Take Note highlight for those who can only come for a day. Sixteen of us are definitely committed, and at least eight others are trying to come. Last-minute attendees are welcome. The absolute deadline for decisions is September 15, so we can plan meals. Our collection of biographies (Paths Taken) will go out to all class members in mid-summer. We would like to hear something from EVERYONE, whether or not you are coming to the reunion, so email or snail-mail me soon, by the end of July at the latest.” Sage also reports that she is currently busy “preparing lectures for a teamtaught course at Colby-Sawyer College on Transcendentalism, which I haven’t thought about in at least 45 years! (The powers that be mistakenly thought I had continued my original career, teaching English, when I actually veered off into being a family therapist!) I am having fun researching Bronson and Louisa May Alcott, the Utopian communities, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, but becoming terrified at having to upgrade my computer skills. It is a different world from when I went to grad school in 1970, but important, I think, to try to stay abreast. Other family news is that we are expecting our 15th (and last!) grandchild in July!! It is a boy, which breaks the 7-7 tie. (Not bad, since we started with six guys and me!!)” Harrah Lord reports that she “moved to Rockport, ME, in 2000 after living in Sonoma County, CA, for 15 years. I love Midcoast Maine; it’s perfect for me. Began my own business as a book designer in 2001 and it, too, has been perfect for me. My only son lives in NYC, works at the New School, and he and his wife have a 6 year old, my one and only granddaughter. In 2010, I went on match.com after being VERY single for 18 years, met a wonderful man from Boston who moved in with me in July 2011. He also is perfect for me!”
One final note from Margie: Our energetic Walker’s teacher of speech and drama, Travilla Deming, passed away in December at the age of 102. She not only was an inspiration and a relentless
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champion of e-nun-ci-a-tion, but also offered a warm substitute family to several young Walker’s students. She was writing and directing shows into her 100th year, and her 2010 memoir Darling This . . . Darling That is available on Amazon.
1963 Cythlen “Lynn” Cunningham Maddock 1160 North Ocean Boulevard Palm Beach, FL 33480 561-844-9231 cythmad@aol.com
Margie Holley Sparks: “As for me, I’m
loving Delaware and finding retirement truly far more pleasant than I’d feared. I call this ‘free play.’ I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in September in New Hampshire.”
Lynn Cunningham writes, “I am looking forward to the great time we are going to have at our 50th Reunion. I am excited to see old friends and share stories and pictures.” Lynn is busy at this writing with three grandchildren visiting; they are 6, 4, and 2 years old!
Catherine “Cathie” Smith Leonard ’61 wrote the following In Memoriam for Anne Strong ’61 who died on April 4, 2013, after a courageous battle with lung cancer. Anne’s yearbook quote next to her picture sums her up pretty well. It reads, “Talented and diligent, Anne succeeds in everything she undertakes, and she undertakes almost everything.” At Walker’s, she served on the Pepperpot Committee, sang in the Grapes, gave piano recitals, and was a member of the English Club, the History Club, the Current Events Club, and the Science Club. An excellent athlete, she played on the varsity hockey, varsity lacrosse, and varsity softball teams and served on the Athletic Board. She sat behind me in the huge study hall where we took our SATs and was finished and shifting in her seat while I struggled to get through even part of those challenging questions. Very smart young woman! Anne and I kept in touch during our years after Walker’s. When I stopped in on her at Smith College, she made potato salad from scratch, which really impressed me. After law school, she proudly created a soccer program in Boston called City Kicks for inner-city girls and directed it for 10 years, giving hundreds of young girls the chance to play a team sport. Anne and her husband, Charlie, decided to share their life with a spirited little girl from China, Gwei, whom they adopted and gave every opportunity to experience life to the fullest. The three of them had planned to come to Prince Edward Island to visit my husband and me last summer but were unable to come because of Anne’s newly diagnosed lung cancer. An initial surgery and chemotherapy held the disease in check until November when a week after playing soccer, she became unable to swallow. The cancer was relentless from then on. She never enjoyed food or drink again and bravely fought through many surgical interventions and hospitalizations with no real improvement. Dinah Day and I did have a wonderful visit with Anne in March. We reminisced about some of the fun and humorous times at Walker’s, but had to tone things down at Anne’s request in case she started coughing uncontrollably. Dinah gave her a soothing Reiki treatment and some flavored lip gloss, both appreciated by Anne. It was a special visit to share love between us in person. Charlie said our visit was one of the rare times he had seen her smile. Anne truly was a gifted, warm, caring person who had much to offer others and did so selflessly. I am so glad to have met her at Walker’s.