2014, Nobles

gifts were delivered to

the South Shore.

a standing ovation

Mo. De Los Santos

ing, but to make a pas-

change this country.”

ing the relationship

time to spend with

Director Sandi Mac-

they expressed greater

to experience that joy

fulfilled the wishes of

the Walker School in

after sharing why they

explained that her de-

sionate plea for basic

she had with her

those we love while

Quinn shared research

satisfaction than those

by sponsoring a gift for

more than 250 chil-

Needham, the Depart-

Call for Change

marched in recent

cision to participate in

human rights. “Some

Make the Time

late grandfather,

we can. NED Talks are

indicating that when

who were asked to

a child in need for the

dren, from Star Wars

ment of Children and

Genesis De Los Santos

Boston protests fol-

the nonviolent protest

people say, ‘If you don’t

Neha Bhambhani ’15

who succumbed to

Nobles’ own version of

6 Nobles SPRING 2015

SPRING 2015 Nobles 7

the bulletin Achieve Wins Grants

One Voice At an assembly before spring break, community service director Sandi MacQuinn promised that the all-school, day-long community service effort—Common Fire, on April 14—would not be extinguished by the snowiest winter on record. In true Nobles fashion, the school would, she said, come together to serve the community at 65 sites from Dedham to Boston and beyond—even the gardening projects would happen in some fashion, she said. To underscore

her conviction, she asked a collection of faculty members, led by Bill Kehlenbeck (pictured), to cover Wailin, Jennys’ “One Voice.”

As MacQuinn predicted, Nobles rallied: Nearly 1,000 students, faculty, parents and grads practiced leadership for the public good at Habitat for Humanity, the Natick Community Organic Farm, Walker School, Shattuck Hospital, Rosie’s Place, Riverdale Elementary and many other locations.

INNOVATION STATION

Achieve is a Nobles-based, tuition-free educational program that gives academic support and social enrichment to 75 lowincome middle-school-age children through an intense six-week summer program and year-round academic tutoring and support.

The program, established in 2008 and under the direction of Nora DowleyLiebowitz, will expand and reinforce its support of students, in part thanks to two new grants awarded to the program.

A $10,000 grant from the Filene Foundation will support Achieve’s developing graduate services programming, which will assist students in the transition to high school and offer guidance and counseling in high school as students consider next steps.

The second grant, from the EE Ford Foundation, will share $50,000 to support teacher recruitment and training, contingent on Achieve independently raising $250,000 for endowment by December 2015. “This validation and recognition from foundations that care deeply about youth education—and that also have incredibly high standards—is a powerful milestone for Achieve,” Dowley-Liebowitz says.

“We now have the tools to sustain students’ progress and help them continue to be successful beyond the parameters of the work they do with us. The effects on individual students have the potential to be profound—to be life-changing.”

In fall 2014, Nobles welcomed its first entrepreneurial speakers for its new Innovation Series. They included Laura D’Asaro and Rose Wang, founders of Six Foods, a company that makes sustainable snacks from insects; Isaiah Kacyvenski, former NFL player and director of MC-10, a wearable electronics company; and Adam Melonas, co-founder and chef for Unreal Candy, an all-natural candy company. Jodi Goldstein, director of the Harvard Innovation Lab (and a Nobles parent) moderated the event. The series is the result of her collaboration with Nobles Chief Financial Officer Steve Ginsberg and faculty member Scott Wilson.

Ginsberg and Wilson attended a conference in summer 2014 about teaching entrepreneurship at independent schools. At the same time, they connected with Goldstein. “She has been a great resource as we think about the program at Nobles, and we look forward to using the Innovation Series as a springboard for future programming and possible coursework,” says Ginsberg. “Like coaching, the ‘teacher’ and students have to become comfortable with not knowing the exact direction in which the learning will go. Skills like writing, public speaking, working with a team, being resilient and knowing how to iterate when things change are directly linked with this type of learning.”

Goldstein shared with students the mission of Harvard’s i-Lab—which is to foster entrepreneurship. “I’m excited to get your creative juices flowing, even starting in the middle school, so you can start innovating in your own labs. I’m eager to bring more programs and opportunities to work alongside inventors at the i-Lab.” “After spending 20 years in the finance and venture capital industry, I’ve come to appreciate the opportunities and risks of innovation and entrepreneurship,” adds Wilson. “Part of my motivation for the program is to expose our students to those opportunities and risks. Unfortunately, most high schoolers see themselves on a linear path with the end reward being graduation and college acceptance. I hope one of the many by-products of this program is that our students open themselves up to the unknown and explore career paths that are totally unknown to them.”

Of the series speakers, he says, “Each is pursuing a business or opportunity that they never knew existed when they were in high school. It’s apparent that it’s OK, and may even be preferable, to take the risk and pursue the opportunities inherent in small entrepreneurial ventures—that success in an entrepreneurial environment takes the academic intelligence that Nobles fosters in our students as a given, and that what is more important than their GPA is their ability to think, problem solve, react to events, and be efficient and collaborative workers.”

—HEATHER SULLIVAN

—KIM NEAL

the popular TED Talks

Tribute to MLK

ering a historic slide-

of the struggle for free-

They Heart Everyone

all assembly-goers

Space” video, star-

Harthun and Sofia

Love Blooms

community purchase

Striding into the

injury sidelined her

series, which focus on

The Multicultural

show with a string

dom and justice that

The Student Life

with chocolates and

ring SLC presidents

Kinney, brought the

Campuses Against

roses to show their

Spotlight

for soccer season but

technology, entertain-

Student Association

ensemble arrange-

King championed, and

Council (SLC) and

handwritten valen-

Joelle Sherman and

house down.

Cancer promoted its

appreciation for one

As part of the NED

led to one of the most

ment and design.

presented a power-

ment, a performance

related news clips.

Calliope had everyone

tines at their seats.

Dana Grey, both ’15,

annual Valentine’s

another, with the

Talk series, Anna

nerve-racking and

ful tribute to Martin

by Imani, a modern

feeling the love

A hilarious parody of

created and produced

Day rose sale, where

proceeds supporting

Haigh ’16 shared the

rewarding experiences

Luther King Jr. by lay-

dance interpretation

when they surprised

Taylor Swift’s “Blank

by classmates Jessie

members of the

cancer research.

story of how an ACL

of her life, when she

8 Nobles SPRING 2015

SPRING 2015 Nobles 9

the bulletin

Until Proven Innocent

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Studies estimate that 2.3 percent to 5 percent of all those incarcerated in the two speakers from the New England United States are wrongfully convicted.

Innocence Project (NEIP), a national Leading causes are eyewitness misidentilitigation and public policy organization fication, false confessions, government or dedicated to exonerating wrongfully law enforcement misconduct, improper convicted individuals through DNA testforensic science and inadequate defense. ing and reforming the criminal justice At 23, Maher was a U.S. Army sergeant system to prevent future injustice. looking forward to decades of service to Denise McWilliams, executive direchis country and a fulfilling family life. tor of the NEIP, has built her 35-year His plans were derailed on November 17, career on social justice and providing 1983, when Lowell police apprehended legal representation to disenfranchised him because his clothing matched that communities. Dennis Maher spoke described by two rape victims. Maher was about his experience as an innocent initially put on probation when not idenman who served more than 19 years in tified in a lineup, but police maintain that prison before he was exonerated by the victims identified him independently.

DNA evidence. His is one of only 325 In the nearby town of cases of its kind to date.

Ayer, an unsolved rape case was also pinned Maher choked on Maher, when that up when he victim identified Maher recalled the from a photo. Assigned moment on a trial lawyer who was April Fool’s later disbarred because Day 2003, when of his incompetence in Kaplan asked Maher’s case, Maher him, “When was found guilty. do you want to The prosecutor in go home?” the case, J.W. Carney (known for his work for client Whitey Bulger), felt unsettled about the representation Maher had received. He urged the Middlesex County public defender’s Dennis Maher office to appeal the case, but even then,

ON FEBRUARY 25, Nobles welcomed

Maher’s new lawyer was unsuccessful in overturning the three convictions.

While in prison, Maher caught an episode of Phil Donahue’s talk show featuring Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, talking about using DNA evidence to exonerate innocent prisoners. Maher wrote to the Innocence Project and felt new hope, but when interns requested evidence from Middlesex County, they were told it was lost.

Aliza Kaplan, from Boston law firm Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault, was assigned to work on the NEIP, which was just starting at her firm. Months of filing motions and chasing leads led nowhere.

It was only when intern Karin Burns befriended a courthouse clerk that the “lost” evidence in Maher’s case was uncovered in the courthouse basement.

It contained the DNA evidence that finally exempted Maher from both cases.

Maher choked up when he recalled the moment on April Fool’s Day 2003, when Kaplan asked him, “When do you want to go home?” He has gracefully turned to his future, actively choosing not to be consumed by bitterness and “what ifs.” He lives with his wife, Melissa, and children Joshua (10) and Aliza (9), who is named for the attorney he says, “I can never repay.”

—KIM NEAL

Learn more: www.innocenceproject.org

just something I had

edged that the barrage

and grounds crew,

boarding school where

he said, because

the mainstage play—

to do for myself.”

of snow and tundra-

led by Mike McHugh.

he worked made do

it brought people

like weather this

Still, he likened it to

for four days without

together; he sees the

athlete but first-time

Blizzard Bonds

winter was trying, es-

the time when, during

power. It ended up be-

same closeness at

thespian, she said of

Head of School Bob

pecially the demands

the San Francisco

ing the best thing that

Nobles.

the audition, “It was

Henderson acknowl-

on the heroic building

earthquake of 1989, a

could have happened,

10 Nobles SPRING 2015

spell that enamors her of a bumbling mortal named Nick Bottom (Tim Barry ’16), who has sprouted donkey ears thanks to Puck’s wicked humor.

This production of Midsummer will be remembered for its dramatic sequences, but also for its ethereal musical arrangements (Alasdair Mackenzie ’15) and performances, childlike acrobatics of the fairy flock, slapstick interludes by the Mechanicals (farcical acting troupe to entertain Duke Theseus, Bianca Thompson ’15)—and the gasp-inducing, knock-down, drag-out girl fight between Helena and Hermia.

Fortunately, omniscient King Oberon sees the havoc Puck has wrought and bids him to set it right. In classic Shakespearean fashion, couples are joyously reunited and married, and all’s well that ends well.

—KIM NEAL

tried out for a role in and got it. An avid

Vinik Theatre became a fairy forest and actors morphed into sprites and Athenians for the original romantic comedy, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by faculty member Todd Morton. Although this is the sixth production of the play in Nobles history, students infused it with new energy through the inventive use of light, brilliant music and spirited choreography.

Star-crossed lovers Lysander (Maxwell Halperin ’16) and Hermia (Isabelle Walkey ’17) elope to evade her arranged marriage to Demetrius (Andrew Gord ’16). Hermia’s best friend, Helena (Grace Scott-Hiser ’17), obsessed with Demetrius, alerts him to the plan, and they follow. During a night of pursuit and misplaced ardor in the woods, fairy mischief orchestrated by Oberon, King of the Fairies (Bill Mizgerd ’15) and Puck (Monica Alves ’16) precipitates a series of comic misunderstandings. Even Titania, Queen of the Fairies (Liz Furlong ’15) is bewitched by a

ART CREDIT

SPRING 2015 Nobles 11

sports

On the Playing Fields ALPINE SKIING

BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL

Girls Overall Record: 24-0 (ISL

Overall Record: 13-11 ISL Record: 8-7 All-League: James Mortimer and Alijah

Champions, 5th consecutive year); NEPSAC Class A Championship 7th Place Boys Overall Record: 26-14 (4th in ISL); NEPSAC Class A Championship 4th Place All-League: Nicola Katz ’16, Caley Dickinson ’15, Lauren Barta ’15 and Izzy Kocher ’18 Honorable Mention: Caroline Patterson ’18, Sophia Kocher ’17 and Colby Conley ’17 All-Scholastic ISL: Nicola Katz ’16 All-New England: Nicola Katz ’16, Caley Dickinson ’15 and Colby Conley ’17 Awards: James H. Bride Ski Bowl (for enthusiasm, spirit and sportsmanship): Caley Dickinson and Jordan Sandford, both ’15. Coaches’ Award (for selfless attitude and consistent effort): Lexi Vocatura ’15, Nicola Katz ’16, Colby Conley ’17 and Sonia Lingos-Utley ’17 2015 Captains: Maya Abouhamad, Aiden Crawford and Nicola Katz, all ’16

Rue, both ’17

Honorable Mention: Justin Lynch ’15 Awards: Clarke Bowl (for contribution to

team spirit): Teddy Strzetelski ’15.

1983-’84 Basketball Award (for the player who best exemplifies the spirit, dedication, determination, attitude and improvement of the 1983-’84 team): Walker Jester ’15 2015 Captains: TBA GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL Overall Record: 24-3 ISL Record: 12-0 (ISL Champions, 12th

consecutive year); NEPSAC Class A Champions (4th consecutive year) All-League: Katie Benzan ’16, Amy Duggan ’16, Maya Finklea ’17 and Alexandra Maund ’15 Honorable Mention: Julia Ford ’16 All-Scholastic ISL: Katie Benzan ’16 All-New England: Katie Benzan ’16,

Alexandra Maund ’15 and Amy Duggan ’16 League MVP: Katie Benzan ’16 NEPSAC MVP: Katie Benzan ’16 Awards: Seadale Bowl (given by the Seadale family for overall contribution to the basketball program): Alexandra Maund ’15. Richard Nickerson Award (in honor of the long-time coach, awarded to a non-senior for courage and determination): Katie Benzan ’16 2015 Captains: Katie Benzan, Amy Duggan and Annie Blackburn, all ’16 BOYS VARSITY HOCKEY Overall Record: 25-5-1 ISL Record: 13-1-0 (ISL Champions,

2nd consecutive year); NEPSAC Elite 8 quarterfinalists All-League: Brendan Cytulik ’16, Billy Sweezey ’15, Cody Todesco ’15, Mike Fahie ’16 and Luke Stevens ’16 Honorable Mention: Billy Carrabino ’15, Alex Hreib ’15, Pat Murray ’15, Cam Burke ’17 and Danny Jacobs ’16 League MVP: Cody Todesco ’15 Awards: Todd Flaman Award (for the JV player who demonstrates spirit,

Season Highlights ■■ ■■

■■

■■ ■■

For a third consecutive season, all of the Girls Varsity programs swept ISL Championships.

BV Hockey won their second straight ISL Keller division title, and they earned the No. 3 seed in the NEPSAC Division I Championships.

GV Squash won their third straight ISL title. They also finished second in the New England finals and seventh at Division 1 Nationals.

BV Squash won the Division 2 National Championship.

GV Hockey earned their 16th consecutive ISL Title.

12 Nobles SPRING 2015

■■ ■■ ■■

Martin Williams ‘16 earned a Graves-Kelsey Wrestling Championship.

GV Basketball won their 12th straight ISL Title and their fourth straight New England Class A Championship.

Girls Alpine Skiing earned their 10th ISL title in the last 11 years.

Finally, we had a wonderful girls basketball event with our friends from the Cotting School, in front of a huge home crowd, and winter teams collected hundreds of bags of toiletries for the Common Fire event.

Caitrin Lonergan ‘16

Emma Roberts ‘15

GIRLS VARSITY HOCKEY Overall Record: 24-3-2 ISL Record: 12-0-0 (ISL Champions,

16th consecutive year); NEPSAC Elite 8 quarterfinalists All-League: Caitrin Lonergan ’16, Bridget McCarthy ’16, Lucinda Quigley ’16 and Becca Gilmore ’17 Honorable Mention: Charlotte Abrecht and Tess Dupre, both ’16 All-Scholastic ISL: Caitrin Lonergan ’16 League MVP: Caitrin Lonergan ’16 All-New England: Caitrin Lonergan ’16 and Becca Gilmore ’17 NEPSAC Division I First Team: Caitrin Lonergan ’16 and Becca Gilmore ’17 Awards: Anne Dudley Newell Hockey Cup (for dedication and excellence): Shanna Hickman and Molly Slowe, both ’15 2015 Captains: TBA BOYS VARSITY SQUASH

■■

Martin Williams ‘16

enthusiasm and love of hockey as exemplified by Todd Flaman ’97): John Picken ’17. 1974 Award (for improvement in hockey): Brendan Cytulik ’16. Sziklas Hockey Trophy (for contribution to the team): Sam Parizeau ’15 2015 Captains: TBA

Overall Record: 8-3 ISL Record: 6-3 Nationals: Division 2 National

Champions

All-League: Patrick McElroy ’18

and Reg Anderson ’17 Honorable Mention: Will Shadek ’15 Awards: Cutler Cup (awarded to the member of the team who has shown the greatest devotion to the sport): Will Shadek ’15

2015 Captains: Reg Anderson ’17

and Ross Liftman ’16

GIRLS VARSITY SQUASH Overall Record: 12-2 ISL Record: 8-0 (ISL Champions,

3rd consecutive year); NEPSAC Class A 2nd place All-League: Gracie Doyle ’17 and Emma Roberts ’15 Honorable Mention: Emily Woodworth ’16 and Alexis Lazor ’17 Awards: Cutler Cup (awarded to the member of the team who has shown the greatest devotion to the sport): Emma Roberts ’15 2015 Captains: Emily Woodworth ’16 and Grace Doyle ’17 VARSITY WRESTLING Overall Record: 10-4 ISL Record: 8-4, 5th Place Team in

dual meet standings; 7th Place Team

at Graves-Kelsey Tournament All-League: David Yeh ’18 (Graves-Kelsey 2nd place at 113 lbs) and Martin Williams ’16 (Graves-Kelsey Champion at 285 lbs) Honorable Mention: Andrew Conway ’15, Hayden Folgert ’16 (Graves-Kelsey 3rd place at 182 lbs) and Michael Hazard ’15 (Graves-Kelsey 4th place at 195 lbs) Additional Graves-Kelsey Place Finishers: Clay Mizgerd ’17 (5th place

at 106 lbs), Christian Yeh ’16 (5th place at 126 lbs) and Dakota Fenn ’15 (6th place at 220 lbs) All-New England: David Yeh ’18 (7th) and Martin Williams ’16 (4th) Awards: Warren E. Storer Award (for hard work and improvement): Christian Yeh ’16. Wilbur F. Storer Award (for the most outstanding wrestler): Martin Williams ’16 2015 Captains: Hayden Folgert and Martin Williams, both ’16 Correction from the fall: Kate Carlton ’16 was awarded Volleyball All-League Honorable Mention

SPRING 2015 Nobles 13

development

The Be Nobles Bold Campaign Exceeds $80M! Thanks to the generous support of the Nobles community, the Be Nobles Bold Campaign has exceeded $80 million, which includes more than $30 million raised for our endowment. The growth of our endowment is already making an impact, but there is more work to be done.

We remain committed to further strengthening the endowment to ensure Nobles’ financial security and, in turn, secure our bold mission of inspiring leadership for the public good. We look forward to continuing to partner with you on this campaign for Nobles.

REVENUES

WHERE WE ARE DAY CAMP

7%

OTHER 4% ANNUAL NOBLES FUND

11%

ENDOWMENT 13% TUITION 65%

Jen Lane ’88 was a dominant tennis

WHERE WE’RE GOING DAY CAMP

7%

OTHER 3% ANNUAL NOBLES FUND

8%

ENDOWMENT 20% TUITION 62%

HALL OF FAME CLASS WELCOMED This year’s Hall of Fame Class features four individuals who each made a lasting impact on the Nobles Athletics program. These excerpts provide a preview of the induction ceremony, to be held on Reunion Day, May 9, in Richardson Gymnasium.

Sarah Parsons ’05 enters the Hall of Fame this year in her first year of eligibility. A three-sport athlete, Parsons graduated with 13 varsity letters (four in soccer, five in ice hockey and four in lacrosse). She is the school’s all-time leading scorer, male

14 Nobles SPRING 2015

captained all three teams and won the Nobles Shield. In football, he played four years as an offensive and defensive tackle and was All-ISL during his junior and senior seasons. Coach Steve Toubman remembers: “He was the most coachable athlete I’ve ever worked with. His ability to make adjustments out on the mat was remarkable.” Voldins went undefeated in every match through his junior and senior years. He would go on to row for Harvard for four years, winning a National Championship and competing at the Henley Regatta before moving on to compete with the U.S. National Team.

or female, in both soccer and hockey. At 18, Parsons was the youngest player on the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, earning a bronze Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She scored four goals and three assists in five games, which

was the eighth highest point total in the tournament. Parsons also played hockey at Dartmouth, where she received the college’s highest athletic honor, the Kenneth Archibald Prize, for being the “best all-around athlete, of great academic prowess and of high moral character.”

Didzis Voldins ’90 was a stellar three-

sport athlete at Nobles in football, wrestling and crew. In his senior year, Voldins

player at Nobles in the late 1980s. In her three years on the varsity team, she was largely uncontested on an individual level while leading the team to several ISL titles. She was ranked No. 1 in the under-18 New England division during her time at Nobles. Lane continued her success at Boston College, where she was inducted into the Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame. At the time of her induction to the BC Hall of Fame, Lane was the Big East record holder for most career No. 1 flight titles.

From 1930–1971, Eliot Putnam served Nobles in many different roles. While he is remembered most for his nearly three decades as headmaster, he also served as the head coach of the football team for 24 years. He coached undefeated teams in 1939, 1940 and 1951.

The 1951 team was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. Putnam was an advocate for the concept of the scholarathlete. Head of School Bob Henderson remarked: “Mr. Putnam used football as a platform for turning boys into men.” Putnam was a graduate of Milton Academy and Harvard College, where he quarterbacked the football team.

— GREG CROAK ’06

Happy Almost Birthday, Nobles Nobles will celebrate its 150th birthday in 2016. Here are a few of the exciting plans to commemorate the sesquicentennial: ■■ Joyce Eldridge, senior writer, is working on a book, In Their Voices, that will highlight the past 50 years and will be published in a slipcover alongside a new release of Richard T. Flood’s The Story of Noble and Greenough School, 1866-1966.

■■ Music Program Director Michael Turner is collaborating with Sam Forman ’95 on a new school song. The song will debut in fall 2015.

■■ Former Headmaster Eliot Putnam’s grandson, Jesse Putnam, has written two stage plays about the Putnams’ children, Betsy and Arthur, who both passed away at a young age during a particularly tragic year in Nobles history. Dan Halperin, performing arts department chair, will direct the plays, which will be presented here on campus December 19, 2015, at 2 p.m.

■■ In May 2016, the Class of 2016 will graduate as the 150th class of Noble and Greenough School. Earlier in the month, Reunion Weekend will feature a full slate of sesquicentennial events specifically for Nobles graduates.

■■ In September 2016, we will mark the anniversary of the opening of the school on Founder’s Day. Students will participate in a day commemorating the school’s past and looking toward the future.

■■ In November 2016, we will conclude the sesquicentennial with a memorable Nobles Night.

We are honored to be serving as the co-chairs of the sesquicentennial, and we look forward to celebrating this special milestone in the history of the school with all of you in the Nobles community.

—BILL KEHLENBECK AND BROOKE ASNIS ’90

Eliot Putnam carrying the ball for Harvard against Michigan in “The Big House” (Michigan’s legendary home field)

SPRING 2015 Nobles 15

off the shelf

Seeing One’s Truth Reflected Young adult fiction helps teens see themselves—appreciate “the other.”

GIVEN MY PROFESSION, it will not surprise

you that when I was younger, I spent a lot of time in the public library. I was a voracious reader who, much like a teenage version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, tore through my local library’s tiny young adult (YA) literature section. In the 1990s, this section wasn’t much more than a few spinning racks of Sweet Valley High, Judy Blume and R.L. Stine novels. I quickly moved on from those paperbacks to “real adult literature,” which meant Jodi Picoult and V.C. Andrews, because in the ’90s, there wasn’t much else for teens to read—certainly nothing like what we see today, where the YA sections of public libraries are vibrant spaces filled with new and exciting literature.

The popularity of YA literature is nothing new. Even before the rise of Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games, teenagers all over the world turned to YA literature—literature written for an audience of 12- to 18-year-olds, usually narrated by a teen—to reflect and validate their own experiences, as well as to discover new worlds and stories.

The term “young adult literature” was introduced in the 1960s and “referred to realistic fiction that was set in the real (as opposed to imagined) contemporary world and addressed problems, issues and life circumstances of interest to young readers aged approximately 12–18.” While YA literature dates back to the 1940s, as a genre it didn’t really pick up until 1967, with the publication of The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. YA literature’s first heyday was in the 1970s and included mostly realistic fiction by authors such as Judy Blume, Paul Zindel, Robert Cormier and Paula Danziger. These novels were

16 Nobles SPRING 2015

popular in part because they dealt with issues that teens were facing, like drug abuse, divorce, sexuality, teen pregnancy and friendship. However, most of the books leaned heavily on a moral message and were didactic and preachy.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the popularity of YA lit waned, but that changed in the late 1990s, with the publication of a series about a certain boy wizard. The success of Harry Potter led to another heyday of young adult literature. According to a Pew survey, 16- to 29-year-olds check out more books from public libraries than any other group, and the megasuccess of such series as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight and Divergent, as well as stand-alone novels like The Fault in Our Stars, has led to YA literature being one of the only genres of the book industry that is consistently profitable. Between 2011 and 2012, revenue for YA literature increased by almost 41 percent, while revenue for adult literature increased by only 8.3 percent.

While the popularity that YA enjoyed in the 1970s is back in abundance, this time the game has changed. Although YA is still written for teenagers, books published under the YA umbrella are now meant to appeal to tweens as young as 10 and adults as old as 25, not to mention the fact that millions of adults over 18, including me, consume the genre and purchase more than half of the YA books that are sold.

Partially a result of its ever-increasing popularity, YA today is much more than just the realistic, controversial “problem” novels of the 1960s and ’70s. YA provides accurate representations of teenage life and is available in a wide variety of

genres, including fantasy and science fiction, where teens face insurmountable odds to achieve happiness, success and safety. The thing that all these stories have in common, according to David Levithan, the author of our community read Every Day, is that “teens want [to read] things that...they connect with.”

According to the American Library Association, young adult literature serves two important purposes for young people: [First], to see oneself in the pages of a young adult book is to receive the reassurance that one is not alone after all, not other, not alien, but instead, a viable part of a larger community of beings who share a common humanity.

Another value of young adult literature is its capacity for fostering understanding, empathy and compassion by offering vividly realized portraits of the lives— exterior and interior—of individuals who are unlike the reader. In this way, young adult literature invites its readership to embrace the humanity it shares with those who—if not for the encounter in reading—might forever remain strangers.

This idea of YA lit as a window and a mirror is what drives me as a librarian.

To be able to see one’s truth reflected in that of popular fiction is invaluable to the positive developmental growth of teens.

And to read and hear stories of those who are not like us helps to foster empathy and lead us down a path to truly do good.

In the Nobles community, we have three graduates who are doing just that: using their power as successful authors to give voice to those whose stories might not commonly be told.

KATHERINE R. BROAD

One of the recent trends in young adult literature is dystopian fiction. Thanks to the success of The Hunger Games series, books that imagine “what the future could look like once our unsustainable lives cease to be sustained” (according to John Green) are flying off the shelves.

This trend has even inspired academic research, with numerous books being written about aspects of this genre.

Katherine R. Broad ’01, who earned a doctorate in English literature, is one of these researchers and a contributor to the recently published book Contemporary Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults: Brave New Teenagers, which “offers a critical evaluation of the literary and political potentials of [dystopian literature.”] The book is a collection of essays on topics including freedom, the environment, biotechnology and politics, and how they are examined in young adult novels. This research is valuable because it adds weight to the importance of dystopian literature in the lives of teens. As a recent article in Slate states, “YA dystopias externalize the turmoil that’s already taking place in adolescent minds, hearts and bodies.” If teens are looking for a mirror to their own experiences and struggles, then dystopias are the perfect place to find them in a way that may at first seem unrecognizable.

And Broad is helping with her stellar contributions to the academic world.

SARA FARIZAN

Another recent trend in YA literature

are books that show representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens. Farizan ’03 is a popular contributor to that trend, first with her 2013 novel, If You Could Be Mine, and more recently with the publication of her second novel, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, in October. Both books are about teenage girls dealing with their sexuality, albeit in different ways. If You Could Be Mine focuses on two girls in love in Iran, a love that is illegal there, and the choice one makes so that they can be together.

Her second novel focuses on the experiences of Leila, a high school student who is hiding her sexuality to fit in with her classmates. What both of these novels achieve, due to the skill and sensitivity of Farizan’s writing, is an accurate and thoughtful portrayal of the struggles and successes that LGBT teens face across the world. Historically, representations of LGBT teens in YA literature have been negative and stereotypical, but Farizan, along with a number of other voices in this emerging genre, manages to break free of those stereotypes and paint a picture that will be incredibly validating to any LGBT teen, as well as informative and accessible to those who are interested in learning more.

COREY HAYDU

Similar to Farizan, Corey Haydu ’01 writes about teens going through experiences that will seem incredibly familiar to some readers, and completely foreign to others. Stacked Books says,

Pass [Haydu’s] OCD Love Story to those readers who want a straight-on, unashamed look at mental illness. [...] In many ways, this book is scary.

It’s scary to experience the suffering right along with a character in a way that feels like it’s happening to you, too. [...] It’s through this lens that the book is so successful and powerful.

In the Winter 2015 issue of Young Adult Library Services magazine, Diane Scrofano writes on the recent rise in young adult literature that deals with mental illness: Anyone who works [with 14- to 24-yearolds] can play an important role in getting stories of mental illness out there and letting students [...] know they are not alone.

It’s important to help get the word out that there is help available for those suffering from mental illness or those watching a family member or friend suffer. [...] What’s exciting about the recent YA literature of mental illness is that it treats mental illness as a medical problem, while a lot of older literature has treated mental illness only symbolically, as “madness.” [...] We need books that mirror teens’ experiences of clinical illness.

Former Dean of Students Erika Guy always told our community to “never worry alone.” It can be scary to experience mental illness or to watch a friend or loved one go through that. In books like Haydu’s, we can find a first step to giving hope.

—TALYA SOKOLL, LIBRARIAN

SPRING 2015 Nobles 17

off the shelf

my books...

FACULTY MEMBERS SHARE THE BOOKS THEY LOVED AS YOUNG ADULTS Name: Marvin Vilma Department: Admission/

Name: Muriel Schwinn Department: Science teacher Books: Rainbow Boys, Rain-

Name: Greg Croak Department: Director of

diversity teaching fellow Book: Giovanni’s Room Author: James Baldwin

bow High and Rainbow Road Author: Alex Sánchez

graduate affairs Book: The Giver Author: Lois Lowry

Why it was meaningful:

Why it was meaningful:

Why it was meaningful:

This novel had a huge impact on me for two reasons: It complicates gender and sexuality in a way that most young novels do not, and I admired Baldwin’s bravery in writing a gay novel when his primary readership during the 1950s and 1960s was black and homophobic. It was a risky move, but he was not afraid to challenge the norms and think about social justice through an intersectional lens. Every time I look at the world and see the injustices taking place, I reread Giovanni’s Room to remind myself that these challenges are surmountable.

Name: Sandi MacQuinn Department: English teacher Book: The Once and

Future King Author: T.H. White.

Why it was meaningful:

I loved fantasies and science fiction, but this retelling of the old Arthurian legend​ was so funny and so insightful about what it feels like to be on fire about something important like peace and justice; it really spoke to me.

18 Nobles SPRING 2015

These were meaningful books to me growing up because they dug deep into issues about homosexuality, tolerance and acceptance, which were not well discussed or supported in my high school.

Name: Heather Sullivan Department: Director of

communications

Book: And Both Were Young Author: Madeline L’Engle Why it was meaningful:

While I also love her betterknown work, And Both Were Young—a story of an awkward American who attends a Swiss boarding school— found me when I was very definitely awkward and (very sadly) not attending a Swiss boarding school.

Name: Jodi McQuillian Department: French teacher Book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Author: Betty Smith Why it was meaningful:

It was the first time as a teen that a book absolutely moved me. That year for my birthday, all I wanted was the dogeared copy from the library.

It was a totally eye-opening story about what’s truly important in life: love, beauty and the full range of human emotion. I must have read it 10 times.

Name: Margaret Robertson Department: Spanish teacher Book: Dicey’s Song Author: Cynthia Voigt Book: The Color Purple Author: Alice Walker Why they were meaningful:

Both rocked my world because they were outside my reality.

Name: David Roane Department: Art Book: The Silmarillion Author: J.R.R. Tolkien Why it was meaningful:

I was fixated on the maps and would draw them.

Name: Gia Batty Department: Academic

services

Book: Tiger Eyes Author: Judy Blume Why it was meaningful:

I had read all of her other books, and Tiger Eyes was, to

CONTEMPORARY POETRY

BY JESSICA BRENNAN, ENGLISH FACULTY MEMBER

me, the most grown-up and the most messed-up, and I loved it. I remember reading the whole thing in one afternoon circa 1982. Davey Wexler’s dad is killed, and her mom moves the family to New Mexico to stay with an aunt.

Looking back on it, what I liked was how, in the end, Davey moves back home and has to get back to her old life, but she is clearly so different. But her old friends and boyfriend don’t notice the change. They don’t know how different she is, how much more grown up she is. Davey realizes it’s all on the inside. It was just such a real feeling to me, especially as I was growing up through middle and early high school.

Name: Tom Resor Department: English Book: Shane Author: Jack Schaefer Why it was meaningful:

I have always loved Westerns (books and movies). My family has had a long association with Jackson Hole, Wyo., since 1930, and I have spent parts of my summers there since I was 5. The movie Shane was filmed in Jackson Hole, so I had another reason to read the book. Many years ago, when I was teaching seventh-grade English, I taught the novel at Nobles.

Name: Kate Blake Department: English Book: Books by Christopher

Pike and Lois Duncan

Why it was meaningful:

They were my favorite suspense reads growing up. I distinctly remember buying each Pike book as it came out, getting together with my friends, and reading as a group, or exchanging titles we hadn’t read and reading silently.

Name: Robert Henderson Jr. Position: Head of school Title: One Is One Author: Barbara

Leonie Picard

Why it was meaningful:

This story is about a young man from a prominent family in medieval England who wants to be a knight.

However, he is sent away to a monastery by his father due to his perceived lack of aptitude at chivalry. He escapes and eventually attains knighthood, but ultimately realizes that it is most important for him to do what he wants to do. This book was really meaningful to me as a teenager because it is all about being totally yourself, finding your own identity, pursuing what’s important to you and not letting people define who you are.

These are collections of poetry by contemporary poets. These women write lines I return to again and again. Robert Frost once wrote, “For me, the initial delight is in the surprise of remembering something I didn’t know I knew.” Repeatedly, these poets unveil what I didn’t know I knew. These writers prove that poetry is indeed alive and well.

WHAT THE LIVING DO, MARIE HOWE Howe writes about grief as it seeps into the everyday. She grieves for a broken childhood, a dead brother and fading wishes as she moves through her days. She has described these poems all as love poems. While they may not feel that way upon first read, they certainly grow into that—each story is rooted in love and appreciation.

WHERE YOU LIVE, JILL MCDONOUGH Jill McDonough is about as real as it gets. She writes with a brave directness about everything: getting rear-ended near the Mass Ave. Bridge, teaching incarcerated students, falling in love, staying in love, illness and ancient poetry. She writes with admirable ease, employing diction that is deceptively simple. Reading McDonough’s poetry is akin to listening to a friend—a very strong, very thoughtful, very bold friend. Her voice is at once intrepid and accessible: She is a poet who uses language to reveal our world with startling clarity.

HALF-LIFE, MEGHAN O’ROURKE Meghan O’Rourke writes with a quiet intensity. Half-Life is a collection about coming of age.

The speakers in these poems are emerging, forming, and perhaps above all, observing the world. While these poems often veer into dark territory, they never lose hope.

THE BEST OF IT: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS, KAY RYAN The poet laureate from 2008 to 2010, Kay Ryan writes tight compact poems—she says what needs to be said and no more. Her lines are short and direct, and her poems succeed at shifting one’s perspective just enough to change everything. There is something offertory in Ryan’s poems. She raises an idea, an observation, a small moment, and trusts the reader to finish the thought. I am struck by how deceptively simple Ryan’s poems are. These short lines, this direct diction, has real staying power. These poems can be understood on first read, but they’re hard to read only once; they echo like the best conversations do.

LIFE ON MARS, TRACY K. SMITH Largely an elegy for her father, this collection by Tracy K. Smith considers our place in the world and the power of relationships by juxtaposing mundane everyday moments with the cosmic images of space and science fiction. Smith does not attempt to answer questions or solve the problems she identifies; rather, she illuminates the questions we need to ask.

SPRING 2015 Nobles 19

perspectives

Nobles and the Girdle Effect How Undergarments Reveal Humanity BY CARY BICKLEY ’78

T

here is a story I tell often about my time at Nobles that my children now refer to as: “Not that damn girdle story again!” However, since they’ve been schooled in Los Angeles and are unfamiliar with Nobles magazine, I’ll tell it one more time.

I was playing the role of Veta Louise Simmons in the play Harvey. It was my sophomore year, and it was a big deal to me at the time because it was my first really big part in a play, and by the second or third rehearsal I’d already dubbed myself an “actress.” My poor unsuspecting parents…

During a rehearsal a week or so before showtime, as I was making an exit after my first scene, the director asked me to tug my girdle before I went off stage. I was mortified. “I’m not wearing a girdle!”

I said superloudly, so to everyone, especially all boys present, it would be perfectly clear that I was not wearing a girdle. At the awkward age of 15, I was struggling enough with the male species without this added humiliation! He responded that the audience didn’t know that and it would be funny. I respectfully disagreed and refused to do it.

All during dress rehearsals, I didn’t do it. I didn’t want to be embarrassed.

It was just too risky, and I thought he should really be a little ashamed for asking me. Opening night, I’m out on stage for the first time, feeling an audience, their laughter, their grace, and loving it. All the hard work, all the nervous sick feeling before curtain, went away as I discovered what all the rehearsal was for. My big exit was coming, and I suddenly wasn’t afraid. And as I hit my mark, I tugged the hell out of my imaginary girdle, resulting in a huge laugh.

It’s a simple moment, but it became my guiding principle, and not just in my years on stage. I learned to put myself out there. In the classroom it was raising my hand and speaking up, even sometimes when I wasn’t sure. As a budding writer, I was working on the Nobleman under the brilliant tutelage of Joe Swayze, and I had the less-than-brilliant idea to put out a Nobles Enquirer. Somehow I persuaded poor Mr. Swayze to allow me to do it. I don’t have a copy, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t all that funny.

But I did it. I wrote jokes and put them out there for criticism, and ultimately,

“In comedy especially, I’ve always felt that what audiences respond to is the moment where the actress/writer/singer/ dancer shows their girdle, i.e., their humanity, their flaws, their inner secrets.”

—CARY BICKLEY ’78

20 Nobles SPRING 2015

as things turned out, I became a writer rather than an actress.

In comedy especially, I’ve always felt that what audiences respond to is the moment where the actress/writer/ singer/dancer shows their girdle, i.e., their humanity, their flaws, their inner secrets. But to show your underbelly is a risk. I believe that to succeed in any field, you have to take that risk. It’s easy to see the risk of the writer or the actor, but watch Shark Tank and realize everyone who invents and innovates and creates businesses is to some extent putting their inner self out there. They are risking their futures and financial wellbeings on some product, dream or idea.

Watching them do it, I feel the tug.

Personally, every time I write something and give it to someone to read, I still have to brace myself for rejection.

I’ve had tons of it. So much it would make you cry. I’m crying a little right now thinking about it. And it never ends.

Despite some real career highs, I still face rejection all the time. But somehow, despite it all, I keep tugging that girdle, because when I get it right, when someone finally says yes, or when I get that laugh, it’s totally worth it.

Cary Bickley ’78 in her yearbook picture. Below, second from right, she becomes an “actress.”

Cary Bickley is a writer and mother of three living in L.A. Her screen credits include The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag, High Crimes, Take My Life and Spinning Boris. She has had articles published in Glamour, Brides, Taxi, Wondertime, Family Fun and the Christian Science Monitor.

SPRING 2015 Nobles 21

Celebrating 40 Years of Women and Coeducation at Nobles

the

FABULOUS

22 Nobles SPRING 2015

IN FALL 2015, Nobles will begin its sesquicentennial celebration. Thank you, George Washington Copp Noble, for founding a remarkable school in 1866. Many Nobles magazine readers owe much knowledge, joy and occupation to your energy and ambition.

A more recent milestone came in the 1974–75 academic year, when, under the leadership of Headmaster Ted Gleason and Board President Robert Lawrence ’44, Nobles transitioned from a boys’ school to a coeducational school. Sept. 18, 1974, marks the moment when 84 young women became Nobles’ first female students. And what a difference the women have made.

Full disclosure: A lot of remarkable people—men and women—have contributed to what Nobles has become since that bold decision. Here we claim only to capture a suggestion of the significance of that historic decision and its implementation. So we are missing about 7,381 or so relevant and related stories. (If you think they are ones we should cover soon, send the magazine staff a note at communications@nobles.edu.)

By sharing 40 facts, stories and people profiles, we recognize and thank George Washington Copp Noble, Ted Gleason, Bob Lawrence and those who came after and in between, who shaped a place that inspires women and men to give their best.

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GIRLS RULE

2015 marked the third consecutive year in which all four girls varsity winter teams won ISL championships.

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T I L E SY H A R R I N GTO N

“Senior Mistress” of Nobles

Tilesy Harrington jokes with Nick Nickerson—who as the longest-serving full-time faculty member is known as the “senior master”—that if he is senior master, why is she not officially designated as “senior mistress”?

When Harrington—then Tilesy Rivera—joined the faculty in 1977, she was one of just 13 female faculty members. She was also the first female faculty member of color—and a 20-year-old new Harvard graduate who rowed crew.

“It was weird,” she says. “I had no doubt that Nick and Bill Kehlenbeck knew that I knew what I was doing— but I felt like the little sister. What happened is I became really tough. I was trying to prove that I was rigorous.

At that time, the male world was the teaching world, and the female world was the staff world.”

Harrington said that when she and Mark, who joined the classics faculty in

1976, became engaged, they figured one of them would have to go. They were in an era when the wives of faculty members refrained from public appearances when a pregnancy began to show— and rarely had a married couple both taught full time at the school.

“Ted went to bat for us,” Harrington says. “He told the board that we were both good teachers and that he wanted us both to stay.”

When Dick Baker became head, the evolution continued. He appointed both Tilesy Harrington and Deb Harrison, who joined the faculty in 1981, as academic department heads. (The first female department head was Helen Twiss in 1973.)

“All of this was new territory,” Harrington says. “Debbie and I opened doors.”

Harrington says that in some ways, the early days were the Wild West. She

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considered changing careers in the ’80s, when she had small children, but the school’s support for her to attend a Simmons College program kept her close. At Simmons, she began to develop a discrete math course, which expanded Nobles’ quantitative offerings.

The three Harrington children, Kate ’00, Michael ’03 and Bo ’08, grew up in the Castle with their parents. All three children are teachers. “We could open our own school,” Harrington laughs.

Harrington has many stories to tell and remembers when faculty wives—who were not employees—were nonetheless expected to host teas. She says that longtime former Dean of Students Erika Guy made a big difference. “She dealt with a lot of gender issues. All of us were growing out of the ’50s June Cleaver era and into the ’80s,” she says.

—HEATHER SULLIVAN

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JOAN ALKER ’81

[EXCERPT FROM PRIZE DAY SPEECH, JUNE 11, 1975]

Advocate for Women and Children Joan Alker is executive director of the Center for Children and Families, and for the past 12 years she’s been a research associate professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. Her work focuses on health coverage for low-income children and families, with an emphasis on Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act. She spoke with Heather Sullivan, director of communications, about her life and work.

How did you come to work on behalf of mothers and children?

I went to Bryn Mawr, a women’s college.

I studied political science in college and then went to Oxford University for a master’s of philosophy in politics.

I was always interested in political change, and my parents were both professors of international relations. I lived abroad growing up, so I probably saw myself more involved from an international perspective.

I got my first real job at the National Coalition for the Homeless. That work opened my eyes to poverty in the United States. In addition to working with homeless people in D.C., I traveled

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around the country and visited shelters, and that was sort of it for me. I’ve worked ever since at the intersection of poverty and issues affecting low-income families.

Some people forget so many families close to home need help.

Yes. Once I rolled up my sleeves and saw what was really going on in this country, I knew there was no other path for me.

What are some common misconceptions about families who struggle with poverty?

People [often] say, “Oh, well, homeless people are all mentally ill, or they have a substance abuse problem.” Well, there are plenty of upper-income people who

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have mental health challenges or substance abuse problems, but they don’t live on the street, so we don’t see those problems as publicly.

Why are you focusing on health care specifically?

I work on health care for low-income children because if kids don’t get a good start in life, it’s going to be really hard for them to catch up as adults. We have a lot of powerful economic interest in our health-care system. We have the insurance industry. We’ve got doctors, hospitals and drug companies. Our work at Georgetown is to push for better public policy from the perspective of what’s going to work for low-income families.

You speak about and write about preventative health care and its relationship to insurance for children.

Can you clarify the connection?

There are two primary reasons that it’s so important for families to have health insurance. First is to be able to access needed preventive and primary-care health services. For kids, that means getting their recommended well-child visits and access to prescriptions and other basic primary care.

The second really important piece about having health insurance is that it provides an enormous amount of financial security. Medical debt is a leading cause of bankruptcy.

If obstacles to health-care access disappeared, what systemic changes might help the most?

Kids, in theory, should all have a path to coverage. Most uninsured kids are eligible for public coverage but may not be continuously enrolled.

Some aren’t—usually because of the immigration status of their fami-

lies. But it’s a complicated stateby-state system for families.

If we were able to move to a [federal] system like we have for Medicare tomorrow—this is not politically feasible, but I’m waving my magic wand— every newborn would also get enrolled in health insurance, just like today, when you turn 65, you’re enrolled in Medicare. That would be huge.

Your sisters also went to Nobles, right?

My sister, Heather ’84, became a doctor. She was a science person and became an ob-gyn, but she retrained recently in preventive medicine and got a degree in public health. She’s approaching it from a clinical perspective, but our work has gotten closer over the years. My youngest sister, Wendy ’88, is a professor of performance studies at NYU. What are you most pleased or frustrated about in relation to your work?

As a country, we’ve made great strides in reducing the number of uninsured children. Over the past 10 years we’ve reduced the rate of uninsured children to 7 percent. That’s an historic low. We can succeed when we focus on something and work on it in a bipartisan way. I think it is troubling right now that we are in a period of such intense politicization, particularly about health policy.

What keeps you motivated, despite the obstacles?

I think there’s a lot of poverty in this country. Children, in particular, live in conditions that really shouldn’t happen in such a rich country. That’s sort of my motivation in all of the work that I do, is to do what I can and engage in this larger discourse.

It seemed so unfair that I had been born a girl, because the only school I wanted to go to was Noble and Greenough.

Of course, it was out of the question. But dreams are what make life bearable, so I went right on dreaming.

Then about three or four years ago, I heard that Nobles was going coed. It was unbelievable, but it was true. So I quickly sent in my application and received a letter from Mr. Gleason thanking me for applying and telling me that I would hear more details later. Well, I did, but they were not the details that I wanted to hear. I soon learned that Nobles and Winsor were planning on merging, and that only Winsor girls were able to apply….Then one wonderful day, I heard that Nobles and Winsor were not going to merge….Well, here I am now standing before you on this historic day. My dream did come true, and just in the nick of time. But little did I know that I was the first girl to accept a place in the school, let alone in the senior class....I just wish I could have spent more than one school year here, but I feel very lucky to have had one.”

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—LAURIE YOUNG PEDZEWICK ’75

First Girl to Accept Offer of Admission at Nobles, First Girl to Speak at a Major Event

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WHO’S THE BOSS?

Every male on the faculty—including Head of School Bob Henderson ’76—reports to at least one woman.

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ERIKA GUY

Because She Is Erika

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“Quite simply, the Guys have modeled what it means to be ‘school people,’” said Head of School Bob Henderson when Erika, longtime dean of students, and Doug, a member of the math faculty, decided to leave Nobles in 2013 after more than 25 years of service.

English faculty member and former head of school Dick Baker said that Erika hugely elevated the level of care for students’ emotional well-being at Nobles.

“What I saw in Erika initially was a balanced and very stable personality, someone who was not easily rattled.

She never needed to boost her own stature at the expense of someone else,” Baker said.

During her tenure, Erika coached soccer, taught aerobics, and started an organic garden and community cooking classes. Henderson called Erika “a critical force in envisioning, building and sustaining this community.…The essence of her responsibility [was] always a simple one: Improve the quality of the Nobles experience for every student.”

Upon leaving Nobles, Erika said that she recognized how difficult adolescence can be—thus her mantra, “No one should worry alone.”

“Erika is fearless,” said Provost Bill Bussey. “This school would not be what it is without her.” Several generations of Nobles grads would agree.

—HEATHER SULLIVAN

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MARGARET BOWMAN ’80 AND ELIZABETH SODERSTROM ’80

This Is Water Visionary is not a term to be thrown about lightly, but listening to Elizabeth Soderstrom ’80 and Margaret Bowman ’80 speak, there is no other word to describe their passion for learning, problem-solving, exploring myriad ways of seeing and understanding the world, and constructing sustainable and peaceful models for living in it.

Their credentials are impressive.

Currently a program director at the Resource Legacy Fund, Soderstrom holds a bachelor’s in English literature, a bachelor’s and master’s of science in biological sciences from Stanford, and a doctorate in Wildlands Resource Science from UC Berkeley. A Switzer Fellow, her résumé includes projects in Borneo, Africa, and work with American Rivers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the U.S. Department of State. Bowman is deputy director for the Walton Family Foundation’s Environment Focus Area, overseeing their freshwater conservation work.

She earned a bachelor’s from Wesleyan and a law degree from Harvard, where she was managing editor of the Environmental Law Review. Her résumé includes work in Central Europe, and for nonprofits, private foundations and law firms in the United States.

Both remember their days at Nobles well. They were the only two women in an advanced calculus class, their friendship forged there would extend through their lives.

Soderstrom remembers her time at Nobles as a time when questioning was encouraged, “when teachers like Tim Carey and Dick Baker pushed students to look at the cracks and inconsistencies in narratives.” One inconsistency in the coeducational narrative Soderstrom found was the absence of many women in the teaching ranks, leading her to pen

an editorial in the Nobleman called “Co-Educating the Educators.” Dick Baker’s motto of “teaching as a subversive activity” would be life-changing, and Baker would remain a lifelong friend, and later be ordained for a day to preside over her wedding, which Bowman would also attend.

For Bowman, it was John Paine’s history class that was transforming. “He never taught wars in the traditional sense. He taught us the causes and results of wars and said the battles didn’t matter—sending a subtle but important message not to glorify war.” Playing basketball for Nick Nickerson and working as a theater lighting technician were opportunities for stretching herself. “It was a culture that emphasized the importance of giving back, of making changes in people’s lives,” she remembers.

Soderstrom and Bowman bring that culture to their work. Both currently work to address the growing water crisis in the Western United States in a way that protects not only communities but also rivers and wetlands. With rivers flowing across borders and communities with diverse economic and cultural connections, navigating water rights requires a complex set of technical as well as human skills to bring about change.

For Bowman, that has meant supporting institutions and people with the skills to negotiate legal and traditional rights between water users, states, and the United States and Mexico, in order to allow an experimental “flood” into the dry Colorado River in Mexico, allowing the river to flow down its entire length for a few weeks in 2014. She

speaks with passion for the work with these communities and the result of “seeing a river come back to life.” A tweet sent from that

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moment shows a photo of two young boys in Mexico walking up a dry riverbed, their faces turned toward a rush of blue water flowing downstream toward them. The caption reads: “Meeting their river for the first time.”

For Soderstrom, the task has meant living four years in Africa, working with three separate countries, resolving water issues along the banks of the Okavango River, building the Tribute Trail along the banks of the Deer Creek in her hometown, and living faithful to her Buddhist practice—“hands on the land”—on 25 acres with her family, eight goats and roaming chickens.

Bowman describes this practice of working and living in this world as one of moving interchangeably “from actor to director to producer,” from “having the view from the ground to having the view from 30,000 feet up.”

The word compassion is one Soderstrom brings up, pointing to it as a necessary ingredient in working to bring about “a vision not based on restriction and sacrifice, but a sustainable future in which we would all want to live.”

In a time when access to and control of water resources have become flashpoints for conflict, Soderstrom and Bowman are our visionaries—our pioneers.

—KEVIN BOWEN

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[HEADMASTER’S MESSAGE, 1975 YEARBOOK]

CECI CLARK

Faculty Member, Coach and Administrator Ceci Clark was hired to teach English in 1977 and later became the assistant athletic director (AD). When the school needed an interim director, Ted Gleason looked to male faculty member. Clark objected.

How did you respond to Ted Gleason’s plan to fill the AD vacancy?

I was the assistant, and I thought to myself, “Wait a minute. You’re just going to pluck a guy out of coaching and teaching and put him in a job for which I have every ability to temporarily take over?

No. Not happening.”

It wasn’t like it was my dream to be the athletic director, but I felt it was the moment—a small moment—for Nobles to do this. And so Ted Gleason, to his credit, said okay, and I became, just for two years, the first female athletic director in the ISL. What was the job really like?

It was my finest and worst moment, because I actually didn’t want the job,

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but I wanted it for Nobles. I didn’t get any more money, by the way. I just had to be the first person at school, the last person out. Everything that went wrong was my fault: the weather, the referees, the outcome of the game, the buses that broke down.

How do you feel about the direction Nobles has taken toward coeducation?

Nobles did all the right things to become something it deliberately planned to become. There was nothing accidental about what Ted, Henderson, Baker and the trustees have done for the school. It’s been smart. It’s been interesting. Girls are very much at the heart of its success, and adding young women of this kind of substance as students and as teachers has

certainly changed the equation of Nobles.

There are some teachers and people in my life to whom my highest compliment is to say, “You’re kind of like a girl.

You have the heart of someone who cares really, really deeply and isn’t afraid to show it.” I think men care as deeply, but they don’t always show it. At Nobles there were some people very attuned to what girls needed—like the Tim Careys, Nick Nickersons and Mark Harringtons—and were very pleased to be teaching girls and to be growing in ways as a teacher that you grow because you have a gender-equal classroom.

What are your lasting impressions?

My memories of Nobles are so sharply affectionate. I thank goodness that it was the place where I felt like I developed as a teacher and had amazing mentors, male and female, and very good friends.

I’m a continual admirer of what Nobles has become. Having been years in schools, the magic happens in personalities. It’s not gender. Do you have the right individual leading with heart and understanding and developing those kids in appropriate ways, or do you not? And once the answer is yes, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a girl or a boy.

—BEN HEIDER

Years hence, when all of us are long dead, someone will sit down to write the history of the second hundred years of Noble and Greenough School. And if that person be wise, he or she will wish to know more than a little of that special First Class that ushered in the new era at Nobles. It will be the Class of 1975. One perceptive member of that class said to me not long ago, “When I think of how our class came to be, I think of an admissions officer sitting down and saying, ‘Whom shall I pick to construct the perfect class?’ and we were created.”

He was not far from wrong. It has been and is an unusual group, most unusual in the ability to provide significant leadership in a period of transition, in a time when so many things could not have happened, only they did, a time when Nobles could have fallen short, but it did not.

The tone of any school year is set by the First Class. This year, we have done much of timeless significance, and the credit should be offered where credit is due. We could not have done any of it—not a bit—without the Class of 1975. May you be proud, may you be memorable, may you always matter as you have mattered at Noble and Greenough.

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—TED GLEASON, HEAD OF SCHOOL, 1971–1987

J E D D AW S O N ’ 7 5

When the Girls Arrived I grew up in a family of all boys. I went to a coeducational primary school, Charles River, in Dover, and I don’t remember girls. That was a long time ago. But returning to Nobles as a senior and having women on campus was like going from black and white to color. Whoa. Now we had women.

I hadn’t realized I was living in a black-and-white world. When we were here, we had coats and ties, and we had desks that were nailed to the floor in Gleason Hall. I sat next to Bob Delaney and Hank Davis.

Everything was in little straight rows. The women came, and all of a sudden the desks went away. Things opened up. It was just a much more vibrant experience.

The teachers at this school make the school, not the buildings.

One of the emotional parts of graduation is when the faculty members line up and the kids all go through, single file, thanking every fac-

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ulty member. There is not a dry eye in the house for parents watching.

The best education of my life was the six years I spent at Nobles.

We sent five kids here, too, and their experience was as great.

—AS TOLD TO HEATHER SULLIVAN

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CO R A H I DA LG O H O L L A N D

CAROLINE HASKELL ODDEN ’93

Sifting Stars

High Honors Each year, before the school year starts, Nobles presents a staff member with the Cora Hidalgo Holland award. The award honors Nobles parent Cora Hidalgo Holland, who demonstrated a kindness and warmth to the entire community at Nobles. This recognition is awarded annually to a Nobles staff member who contributes to the community through excellent work, character and dedication.

Hidalgo Holland P ’97 ’01 is remembered as a dedicated supporter of the Nobles community who volunteered her time in various capacities such as student activities, fundraising and parent programs, while two of her three children attended Nobles: Jessica and Nate Holland. Hidalgo Holland was well-known for her attention and appreciation of staff members. In the Spring 2003 Nobles Bulletin, she was described as someone “who worked graciously and supportively with our maintenance staff, our kitchen staff and our administrative staff—all the folks who dedicate so much of their lives to ensuring that Nobles runs smoothly.”

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LAURA PUTNAM

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A Woman Ahead of Her Time The daughter of Nobles second headmaster, Charles Wiggins II, and the wife of its third, Eliot Putnam, the late Laura Wiggins Putnam was the quintessential female presence on campus for half a century, from 1922–1971.

She was the person who served “good night” treats to boarders and on-campus teachers, as well as the hostess who delighted trustees and faculty at social gatherings in the years before coeducation. “A nice hot cup of tea seemed to be just the thing after coaching,” she was quoted as saying.

She may seem prefeminist in some of her roles, but she actually fulfilled duties that would be compensated today. In fact, some have been institutionalized into full departments. As the unofficial school counselor, she offered a sympathetic ear and an insider’s perspective to boys troubled by some aspect of their Nobles life.

She was also the first person to teach art—an extracurricular rather than an academic offering—on the Nobles campus. One of her most illustrious students was the late James Wood ’59, who went on to serve as the director of the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago and of the international Getty Foundation and Museum.

Not unlike other faculty and students of her era, Laura Putnam came from a remarkable lineage. She was the great-granddaughter of Julia Ward Howe, herself a women’s rights activist, who wrote the words to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “John Brown’s Body.” Putnam’s maternal grandfather, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, was the first director of the Perkins School for the Blind. Her father, who became head of Nobles in 1920, was trained as an architect at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and designed Nobles’ “Brick Cottage” for daughter Laura and son-in-law Eliot Putnam.

—JOYCE ELDRIDGE

Sometimes it’s not the objects you first bring into focus, but the ones surrounding them, that prove the most interesting.

As director of the Phillips Academy Observatory at Andover, where she also teaches physics and astronomy, Caroline Haskell Odden ’93 has experienced this firsthand. Whether describing her academic choices, what “real science” means to her or the kind of research she conducts with her students, Odden derives meaning from the surprises.

It was not at Nobles, but at Yale, that Odden took her first physics class.

She thought she’d major in math but altered her course when she found that physics piqued her enthusiasm even more. “The very solid calculus foundation that I had, thanks to Bill Kehlenbeck, carried me through many courses in college that other people found really challenging,” she says.

Odden describes her high-school self as a generalist who pursued English, art and band with the same energy as math, her favorite subject. Nobles teachers Kehlenbeck, Vicky Seelen, Mark Harrington and Bob Kern inspired Odden.

Indeed, she spent four years teaching at Westminster School in Connecticut, which cemented her calling as an educator, and in 2001, she joined the physics faculty at Phillips Academy, in Andover.

Odden’s skyward trajectory began with the launch of the Phillips Academy Observatory in 2004, where she was named director. She was also asked to teach astronomy, a field new to her. “I studied the textbook and stayed one step ahead of the students,” she says. “Over the course of several years, with the help of friends who were more experienced than I was, I learned how to use the observatory and developed what is now a pretty vibrant research program.”

PHOTO BY KIM NEAL

Now, as a mentor and teacher for the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP), she is part of a faculty-student team that includes Nobles’ own physics faculty member David Strasburger. Strasburger learned of the program through Odden, and he was accepted at the same time she was invited back as a mentor.

Odden loves viewing the night sky through the powerful telescopes at her observatory and conducting firsthand research, but she explains that many significant astronomical findings rely on mining vast repositories of preexisting public data—the basis for her NITARP research.

Together, teachers and students on the intramural research team are examining data from public archives to identify potentially interesting astronomical objects, specifically ones that exhibit extreme infrared excess. Those objects

may then become worthy of study using the coveted world-class telescopes.

Odden finds that her students thrive on authentic research experiences.

While many high-school science courses include important laboratory work, “students are given a set of instructions in which they are told what to do to arrive at a particular result. In real science, scientists develop a question, then identify a process and move toward an answer.

Sometimes the result is different from what they set out to learn.”

In presenting and publishing their work for NITARP, Odden’s students broaden their horizons and bring forward their best, gaining confidence for college and beyond. They also develop relationships with professional astronomers whom they can approach with questions throughout the course of their research.

Students who enroll in her popular astronomy course are already interested in the sciences. But what about those for whom it is less of a draw? “It’s really important to educate as many people as possible in math and science, even if they don’t end up having related careers. They’re voting. They might be in a position where they have some influence,” she says. “Having some level of education in math and science is valuable for everyone.”

Odden tells her astronomy students, “This is information you’ll appreciate knowing for the rest of your life. It’s nice to have some sense of where you fit into the universe, what’s out there and how it all started.”

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—KIM NEAL

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E L L E N M E C R AY ’ 8 6

Beyond the Sea “I bet it was a surprise to Mr. Sculco or Mrs. Harrison or Mr. Kern—my three science teachers at Nobles—when I went into science,” says Ellen Mecray ’86, regional climate services director at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). At Nobles, Mecray sang in Greensleeves, played field hockey and lacrosse, skied, and starred in Cabaret. When she headed to Colgate, she was certain she would be an international economist. “I thought I had my future all mapped out,” she says.

She enjoyed French at Nobles, along with an independent study in economics, and figured she would live in Paris reporting on the international economy. “I didn’t

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even know what that meant!” laughs Mecray. Funny how things change.

At Colgate, economics was a crowded major, and Mecray couldn’t get into the classes she wanted. Reading through the course catalogue for anything interesting, she found an oceanography class.

Mecray loved the ocean—she lived in Wellesley during high school but spent every summer on North Haven Island in Maine’s Penobscot Bay—and she was intrigued by the idea of studying the ocean in the middle of upstate New York. The class changed her life.

“My teacher was incredible…making science accessible for the thinking mind, instead of the memorizing

mind,” she says. “It was understanding the world in a very real sense.”

Mecray majored in geology, later receiving a master’s in geological oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. After graduate school, she taught at Williston Northampton School. Along with chemistry and computer classes, Mecray taught an oceanography elective, hoping to draw teenagers to science. Mecray still loves to mentor young scientists.

Every summer while teaching, Mecray returned to Rhode Island to continue her research. She studied seasonal layers of sediment in Rhode Island’s Pettaquamscutt River: She drilled into

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

sediment, saw how sequences were deposited, and determined the area’s history of contamination. “My mom always told me, ‘I don’t want you studying the wingspan of a gnat!’” Mecray says. Her mother didn’t like the idea of her doing something so esoteric she would forget how to relate to the world. But Mecray’s research was not that—the sediment record documented the 1970s transition from leaded to unleaded gasoline, and chestnut trees disappearing during the blight of 1917. Mecray re-created history through mud.

While teaching was important to Mecray, she loved research more. In 1997, she moved to Woods Hole to work as an oceanographer with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). She stayed for a decade to continue her sediment research in estuaries from the Gulf of Maine to Long Island Sound. She traveled often on research cruises: “I am so happy when I am at sea,” Mecray says. “You’re doing your work and you’re sleep-deprived, but you’re having a ball.”

While working for the USGS, Mecray joined a leadership program that allowed her to work in different places, including Alaska and Washington, D.C. After D.C., Mecray left her beloved Cape Cod and went to work at NOAA headquarters. She wanted to understand policy-making, strategic planning and how research projects receive funds.

Mecray returned to Woods Hole after three years, still working for NOAA as one of six regional climate services directors in the United States. “I’m much more of a scientific communicator now, working with states and private industry to access NOAA’s climate information,” says Mecray.

Stationed in Taunton with the National Weather Service, Mecray works alongside meteorologists whom she says “have loved the weather since they were about 9 years old.” Mecray had no idea at 9 years old she would end up where she is today. What if she had gotten into one of those economics classes?

—E.B. BARTELS ’06

V I C K Y S E E L E N , E N G L I S H FA C U LT Y

Ways of Seeing When I say that it’s my 36th year of teaching, people nod in quiet astonishment.

“My 26th at Nobles.” Teaching English. It has always been important to me to call it my career. Teaching is not something I do. It is part of who I am.

Snapshots: This morning, while discussing the latest New Yorker article in my creative writing class (where we use it as our textbook), “Lost in Syria,” students were asked first for general comments. “Let’s look at this from 30,000 feet,” I say.

Hands go up around our large seminar table in the Memorial Room. Yesterday, Sunday, I sent them a one-minute video, filmed and narrated by me in my kitchen, about my active reading. First I panned my kitchen, then my text, pointing out some details I hoped they would note as they worked through their assignment.

How does one learn to actively read a nonfiction article in this magazine? I wanted to give them a model, a neophyte’s effort at technology, gratefully received but honestly critiqued by my students. I will try again, making another one about another article.

Meanwhile, in my junior class sections, students had finished their 32 (minimum) line recitations from Hamlet last Friday. One young woman, who knew she would be absent that day, sent me a video of her performing her chosen lines, a Claudius soliloquy, at the Calliope Coffee House last Friday night. The recording, clear and steady of hand, made by a supportive friend, showed not only her dramatic rendering but the audience’s spontaneous applause at her near-perfect performance.

I think about the fall, to a TED talk that I asked my students to listen to: Chimanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Dangers of a Single Story,” which became a theme for our reading of her novel, Purple Hibiscus, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Students used this notion of a “single story” in a variety of ways, cross-pollinating between texts, thinking about who “writes history” or “her story”.

How crucial it is to hear many voices.

I take my students to each show in the Foster Gallery, Nobles’ remarkably curated gallery space. First, we spend 10 minutes looking at the work, reacting, talking quietly among ourselves. Then I give them an assignment. It could be: Read the artists’ statements. It could be: Choose a work that has the most “energy” for you and use it as a prompt for a very short scene or story. It could be: What are the themes in the artists’ works? Expand. It is crucial for us to move outside of our classroom into the eclectic worlds presented to us in that precious space. We bring our journals. We take in the voices, the quiet, the light, the color.

Teaching should be full of surprises. I should like myself when I am in the room with my students. I want to be growing, always, as I nudge my students deeper into a text, encouraging their independence, their confidence, their ability to listen and to contribute articulately and pointedly. And I want them to know about the world in which all of this literature finds greater meaning.

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—VICKY SEELEN, ENGLISH FACULTY

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JESSICA LEE ’01

K I M YA C H A R L E S A N D C O L E T T E F I N L E Y

Debunking Stereotypes

We Have Volleyball

When Jessica Lee ’01 first started working at the Representation Project, one of her new coworkers joked that she finally got to be a “professional feminist.” But while the mission of the Representation Project is to raise awareness around the damaging effects of gender stereotypes, Lee notes that she has always approached her career with a “gender lens,” whether supporting social entrepreneurs at Ashoka, finding and cultivating talented social sector professionals at New Sector Alliance, or pursuing her MBA at Kellogg in Chicago.

“My interest in social justice was sparked at Nobles,” she says, “and that definitely included gender equality.” Today, Lee works to distribute the Representation Project’s films to hundreds of nonprofits and leading corporations to advance the discussion on gender stereotypes.

She is currently working on a project about boys, men and the constructs of masculinity, and will continue to look for opportunities to continue the conversation around gender.

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— GREG CROAK ’06

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FIRST PROM KING AND QUEEN NAMED

Jeanne Hilsinger ’76 and Ake Lindstrom ’76. While the regal tradition did not endure, the crowns are timeless.

The seed was planted in spring 2011. Middle School Dean Colette Finley and I knew that we were onto something, but we could not have predicted the trajectory this idea would take.

We stumbled upon our common love of volleyball during the New Orleans service trip. Recognizing that we both had played in high school, we reminisced about the fun we had, the friends we made and the impact the experience had on both of us. We felt that there absolutely was a place for volleyball at Nobles and proposed the idea to Director of Athletics Alex Gallagher ’90 in June. While Alex focused on the in-house logistics and liaised with the other Independent School League (ISL) athletic directors, our vision came into focus. As we spoke to students and faculty, the buzz of possibly starting a volleyball team spread throughout the campus.

But it was not until January 2013 that we got the news we’d been anticipating. Volleyball would become an official ISL sport, and Nobles would be able to field the first team in school history.

More than 50 girls showed up to our opening meeting and, while there was enthusiasm in spades, we quickly learned that the girls didn’t have much experience with the sport, though some of them are star athletes in basketball, softball and ice hockey. So some committed portions of their summer break to attend local volleyball camps to develop their basic skills. As first-time varsity coaches, we also attended a coaching clinic led by some of the best minds in the college-level game.

Before we knew it, preseason practices were upon us. Twentyeight eager faces stood before us in Rappaport Gym. The next three weeks were spent selecting our team, building the program culture, and teaching our team the basics of the game. We had no illusions about it: The ensuing two months would be frustrating, invigorating, exhausting and inspiring. But we couldn’t help but imagine the possibilities that lay ahead of us.

The nerves and excitement during our first matches were palpable, and the support the home crowds offered energized the group. Amid the losses that came, the girls rallied around one another to offer encouragement and to recognize the improvements made each day. Those hard times brought the girls closer and imbued our team with resilience and pride.

The 2013 season ended on a string of avenged losses, a sixmatch winning streak that brought our overall record to 8–8. The record, however, was hardly as important as what we as a team had accomplished.

As the 2014 season approached, we considered how we would manage the increasing expectations—real or perceived—on us.

In September, we came storming out of the gate with five straight wins, and with each match, we committed to our continued learning, development and improvement. Our motto was “Point by point.

19 Match by match.” We couldn’t help it, though; visions of postseason play danced in our heads.

The last week of the season was finally upon us, and we found ourselves locked in two close battles: first, with Milton and St. Paul’s atop the ISL, and second, with Governor’s in our New England Prep School class. While a share of the ISL title was not in the cards for us, we took great pride in not only making it to the postseason but also entering the pool as the No. 1 seed. With a 15–4 record, our feeling going forward was that the matches we played were a bonus; we’d proven ourselves as viable contenders in the ISL and NEPSAC. The tournament started off with a rematch with an ISL foe, and we earned the win by playing some of our best volleyball up to that point. We then won our next game, which was enough to stamp our ticket to the finals. On that gray Sunday afternoon in Wilbraham, Mass., in truly dramatic fashion, we traded hardfought sets with our opponent to force a deciding fifth set. Momentum was on our side from the middle of the fourth set straight through to the last point. As the opponent’s attack sailed beyond our endline and out of bounds, our fate for the 2014 season was sealed. We were the New England Prep School Athletic Council Class B Volleyball Champions.

Who knows what next season will bring? We are still a work in progress. For the time being, however, we are riding the incredible high that the past two years have brought us and using that energy to usher in the 2015 season and its possibilities.

—KIMYA CHARLES, COLLEGE COUNSELOR, VARSITY VOLLEYBALL COACH

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20 On the Radio LULU MILLER ’01

What would happen if you could “turn off” fear? How do categories define us, and why do we crave them?

These are among the dazzling questions Lulu Miller ’01 explores in her new NPR series, Invisibilia. The NPR Science desk reporter and former Radiolab producer, with co-host Alix Spiegel, seeks to uncover “the intangible forces that shape human behavior—like ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions.” Blending scientific research with personal

narratives, they challenge listeners to re-examine their own lives.

Miller and Spiegel, admirers of each other’s work for NPR, realized that the unifying thread connecting the stories that captivated them was literally something they couldn’t put their finger on. The abstract, psychological factors influencing human experience and interaction are the basis for Invisibilia.

New Yorker correspondent Sarah Larson writes about the rise of the

VA N E S S A C E S A R ’ 0 3

Standing Up to Challenge podcast and how audio journalism adds depth and artistry to storytelling.

“Emotion, that wonderful and nefarious invisible force, is a powerful part of entertaining journalism of the NPR variety. And it’s tied to our love of both storytelling and neuroscience. We want answers and advice; we want things to make sense. On Invisibilia, they often do.”

—KIM NEAL

Follow Miller on Twitter @lmillernpr

CP [Chris Pasterczyk] always told fabulous stories in her physics class.

The problems we had to solve—about friction, wave-particle divides, gravity— I always had a great drawing or premise. She instilled in me a love of science fiction that is actually nonfiction. That was the beginning of the realization that magic can happen on earth. I tried, for a moment, to follow in CP’s footsteps. I took one physics class in college and quietly failed my way into a different profession where I still got to think about this stuff. Mr. Carey. His insane compassion for all us cranky and confused souls. Felt like there was a father watching out for us. And also his extremely good teaching: dissection of plot, his comments on our stories. Mr. Dorsey. The Swayzes. David Roane. GOD BLESS THE ART TEACHERS! GOD BLESS THE ART WING! It felt like this hallowed space where we could MAKE. We could turn off the analytical sides and will clay into pots. David Roane, the best drawing teacher in the world, taught me about blind drawing (drawing without ever looking at the paper) and how the shapes and lines were more pure if you just let them be, without constantly checking in. And last, but not least, SHEERAN. He brought French to life, but perhaps most important to me was his coaching. Ushering all us little overworked stressed perfectionists into the woods for some air, some running. It was the beautiful counterpoint to all the academics.”

—LULU MILLER ’01

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Vanessa Cesar ’03 is a tax consultant at Deloitte in Atlanta—a great job, but not unusual except for Cesar’s tenacity in earning the position. Getting to Nobles was a challenge, too, as was completing her bachelor’s degree in the midst of family challenges.

Cesar was attending a parochial middle school in Boston when a family friend told her about Dana Hall in Wellesley, Mass. Cesar was determined to go, knowing she wanted more of a challenge, but she was undermined when a nun at her school refused to complete recommendations, asserting that Cesar’s family couldn’t afford the tuition. “She said I was a good student—but I would never make it.” So Cesar instead went to Trinity Catholic High School.

“My basketball coach, John Depasquale, coached my older sister and was a family friend,” Cesar said.

Depasquale told me that [Nobles faculty member and former basketball coach] Michael Herring had been asking about good players who were also good students.

“Once I looked into Nobles, I knew this was the place for me,” Cesar said.

“It was what I had always wanted in an education.

“At Nobles, I learned to keep an open mind and the importance of building relationships. Meeting Betsy VanOot, and having the opportunity to learn from her, truly changed things for me. She helped me to not just see things for what they are but what they could maybe be also. I had found something that made me feel like I had a place at the school.

My art began to speak for me in ways I could never imagine.” Cesar said that other art teachers also supported her development—and that faculty members Sheila McElwee, Kate Coon, and Ben and Sarah Snyder changed her life.

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After Nobles, Cesar set out to pursue the art she’d learned to love, starting classes at the Museum of Fine ArtsBoston, interning at Sotheby’s and even doing a stint with CityYear. Soon, much of the family moved to Georgia and Cesar transferred to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Soon after the move, Cesar’s mother became seriously ill, and Cesar was overwhelmed by full-time caregiving and academic demands. She took a break.

While caring for her mother, Cesar worked for the Internal Revenue Service and found that she liked it. When, several years later, her family commitments had eased, she wanted to return to school but needed advice. She reconnected with former longtime college counselor Kate Coon, who helped her navigate the process and pick up studies at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State. There, Cesar won recognition as an outstanding scholar.

Cesar credits Coon with helping her return to school successfully. “It’s funny because nothing in my life has really been linear. I went to two elementary schools, two high schools, three colleges with CityYear and time off in between all that.

So I’ve bounced around a bit, but each

experience played a valuable part in the person I am today.

“Something good always comes out of something that challenges you.” She said that Ben Snyder told her about CityYear when she learned that she was accepted to Rhode Island School of Design—but that she didn’t get the necessary financial aid. “Because of my family situation, I have never really been able to call on my parents for help—I never wanted to add to their stress. I have always been independent, but during times of true need, Ben and Sarah Snyder were the ones I was always able to reach out to for guidance, advice or other support. Without them—and my boyfriend and my family always having confidence in me—I would not be where I am today.”

Cesar said that her myriad experriences helped her better understand her strengths and weaknesses. Now, she says, she just wants to find mental, physical and emotional happiness. “I’ve dealt with so much adversity throughout my life that I look forward to reaching that goal.

They say it takes an immense amount of pressure to create a diamond, and that’s how I view the struggles I have faced and continue to face. Ever since I was a child, nothing came easy for my family.

We struggled financially and I’ve always worked hard to get what I needed. The twists and turns I faced have shaped me.

Even when things seemed impossible, at the end of the journey, I always learned something from it.”

She credits her faith in God for making so much possible. She also hopes, she said, to reach a level of success that allows her to provide support to young minorities who just need a helping hand to make it.

“I’ve learned the importance of having a support system, and I look forward to being that for others.”

—HEATHER SULLIVAN

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HELENA JENSEN ’17

Talks Feminism Students for Gender Awareness (SGA) was officially incorporated into the Nobles community on October 23, 2014. Prior to giving a nerve-racking inaugural presentation in assembly, I worked for months to figure out the best way to address the need for more conversations around gender, feminism, sexism and gender-based stereotypes. I met with teachers, administrators and older students to strengthen my ideas. We put care and time into developing the framework for the group because we want it to become a fundamental force within this community. We want to be creative, unique and progressive enough to make everyone interested in talking about gender dynamics. We want it to be safe to express yourself but also provocative. I don’t necessarily want everyone nodding their heads in agreement when we discuss issues. I hope that some people will be shaking their heads and asking hard questions.

The mission of the new group: “Students for Gender Equity Awareness (SGEA) strives to promote awareness about gender stereotypes and create a gender-positive culture within the greater Nobles community.” Two of the most loaded words in the American language are “feminist” and “feminism,” and I’m interested in helping reclaim those words. Talking about gender inequality is still relatively taboo in American culture. One of the most important long-term goals I have for this organization is to cultivate an environment where caring about the ways gender impacts our lives is not only accepted, but encouraged. Sexism in contemporary culture is not always overt—but its effects are still real.

Coincidentally, in the past 12 months, feminist movements in pop culture and advertisements have garnered attention— the No More campaign and the Throw Like a Girl campaign. Many say we are in the fourth wave of feminism. Nobles has been coeducational for only 40 years. When I came to Nobles, I expected there to be a group like this. We have come a long way, but there is still room for conversation and improvement. This subject is always going to be something I care deeply about. I don’t think that I will major in gender studies, but if I’m in business, I’ll find ways to emphasize that these issues are important. If I’m a writer, my writing will include related content.

My hope is that in my next two years at Nobles, SGA can set the stage for 40 more years of students who strive to be advocates for change, equality and respect.

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NEGAR ALIABADI ’96

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On the Front Lines

What is courage? More often than not we find it portrayed in images of men packing up and leaving home to dodge bullets and bombs on battlefields.

But what other word would you use to describe what it takes for men and women to pack up and leave the safety of home to fight a deadly disease?

Negar Aliabadi, works today as part of a volunteer force in West Africa fighting the spread of the Ebola virus, a disease that has taken more than 9,500 lives since its outbreak in 2013.

Her decision to volunteer in the fight has roots in her time at Nobles.

“When I think back, I remember the impact of the community service we did and the emphasis it gave in looking at the world outside beyond Nobles, thinking beyond the small community” she says. For Aliabadi, community service meant teaching English to refugees from Uganda and the genocide in Rwanda. Teaching meant listening, too, and learning the life stories of the people she met. “I remember so well asking one of them

about his family, and his telling me they had all been killed.”

Her route to medicine was not direct, though. An art history major in college, she worked first for three years in France with a team excavating 13th-century artifacts. Though she loved the work, she felt she needed more, a field in which “problem solving meant finding solutions for people with not a lot of choices.”

That realization brought her back to Boston, to Tufts Medical School, a Schweitzer Fellowship, work at the Boston Medical Center, and again volunteer work, this time at Rosie’s Place, a women’s shelter, and in Nicaragua.

Later she would move on to New York, to Columbia’s Mellman School of Public Health, and work at Bellevue Hospital, the nation’s oldest public hospital, whose commitment to serving illegal immigrants, refugees and the indigent fit well with Aliabadi’s priorities and her growing interest in fighting the spread of infectious diseases.

Aliabadi would eventually find herself in Washington, D.C., working for the Centers for Disease Control. When the call went out for volunteers to go to West Africa to assist in what had become a major public health crisis, she volunteered.

Today in Guinea-Conarky, Aliabadi’s working day begins at 7 a.m. and ends 14 to 18 hours later. Her typical day involves meetings, training sessions, clinics, strategy meetings and visits to the field, along with sessions with nurses.

Friends and family, at first wary, have come to know that the staff work with every possible protection. Visions of life in other countries are often skewed, she thinks. Her own experience, as a child of 8 leaving Iran in the ’80s, stays with her. She returns there every few years, visiting extended family and sharing stories. “It’s not the place the media seem to present it to be to me. It’s all very normal. It’s where I spend time with my family.”

—KEVIN BOWEN

—HELENA JENSEN ’17

PHOTO BY ADAM KOMICH

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25 The Taste of Opportunity G I TA K A N T R O W ’ 0 7

Puckett (sixth from left) with her group of Caritas high school volunteers in Ruse

HANNAH PUCKETT

A National Narrative Hannah Puckett visibly lights up at the mention of the Ottoman Empire.

Puckett, who teaches History of the Human Community (HHC) and AP European History at Nobles, can’t wait to talk about her favorite period of Turkish history. “There are so many connections to contemporary topics. The HHC curriculum emphasizes that to understand current conflicts, we need to draw out the stories, starting from the seeds of those conflicts to today.”

Puckett’s own story includes more travel and learning in the past several years than some have experienced in a lifetime. A high-school teacher passionate about Balkan history first sparked her interest in the region. After attending Trinity University in Texas, she taught for a year in Shanghai, but couldn’t resist the pull of the Balkans. A Fulbright teach-ing position in Bulgaria deepened her fascination with its history. “I’m

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especially interested in the stories about Bulgarian history under the Ottoman Empire and the efforts they make to create their own identity,” she says. “There is a tendency to emphasize their Christianity and Europeanness, and de-emphasize their time under Ottoman rule.”

Puckett’s work in Bulgaria carried beyond the classroom. She worked for Caritas-Ruse, a Catholic organization dedicated to improving the lives of Northern Bulgarians through community-building projects, such as educational programs for Turkish and Roma children and public awareness campaigns about the region’s human trafficking. In 2014, she returned to help start a nongovernmental organization called Centre Nadja, which supports women and children who suffer from domestic violence and other abuse. She and a Bulgarian friend organized a summer camp for

children, many of whose mothers are victims of human trafficking.

In September 2014, Puckett completed her master’s from the New York University Center for European and Mediterranean Studies. In January, the esteemed European University Institute (EUI) selected her thesis, “Narrating the Nation: Nationalist Discourse on the Muslim Presence in Bulgaria,” for the Marc Bloch Prize. Her thesis explores the ways in which national narratives about Bulgaria’s history under Ottoman rule influenced relations between Bulgarians and their Muslim minorities during socialism. Puckett shares the honor with Edgar Pereira of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Hers was one of 79 applications in 12 different languages, representing 24 different nationalities.

This April, she’ll accept the award and present a talk to EUI faculty in Florence.

Reflecting on a speckled career journey that included a design firm and an online learning startup, Gita Kantrow ’07 felt unfulfilled and was planning her next move. Her boyfriend posed, “You love cooking. Why don’t you do that?” That was the launchpad for her culinary career.

Kantrow, who left rural Nepal for New England to live with her adoptive family in Lincoln, Mass., when she was only 9, says, “I came back to cooking, the thing that helped me learn language and immerse myself in the culture of my new home country when I arrived. It’s always been something I love and have found comforting. I just never thought it could be my career.”

After exhaustive research and navigating lots of red tape, she launched Kantrow Catering in 2013. Although she has successfully carried off large events at Harvard Law and Mass Art, her favorite assignments are more intimate meals that allow her space to play. She remembers a client who asked her to prepare a

Russian meal. “I had never cooked Russian food before, but did my research and taught myself how,” she says. “Then I put my own spin on it. You have to own it.”

Back in 2007, the year Kantrow graduated, she appeared in the Nobles Bulletin as a featured senior profile. Even then, she was helping rural Nepalese women by selling holistic beauty products they made and sending them the profits. During a visit to Nepal after graduation, she was frustrated by the lack of educational opportunities for girls. She wanted to help keep girls in school, where they would have a better chance to become financially independent, rather than resort to premature marriage.

Kantrow has established a scholarship to help Nepalese girls gain those footholds. She is also involved with a young nongovernmental organization called Smile Nepal, which seeks to improve the welfare of street children in Kathmandu.

“Girls in Nepal don’t even know what’s available to them outside of their experience, so they can’t even dream about it,”

she says. “Once you taste freedom and opportunity, you want and expect a lot more. That’s what I want for them. That’s what I had.”

—KIM NEAL

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Nobles was, hands down, the four best years of my education. That counts college, that counts law school. I came from public school, and Nobles was so vastly different. People put in the time and effort outside the classroom. It just made a total difference to me in learning how to think for myself, how to write, and how to express myself. For me, Nobles was just an incredible formative time in my life with people who made a huge difference. It set me up for the rest of my life.

—KIM NEAL

—KURT SOMERVILLE ’75

PHOTO COURTESY OF HANNAH PUCKETT

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DEB HARRISON

Recollections from the Gleason Years For those of you who don’t know me, I teach a few biology courses in the science department and coach squash, and I am here to share a few recollections from the Gleason years. So let’s turn back the calendar just a tiny bit: THE DATE:

Late March 1981

THE VENUE: ESG’s office THE EVENT: A job interview for a position in the Nobles science

department A young teacher from Pomfret School, whose colleague, Charlie Putnam, had encouraged her to think about an opening at Nobles. The candidate was me.

THE CANDIDATE:

The interview conversation that day unfolded as it probably had for others before me. A little bit of airtime was given to the nuts and bolts of teaching biology, advising kids, dorm duty, and coaching squash and lacrosse. The rest of our chat, however, meandered through other topics, mostly about connections to people, mostly involving stories.

We enjoyed comparing notes about traveling: My trip to Scotland for a few weeks with Pomfret students had ended just several days before I set foot in Ted’s office and was the catalyst for Ted to share the story of his memorable trip years before, driving through Scotland with his sister, Persis.

Further into our chat, Ted lit right up upon mention of my upcoming summer job at Exeter, and that triggered more conversation and more stories. I learned that there were quite a few Nobles-Pomfret connections and secretly hoped I’d end up being one of them.

By some stroke of luck a few weeks later, a good old-fashioned letter arrived via snail mail. Within it was my first Nobles contract.

My Nobles journey officially began about five months later during an annual ritual known as a faculty retreat, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Neophyte that I was, the concept of a faculty retreat was foreign to me, but what was readily apparent on day one was the value placed on collegial time together, that my new boss placed a high priority on the notion of community and family, and that this was a warm, welcoming place. Oh, yes, and I realized that I’d need to learn the words to a song called “God Is Love.”

Memorable from those six years in which my tenure overlapped with Ted’s headship were many other moments that reinforced that community and family ethic. The Gleasons’ house in its new loca-

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tion now sits next to my house on campus. As I walk by their house each day during my commute to and from school, I fondly recall the warm welcome extended by Anne Gleason when she and Ted hosted numerous faculty events in that very same white house.

On occasion, Ted would drop in and visit a class that was underway—he loved being in the classroom, loved teaching, and placed high value on the relationships that developed between students and teachers.

We were referred to by our initials back then—ESG was especially interested in middle initials as well as middle names. I suspect that a number of present and past faculty members in this room can still rattle off the initials of many of their colleagues from those days. I know I can.

Whenever the wisdom of ESG was shared, its focus on caring for others resonated and stuck with me. Ted communicated loudly and clearly the importance of passionate commitment to the school’s mission, passion for one’s subject matter, for the magic and growth that happen in a classroom or through athletics or service or the arts, passion for being with and understanding kids, and for making a genuine commitment to the community that Ted referred to as a family.

As I settled in and came to know the story of my new school, I learned more about Ted’s role in its coeducation. That mattered a

PHOTO BY KIM NEAL

lot to me. You see, as Ted and Nobles welcomed girls into the upper school in the fall of 1974, my own senior year of high school was also beginning, elsewhere. As a graduate of a previously all-male college that had pretty recently taken the plunge into coeducation, also not long after Title IX was passed, and as Pomfret’s very first female science teacher, this stuff was important to me.

In September of my second year here, coeducation became a reality for the Nobles middle school, another important step for Nobles led by Ted. A memorable point on this school’s timeline, it was the moment when a dynamic, bright, talented new member of Class V named Beth Reilly first found her seat in a morning assembly in this space and began her Nobles career. Who knew then that today she’d be Bob Henderson’s boss?

There are 11 current faculty members whom Ted hired, who are still teaching, coaching, and working with kids in numerous other capacities at Nobles. According to my humble calculations, that’s over 360 collective years of service to the school—over 360 years of weaving and strengthening those threads of what Ted stood for and hoped for, in the vital fabric of this community, honoring his timeless legacy.

THESE REMARKS ARE EXCERPTED FROM DEB HARRISON’S SPEECH HONORING THE LIFE OF FORMER HEADMASTER TED GLEASON AT A SEPTEMBER 13, 2014, EVENT IN LAWRENCE AUDITORIUM.

L I S A C O LT

Imagination and Compassion Lisa Colt was wooed from Dedham Country Day School to Nobles in 1973 in anticipation of the arrival of young women a year later. An art teacher by training and a student counselor by proclivity, in many ways she was the successor to Laura Putnam (see profile, p32).

Colt was hired by Head of School Ted Gleason to teach conventional art (painting and drawing), but she expanded her portfolio to satisfy the musings and meanderings of her creative mind.

Her imagination obviously knew no bounds. One of her most popular courses was called “Art Without Boundaries.” One assignment asked students to “make a futile object that would both tempt and frustrate the user.” A student in the Class of 1981 stuffed Crayola crayons into a cigarette box.

For an oversubscribed workshop during February Week on “Death and Dying,” students read books such as The Sorrows of Young Werther and wrote on the subject. The culminating event was a sleepover in the graveyard behind St. Paul’s Church in Dedham, replete with additional appropriate readings and lanterns for warmth and lighting.

Two of her biggest proponents to this day were members of the Class of 1976: Head of School Bob Henderson and Ralph Wales, head of the Gordon School in Providence, R.I., which he described as “The Lisa Colt Vision School, a place where children will grow and thrive.”

—JOYCE ELDRIDGE

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M I C H E L E D U FA U LT ’ 0 7 ( 1 9 8 8 – 2 0 1 1 )

Her Stories

The stories are many. I could tell you that in second grade her word of the day was bioluminescence, and it was. I could tell you that in fourth grade, she could not write fiction because everything she read about the natural world, for example, she just remembered. She claimed she had no imagination, but she was wrong. I could tell you that in 10th grade she wrote a paper in an advanced French Literature course on a poem by Charles Baudelaire, read by a visiting teacher from France who was a grader for the French baccalaureat. When she kept insisting it was so perfect it had to be plagiarism, I told the teacher that it was an in-class write, and it was. I could tell you she volunteered at New England Village, a center for developmentally challenged adults, putting in Herculean hours, and they are logged. I could tell you she played tenor saxophone and was cocaptain of two varsity teams, and she led by example. Finally, I could tell you that for her senior project, she built a telescope to go beyond and see the stars. All true. She is Michele Dufault.

Paraphrasing a comment made by a colleague, she upended all norms, she was universally lauded, her quantitative skills were equaled by her verbal ones, and her science was on par with her humanism. However, with all this excellence, it was her modesty that stood out. In a time when people are always seeking applause and affirmation, Michele just went about doing all she loved in a self-effacing manner, wishing there were 25 hours in a day. And, yes, there are many more stories to tell.

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—MARK SHEERAN, MODERN LANGUAGES

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BROOKE ASNIS ’90

Choosing Challenge Brooke Asnis ’90 chalks up her high school success at Nobles to the support of adults who demanded her best.

“Advisors, coaches and teachers are all looking for ways to make kids more visible within the school community, and encouraging them to expand their interests.” She remembers in Bill Bussey’s biography class her junior year, when he told her she was every bit the writer as a classmate she admired academically. It forever changed her perception of her own abilities.

Asnis received a bachelor’s in modern European history and a master’s in education from Harvard, and worked in their admission office. She also taught at the Chapin School prior to working in graduate affairs at Nobles.

“Coming back to work here, I was excited about the opportunities for growth.

Nobles challenged me as a kid, but even more as an adult.”

In fall 2014, Asnis joined the admission team, where she thrives on interaction with students, tour guides and families. Her message: “You are never changing so much as you are during the 4-6 years you’re at Nobles; this place nurtures you during that pivotal time.” She marvels at the “poise and confidence” students gain from freshman to senior year.

Years of working with graduates also gives Asnis appreciation for some of the longer term benefits of coeducation. “We’ve benefited so much from having an active community of female volunteers who are connected to each other, within a larger group of graduates. Through my work with fellow women graduates, I have met close friends and been inspired by incredible women doing amazing things with their lives. ” She herself is co-chairing Nobles’ sesquicentennial celebration in 2016, advising students, teaching Personal Development, and being a mom and coach to her own kids.

So what compels Asnis to continue to give so much of her heart and time to Nobles? While she was always loyal to the school, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, she says, “Nobles carried me. Even going through treatment, I continued to feel supported and challenged. Besides my family, there is no other community with whom I’m closer. ”

I Play Basketball I had to leave early from the theater that day in the fall of my Class IV year, when my fellow technicians asked why. I was still getting used to older kids asking me things, as I’d come from an all-girls middle school, where I was tall and awkward and redheaded and wasn’t asked many questions, or even spoken to by my peers, very regularly. I told them the truth: that I had basketball tryouts. “Varsity basketball?” they asked me incredulously. I shrugged my shoulders and confirmed, puzzled at their disbelief. It was just tryouts, I thought, as I emptied my pockets of 2 ½” drywall screws. I had met the coach the year before, when I visited the school to watch the girls basketball team take on an ISL opponent that promptly folded like an origami chair taking on too much weight under the might of Nobles’ starting five (the final score something like Nobles, 74, Other Team, 22), and had seen some of the returning players scattered over campus during the fall. My height, combined with my shock of red hair, created an effect like that of a beacon, so there was no chance of going unnoticed as I roamed the hallways between classes or on my way to the theater. By November, I heard it was known that I would be trying out for the team, though that fall I had barely interacted with any athletes. Rather than on the fields, my autumn afternoons were spent in the cool dark of the theater, digging through the bowels under the stage, looking for pieces of pipe or watching the seniors joke and dance around the stage as they built knee walls and wooden frames and deck pieces, or clutching the edge of the genie lift at 20 feet in the air as someone more adept at being up high adjusted a light fixture. I was certain I had found my tribe, and from the sounds of the boorish jeers my friends slung my way as I prepared to walk to the gym (the GYM, they mused, what it must be like at the GYM, where the OTHERS go to SPORTS), I couldn’t truly be a member of both.

My well-worn sneakers smelled like a snake had shed its skin inside of them and then went ahead and decided that that would be a good time and place to die, so I hoped that I would have time to lace up in the locker room—perhaps the farthest stall away from the sinks—before stepping out onto the court. My skin carried the mordant smell of dust and rust and the grease that comes on new saw blades, and as I stepped up to the baseline at the sound of the whistle, we didn’t begin to run, as I thought we would. Instead, Alex Gallagher ‘90, coach and athletic director, commanding an impenetrable silence, began to speak about how above all else, this team was a family. Regardless of wins or losses, every time you dive for a ball, every time you go up for a lay-up, every time you fight and claw and push yourself, you aren’t doing it for the win, you’re doing it for your team. You play your best because your teammates deserve the best from you, and they are out on the court giving you the same dedication and love that you’re giving them. Family is the

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most important thing, he said. More important than winning. More important than banners. We don’t win unless each person on this team believes that, he said. Now, up and back four times. Go. Alex Gallagher is the best coach that I have ever had. It isn’t because he has coached 12 straight ISL championship teams, or because the ISL team record in those 11 years is 130 wins, two losses. It isn’t because the girls have won the last four consecutive New England Class A Championships. He is the best coach I have ever had the honor to play for because he is the most articulate, empathetic, passionate, fearless, devoted person that I have ever met. When my grandfather passed away in 2007, he attended both the wake and the funeral. When I scored 1,000 points, he stepped out on the court, hugged me, said he loved me, and then to get back out there because we needed to finish the game. When I decided to forgo my decision to play basketball in college, he helped me call all the coaches I sent DVDs to tell them my decision. I still think about the exhilarating thrill I felt each time he gave a pregame speech. He came to every show I worked on in the fall and spring, and when, in the spring of my final year, I did my senior project—a 45-minute, one-woman show called “Bag Lady”—he brought the entire baseball team, in uniform, and made them sit in the front rows.

Before every big game, he sent me emails with subject lines like “As the Curtain Goes Up,” encouraging me to have confidence in myself because he believed in me, as did the entire team. He helped me realize that I didn’t have to choose between two separate tribes of people, between two vastly different things that I loved to do, and that the only thing that mattered was that I was passionate and dedicated and happy. The girls basketball program at Nobles has experienced staggering success under Alex Gallagher because he is a person who coaches a family, not a team.

—KELSEY LAWLER ’09

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the FABULOUS 40

E M I R A G J ATA ’ 0 0

Tiny—but Inside, a Giant Think “Tirana, Albania, 1993.” Think elfin 11-year-olds. Connect those two images to Nobles. Doesn’t quite compute? I thought not. But those references are the source of one of the most unusual student careers in Nobles history, a career that began when Ken Bader, a journalist for NPR, visited Albania on assignment to mentor journalists there just as that country was emerging from communism. The primary problems for Bader and the American contingent were housing and translation. Housing was offered by the Gjata family, who happened to have an 11-year-old daughter, Emira, who spoke some English. Primary problems solved.

When the stint in Albania was completed, Bader wanted to reward his young translator with a trip to America and Disney World. That trip morphed into Bader’s becoming Gjata’s American guardian (a way out of Albania for her) and, in turn, his role as guardian led him to Nobles to explore American private schools. It was one of those serendipitous moments when all the links in the chain clicked together: petite 11-year-old, slight

accent, hesitant vocabulary. Of course, Nobles would accept her. Nobles was charmed, Gjata was flattered, and six highly successful years began that fall.

Perhaps the secret to that success was embodied in a remark by one of Gjata’s Albanian friends: “She was so little, and she cared so much.” Gjata was “little” (One journalist observed, “She was tiny, but inside was a giant”), but the important idea was that she cared so much. She cared about excellence; she never wanted any of her work to be less than superlative. She had an outsider’s perspective and she wanted “inside.” And what Gjata wanted usually became reality.

Gjata threw herself into Nobles and America in general. The academic work came easily. She spoke Albanian, French, Italian and English (and has since added Spanish). She played a variety of sports (lacrosse, hockey, field hockey, crew) as if the athletic program were the proverbial candy store, established primarily for her to sample possibilities. She tried drama, was in a musical, organized charitable events.

She boarded and also lived with the family of a Nobles faculty member, Linda

[FROM A JUNE 18, 2007, STORY IN THE BOSTON GLOBE]

Sometimes I think back to how it started. What if [Bader] hadn’t lived in our apartment? If I hadn’t learned English? If Nobles didn’t accept me?

Sometimes it feels to me like it was destined.”

—EMIRA GJATA

48 Nobles SPRING 2015

Woodard. But her real secret was an ability to get along easily with her peers, and never to create antagonisms, never to appear focused on outdoing those peers (although she almost always did).

As if the barebones of this Cinderella story were not enough, four years later her parents won, against all odds, a lottery to obtain green cards, and they immigrated to Boston, bringing the family together and completing a kind of contemporary version of what the 19th century called the “American dream.”

She matriculated at Harvard—“the only American college her friends in Albania had ever heard of.” She then took a “gap year” interning back home in Albania; majored in economics in college because she loved “the policy implications”; entered investment banking; took a year off to travel the world; returned to finance and consulting; and, most recently, married last December.

At some point, Gjata summarized her worldview: “Chance, luck. . . . suddenly opportunity knocks; my parents taught me you have to be ready.” Gjata was ready and Nobles was the beneficiary.

32 —DICK BAKER

33 A Time of Transition

J O H N H O W E ’ 74 , P E T E R H O W E ’ 8 2 A N D S A M H O W E V E R H O V E K ’ 7 8

Though the Howe brothers (John ’74, Sam ’78, Peter ’82) never overlapped at Nobles, they spanned a period they call “a time of transition not only for Nobles, but for the whole country.” Now they’ve come together to honor their late parents through an unrestricted endowment fund to support teaching excellence and provide scholarship aid. A snapshot of their time at Nobles, from 1970–1982, in their own words:

I loved about Nobles was that you were encouraged to be on a team for three seasons and be in the musical. During the remembrance of Ted Gleason last fall, I realized that he thought out the extracurriculars very carefully. Making The Nobleman a strong, independent quality publication was very important to him. One of our reasons for establishing the fund is that Nobles was so formative for each of us— not only for our educations, but also our vocations. (Editor’s note: John works in alternative energy; Sam and Peter are both journalists.)

John: My class was the last all-male class. I entered a school of 220 boys—probably not terribly different than the school one might have encountered in 1945. During my sophomore year, Ted Gleason arrived, and the trustees decided that the school needed to be competitive in the changing landscape of secondary schools. Our family lived through the era of schools transitioning from single-sex to coed. [My older brother] Harry was in the final all-male class at Phillips Exeter Academy. Our sister Sylvia graduated from Concord Academy in the last all-girls class. I graduated with the last all-male class at Nobles and entered Amherst College the last year it was all male. My class coincided with the Nixon era, so it was also an extraordinarily transitional time for the whole country.

Peter: I came through Nobles when it had the strengths of a boys’ school with girls in it. Our parents attached incredible value to education. My dad went to Exeter, Harvard and Harvard Law. Mom graduated from Smith in 1946 and worked for The Boston Herald Traveler before she started having kids. I didn’t appreciate this at the time, but she was just the classic example of a brilliant woman who, if she’d been born 40 years later, would have had an incredible professional career in journalism. She had such brilliance, grace, strength and talents that she channeled into bringing up five kids.

We’ve always talked about the great family dinner table conversations that we had with our parents. It was their love of Nobles and support of Nobles that was really of a piece with the values they held, for all of us to be as well educated as we could be. Of all the gifts our parents gave us, our Nobles education is at the very top of the list. When I’ve come to speak to students, I ask them to appreciate the fact that Nobles is a small place where one can accomplish very big things.

Sam: John entered a school with clear 19th-century roots. By the time Peter graduated, it was a school that was zooming on all cylinders for the 21st century. It’s remarkable when you think of the process of becoming coeducational—the evolution of the physical plant, what was taught here, the extracurriculars. One of the things

—KIM NEAL

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John Gifford ’86, Beth Reilly ’87 and Hutch Hutchinson ’77. Hutchinson taught science while Gifford and Reilly were teaching fellows.

B E T H R E I L LY ’ 8 7

Reflections on Nobles I vividly remember when I applied to Nobles. I was very happy in the Needham public schools, and for a variety of rea-sons, including Proposition 2 ½’s passage, my parents wanted me to look at independent schools. I was very reluctant to go.

I sat in the interview with Ned Bigelow, who was then the co-director of admission, and he asked why I wanted to come to Nobles. I said I didn’t want to come to Nobles. Ned asked me why, and I explained to him that I was really happy with my friends, I loved where I was, and I had dreamed of growing up and playing for the Needham Rockets.

My parents were making me do this.

Ned pivoted and engaged me in a really nice conversation that took the pressure off of me. It was shocking—especially shocking later, when I worked on admission committees at Nobles and came to appreciate the competitiveness of the process that I actually got in, despite that interview.

I probably was aided by the fact that I was applying for eighth grade

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in the first year of coeducation in the middle school. Maybe I got lucky that Nobles could be a little less choosy at the time. But I got in a big battle with my parents, who said I had to try it for a year. If I didn’t like it—if I really didn’t like it—I could go back to Needham.

I got a letter over the summer to come to soccer preseason tryouts. I’d been assigned a big sister who was in the senior class and who, by coincidence, was on the soccer team and would be at those tryouts. From the first moment on the first day of soccer preseason, I just fell in love with the place and the people.

Besides the incredible friendships I have made, one thing that I value about my association with Nobles—particularly in my previous role as a faculty member and coach, and now, as a board member— is the school’s resistance to complacency and the desire to grow. We’re not afraid to push ourselves to get better.

That doesn’t mean simply more achievement—because I think achievement is tricky. It’s “Can we meet our mission better?” And that means

not just from statistical measures and data points, but examining the values. Are graduates becoming leaders for the public good? What is their intellectual engagement and their sense of connection to others?

I have been asked about being the first woman to lead the board, but I don’t consciously think about it until someone reminds me of it. I’m aware of it—but in my world [law], there are plenty of female leaders, and when I think of Nobles, I certainly think of female leaders. I appreciate that my role is a milestone. We’ve been very fortunate with the leaders we’ve had on the board and at the school, that they value all perspectives and have a sensitivity to details like when we schedule meetings—how that affects people with child care responsibilities, which are increasingly shared by both men and women.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about our differentiators. As a graduate and as an educator, I believe Nobles does a phenomenal job of preparing its students to be excellent speakers and

presenters. They get used to speaking to adults and in front of groups. They learn to read a room, to listen with respect, and to engage as a contributing member of a small or a large group.

I think these skills are going to be at a premium, and there will be a shortage of them as we see more and more people communicating without actually making eye contact and being in someone else’s presence. [Students] learn to read body language largely because of the work we do in our classrooms and in assembly and as a community to make sure we’re paying attention to each other’s feelings. I’m really intrigued by how we can seize an opportunity to equip our kids to be excellent leaders because they’re comfortable communicating human to human.

At Nobles, we have this nice tradition where the current and past presidents of the board get together for lunch in the spring. When we got together last May, all of the living previous heads and I were there, and we talked about the decision to coeducate. I’m sure they were met with deep opposition about how we would be changing the core identity of the school and the fundamental aspects of our mission.

Their foresight and courage in making that decision is extraordinary.

I’m amazed at the degree to which we had the right people at the right time, the right heads of the board and the right heads of school, to achieve coeducation as successfully as we have.

I hope there’s a way to honor what has been done. We have emerged as an unbelievably impressive institution largely because of that decision.

As told to Heather Sullivan, director of communications during a recent interview. Board president Beth Reilly ’87 is a partner at WilmerHale in Boston; her practice there focuses on intellectual property litigation. Reilly is a wife and mother and leader. Prior to her career in law, she taught and coached at Nobles, serving as history department chair and varsity soccer and softball coach.

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ALICIA SIMONI ’97

Healing Women Worldwide

Alicia Simoni ’97 turned 25 in Kabul. After graduating from Johns Hopkins, an unpaid internship at a small international women’s rights nonprofit in Washington, D.C., evolved into working in Afghanistan on women’s rights awareness. Simoni pursued a master’s in peace studies, focusing on gender issues in the aftermath of war and conflict, “specifically, ensuring that women’s unique needs were met,” explains Simoni. “That their voices were heard, and that they were actively and equally involved in the process of rebuilding communities and societies after war.”

Simoni worked abroad—including stretches in Europe and Africa—learning the power of an empathetic ear. “I spent countless hours listening as men and women in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Uganda discussed the horror of witnessing a child’s murder or the terror of beatings meted out by rebel soldiers or at the hands of a husband. I observed an obvious positive effect when individuals had the opportunity to share their stories and their suffering, to see and be seen by another,” reflects Simoni.

Simoni switched from macrolevel peace-building to micro, and she now works as a psychotherapist, helping individuals find peace after trauma. “I find people compelling, particularly the ways people confront, struggle with, and grow from tragedy, loss and violence. It is this interest that initially led me into peace studies and ultimately to social work,” she says.

Simoni loves witnessing the resilience of individuals. She herself is resilient: When Simoni was 10 years old, her mother was murdered in Walpole, Mass., resulting in an unresolved case. “I felt unmoored after losing my mom,” says Simoni. “Finding ways to be in community with other women, to help other women, and to address women’s concerns has helped me immensely in my own healing process.”

She began healing at Nobles. Erika Guy and Maura Sullivan’s “pizza group”—a support group for students who have lost loved ones—was one of the only places she discussed her mother’s death: “Having this space was profoundly important for me and I think played a part in how I carried that loss inside of me and was able to allow it to impact me in transformative ways,” says Simoni. She is grateful to Nobles for the emotional support she received from both students and teachers. “During a time in my life when I was particularly vulnerable, I felt like each of them in their own way was looking out for me. I felt like they truly cared, and I really needed that.”

—E.B. BARTELS ’06

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36 LAURA NELSON ’07

A Scholar in Full I grew up thinking that being appointed a Rhodes Scholar was slightly more prestigious than being elected President of the United States (though some may manage both). As a college senior, I thought briefly of applying to be one myself, then smacked myself down for myopia. More recently, I was able to live vicariously: My former student Laura Nelson ’07 had been elevated to apotheosis; she was headed to Oxford.

By the time her appointment came, however, I wasn’t all that surprised. She had managed weeks of interviews and essays four years earlier to become a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia, had “walked on” to a Division I

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field hockey team, had earned national press coverage by organizing a series of “flash seminars” that elevated the academic climate at UVA, and had become a significant marketing symbol for the college so that admission types would crow to prospective freshmen, “Well, our former student Laura Nelson managed….[followed by a range of different accomplishments].” So a Rhodes? Nothing special. At present, she’s pursuing a doctorate at Harvard in American Studies focusing on problems with contemporary education. She may well be the individual who sorts out that quagmire.

At Nobles, Laura was a magical student, the kind that teachers love to work

with, but who comes along only occasionally in a career. She was, first and foremost, interested. Remarkably, she was interested in what I was interested in. She probably was interested in what each of her teachers was interested in.

Not only was she interested, but she was willing to work hard to master the bits of knowledge and skills I dished out. In class, she was someone who listened with a palpable sense of energy. She was always smart enough, but smarts were almost a minor part of the package. What earned her Jefferson and Rhodes recognition was the complete package—a mix of curiosity, enthusiasm, gregariousness, humility—a package fairly bursting with creative ideas.

The concept of “risk” (as in something that occasions fear or uncertainty) never seemed to exist for Laura, as if she ignored the scope of the stage on which she was acting. When she got something in her head, degree of difficulty vanished. Perhaps deep down she harbors nervousness or tentativeness, but it never surfaces.

There’s a simplicity and directness in the way she sees the world, a perseverance, a mental toughness of the kind that I find extraordinary. She eschews statements of personal truth in favor of questions; she wants to find out more.

She embodies a paradox: Her energy is ubiquitous, tasks are pursued with verve, but her ego is masked by a kind of Socratic belief that none of us knows the answer.

A perhaps inappropriate metaphor for her sense of focus: I recall watching her play field hockey. She had the ball and was advancing quickly on the opponent’s goal, advancing with a degree of determination that scared me for her safety. She’s a slight girl, and I’m a big individual, but if I had been opposing her on that field, I would have simply gotten out of her way. “Determined” doesn’t do her justice. Resolute? Purposeful?

Dauntless? Gritty? I don’t have the words, but I recognize the fierceness of her commitment to everything she does.

—DICK BAKER

PA M I N A G O R B A C H ’ 8 3

Fighting HIV at Home and Abroad While I talked with Pamina Gorbach ’83, a blizzard swirled outside my window.

Outside Gorbach’s window, it was 80 degrees and sunny. “I guess after almost 20 years I’m ready to call myself a Californian,” she laughed. Gorbach is a professor and researcher at the Fielding School of Public Health and David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. She had just returned from a week in Cambodia— with temperatures in the 90s—training students, professionals and leaders in HIV prevention. She has been working there since the height of their HIV epidemic in the mid-1990s.

Gorbach’s parents were her role models: Her father is an infectious disease physician and researcher at Tufts, and her mother worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Gorbach lived in Chestnut Hill during high school, though her family spent time in India, England, California and Chicago for her father’s research.

Initially, Gorbach wasn’t drawn to science. During her undergraduate years at Brown, she avoided those subjects.

After graduation, she spent a year in Peru, which sparked her decision to get a master’s in international health at Johns

Hopkins, followed by a DrPH at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

She researched women’s reproductive health, specifically sexually transmitted diseases. Then she became an Infectious Disease Fellow at the University of Washington and started studying HIV. King Holmes, Gorbach’s mentor at the University of Washington, felt, “You can’t just study disease. You need to see it.” In her training, she bridged clinical research training with epidemiology.

“Clinical sciences can’t really understand why somebody presents with a certain condition, how they acquired it, and how they can transmit it, without knowing the full context of a patient’s life,” says Gorbach. Yet behavioral science requires an understanding of the clinical context and biological outcomes to have the most public health impact. So Gorbach tried to integrate fields in her training, and continues to as a professor and researcher.

Gorbach has received grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study HIV and substance use. “The rate of HIV infection among minority men is way out of proportion in comparison to

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their size in the community,” states Gorbach, “and this can’t be explained by just behavior.” Recently she received funding for a research platform to study minority men who have sex with men in a cohort and storing biological and behavioral data in a repository. “We’re trying to create a broad wealth of information and data to contribute to scientific questions of today and those that will emerge in the future,” says Gorbach. Through studying the same men, Gorbach will be able to see how health disparities and HIV affect other infections, aging, chronic diseases and cancer.

While Gorbach may not have embraced science at Nobles, she fostered long-lasting friendships and learned the importance of getting outside every day. “I loved that we had to walk from the main school building to the Castle for lunch—rain, shine, snow or sleet,” says Gorbach, who remembers struggling down the icy path to the athletic center with her skis. “Those are memorable high school moments, and I think they make you tougher.” Even after two decades on the West Coast, Gorbach hasn’t lost her New England edge: She encourages her children to bike to kindergarten every day, even in the rain, when everyone else in Los Angeles jumps into cars, afraid of a few sprinkles.

—E.B. BARTELS ’06

Clinical sciences can’t really understand why somebody presents with a certain condition, how they acquired it, and how they can transmit it, without knowing the full context of a patient’s life.”

—PAMINA GORBACH ’83

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LAURA HAJAR ’95

Picture This What did you learn at Nobles that affects your work today?

Photography! My first photography class was Photo IV, back when the darkroom was in the Castle. I still have the negatives and contact sheets from my first assignment. I photographed some ducks at a pond near my home. Mr. [Joe] Swayze wrote “Hallmark!” on the contact sheet. I took as many photography classes as I could at Nobles and haven’t put down my camera since.

Describe the interplay between photography and your interest in public health.

After I graduated from Davidson College, I attended a documentary photography program at Salt in Portland, Maine. I knew I wanted to pursue photography as a career, so I moved to Memphis to work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

At that point, I didn’t have much interest in health care. I was shooting everything from surgery to actor Jim Carrey giving a patient a foot massage.

As I got to know patients and their families, I learned more about their experiences in the health care system.

St. Jude is not typical—it is funded by

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38 donations and the costs of care, housing and transportation are covered. Families never receive a bill. I don’t think I really grasped the extraordinariness of this model until I visited other pediatric oncology clinics in other countries.

In 2008, I traveled to El Salvador with an oncologist who was interested in the state of pediatric palliative care in the developing world. One day we set out with a nurse and a child-life specialist from the oncology clinic at the children’s hospital in San Salvador. We drove to the rural home of a 5-year-old boy who was in the end stages of a brain tumor. The patient and his father had been making the two-hour journey, some of it on foot, to San Salvador every week for nearly two years to receive chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The nurse talked to the parents about how to keep their son comfortable. The child-life specialist checked in with other family members to see how they were doing. The boy shared a bed with his oldest sister. I heard from the nurse that he passed away about a week later, most likely with his sister sleeping beside him.

There were so many things racing

through my head that day. I wanted to better understand the myriad cultural, political and socioeconomic factors that played a role in this little boy’s story. Most important, I wanted to take photographs that could help deepen other peoples’ understanding about what health care systems can do to support families like this one.

It was after that trip that I decided to pursue a master’s degree in public health, which I received in 2012 from Boston University. I continued shooting during graduate school, working with the nonprofit Malaria No More on mosquito net distribution campaigns in Senegal, Ghana and Burkina Faso. More recently, I’ve been working here in Boston with the Pine Street Inn, following a few of their chronically homeless guests as they transition from life in a shelter to permanent housing. I feel that my understanding of public health and social systems has helped me to become a more compassionate and discerning photographer.

How does your experience as a woman affect your approach to work and art?

Early in my career, it was not uncommon to be the only woman covering a press conference or sporting event. I learned quickly to stand my ground.

What else about your Nobles experience or your journey would you like to share?

I did an independent study with Mr. Swayze my senior year. I was shooting rolls and rolls of film but hadn’t been spending much time in the darkroom.

Swayze announced he was putting me on a “darkroom tether” to encourage me to print more of my images. I always think about that—in part because I still don’t print my images often enough, but even more so because for me, the thing I have always loved most about my work is the connection I make with people and my environment when I’m taking photographs. There’s nothing like it.

—HEATHER SULLIVAN

See Hajar’s work at www.laurahajar.com

SASHA GEFFEN ’07

A Writer of Consequence It was in high school that Sasha Geffen ’07 realized, “Writing made me feel useful. My way to say something interesting and be helpful to people was through words.”

Geffen, a freelance music writer and editor whose main gig is with Chicagobased online publication Consequence of Sound (CoS), credits English teachers Dick Baker and Tim Carey with teaching her to write. She was an arts writer for The Nobleman her senior year but didn’t think there was “a viable future” in the pursuit. Then a French teacher named Avery Rueb recommended she check out Pitchfork, a Chicago-based online music and culture publication. “It’s this one moment I remember, when I started reading Pitchfork,” Geffen says. “Now I’m writing for them.”

Geffen says she wishes more people— especially young writers at Nobles— knew about the feasibility of writing as a craft. The recipient of multiple writing awards, both at Nobles and at the University of Chicago, she recalls the dues she paid at less glamorous jobs. “You think about writing fiction or becoming a novelist, and that’s this romantic ideal that is very rare and hard to get to,” she says. “There’s this whole other world of technical writing or freelance writing that’s not so lucrative, and that’s how I started.”

She wrote blog content and produced real estate writing before racking up bylines for a long list of respected digital music publications like Impose, Wondering Sound, Noisey and Interview.

Now a prolific and provocative writer with a strong following of her own, Geffen says she owes much of her success to Twitter. “Honestly, I think Twitter helped my writing career more than college did,” @sashageffen admits wryly.

Gone are the days when a writer’s only

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launching pad is to land the perfect editorial assistant job. “You can strike out on your own, and if you follow certain writers who are doing that, the pathways become more obvious, because we live in a time when you can follow the minutiae of people’s thoughts on Twitter or Facebook or Tumblr,” she says.

As a writer and editor for CoS, Geffen enjoys sharing her unique perspective on a piece of music. “Reviewing an album is telling the story of your interaction with a piece of music, which I find very powerful and challenging— how and why an album hits me the way it

does. Knowing there are people who find the way that I look at music interesting or helpful or inspiring has been humbling.”

When Geffen interviews artists, she enjoys sharing those perspectives with listeners to amplify their experience with the music. “You don’t want to explain away all the mystery of a piece of art, but music can sound better when you know where it came from, when you get some insight as to who the artist is, why they make music, and what they’re trying to do,” she says.

Given a year to write and a studio in the city of her dreams, Geffen says she’d write a book about the history of gender expression in pop music, post-glam. “Exploring how gender politics has evolved since the 1970s would be a huge project, but one I’m interested in looking at. Telling new stories that are helpful to people who have historically been displaced is exciting because we’re treading new territory, but there’s much left to do.”

Looking ahead, who is she following in 2015? “English artists’ collective PC Music, Mississippi hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, and always, Kanye.”

—KIM NEAL

40

SHE COMPUTES

15 alumnae have won or shared the Greenough Prize for Excellence in Mathematics since the school first admitted girls in 1974.

N SPRING 2015 Nobles 55

MICHAEL TURNER MUSIC Since: 1988

STEVEN TOUBMAN MATHEMATICS Since: 1981

RICHARD BAKER ENGLISH Since: 1971

RICHARD NICKERSON MATHEMATICS Since: 1974

DEB HARRISON SCIENCE Since: 1981 BEN SNYDER HISTORY Since: 1989

DECADESof TILESY HARRINGTON MATHEMATICS Since: 1977

These faculty members have served 25 years or more and helped build Nobles as we know it. They are all outstanding teachers—but they can also claim other titles: mountain climber, seamstress, musician, traveler, coach, horticulturalist, activist, lepidopterist, artist and friend, among others.

JOHN GIFFORD ’86 ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL AND HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL Since: 1990

DEDIC ATION WILLIAM KEHLENBECK MATHEMATICS Since: 1975

VICTORIA SEELEN ENGLISH Since: 1989

MARK HARRINGTON CLASSICS Since: 1976

THOMAS RESOR ENGLISH Since: 1986

WILLIAM BUSSEY PROVOST AND ENGLISH Since: 1987

MAURA SULLIVAN MATHEMATICS Since: 1989

ROBERT KERN SCIENCE Since: 1978 SHEILA MCELWEE SCIENCE Since: 1987 56 Nobles SPRING 2015

STACEY TURNER MATHEMATICS Since: 1988 ART CREDIT

SPRING 2015 Nobles 57

graduate news NOTES & ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CLASSMATES

Graduate Notes Policy: ■■ Send graduate updates

and photographs to your class correspondent if you have one.

■■ Digital photographs must be high-resolution JPEG images (1MB+) to appear in print.

■■ Editorial staff reserves the right to edit, format and select all materials for publication, to accommodate eight decades of classes in the magazine.

■■ For more information, please visit the Graduate Notes page on our website at www. nobles.edu/gradnotes.

1940 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Percy Nelson 617-244-4126 percylnelson@comcast.net

1941 The recently published 378 Years in America chronicles the history of the Waterman Family and business, and offers the perspectives of Frank Waterman III ’41 on the future of America. For more information, visit BespokeHistory.com.

58 Nobles SPRING 2015

1942

1950

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Putty McDowell 781-320-1960 pbmcd2@verizon.net

Peter Briggs 513-474-2520 hbriggs@cinci.rr.com

1946

Sid Eaton Jr. 503-223-7548 sidandmeg@msn.com

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Gregg Bemis 505-983-7094 gbemis@swcp.com Gregg Bemis writes, “News this winter is rather brief. Dick Lucas is in Arizona seeking warmer weather than in Pennsylvania and hoping to lower his golf score.

He will succeed in at least one of these efforts. I’m scheduling a dive trip to St. Lucia in April as my golf score is beyond redemption. Hopefully, with only 16 months until our 70th, we can all start planning to attend.”

1948 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bill Bliss 781-326-1062 wlbliss@comcast.net

1949 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Guilbert 520-887-0628 Please refer to Memoriam section for the obituary of Seth Newton.

Sid Eaton reports a spring, summer and fall of trips, all stateside: in May, with his bride, Meg, to his 60th reunion at Princeton, where he saw his Nobles classmate Eddie Stimpson and his soonto-be-bride; in July, to a nearby Kaiser Hospital, where his gall bladder was successfully, quickly and almost painlessly removed; in September, to New York City, as the guest of three former students with whom he had traveled the nation in 1963, followed by a week in Maine, the high point of which was a visit to the Center Harbor Boatyard, where a 70-foot day sailor was being built for Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry; finally, in October, to Phoenix, where he, with two friends, took in a week of fall baseball watching future major leaguers for but $6 per game and $3 per hot dog. Next trip: this May, for our class’s 65th reunion.

Jack Hoag reports having traveled to Washington, D.C., for Harvard’s football victory over Georgetown and to Harvard Stadium for all of Harvard’s home games, victories all. Future trips

are being planned for Alta, Utah, where the skiing is great; to the south, where he hopes to see Dudley Hall; to the Friday-night dinner of our class’s 65th reunion; and then to his summer home at Squam Lake, N.H. Jack Whiting reports celebrating his and Jill’s 60th wedding anniversary at the house of their son in Medway, Mass., and the July birth of their second greatgranddaughter.

Ralph (Tad) Powell Jr. reports, “I continue to enjoy teaching about two-thirds time here, at the University of Minnesota Medical School, doing diagnostic pathology and a small amount of research.

I leave in a few days to go on the annual skiing trip to Beaver Creek, Colo., with our two youngest sons and my wife’s brother. Our youngest son, Nate, defends his research at noon tomorrow, on his way to getting a Ph.D. in neuroscience here at the University of Minnesota. I continue to enjoy good health, perhaps better than I deserve. I am looking forward to attending our 65th reunion. I am delighted to hear that so many of my classmates seem to be happy and in good health.”

Ned Almy reports, “Two grandchildren’s weddings (see Ted Almy ’75), a cruise of the Baltic and celebrating 20 years at the Landings on Skidaway Island.

It is hard to believe how fast the years go by. Nancy and I will celebrate 60 years of marriage in

June with all of our children and grandchildren at the Landings.”

Please refer to Memoriam section for the obituary of Bruce Palmer.

1951 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Galt Grant 781-383-0854 galtgra@gmail.com

1952 & 1953 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Winston “Hooley” Perry perrydise@tampabay.rr.com From Hooley Perry: “Lately I have spent so much time orchestrating the ’52 & ’53 Nobles Plymouth Class Luncheon in September, and then sending out the many photographs taken at the event to the attendees, in addition to sending copies of ‘The Putnam Legacy’ CDs out to every one of the nonattendees, that I just couldn’t find the time to put together a complete submittal of my usual rambling notes about most everyone of you in time for inclusion in the 2014 winter edition. So, due to time constraints on my and the school’s part, and in an effort to fill in those gaps over the next few months, I will be blasting out brief interim email updates on what everyone is doing, and/or has done, so that all of you will be up-to-date with the latest and the greatest news of every one of your classmate’s lives

(so you might want to save them).

The latest exclusive group to be established within our far-flung classmates is ‘The Stent Club.’ For those of you who have not had the pleasure of experiencing this helpful, and sometimes necessary, medical procedure, a stent is a very small spring (about the size of the spring in a ballpoint pen) that is inserted into your body’s arteries to open up veins that are mostly blocked up with ‘bunches of stuff’ (that’s a medical term) caused by, or related to, living the good life.

Our latest initiated member is Hal Knapp ’52, who recently had one stent installed. Now, in the past, I have had four stents installed, and I know that earlier this year, Bob ‘Stretch’ Cumings ’52 had about five or six put in, which only goes to show you who is living the good life among us. If any one of you out there wants to share how many stents you have floating around somewhere in your body, please let me know. In honor of the event, I just might establish a yearly ‘Stent Cup’ award for whoever has the most stents. So, Hal, congratulations, and welcome to the club.

Last week, ‘Grum’ Ward’s lovely wife, Maria, very kindly sent me a page cut out of the Harvard Magazine announcing the latest ‘Harvard Medalist’ winners, one of which is our very own J. Louis Newell, Harvard Class of 1957. It went on to say, ‘Whether cheering from the stands at the stadium, or chairing the committee charged

with “Making Commencement Happy” (an interesting committee assignment), you stand always ready to answer Harvard’s call, as a stalwart leader of your class, the Harvard College Fund, the Harvard Club of Boston, and the Harvard Varsity Club.’ They went on to say that ‘Newell could not be present, but that he will receive his medal at a later date.’

So, way to go ‘Nails’ (as in ‘tough as’) Newell. You are the best!

I received the nicest thankyou note, and informative letter, from Stanley Johnson ’53, in reply to my sending him a Putnam Legacy CD. Stanley says that he and his wife enjoy good health while living in Baltimore, have sufficient income to achieve their goals, and as he happily puts it, ‘We have been lucky indeed,’ in addition to the fact that with ‘a marriage, a career, children and grandchildren, we worked hard at creating a life that has meaning for us, and now we are enjoying the fruits of our efforts.’ Congratulations, Stanley. I would personally wish that condition on all of us, and it was a great pleasure to hear from you after way too many years. Please stay in touch!

I know that most, if not all, of you heard the sad news about the passing of Billy Allen ’53 on Nov. 6, as a result of his house fire in Chatham. Billy was a one-ofa-kind type of guy, while being a great athlete both at Nobles and Harvard, and a good friend to all of

us. I personally, and I’m sure many of you who knew him well, will miss our Cuban amigo. So, vaya con dios, my friend.

It never ceases to amaze me how Louis “Nails” Newell always keeps bouncing back after fighting so many health battles that would ‘deep-six’ most of the rest of us.

First it’s the loss of the use of his kidneys, which required dialysis three days a week for Lord knows how many months and/or years.

And then it’s months in a hospital bed fighting off many spreading infections. And now, because of those recurring infections, the doctors had to amputate his right leg just below the knee. And then, after just a few days, they had to perform a special operation on his lower right leg so that they can attach a prosthesis to it, so that he can hop, skip, and jump around the hospital rehabilitation unit. Will it never end for this tough guy? Hang in there, ‘Nails.’ You are an inspiration to all of us.

For those of you who were wondering about one of our northern classmates, all is well with Don Atwell, who is now living in a retirement home and not having to shovel snow off of his roof or anywhere else for that matter. His ‘Mainiack’ Telephone Company has been on strike since October 2014, and they are still arguing with the Feds, while saying that they still have service, when, in fact, they don’t. His new retirement home number is (207) 256-3060,

SPRING 2015 Nobles 59

graduate news

and his cell is (207) 890-4640 (which works sometimes). He also purchased a new computer, which he cannot get adjusted to the point of sending or receiving emails, so for the time being, don’t send emails (until further notice). His address: P.O. Box 192, Fryeburg, Maine 04037.”

Hal Knapp ’52 writes: “I am so sorry to hear of Bill Allen’s passing.

‘Billy’ was a short bike ride from my house growing up because we both lived near the edge of Jamaica Pond. So we played together and looked at black-and-white albums of Cuban sugar operations.

Too many years passed before the Cape Cod Nobles reunion. I stepped out of my car, and there was Bill saying, ‘Do you know who I am? I’m Bill Allen.’ Oh, my God. We hugged. The rush brought tears. We walked to the hotel to catch up with too many out-oftouch years. So long, Bill. Hope to see you again one of these days.

Please refer to Memoriam section for the obituaries of Billy Allen and Jack Tucker ’53.

1954 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Partridge 508-548-9418 ppart767@comcast.net

1955 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bob Chellis 781-237-9436 bchellis@campuscontinuum.com From class correspondent Bob Chellis ’55: “Well, I’m writing Class Notes for April in Decem-

60 Nobles SPRING 2015

ber—with the Christmas crush upon us and heading south in two days. Not much class news at hand, except that Larry Flood usually has something going on and luckily responded when called that he’s ‘gone off the deep end, 1) creating a totem pole 14 feet high, carved both sides by a local Micmac Indian, with traditional birds and symbols, using a tree of Larry’s, and painted with the help of friends, 2) buying two pigs to raise, 3) hoping to build a root cellar. Better plan ahead.’ Maybe we should check back to ask: Plan ahead for what, exactly? In any case, that all sounds like fun, and a fresh take on planning. Maybe it’s the brisk, stimulating Maine air....

As a class, our focus should be on planning ahead for our 60th reunion. Save May 8 and 9. What will it take to have you all come from Texas, California, Maryland, Maine, Florida, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio?

We once shared years of growing up—how rewarding now to reconvene and see how it all turned out!

Charlie Nichols is generating ideas to help make it interesting and fun.

And your ideas are welcome and requested, although by the time you see this, it may be too late to make changes. This is an event that can’t be rescheduled and won’t be repeated. We’ll try to make it memorable. Charlie has some thoughtful ideas to share, along the lines of ‘this may be our last dance.’

That may be pessimistic, but there certainly won’t be too many more.

Reunion night, Friday, May 8, is well done by the school: cocktails, great hors d’oeuvres and dinner in the new banqueting hall of the glamorously buffed-up Castle.

It will be great. All classes 50th reunion and over are invited, and it’s a rare chance to see friends in classes ahead of or behind us.

Saturday offers graduate meetings, campus tours, an excellent cookout lunch, the Athletic Hall of Fame awards, all the spring sports in action and usually an art reception at 4 p.m. If you haven’t been back for a few years, you’ll be amazed.

On Saturday, May 9, our Class Dinner will be on our own, offcampus. Join us for drinks, toasts and dinner, and I’ll see if we can show Jim Bride’s new films—his whirlwind 13-minute history called Nobles: 1866-1983, and The Putnam Legacy, which is 20 minutes and is terrific. And maybe also The Gleason Legacy, 15 minutes. I’ve booked a great spot: Haven House, the Dedham Community House, which is opposite the courthouses in the center of Dedham.

We’ll have the whole main floor of the historic 1794 house for our party, and I’ve recruited the terrific chef-caterer and her staff from the Club of Odd Volumes.

For starters, in spite of the distance, we’re led to expect that Dave Fisher, Dick Finlay, Charlie Nichols and Mike Jonsberg will make it.

Mike is learning to maneuver on his new prosthetic leg, and if he and Susan can make it from Maryland, we hope you can make the effort too, from wherever! The more of us there are, the more memorable the weekend. Even, or especially, if you’ve never come back to reunions, we are anxious to see you, and it may help round out the arc of your memories. Most of us have mellowed in a more or less positive way. The school puts on this party to gather us in, and we won’t have

many more chances to reconnect.

I’m new to Fox Hill’s DVD purchasing committee. To help me out, Sandy bought me the definitive book The Best DVD’s You’ve Never Seen, Just Missed, or Almost Forgotten. An impressive volume, and the editor is—drum roll!—Peter M. Nichols, our esteemed but rarely seen classmate. He’s been film critic for The New York Times for years and has edited several books. At one point he was doing movie columns every week! Mr. Eaton would have been proud. If only he’ll join us in May—please!— he can help us critique Jim Bride’s new Nobles documentaries.

So mark your calendars for May, dig out the old school tie, and even if you rarely come back, come back this time! Convenient hotels in Dedham include the Residence Inn (Marriott), the Fairfield Inn and the Dedham Hilton.”

1956 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Gren “Rocky” Whitman 410-639-7551 grenwhitman@verizon.net Writes John Fritts: “Because of the diminished use of business cards, my company was downsized, so I have retired for a second time.

Instead of driving around Boston’s Metro-West calling on clients, I now spend several days a week driving senior citizens—like us—to various appointments. They tell great stories about growing up in the ‘Roaring Twenties,’ the Great Depression and World War II. We welcomed a new grandchild this past summer. Emerson Rose is the first child for my son, Tim, and

his wife, Erin, who live in Castro Valley, Calif. Erin’s job requires her to travel around the country, so the baby usually goes with her. I think the baby has accumulated more frequent-flyer miles in six months than I have in five years.

We went to St. Pete Beach, Fla., before the holidays and stayed at the Trade Winds Resort. If you’re in the area, try the Toasted Monkey Lounge on Gulf Boulevard. They love Boston, and huge TVs are always tuned to the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics. Just don’t cheer for the wrong team!”

From Dr. Bob Bach: “Just got a new knee that works great! With my new heart valve and knee, I feel like a walking junkyard, and am worth a lot for spare parts!” Bob was awarded the American College of Surgeons’ ‘Surgical Volunteerism International Award’ for his decades of medical service to impoverished and isolated people in northeastern Nicaragua. Through his not-forprofit group, Partners in Health of Maine, he continues to provide Nicaraguans with free medical care, equipment and education.

Kit Hayden reports that “after writing 235 blogs for the online journal Village Soup, it has become abundantly clear that the only ones widely read (and not very widely) are those dealing with sex. How’s that for pathetic? ‘Sext me, Gramma!’ On second thought, never mind. I don’t have a smartphone.”

Tim Leland writes that the full-time team of investigative reporters he established at The Boston Globe 45 years ago is now at the center of two different Hollywood movies that are currently in production. The first one, called Black Mass, after the book of

the same name, stars Johnny Depp and chronicles the infamous career of Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, currently serving a life sentence for his many murders.

The book was written by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill (father of Nobles grad Brian O’Neill ’89 and Shane O’Neill ’91) when they were members of the above-mentioned “Globe Spotlight Team.” Tim reports that the second Spotlight movie will tell the story of how the investigative team uncovered the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal, which won the Globe a Pulitzer in 2003. Word is that this second movie will be named Spotlight.

Both films are due to be released later this year. The team won its first Pulitzer Prize in 1970, the first year of its existence, with Tim serving as its editor.

“When I organized the team four decades ago, there was a certain amount of skepticism about whether it would work,” Tim recalls. “Some of our colleagues at the Globe thought it was a bad idea. They didn’t believe the stories it produced would be worth the time or investment required. Gerry and I and the others on the team wondered ourselves whether we’d be able to pull it off. But all these years later, the team is still going strong. It’s the longest-running investigative newspaper unit of its kind in the nation. I’m very proud of its contribution to journalism.”

Writes Dave Carroll: “I’m engaged in a small but exciting dialogue with Tess Davis, a B.U. graduate who recently caused a furor by proving that Sotheby’s Auction House was planning to auction a large statue they knew had been looted from a temple

near Angkor Wat. Our business concerns my returning to Cambodia a small sandstone, called ‘Head of a Dancer,’ which my parents bought from the National Museum in Phnom Penh in the 1930s.

Ms. Davis reports that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is now involved, and attributes that to my contacting her to return this little sculpture. It’s most gratifying to be useful in this way and to give something back to the world that Babs and I have enjoyed since my mother’s death. Babs and I have now been alcohol-free for 32 and 25 years, respectively, and are much happier for it.”

Rocky Whitman and class prez Fred Wells tried to get together in Upper Dixie over the holidays, but time and distance prevented it.

1957 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Valentine 413-256-6676 jvalj1@yahoo.com Editor’s note: We apologize for the inadvertent omission of the following note from Lance Grandone in the most recent issue and have included it below.

Lance Grandone wrote the following for the winter magazine: “A brief update: zero hurricanes so far this year! Hooray! No health changes for my wife, Karin, and I, except I have made a conscious decision to stop trying different kinds of pain meds for my osteoarthritis and peripheral neuropathy.

Just natural stuff and some OTC meds from now on. Karin and our daughter Susan are going to

Ireland for two weeks in October to visit relatives. I am stuck home with our dog and Susan’s aggressive Maine Coon cat, which is as large as our Duffy Dog. Should be a fascinating two weeks.

On a less happy note, my best friend and fellow philatelist died from a massive coronary last month at age 71, and it really hit me hard with serious depression. To make things worse, 10 days later, his widow was diagnosed with very aggressive stage-2 breast cancers requiring high-dose chemo and radiation. As they have no relatives or friends in the area, Karin and I have stepped up to help with estate matters, transportation and general emotional support. I mention this not to get a pat on the back, but to encourage all classmates to maintain loving relationships with your children and siblings, and make sure you have your estate and related instructions completely in order. This experience has certainly raised the mortality issue in a big way. Lastly, I’ve been trying to encourage our class scribe, John Valentine, to forsake New England for a week or two and come to the Suncoast for a visit. Again, our house is always open to visiting classmates and their families.”

Charlie Wiggins writes: The flight not taken No Masada No Temple Mount Just a traveler’s frustration. (with apologies to Robert Frost) John Damon, confusing “tweak” with “tweet”, writes, “Wish you guys in snow country all the best of health and happiness for the New Year.” Then, getting personal with his hardworking, underpaid

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graduate news

class correspondent, he asked, “What baby costume do you plan to be wearing when they come in a sleigh to pick you up for the Shutesbury First Night extravaganza tomorrow evening?” In an effort to raise funds to have Dawg neutered, send your answer to Price Waterhouse on a ten-dollar bill. The winner will be awarded the opportunity of holding the snippers himself.

Lance Grandone sends greetings from sunny Florida: “What a great weather year we’ve had here.

No hurricanes! As I write this, it’s 82 degrees and sunny. I only wish the rest of the country was as warm and peaceful, although even as I read the news, it seems the national pastime is a new sport known as ‘murder your fellow citizens.’ Speaking of reading, I am up to two to three books per week on my Kindle Paperwhite. I love it, and we don’t have to worry about killing trees. The only problem is that of becoming too sedentary.

Fortunately, Karin and I still have good health, although I’m getting a little creaky in the joints. Our children, Cass and Susan, are coming in for the holidays, although Susan is living in Longboat Key, 25 miles up the road, until she finds a new consulting assignment in the mining industry. She had the opportunity for a job in Guinea but wisely turned it down. Our twin granddaughters, Megan and Sara, will also be here this month, but at different times. Megan graduates from Tufts in 2015 in biomedical engineering, and Sara, because of her dual major in aerospace engineering and astrophysics, graduates in 2016. The courses they are taking make my head hurt.

62 Nobles SPRING 2015

A far cry from 50 years ago.

Too bad we can’t get the whole clan together at one time, but such is the modern world. Karin and I will be coming to Boston for Megan’s graduation in mid-May. I hope some of us (Nobles ’57) can get together. It would be great to see the class survivors again. I warmly remember the great time we had with the Healers. Other than that mini-trip, we have no plans to cruise or take any trips, so our doors are open to any class members who get down to the Suncoast in the next few months.

I send my warmest wishes to all of you and your families, and wish good health for you in 2015.”

Robert McElwain writes, “As I get older, I feel increasingly drawn to the far north of New Hampshire and Vermont—north of the ‘notches’ in New Hampshire and north of St. Johnsbury in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

This fall, I drove right up past the Connecticut Lakes to the Canadian border in New Hampshire at peak foliage time, soaking up the incredible scenery and the utter quiet. I spent a couple of nights in nearby Averill, Vt. (population: 9), adjacent to the Canadian border.

There’s hardly any reflected city light up there, so the night sky and the Milky Way are awesome. And depending on traffic, the drive back down through Crawford Notch can be awesome too. Will I take a glider trip in the Franconia region next fall? I just might.”

John Valentine writes, “Thanksgiving 2014 lived up to Anthony Quinn’s line from Zorba the Greek. The young Englishman asks him if he has any family. Zorba replies, ‘Wife, children—the full

catastrophe!’ My ‘full catastrophe’ gathered for Thanksgiving dinner.

From Theodore Anghelo Valentine Chatzipetros (4 months) to John Wadsworth Valentine Jr. (threequarters of a century), we numbered 10. All marriage vows were still in place, and from my point of view, ‘Everyone Was in Love.’*” *Title of a wonderful poem

by Galway Kinnell, who alas died earlier this year. Robin Williams also left us. I miss them both and am very thankful my tiny clan is all in one piece.

1958 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Chris Morss knossos@aol.com From Larry Daloz: “As I write, we are 40 hours into powerlessness, thanks to one of the severest windstorms in decades, ripping apart and taking down some of the lanky Doug firs that give the Pacific Northwest its extraordinary beauty.

But all is stillness now as the gray morning seeps into our dark and chilly home. It’s so easy to forget how vulnerable we all are, how suddenly everything changes when the electricity stops or the water runs out, and the cold begins.

But storms aren’t the only things that change our lives. Since our 50th, I have two titanium hips and a new shoulder. On top of that, four amazing grandchildren have arrived, and we now spend summers back in Vermont with them. It’s they, more than anything, who have given me a new reason to live as long and well as I can. I am haunted by the prospect that when they are old enough to understand

the consequences of climate change, they might ask, ‘But if you knew about it, why didn’t you do something?’ So I have been deeply engaged over the past several years with many aspects of this work, leading a team of volunteers to help build a strong climate movement here in the northwest, hosting conferences of climate leaders, and working with alums of Williams and Harvard to urge divestment of fossil fuels. And asking, right now, you, my fellow classmates, to urge Nobles to transform its portfolio from fossil fuels to clean energy. I’m grateful for allies like Bill Danielson and Bob Puffer, who understand the severity of the challenge, and welcome the companionship of any other classmates who share this commitment to our planet’s future.”

Bill Russell writes, “With the encouragement of the ever-persuasive Chris Morss, I am reporting two especially happy events that occurred in my immediate family during 2014. First, my elder daughter, Whitney (the one who became a very good flamenco dancer during the late 1980s and early ’90s, when I was actively playing flamenco guitar with the Spanish Dance Theater in Boston), was married in Maine last August after a long courtship with Scott Rascoe.

She and I had great fun selecting the music, which included many grand celebratory pre-1800 pieces written to include two trumpets.

Second, younger daughter Kristen, who, after her Colby graduation in 2006 became a middle school teacher in a KIPP Charter School in rural North Carolina, and then in 2011 moved to Jamaica Plain to start the KIPP Academy Boston school with several of

her colleagues, was one of 10 recipients (out of approximately 3,800 KIPP teachers in 162 schools nationwide) last July at the KIPP 20th-anniversary convention in Houston of the Harriett Ball Excellence in Teaching Award. Her proud father was thrilled for her; too few deserving teachers are honored in such a way for their effectiveness and extraordinary dedication.

In late December, I spoke with Jean-Paul Brisson (N ’57 and Honorary ’58), who sounded very well. He joins me in sending best wishes to all for a happy, healthy and productive 2015.”

1959 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Whit Bond whit.bond@verizon.net Buzz Gagnebin bgagnebin@mac.com John Gibson jgib1963@aol.com Ted Mann reports on his 10 days in France in the autumn of 2014, half of that in the Dordogne region and the remainder in Paris: “My Paris hotel was in the Bastille neighborhood, and, as I discovered, only a couple of blocks from the Hotel IBIS, of fond memory, where the N’59 in France 2007 Group put up in the French capital.

One evening in ’07, Dave Perry and I found ourselves in the lobby, at loose ends, nobody else in sight, and the clock inching ever closer to dinnertime. For David, this hour was no trifling matter. We set forth on foot (David was walking fairly slowly at this point) and popped into a

welcoming bistro nearby called ‘Les Galopins’ for a hearty meal, a good bottle and warm fellowship.

Fast-forward: ‘Bistro Les Galopins’ is still there. I invited my traveling companion Annie to share with me a sentimental dinner there.

She had never met David, but I told her about our lifelong friendship and how much he was missed by all of N’59. So we hoisted a glass to the fond memory of friends departed. It was a nice Côtes du Rhône.”

John Gibson writes, “One of the benefits of traveling through Nobles in the 1950s was sharing the trip with wonderful classmates.

Our class has remained close over the years. Unfortunately, we lost one of the best, Richard S. Morse Jr. (Chip to us), just before Christmas 2014. Here are a few of our thoughts on losing Chip:” Selden Edwards shares, “So many memories of Chip, of course, at Nobles, and then on to Princeton, which (both) meant many reunions. It seems to me that Chip was the ETP ideal and a New Englander through and through, a classically educated hard worker, a three-sport letter man, a family man and a high-level professional who worked to make the world a better place. What he did with his fine education—Nobles, Ivy League, the Navy, his lawyering alone—was

fascinating and inspiring. Chip was Spes Sibi Quisque to the fullest. In my last conversation with him a few weeks ago, I thanked him for being such a friend. I commented that when I came late in the game from a completely different environment, from the provinces, he and a number of classmates welcomed me and made me feel ‘like one of you.’ Then further, ‘You guys knew exactly how the game was played, and you were patient with me, the newcomer.’ I could hear Chip smiling, and he said, ‘Yes, we knew where all the places in the outfield were.’ Solid Chip. Quite a guy.”

Buzz Gagnebin (also a Boston attorney) added that Chip was always great to work with.

John Gibson googled Richard S. Morse and found Chip and his dad, and sent much of what he found to classmates by email. John noted that Chip’s dad was essentially the king of startups, and Chip’s career wonderfully followed up on some of what his dad had done, even to the point of carrying on work with preservation and other causes in Woods Hole. (By the way, Ken Morse ’64 followed in his dad’s footsteps also. Ken followed their dad to MIT.) Larry Gwin, a ’59 classmate only in the fifth and sixth class years, and a law school class-

mate of Chip’s, responded and summed up the feeling of all classmates: “Chip was one of the best men I ever knew.” (Larry is a Vietnam war hero, a leader in the legendary Army unit “First Calvary” and author of Baptism, one of the best books to come out of that war.) Chip will be missed!

Steve Grant writes, “I don’t consider myself a clubby person.

Lately, however, in spreading the Henry and Emily Folger story via my 2014 publication, Collecting Shakespeare, through talks and book signings, I’ve been invited to club a good deal: National Arts, West Hamilton, National Press, Cosmos, Sulgrave, University, Metropolitan, Johns Hopkins University Faculty, and most recently the Union League Club in New York City, created in 1863 to support Abraham Lincoln and keep the Union together.

My Amtrak train from D.C. arrived late in Penn Station. Fifteen minutes later, in the windy wet city, the pitiful trickle of taxis led me to consider an alternate form of transport. A sleek black Uber pulled up—but I don’t Uber. With bags in tow, I folded myself gracelessly into a pedicab and shouted the address of my destination. The young driver pumped vigorously down the bike lane.

Photos from Steve Grant ’59’s book signing

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When we arrived 10 minutes and $33 later (I did get a receipt from the Revolution Rickshaw Company), the doorman eyed me suspiciously. He refrained from extending the courtesy of opening the plastic flap on my vehicle.

I blurted, ‘An author, here for the book signing.’

‘Second floor, and you have a coat check around the corner to the left.’

Upstairs in the library, authors were finding their numbered tables. Collecting Shakespeare and I were at a table next to Steve Forbes and his book, Money.

I introduced myself to Forbes as another Steve. ‘A good name,’ he acquiesced.

Why wasn’t I surprised? At the University Club I had been signing books across from Cokie Roberts.

At the Press Club, across from Ted Olson and Ralph Nader. What would my subjects Henry and Emily Folger have said about all this?”

Please refer to Memoriam section for the obituary of Chip Morse.

1960 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Albert Vandam arvandam2@comcast.net Lenny Holmes writes, “Life since our 50th reunion has been good: 2011: U.S. travel, including Alaska, Florida, D.C., Boston and intermediate points, visiting a number of classmates along the way.

2012: A 3,100-mile bike tour from the Pacific to St. Louis on the Lewis and Clark trail, raising awareness and funds for Habitat for Humanity. Thanks to all who contributed.

64 Nobles SPRING 2015

Left to far right: Captain Mike Poor ’60 navigates near Naples, Fla.; Lenny Holmes ’60 says here, “Performing my new profession.”; Art Watson ’64 and wife Carol off Mount Desert Island in Maine last summer; Alexander Caskey ’64 makes a bourbon toast to honor the spirit of former teacher Bill Biddle.

2013: Substantial volunteer duties in connection with the America’s Cup. Daughter Melissa worked for Oracle Team USA and ended up marrying a Kiwi sail designer.

Completed an intensive course to become a certified tour guide.

2014: Substantial work providing tours and services in San Francisco; major trip to New Zealand to see Melissa and the country; continued to observe and enjoy the growth of Danielle’s two daughters; expanded volunteer efforts by driving seniors to their local errands and doctors in the community minibus.

2015: Will do another charity ride for Habitat for Humanity from San Francisco to Atlanta: 3,300 miles in two and a half months.

Wish us luck and contribute generously if you feel the spirit.

Ongoing: I continue to appreciate the good fortune of a superior education, strong Puritan work ethic, excellent health, and the rewards of family and friends worldwide.”

Barry Treadwell writes, “Deb and I plan to be at Nobles this spring for our unbelievable 55th reunion! We had a very busy summer, as I was the general chairman for the 34th USGA Mid Amateur

Championship at the Saucon Valley C.C. This was our seventh USGA Championship, but we never had one as busy as this one. We had 264 players for practice rounds, and then two days of medal play for 64 places, for four days of match play.

We used two of our three courses and had 600 volunteers. It was a big success but a great deal of work.

We had Lou Holtz as our guest speaker, and he was terrific. Deb and I will be at our place at Hammock Dunes in Palm Coast, Fla., for the winter. See you all in the spring.”

1961

wife Tally, abetted the miscreant’s prevarications by treating him to a sumptuous steak dinner at Park Square in Boston.

1963 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Lehan 508-520-1373 jblehan@aol.com

1964 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Ned Bigelow 781-704-4304 moe9817@aol.com

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Newell 802-467-3555 newell43@gmail.com

1962 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

David Mittell damittell@gmail.com Fed up with more than half a century of D.A. Mittell’s broken promises to visit his estates in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 15, 2015, Roger Brown, accompanied by his

Art Watson reports that he and his wife, Carol Golubock, have been off cruising on their “tiny” sailboat.

They left their homeport near Annapolis, Md., last June and sailed to Canada and back. Last fall, after a brief respite ashore, they headed south with hopes of wintering in the Bahamas. Art says, “Hopefully as you read this, we will be headed northward, nearing Chesapeake Bay and the conclusion of a great adventure!”

Franklin Reece writes, “I still relish the time we shared together

at our 50th reunion last year.

Wonderful memories of long ago were rekindled while we gave birth to new ones. Thank you Class of ’64 for making 2014 a very special year. The year also saw the birth of our first grandson, Franklin Thompson Reece (N 2032?), and my startup of a new business initiative called Interim Executive Solutions.

We provide leadership to nonprofits in transition. Currently, I serve as the interim executive director of the Cambridge Historical Society and was in the same role at Tower Hill Botanic Garden when we met for our reunion. I urge anyone who is post-retirement and wishes to find a way to move off the sidelines and back into the game to get in touch with us at www.interimexecu tive.solutions. It would be great fun to give back to the nonprofit world together. My best wishes to all for a happy and healthy 2015.”

Alexander Caskey writes, “Our 50th reunion generated such intense warmth that I felt we needed a way to keep the momentum going. I built the website for my college class, so it seemed a good idea to do the same for the Class of 1964. Rick Farlow, stellar editor of our classbook, agreed to join the effort, so we are now a team and close to launching. Initial focus is on our 50th (with photos, videos

and other materials supplied by John Riley, Ned Bigelow, Clint Smith, B. Wolbach and others). Isa Schaff (school archivist) and former Nobles faculty member James Bride are helping us construct a section on the Nobles faculty of our day, and we expect to include a blogging/comment component to make the site a forum for communication and exchange, rather than just an archive. We’ll announce the launch by email.

In early October of 2014, Matthew Schmid ’65, Jim Summers ’65 and I trekked to New Hampshire for a climb to Crag Camp, the epicenter for the Nobles Outing Club winter climbing during the Bill Biddle years (late ’50s to mid ’60s). At Crag Camp, we spread some of Bill’s ashes, recited some of his favorite poems, shared bacon (a staple for any Biddle-led trip) and toasted his memory with bourbon (another Biddle favorite).

For more information about the Biddle years, and to learn about the Biddle Outdoor Leadership Fund, which benefits Nobles, please visit www.biddlefund.info.”

1965 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Summers jim.summers@gmail.com

Jim Summers shares, “Hello y’all.

I’m your new class correspondent.

Don’t ask me how or why, but I am.

With our impending 50th reunion, I have thought much about my experiences at Nobles and, more generally, about my experiences as a private-school student. As some of you may remember, I had attended the Belmont Hill School for the fifth, sixth and seventh grades.

I was, therefore, in private schools for a total of eight years. Back then, being a preppie was my normal— the usual, the ordinary. I took it all for granted. Now, looking back, I appreciate that being at a school such as Nobles was anything but ordinary. It was utterly extraordinary. All of it—the good, the bad and the ugly. That aside, my classmates, it is my hope that as many of you who are able will choose to gather together on May 8 and 9—our 48 Hours. For the majority of us, it will be the last time we will see each other in our lifetime.

‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may / Old time is still a-flying…’ (R. Herrick). Come ye all. Celebrate ourselves and make merry.”

Bill Sargent writes, “My 20th (!) book just came out. It is called Islands in the Storm and is about how barrier beach communities fared before, during and after Hurricane Sandy.”

John Martin reports, “In the accompanying photo, I am getting ready to warm up for the Oklahoma City head race this fall.

[A head race is a time trial race, which is typically 5,000–10,000 meters in length.] Didn’t do very well, but I didn’t finish last, and I had a great time. On the road to recovery following a hospitalinduced, gram-negative E. coli

blood infection early last year. Currently in Florida deciding important things, like whether to lose another few pounds to race level (no age handicap) as a lightweight in sprints this spring. Ain’t retirement grand?” [Note from Jim Summers: Several years back, John incurred a major injury that required shoulder reconstruction. He was told at the time that he would never row again.

Two years of intensive rehab later, John “... took a bronze against good competition at old man’s nationals...”

That’s rarefied territory.]

Ben Fox writes, “I’m still skiing with my beloved Claire Barker and still teaching GED. I am looking forward to a trip to Armenia, where my great-grandfather will be honored for his role in speaking out against the genocide. I happily anticipate our reunion.”

Rick Railsback writes, “My recent activities have very much revolved around welcomed new professional obligations. Having invested heavily in the development of new skills in recent years, I’ve been greatly heartened by strong interest in my experience and appreciation for the impact of my coaching. What a joy it has been to reinvent oneself at this age and be able to bring value into peoples’ lives. My personal experience strongly suggests what the world’s spiritual traditions have always taught, that unprecedented levels of satisfaction come from helping others. A pity, in a way, that it’s taken me 67 years to learn this, but, hey, I’m only 67!”

Rick Weinberg reports, “I am still living in the same house that I built in 1970 in Bath, N.H., with my wife, Barley. I have three adult children: two boys, who are part-

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1969 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Pach 860-267-9701 pbp06456@sbcglobal.net

1965

Clockwise from top left: John Martin warms up for the Oklahoma head race, fall 2014; Islands in the Storm, the 20th book for Bill Sargent; (left to right) Matt Schmid ’65, Alexander Caskey ’64 and Jim Summers ’65 at Pinkham Notch; “Flyboarding for ’65ers; move it or lose it.” –Rick Railsback; Jim Summers with daughter Becca in NYC; Rick Weinberg ’65

ners in a custom ski manufacturing shop (rompskis.com) in Crested Butte, Colo., and a daughter who lives in Melbourne, Australia, and is an environmental scientist. All three are married, and we have three grandchildren. I am looking forward to our reunion.”

Matt Schmid writes, “I stay preoccupied with multiple volunteer activities in the Town of Dover: recycling and Lyme disease committees, library and land con-

66 Nobles SPRING 2015

servation issues, and work at the Council on Aging.”

Mark Emerson writes, “I’m looking forward to our 50th reunion in May and would enjoy seeing any classmates who visit south Florida.”

[Note from Jim Summers: One of Mark’s passions is golf. If you’ve got ’em, bring your golf clubs.]

Steve Fisher reports, “I am ever grateful for being given the opportunity to begin anew with a marriage to Cynde Reilly, planned

for the fall, and a new home that we have just moved into in the same neighborhood of Westford, Mass. Of course, the real beginning anew is a daily meditation practice, now over 20 years old, and lived breath by breath.”

1966 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Ned Reece ned4047@sbcglobal.net

1967 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Drew Sullivan 781-461-1477 drewsull49@aol.com

1968 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Andy Lord 617-899-3948 ajliii@hotmail.com

From class correspondent Peter Pach: Peter Gates wrote to say he is bolstering his credentials as a grandfather. “Our second grandchild was born (to Callie [Gates] Slocum ’01) in November. Daphne is her name.”

Mark Haffenreffer is revving up for another act. He writes, “Life has taken several turns as I adjust to a change in family life. I am very lucky to have someone whom I have come to know, care for, and truly enjoy. As many of you know, my daughter finally succumbed to her disease, and my former wife died of breast cancer. I am not in contact with my son. I have focused on an approach to orthopaedics that prioritizes conservative exercising that emphasizes gaining a full range of motion and strength.

This has become a diminishing consideration in treatment strategies, and the group that suffers the most from this is those over 55.

I am in the data-collection phase and feel this has real promise.

More to come, and it looks like retirement is not around the corner as once expected.”

Brad Wilkinson reports spending a lot of his days in a state of bemusement. He has a son who is turning 40 this year, and Brad is wondering how the hell that sneaked up on him when he still feels like 40 himself. He says he “now deals with minor issues like bladder management on long car trips and thinking that 10 o’clock

at night is past bedtime. At any rate, still in fine fettle, blessed with a healthy family, including three and a half grandchildren, and nourished by wonderful friends and rewarding work.” He wishes all his classmates of 1969 “small prostates and a happy 2015.”

For my part, the big news in Middle Haddam this year was our son Sam being accepted at medical school for this coming fall, first in a family of English majors to branch out into medicine. I somehow have joined a men’s book club, which at times has managed some fairly lively discussions—about the book we read. My favorite (a fairly short one) has been The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes.

1970 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Levy Byrd 781-449-7555 levbyrd@comcast.net

1973 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Craig Sanger 917-705-7556 craig.w.sanger@gmail.com

Jed Dawson 508-735-9663 Jeddawson711@gmail.com Doug Floyd 781-788-0020 doug_floyd@yahoo.com Ted Almy reports: “Maura and I are getting used to the idea of being parents of two married kids.

Grandkids next? Our youngest (not married) just completed her master’s degree in advanced practice nursing at Columbia University and has accepted a position in the pediatric liver oncology and transplant group at New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital. God bless her. She and her colleagues will be looking after and trying to heal some very sick kids. I accomplished a bucket list item last fall. Had a magical golf experience at Oregon’s heralded Bandon Dunes resort. It exceeded expectations in every way (course design, setting, lodging, food, comfortable, low-key atmosphere) and was worth every dollar and hour of time spent to get there—and I’ll go back. Played only two of the five courses. Look forward to seeing many in May for our 40th.”

Wendy Patriquin writes: “On January 16, my son, Josh, gradu-

ated from the Boston Fire Academy and is now a proud member of the Boston Fire Department, Engine 4, Ladder 24, in the West End. My Marine has become a firefighter! His grandfather Wm. Davis Taylor ’27 would be so proud. His father and I are beyond proud and wish him and his wife, Nan, presently at Lesley Graduate School, happy, safe and healthy careers. Our Annie is now 26, an overanxious bundle of joy. She is ​over-the-top excited about seeing Disney’s ‘Frozen on Ice’ on Valentine’s Day. She will be spending the night in Dorchester with Josh and Nan. She is calling it a ‘date night.’ We also adopted a rescue pup from Tennessee.

Turns out he is deaf. Mama Mia—enough with the special needs already! He is adorable and naughty, a Jack Russell terrier mix.

My best to all, and I hope I will see some of you this coming May!” Please refer to the Memoriam section for the obituary of Ned Colt.

1976 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Tom Bartlett +44 1908 647196 tom_bartlett58@hotmail.com

1974 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kevin McCarthy 617-480-6344 kmac56@gmail.com

1975 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Andrea Pape Truitt 609-646-5361 apape57@gmail.com

Wendy Patriquin’s son, Josh, with Mayor Marty Walsh and the new fire commissioner, Joseph Finn

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Rob Piana 617-491-7499 robert.piana@vanderbilt.edu

1977 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Linda Rheingold licorh@comcast.net

1978 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Christopher Reynolds Cell: 800-444-0004 Home: 508-358-7757 chreynolds@comcast.net Class correspondent Chris Reynolds writes, “Following the loss of Persis Gleason, Oct. 22, 2014, the class was strengthened by a flurry of emails with heartwarming observations. Many classmates noted the aching sadness of her passing, sweetened just slightly by the realization that she would have loved the ensuing camaraderie among busy, far-flung classmates.

Both classmates who sat next to Persis in assembly for four years, and those who didn’t know her well but sensed her determination to improve the world, lamented the loss. May we live more wisely through her memory.”

George Gifford writes, “In August, Joyce and I celebrated 30 years of marriage with family and friends. Son No. 1, Canaan, graduated from Skidmore in 2013 and now lives in Providence. Son No. 2, Taber, graduates from Bucknell this spring. Joyce and I have settled nicely into this empty-nest stuff!”

Debbie and Peter Strzetelski’s son, Teddy, will be graduating from Nobles with the class of

68 Nobles SPRING 2015

2015. Teddy was a tricaptain of the Nobles football team last fall and is a co-captain of the boys lacrosse team. After graduation, he will be heading to Ithaca to play lacrosse at Cornell. Debbie serves on the Nobles Graduate Council, where she enjoys seeing Laura Hewitt and Chris Reynolds.

Ever brilliant and zany Cary Bickley writes, “Because I’m older now, I believe I know more about everything than everyone else, but lately I think some of my arrogance that comes with age might be misplaced. According to my children, I know nothing. I’m one of those horrible ‘old people’ who can’t deal properly with technology. Even though I have an iPhone 6, I’m not cool because I made the print so big I can only read a couple of words at a time.

The trash folder in my computer is entirely ads for Viagra, and I swear I don’t know what I googled to deserve that! I’m grumpy often, my cocktail hour is getting earlier all the time. By the time I see you all next, my five o’clock will probably be four. Because I still have a 9-year-old, I’m constantly having to deal with ‘young mothers,’ and that is annoying because of their youth and beauty, which is obviously wasted on them. I actually look pretty good, too. I was recently mistaken for being 47. I think that’s because I live in Hollywood and so no longer have any facial expressions. I think probably when I had them, they weren’t all that great. I know you all visit L.A. sometimes; please call when you do. Props to John Henderson who came, and we had a really fun lunch. I still eat—but only in tiny portions and only kale products.”

Cary has so much verve, we should schedule a mini-reunion in L.A.!

Like many classmates, Jennifer Hagemann is smitten by the sea.

Unlike many, she now lives on it.

“Henry and I took the last three years off to rebuild our 1937 ketch, Arabella, and have been living aboard and cruising for about a year and a half. Enjoyed the process, and I now know much more about wooden boats than I thought possible. I kept a blog about the process if anyone wishes to see photos (www.arabellalife. com). We’re 23 years into our business with Juice Plus (the fruits and veggies in capsules) and loving the process now more than ever—such a fun thing to get to do every day! Our daughters are done with school, and our youngest gets married this September.

So we’re moving into the next phase of life, post-college. As I know others feel, it all happens so quickly! I continue to ride and train dressage, working up and down the East Coast and beyond. In spite of my parents’ admonitions, I’ve never been able to get horses out of my system. We feel blessed to be happy and healthy, and I so appreciate my Nobles classmates.

It has meant a lot to hear from you during Persis’s battle.”

Annie Williams recently retired from a 32-year career in federal IT sales. She notes, “My last company was bought by Verizon, and I had no interest in staying on.

I am still living in Virginia, and I enjoy not working for the time being. I keep thinking I will get bored, but not yet. My boys are 16 and 19. One is a freshman at Clemson, and the other is a sophomore in Woodberry Forest boarding school.

They are great guys. I am engaged to remarry and will be moving to Charlottesville, Va., this summer.

I am so sad about Persis, but she would have loved all the class camaraderie that has transpired in her passing.”

Your devoted class agent, Chris Reynolds, proudly shares that “Bredt and I are happy. Our oldest, Cliff, graduated from Tufts last May and is interning in the Center for Complex Operations at National Defense University in Washington. He continues to love learning languages, especially Mandarin. Henry is a third-year at UVA, joyfully involved in many extracurriculars and majoring in Arabic and political philosophy.

Bredt relishes painting, leads popular water-exercise classes, and works in textbook design and publishing. I remain smitten by venture finance and the innovation industry. We are all healthy and count our blessings in this troubled world! Please ring or email. I am always delighted to hear from my Nobles pals!”

1979 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

John Almy 617-448-3119 jwalmy@comcast.net Dan Rodgers 212-423-0374 drodgers@wfw.com

1980 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Rob Capone 781-326-7142 robcapwest@comcast.net

1981 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kim Rossi Stagliano 203-610-1750 krstagliano@charter.net

1982 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Holly Malkasian Staudinger 914-925-2340 hmalkasian@verizon.net

1983 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Nancy Sarkis Corcoran Home: 508-785-0886 Fax: 508-785-0887 NLSC3@me.com From class correspondent Nancy Sarkis Corcoran: “Greetings Class of ’83. By the time you read this, it will be time for Reunion Weekend.

I hope many of you will make it back to campus even though it’s not a big reunion year for us. (A reminder: Our 35th is right around the corner in 2018.)

Steve and I have had fun reconnecting with many alumni this year as Holden continues to enjoy his freshman year at Nobles.

Some of the grads we’ve run into this year: John Montgomery ’83 and Suzie Tayer Montgomery ’84, Tom Welch ’82, Mark D’Angelis ’82, Betsy Ganong Dawson ’85, Heather Markey Zink ’86, Jeff Schwartz ’83, Dan Rice ’82, Betsy Morris Rosen ’83. We also had fun reconnecting with Mr. Toubman, who was Holden’s soccer coach last fall. He was Steve’s JV soccer coach back in the day. You may recall that Mr. Toubman’s first

year at Nobles was our junior year (1981–1982). He still teaches math and coaches wrestling and soccer.

There are three other alumni kids in Holden’s Japanese I class, all Class VI: Sakura Hinenoya (daughter of Haley Clifford Adams ’83), Samantha Walkey (daughter of Rod Walkey ’84) and Griffin Zink (son of Heather Markey Zink ’86).

Holden and I really enjoyed the Nobles fall play, which starred Lou Moses Mizgerd’s son, Bill (Class I).

Bill was great, as were all the other actors. We also attended the three student-directed winter plays.

Hilary Whitman Allinson’s son, Justin (Class III), starred in one of the plays, and Hilary’s daughter, Ashley (Class I), directed one. The plays and the acting were fantastic.

So many talented kids at Nobles!

Last fall, I also attended the beautiful assembly in honor of Ted Gleason. It was a very moving celebration of Ted Gleason’s life and legacy. So glad to see such a great turnout, including Sudie Naimi DiGiovanni, Nancy Lavin Scheerer, Amy McCulloch Brown, Haley Clifford Adams, Eliza Gleason Kean, Hilary Harrison, Debbie Paine Sabin, Wendy Riseborough, John Stephenson ’84, Mike Young ’81, Bill Motley ’80, Jennifer Power ’86 and Dan Tarlin (who sang a few songs as part of the “old Nobleonians”). I also chatted with my old advisor, Ned Bigelow ’64, and his wife, Sandy, as well as my old French teacher, Mrs. Bernstein. I saw the Floods and Mr. Carey in the sea of attendees but missed speaking with them.

Thank you to Ron Cieri, who checked in from Upstate New York, where he owns and operates a cattle ranch focusing on grass-fed

beef. Last fall, he and his farm were featured in a New York Times article. He writes, ‘Still loving my new life as a redneck! My farm has cattle, pigs, turkey and chicken— with plans to expand to goat and hare in 2015. NYC is buying everything I have. If any classmates are looking for a “city slicker” weekend, happy to provide.’

Lots of love and best wishes to all, until next time. Cheers!”

1985 Get ready for our 30th reunion—we want to see everyone back! It’s May 9 on campus (of course), and there will be lots of family-friendly, free-of-charge things to do that day.

You can play in the men’s graduate lacrosse game or the women’s graduate soccer game, or cheer on classmates in either, neither or both! Saturday evening, head to the Castle for a reception for all reunion classes, to be followed by our class dinner. Think that’s not enough fun? Then get started early and join classmates and daring spouses for a casual 30th reunion Friday night cocktail party at the home of Franz and Marci Griffith Loeber.

1986 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Heather Markey Zink 508-359-9553 hjzink@mac.com Jessica Tyler 781-934-6321 jessicaytyler@gmail.com Eliza Kelly Beaulac 703-476-4442 embeaulac@verizon.net

From class correspondent Eliza Beaulac: “Believe it or not, friends, this time next year we will be gearing up for—wait, are you sitting down?—our 30th reunion. Damn, how about that?

Okay, well, now that I’ve got your attention, on with the news.”

Chris Downey reports, “All is well in Houston. In 2015, I will be working to roll out legal-services software directed toward the criminal defense practice in state and federal courts. I am still representing the ‘misunderstood and wrongfully accused’ here in Houston and have found that the quality time I spent with fellow Sixies provided unique and valuable insight, especially with regard to organized gang behavior. My children continue to grow and benefit greatly from their mother’s good looks and brainpower. I hope to get back to Bridge Street soon so that John Gifford can buy me lunch at the Castle. I’m hoping for Welsh rarebit, mixed veggies and pan Jell-O. And I have my fingers crossed for green bug juice.”

Michael Craig started off 2015 with a little adventure: “Over the new year, my wife, Betsy, and I took our daughters, for their first time, camping and hiking in Yosemite. Having recently watched the Ken Burns documentary on our National Parks, our visit really brought home the importance for our generation to work to ensure we preserve our remaining natural areas. Our eldest, Vivian, started high school in the fall at Steve Jobs’s alma mater, Homestead, and Edith began her fourth-grade year at Statford, where Betsy teaches drama, speech, debate and art. Since moving to Sunnyvale,

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1990 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Elena Weiss MacCartee 202-882-2132 eisabelmac@gmail.com

Left: Jeannine Swift Jeffrey’s 7-year-old twins, Peter and Anne; Right: Michael Craig ’86 and family in Yosemite National Park on New Year’s Eve ’14. From left to right: Edith, Betsy, Michael and Vivian

Calif., almost three years ago, I’ve had the privilege of working with Elizabeth Holmes at Theranos to further our mission to make actionable health information accessible to people everywhere in the world and enable the early detection and intervention of disease. The year 2015 promises to be special as we begin to impact more and more lives.” If you haven’t seen Elizabeth Holmes’s TED talk, check it out!

Closer to home, Jeannine Swift Jeffreys says there’s “not a lot to report from quiet Falmouth at present, though I did meet up with some Nobles folks here this year. Sue Petro and her family have a house here, and we see them often. (It’s hard to believe she now has two children in college, including daughter Caroline, who graduated from Nobles last year.) I have also happily bumped into Ellen Mecray a couple of times at the playground and on the beach.

Perhaps, most surprisingly, I made the discovery that my daughter Anne’s friend Madison is the niece

70 Nobles SPRING 2015

of Katie Keally Cochran! It’s been very nice getting to know Katie’s sister, Laura Keally Heywood ’90, and her family.”

And I think you’ll all join me in congratulating Andrew Partridge and his beautiful bride, Haley, on their marriage last fall. “Things are as great as they have ever been for me. My wife, Haley, and I were married in Cataumet on October 25. A wonderful group of Nobles friends and family, both graduates as well as former and current faculty, were there to help us celebrate. Haley, Siena and I are living in our new house in North Falmouth with our old dog, Marcus. We could not be happier, and we wish everyone the best for a safe, healthy and peaceful 2015!”

There were wedding bells for my family in 2014 as well! On July 11, my father and former Nobles faculty Brian Jones married his partner of 25 years, Michael Rocha. It was a picture-perfect day in Nahant, filled with music and merriment, and shared with many devoted friends and family,

including many Nobles grads and faculty (though we neglected to organize a photo!). Dad and Mike spent their “honeymoon” with my brother, Nat, and me and our families—so romantic!

I also want to give a shout out to Steve Jordan and Animal Planet’s Yankee Jungle, which aired three episodes at the end of 2014. What a great show, and such fun seeing Steve chasing peacocks and helping out his friends, Bob and Julie Miner, at the D.E.W. Animal Kingdom.

1987 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Emily Gallagher Byrne 781-721-4444 egbyrne@verizon.net

1989 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Rachel Spencer 917-921-5916 spencerw@georgetown.edu rachelwspencer@yahoo.com

Believe it or not, this May will mark our 25th reunion from Nobles. We have a great committee working hard to plan a fun weekend (Brooke Earley Asnis, Christy Pfannenstiehl Bergstrom, Lia DerMarderosian, Geoff Doyle, Erin Keith Epker, Alex Gallagher, Suzy Klotz, Greg Lewis, Lisa Donahue Rose, Monica Woelfel Stevenson, and Jen Bigelow Williams). First and foremost, we want to get as many of our classmates back to Nobles as possible. We know there are some of you who have not been back since 1990, and we are hoping you will all return for this significant reunion. The weekend will start on Friday, May 8, with an evening party at the Dedham Country Club Shooting Shack, thanks to Erin Epker. On Saturday, come back to campus and cheer on the Nobles spring teams and attend a whole host of activities including a carnival, a men’s graduate lacrosse game, a women’s graduate soccer game and the Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony. Finally, we will all head to the Castle for a reunion reception followed by our class dinner. We hope to see you there.

Evans Liolin writes, “I recently took a job as head coach of the Girls Racing Team and manager of business development at Norwalk River Rowing Association in Connecticut. Here’s a link of interest: http://norwalkriverrowing. org/2014/12/15/norwalk-river-

rowing-welcomes-evans-liolin-asgirls-head-coach/ I’d love to connect with Nobles grads in the area. Also, if there are former Nobles oarswomen who would like to share their expertise and experiences with my new team, they are certainly welcome. Hope you’re all doing well, and Go Nobles!”

1991 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kelly Doherty Laferriere kellylaferriere@icloud.com

1992 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lynne Dumas Davis 703-623-4211 LynneDumas@aol.com

1993 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Sam Jackson 978-409-9444 sambjackson@hotmail.com

Carrie (O’Connor) Jamison’s children, Hannah and Wilbur

1994 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Annie Stephenson Murphy 415-377-4466 annie_stephenson@yahoo.com From class correspondent Annie Murphy: “Happy New Year to all of you! The year 2014 was a big one for my family, especially my daughter, Ava, who started kindergarten, learned to swim, learned to ride a two-wheel bike, and perfected the art of swinging from the monkey bars. The calluses those kids get! My son, Callum, turned 2, and with that came a love for speed on his scooter and strider bike, construction sites and emergency vehicles. It also meant broken teeth and a broken arm. I have a feeling there will be more of that to come. The highlight of my year was spending a month at Lake Tahoe surrounded by nature, friends and family. Seems like my classmates are all off to a busy start in 2015 and therefore too busy to send updates!”

Carrie (O’Connor) Jamison reports, “There is fresh snow on the ground, and I am enjoying the last day of winter vacation, doing all my lesson plans and grading I procrastinated doing. I started a new job this fall, teaching math at a private high school in Bangor, Maine. In a lot of ways it reminds me of life at Nobles: a strong sense of community and all-school assemblies that celebrate the accomplishments of students and staff. It’s a special place, and it helps me to appreciate the experience I had a Nobles. Life outside of work is very busy, with two young energetic children: Hannah is 5

and in kindergarten, and Wilbur is almost 1½. Happy New Year!”

Matt Glassman would love to see some familiar faces in the audience as he takes his show on the road: “I am going to be on tour with Double Edge a lot this spring and would love for Nobles friends to come see our performances.

We will be touring an original piece called the ‘Grand Parade (of the 20th Century)’ to Boston at Arts Emerson’s Paramount Theater at the end of April, as well as to New Orleans, Keene, N.H., and to two cities in Norway in June. I would love to share this work with folks, and if anyone comes, please contact me so we can connect.

Details are here: http://www. doubleedgetheatre.org/the-grandparade.html.”

1995

any members of the Nobles community are in the area and have a few minutes to stop by, it would be great to see you.”

Tara Shaw reports, “This past summer, my family and I spent a fun-filled week with Spencer Jacobs (Railsback) out in San Francisco. It was so much fun watching our kids interact and play.”

Tess Doyle says, “We welcomed John Samuel Colbert on Dec. 12, 2014. He’s been a peaceful and well-loved addition to the family!”

Ben Thompson and his wife, Courtney, are excited to announce the birth of their son, Augustine “Augie” Gordon Thompson on April 28, 2014. Jon and Anh Rechner are excited to announce the birth of their son, William Huynh Rechner, on Aug. 21, 2014. Perhaps Augie and William will be Nobles Class of 2032?

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kelly Flaman kflaman@gmail.com

1997 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

1996 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Alex Slawsby ads@alumni.brown.edu Class correspondent Alex Slawsby writes, “After seven years working for Innosight, an innovation consulting firm in Lexington, I left last summer to cofound my own two-person consulting firm, Forg (pronounced Forge), to help big companies act like startups when going after new opportunities or defending against new threats.

I’m happy to say that we’re off the ground and we’re located in the Saxonville Mills in Framingham. If

Bobbi Oldfield Wegner 617-980-1412 bobbiwegner@gmail.com Jessie Sandell Achterhof 781-990-3353 jessie.achterhof@gmail.com

Tim Mah shares, “In February 2014, I married my partner, James Carter, at a wedding in Cape Town, South Africa. We had quite a few Nobles grads who made the 20-hour trip over to be with us.

We all had a great time together during the week leading up to the wedding. Jimmy and I are back in NYC now, where we live. I continue to work as a health development

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graduate news

officer in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Jimmy is at Calvin Klein/PVH.”

2002 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

William N. Duffey III 617-893-1040 williamduffey@gmail.com

1998 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Melissa Tansey 617-696-7516 melissa.tansey@gmail.com Congratulations to Mike O’Donnell and his wife, Ryan, who welcomed daughter Maeve Elizabeth on Oct. 2, 2014.

Left: Edwin Johnson ’00 with wife Susan and son Francisco at St. Mary’s. Above: John DiCamillo ’02 with wife Sara and daughter Nora

1999 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Stephanie Trussell Driscoll stephdriscoll32@gmail.com Eliza (Drachman-Jones) ’01 and Rich Quincy welcomed their daughter, Louisa Anne Quincy, on Dec. 8, 2014.

2000 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lisa Marx lisamarx@gmail.com Cat Bui writes, “I live in Chicago with my husband, Terry Li. Terry is a dedicated and caring neurologist in Chicago. This spring I’m excited to commute to the University of Texas at Austin to finish my Ph.D. courses while working at Astellas Scientific & Medical Affairs, specializing in health economics and clinical outcomes research and oncology. I’m thrilled to be a part of innovations that provide treatment options for people with cancer. We split our

72 Nobles SPRING 2015

time between Chicago and Boston, visiting our families.”

Sasha Papernik wrote that “2014 was a year of weddings!

Sarah Clabby, Emira Gjata and I all got married this year within four months of one another. Emira was married to Michael Sproul in a breathtaking outdoor setting overlooking the ocean in Saint Martin, French West Indies. Sarah Clabby married Ryan Schroeder in a glamorous ceremony on New Year’s Eve at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wis. I married Justin Poindexter in a magical outdoor ceremony by the New River in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. Some of the greatest musicians from New York City and the Blue Ridge Mountains celebrated with Justin and me at the musical jamboree that ensued.”

Edwin Johnson writes, “2015 is off to a great start for our family.

Our son, Francisco, has just turned 10 months and is growing more awesome by the minute. I’m 1½ years into my call as the priest-in-

charge of St. Mary’s in Dorchester, and we just moved to Roslindale, close to Nobles! My wife, Susan, and I are looking forward to the reunion; she’s heard a ton of stories and is looking forward to meeting the amazing people in my class.

Here’s a picture of the three of us shortly after Francisco starred in the pageant as baby Jesus!”

2001 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lauren Kenney Murphy Lauren.kenney1@gmail.com Susannah Jackson Sullivan and her husband, John, welcomed their second baby boy, Tobey Jackson Sullivan, on March 4, 2014.

Eliza (Drachman-Jones) ’01 and Rich Quincy ’99 welcomed their daughter, Louisa Anne Quincy, on Dec. 8, 2014.

Lisa (Griswold) Robbins writes with exciting news: “My husband and I are expecting a baby girl in March!”

April Watson writes, “I’m still in Massachusetts. A little over a year ago, I took a financial analyst position at Goodwin Procter, LLP, and I’m currently getting my MBA at Boston University. I hope I can squeeze in some travel time this year, as I had an awesome 2014 going to Vegas, the Dominican Republic and other great places.”

Susannah Phillips Fogarty reports, “On April 14, 2014, Robert and I were thrilled to welcome our son, John Lane Fogarty. Nine months later, Jack is crawling all over the place, drooling like crazy, and keeping us on our (exhausted) toes. Robert, Jack and I are still living in D.C. with our dog, Penny, and I have transitioned into a new role establishing and growing the content strategy discipline within the AKQA D.C. office. 2014 was a wonderful and busy year!”

John DiCamillo is still digging some southern roots down in Atlanta. He is back at Emory for his MBA, while his wife, Sara, works as a transplant PA next door at Emory Hospital. They celebrated the first birthday for their daughter, Nora, and are gearing up for No. 2 due this summer! If you’re in the area, drop him a line.

Kellen Benjamin reports, “I’ve started a new gig as the director of national sales for IMG College, selling integrating sponsorships for the 80-plus universities and colleges under the IMG College umbrella. IMG College is a division

of IMG, which was acquired by WME almost a year ago. WME– IMG or bust!”

After graduating from Columbia Business School in 2013, Julie Son Lee moved to California to begin work at Facebook. In 2014, Julie married Michael Song Lee, a U.S. Army veteran and McKinsey consultant. Caroline Sand ’01 and Diana Nevins attended the wedding.

Caitlin Spillane King and her husband, Kevin King, welcomed their first child, Charlotte Jane King, on Dec. 12, 2014.

Margot (Lynn) Davis moved from New York to Texas just over a year ago with her husband, Zach Davis. Both grew up in the northeast, so they’re surprised to be loving life in Houston, where Margot works for Rice University. They welcome visitors and reconnecting with Nobles alumni who have also relocated to Houston.

2004 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Carolyn Sheehan Wintner 781-801-3742 carolyn.sheehan@post.harvard.edu

2005 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Saul Gorman 617-447-3444 saul.gorman@gmail.com Please refer to Memoriam section for the obituary of Devin Nwanagu.

2006 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

E.B. Bartels ebandersenbartels@gmail.com

E.B. Bartels ’06 writes, “First off, Lydia Paine (of Wellesley, Mass.) is excited to announce her upcoming nuptials to Henrik Hagtvedt (of Sandefjord, Norway), on June 5, 2015. They will be getting married in everyone’s favorite Greater Boston town of Waltham (R.I.P. The Skellig), and Lydia describes the whole situation as ‘surreal.’ I couldn’t agree more. How old are we? Where has the time gone?!

Congratulations, Lydia!

Second, Harry Aspinwall writes us with a jolly good update about his theatrical shenanigans and generally fabulous life: ‘I’ve been working on a bunch of film projects this year, including a Web series (part of which was shot at the Fairbanks House in Dedham) and a short historical comedy, Scoundrel, which I wrote and directed with a budget of $10,000, shot on Cape Cod. I’m also making a deplorable Web series comedy about two drunken adventurers in a ridiculous fantasy land, which is not online yet, and I wouldn’t share here even if it were, because it’s absolutely disgraceful. In other recent adventures, in November I was part of a documentary team exploring the origins of money in London, Turkey and Zurich (where I got to hold—but sadly not keep— a million dollars’ worth of gold), and in December I participated in the annual Boston Tea Party reenactment, to wild acclaim (by which I mean boos and death threats— par for the course playing a Tory and a British admiral).’ Check out Harry’s smiling face on the side of a trash can at right.

Last, Janna Herman would like to let everyone know that she has increased her efforts in petting

strangers’ dogs from 90 percent to 93 percent.”

Noelle Cooper writes, “I married my best friend, David Hannah, in June 2014. (Still working on the name change!)”

2007 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Greg Keches gkeches@gmail.com

2008 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Aditya Mukerjee 212-935-5637 aditya.mukerjee@gmail.com

2009 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Liz Rappaport 617-413-6070 lizrap@gwmail.gwu.edu From class correspondent Liz Rappaport: “The Class of 2009 had an amazing time at our five-year reunion this past summer. Thank

you to everyone who was able to make it, and for sharing all of your fond memories of our time at Nobles. This year, I had the honor of attending Arianna Brown’s wedding to Jimmy Hendry, with Maddy Petrini. Maddy was a beautiful bridesmaid, and maid of honor Ayla Brown ’06 sang ‘A Thousand Years’ as Arianna walked down the aisle with her dad, former Senator Scott Brown. It was an incredible time, and we are so thrilled for Arianna and Jimmy!”

Suzanne Sullivan tells us, “I am living on the eastern shore of Maryland, working as an educator and volunteer coordinator for an environmental nonprofit. If folks are in the D.C. area, let me know.”

Manny Perez notes, “Since my last update, my job has shifted to project lead/business development advisor at tech startup StockUp (formerly Blue Tiger Labs), working on our latest product, StockUp Savings. I’m still living in D.C. and really enjoying my time here!”

Melina Chadbourne writes, “I’m still pursuing acting in NYC. I work a few odd flexible jobs and

Left: You can see the face of Harry Aspinwall ‘06 plastered around the city on tourist trolleys, billboards and even trash cans. Pictured here with Harry’s face is his half-sister, Lila, daughter of Mark Aspinwall ‘75. Right: Maddy Petrini and Liz Rappaport, both ‘09, at the wedding of Arianna Brown ‘09

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graduate news

still teach filmmaking on the side to elementary school kids. My sister recently moved to the city for an incredible job, so we are having fun together. I have an amazing boyfriend who is also involved in film, and he’s been such a great addition to my world. He’s a blast.”

Derick Beresford writes, “On Memorial Day weekend I got engaged! My fiancée, Tamar Charles, and I had been dating for four and a half years prior to me asking the question. I performed the good deed at Wesleyan University, and after sweet-talking the ResLife department, I was able to get into her dorm room, where we hung out all the time. We walked back from our favorite restaurant in Middletown to the dorms. What’s usually a five-minute walk felt like forever.

I’ve never been more nervous in my life, and I felt like she could see my heart beating. Once we got to the room, I got down on one knee and proposed. She went through the full range of emotions: shock, tears, smiles and all. It was reunion and commencement weekend at Wesleyan, so we were able to celebrate at a tent party with our friends. It was such an amazing night and has since been a great summer. My parents threw us an engagement party in Atlanta, and her family and our friends are hosting another one in NYC. We have been riding on the high of the engagement and are now really locking down the details for the big day. We are planning to get married next summer in New York.

As far as work, things are going well. I’m approaching a year working for the New York Mets and SNY (a regional sports network, similar to NESN for those unfamiliar) in the ad sales department. It was a long

74 Nobles SPRING 2015

baseball season where I learned a lot and met a lot of people. The biggest highlight was our sponsor workout, where we got decked out in a full Mets uniform and got to play a game at Citi Field.”

2010 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Holly Foster 508-404-4616 hatherly.a.foster@dartmouth.edu From class correspondent Holly Foster: “Lots of great updates from the Class of 2010! Can’t wait to see you all at our reunion.”

Tori Goyette writes, “Hi, everyone! Saw a bunch of N’10 over the holidays and was so excited to catch up with some of the out-oftowners. Jackie Young is killing it in Pittsburgh (speaking of ketching up), Greg Corrado in Rochester and Willy Bliss in the Big Easy. It was bittersweet to wrap up the holidays with ‘See you at reunion!’

Seems like a long way away, but as friends and classmates continue to scatter, it is exciting to have a day on the calendar dedicated to getting everyone back together. Hope you’re all happy and healthy!”

Ben Wiggins is working at Synapse, an advertising company in Stamford, Conn., as a financial analyst.

Nate Ellis is living in South Boston and enjoying working at Shields and Company.

Caitlin Fai is living in Boston, currently pursuing a Master of Science in biomedical sciences through Tufts University School of Medicine. She writes, “Although I am studying most of the time, I have been able to see a bunch of

Nobles kids and am really excited to see everyone at reunion!”

Nike John is graduating this spring and hopefully starting her own real estate brokerage group in May. Jackie Young is living in Pittsburgh, working for Heinz, and enjoying performing sketch and improv comedy as well.

Will Potter graduated from Middlebury and moved to San Francisco in March.

Alexa Zilberfarb writes, “After graduating from Scripps College in May with a degree in geology, I’ve moved back to the East Coast, to Washington, D.C., to work for an environmental consulting company. Already looking forward to our five-year reunion!”

Hannah Birnbaum is currently working as a lab manager at MIT Sloan. She writes, “I work in a social psychology/organization studies lab that researches the effect of diversity on organizations.”

Colin Coughlin is working as an analyst at a commercial real estate firm in Boston. He writes, “I’m looking forward to getting back on campus and seeing everyone in May.” Tommy Ragno is also pursuing a career in commercial real estate in Boston.

Jack Allard is working in Newton as an analyst for a health care company.

Gordie Bailey is working at State Street in corporate compliance.

Maddie Leach recently moved to New York and works as a production assistant for Showtime Networks.

After graduating from Penn, Spencer Schlager now lives in New York and works for a real estate

investment bank.

Chris Pratt is teaching math at CATS Academy in Newton, Mass.

JJ Pollack is doing independent filmmaking in Austin, Texas.

Laura Kirk writes, “I’ve been working as an account coordinator at O’Neill and Associates, which is a full-service communications and government-relations firm in Boston. It has been going well, but I’ve decided to take a risk and move out to San Francisco. I have no set plans as of yet, but I’m sure (mostly sure, ha ha) that things will fall into place.

I hope everyone is doing well!”

Kerrin Smith is a bonafide Brooklynite with the job of her dreams, working at Catchafire in business development. Outside of work, she enjoys running, vintage shopping, and working on her NYC-based project, CATid. Watch her TEDx talk at www.catid.net.

Curtis Rheingold is conducting neuroscience research at McLean Hospital before applying to graduate school in the fall.

Denna Laing writes, “Hey, Nobles! After college graduation I moved home, and I am now working at the District Attorney’s office in Lynn. I am also playing hockey for the Boston Blades. I had so much fun skating in the Nobles alumnae hockey game with Caitlin Fai, Marissa Gedman and Sarah Duncan in December. But I am even more excited for our fifthyear reunion. I can’t wait to see you all and catch up!”

Annelise Baker writes, “I am currently in a professional production of West Side Story at Drury Lane Theater near Chicago. I am playing the role of Graziella. It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m having a great time!”

Caitie Meyer is working at Deloitte Consulting as a business technology analyst and is enjoying living in Boston.

Eliza Goode is working in the Membership Rewards program at American Express. She writes, “I am enjoying life in NYC and got a nice long vacation at the end of the year. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion in May!” Marty Morris is working in NYC for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a clinical research assistant. He writes, “I am enrolled as a Post-Bacc student at Columbia University with plans to take the MCAT and apply to medical school this year!”

Darcy Banco is in her second semester of the MD/MPH program at Tufts University School of Medicine. She writes, “I absolutely love the program and being back in Boston.”

Lara Ameri is working in Boston as a litigation paralegal for Ropes & Gray and plans to attend law school in the near future.

Daria Ameri is currently working as a research coordinator at Tufts Dental School and will attend the school as a student beginning in July.

Dori Rahbar writes, “Hi, everyone. I graduated this past May from Brown, where I studied political science and played four years of squash alongside some different journalism and radio adventures.

Now I’m in NYC, working as a research analyst at a technology think tank for Gartner. I’m still playing squash here in the city when I can. Most important, I also had a growth spurt, so now I’m 6’3”, and I’ve taken up professional basketball as a side hobby. No one

saw that coming.”

Dan Samost is currently living in New York and working for Bronx, a nonprofit where he serves as a case manager for the Homebase homelessness prevention program.

He plans on heading to graduate school for psychology.

Willy Bliss is living in New Orleans and working as a field engineer for the Conti Group, where he has worked on a levee project and discharge pipe installation.

Linda Paniszyn is in her first year of medical school at Albany Medical College. She is really enjoying her studies and being involved in the community through services mentoring kids and working with Alzheimer patients, as well as being her school’s American Medical Association president. She is also very excited to be doing wedding planning as the maid-of-honor for her sister Katie Paniszyn ’07, who is marrying Ben Dawson ’07 in June.

2011 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Katie Puccio 508-446-0726 krpooch@gmail.com

enrolled in the CIEE Business and Culture Program that provided both the business classes I needed back at Elon as well as some culture courses that were a little more engaging and taught us about life and culture in Barcelona. With Barcelona being the largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea, I was able to travel across Europe with little hassle. Along with a group of my friends from Elon, I visited some major European cities like Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence and Budapest, as well as some smaller and more relaxing locations like Mallorca, Seville and the Canary Islands. I was fortunate enough to catch up with some friends from Nobles while abroad, as there were a number of students from the Class of 2012 also in Europe, which made for a great reunion at Oktoberfest! A city of mixed cultures and intertwined histories, Barcelona was the perfect place to spend three and a half months. Its growth toward modernization while maintaining its rich history through art and architecture makes Barcelona one of the most unique cities

in the world, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to spend a semester here. Between the friends I met, the lessons I learned, and the experiences I had, studying abroad was one of the best decisions I have made, and I recommend it to all!”

Lily Ham writes, “Hi, guys!

I spent last semester studying abroad in Buenos Aires through a CIEE program. I took classes at Universidad de Buenos Aires and Universidad Católica Argentina, both of which were great because the classes were with local students in Spanish. Zoey Carey and Marcelo Domeniconi were also there on a Middlebury program, and it was really fun to be able to catch up with them. We lived with host families while we were there and got to travel all around Argentina and to Chile and Uruguay. I was there for five months, and the entire experience was amazing, but my favorite part was a trip that Zoey and I took to El Calafate in Argentinian Patagonia. We hiked up to Mount Fitz Roy and spent a day trekking across the Perito Moreno Glacier.

Hope everyone is doing well!”

2012 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Coco Woeltz woeltz@bc.edu Matt King writes, “This past semester, I was fortunate enough to study in Barcelona for three and a half months. As a student at Elon University, the majority of undergraduates take the opportunity to study abroad, and it is one decision I will never regret. I was

Lily Ham and Zoey Carey, both ’12, trekking in Patagonia

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graduate news memoriam Harrison Prescott Eddy ’39 passed away at his home on Dec. 13, 2014, at the age of 93. Eddy graduated with the class of 1939, and was described as “one of the most dependable members of [the] class.” (Class-book, 1939) A star on the football, track and baseball teams, he was best remembered as the great debater, “always willing to express his opinion and elucidate at length on any subject in the classroom, in the Student Council and around the school grounds.” (Class-book, 1939) A devoted boatsman, Eddy spent one summer as captain of the charter boat from which a record 600-pound tuna was caught for the Black Dolphin Tuna Contest.

After graduating Williams College in 1941, he attended medical school at Columbia Physicians & Surgeons in New York and interned in psychiatry at the Bedford Naval Hospital. He practiced general psychiatry in Manhattan, where he enjoyed teaching psychiatric principles to social workers and medical residents at St. Vincent’s and Roosevelt Hospitals, and in Pleasant Valley, N.Y., until 1966, when he moved to The Plains.

Eddy is survived by his wife of 68 years, Jane Lee (née Jackson); his children, William, Catherine and Susan; and his grandson, Maxwell.

Reverend Seth W. Newton ’49 of Marstons Mills, Mass., died Nov. 4, 2014, at the age of 84.

Newton spent two years at Nobles, where he was captain of the wrestling team. Although a

76 Nobles SPRING 2015

relative newcomer to his class, Newton “left his mark so deep that he seem[ed] not as a newcomer, but rather one of the mainstays of the class.” (Class-book, 1949) In addition to wrestling, he played on the JV soccer team and rowed on the Charles; in his senior year, he won the decathlon “with well over a thousand points.” (Class-book, 1949).

He graduated from Yale University in 1953 and then from New College at the University in Edinburgh, where he studied theology. Graduating from Union Theological Seminary in 1957 with a Bachelor of Divinity, he was ordained in the United Church of Christ and served 50 years in ministry. Newton brought his experience and his warm, conversational manner to churches all over Massachusetts and New Hampshire, also serving many years as the Resident Minister at the Grace Memorial Chapel in Menauhant, East Falmouth, where he spent summers as a child.

Newton is survived by his wife of 58 years, Helen Rosemary Patterson Newton; his five children, Seth, Roger, Barbara, Andrew and Tyler; his many nieces and nephews, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Bruce Palmer ’50 of Signal Mountain, Tenn., passed away on Nov. 7, 2014. Palmer spent five years at Nobles, where he was the editorin-chief of The Nobleman during his senior year. According to his classmates, he was “the class authority on the Charleston” and

an avid dancer. (Class-book, 1950) He participated in almost every extracurricular Nobles had to offer: He was a member of the football, basketball and baseball teams; in the glee club, dramatic club and Deutsche Verein; he played in the quartets and sang in the Nobleonians; and he won the Time prize in 1948. (Class-book, 1950) He graduated in 1954 from Williams University with a B.A., and then from Brandeis, where he earned his master’s degree. Palmer previously lived in Stockton, N.J., where he taught English and Humanities for many years at private and public schools and colleges in the New Jersey area. He was also a writer of more than 10 books, including titles such as They Shall Not Pass, about the Spanish Civil War, Last Bull Run and Chancellorsville. As a lifelong writer, he also wrote for local newspapers, including the Lambertville Beacon.

Palmer was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Suzanne Palmer. He is survived by his children, Mark, Matthew and Maria; his sister, Diane; and six grandchildren.

John Mansell “Jack” Tucker ’53, one of the most beloved, smart, humorous and bright-shining stars of the Nobles Class of 1953, sadly passed away on Nov. 13, 2014. I had the fortune of meeting Jack when he first enrolled at Nobles and instantly discovered a kindred spirit, so that for the rest of our many years of knowing each other, we laughingly referred to each other as “best buddies.”

To know Jack was to know a truly exceptional human being and gentleman, and as one classmate remarked when he heard of Jack’s demise, when you talked to Jack, you would always pay close attention, because you knew that you would learn something.

During his years at Nobles, Jack was the captain of the soccer team, played on the basketball team, and sang with the glee club, the quartets, the choir, and the singing group the Nobleonians.

He was on the Nobleman Board and was business manager of the Classbook Committee.

Jack was born in Boston in 1936 to Frank and Dorothy Tucker.

He grew up there (loving Ted Williams and the Red Sox) and graduated from Williams College in 1957. After working for several years in Boston and Cincinnati, Jack moved to Chattanooga in 1970, when he was hired by the Professional Golf Company, which later was renamed ProGroup. He ran ProGroup, a Chattanoogabased golf-equipment manufacturer, until 1992. Those years were the happiest days of his professional career, and he always appreciated the efforts of his many coworkers who helped make the company such a success during that period. Jack was a businessman to his core. He was good at it, and he enjoyed it tremendously.

Jack is survived by his wife of 34 years, Sharon; his son, Jeff, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; his daughter, Lindsay Berry, and her husband, Randy, of Atlanta; his son, Andy, and his wife, Tara,

of Signal Mountain, Tenn., and grandkids Haydon, Jack and Cate Tucker, also of Signal Mountain; his sister, Jane Palmer, of Lyme, N.H.; his brother, Dick, and his wife, Lisa, of Boston; his motherin-law, Betsy McCullough, his brother- and sister-in-law, Terry and Cindy Ziegler, of Chattanooga; seven nephews and two nieces.

He is also survived by two of the world’s most loved black labrador retrievers, Emmy and Faith.

To sum up his love of labs and the way he spoiled them, a friend once remarked, “If there’s such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as one of Jack Tucker’s dogs.”

Jack also loved working in the woods at his house, walking the beaches at Sanibel, Florida, playing golf and tennis, reading, and especially the sport of horse racing, while training his horses to hopefully become racetrack winners.

Jack, “best buddy,” as I reflect on our years of friendship, I know that you loved the beauty of horses, the excitement of the races and the intense rush that you felt when your horses ran a great race. In your mind’s eye, you can see and feel yourself in the Winners Circle, with everyone cheering for the wonderful race just run. All I can say about your life is, Congratulations, Jack. You ran one hell of a great, exciting and wonderful race.

Written by Winston “Hooley” “Best Buddy” Perry ’52 & ’53 Class Correspondent William “Billy” Henry Allen ’53 of Chatham, Mass., passed away on Nov. 6, 2014, at the Brigham &

Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Billy was the beloved husband of the late Stephanie (Knights) Allen. He was born in Jobabo, Cuba, on Sept. 11, 1934, and was the son of the late William Lothrop and Isabelle (De Los Santos) Allen. Bill was educated at the Fenn School, Nobles and Greenough School and then Harvard University.

During his four years at Nobles, Bill was an avid outdoorsman and an outstanding athlete, playing on the 1951 undefeated football team and becoming known for his pile-driving runs from the fullback position, in addition to playing hockey and baseball. Interestingly enough, on the lighter side, Bill was voted by his classmates as “The Man with the Ladies,” and in his senior year, he had the honor of living in the Round Room with four of his classmates, along with the many memories that a unique experience like that can entail.

While at Harvard, Bill also played and excelled at football and hockey.

He worked for many years in sales and advertising, and most recently was the owner of A & K and Son Inc., in Dedham, Mass., for 18 years prior to his retirement.

Bill is survived by his five children, Sylvia Hazard, of Milford, Conn.; William Allen, of Hopkinton, Mass.; Barbara Faron, of Medway, Mass.; Sarah Mello, of Rumford, R.I.; and Robert Allen ’95 of Wrentham, Mass. He is also survived by two sisters, Margaret Sedgwick, of New York, N.Y.; and Anisia Gifford, of Medfield, Mass.; nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren. A memorial service

was held on Jan. 3, 2015, at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Dedham, Mass. Billy was a mainstay of the Class of 1953 and will be missed by everyone who knew him. Vaya con dios.

Thank you to Hooley Perry ’53 for submitting this obituary.

Richard “Chip” Morse ’59 will be dearly missed. He passed away at his home in Falmouth (Woods Hole), Mass., with family members at his bedside after a battle with cancer. He had heroically joined his N’59 class at their 55th reunion dinner at the Castle in the spring.

Chip grew up in Newton and came to Nobles in the 4th class.

He was a good student and lettered in football and baseball, and was captain of the basketball team. He went to Princeton to study economics, and after earning his B.A., he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Chip practiced law in the Boston area for more than 35 years. He founded his own firm in 1993, specializing in startup tech and life-sciences companies. He chose to retire from active practice about 10 years ago and devoted volunteer energy to the ocean sciences, specifically oriented to his beloved Buzzards Bay and his love for sailing. He was asked to serve as trustee of both the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Chip also served on the Board of Trustees at Nobles from 1972–1978.

In the words of classmate Tedd Mann ’59, “Chip Morse embodied the Nobles ideals taught by Eliot

T. Putnam and his staff: loyalty, service and achievement. Chip led an honorable and purposeful life, and we are proud of him.”

His wife of almost 50 years, Susan, survives him, as well as his brother, Ken Morse ’64, son Richard S. Morse III ’85, daughter Laura Morse Shear, and four grandchildren.

Thank you to John Gibson ’59 for contributing to this obituary.

After cramming several lifetimes’ worth of adventure into 58 years, Ned Colt ’75 died peacefully on Feb. 10, 2015, in Boston, surrounded by his family, in the aftermath of a stroke he suffered on Naushon Island, Mass.

Born in Philadelphia on April 27, 1956, Ned grew up in Dedham, Mass., where his love of adventure and the outdoors showed itself early, in his explorations of the mill pond at the family house on Cape Cod and his clandestine rides on ice floes in local rivers. After graduating from Noble and Greenough School, he attended Connecticut College, where Ned carried out his love of learning in the wider world by spending a semester at sea, a semester at the National Theater Institute in New London, and semesters off during which he worked in Argentina, backpacked through Latin America, and crewed on charter boats in the Caribbean.

After graduating in 1980 with a degree in theater, Ned worked briefly as an actor in New York and a carpenter in Boston. He found his path in broadcast journalism, a career to which he was drawn

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because of his love of travel, his curiosity and his gift for establishing instant and long-lasting bonds with people. He worked as a news reporter and producer in Duluth, Jacksonville and Raleigh before landing at Channel 7 in his hometown of Boston.

But Ned’s curiosity was global.

In 1992, he became the first Fulbright Scholar posted to Albania, where he codesigned and taught a journalism curriculum at the University of Tirana. Then he and a friend started a freelance news production company, through which they spent four years covering the Balkan War to the BBC, the CBC, NBC, NPR and the Christian Science Monitor. This was the first of many conflicts Ned would cover.

During the bulk of Ned’s career, from 1996 to 2008, he worked as a foreign correspondent for NBC News, using the power of broadcast journalism to bring attention to people suffering around the world. Based in Beijing, Hong Kong and London, he covered wars, revolutions and natural disasters in more than 25 countries, including East Timor’s struggle for independence, the fall of Indonesian president Suharto, the tsunami in Sri Lanka and the earthquake in Kashmir. He was also able to draw on his interest in the environment by reporting on efforts to preserve orangutan habitats in Borneo and panda habitats in China. Much of his time was spent covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, often under difficult or hazardous conditions. In 2004, while covering the uprising in Fallujah, Ned and his TV crew were kidnapped and held for three days by Iraqi insurgents, a situation in which Ned’s grace

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under pressure served him and his colleagues well.

In 2009, Ned left NBC and became an adjunct professor of journalism at Boston University.

Wanting to learn how to provide more direct help to the people on whom he had reported for so many years, Ned went back to school, earning a master’s degree in public administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, from which he graduated with honors.

He then worked as a communications officer for the International Rescue Committee, based in Islamabad and Amman. At the time of his death, Ned was based in Erbil, Iraq, working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, trying to bring the world’s attention to the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

Though Ned spent much of his career abroad, he always looked forward to returning to the place he considered his true home: Naushon Island, off Cape Cod, where he was able to spend time with his beloved family and friends and express his lifelong love of the sea. There, he masterminded the design and construction of a shared vacation home, and used his carpenter’s tools to help build it.

Whenever he visited, Ned was the champion quahog digger, the most avid snorkeler, the most persistent lobsterman and the most dogged bushwhacker. He was the guiding force behind the annual work week at the island’s arboretum, where he and his friends pruned shrubs, cut away catbriar, and planted saplings before cooking good food, drinking good beer, and laughing and talking long into the night.

In 1997, Ned met his future

wife, Cathy Robinson, a Canadian news producer and writer who shared not only his interest in humanitarian work but also his love of travel and adventure—and increased his happiness by a factor of a thousand. Ned had to cancel their second date because, as he explained, “I’ve got to cover Mother Teresa’s funeral” (a line, though perfectly true, that could be used only once). He and Cathy helped fund the college tuition of a young Afghan man he had met on assignment in Kabul.

During the 18 years Ned and Cathy spent together, they scuba dived the Great Barrier Reef, skied Val d’Isère, and bungee-jumped in New Zealand. They celebrated Ned’s 50th birthday by swimming with great white sharks in South Africa and Cathy’s 50th by swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines. Two weeks before his death, Ned and Cathy swam with manatees in Florida.

Ned was predeceased by his father, Henry F. Colt Jr. He is survived by his wife, Cathy; his mother, Lisa, of Easthampton, Mass.; his brother Harry and sister-in-law Sandy Bell Colt, of Belgrade, Maine; his brother George and sister-in-law Anne Fadiman, of Whately, Mass.; his brother Mark, of Medway, Mass; his nephews, Ian and Henry; his nieces, Maya and Susannah; many much-loved cousins; and numerous friends from around the world. All of us will remember Ned for, among other things, his humility, his idealism, his mischievousness, his stubbornness, his devotion to friends and family, his rich baritone voice, his capacity to make even a walk to the dock seem like an adventure,

his ability to make us laugh so hard we couldn’t breathe and his deep generosity: a quality apparent even during his final hours.

A celebration of Ned’s life will be held in the spring.

Devin Adanma Nwanagu ’05 passed away on Dec. 14, 2014.

She was a beloved member of the class of 2005 and was actively involved in many different aspects of the school, but Devin’s true passion was the girls varsity soccer team. As a three-year starter, she helped Nobles rack up two ISL titles and one New England Championship. She was an integral member of those teams on the defensive side, even though she was an exceptional goal scorer (which she would happily explain without prompting).

Devin continued her soccer career at Trinity, where she was a four-year starter. In her first two years, she was the team’s leading scorer and liked to joke years later that Nobles coach Steve Ginsberg “never used me right! I would have been in the Hall of Fame!”

She was a two-time All-NESCAC midfielder, but, in typical Devin fashion, moved to defense during her junior year based on a team need. While she sacrificed the notoriety of being the team’s top goal-scorer, her team recognized this selfless act by electing her captain during her senior year.

Most recently, she worked as a member of the Nobles Development Office, focusing primarily on the BeNoblesBold campaign and the Annual Nobles Fund. A fierce supporter of the school, she constantly looked for other areas to which she could lend her

skills. She was the driving force behind the Graduates of Color Committee and the annual Carey Classic women’s soccer game; these two important school efforts will carry on because of her hard work and determination in laying the groundwork. She served on the Young Graduates Committee and the Hall of Fame Committee, and was a member of the dorm faculty this past year. Her passion for Nobles and soccer made her an important member of the varsity girls soccer coaching staff, winning two ISL and two New England Championships during her tenure. Outside of Nobles, she coached youth soccer for NEFC girls-under-15 and -13 teams.

Beyond her accomplishments, Devin will be remembered for the ways that she touched each of us who had the privilege of knowing her. Her passing has left a massive void in the Nobles community, but we are buoyed by the light that she shone on us all and are inspired to keep working on the things that were important to her. As such, her family, classmates and friends have established the Devin Nwanagu ’05 Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded with preference given to female students of color, who, like Devin, bring dedication, motivation and sportsmanship to the Nobles classrooms and playing fields.

Devin is survived by her parents, Carol and Ernest Nwanagu; brother E. Amadi Nwanagu; grandparents Evelyn N. Young and Ernestine Nwanagu; aunts and uncles Anne Young-Berkeley, Clinton I. Young Jr., Mary L. and Eric Graves, Seth Nwanagu, David and Carolyn Nwanagu, and Jonathan and Johanna Nwanagu.

Front row: Heather Partridge Kolva ’88, Paul Avery (former faculty), Peter Partridge ’54, Heather Markey Zink ’86, Wendy Wheeler MacDonald ’85, Rin Carroll Jackson ’86, Bill Heald ’86, Andrew Partridge ’86 and Haley Partridge. Back row: Dick Reiber ’60, Andrew McCabe ’86, Tim Partridge ’90, Zan Partridge ’93. Present at the wedding but missing from the photo: Tripp Woodland ’92 and Kate Ramsdell (current faculty)

Left to right: Scott VanBroekhoven ’97, Kristina Vanstrom, Ignacio Morillas, Sandra Seru ’97, James Carter, Timothy Mah ’97, Serena Mah ’94, Phil Seel, Priya Garg, Scott Lee ’97, Kim Ching ’97 and Joe Blois at the wedding of Tim and James.

announcements Engagements

Marriages

Lydia Paine ’06 to Henrik Hagtvedt on June 5, 2015. The wedding will take place in Waltham, Mass.

Katie Paniszyn and Ben Dawson, both ’07, will be married in June.

Derick Beresford ’09 is engaged to Tamar Charles.

Andrew Partridge ’86 wed Haley Messenger in Cataumet in October 2014.

Former faculty member Brian Jones married his partner of 25 years, Michael Rocha, in Nahant.

Tim Mah ’97 married James Carter in Cape Town, South Africa, in February 2014.

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From left to right: Caroline, Nick, Joe and Liza Beaulac ’86; Brian Jones (former faculty) and Michael Rocha; and Declan, Kiera and Nat Jones

Jack Son, Ohk Son, Julie Son Lee ‘02, Michael Lee, Tracey Lee, and Jung Lee

Sasha Papernik ’00 married Justin Poindexter in North Carolina.

Anna Cooper ’02, David Hannah and Noelle Cooper ’06 at Noelle and David’s wedding in Santorini, Greece

Sasha Papernik ’00 married Justin Poindexter in a magical outdoor ceremony by the New River in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina.

Sarah Clabby ’00 married Ryan Schroeder on New Year’s Eve at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wis.

Emira Gjata ’00 wed Michael Sproul in Saint Martin, French West Indies.

Julie Son ’02 married Michael Song Lee in 2014.

Noelle Cooper ’06 wed David Hannah in Santorini, Greece, in June 2014.

Arianna Brown ’09 married Jimmy Hendry

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Arianna Brown Hendry ’09 on her wedding day

in 2014 at Flag Hill Winery in Lee, N.H.

New Arrivals Congratulations to Tess Doyle ’96 on the arrival of son John Samuel Colbert on Dec. 12, 2014.

Mike O’Donnell ’98 and wife Ryan welcomed

John Samuel Colbert, son of Tess Doyle ’96

Louisa Anne Quincy, daughter of Eliza (DrachmanJones) ’01 and Rich Quincy ’99

Maeve Elizabeth O’Donnell, daughter of Mike O’Donnell ’98 and wife Ryan

Tobey Jackson Sullivan, son of Susannah Jackson Sullivan ’01, with big brother Emmett

Susannah Phillips Fogarty ’02 with smiley son John Lane Fogarty, born April 14, 2014

Caitlin Spillane King ’02 and her husband, Kevin King, welcomed their first child, Charlotte Jane King, on Dec. 12, 2014.

daughter Maeve Elizabeth on Oct. 2, 2014.

Susannah Jackson Sullivan ’01 and her husband, John, welcomed their second baby boy, Tobey Jackson Sullivan, on March 4, 2014.

Eliza (Drachman-Jones) ’01 and Rich Quincy ’99 welcomed their daughter, Louisa Anne Quincy, on Dec. 8, 2014.

Ben Thompson ’96 and his wife, Courtney, announced the birth of their son, Augustine “Augie” Gordon Thompson on April 28, 2014.

Jon Rechner ’96 and his wife, Anh, are excited to announce the birth of their son, William Huynh Rechner, on Aug. 21, 2014.

Susannah Phillips Fogarty ’02 and husband

Robert were thrilled to welcome son John Lane Fogarty on April 14, 2014.

Caitlin Spillane King ’02 and her husband, Kevin King, welcomed their first child, Charlotte Jane King, on Dec. 12, 2014.

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DOWNTIME IN LYMAN LIBRARY Senior boys show their silly side in this 1968 photo.

When you make a gift to the Annual Nobles Fund, you give the gift of creativity and collaboration.

Make your gift to the Annual Nobles Fund today.

Visit www.nobles.edu/giveonline or contact Director of Annual Giving Casey Hassenstein at Casey_Hassenstein@nobles.edu or 781-320-7011.

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Noble and Greenough School 10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026-4099

Angkor Thom, Cambodia On their first day of biking more than 180 miles through Cambodia and Vietnam, the spring break cycling and service group of eight students and three chaperones visited Bayon Temple, north of Siem Reap, Cambodia.

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOSTON MA PERMIT NO. 53825