m Peter Frew ’75 welcomes back Tarik Asmerom ’01.
1976 classmates
c Sara MacDonell, Jocelyn Gamble Childs, Kitty Herrlinger Hillman, mother of Dan ‘06 and Scott ‘09, and Leslie Weeden
1961 Talking to Fred Genung ’63 about his Taft experience, the focus shifts toward change. He says life at Taft in the early ’60s was fun but quite regimented. The daily schedule started at 7:15 a.m., attendance was taken five times a day, and three meals were mandatory. There were no radios, no telephones, no TVs, and most regrettably, no females. But Genung says he enjoyed his Taft experience, especially his two years as a left winger on the undefeated varsity hockey team. “Prep school is like the Marine Corps,” he says in summation. “You forget the hard parts and you remember the good parts.” After the banquet, I walk over to the Taft-Hotchkiss varsity lacrosse game. Hoping to get a wider range of perspectives, I approach a gray-haired man in a tweed sports coat 24 Taft Bulletin Summer 2006
named John Hammerslough ’46. He says he’s very pleased that his classmate, Samuel Pryor just won the Citation of Merit award. John is here for his 60th Reunion and, coincidentally, I spoke earlier to his son Charlie ’76. I recall having oft heard the phrase “the Taft family” as a student, but I’m just starting to realize the literal applications of the term. Nici TietjenDerosier mentioned that her dad and sister were both Tafties, and Sarah Curi’s sister, Katherine ’92, was in my class and is now a cyclist on the American national team. I knew Fred Genung’s daughter Kate ’94, and his son Alec ’91 played on three sports teams with me. Taft family, indeed. Considering that John Hammerslough attended Taft during World War II, his perspective strikes me as disarm-