stay connected... diplomats to negotiate with princes who had 25 years of tenure.” Fletcher Chamberlin’s reunion chat with Ford yielded this: “Two things struck me at the time. The dispute between Qatar and the Saudis and Gulf states had just broken. When asked about it, he started his answer with, ‘I was just down at the National Security Agency last week, and this is what I learned,’ followed by a thoughtful explanation. When he was talking about the current staffing issues in the State Department and the lack of an Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East, I joked that they should ask him. He quietly said, ‘They did. I said no.’ Both answers were delivered without a hint of braggadocio or arrogance.” Humble, thoughtful, wise, funny, incredibly talented. Ford was all that, and more. Writing in our 50th Reunion memorial book about his friend Norman Cross, he reflected, “Over the years we have all lost friends and family. It may be a cliché, but I believe that people haven’t really gone when they are remembered.” Ford, too, will long be remembered as one of ’67’s best and brightest. When Paul De Angelis was putting together our In Memoriam book, he discovered that Mefford Runyon, who spent Lower year with us, had mistakenly been listed as deceased. We later caught up with Mefford from his home in Orleans, Mass. A Colgate grad, retired banker, and town selectman, he teaches yoga and enjoys travel with wife Barbara, who runs an Airbnb on outer Cape Cod. Finally, the Abbot-Andover Climate Google Group is worth checking out, if not actively joining. Dave Arnold, Rob Smith, Walt Mintkeski, and John Nettleton, among others, are doing great work on it. —JPK Lock Whitney and husband Sandro Cagnin joined my wife Anita and myself for an August day at the races in Saratoga, N.Y. We had a luncheon at the Reading Room, a horseman’s club where Lock’s father had been a member for years; the staff greeted Lock royally with fond reminiscences of his father. During lunch Lock spoke of the master classes in voice and singing that he had attended in Edinburgh this past summer and of the life he and Sandro have on their farm in Chatham, NY. We had a grand time watching a few races, laughing heartily at our handicapping misses. Tom Gadsden was looking forward to retiring in late September, finishing his long career at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia. He will continue with his American Bar Association committee work. He and spouse Beth plan to split their time between their home in Gladwyne, PA, and a second home in S.C. In October they were heading on a trip to Israel and Jordan. Tom recalled some special moments with Ford at the reunion when the two of them, seeing each other for the first time in 50 years, shared memories of their cross-country trip the summer after graduation.
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Andover | Winter 2018
Farlow Blakeslee and wife Esther attended this year’s U.S. Open, continuing their 2017 travels to all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. Reuniongoers may recall that they had just arrived at Andover from the French Open in Paris. In August, Farlow spent a week fly-fishing for cutthroat trout at 10,000 ft. near Ridgeway, CO. His guide and companion was his son Coleman who teaches rockclimbing; Farlow speaks with proud amazement of Coleman having climbed Mt. Fitzroy in Patagonia. —Ray Bird
1968
50th REUNION
ABBOT Karen Seaward 1071 Thompson St. Carson City, NV 89703 klseaward@att.net
Our suggested theme was What Have You Been Doing All Summer but a number of us are living in areas affected by hurricanes Irma and Harvey and these acts of nature had the rest of us abruptly considering our own fortune and well-being. Cher Lewis wrote “Aging and change, swirling fortunes, listening to whines and sleeping peacefully. Life this year has been a shopping cart filled with joy, sorrows, loss and gains. I’ve welcomed new family members and lost longtime friends. My world continues to expand as I read more, speak less and listen carefully. Instead of being watched, I have become the watcher. This is something I would have written for Courant in 1967!” Anne Moses Bennett and husband had “a quiet summer on their still-busy island, spending a lot of time at home overlooking the sea, the Venetian fortress and the village; avoiding the crowds cooking, reading, seeing friends and generally basking in the sense of well-being that surrounds us. The persistent Cycladic winds have died down and the September light is beautiful. While Irma hits Puerto Rico, Nan Roberts wrote “we have brought in the extra water, arranged the possible “escape” homes and a possible fond goodbye to material possessions. Despite these dire days, earlier this summer Lanie Finbury and I had a splendid 18-hour visit (complete with Korean food in Lawrence).” Annette Davis Esteves was hunkering down in South FL, anticipating the “scary unknown of Irma!” She mentioned a mini AA reunion planned for October with Lee Sullivan and Tina Kaupe in New England. Toby Dondis Farman has a new granddaughter from one side of the family and spent a full week’s vacation with her daughter and family at the shore in Bethany Beach, DE. “Great week of beach, kayaking, games, cards, yummy food and lots of fun... Very different experience than Cape Cod.” In addition, she has planned a fall trip to Barcelona, Madrid, and Dublin. The news from Jody Frost Golino is “Nothing but blue skies. Three kids successful and happy, four
healthy adorable grandkidlets, 40th anniversary with a man who continues to show me the wonders of the world, retired from architecting but still renovating in Italy, MA, and FL, and splurging on occasional lunches with Nan at exotic locales like Cracker Barrel. And I have my hurricane shutters up already. Perfect.” Kitt Cary Cowlishaw wrote “Mike and I are still living in England. We flew to Finland in July to welcome the arrival of our second granddaughter. Both sets of grandparents gathered for the occasion, so I got to practice speaking Japanese with my son’s in-laws as well as my bilingual 3-year-old granddaughter. With the added bonus of a few faltering conversations in Finnish and Russian on the streets of Helsinki, I was in Polyglot Paradise! It was so much fun that I decided to attend the Polyglot Conference in Reykjavik in October. In August I took my Renaissance lute with me to Autscape and bumped into two other Renaissance lute players there. What are the odds?” Betsy Handy McCormack described a “Great summer. Clamming with granddaughters, beach etc. (ages 6, 5, 4, and 2. Had to put our 14-year-old Springer down. So hard. She was a great dog. If anyone is south of Boston please visit. Duxbury is beautiful. On the water and filled with history. I’m very lucky.” Paula Atwood wrote “It was beautiful in CT this year; very few hot, humid days. I’m still “semiretired”, working very part-time between travels and no Mondays. Travels this past year included Mexico, Peru, South Carolina, Georgia, the Natchez Trace in MS (highly recommended) and Virginia.” Elizabeth “Betty” Briggs Robinson has “thoroughly enjoyed a full summer at my home on Bald Head Island, NC. I have been working with the BHI Conservancy as a volunteer in their loggerhead turtle program. I have assisted in nest “boils” and excavations. The hatchlings make me smile with their eagerness and determination to make it to the surf. I also mentored an intern from Columbia U. this year and what a joy to play Aunt to a curious teenager. Croquet is my new sport of choice along with walks on the beach. Life is grand!” For my summer, I traveled 3 times to the Boston area to visit and assist family members. While there, I completed the cleanout of the attic in the family home and discovered a box filled with my Abbot textbooks, along with other Abbot treasures. Memory lane becomes a powerful path at times like this and I paused to walk on it for a while. Back home in the West, we flitted between the Eastern and Western Sierras, and dropped into Lake Tahoe to kayak.