Hotchkiss Magazine Winter 2019 Issue

Winter 2019

Students on Stage and Behind the Curtain

Board of Trustees Charles Ayres ’77, P’22

Thomas Quinn ’71, P’15,’17,’19

Austin Beutner P’20,’22

Christopher Redlich Jr. ’68

Howard Bissell ’55, P’82

Craig Bradley, Head of School

Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18, President

Robert Chartener ’76, P’18, Vice President John Coumantaros ’80, P’16,’19

Tom Seidenstein ’91 President, Alumni Association

John Chandler Jr. ’53, P’82,’85,’87, GP’10,’14,’16,’22

Elizabeth Ford P’11,’13

Roger Smith ’78, P’08, Secretary

William Elfers ’67

Robert Gould ’77

Timothy Sullivan ’81, P’13,’16

Lawrence Flinn ’53, GP’22

John Grube ’65, P’00

Rhonda Trotter ’79

Frederick Frank ’50, P’12

Elizabeth Hines ’93

Rebecca van der Bogert

Dan Lufkin ’49

Nisa Leung Lin ’88

Gwyn Williams ’84, P’17, ’19, President, The Hotchkiss Fund

Robert Oden Jr. P’97

Raymond McGuire ’75, Vice President Kendra Stearns O’Donnell Carlos Pérez ’81

Daniel Wilner ’03 David Wyshner ’85, Treasurer

EMERITI

Thomas Edelman ’69, P’06,’07

John Thornton ’72, P’10,’11,’16 Francis Vincent Jr. ’56, P’85

Alumni Association Board of Governors Natalie Boyse ’09

Annika Lescott ’06

Blake Ruddock ’12

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Sirin Bulakul ’06

Barrett Lester ’81

William Sandberg ’65

Craig Bradley, Head of School

Rafael Carbonell ’93

Nicholas Moore ’71, P’89,’01,’06

Tom Seidenstein ’91, President

Weijen Chang ’86, P’22

Adam Sharp ’96

Nathalie Pierrepont Danilovich ’03 VP and Chair, Gender Committee

Paul Mutter ’87 VP and Chair, Nominating Committee for Awards

Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88, P’19,’21 Past President, Alumni Association

Marita Bell Fairbanks ’84

Steve O’Brien ’62, P’87,’01, GP’17

Sheria Smith ’01 VP and Chair, Alumni of Color Committee

Carlos Garcia ’77

Emily Pressman ’98

Richard Staples ’74, P’10,’12

Peter Gifford ’93

Thomas Terbell ’95

Brooke Harlow ’92

Chip Quarrier ’90 VP and Co-chair, Alumni Services and Communications Committee

Caldwell Hart ’87, P’16,’20 Secretary and Chair, Nominating Committee for Membership

Charlotte Dillon Ross ’10 VP and Co-chair, Alumni Services and Communications Committee

Edward Greenberg ’55 Past President, Alumni Association Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18 President, Board of Trustees

Bravo! Twenty-one music students performed in Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall on Jan. 28. The performance marks the second year in a row that Hotchkiss students have showcased their musical talents on one of the world’s most storied stages.

PHOTO BY JENNIFER TAYLOWR

Gwyn Williams ’84, P’17,’19 President, The Hotchkiss Fund

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY WENDY CARLSON

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HEAD OF SCHOOL

Craig W. Bradley INTERIM DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Danielle Sinclair

EDITOR

Wendy Carlson MAGAZINE DESIGNER

Julie Hammill WRITER & DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER

Chelsea Edgar VIDEOGRAPHER AND DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

Tyler Wosleger WEBSITE AND DESIGN MANAGER

Margaret Szubra CONTRIBUTORS

Roberta Jenckes, Sarah Austell Cart ’77, Robert Miller, Kristen Shipley, Roger Wistar

F E AT U R E S

20 Alexander Dodge ’89: All the World’s His Stage 24 Seeking Better Paths: Bo Armstrong ’05

and His Zigzag Road to Nashville

27 Achieving a Fine Balance: The Art of Diplomacy 33 Our Man in the Middle East: Andrew Peek ’99 34 Golden Girl: Gina Kingsbury ’00

The Hotchkiss School does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, or national orientation in the administration of its educational policies, athletics, or other School-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices.

Hotchkiss Magazine is produced by the Office of Communications for alumni, parents, members of the faculty and staff, and friends of the School. Letters are welcome.

Please keep under 400 words. We reserve the right to edit and publish letters. Please send inquiries and comments to: The Hotchkiss School, 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville, CT 06039-2141, email magazine@hotchkiss.org, or phone 860-435-3122.

36 Among Hotchkiss’s Stash of Trophies,

A Chamber Pot & A Golden Sneaker 39 In Search of a Life Worth Living,

August Turak ’70 Finds An Answer

D E PA RT M E N T S

4 Campus Connection 41 Class Notes

66 In Memoriam 72 Parting Shot W i n t e r

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From the head

o f sc h o o l

“Students are proud and excited to be here, even in the depth of winter.”

— Craig Bradley

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PHOTO BY WENDY CARLSON

s Th e E c ono m i st r ecently noted, February 8 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Ruskin. Ruskin was a writer, critic, and art professor known, among other things, for his association with the emergence of the British Arts and Crafts movement in the 1860s.

As one who has been influenced by Ruskin’s writing, particularly as it relates to the Arts and Crafts movement, I am attracted by this quotation: “Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.” This informs my thinking about Hotchkiss and my approach to building its future.

Following the Board of Trustees’ adoption of a new mission statement in May 2017, members of the Board, faculty, staff, students, and parents have been engaged in a process of setting the strategic priorities that will guide the work of the School over the coming decade. This process represents the “intelligent effort” Ruskin described — a deliberate, thoughtful undertaking that results in quality. At its winter meeting, the Board endorsed the strategic priorities, which you can read in full on pages 4–11 of this issue.

The strategic priorities fall into two categories: affordability and access, and community building — strengthening Hotchkiss as a student-centered learning community.

In addition to learning from excellent teachers, student learning and growth is significantly influenced by their peers, particularly during their adolescent years.

Hotchkiss is fortunate to attract highly talented and motivated applicants, but our financial-aid resources are more constrained than those of the institutions with which we overlap the most in applications. This constraint directly affects the quality of the Hotchkiss student body and, consequently, the learning and growth of all members of the community. Therefore, increasing financial aid resources is one of our top priorities.

One of Hotchkiss’s significant comparative advantages is our deep sense of community. This is a function of many things: our size, the fact that 95 percent of our students live on campus, our beautiful rural location, and the inherent interconnectedness of the Main Building, where students and faculty spend most of their time during the academic day. Going forward, we aim to extend this comparative advantage by strengthening Hotchkiss as a student-centered learning community.

Strengthening community has many aspects, some physical and some human.

We are particularly focused on ensuring that members of the faculty have the time and support to mentor their students, especially in their roles as advisors, dorm faculty, and coaches. We are also focused on improving the spaces that support a vital and joyful community life, notably the Dining Hall and the oldest dormitories — Memorial, Coy, Tinker, and Buehler.

This year, we received over 2,000 applications for 170 available spots — a testament to Hotchkiss’s tradition of academic excellence and the strong sense of community that prospective students and families witness when they visit campus. It is our work to carry forward Ruskin’s “intelligent effort” to build on the excellence of Hotchkiss and ensure access to those with the greatest potential to contribute to and benefit from it.

A Message from the Board of Trustees ROBERT CHARTENER ’76, P’18

The Board of Trustees gathered in New York over the Long Winter Weekend in February.

Among the subjects discussed were: Strategic Priorities – The Board reviewed

and adopted the School’s Strategic Priorities. The document highlights two areas that are of great importance to the Board: increasing the financial aid endowment and strengthening Hotchkiss as a student-centered learning community.

With respect to the first, Hotchkiss has fallen to the bottom of its six closest competitors in terms of the percentage of boarders receiving financial aid, which stands at 29 percent. Hotchkiss plans to reach at least the middle of this group by 2028. With respect to the second, Hotchkiss has targeted numerous areas including student advising, student/ teacher collaboration, integration of technology into the curriculum, emphasizing dorm life, renovation of the Dining Room and older dormitories, invigorating varsity and non-varsity athletics, developing Fairfield Farm, and

expanding opportunities for community service. The document was designed for planning and will continue to develop.

Marts & Lundy Review – The firm of Marts & Lundy met with the trustees to review the needs for a comprehensive capital-raising project that the School will undertake in conjunction with the

Strategic Priorities. The first capital campaign in over 25 years, it will require the determination of the head of school, the trustees, leadership donors, and the broader community. While the Board is not ready to set a dollar goal for the campaign, it will be reviewing dollar amounts for the different fundraising areas in the coming months.

Budget – The Board gave final approval to the 2019-20 operating budget.

Notably, the budget will include a 2.9 percent tuition increase to $59,990 for boarding students.

Dormitory Renovations – After considerable

analysis of the alternatives, a new plan was discussed to renovate three of the four oldest dormitories (Buehler, Coy, and Tinker) over ten summers. Because the work would be phased during the summer months, no dormitories would be taken offline during school periods, and no swing space would be necessary for student housing. The project, which was approved, will be funded with a 0.5 percent increase in endowment draw for nine summers, beginning in the 2020-21 academic year.

Memorial Hall will require more extensive work, which cannot be accomplished following the staged, summer-to-summer approach. Once the fundraising has been completed, the building will be taken offline for a year for a full renovation.

RAINN Audit – Head of School Craig Bradley reviewed the preliminary results of an audit by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Their report has been very positive with respect to the School’s training, processes, and culture.

While we continue to make students more aware of channels for the safe communication of concerns, they have found nothing but best practices already in place.

Locke Lord Report – The Trustees reviewed

alumni letters received about the Locke Lord report. In response to some alumni requests to share their views, alumni were invited to submit their thoughts and opinions about the report for an online alumni publication that will be shared this spring. The Board asks members of the community with knowledge of sexual misconduct occurring at any point in the School’s history to contact Allison O’Neil of Locke Lord directly at (800) 403-7138 or (617) 239-0729.

Board Succession – President Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18 reiterated that she will step down from the Board at the end of the current fiscal year. A new slate of officers will be presented and voted on at the May meeting.

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The Hotchkiss School

Strategic Priorities B

eginning in the summer of 2017, the Board of Trustees, senior administrators, faculty, staff, students, and others in the Hotchkiss community engaged in a strategic planning process to establish key priorities for the coming decade. This work followed a year-long, comprehensive, community-wide process of revising the School’s mission statement and setting forth the values of our learning community.

Asked to describe the School’s important comparative advantages, all stakeholders in this process cited Hotchkiss’s strength as a student-centered learning community that stands for excellence, rooted in a place of rare natural beauty. As stated in the values of our learning community, “Our residential community — the network of relationships created by the School’s people, place, and opportunities—is our most effective means of providing a transformative educational experience, where students may grow and gain a greater understanding of themselves and their responsibilities to others.”

These strategic priorities represent a combination of carefully considered programmatic and capital opportunities that will extend Hotchkiss’s comparative advantage as a studentcentered learning community in pursuit of excellence, accessible to an even broader range of talented students.

This is intended as a living document that will guide our choices over the coming decade, and we expect the specifics of the plan will continue to evolve and develop as ideas are tested and new opportunities emerge.

The Board of Trustees has made a commitment to review this document on a periodic basis to ensure that our strategic priorities remain most relevant in fulfilling the mission of the School.

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The Hotchkiss School Mission

MONITI MELIORA SEQUAMUR Guided by each other, let us seek better paths.

The Hotchkiss School seeks to inspire a diverse range of students who are committed to the betterment of self and society, and to cultivate in them at the highest standards of excellence imagination and intellect, openness and personal integrity, empathy and responsible citizenship that they may discover and fulfill their potential as individuals fully engaged in our world.

Values of Our Learning Community The aim of The Hotchkiss School, since its foundation, has been to provide a dynamic environment for teaching and learning, as well as exceptional preparation for future study and fulfilling adult lives. Our residential community—the network of relationships created by the School’s people, place, and opportunities—is our most effective means of providing a transformative educational experience, where students may grow and gain greater understanding of themselves and their responsibilities to others. We believe that a healthy and inclusive learning community nourishes students physically, emotionally, and intellectually; fosters joy in learning and living with others; and ensures that all feel safe, seen, and supported.

All members of the Hotchkiss community have a role in sustaining this environment. Therefore, we expect all to n commit to high standards of scholarship and personal conduct; n open their minds and hearts to the views and experiences of others, creating space for all to belong and to thrive; n practice the values that nurture healthy relationships: respect, honesty, and compassion in particular; n risk and reflect in the pursuit of continual growth; and n exercise responsible citizenship through local and global engagement, service, and environmental stewardship.

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Priority One:

Access and Affordability Increasing Our Financial Aid Endowment

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ur commitment to ensuring access for talented students began with Maria Bissell Hotchkiss, the School’s founder, who insisted on providing scholarships to local students whose families could not afford the cost of tuition. To honor that legacy, fulfill our mission, and remain relevant in what has become an increasingly competitive environment, we aim to raise the percentage of boarding and day students receiving financial aid from 33 to 51 percent by 2028. That increase will bring us more in line with our closest competitors, acknowledging that they, too, will continue to strengthen their financial aid programs.

In 2017-18, our six closest competitors offered 30 to 47 percent of their boarding students financial aid, while Hotchkiss provided 29 percent with aid. In addition, more than half of those competitors gave full aid to 18 to 21 percent of their aid recipients, while Hotchkiss granted only 9 percent of boarders full financial-aid packages.

According to The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), American boarding schools face a continued decline in domestic, fullpay families. Demand from this segment has declined from between 1 and 1.5 percent per year over the past 15 years. Inevitably, this affects the overall caliber and quality of the student body. While Hotchkiss is fortunate to have a robust international applicant pool, domestic students currently constitute 85 percent of our student population. We must build the endowment for financial aid to ensure that the quality and diversity of our domestic student body is not compromised by the shrinking pool of financially capable families.

The market-research firm Stamats conducted a comprehensive study in 201718 to understand how key stakeholders — students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and prospective families — perceive Hotchkiss.

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When asked about criteria for school selection, all constituency groups gave Hotchkiss the lowest possible rating for cost and affordability. It is abundantly clear that the affordability of a Hotchkiss education is the leading strategic concern we face.

We must also continue to provide a reasonable level of non-tuition support to ensure that students who receive financial aid can fully participate in the Hotchkiss experience. Non-tuition aid would cover, for example, the cost of books and supplies, participation in international travel programs, internships, and a range of transformational experiential learning opportunities. While we currently offer some non-tuition support, we need to increase those resources so that all students, regardless of socioeconomic background, can take advantage of the opportunities available to them. For domestic families

in need of substantial financial aid, the availability of that extra support may influence their decision to send their child to Hotchkiss.

The caliber and diversity of the student body affects the learning experience for all. We are currently at risk that over time, the quality of learning at Hotchkiss will diminish as a function of the decreasing number of highly talented applicants who can afford to attend.

Perhaps counterintuitively, based on the experience of other schools, we anticipate that our yield on the most talented full-pay candidates will increase as we strengthen our commitment to financial aid: the brightest students tend to seek out the most talented, diverse peer group.

Priority Two:

Strengthening Hotchkiss as a Student-Centered Learning Community Better Paths in Teaching and Learning: Advising and the Academic Program Learning at Hotchkiss is not limited to the classroom. As a residential school, our intent is to foster a community that supports learning and growth in all areas of student life. At the heart of this mission are the mentoring relationships between faculty and students, relationships that define a student’s experience at Hotchkiss and shape the memories of Hotchkiss graduates. Hotchkiss faculty members don’t just teach; they act in loco parentis, serving as role models and mentors to their students, often for years beyond their time together on campus.

We take great care in the recruitment of talented faculty, individuals who are committed to continued professional and personal growth, knowing that their engagement and lifelong learning is integral to the vitality and strength of the learning community at Hotchkiss.

We know that students thrive academically when they feel a strong sense of safety and belonging, when they’re given time and space to create, try new things, fail, and persist.

To create an environment where both students and faculty can become their best, we will focus attention on the following aspects of the Hotchkiss experience: A more consistent, intentional, and thoughtful approach to student advising.

Faculty and staff members play a critical mentorship role as students navigate their adolescent years, and students tend to thrive when they have a clear sense of direction and purpose. To ensure all students feel safe, seen, and supported, we will enhance support for faculty advisors, with reallocated time, more professional development, and regular feedback so that they are best equipped to guide students as they live and learn at Hotchkiss. We plan to define the advisor role comprehensively and clearly, establish systems of accountability to ensure that students are well served by their advisors, and provide faculty with the appropriate tools and training to enable their continued growth.

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Experience-centered, project-focused, and place-based learning will play a stronger role in the curriculum through the development of upper-level research courses, the expansion of our STEM offerings, and strategic partnerships with colleges, universities, and other institutions, both in the U.S. and abroad. These initiatives will allow Hotchkiss students to make connections and explore real-world problem-solving opportunities that broaden their perspective and introduce them to new ways of thinking. International programs will be increasingly focused in this direction, as well.

This approach will also help us realize the full potential of our unique natural surroundings, including the Beeslick Brook Woods, streams, ponds, wetlands, Fairfield Farm, and the biomass facility, through further integration of environmental studies in interdisciplinary and experiential coursework.

Time for teachers and students to collaborate and experiment. We aim to create more opportunities and time for faculty to collaborate on teaching and curriculum development within and across departments. We aim to introduce greater flexibility in the overall schedule to enable more experimentation within the curriculum, including the possibility of a trimester system, with an emphasis on experiential education and field-based coursework in a possible summer term.

In order to make this a reality, we intend to review how faculty members spend time engaging with students and consider re-allocating duties based on individual interests and abilities, which will entail

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adding full and part-time coaching and dormitory faculty positions. Additionally, we will recast the department head role as a 10-month position, allowing more time for curriculum development and constructive feedback and evaluation to support teachers’ professional growth.

Expand summer opportunities for experiential learning that take advantage of our natural surroundings. We plan to pilot a for-credit course for Hotchkiss students in Lakeville during summer 2019.

This course will take advantage of Lakeville’s natural setting, with a particular emphasis on the sciences — including biology, limnology, geography, and an interdisciplinary study of food systems (agroecology).

The Summer Faculty Symposium will be extended into the school year and expanded to include teachers from other schools. The goal is to develop studentcentered teaching practices relevant to all classrooms and disciplines.

A Summer Teaching Fellowship will be created to attract faculty from underrepresented backgrounds. We will also move beyond conventional recruitment channels and strategies to deepen pools of prospective faculty from underrepresented backgrounds.

Faculty and staff professional development will emphasize diversity and inclusion, with a particular focus on improving intercultural understanding and advancing inclusivity in all facets of School life.

Visiting scholars will be brought to campus to work with faculty, staff, and students to expose them to relevant research about teaching and learning.

A more inclusive, global curriculum that reflects the world our students come from and will enter upon graduation. In each discipline, a goal is for the curriculum to be informed by an understanding of a multitude of cultures, ideas, and principles, not solely by an American perspective. To achieve and sustain this, we aim to support members of the faculty in developing greater understanding of their disciplines beyond the U.S. To that end, we will focus on building relationships between Hotchkiss faculty and their counterparts in other parts of the world.

We will also host on-campus seminars led by national and international leaders in a variety of fields and sponsor both short-term (one to two weeks) and long-term (semester or year) visiting scholars. We will bring in outside speakers, including alumni and parents, who are creative, innovative, and independent thinkers in diverse fields, and underwrite colloquia in which faculty members can present their work to colleagues to encourage interdisciplinary learning.

A more deliberate and cohesive approach to integrating technology into the curriculum. We aim to further incorporate technology into the academic program as a medium for creativity, experimentation, and real-world problem solving by increasing time for faculty professional development and bolstering programmatic support of the Class of 2017 EFX Lab, noting that the EFX Lab is but one creative node on campus. We aim to endow the position of EFX Lab director and a program budget, which will allow students to take full advantage of the lab’s resources and help them realize their potential as creative problem-solvers. In addition, as noted earlier, we aim to pursue strategic partnerships with universities and other institutions to create more opportunities for student research and faculty collaboration.

Affirming Our Core Commitment to the Residential Program: Strengthening Community Life in the Dining Hall and Dormitories Our students come from all over the country and the world. While they’re at Hotchkiss, their dormitory becomes their shared home — a vibrant community in which students from all backgrounds can find a place of safety, rest, and fun; develop a sense of individuality and independence; and build connections with one another that last well beyond their time at the School. To create a safe, comfortable, and nurturing environment for all of our students, we must address the following programmatic and structural needs: Ensure that dorm faculty have the appropriate time, structure, and support to create meaningful and effective programming in their dormitories. We recognize that being a dorm head is an intense commitment of time and energy.

To better accommodate those demands, the dorm head position will be expanded from a nine-month to a 10-month role. In addition, we plan to review the range of dorm head responsibilities and explore possibilities for relieving some of the tasks (e.g., purchasing snacks for dorm gatherings) by delegating those responsibilities to other campus personnel, ensuring that dorm heads have the time and energy to be present for their students and the other dorm faculty in their buildings.

We aim to increase and enhance training of dorm faculty, with a focus on adolescent development, wellness, and addressing implicit bias. We will also work with dorm heads to establish community standards and provide constructive feedback to the faculty in their buildings.

Review the administrative structure of residential life and student life to ensure that dorm faculty, advisors, co-curricular advisors, and coaches receive consistent professional training, support, and feedback. The goal of this organizational review is to provide a more cohesive experience for students as they navigate their time at Hotchkiss. As part of that review, we will consider how best to coordinate communications with parents and among faculty, coaches, and advisors to support the students in their care.

Renovate the Dining Hall to maximize its potential as a hub of community life.

Originally built in 1947, when Hotchkiss’s enrollment was 320 students, the dining hall has changed little, with minimal improvements to the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Mealtimes remain critically important to building a sense of community and fellowship, but the quality of the dining experience at Hotchkiss has suffered for lack of upgrades. As part of a larger initiative to strengthen community life, the dining hall needs to be thoroughly renovated to provide a warm, welcoming, and comfortable space for meals, conversation, and community gatherings. The proposed

renovation increases seating capacity to 525 to enable planned, seated meals for students, faculty, and staff. The plan also includes an efficient, modern kitchen and changes the servery to create better flow and allows us to highlight the farm-to-table and other distinctive elements of our dining program.

Physical improvements and renovations to our older residence halls to ensure a more consistent experience across campus.

Each of our four oldest dorms (Memorial, Coy, Tinker and Buehler) has gone at least 35 years without a major renovation (55 years in the case of Memorial Hall).

Structurally, the buildings are sound, but almost all other aspects need to be upgraded or replaced to keep them safe, efficient, and comfortable for students. The major heating, plumbing, and electrical systems in these four buildings have exceeded their useful life, and we are currently at risk of a major failure, which would be highly disruptive to School life and more expensive to remedy.

As we upgrade those systems, we will carry out renovations to the buildings to provide appealing common spaces for students and attractive, well-designed apartments for faculty families.

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Athletics: Enhancing Strength and Leadership Beyond the Classroom Hotchkiss is committed to providing a well-rounded experience that offers all students the opportunity to participate in competitive or recreational sports and develop a lifelong interest in wellness, physical fitness, and the outdoors. The athletic program is guided by the same values that shape other aspects of School life: integrity, respect for others, and the highest standards of personal conduct, on and off the field. Through teamwork, mentorship, collaboration, and the experience of winning and losing, students gain confidence, self-discipline, self-awareness, and a sense of shared responsibility.

All Athletics Review and strengthen the evaluation process for all coaches at both the varsity and non-varsity levels. We aim to create a more cohesive evaluation process for coaches and connect those evaluations to overall faculty evaluations.

Provide leadership development for team captains. To reinforce the lessons students learn on the field and help team captains become stronger leaders, we aim to create defined opportunities for leadership development throughout the year.

Expand the John R. Chandler Fitness Center to promote wellness for all.

During peak times, the fitness center can become overcrowded. To better accommodate all students, we propose an expansion of the fitness center within the existing footprint of the Mars Athletic Center by repurposing existing and underutilized space in the building. This will enable us to add more equipment to ensure better flow.

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Non-Varsity Athletics (includes junior varsity, thirds, and club sports) Explore the possibility of adding or substituting new team sports on a trial basis to encourage wider participation in athletics. By expanding the menu of options available to students who are not specialized athletes, we can build a more inclusive culture of well-being and physical fitness. For varsity athletes, having more varied opportunities can encourage them try something new.

Varsity Athletics Making the varsity coaching responsibility a 10-month position.

As youth sports become more specialized, varsity head coaches must spend an increasing amount of time recruiting student-athletes, attending showcases throughout the year (particularly during the summer), and keeping in touch with coaches at the college and university level. This changing landscape requires us to re-think the time

we expect varsity head coaches to spend on coaching-related duties versus their other commitments (classroom teaching, residential, advising). We expect this will entail making the varsity coaching responsibility a 10-month position. In conjunction, the athletic directors will work with the dean of admission to define specific recruiting goals and provide head coaches with the feedback and support to achieve those goals.

Undertake an overall athletics planning process. The goal of the review will be to identify our strengths, prioritize programs, and establish a plan that will attract the top student-athletes to Hotchkiss. For each sport, Athletics will work with Admission to develop a detailed plan for identifying, admitting, and enrolling the most competitive student-athletes.

Opportunities for Deeper Learning: Strengthening the Co-Curricular Program The richness of the co-curricular program directly affects student learning and growth, particularly in terms of leadership and character development. Given the demands of academic life, co-curricular time is vital for our students; it allows them to explore, pursue their own interests, and develop a sense of agency and empowerment. Co-curricular programming also provides an opportunity for students to connect with each other and with the world beyond Hotchkiss through community service, civic engagement, and independent projects undertaken with the guidance of a faculty or staff member. Our goal is to offer a range of high-quality co-curricular learning opportunities that promote teamwork, leadership, creativity, and wellness, as well as an appreciation for the School’s natural setting.

Strengthen place-based co-curricular offerings and create an outdoor orientation program for incoming students. Hotchkiss has a rich history of utilizing the surrounding landscape as a classroom and a place for adventure. Woods Squad, limnology courses, and nature writing are all part of the School’s tradition of connecting with the outdoors in ways that develop skills and an appreciation for the natural world. Current programs would benefit from an organizing structure that aligns them for greater efficiency, coherence, and risk management. We also aim to create a new-student outdoor orientation program, which would provide them with an opportunity to bond, hone leadership skills, build self-reliance, and develop a connection with the School’s natural setting.

Continue to develop Fairfield Farm as a place to teach environmental stewardship, sustainable agriculture, and experiential education. Through the Fairfield Farm Ecosystems and Adventure Team (FFEAT), the Farm offers students the opportunity to engage in hands-on and group work and learn about sustainable agriculture. Recent years have seen significant infrastructure improvements and development at the Farm. A strategic approach to strengthening the educational program would allow for additional distinctive teaching and learning opportunities, such as exploring the Farm’s potential as a site for research projects, possibly in partnership with a university, as well as a workshop where students can learn lifelong skills, such as craftwork.

Expand opportunities for community service, locally and globally. The St. Luke’s Society is the oldest continually operating student club at Hotchkiss, established in 1892. Other traditions and organizations, such as Eco Day, Habitat for Humanity, and Round Square, have emerged more recently, connecting students to service opportunities in the Northwest Corner and around the world. We seek to enhance these kinds of opportunities for students by offering them the time, resources, guidance, and structure to engage in service and to successfully initiate their own service projects. To support this effort, we aim to endow the position of director of community service and civic engagement.

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Campus

con n ec t i o n

Recognizing Excellence Wendy MacKenzie Associate director of human resources received the Robert J. and Candice Barker Staff Recognition Award.

Jean Lilley, housekeeper, received the Margot Hooker Award

Hotchkiss Recognizes Long-Serving Staff and Faculty; Hooker and Barker Awards Presented

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in Mathematics Bridget Dixon Moon P’13,’16; Summer Programs Director of Admission and Residential Life Christie Rawlings ’85, P’12,’14,’19; Director of Donor Relations Dawn Runge; and Supervisor of the Grounds Department Tim Schilling P’00,’04,’08.

Two special staff awards were presented in recognition of outstanding contributions to the School: Housekeeper Jean Lilley received the Margot Hooker Award; Wendy MacKenzie, associate director of human resources, received the Robert J. and Candice Barker Staff Recognition Award.

John Bryant, director of facilities, presented Lilley with the Hooker Award,

established in 1996 in memory of longserving staff member Margot Hooker. He praised her work ethic, her commitment to the School and to the students, and the pride she takes in her work.

“For most of the past 28 years, Jeannie has helped make four of our 13 dorms feel like a home away from home for students.

In this capacity, she has impacted the lives of hundreds,” said Bryant.

He cited her high standards, attention to detail, and willingness to know and support students.

Director of Human Resources Laurie Ross presented MacKenzie with the Barker Award, named for Robert and Candice

PHOTOS BY WENDY CARLSON

orty-six long-serving staff and faculty were celebrated in the annual Anniversary Awards Ceremony, held during an All-School meeting on Jan. 29.

Combined, the honorees represent close to 550 years of service to the School.

“Hotchkiss is, in part, what faculty and staff have made it, and it is only right that they be recognized and thanked for their contributions,” said Head of School Craig Bradley. During the ceremony, he recognized those who have served the School for 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 35 years.

The following four members of the staff and faculty were also recognized for 25 years of service to the School: Instructor

Caroline Barlerin ’91 Named 2019 Community Service Recipient

Barker, whose four decades of service exemplified dedication the School.

In honoring MacKenzie, Ross cited the positive impact she has had on staff and faculty members.

“She is the ultimate collaborator, and she brings people together to solve challenges or to improve circumstances for others,” Ross said.

“Wendy is also being celebrated for completing five years of service at Hotchkiss. For most people who were hired during this time, Wendy was their introduction to the community, easing them through the new hire process.

It’s not all about forms and processes, though. Wendy approaches this entry as an important opportunity to establish a positive relationship and ensure that each person feels welcomed.”

Caroline Barlerin ’91, global head of social innovation at Eventbrite, is the recipient of this year’s Community Service Award. She will be honored during an All-School Assembly at 10 a.m. on April 26.

At Eventbrite, the world’s largest platform for live experiences, Barlerin is passionate about exploring what can be created at the intersection of social good and technology. In her role, she is helping mobilize event creators, attendees, and employees to tackle some of the most complex social challenges through product innovation, strategic partnerships, and community outreach.

Prior to her role at Eventbrite, Barlerin led community outreach and philanthropic efforts at Twitter, which included the launch of Twitter NeighborNest, a neighborhood learning center supporting low-income families by providing access to technology, classes, and resources to learn, connect, and grow with the guidance of Twitter volunteers.

She is no stranger to taking on big challenges and inspiring people to take action. Her previous experience includes designing a bicycle-powered rice thresher for small farms in Burma; creating the blueprint for Taproot Foundation, which connects nonprofits and other social change organizations with skilled volunteers through pro bono service; and, building game-changing programs like HP’s “Matter to a Million” partnership with Kiva, which has made more than $12 million in loans to over 350,000 people globally.

Silicon Valley Business Journal has recognized Barlerin as one of its “40 Under 40” and the state of California

awarded her the Hoffman Prize for her dedication to impactful service both locally and around the world. She was a fellow in The Aspen Institute First Movers Fellowship program — a leading global network and professional development program for corporate and social entrepreneurs. She currently sits on the boards of the Global Fund for Women, INSEAD’s Hoffman Institute for Business and Society, and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF NW Chapter. Barlerin received her B.A. from Vassar College and was a Sloan Research Fellow at Stanford University Business School.

Caroline has strong family ties to Hotchkiss, including her father Michael Barlerin ’58, P’85,’91, GP’21, her sister Patricia Barlerin FarmanFarmaian ’85, P’21, a nephew Cyrus Farman-Farmaian ’21, and several great uncles and cousins.

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Keynote speaker Nyle Fort delivers a passionate message to the community.

Gospel Choir performs in Elfers Hall.

Honoring MLK and the Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement

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American communities. He received a B.A. in English from Morehouse College and a masters of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. Currently, Fort is a Ph.D. student in religion and African American studies at Princeton.

In his address to the community, Fort talked about Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, saying we, as Americans, often focus more on the iconic speech and its message of freedom and justice, without understanding its context. Citing current prison and police

crises, economic inequality, and other issues facing the country, he said: “We all like to jump to the dream, but we don’t like to talk about the nightmare out of which King dreamed, out of which we are going to have to learn how to have the capacity to dream as well.”

He left students with three calls to action: to speak up (“Dr. King was appalled by the silence of good people,” he said); to love one another; and finally, to “have the courage to dream,” despite the current political climate.

PHOTOS BY DANIELLE SINCL AIR

he Hotchkiss community honored the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with two days of activities, beginning with an All-School Meeting in Elfers Hall on Sunday, Jan. 20.

The event kicked off with a performance by the Gospel Choir followed by an address by Nyle Fort, a social justice activist, scholar, lecturer, minister, and writer.

Fort studies race, religion, and American politics, with a particular focus on the politics of mourning within African

PHOTOS BY WENDY CARLSON

Above: A meditation and intentional listening session was one of 22 workshops offered. Students engaged in discussions about the civil right movement.

Left: Senior Joseph Richards leads students through a stepping routine.

The following morning, students attended faculty and student-led workshops on this year’s theme “Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement.” Topics included discussions comparing the LGBTQ equality movement and the civil rights movement; poems of protest and witness; studying the Native American movement, and acknowledging overlooked athlete activists.

In the student lounge, students competed in a trivia contest; in the Ford Memorial Library, students held a roundtable discussion about how journalists covered the civil rights movement. In the music wing, students wrote thank-you cards to the

School’s own unsung heroes, the many staff members who work behind the scenes in the dining hall, facilities, and housekeeping.

Seniors Olivia King and Joseph Richards led the interactive workshop “Stepping in the Civil Rights Era.” The percussive form of dance became popular in black fraternities in the late 60s as a response to the civil rights and black pride movements, noted Richards. Dr. King was a member of a fraternity at Morehouse College.

Other interactive workshops, like “Building Movements and Community

through Music,” helped students understand the relationship between the arts and the civil rights era.

“The day was a success because it really tapped into the theme of unsung heroes,” said Rachel Myers, instructor in English and director of diversity and inclusion initiatives. “Members of the community had a more of a choice in how they wanted to engage with the theme and what they wanted to stand up for in honor of Dr. King, as well as the many other people who helped make the civil rights movement a success,” she said.

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A Student Poetry Publication Celebrates the Many Languages Spoken at Hotchkiss

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or Giordana Serretta Fiorentino ’19, poetry does not have to be read in one’s native language for it to be fully appreciated. The sounds of a poem, its rhythm and cadence, especially when read aloud, can be as powerful as the poem itself.

But sometimes those elements, along with the meaning of the poem, can get terribly lost in translation.

That’s why last year, Fiorentino decided to get involved in a new literary magazine, The Narrative, dedicated to publishing poetry by students and faculty, written in the author’s native language.

“We wanted to create a multilingual publication that focuses only on poetry,” explains Florentino, who grew up speaking Italian and speaks four languages fluently.

The magazine launched its first issue last year, but this academic year, Fiorentino, along with co-editors Britney Douglas ’19 and Billy Keim ’19, took over the task of publishing The Narrative biannually and building a roster of contributors.

The publication reflects more than a dozen of the many languages spoken by members of the Hotchkiss community, including French, Portuguese, Croatian, and Japanese, to name a few. The editors encourage any writer taking foreign language classes to grapple and experiment with that language through poetry.

Douglas, who is a Brooklyn native, has written poetry in Italian as well as English.

She is a strong advocate of students for whom English is a second language. “It makes me sad to see students coming here

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and having to shed part of their identity.

Their language is a part of them and The Narrative allows them to express that part,” she says.

“It is a microcosm of Hotchkiss’s global identity,” adds Fiorentino.

Art plays a backseat in the magazine. The cover is a few brushstrokes of color and inside there are several small illustrations.

Instead, the line structure of the poem and the words themselves, especially those written in Chinese, Hindu, and Korean characters, appear like visual poems on the page. A English translation of each poem is provided next to every submission.

Fiorentino also points out that the way she writes poetry in Italian is a totally different from writing in English.

“The Narrative is personal for me. As a non-native speaker, it’s important to me to have an outlet to to express myself in Italian.

It’s the language that reaches a part of me that stems back to my childhood, to my family and my culture. I can’t easily write about that in English.”

In the spring, the magazine staff is planning to share a selection of poems during a Chapel Talk in which authors will read their poems in their native language and in English.

“Even though some people may not understand the words –– or the meaning of every poem –– there still might be something that resonates with them,” says Fiorentino. After all, “poetry,” she says, “is a universal language.”

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Behind the Curtain — A Dedicated Crew Brings a Play to Life

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Set design is a messy job: A backstage wall covered with paint handprints is a legacy to the team’s hard work.

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PHOTOS BY WENDY CARLSON

Allison Lin ’22 operates a chop saw to cut planks for use in constructing a set.

efore the curtain rises and the actors emerge on stage, flawless in their makeup and costumes, another performance of sorts has been underway backstage. In the weeks leading up to opening night, the Hotchkiss Dramatic Association’s (HDA) tech team works diligently behind the scenes, building, painting, propping, and creating the sound and lighting for the imaginary world the actors inhabit for a few hours each night.

Derek Brashears, director of theatre and resident designer and technical director, is HDA’s faculty advisor. Along with Marcus Olson, instructor in theatre, Brashears guides students from the initial design stage through set construction.

“They learn the tools of the trade, construction and electrical techniques, and how to work with others,” says Brashears. “It is physically hard work at times, and they learn the inherent value of manual labor.”

Backstage, the whir of a power saw and electric drills compete with the blaring sound of music pumping out of the sound system as students learn how to measure and saw wood planks, construct walls and staircases, and use electrical and hand tools. It’s a novel experience for many students, some of whom have never even held a screwdriver before. “But, by the end of the day, they’ve worked together to create a work of art — one that enhances the art of the performance,” says Olson.

Last year, senior Hannah Lothian took a course in technical direction taught by Brashears, which gave her an opportunity to put what she had learned in class into practice by engineering a set for HDA’s production of Shockheaded Peter. During her time at Hotchkiss, she’s spent as much time acting in HDA productions as she has building sets.

Whether she is backstage or centerstage, she is drawn to theatre by her love of storytelling. “It’s my human desire to connect to others, to entertain, excite, express,” she says.

“When I’m acting, I love imagining the audience as a singular being, or a heart swelling and sighing with the rhythm of the play.

In contrast, what I enjoy most about being in HDA tech is that we build and tend to aspects of the stage no audience member ever sees. We’re responsible for maintaining the world of the play, and what we build establishes an audience’s belief in the story.”

Luke Gardiner ’21 takes a break from painting scenery.

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PHOTO BY WENDY CARLSON

Dodge on the set of The Doll’s House, Part Two

Alexander Dodge ’89:

All the World’s His Stage

BY WENDY CARLSON

Alexander Dodge’s career has led him to some of the most storied theaters in the world, where his set and costume designs for musicals, plays, opera, and dance have earned him numerous awards.

His work was recently showcased on Broadway with the Tony Award-winning musical, Anastasia, and he is currently represented at the Metropolitan Opera in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila.

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n a wintry afternoon in Hartford, CT, Alexander Dodge is fast-walking from one theater to another, hands plunged in his coat pockets to stay warm.

He has just left the Hartford Stage, where he performed an eagle-eye check on the sleek, mid-century-modern apartment he designed for the theater’s production of The Engagement Party, and is now en route to Theaterworks, a small, alternative venue a few blocks away. Inside, he threads his the way down a warren of passageways onto an impossibly tiny stage, measuring about 12 by 16 feet. The production is The Doll’s House, Part Two, a twist on Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 classic. In this iteration, Nora returns to her husband and family after leaving them 15 years earlier. Dodge’s minimalist set: two chairs, a bare wooden floor, blank walls, a door, and panel moulding; all outlined with LED strips, feels as stark

and cold as a Norwegian winter.

As always, it’s the challenge that excites Dodge, whether he’s designing on a monumental scale for an opera or a pared-down set for an off-Broadway play. His upcoming projects include three more productions at Hartford Stage, among them an adaptation of the 1984 film The Flamingo Kid, which calls for five full-size cars on the stage at the same time. Just talking about the logistics of fitting a 19-foot-long, 1959 pink Cadillac on stage seems to give him a certain frisson.

Dodge has come a long way from painting props backstage in Walker Auditorium, where he first became interested in set design. Born in Switzerland, he came from a family of designers. His great grandfather, Horace Dodge, was one of the two brothers who created the Dodge Company, which was sold to Chrysler in the 1920s. And, his grandfather, Horace

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“Standing up in front of people and speaking is something that just doesn’t come second nature to me. I knew I wanted to be part of the process, but didn’t want to be on stage.”

Ghosts of Versailles

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speaking is something that just doesn’t come second nature to me,” he says. “I knew I wanted to be part of the process, but didn’t want to be on stage.”

One day during the spring of his senior year, he was painting scenery for the musical The Boyfriend when it dawned on him that set design might be his niche. By that time, he had already been accepted to Bennington College, where he planned to study drama. Fortunately, Bennington had a strong set design program and opportunities for him to intern at theatres.

After graduating, he worked for three years assisting set designers in New York, then went on to earn an M.F.A. in design at Yale School of Drama, where he studied under worldrenown theatrical set designer Ming Cho Lee, an experience he likened to boot camp — brutal, but ultimately worth it.

His Bennington connections helped launch his career, which flourished at the Hartford Stage. There, he developed a working relationship with artistic director Darko Tresnjak, with whom he has collaborated on many productions, including Anastasia, which debuted in Hartford in May 2016.

He hasn’t stopped designing since, often juggling several productions at once. Last year, he was away from home about 100 days out of the entire year — a hazard of the job he’s become accutely aware of since he and his husband, Charles Stewart, an investment advisor, have two young sons, Nicholas, 5, and George, 2. This year, Dodge will take Nicholas to see Anastasia for his first Broadway experience. Sometimes, the kids visit him on set, where they tend to be more fascinated by the mechanics than the artistry. The Hartford Stage is a thrust

PHOTOS BY ALEX ANDER DODGE ’89

Elgin Dodge Jr., designed boats, water cars, and World War II military crafts.

He spent his childhood at Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home, Taliesin West, in the desert of Scottsdale, AZ, where his father, architect David Elgin Dodge, Class of 1948, worked with Wright and taught architecture students at Taliesin.

Growing up surrounded by great design and architecture had a strong impact on his career path.

As a boy, he wanted to be an architect like his father. But his parents also took him to the theatre, ballet, and the opera, and he developed a passion for the performing arts.

It wasn’t until his senior year at Hotchkiss that the two interests merged. He tried his hand at performing, but soon realized he suffered from stage fright.

“Standing up in front of people and

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Anastasia

stage that can sometimes have a revolve, and “Nicholas loves to sit on the turntable and ride it around,” says Dodge.

When he’s not dashing from set to set, he is working in his light-filled office in the garment district of Manhattan, where the whole process begins. For Dodge, set design is essentially architecture for the stage. He reviews the script; brainstorms with the artistic director; and gathers images to inform his design. He creates scale models, both real and virtual, and he draws up a color palette and a prop list so detailed that it might include directions for the arrangement of leftovers on a plate for a dinner scene.

Off-site, Dodge oversees the construction and installation of the set. One production might have dozens of different set changes — some major, others subtle.

Samson et Delilah

“Anastasia, for example, had 33 different scenic locations,” he says. “Though that may seem like a lot, I have worked on productions with more than that. In cases where there are many scenes and locations, the design needs to be simple. Just a suggestion is often enough. Sometimes, it’s about the emotional landscape, about supporting the story, and not getting in the way of it.”

While he has designed sets for other operas, Samson et Delilah was his first project for the Met. “It was mind-blowing, a bucket list type of thing for a designer,” he says. Dodge worked with director Tresnjak and costume designer Linda Cho. The trio have collaborated on dozens of shows over the past two decades, including the smash Broadway hit A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, which earned

Tony Awards for Tresnjak and Cho and a nomination for Dodge.

The Met also has such an epic quality, says Dodge, who designed a towering, sparkling, multi-story structure for the last-act Temple of Dagon scene, where the hero crushes his Philistine enemies.

And, while Broadway productions often debut at smaller theatres, the Met’s final dress rehearsal is in front of thousands of viewers. Everything has to be flawless. As if that isn’t stressful enough, following the premiere, Dodge must take the stage and bow with the rest of the cast and creative team. That can be plenty nerve-racking for someone with stage fright.

Says Dodge: “I just had to take a really deep breath before walking out there.”

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Seeking Better Paths

Bo Armstrong ’05 and His Zigzag Road to Nashville How the gift of a guitar cured one alum’s loneliness and set him on a songwriter’s journey

BY WENDY CARLSON

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walkways completely blanketed like that,” he says. “It was a bizarre, ‘you live here now’ reality check.”

There were other reminders he was far from home: “I remember catching wind of a rumor that my dad was a huge oil guy in Texas, and that made me laugh and feel homesick all at once.” In reality, Armstrong’s father works in sales in the nanotechnology industry and his mother works in child care. “Right out of the gate, I felt like I wasn’t living up to the expectations of my peers, and that made me feel guilty. I felt like I should have maybe stayed home and not abandoned my younger sister, who went from having two older siblings at home to none all at once.”

While Armstrong had earned all As at his old school, academics at Hotchkiss proved challenging, and he felt like he lagged behind his peers. Adding to the stress of feeling isolated, he didn’t make the cut for varsity hockey his lower and upper mid years.

“Getting cut was tough,” recalls Armstrong. “I remember the conversation I had with my dad when I called to break the news. On both occasions, he told me that I wasn’t there to play hockey, and that I needed to ‘suck Hotchkiss dry’ of everything

it had to offer. That was cathartic to hear, because a part of me felt like I was there to play hockey, and that not making team meant I had let my family down. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

That Christmas, his parents gave him a guitar, which he brought back to campus with him. “I think they wanted to remind me that there was more to life than hockey,” he says.

Although he was big into ’90s alt-rock and rap in his early teens, he had spent his childhood listening to Lyle Lovett and the Dixie Chicks. At Hotchkiss, he discovered the work of Texas singer/songwriters Pat Green and Jack Ingram, musicians his friends in Dallas were listening to: “They were blasting Pat and Jack in their trucks back home, and I was playing it in my dorm room in Connecticut. Music became my bridge home.”

He joined Blue Notes and the Gospel Choir and, with the help of his classmate Nicholas Wright, took advantage of the School’s recording equipment whenever possible. He also started performing at a monthly open mic that another classmate, James Thaler, started.

PHOTO BY ERIC RYAN ANDERSON

obert “Bo” Armstrong III was a homesick upper mid at Hotchkiss when he came across a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that struck a chord with him. Emerson was writing about how, in sailing, you have to turn the sail into the wind, causing the boat to move in a zigzag pattern: “The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency.”

Armstrong’s path has zigged and zagged plenty. His earliest passion was ice hockey; at the urging of his coach in Dallas, he applied to Hotchkiss. No one in his family had gone to boarding school, and Armstrong had no idea what awaited him.

Not long after arriving in Lakeville, he realized just how far from home he was.

The suburban area where he grew up in Dallas, 2,000 miles away, was arid, flat, and brown — worlds away from the rolling green hills and rough winters of Connecticut. He couldn’t look out the window without feeling the distance. “I called my mom the first morning I woke up to snow. I had seen snow before, but it was just a different experience seeing all the

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“I remember walking into class one day and Bo was playing his music on his computer. I said, ‘Bo is that you playing?’

I had no idea.”

— John Cooper P’08,’11, Instructor in Math

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“And when writers on their level say that you are up to something worth pursuing, it’s time to go and do something about it.”

Armstrong released his first EP, “Where We Are,” in 2018.

Now in his second year in Nashville and the father of four-month-old baby boy, Coleman, Armstrong has been churning out songs and working on his unique style and sound. Described by some reviewers as country-infused folk rock with a Texas bent, Armstrong says his music is “equal parts grit and polish.”

As a songwriter in a city teeming with countless other writers, Armstrong concedes the competition is, well, terrifying. Rooting for his peers helps.

“We’re all coming up together. Co-writing is common practice, so you’re constantly looking for people you mesh with. If something good happens to one of your co-writers, your odds of getting a little attention go up. I also have faith that all good things take time. I’m only two years into a 10-year town, but I’m okay with that.

I’ll get there. I have to get there. For once in my life, I have no plan B.” He also keeps in mind what he learned in American Studies class, where he first read Emerson. “‘Am Studs’ — as we so affectionately called it — was taught by the late Julia Wu Trethaway (who was like my mother away from home) and George Faison, two teachers I greatly admired. Julia was electric; George was more measured; they were both extremely passionate about what they were doing. I’ve spent the last 15 years trying to approach everything I do with one part Julia and one part George,” he says.

Looking back, he says his first year in Nashville wasn’t all that different than his first year at Hotchkiss. “I spent a lot of time wandering around, mostly without a clue, in awe of the intensity and the opportunity around me,” he says.

“I still feel that way sometimes, like maybe next year I’ll have a seat at the table.”

“Where We Are” is available on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and most music streaming sites. Read more about Bo Armstrong: boarmstrongmusic.com

PHOTO BY ERIC RYAN ANDERSON

“James put on little concerts on Wednesday nights after study hall, and I loved playing at them,” says Armstrong.

“For the most part, I was too bad at guitar to learn songs people wanted to hear, so I would play originals. They were terrible, but I was smart enough to have my friend and hallmate Scott Nebel join me. He was an insanely talented guitar player, and I knew that if he was playing along with me, I could screw up and no one would be the wiser.”

Then, things really started to turn around his senior year. He made the varsity hockey team and landed the lead role in that year’s musical, playing Billy Flynn in Chicago.

But his path veered once again after graduating from Hotchkiss. He attended Hamilton College, where he traded his guitar for a hockey stick, pouring his energy into NCAA Division III hockey. For several years after college, he taught elementary school in the Mississippi Delta for Teach for America. Living in the Delta provided the fodder for the stories he hoped to write when he took a stab at screenwriting. He used the Teach for America grant to take writing and film classes at NYU, but the work he had taken on as a production assistant to pay his rent consumed all his time. One production gig led to another, and after a few years, he found himself at the helm of several national commercial campaigns, including ones for GNC, Organic Valley, and even a Super Bowl spot for Bose. “I was climbing the ladder and earned the opportunity to produce some big projects, but I hadn’t written any scripts. If you don’t count emails and pitch decks, I hadn’t written much of anything at all. It was really disheartening, and I felt I needed to walk away from it completely.”

Early in 2016, on little more than a hunch and with no connections, he convinced his wife, Lindsay, to move to Nashville, the epicenter of country music, where he would focus entirely on songwriting. “I told myself — and my wife — that if I gave as much of myself to songwriting as I had to commercial production, that I could make a career of it.”

That meant starting over, but it was worth it. A year later, he was chosen as a finalist in a songwriting competition sponsored by the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association, which afforded him the opportunity to spend a few days in Austin with songwriters Jack Ingram, Jon Randall, and Liz Rose ­— a Dallas native who worked with Taylor Swift in her early career, helping her write songs.

“I played Jack’s songs in my room in Coy; JR and Liz are some of the heaviest hitters in the game. It’s absolutely crazy that I get to call them mentors,” Armstrong says.

ACHIEVING A FINE BALANCE:

THE ART OF DIPLOMACY In 1945, Hallet Johnson, Class of 1904, became the first Hotchkiss alumnus to serve as an ambassador when he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica. Since then, many Hotchkiss alumni have gone on to make significant contributions in the world of international affairs, serving in the State Department, in Foreign Service posts, and as ambassadors. Two alumni have served as ambassadors to China, and one has the longest service in China of any ambassador to date. All told, Hotchkiss alumni with careers in diplomacy have made their mark in the last century and beyond, serving in countries in far-flung corners of the world and closer to home.

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THEY PAVED THE WAY FOR CHINA’S OPENING TO THE WEST

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Winston Lord, seated, with Henry Kissinger in 1973 on a flight to the Paris Peace Accords in 1973

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China, negotiations with the Soviet Union, the Vietnam negotiations, and Middle East shuttles.

With respect to China, Lord was on Kissinger’s secret 1971 trip to set up President Nixon’s historic visit the next year, which reopened ties with the Communist country for the first time since 1949.

Lord traveled with Kissinger, and Presidents Nixon and Ford, on nine diplomatic missions to Beijing. He was in every meeting that they held with Chinese leaders − five times with Mao Zedong and hundreds of hours with Zhou En Lai and Deng Xiaoping.

The fascinating stories of the China and other major diplomatic moves of that period are told in Lord’s book, to be published in May, Kissinger on Kissinger: Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership.

Based on Kissinger’s only oral history, the book also contains his views on strategy, leadership, negotiations, and leading statesmen of that era.

In a 1998 interview with the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, (ADST) for its oral history collection, Ambassador Lord spoke about the momentous events: “[President Richard] Nixon sent [National Security Advisor Henry] Kissinger a memo on February 1, 1969, approximately one week after his inauguration as President. I can’t reconstruct this memo verbatim, but basically he instructed Kissinger to find a way to get in touch with the Chinese. This was one of the earliest instructions that Kissinger got from Nixon.

“First, in terms of communications, the only way to get in touch with the Chinese was through third parties. ... There were various channels that Nixon and Kissinger tried to use to get word to the Chinese. In a general sense, they were looking for a new beginning. One involved using [former French President Charles] de Gaulle and the French, another was Romania, and we finally, of course, settled on Pakistan. Pakistan had the advantage of being a friend to both sides. There was no danger of Russian involvement, as we might have had if we had used Romania.”

PHOTO BY WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGR APHER ROBERT KNUDSEN. COURTESY OF THE RICHARD NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBR ARY AND MUSEUM

ino-American relations are at an inflection point, under the most severe strain since the opening in the 1970s, according to the HON. WINSTON LORD ’55, U.S. ambassador to China from 1985-1989. “Previous crises stemmed from one issue and when China was much weaker than the United States. Now we must grapple with the historical tension between a rising and established power, the one assertive, the other in disarray,” he said.

The message from this highly regarded China Hand has been reiterated recently by other top China experts. A report published last November by a task force on China, which included Lord, warned about Chinese efforts to interfere in American and other societies.

The report distinguished between legitimate Chinese public diplomacy actions and those which are covert, corrupt, or coercive, such as pressuring Chinese students in the U.S. to report on their Chinese peers on American campuses.

Lord has the distinction of having been present during a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the U.S. was making its first tentative steps toward opening diplomatic relations with China — what he once called “one of the most important geopolitical events in history.”

Lord’s passion for China was evident even in his college years. He graduated magna cum laude from Yale and first in his class from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he met his future wife from Shanghai.

Then, working in the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer from 196167, he served brilliantly in many diplomatic capacities. He then was a member of the Pentagon’s Policy Planning Staff before becoming a staff member of the National Security Council.

In 1970, he became special assistant to Henry Kissinger, then the assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Lord was the only official who was by Kissinger’s side for all his major diplomatic adventures, including the opening to

BY ROBERTA JENCKES

Lord also was in every secret and public meeting with North and South Vietnam from 1970 onwards and was a co-drafter of the Paris Peace Accords. Lord recalls Henry Kissinger’s having said that perhaps the emotional highlight of his career was when he shook hands with Lord and said, “We have done it!” right after an October 1972 meeting that produced the breakthrough for a peace settlement.

Lord served as the third U.S. ambassador to China from 1985-1989, under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also served in the Clinton administration as Assistant Secretary of State in charge of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1993-1997.

When not in government, Lord chaired and served on a wide variety of nongovernmental boards. He was President of the Council on Foreign Relations, Co-Chairman of the International Rescue Committee, and Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Nearly three decades ago, when Lord spoke at Hotchkiss on accepting the Alumni Award, he offered thoughts on world affairs that seem especially apt today.

“In foreign policy,” he said, “the best our country can do is often not all that good.

International relations concerns sovereign nations which can rarely impose their will on one another. We have to pursue both peace and freedom, stability and justice, and the process constantly invokes ambivalence and unsatisfactory choices. The need for compromise for incremental advance, for nuance means that the best regularly is the enemy of the good. Without idealism our policies will become sterile, but without pragmatism they will prove quixotic. While the promotion of human rights is a central goal, the preservation of peace in the nuclear age involves fundamental human rights as well.”

“ IN FOREIGN POLICY, THE BEST OUR COUNTRY CAN DO IS OFTEN NOT ALL THAT GOOD. WE HAVE TO PURSUE BOTH PEACE AND FREEDOM, STABILITY AND JUSTICE, AND THE PROCESS CONSTANTLY INVOKES AMBIVALENCE AND UNSATISFACTORY CHOICES.” —Hon. Winston Lord ’55

The HON. CLARK T. “SANDY” RANDT ’64, P’02,’09 holds the distinction of being the longest-serving U.S. ambassador to China to date. He served in the post from 2001 until 2009. However, his interest in learning more about China began much earlier.

After graduating from Yale in 1968, during his service in the Air Force, he studied Chinese for a year in Monterey, CA. After that, he served in Taiwan for three years, where he continued his study with tutors. In his spare time, he read books and journals about Chinese foreign policy, keeping his knowledge current.

After the Air Force, he studied for a year at Harvard Law School’s East Asian legal studies program; he received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School. In the early 1970s, the Chinese government had asked President Nixon to set up an organization to facilitate the development of trade between the two countries. In 1972, the National Council for U.S.-China Trade was born. Randt went to work for the Council soon thereafter and continued in the post until 1974.

After his work in Beijing, he joined the international section of the corporate department of Milbank Tweed Hadley McCloy. When the firm opened an office in Japan, he was asked to open it. And when the firm opened an office in Hong Kong, it looked to Randt, who spoke Chinese. He was working for Shearman and Sterling in Hong Kong in 2001, when he was appointed ambassador.

During his tenure as Ambassador to China, Randt was a vocal human rights advocate: “I have persistently raised the issue of religious freedom as well as individual human rights cases involving prisoners of conscience and humanitarian cases involving victims of China’s evolving legal system,” he said in a speech at Hotchkiss in 2004, when he was presented with the School’s Alumni Award.

Randt continues his involvement and education in Chinese affairs. Speaking as a panelist in a 2017 discussion at NYU Law School, he reflected on questions of tension in the relationship between the U.S. and China. Despite differences in politics, culture, and history, he believes the U.S. and China can unite on common interests. “Globalization is a fact,” Randt said. “Globalization has been a good thing for the U.S.; it has been a good thing for China, and it is a good thing for the world.”

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FOR SOME OF OUR ALUMNI DIPLOMATS, CAREERS IN FOREIGN POLICY DON’T END AT RETIREMENT

BY ROBERTA JENCKES

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he HON. DONALD EASUM ’42, (1923-2016) former ambassador to Nigeria, entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1953, after earning a Ph.D. in international politics from Princeton. In his 27 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, he served in posts in Nicaragua, Indonesia, Senegal, Gambia, GuineaBissau, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. He was given the Department of State’s Meritorious Service Award for his work in Indonesia. As ambassador to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Mr. Easum was recognized by the host government for his leadership of international famine relief activities. While ambassador in Nigeria, he contributed to the country’s first successful transition from a military regime to a democratically elected government, based on the U.S. model.

He also served in the 1970s as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, working to avoid greater conflict in southern Africa. In all, he devoted more than three decades of his professional career to the improvement of U.S. relations with Africa.

Upon retiring from the Foreign Service in 1980, Easum assumed the presidency of the Africa-America Institute in New York. He also devoted himself for more than two decades to international lecturing and activism on behalf of global understanding and human rights causes.

In the 1990s, Easum was vice president and senior program consultant of the River Blindness Foundation. He organized the foundation’s offices throughout Nigeria and was the principal drafter of the pioneer agreement with the government for nationwide eradication of river blindness disease, which affected some 12 million Nigerians. In April 2003, he served on the National Democratic Institute’s observer team for presidential elections in Nigeria.

The HON. WARREN CLARK ’54 (1937-2018) gained early experience in foreign affairs with four years of active duty in naval air intelligence based in Morocco, where he wrote and gave briefings to Navy commanders on political developments in the Middle East. He then spent 33 years in the U.S. Foreign Service at State Department posts in Washington, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, Africa, and at the United Nations. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe from 1987 to 1989. In 1989-1990, as the first deputy to the assistant secretary of state for Africa, Clark played a key role in shaping the George H. W. Bush administration’s efforts to nudge the apartheid regime in South Africa to peacefully relinquish power.

From 2008 to 2016, he served as executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of national church groups that advocates for a two-state solution for ending the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

ALUMNI AMBASSADORS Victor H. Ashe II ’63, P’11 Poland Robert M. Beecroft ’58 Bosnia Warren Clark Jr. ’54 Gabonese Republic and Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe Louis Goethe Dreyfus Jr. 1906 Afghanistan Donald B. Easum ’42 Nigeria Ronald J. Gidwitz ’63 Belgium George M. Godley ’35, P’85 Laos Hallett Johnson 1904, GP’65 Costa Rica Paul C. Lambert ’46, P’76, GP’13 Ecuador Eugene K. Lawson ’57 International Labor Organization John L. Loeb Jr. ’48, P’79 Denmark Winston Lord ’55 China Livingston Tallmadge Merchant ’22 France Paul H. Nitze ’24, GP’82,’92,’96,’97 Ambassador at Large Robert D. Orr ’36 Singapore Clark T. Randt Jr. ’64, P’02,’09 China William W. Scranton ’35, P’65,’67 United Nations John A. Simon ’86 African Union in Addis, Ababa, and Ethiopia Strobe Talbott III ’64 Ambassador at Large Arthur Kittredge Watson ’38, P’76,’78, GP’00 France Charles W. Yost ’24, P’56,’64 Laos, Syria, Morocco, and the United Nations

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FROM CAREER JOURNALIST TO DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE

BY WENDY CARLSON

Excerpts from a 2016 interview published in the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training were used with permission in this article.

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or 21 years, through the 1970s and 1980s, NELSON “STROBE” TALBOTT III ’64 worked as a journalist for Time magazine, reporting on Soviet-American relations.

Talbott’s work for Time led him to Washington D.C., where he continued foreign policy reporting and analysis, expanding his expertise from Russia and Eastern Europe to include India, Latin America, China, and more.

It was not until 1993 that Talbott became directly involved in government — when his fellow Rhodes Scholar, President Bill Clinton, invited him to become ambassador to Moscow. Although he turned this offer down, Talbott soon accepted another one: Weeks later, Clinton’s Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, asked Talbott to help manage the European Bureau and U.S. relations with the new states created by the breakup of the Soviet Union. After just a year, Talbott replaced Clifton Wharton as Deputy Secretary of State, a position he held from 1994 to 2001.

Talbott’s interest in the Soviet Union stemmed, in part, from his early experiences: “When I was 10, which was in 1956, the name Nikita Khrushchev became big in my vocabulary, because he unleashed the Soviet Army on Budapest to crush the Hungarian Uprising. That was one of the big issues of the day. In fact, the sort of all-purpose Hungarian freedomfighter made the “Man of the Year” cover of Time magazine, which is, of course, a periodical I worked for 21 years in my early career. And then came Sputnik, which was not just a little thing beeping; it was also the first step of the Soviet Union’s getting intercontinental missiles. And then there

was the flight of Yuri Gagarin, and we were behind the Soviets in space technology and all of that. So, as a child, one thing after another — either in history just before I was born, family associations, my own coming to terms with the upside and downside of the era in which we were living — all kind of pointed me in a particular direction, which is world peace and the threats to world peace, the principal threat being Soviet communism.”

At Hotchkiss, his interest in Russian culture and politics began to take root.

“Every morning we had a chapel service, pretty much every day, certainly every weekday. And in October of 1962, the headmaster told us that it was going to be a special chapel service, and he was going to ask all of us to get down on our knees and pray to God, whether you believed in him or not, to save the world from the Cuban Missile Crisis. This was right at the scariest part of the Cuban Missile Crisis. That made an impression on me, as it did a lot of people. Also, before I left Hotchkiss, one of the very important officials in the Kennedy administration, Ambassador Paul Nitze, Class of 1924, was honored. He had been very much involved in what’s called NSC 68, which was kind of a blueprint for the Cold War. So, more or less at that time, when I was at Hotchkiss, I developed a very deep interest in Russian literature, novels and poetry in particular, and became infatuated enough with that to study Russian.”

After Hotchkiss, Talbott attended Yale, earning both a B.A. and an M.A. in Russian Studies, followed by an M.A. in philosophy from Oxford, where President Bill Clinton was his roommate. (The former President

cooked breakfast — usually scrambled eggs — for Talbott while he worked on a translation of Khrushchev’s memoirs.)

Their friendship proved fateful. As Talbott told it: “Clinton called after he was elected president and said, “I’m coming to Washington and I’d like to talk to you.”

And I said ‘great,’ and I went over to his hotel and he said, ‘How’d you like to be my ambassador to Moscow?’ I said I’d love it, but I can’t because my wife has got a job and my kids are in school and he said, ‘Well, okay, too bad. Thanks, all right. Have a nice day.’ And about two weeks later, through a number of kind of serendipitous things, [Secretary of State] Warren Christopher called and said, ‘Would you please come over to the State Department and be my person who will reorganize the European Bureau to deal with the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union?’ And that’s what I did for a year essentially, from 1993-94, and then Clifton Wharton stepped down as Deputy Secretary of State. There was a scramble to get somebody else, and when the Coke bottle stopped spinning, it was pointing at me, and that’s why I was Deputy Secretary of State for seven years.”

Talbott’s position as Deputy Secretary of State ended in 2001. He then became president of the Brookings Institution, a position he held until 2017. Currently, he is a distinguished fellow in residence in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.

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THE AMBASSADORS SPEAKERS SERIES ENGAGES STUDENTS IN DIPLOMACY The Ambassadors Speakers Series, which marked its 10th anniversary last fall, gives students and faculty the opportunity to meet seasoned diplomats from all over the world. Philip Pillsbury ’53, P’89,’91, who worked in the Foreign Service for more than three decades, founded the program, which usually features an auditorium address and classroom visits by an ambassador. More recently, the Hon. Robert Beecroft ’58, who also has a long history in government service and served as ambassador to Bosnia from 2001-04, has taken over the reins of the program, working with Director of International Programs David Thompson.

“The series has brought remarkable speakers to campus who offer informed, outside perspectives on issues of international relations. Students have a chance to speak with and learn from people who are actually involved with the issues that they study in class, and faculty have enjoyed the opportunity for conversation with the ambassadors,” said Thompson.

Since its inception, the program has strived to bring at least one ambassador to campus each year. Among those who have visited Hotchkiss are: Ambassador Abdoulaye Diop, of Mali; Ambassador Pierre Vimont, of France; Ambassador Carolina Barco, of Colombia; Ambassador Arturo Fermandois, of Chile; Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, of Russia; Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, of Japan; Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, of South Africa, Ambassador Joško Paro, of Croatia, and Ambassador Mark Storella, head of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migrants.

This year, Hotchkiss forged a partnership with the American Academy of Diplomacy. Former Ambassador to Afghansitan Ronald Neumann, who is president of the academy, visited classes, and gave an evening talk on the goals and limits of diplomacy. A group of students also attended the academy’s annual award ceremony at the State Department in Washington, D.C. “The partnership with the American Academy of Diplomacy affords students regular contact with career diplomats. This is especially beneficial for those students taking elective classes in foreign policy,” said Thompson.

In addition to an annual speaker from the academy, students can access the resources on the academy website, which include interviews with diplomats about their careers and a podcast series called The Ambassador and the General that discusses different approaches to shared challenges.

“Hotchkiss is the only secondary school to enjoy this relationship with the academy, and we look forward to seeing it develop,” said Thompson.

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TWO AMBASSADORS, TWO BOOKS JOHN L. LOEB JR. ’48, P’79 was the U.S. ambassador to Denmark, from 1981 to 1983. In addition to his ambassadorship, his public service includes serving as a delegate to the 38th Session of the UN General Assembly, as an advisor to Governor Nelson Rockefeller on Environmental and Economic Affairs from 1967 to 1970, and as chairman of the Governor’s New York State Council of Environmental Advisors from 1970 to 1975. Loeb serves as chairman of the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States and is a vice chairman of the Council of American Ambassadors. In 2016, he created the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom. He was honored as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, and given a coat of arms by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. And, last year, at the age of 87, he penned a self-published tome about his experiences: John L. Loeb Jr.: Reflections, Memories and Confessions published by Scout Books and available on Amazon.

WINSTON LORD ’55 served as ambassador to China, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Assistant Secretary of State.

He also served as Special Assistant to Henry Kissinger, the National Security Advisor (NSA) in the Nixon and Ford administrations. His book Kissinger on Kissinger, being published in May, is a series of faithfully transcribed interviews conducted by Lord, which capture Kissinger’s thoughts on the specific challenges that he faced during his tenure as NSA, his general advice on leadership and international relations, and stunning portraits of the larger-than-life world leaders of the era. Walter Isaacson, author of Kissinger: A Biography, has said of the book: “Henry Kissinger offers profound analysis and razorsharp recollections that show the importance of strategic thinking in navigating global affairs. His lessons are not just about statecraft but also about the courage and character required for leadership.”

OUR MAN IN THE MIDDLE EAST: ANDREW PEEK ’99

BY DANIEL LIPPMAN ’08

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hen he’s in Washington, Andrew Peek ’99, deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, wakes up at 5:45 a.m. to scroll through work emails and see what’s happening in the Middle East before he’s even had his first cup of coffee. He’s usually in his office in Foggy Bottom soon after, working closely with the Defense and Treasury departments and the intelligence agencies. He frequently briefs other senior officials in the Mike Pompeo-led State Department and also regularly goes to the White House to visit his counterparts at the National Security Council. There, Peek participates in a “high tempo of meetings” on Iran policy to counter the country’s influence in the Middle East, often with sanctions.

Peek entered the Trump administration after volunteering as one of the foreign policy advisers on the transition team at the State Department.

He became involved in the Trump administration because he felt he “could really make a difference on some of the most critical national security threats that our country faces.”

His entree into the government had its roots in his education at Hotchkiss, which the New York City native chose because he wanted to play football. (“I turned out to be terrible,” he admits.) As a lower mid, he was taken with world history and international relations — a focus, and a life path, he credits to Instructor in History Tom Drake.

At Hotchkiss, Peek was drawn to what he calls the “great events” of our time.

“Tom’s class taught me how to think about these issues in a more disciplined way,” Peek says, recalling the comprehensive questions his teacher posed: “Why did the end of the Nazi regime lead to one outcome in Germany and the end of the Soviet regime lead to another in Russia? Why has democracy reached Europe and Asia and not the Middle East?”

It wasn’t all lectures and study groups. On Saturday nights, Peek and a few friends would play board games on diplomacy and international relations like Risk, Diplomacy, and Axis and Allies. Meanwhile, “everyone else was doing more kinetic things,” he jokes.

Peek went on to major in international politics at Princeton, study Persian, and pursue a master’s in international relations at Harvard before heading to D.C. as a foreign policy researcher for

the conservative Heritage Foundation.

He then became a foreign policy adviser to Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican. When Smith lost his next election, Peek went on to work for another Republican senator, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, on Syria and Lebanon policy, helping to draft a bill expanding sanctions on Hezbollah.

In 2008, he enlisted as a reserve officer in the Army and spent a year in Afghanistan at the personal request of General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces. He ultimately worked for Petraeus’s successor, General John Allen, as an adviser and intelligence officer.

“Andrew combines military experience with a serious education, so he brings to State a terrific background for handling national security affairs,” says Elliott Abrams, a prominent neoconservative who shaped foreign policy for Reagan and George W. Bush and also serves as one of Peek’s mentors.

“He’s thoughtful and serious but also plain fun to have a drink and a laugh with,” Abrams adds.

Peek’s military service gave new meaning and purpose to his expertise. “I thought if I was going to be talking about these issues, I should at least see them up close, particularly as a policy person,” he says. “I think it gives you a lot of credibility.”

After returning to the States, he embarked on a Ph.D. in international relations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies before wrapping up his research at UT Austin as a graduate fellow. He also became a frequent Fox News commentator on foreign policy and a regular opinion contributor for the New York Daily News, the then-Jared Kushner-owned New York Observer, and Foreign Affairs.

“There’s always something that gets the attention of the people in the building, which is the pain and glory of Middle Eastern affairs.

Most of the incidents are on the extreme end of the spectrum— things blow up, people get kidnapped, there’s a gun fight—and that immediately rises to the top of the queue,” he explains.

“The country’s in a pretty exciting place at the moment,” he says.

“When you go to Baghdad, it’s all lit up; there’s so much life there.”

Daniel Lippman ’08 is a reporter for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO Playbook in Washington, D.C. 33

GOLDEN GIRL : GINA KINGSBURY ’00 As director of the Canadian women’s national hockey program, Gina Kingsbury is still in the game

BY ROGER WISTAR

Gina Kingsbury came to Lakeville from a small town in Québec and went on to become one of the School’s most decorated alumni athletes. She won gold medals playing for Canada at the 2006 and 2010 Olympic Games, as well as three International Ice Hockey Federation world championships. Following stints in coaching in British Columbia and at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Kingsbury returned last July to Hockey Canada, the sport’s national governing body, as director of the women’s national program. She sat down with Hotchkiss Magazine to discuss her new job, her experience as a player, and her time at Hotchkiss.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE THE DIRECTOR OF THE WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM?

It’s a huge honor and privilege. I never thought that I would be coming back and working for Hockey Canada, let alone leading the women’s program. I know it comes with a lot of responsibility to make sure that we continue to foster our game in our country and set our sights on regaining the lead in the world in the women’s game.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH IN THIS POSITION?

We have a solid foundation with a rich history of winning and a phenomenal program with high standards. The goal is to continue to build the program and regain that world-leading status that we used to have.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOU CAN PERSONALLY BRING TO THE POSITION?

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The first thing I think of is pride. Hockey is part of the fabric of Canada: Here, you grow up playing all kinds of hockey, from floor hockey to street hockey to boot hockey to pond hockey to everything hockey. I think our athletes and staff have a true passion for the game. There’s a lot of pride that comes with representing our country and all of those people who share the same passion for the game.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO WIN AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL?

It’s just a wave of a million emotions. From relief — there’s obviously a relief component, when you know all of the work that you and your teammates put in has finally paid off. And you start thinking about yourself as a child — that little girl with snot coming down her nose, playing outdoor hockey ’til whatever time, no matter how cold it was outside. That’s when you realize, wow, you’ve accomplished a lot. When the buzzer goes off, as much as you celebrate with your teammates, you’re

PHOTO BY LUIS ACOSTA /GET T Y IMAGES

I have a collaborative style of leadership, so I hope to bring as many minds together from our support staff as possible. I’d also like to see more Hockey Canada alumni involved — not only on the coaching side of things, but also in the direction of our program. I’ve surrounded myself with a lot of great people, and I want them to have a voice in where we go.

YOU MENTIONED THE PROGRAM HAS SUCH A RICH HISTORY, AND YOU’RE A BIG PART OF THAT HISTORY. WHAT’S BEEN THE SECRET OF ITS SUCCESS?

WHEN THE BUZZER GOES OFF, AS MUCH AS YOU CELEBRATE WITH YOUR TEAMMATES, YOU’RE ALSO LOOKING UP IN THE STANDS TO WHERE YOUR FAMILY IS TO SHARE THAT SPECIAL MOMENT WITH THEM, TOO. YOU WON THREE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, AND YOU FINISHED SECOND THREE TIMES. HOW DID YOU LEARN AND GROW AS A RESULT OF THOSE EXPERIENCES?

I think you learn more when you lose. You get a bit of a bad taste in your mouth, and you use that to motivate you. On the harder days, when you don’t want to train as hard or you’re not pushing the limits, just even thinking of that bad taste in your mouth allows you to push even harder.

HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO COME TO HOTCHKISS?

also looking up in the stands to where your family is to share that special moment with them, too.

WHEN YOU WERE PLAYING FOR THE CANADIAN TEAM, DID YOU FEEL PRESSURE TO WIN?

I think the pressure that we put on ourselves individually and as a team is far greater than any pressure that we could have felt externally. It’s everything that we we set our sights on, and it’s every four years, so there’s certainly a lot of pressure that comes with that, but it’s just a drive that we all have to be our best. Even [coach] Mel Davidson said in her pre-game speech that she wasn’t expecting us to win a gold medal; she was expecting us to have a gold medal performance. I think that really empowered us, because suddenly it’s like: “I can control that, I can control how well I play. I can’t control the end result, I can’t control the opponent, or the referees, but I can control every single shift. I can control how hard I work, the attention I put in, the details and my approach to this game.”

I was playing boys’ hockey in my hometown in northern Quebec and getting to a place where I had to make a decision: If I pursued my dreams of becoming an Olympian, I would have to play women’s hockey somewhere. There wasn’t a girls’ hockey team in my hometown, so I did a hockey camp in the Montreal area, which opened the door for me to take a look at some options for pursuing hockey in the States. I remember my visit to Hotchkiss was a bit traumatic, because we got lost and ending up being a couple hours late. I came in really nervous, and then Ms. Chandler came running out and was so welcoming and so excited to give me a tour. It just felt like family, like home. So for me, the decision to come to Hotchkiss was very easy to make.

WHAT ARE YOUR FONDEST HOCKEY MEMORIES AT HOTCHKISS?

Having the ice always available for us was incredible. I remember going on the ice with Brady Cooper ’11 when it was just the two of us, and we would play kind of a shootout game. And all the camaraderie, the games against Taft and Deerfield. But for me, Hotchkiss wasn’t just about hockey; it was the overall experience of being in a very unique setting that none of my friends back home could ever imagine. I went to a fairly big public high school before coming to Hotchkiss. To go into a classroom with a round table with eight students and a professor and a golden retriever in the corner, it just felt so special and unique.

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Among Hotchkiss’s Stash of Trophies,

A Chamber Pot & A Golden Sneaker

BY WENDY CARLSON

Over Hotchkiss’s long history, the School has garnered countless trophies for achievements in sports, academics, and community service.

Dozens are stored in the basement of the Chapel, and still more are kept inside a glass case in Archives. They come in all shapes and sizes; each carries a story all its own. Hotchkiss Magazine took a peek inside and discovered a few one-of-a-kind gems.

The Thundermug Mug is a Chamber Pot — For Real Drama Instructor Parker Reed first came across the curiouslooking Thundermug several years ago when he was observing a class taught by English Instructor Charlie Frankenbach. “The ceramic pot held writing implements and random bits of paper at that time, and Frankenbach described some sort of vague contest involving it,” says Reed, who now awards the mug to a winning team of student performers during the annual Shakespearean Shorts competition each spring.

During the 1970s, the mug became the prize for the first contest, in which teams of students performed scenes from Shakespeare’s plays. The event involved all lower mid English classes, according to Caroline Kenny-Burchfield ’77, P’08,’10,’18, whose class won the mug. “It was an unmatchable glory,” she recalls. Reed revived the event about five years ago and extended it to all classes. As for the origins of the name, “I’m nearly certain ‘Thundermug’ was originally intended as a scatalogical pun,” Reed says. A version of a quotation from Romeo and Juliet appears inside: “O, play me some merry dump to comfort me.” It’s also officially entitled “The Coriolanus Thespian Thundermug,” and the wording around the lip reads: “T’is not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but t’is enough t’will serve.”

The chamber pot trophy is kept in the Edsel Ford Memorial Library behind glass under lock and key.

Says Reed: “Some people have lightning in a jar; we have thunder in a case.”

PHOTOS BY WENDY CARLSON

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The Ugliest Trophy, Hands down The School’s most unprepossessing trophy is also one of the most coveted — at least for some students. The Golden Sneaker Award is presented to a local high school team that raises the most money for the Annual Northwest Connecticut CROP Hunger Walk, a 5K held in Salisbury each September, now in its 36th year. Last year, the event raised $29,169; Hotchkiss students raised $5,819, winning the trophy for the fourth year in a row.

But what’s with the sneaker? More than eight years ago, a group of church volunteers were brainstorming ways to raise more money for the event. They decided to award a trophy as an incentive.

Then, they got creative and added a worn-out, gold-spray-painted sneaker to a run-of-the-mill statuette. The quirky award proved an instant success. “It’s hard to believe how fiercely motivated and competitive the students are about that icky sneaker!” says Caroline KennyBurchfield ’77, coordinator of volunteer programs at Hotchkiss.

So whose clodhopper tops the trophy?

In keeping with the spirit of the CROP Walk, the shoe is donated by a walker, which means it can be a bit stinky. But who’s smelling?

“It’s hard to believe how fiercely motivated and competitive the students are about that icky sneaker!”

—Caroline Kenny-Burchfield ’77

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All Hail the Olympians and Pythians!

Pass the Three-Handled Trophy It all began when Director of Student Activities Sara Gibb was cleaning out the closet of her new office in the basement of Main at the start of the academic year. She came across a three-handled trophy that was so tarnished the inscription was illegible. Its origin remained a mystery until Archivist Rosemary Davis took some polish to it, restoring its golden shine and the inscription: “Presented by the Hotchkiss Club of Yale on Feb. 24, 1910 to be competed for by the Olympian and Pythian Teams.”

The competition dates back to 1893 when two societies, the Olympians and the Pythians, were created for intramural sports. In the School’s early years, athletics were limited and not exactly encouraged. The 1898 Hotchkiss Annual stated, “The Hotchkiss School boy believes it is his duty to be first a gentleman, then a scholar, and then an athlete, if possible.” Gym classes were held four times a week and “aimed to improve the carriage of the body, build up weak parts, correct physical faults, and furnish every boy with a small but constant amount of all-round, vigorous exercise.”

In time, scrimmages quickly became contests between the Olympians and Pythians. The competitions faded over time. But this year, the societies were revived by students — except now, there’s no trophy, and the contest isn’t athletic. Instead, students go head-to-head in dance-offs or the “Chubby Bunny” competition, in which students compete to see how many marshmallows they can stuff in their mouth while still being able to say the words “chubby bunny.” That’s a far cry from the ancient Greek games, but it’s a lot more fun.

With the Help of a Custodian, the Class of 1970 Chess Team Triumphs Kim Beeman ’70, captain of the 1969-70 Hotchkiss Chess Team, gave us this scoop about a memorable trophy with an interesting backstory.

“In spring of 1970, the team competed in the National High School Chess Championship in New York City. The tournament was divided into two groups: nationally rated and unrated players. None of us had played before in a tournament, so we were unrated and played in the Novice group.

“To our amazement, the Hotchkiss team won the national championship in the Novice group, for which we were awarded the trophy.

In addition, our top player tied for first place in the individual Novice rankings.”

What few knew is that the team’s “off-the-record” advisor was a school custodian. “I would see him pensively sweeping the long main corridor and finally asked: what are you thinking about? He said: chess.

He said the job gave him a chance to think about chess all day. He was a lovely man, an excellent chess player, and a guide and inspiration to the team: it was on his suggestion that we entered the tournament. He even drove to New York to watch us play — and drove the trophy back to Hotchkiss; it wouldn’t fit in our suitcases!”

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IN SEARCH OF A LIFE WORTH LIVING,

AUGUST TURAK ’70 FINDS AN ANSWER

BY WENDY CARLSON

PAINTING : MEPKIN ABBEY/GLENN HARRINGTON

W

hen he was in college, August Turak taped a quote by the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky to the brokendown refrigerator that he shared with four roommates. Every time he opened the door to grab some leftover pizza or bottle of Pilsner, there it was staring him in the face: “Man is a mystery. If you spend your whole life trying to puzzle it out, do not say you have wasted your time. I occupy myself with that mystery because I want to be a man.”

“That quote has adorned every fridge I’ve owned or rented since,” says Turak, now an award-winning author, businessman, speaker, and contributor to Forbes.com and the BBC. Turak is the founder of Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF), a spiritual and educational nonprofit. His book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, was published by Columbia Business School in 2013; last fall his Templeton Prize-winning essay, Brother John: A Monk, A Pilgrim, and the

Purpose of Life, was published in hardcover

by Clovercroft Publishing, featuring 22 original oil paintings by artist Glenn Harrington.

Now, with two more book ideas in the works, Turak has finally found the answer to one of life’s deep questions — what is a life worth living.

Turak has been on a spiritual path since he was a student at Hotchkiss. Raised in a large, Catholic, lower-middle-class family in Pittsburgh, he arrived in Lakeville as a lower mid. As a scholarship student, he quickly experienced “a cultural shock of epic proportions,” he says.

“My first two years at Hotchkiss were traumatic. I was deeply homesick, failing in my studies, underachieving at sports, and finding it extremely hard to fit in and make friends. I was failing, and my attempts to explain this phenomenon to myself made me introspective. Those first two years were the crucible that formed my character. I was

wedged between the irresistible force of my parents, who refused to let me quit and come home to my comfort zone, while Hotchkiss was the immovable object that refused to lower its expectations just to accommodate me. In this sense, Hotchkiss became my first Zen koan — a problem that can never be solved but only transcended.”

At Hotchkiss, he began to question the deeply held beliefs and assumptions he had always taken for granted, which helped to transform him into the deep thinker he remains today. By his senior year, everything fell into place. He learned the value of determination; and he knew what it meant to transcend a problem through personal transformation.

“I came to Hotchkiss with very limited dreams and expectations. I graduated with the sense that anything was possible if I was just willing to make the sacrifices and pay the price,” he says.

Turak went on to attend the University

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of Pittsburgh, where he studied Russian history. He took a five-year hiatus when he was a junior to study with the mystic and Zen teacher Richard Rose, whom he met when Rose was giving a talk in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1972. Soon after, Turak cut his shoulder-length hair and began scheduling lectures for Rose on college campuses. While still in his early 20s, he began giving talks himself on Zen Buddhism and mysticism. He traveled throughout the eastern United States, working to support himself as an independent carpet installer, sometimes living out of his van and showering in college gyms. In Cleveland, he lived in an abandoned ice cream parlor with four likeminded Zen followers, sleeping on wood pallets covered with carpet scraps. At that time, he had zero interest in business, but his stint as an itinerant carpet installer gave him his first taste of the challenges of entrepreneurship.

During this period, he was always hungry to meet anyone who could shed some light on the spiritual questions that constantly plagued him. One day he buttonholed the owner of a Washington D.C. bookstore.“Who do you know around here that can teach me something about life?” he asked him. The owner gave him the phone number of Louis. R. Mobley, the first director of the IBM Executive School from 1956 to 1966. Mobley was a spiritual seeker, too: He had become so successful at IBM precisely because he informed the curriculum at the IBM Executive School with spiritual and philosophical ideas, Turak says.

Mobley made a deep impression on Turak. After returning to the University of Pittsburgh to finish his senior year, he contacted Mobley, who ended up inviting him into his home in Maryland and tutoring him in leadership and spirituality.

In turn, Turak offered to find clients for the small consulting business Mobley had started since retiring from IBM. “I got a priceless education from a great man. But even then, I was not interested in business,” Turak says. “Carpet installation and Louis Mobley taught me so much, but the business benefits of my education were accidental. They were simply the by-product and trailing indicator of my 40

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“FOR 30 YEARS MY LIFE WAS ALL ABOUT SEARCHING, TRYING, AND HOPEFULLY, FINDING. IT WAS ALL ABOUT BECOMING. MY LIFE NOW IS ONE OF JUST BEING. BEING AND BOUNDLESS GRATITUDE.” aspiration toward things so much bigger than business.”

In 1981, he started working for a fledgling company that launched MTV. After working for MTV, then for the Entertainment Channel, which later became A&E, he was offered a job in 1985 with a software startup in North Carolina. Later, in 1993, Turak and three of his spiritual buddies started their own highly successful company.

“While I looked like a businessman who happened to be interested in spirituality, I was actually a spiritual seeker who happened to have a pretty good sideline in business. In fact, my main interest in business was what it could teach me about myself, other people, and human nature generally.”

Meanwhile, he had resumed working with college students at North Carolina State University, and later at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, where he gave lectures on his spiritual journey. Although a financial success, Turak faced a major life crisis in 1996, after several Duke students convinced him into going skydiving with them as a “team building activity.” Upon landing, he shattered his right ankle and ended up in the hospital for a week. There, he began having panic attacks accompanied by deep depression. “Despite all the spiritual work I thought I had done, I suddenly realized how afraid of dying I was,” he says.

Shortly after his accident, another one of his Duke students called to tell him he was spending the summer at the Trappist monastery of Mepkin Abbey outside Charleston, S.C., as a monastic guest.

“Instantly and without thinking, I asked if I could come that very weekend,” he says.

That winter, Turak returned to the Abbey as a monastic guest. On that rainy Christmas Eve, Brother John, who ran the guest program, shared his umbrella with Turak as they walked together back to their rooms. This simple, but profound encounter, was the beginning of Turak’s journey of recovery from his skydiving accident and his bout of depression to embracing a purposeful life. In 2004, the transformative time he spent at the Abbey inspired him to write his Templeton prizewinning essay, “Brother John.”

“In the beginning, I wrote the piece from the experience of what it is like to feel broken, desperate, and alone, and later from the experience of what it feels like to be transformed and miraculously put back together through grace.”

Winning the $100,000 Templeton Prize for his essay was a pivotal moment for Turak: It turned him into a writer overnight and launched a second career. After that first visit to the Abbey in 1996, he spent years, off and on, living and working with the monks at Mepkin Abbey. The experience informed his first book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s Quest for Meaning and Authenticity.

Today, when not traveling for lectures and interviews, he lives on a 75-acre cattle farm in North Carolina that he shares with his brother, Tom. His non-profit helps people find a sense of meaning and higher purpose in a world that for so many seems increasingly bereft of meaning and purpose.

Meanwhile, he is mulling over two book ideas: the story of how he met Richard Rose, and the miraculous things that happened to him when he was a student under Rose’s tutelage. The other is a series of real-life stories documenting the amazing encounters he has had on his spiritual odyssey.

And he still heeds the passage by Dostoevsky taped to his fridge — though he seems to have found his life purpose.

“For 30 years my life was all about searching, trying, and hopefully, finding. It was all about becoming,” he says.

“My life now is one of just being. Being and boundless gratitude.”

Messages from the Alumni Association

Students and Alumni Gather Our students gain so much from alumni interactions. They love sharing their Hotchkiss experience and hearing alumni perspectives gleaned from their time beyond Scoville Gate.

The Board of Governors had dinner with members of the Alumni and Student Relations Team on campus at their November meeting. The team supports the Alumni Office, and is made up of students interested in learning more about the various talents and passions of our alumni.

They are also instrumental in thanking alumni for their engagement with the School, and raising awareness of the positive impact alumni have had on Hotchkiss now, and in the future.

For the first time in over two decades, former members of the Hotchkiss boys and girls squash teams returned to play a friendly match with current Bearcat squash players. Seventeen alumni attended, including John Virden ’64, P’89,’91, the inaugural coach of the girls team in 1983, and ten alumni played. The girls won decisively 4-0, and the boys won 4-2 over the alumni players. The matches were followed by a dinner in Monahan, where attendees swapped stories of past accomplishments, squash-related and otherwise, and discussed current endeavors. All alumni present said they intend to return next year and will encourage their former teammates to attend, with the hopes of making the Alumni Squash Match an annual tradition. — Sunil Desai ’87

SAVE THE DATE: DAY OF SERVICE — SATURDAY, APRIL 27 Do you work with a charity that could use some help? We are firming up sites across the globe.

Please contact Caroline Sallee Reilly ’87, director of constituent relations, if you are interested in hosting a Day of Service in your area.

Be an Advisor!

Our alumni network is a valuable resource. The Hotchkiss Alumni Career Network allows users to tap into this network, pairing advisors with advice seekers. This network allows advisors to choose the services they would like to offer (i.e., career conversations, resume critiques, or mock interviews), and advice seekers can search for alumni in many fields.

Signing up is fast and easy at www.hotchkiss.firsthand.co.

Questions? Email Caroline Sallee Reilly ’87 in the Alumni Office: creilly@hotchkiss.org

Other ways to stay in touch:

ALUMNI

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CLASS AGENT: Ed Cissel

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CLASS AGENT: Len Marshall

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CLASS AND REUNION AGENT: Alan Kirk

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CLASS AGENT: Blair Childs

47

CLASS AGENTS: Hank Hamlin and John Schullinger LAURENCE CARPENTER

had lunch with during the Christmas season. He reports Bruce is doing quite well, and he is going to have cataract surgery. He writes, “I’m off to Florida to play golf and shoot my age again. Have done it every year since I was 77.

Still going to Nantucket in the summertime.”

BRUCE BENSLEY

48

CLASS AGENT: Frank Kittredge

49

70TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 27–29, 2019

CLASS AGENT: Marvin Deckoff MARVIN DECKOFF

writes, “I got a nice note from J A C K S T E I N H I L B E R in response to my Annual Fund letter. He and Betty have moved to a retirement home called St. George Village, and his new address is 1135 Woodstock Road, Unit #2206, Roswell, GA 30025. J O N B U S H , H E R B L O B L , and I attended the memorial service for P E T E W E S T E R M A N N ; Herb gave a very moving eulogy.

PETER BULKELEY

can’t break his age on the golf course anymore, but only because Valerie will only let him play nine holes.

J O N N E W M A N has written a book describing the most interesting legal cases he tried as a federal judge. Jon hasn’t retired, but he keeps a lighter schedule these days. Our class mourns a whole batch of recent deaths: Bryan, Bardeen, Schreier, Bradley, Williams, Westermann. But we are still looking forward to our 70th Reunion later this year.”

50

CLASS AGENT: Bob Blankfein OGDEN MILLER

writes, “We were at our place in northwest France (200 kilometers west of

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Lawrence Carpenter ’47 with his family celebrating his 90th birthday.

Paris) through November. We flew Paris to New Zealand to take a cruise, ending in Sydney on Dec. 2. We planned to return to the States in December to visit the ‘children’ in Chattanooga, Dallas, and San Marino. We would welcome any classmates in France. Our email address is ogdendmiller@gmail.com (don’t forget the middle initial).”

51

CLASS AGENT: Peter Genereaux

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CLASS AGENT: Julian Coolidge

53

CLASS AGENTS: Rusty Chandler, Jay Lehr, Phil Pillsbury,

and Don Streett ERNIE WASSERMAN

writes, “I was devastated because I could not attend our 65th reunion, but I did have a conversation with D O N S T R E E T T and e-mails with R U S T Y C H A N D L E R and Deborah Fogel. Otherwise, nothing to report, except to remind everyone to note that when you order something from Amazon.com, designate Hotchkiss as your charity of choice. Amazon will donate one half of one percent of your order to Hotchkiss. That’s not a bad deal. If everyone did it, the numbers would add up considerably.”

A L A N S H I F F reports, “I retired from US Bankruptcy Court on 1/1/16 after 35 years.

Since retirement, I’ve started a second career playing the cello. A concert at Lincoln Center

is beyond my reach, but I think I’m getting better. My wife, Carol, and my dog, Mellie, a rescue lab, don’t agree.”

D O N S T R E E T T reports: “Some financial information should be of interest. Last school year $115,271 was contributed by our class to the Hotchkiss Fund. Moreover, $401,953 (note the last four digits!) was raised for the Class of 1953 Scholarship Fund. This latter sum included a $200,000 matching fund challenge, which provided a huge incentive and which was obviously very successful.

Forty-one classmates made a contribution to the School, a participation rate of 82%, which was the third-highest rate out of 80 alumni classes. Our class raised the most of any class that graduated in the 1950s, and of any class that celebrated a five-year reunion last year.

The Class Scholarship Fund has grown in value from $766,981 as of June 30, 2016 to $834,618 a year later and to $1,285,168 in September. Well done, classmates!”

54 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Al Ferguson

and Cal Heminway PHILLIP BARNEY’S

photo of a head of school holiday taken in 1954 is the magazine’s Parting Shot on pg. 68. As Phillip recalls, “We were down at the lake. There was a bit of ‘improper’ activity: some smoking, some drinking (not by me). I swam in the lake and

cut my foot on a piece of glass. First aid was some bourbon poured on the wound. I ended up at the school infirmary, smelling a bit boozy, where the doctor gave me a quizzical look but said nothing as he stitched me up.”

55

CLASS AGENTS: Pete Nelson and Toby Terrell

This coming May, Macmillan (St. Martin’s Press) will publish W I N S T O N L O R D ’ S book KISSINGER ON KISSINGER, Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership.

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CLASS AGENT: Dave Bentley DAVE BENTLEY

writes, “I saw C O L I N and stayed with him in Toledo.

T O M Y A M I N and his wife, Patty, have been traveling. He has had two hip replacements, thus stopping his ability to play tennis, at which he was very good. Remember him on the team at Hotchkiss? Aging is such fun.

They have 18 grandchildren between them and eight kids. One of his grandchildren is a 16-year-old high schooler and a superb golfer.

UCLA has already put this child on the ‘yes’ list for school and, of course, the golf team. ‘A real star,’ says Tom. He and Patty live in New York City with their nine-year-old St. Bernard — a serious member of the family. Dave adds, “Talked with NICK YOST over the past two months. He has had a most interesting life, centering around environmental law, and he and Sandra, his wife of 44 years, live in a suburb of San Francisco: Philo, CA. Nick missed Vietnam, as he says, thankfully & spent two years in service in the artillery. He and Sandra have just purchased a home on Wellsley Island, a 10-mile-long island in the St. Lawrence close by Canada. Their home, a 19th-century Victorian, is in the Thousand Island Park section of the island, a historical site.. They have three sons, all of whom seem to be brilliant. Daniel, who went to UC at Santa Cruz, then Oxford on a Fulbright; Scott, Princeton; and Rob, who did a multi discipline study at Skidmore and Dartmouth.

If I remember correctly, they take good brain power from Nick and undoubtedly Sandra.

Both Nick and Sandra are accomplished pilots, flying a twin Cessna. I had not talked with Nick in over 60 years. It was a pleasure.”

GARDNER

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CLASS AGENTS: Peter Carnes, Jon Larsen,

and Dusty Reeder EDWARD BROWN

moved to Wisconsin from Illinois in May 2017. He reports he is “not happy with winter without a break to the south – Illinois fiscal mess is not missed!

Good health, happy times, good fortune.”

59 CLASS AND REUNION AGENT: Nathaniel Floyd HANK WESSELMAN,

anthropologist and evolutionary biologist, has conducted expeditionary fieldwork over the past 45 years with several international research teams, in search of answers to the mystery of human origins in the fossil beds of eastern Africa’s Great Rift Valley. In addition to his scientific publications and his academic teaching in many universities and colleges, he is the awardwinning author of nine books on shamanism, including Spiritwalker Trilogy; Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation (with Sandra Ingerman); The Bowl of Light: Ancestral Wisdom from a Hawaiian Shaman; and The Re-Enchantment: A Shamanic Path to a Life of Wonder. A shamanic teacher for more than 20 years and an apprentice in this mystical tradition for more than 30, he offers experiential training workshops at the Breitenbush Conference Center in northern Oregon, Mosswood Hollow near Seattle, and the Omega Institute near New York. He lives with his family on their organic farm in Honaunau, Hawaii Island. Visit his site at www.sharedwisdom.com.

T H E O D O R E P. S T R E I B E R T writes, “In the first week of September, I traveled out to Salt Lake City to visit an old climbing friend from the Harvard Mountaineering Club. We headed out to the Colorado National Monument, just west of Grand Junction. We met another mutual friend, and we teamed up to hike into the monument some two-and-half hours to Independence Monument and Otto’s Route, which involved over 600 feet of climbing up a natural cleft out onto a room-sized summit.

The scenery was breathtaking. The next day we ventured to The Fischer Towers, where we did the very short Dunce Tower. After an overnight stay in Moab, we made a very early start on Owl Rock in Arches National Park. My friend urged me to stay on top while he descended

Theodore P. Streibert ’59 on the top of Owl Rock, a tower in Arches National Monument, Utah last summer.

Jonathan Price’s ’59 latest art book

to the ground and ran around to the sunny side to take the picture. I have always wanted to climb in the desert, and these three towers were fine introductions.”

J O N AT H A N P R I C E

just released a catalog of his artwork taking off from maps of Paris and the nearby suburbs, called Remapping Paris. The

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Class

not es After Putting Down Roots in Connecticut,

George Schoellkopf ’61 Created a Horticultural Mecca

BY ROBERT MILLER

hen George Schoellkopf came to Hotchkiss in the late 1950s, he was overwhelmed — not by the academic rigor, but by the scenery. Arriving from the suburbs of Dallas, where everything was flat and dry and scrubby, he suddenly found himself surrounded by hills and grass and greenery.

“It’s just so beautiful here,’’ said Schoellkopf, 75, who has lived in a 1770 farmhouse in Washington, CT, since the late ’70s. The area is more beautiful yet thanks to his effort, supported by The Nature Conservancy, to turn the gardens surrounding his home into Hollister House Gardens, Inc., a nonprofit horticultural mecca that draws garden-lovers from the region and beyond.

Hollister House is a unique synthesis of the formal and the natural, a place with defined corners, brick walls, and high yew hedges. But within those spaces, the place cascades with beauty, changing with the seasons. Noted garden writer Tovah Martin, who lives in nearby Roxbury, said, “There’s a romance to it. You enter it, and it just sort of envelops you. It absolutely evokes the Sissinghurst tradition,’’ Martin said, referring to the famed garden created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson in Kent, England. “But it has a special flavor of New England.’’

Though he is Texas-born, Schoellkopf comes from a family of Hotchkiss graduates – his father, uncle, and brother all attended.

What he remembers most from his time at Hotchkiss are the challenging classes — getting on-the-spot etymology lessons in Latin class, or learning about the double meanings Shakespeare packed into the language of King Lear, “which are all dirty,’’ Schoellkopf quipped.

After Hotchkiss, Schoellkopf went to seminaries in the United States and Yorkshire, intending to become a monk.

He quickly realized he was not cut out for the life ecclesiastic and returned to the U.S. He went to Yale, then to Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree in art history.

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He opened a small antique store in Greenwich Village. Within a few years, he moved uptown, opening the highly successful George E. Schoellkopf Gallery on Madison Avenue, one of the first galleries to specialize in Americana and American folk art. By then, he had become an established name in American antiques.

In 1978, his Aunt Cecie, a woman known for her distinctive hats and decided opinions, died. He used an inheritance from her to buy the Hollister farmhouse, its outbuildings, and 25 acres.

He figured it would be his country retreat in the Connecticut landscape he still loved. But that year, he went to England and saw Sissinghurst and other famous English gardens, which led to his grand plan to create Hollister House Garden.

At the beginning, Schoellkopf couldn’t get down what he wanted on paper: the plans didn’t capture what he saw in his head. It wasn’t until he used three-dimensional models of the house and its land that he began to get it right.

The work included bulldozing away the sloping land behind the

show takes place online, at Museum Zero, museumzero.blogspot.com, and the catalog’s now up on Amazon.

BILL HUBBARD

house and building a thick granite wall to define where the garden would start.

“The big thing was building the wall,’’ he said. “Its foundations go down eight feet.’’

The garden, like its English counterparts, is divided into distinct spaces, or “rooms,’’ that flow into each other. There’s a walled garden with a reflecting pool, a kitchen garden, and “The Rill” — a long, narrow pool lined with granite stones. An old French fountain stands at one end, with frogs peering up from the water.

The garden is full of color, differentiating it from formal French gardens, Schoellkopf said, which are largely petal-less. But its structures, walls, set walks, and borders are also different from American gardens.

“American gardens are looser,’’ Schoellkopf said. “I don’t think you can find a right angle in one.’’

Schoellkopf, who spends springs and summers at Hollister House with his partner, photographer Gerald Incandela, and winters in Santa Barbara, CA, said the botanical composition is a mix of things he likes best.

With artful planning, he and his gardener Krista Adams, make the place look natural.

“It’s like a big happy family — only sometimes things aren’t always happy,’’ Schoellkopf said, noting that insistent plants occasionally have to be reined in, and other times, left to run a bit wild.

“I want a plant to look like it had decided to grow there itself,’’ he said. “It takes talent. But sometimes it’s an accident.

If it works, then it’s a good accident.’’

Hollister House is open to the public on Friday afternoons and Saturdays from the last week in April to the first week in October. For more information, go to www. hollisterhousegarden.org.

writes, “Am still trying to remain engaged politically, although it’s hard to feel relevant if you’re not a billionaire. All the more reason for getting money out of politics. Although the national state of affairs is depressing, it’s also highly entertaining – a soap opera with new episodes every evening. Had our first wedding in August. Son, Will, married Jessica Fye, from Newport, who now works for J.P. Morgan in New York. Also debating whether to do another Transatlantic Race this summer.”

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CLASS AGENT: Bill Hobbs

61

CLASS AGENTS: Dave Egan and Jim MacIver VAN WILLIAMS

writes, “J O H N E LT I N G and I continue to work on behalf of the environment down here in south Florida.

John has been at it longer than I, serving on the Board of Audubon Florida, as well as leading swamp walks in and providing advice to Corkscrew Sanctuary and the Fakahatchee Strand, both of which are popular tourist destinations here. John was present at the dedication of a new $4-million boardwalk in the Fakahatchee Strand, along with Franklin Adams and Marya Repko, two prominent local historians. For my part, I’m chairing the Board of the Conservancy of SW Florida, working to protect land, water, and wildlife in the area. With the issues of red tide in the Gulf, blue-green algae coming from Lake Okeechobee and sea-level rise confronting us, there is plenty for both of us to do.”

T E M P L E E M M E T W I L L I A M S reports, “The second edition of my non-fiction autobiography, Warrior Patient Heartbeats, has been awarded the 2018 New Apple eBooks Award (solo medalist) in the Health/Medicine Category. The best reviews for the book include the words: ‘I think this book may have saved my life.’ It’s an upbeat, often funny story of recovery from today’s medical system, written in the 2nd person (You, not I).”

62

N O R M R E Y N O L D S writes, “Still kicking. I just spent a week skiing in Breckenridge with a British military amputee, a member of BLESMA, or British Limbless Ex-Serviceman’s Association. They come here every year and have distinguished themselves by being thrown out of most of the bars in town, most notably for an episode of ‘Stump Wars,’ where they get on tables on one leg and fight with their prosthetics. Most fun ski partners I’ve ever had, after granddaughters who are now kicking my butt! All’s well here. We went to UK and Tanzania in July, and fortunately never had to find out which one of us could run faster. Wonderful trip. Pleasant weather in Tanzania (cooler than Edinburgh) and no bugs! Happy to say that USA microbrews are better than beer in UK.” B I L L B RYA N

writes, “I had the pleasure of spending time with two Hotchkiss faculty members who visited Montana recently. I opened doors for English Instructor Michelle Repass across Montana American Indian country in her quest to enrich her knowledge of Native American writers historically based in Montana, by experiencing the landscapes and cultural environments that inspired their work. I also introduced Rick Hazelton, director of college advising, to various people in Montana who could help him in his mission to recruit Native American students.

His particular focus was with Crow and Northern Cheyenne students. My attention these days with One Montana is helping the Montana Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery have a bona fide working foundation with rural Montanans. Sadly, our state has a mental health crisis of epic proportions -- one example is that we are first or second annually in suicides per capita in the country.”

T I M K N O W LT O N is retired, living in Texas; worked in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Central Asia.

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CLASS AGENTS: Kip Armstrong, Detch Detchon,

and Roger Liddell

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55TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 27–29, 2019

CLASS AGENTS: Bob Graffagnino and Jody Nachman F R A N K B E L L writes, “Eight years in, retirement is the new normal, a delightful one at that. Reading, travel, and a large house/lawn keep Mary (a retired RN) and me (US Air Force vet and former aerospace & defense industry exec) busy and active.

Aside from spending time with family – spread from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York to Georgia, California, and Minnesota – volunteering is most rewarding personally. Twice a week you’ll find me at the visitor center information desk or on the field at nearby Antietam National Battlefield (except during shutdowns!), having recently celebrated 10 years as a National Park Service volunteer. I also enjoy chairing the scholarship committee for the Hagerstown, MD, Civil War Round Table, now in its seventh decade of operation. Nonetheless, with the youngest of five grandchildren having reached double digits, I feel I’m getting up there. So, classmates, let’s not miss our 55th reunion in September!”

’65 classmates gathered for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner in Greenwich, CT.

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CLASS AGENTS: Bill Fusco, Bill Sandberg,

and Kip Witter JERRY SPROLE

reports, “The annual preThanksgiving dinner was held again on Nov. 19, in Greenwich, CT. Present were the writer, M A C G O D L E Y, K E V I N O ’ C O N N E L L , B I L L A T T E R B U R Y, F R E D P A C K , E V A N GRISWOLD, DAVE BURROWS,

and G R E G C U K O R . Lots of laughs and probably some twisted memories. Shortly thereafter the whole class was devastated to learn of the passing of E R I C C A L H O U N on Nov. 16, following a short illness. Eric will always be remembered for his good-heartedness, wry sense of humor, and famous ‘southern drawl’ retort to Bill Olsen upon being caught smoking down by the lake. Godspeed, old buddy.”

J O H N B O A K has a show of his oil paintings and photographic digital paintings through March at the 808PROJECTS gallery in Denver, CO. He writes,”My wife, Linda, and I had dinner recently with classmate V I C T O R V O N S C H L E G E L and his wife, Louise.”

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In Marion, MA during our extended 50th Reunion weekend, ’67 classmates, from left; Bill Elfers, Dal Dalglish, John Welles, Dave Covey, Mark Pierce, Carlton Smith, and Neil Wallace played a two day match at The Bay Club and Kittansett. Dave Covey emerged as the winner.

66

CLASS AGENTS: Steve Kirmse, Barry Svigals,

Michael Thompson, and Dusty Tuttle TY TUTTLE

reports, “In April we went to Marrakesh to celebrate my 70th. The following month I had a shoulder replacement and, much more pleasant, a visit from J E F F P H I L L I P S . We spent the summer in our house in Normandy, hosting our grandchildren and various friends. In October we had a good visit from John Levin. In November we returned to the States to celebrate Thanksgiving with Claire’s brother in Connecticut. We have bought a new apartment in Montmartre – a former artist’s studio that had to be totally

gutted before beginning renovations. We hope to move in early April and begin enjoying the panoramic view of Paris.”

JAMES WEBER

writes: “We have spent two years and too much money renovating our 105-year-old floating home on Lake Union in Seattle. We added just enough extra space and storage to allow us to finally live there fulltime. Emily and Joey, both of whom attended our 50th reunion, each got married this past year. Emily is an occupational therapist, Joey is a fashion manager at Amazon, and I am still teaching yoga!”

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CLASS AGENTS: Eric Bruenner and Mark Pierce BILL ELFERS

reports, “Rounding out our 50th Reunion, we had a two-day outing on Sept. 15-16 in Marion, Massachusetts . We played a two-day match at The Bay Club and Kittansett. D A V E C O V E Y emerged as the winner, edging out N E I L W A L L A C E and J O H N W E L L E S . On Friday evening we had a dinner at the Elfers house in Marion which included J O H N H U M P H R E Y , Kristin Pierce, and Deb Elfers. The weather was perfect, and a good time was had by all.”

68

CLASS AGENTS: John Enteman, Bill McMorran,

Peter Perakos, Cameron Smith, John Titcomb, and Tom Warrington BILL MCMORRAN

shares his thoughts on the 50th Reunion: “As our 50th fades into the dregs of 2018, thanks again to J O H N

Dick Warren ’70 (left) and Parky Conyngham ’70 catch up over a lunch last fall.

ENTEMAN, PETE PERAKOS, CAMERON SMITH, JOHN TITCOMB

and T O M for their tremendous effort in making our reunion such a great success!

By now, ideally, every classmate should have received the Misch II, cataloging the impact of 50 years on each of us. As all of us in Lakeville agreed, we want to stay in contact with each other and build on the new beginning that a 50-year hiatus creates. Along those lines, D A N W A L K E R , his son John and two lovely granddaughters spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon with us in Hollywood; turns out Dan’s son lives two blocks away! The things you learn at your 50th!

WARRINGTON

Northwestern classmates J O H N T I T C O M B and J E F F W E N K paid a visit to J O H N C O F R I N recently in Bellingham. In a separate gathering, D A N W A L K E R met John and Jeff for coffee. Despite the famous Seattle traffic morass, they reported that they spent more time together than in driving to meet up!

On geographic updates, T O M H A R R I N G T O N is moving back to AZ from the Lake of the Ozarks. Snow greeted them, how fun!

Post 50th, we are encouraging everyone to connect. There are a lot of opportunities in the Bay area, in NYC, and New England.

Keep me posted and if you want to connect, let me know.

Finally, M I C K I B I T S K O ’ S secret identity has been revealed! If you don’t know, the price of knowledge is sharing your own updates with me, wmcmorran@greenoakconsulting.com.

And wishing all of you a wonderful 2019 with classmate connections!”

THOMAS BASS

reports his book, The Spy Who Loved Us (Public Affairs, 2009), was re-published by University of Massachusetts Press in 2018. He is also the author of Censorship in Vietnam: Brave New World (University of Massachusetts Press, 2017), as well as many other books. The Spy Who Loved Us is set in Vietnam during the war, tells the story of Time correspondent and Communist spy Pham Xuan An. Serialized in The New Yorker, the book has been called a “revelation”

by Morley Safer, “chilling” by Seymour Hersh, and “brilliant” by Daniel Ellsberg. Ted Koppel called it “a gripping story,” and novelist John le Carré wrote, “I was deeply impressed by this book. It is relevant, instructive, funny. The shock of the double never goes away. Neither does the gullibility of the arrogant intruder.”

Film rights to Bass’s books have been sold to Columbia Pictures, Focus Features, the BBC, Channel 4, and other companies. His books have been named “Notable Books of the Year”

by The New York Times and translated into a half-dozen languages.

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50TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 27–29, 2019

CLASS AGENT: Tom Keating W I L L I A M M O S E L E Y writes that “2019 finds me 67, married with two girls, ages 20 and 31, in pretty good physical shape, still able to do the NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle in ink. I’m looking forward to my 50th Hotchkiss reunion in September, plan to attend with wife, Lucinda. By then I hope that my latest Rob Zombie movie, ‘3 from Hell,’ will have opened and given everyone the vapors. Is Doof still sorting the mail? And what about George Norton Stone? Don’t worry, I now know where lies the foot of the perpendicular!”

70

CLASS AGENTS: Bill Benedict, Bob Clymer,

Parky Conyngham, Mark Hinckley, Tom Randt, Jorge Rodriguez, and Will Smart DICK WARREN AND PARKY CONYNGHAM

had lunch in October. Parky said, “It was good to catch up after 47 years.”

P H I L S M Y T H writes, “It is with great sadness that I am reporting that my best friend, lifelong crush and partner for the last 12 years, Caroline Adams Phillips, died on October 30, 2018 from pancreatic cancer. R.I.P.”

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not es Thorofare region of Yellowstone. Through eight days, 65 miles, and a number of aching backs and feet, we saw one of the most remote areas in the lower 48. A memorable trip!”

KEVIN BAINES

joined classmate P E T E R and his wife, Jeannie, to explore Alaska via Peter’s Cirrus aircraft last summer.

They spent two weeks winging around the state up to the Arctic Circle and zooming around the various crags and sub-peaks of Denali (aka Mt. McKinley). While Peter and Jeannie spent a few days fishing and watching the famed bears near Brooks Lodge — chomping on salmon jumping into their mouths — Kevin obtained his seaplane rating flying a Super Cub around the glaciers near Moose Pass. Kevin also just had his first book published as the lead editor of Saturn in the 21st Century (Cambridge University Press). This graduate-level book details new discoveries about the “Ringed Planet” obtained by the Cassini mission that orbited Saturn for 13 years.

STORER

Class of 1971 from left to right: Doug Campbell, Bill Armistead, Wilkie Sawyer, Campbell Plowden, Andy Cushman, David Brigstocke, and Tom Pyle attended a memorial service for Rhett Austell, who passed away on Nov. 14, 2018.

73

CLASS AGENTS: Ned Nunes and Peter Rogers

Kevin Bains ’72 had his first book published, “Saturn in the 21st Century”.

In Sept., Sean Gorman ’72 and spouse, Alison; Kate Balderston ’07 and fiance, Paul Hildebrand, and David Balderston ’72 hiked eight days through the Thorofare region of Yellowstone.

T Y L E R H I N C K L E Y ’ 9 9 writes, “This past July, my dad, M A R K H I N C K L E Y , my old buddy, B O B W A I N W R I G H T ’ 9 9 , and I embarked on an 8-day canoe trip down the Ashuapmushuan River in northern Quebec.

We covered 80 miles and (pretty) safely navigated over 70 rapids!”

71

Cushman, Richard Dana, and Nick Moore

our classmate R H E T T

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BILL ARMISTEAD, DAVID BRIGSTOCKE, DOUG CAMPBELL, ANDY CUSHMAN, CAMPBELL PLOWDEN, TOM PYLE WILKIE SAWYER

and

attended.”

72

CLASS AGENTS: Dave Balderston and Michael Gourlay

CLASS AGENTS: Doug Campbell, Ace Crary, Andy ANDREW CUSHMAN

on Nov.14, 2018. A memorial service was held on Jan. 2 in Bryn Mawr, PA. Classmates

shares this note, “Sadly A U S T E L L passed away

M a g a z i n e

Dave Balderston writes, “In Sept., S E A N and his spouse Alison, my daughter K A T E B A L D E R S T O N ’ 0 7 and her fiancé Paul Hildebrand, and I, hiked through the

GORMAN

W I L L I A M T I F F T writes, “What a wonderful 45th reunion with a terrific turnout, although more would have been even better. Ellen and I came in the Airstream that we have spent the last two winters and springs in, traveling the country. We are taking a break this winter to enjoy our new apartment in Providence and home in Marion, Ma., but hope to do a trip to warm weather this spring.”

74 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Chip Baines, Bill Babcock, Roger Benedict, Tom Cholnoky, Bruce Dalglish, Charlie Denault, Bob Hausman, Penn Hulburd, Stephen Levien, Susan Miller Lloyd, Rick McDaniel, Chester Murray, Richard Staples, Kirk Talbott, and Jay Woodhull WILLIAM MARTIN,

retired from Cornell University, lives in Central New York near the Finger Lakes, Cayuga, and Owasco. He designs and builds various gravity-powered projects, including ram pumps, microhydro, and spectacular fountains, on large streams that run through and over his property’s deep gorges and high waterfalls. He is one of the few people on the planet who thinks a two-cup measure of murky, algae-colored water is exciting news.

William Tifft ’73 and his wife, Ellen, recently traveled the country in their Airstream.

Lisa Jenkins ’77 with former music teacher Carl Hagelin

Often observed lugging all manner of piping, chainsaws, and equipment through steep and slippery terrain, Bill is ever mindful that one false step might land him in the alumni magazine’s “former” classmates section.

75

CLASS AGENTS: Tom Davidson, Dan Dranginis,

Michael Gillis, and Larry Ross TOM HOWE

writes, “Very fun to read about students doing trout habitat work on Salmon Kill Creek – brought back fond memories of doing similar work – then pure fishing after April 15 – on the same stream in fulfillment of my spring-term athletic requirement for three years running!”

MILENA GÓMEZ KOPP

writes she is thrilled to live in Ankara, Turkey, where the government of Colombia has appointed her Chargé d ‘Affairs at its Embassy. If any Hotchkiss alumni live in Ankara, please let her know!!

76

CLASS AGENTS: Denise Arcand McClintic and

Blake Wilkes NING LI

writes, “My wife, Margaret, and I spent Christmas holidays in Queenstown, New Zealand with our children Kristine ’06, Vickie ’09, Jacqueline ’11, and Christopher ’14.

Ning Li ’76 with his wife, Margaret, and four children, all graduates of Hotchkiss: Kristine ’06, Vickie ’09, Jacqueline ’11 and Christopher ’14.

77

CLASS AGENTS: Bill Collin, Andy Luke, Chris Meledandri,

Cindy Schmidt Softy, Simon Strong, and Allison Sirkin Woolston LISA JENKINS

writes, “You never know who you’ll meet (again) along the Appalachian

Trail. Carl Hagelin was hiking, and stayed at our Mountain Home Cabin back in 2017.

It was only over breakfast, as we talked about where all the guests were from, that we realized we had both been part of the Hotchkiss community at the same time, roughly ’74-’77. Carl was a music teacher W i n t e r

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not es A Fisherwoman at Heart,

Sarah Austell Cart ’77 Does Her Part to Help Save Bonefish in the Florida Keys

BY SARAH AUSTELL CART ’77

T

wo years ago, I was invited to join the board of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT), a nonprofit founded in 1997 by a group of fishermen curious about why the bonefish population in the Florida Keys was declining so dramatically.

Catching “bones” is a thrill. The “gray ghosts,” as they’re often called, live in beautiful, warm places and are notoriously skittish. They are frustratingly particular about what they’ll bite, and surprisingly strong. When a bonefish takes your fly, your reel sings.

In the beginning, no one had answers about where Florida bones were disappearing to, or why. Bonefish hadn’t been studied formally. Neither had tarpon, or permit, despite all three species being long-time mainstays of tourist economies throughout the tropics.

Why should anyone besides anglers care? Think: Canary in the mine. Issues with agriculture and water management, changes in salinity, toxic discharges, algal blooms, climate change. In Florida, concern was mounting about damaging discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the coastal estuaries; the lack of clean, fresh water flowing to Everglades National Park, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys; and the quality of the drinking water. When whole ecosystems begin to fail, as they were doing in South Florida, economies and communities fall apart. But there was no science to bring to the fight, until BTT. BTT’s mission is to conserve and restore bonefish, tarpon, and permit fisheries and habitats through research, stewardship, education, and advocacy. Forbes has dubbed it “The Little Conservation Engine That Could.” And BTT’s science is proving that gamefish of the flats are international creatures. Its genetics studies show connectivity of bonefish populations not only from one side of Florida to the other, but also from Mexico to Belize, Cuba, and the Bahamas.

Twenty years on, BTT has worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to adjust regulations and protect fisheries, assisted the Bahamian government in the creation of National Parks to protect critical bonefish spawning locations from development, and collaborated with scientific institutions from the U.S. and abroad on fisheries research. It has launched public awareness campaigns to educate people about issues facing fisheries and partnered with agencies at the national and international level to improve conservation regulations.

So, what am I, an English major who proactively avoided taking science courses in high school and college, doing on the team?

First, some background: I grew up in the Hudson Valley and enrolled as a lower mid at Hotchkiss in the fall of 1974, having already taken biology. Thus, I managed to graduate without ever taking a science class in Lakeville.

Sarah Austell Cart with a fishing guide and a bonefish

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I often ate lunch with Art Eddy, despite never having him as a math instructor. We talked about music and books and the outdoors. One day, I mentioned a family friend’s cabin on the Neversink, and he started talking about fly fishing. It amazes me now to admit I had never heard of such a thing. I knew how to fish and cut bait and put a worm on a hook, but wasn’t really a fan. Yet I remember Mr. Eddy’s enthusiasm as he described how fly line is hollow so it will float, and the flies are made of feathers, and you have to learn to read the water and figure out what the fish are eating if you want to catch them.

The conversation stayed with me and held me in good stead when, years later, I got engaged to a guy who’d been fly fishing his entire life.

As an engagement gift, his mother presented me with a fly rod and reel and a note that said: “Learn how to use these; I’ve found they are a good form of marriage insurance in this family.”

After we got married, we moved to Oklahoma (I’d never imagined I’d live anywhere west of the Hudson). Later, we landed in Youngstown, Ohio, where the rise (and fall) of the American steel industry (19001977) had not treated the environment kindly. Although we lived halfway between Lake Erie and the Ohio River, I desperately missed the magnificent westward view of the Palisades and the Tappan Zee and Haverstraw that had been a daily part of my childhood, and came to realize that I have a visceral need to be near or on living water.

My husband started booking fishing trips whenever and wherever possible, and if I needed to hold a rod, in the hot sun or the pouring rain or while mosquitoes feasted on me, in order to be near the water, then that’s what I would do.

My fishing education started with fresh water trout, then salmon; eventually, my experience expanded to include salt and I began to learn a little about the science, and “catch and release,” keeping the fish wet, and better ways to ensure the health of the fish population into the future.

Meanwhile, our four sons were mastering the art of fly-casting, and career-wise, I was writing and editing. When we bought a place in the Florida Keys, I began donating those skills to an annual charity auction, drafting articles and helping put together the catalog. In that process, I was working with a lot of BTT board members, who invited me to join their cause.

Using my English degree from Williams, I help the marketing team broaden its appeal — not just to fly fishing types, but also to spin casters, and birders and boaters, and anyone who loves being on or near living water, to grow the organization and further the cause.

As for my mother-in-law’s advice about “marriage insurance”? She was right.

at that time, and I was a student, but we couldn’t remember any common activities, except perhaps Sunday evenings listening to classical music at the Demarays. Nevertheless, we took a quick trip down memory lane, remembering many of the wonderful people we both knew. Hotchkiss folks can show up anywhere, even in Front Royal, VA!”

78

CLASS AGENTS: Phil Baldwin, Sally Gilliland, Doug

Landau, and Chris Simonds

79 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Lisa Cholnoky, Barr Flinn,

and Seth Krosner

80

CLASS AGENTS: Wendy Tanner Bermingham, Bill

Boscow, Mike Collette, Erik Gaull, Jennifer Mugler Peterson, Tom Philip, and Wendy Weil Rush

81

CLASS AGENTS: Sheila Ball Burkert, Gib Carey,

Bill Gates, Ellis Ketcham Johnson, Becky Stebbins, and Bill Tyree

Joe Elmlinger ’81 with his son, Teddy, in front of The Treasury in Petra, Jordan.

S A R A H A RYA N P U R B U R G E S S W R I T E S , “Still having fun living in Spain, but have moved to Paseo del Parque 146, Sotogrande, Cadiz, 11310, Spain. Please drop in if you are passing by.”

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not es N A D E R T E H R A N I is the inaugural Paul Helmle Fellow at California Polytechnic State University Pomona’s Department of Architecture. Tehrani’s project for The University of Toronto, The Daniels Building, has been named as Architect’s Newspaper finalist for 2018 Building of the Year, as well as winner of the 2018 Best Education Building.

Tehrani hosted three remarkable lecturers at The Cooper Union in New York this past semester: Henry Cobb, FAIA; Hashim Sarkis, Dean, SA+P, MIT; and Cecil Balmond, OBE. S A N D Y G O O D M A N writes, “After spending a few weeks in Sub-Saharan Africa visiting Investment Partners and borrowers, my son, Logan, met me in Tanzania and we summited Kilimanjaro together on 10/28/18... A truly amazing experience! #RoofOfAfrica #19341feet #BucketList”

82

CLASS AGENTS: Ally Bulley, Lisa Chandler,

Sandy Goodman ’81 and his son, Logan, summited Kilimanjaro together last October.

Rich D’Albert, and Nao Matsukata RENA LONGSTRETH HEDEMAN

writes: ”My husband and I were in Czech Republic last summer and had dinner with Rick Hedeman (Physics Instructor ’87-’93), A LY S S A K O L O W R A T ’ 8 4 , and her brother, H A R R Y K O L O W R A T ’ 8 2 . They were both good friends of mine at Hotchkiss, but I had been out of touch with them for many years since they both happen to live in Prague and neither is on social media. Thanks to the Hotchkiss Alumnet, I was able to find Alyssa’s email address. We got back in touch, and then we all met up for dinner and caught up on the past 30 years or so.

Social media and email are great, but absolutely nothing compares to the real thing!”

83

CLASS AGENTS: Andrew Carey, Nikki Williams

Dietrich, Randall Mays, Matt Meade, and Mary Goodman

84 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Charlotte Cudlip Bartol, Marita Bell Fairbanks, Matt Hurlock, Larry Pratt, Gwyn Williams, and Stephanie Bowling Zeigler M A R I TA B E L L FA I R B A N K S

was in New York recently from Houston and caught up with

ELIZA GINN FOULKE, CHARLOTTE CUDLIP B A R T O L , F R A N F O G E L M A N H Y D E , LY N D A

Dan Jones ’82 and David Wu ’82 met in Hong Kong for dim sum.

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PACKARD, LESLIE RAMOSER RYLEE, M AT T H E W H U R L O C K .

She also ran into

and

’85 Classmates, left to right, David Wysher, John Mead, and Art Gibb, met when Mead delivered the 2018 Augur Lecture in Science last October.

J A M E S S T A N L E Y while visiting Choate.

While she still misses New England, Houston weather is lovely this time of year, so she invites you to come visit!

85

CLASS AGENTS: Paul Poggi and David Wyshner

86

CLASS AGENTS: Justin Abelow, Miriam Gelber

Jennifer Appleyard Martin ’88, pictured with her husband, Ansley, won the President’s Award from the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys

capital markets company focused on helping small businesses grow. I will also be teaching entrepreneurism at the College of Charleston in the Spring.”

M E G K O N K E L writes, “It was such a treat to see Maddie Bodkin Rice ’89 on her trip through Montana (part of their epic 50-state adventure) last summer! From neighbors in Buehler to friends now - such fun.”

Beveridge, Weijen Chang, Derek Dietrich, Andrew Gale, Alison Ambach Illick, Kurt Liebich, Becky Markus McIntosh, Cece Luthi Powell, and Nian Lee Wilder

89

87

CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Liza Reeder Carey, Elie Smith Deu, Alice Gouge, Katy Anderson Gray, Matt Lenehan, Holbrook Newman, Colin Pennycooke, Jon Prather, Rue Richey, Jared Sprole, Lisi Miller Vincent, Sarah Virden, and Clara Rankin Williams

CLASS AGENTS: Daphne Murray Butler, Deborah Hordon,

Hilary Deckoff Langworthy, Paul Mutter, Susan Green Roberson, Ray Strong, and Jeff Williamson

88

CLASS AGENTS: Katie Allen Berlandi, Tom Davidson,

Mark Geall, Jen Appleyard Martin, Steve Newman, Matt Poggi, and John Tortorella J E N N I F E R A P P L E YA R D M A RT I N

won the President’s Award from the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys on Dec. 5, 2018, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Amherst Drug Lab litigation.

J E F F E R Y H U D S O N writes, “We have moved the family to Charleston, SC, and I am helping to launch a new financial technology/

Meg Thomas Konkel ’88 met up with Maddie Bodkin Rice ’89 on her trip through Montana last summer.

G E O R G E G O V I G N O N reports he successfully defended his municipal client and obtained a national precedent-setting constitutional ruling from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on the application of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses for criminal bond and bail rights concerning defendants claiming to be indigent.

NICHOLE PHILLIPS

writes, “If fellow Bearcats are looking for insightful and critical analysis of issues affecting today’s American public that reside at the intersection of religion, politics, race, the state, and U.S. populism – look no further! Baylor University

Nichole Phillips ’89’s new book W i n t e r

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not es Press has published my book, Patriotism Black and White: The Color of American Exceptionalism. It promises to spark interest and be the center of great conversation! I welcome classmates to order the book from Baylor University Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online book outlets.

As well, I have contributed a chapter to a recently published collection, Revives My Soul Again: The Spirituality of Martin Luther King Jr., which commemorates the 50th-year anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (2018). My book chapter explains the ways in which King Jr.’s spirituality animated his delivery of ‘I have a dream’ and inspired his rearticulation of American national identity at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Otherwise, life is good and plenty here at Emory University, as I await the school’s tenure and promotion decision and while I continue to deliver curricula and courses that strive to contribute to the deeplyheld thoughts and active engagement of future academics, (lay and ordained) ministers, as well as religious and not-for-profit leaders.”

ELIE SMITH DÉU

reports, “I am excited to announce that I have been awarded a fellowship to the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership’s 2019 Heads of Schools program at Teachers College. This distinguished honor, established in 1991, is granted to just 20 heads of schools annually.

The 2019 cohort includes heads from across the United States in addition to participants from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Thailand.

We will gather together at the Columbia University campus for intensive study to examine educational issues facing independent and international schools. I am grateful for the opportunity for focused professional enrichment, renewal, and reflection.”

WILL PRICE

writes, “Caroline and I look forward to our 30th. Wow. We’ve been in Bozeman since 2014 and love living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Jack is 18 and Luke is 16. Jack is taking a gap year to work on two Netflix shows and is developing into quite the film, photography, and drone expert.

He plans to attend film school. Luke spent a school year in Bariloche, Patagonia and came home fluent and full of Argentine adventure stories. Caroline is teaching Spanish and very active in the community. I’m working in venture capital and investing in innovation here in Montana and across the Rocky Mountain West. All four of us enjoy all the outdoor fun possible here in Big Sky country.”

90

CLASS AGENTS: Jasen Adams, Kate McCleary,

Chip Quarrier, and Derek Rogers MICHAEL DELA CRUZ

writes: “I live in Menlo Park, CA with my wife, Vanessa and 3 kids – Mateo, Mary Grace, and Leo. I recently joined Directly, which helps brands improve customer experience, as chief business officer.

I’ve also been studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and continue to volunteer at local nonprofits.”

K AT H L E E N E A S T L A N D M AT TA C O L A

and her husband, Carl, are relocating from Lexington, KY to Greensboro, NC this spring. Carl has accepted the position of dean of the School of Health and Human Sciences at UNCGreensboro. She writes, “Please let us know if you are in the area!”

91

CLASS AGENTS: John Bourdeaux, Alison Wille Harris,

Alexis Bryant La Broi, Karriem Lateef, Cari Berlage Lodge, Marnie Virden McNany, Clarke Miller, Nicole Morrison, Philip Pillsbury, Tom Seidenstein, and Marcy Denault Wemple DOUG LANDAU ’78

submitted this note: M.D., Ph.D. has returned to his alma mater, Columbia University Medical School, where he has taken the positions of Weinberg Family Associate Professor of Neurology (in Orthopedics) and Director, Movement Recovery Laboratory and Scientific Director, Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center.

Jason is a child neurologist and motor system neuroscientist interested in central nervous system injury and repair. He studies brain control of movement, both in healthy subjects and after injury. Using a combination of anatomy, physiology (brain mapping), and behavior, he has been able to identify the brain circuits that adapt to developmental brain injury.

JASON B. CARMEL,

92

CLASS AGENTS: Emmett Berg, Sarah Duxbury

Chin, Philip Gale, Norm Hetrick, Aaron Oberman, Allison Pell, and Elizabeth Newman Smyth

In January, J E N N I F E R B R O W N , professor and chair of English and world literatures at Marymount Manhattan College in New York, published a new book reflecting nearly a decade of research: Fruit of the Orchard: Reading Catherine of Siena in Late Medieval and Early Modern England (University of Toronto Press).

A L I C E G O U G E is a proud aunt again. Liam Moore arrived in December and his sister, Fiona, turned four in February. She writes, “I’ll be visiting them in New York, but I’m still living in Maine. I moved to Yarmouth, which is a quick trip to Portland if anyone is passing through or a newly relocated/transplant. It would be great to meet up with other downhill skiers, since there’s great snow at Sugarloaf. I’m looking forward to our reunion in June.”

In Nov., Bearcats gathered at the Criquet Shirt headquarters in Austin, TX. They were hosted by Criquet co-founders Billy Nachman ’93 and Hobson Brown ’93.

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93

Alessandra Nicolas ’95 and Christopher Glover announce the birth of their son, Bronson Christopher Glover, in December.

CLASS AGENTS: Dre Alicea, Brendan Behlke,

Ellie Peters Bergquist, Rafe Carbonell, Amanda Carlson, Laura D’Anca, Jenn Feeley Hyzer, Kara Marchant Hooper, Erica Johnson, Maureen Marsh, and Pepper Riley

In Nov., Bearcats gathered at the Criquet Shirt headquarters in Austin, TX. They were hosted

by Criquet co-founders B I L LY N A C H M A N and HOBSON BROWN.

94 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Deirdre Morton Carr, Athena Desai, Margaretta Robertson Hershey, Elisabeth Krebs, Amy Liu, Jenny Han McCambridge, Robin Meyersiek, Colm Singleton, and Rob Witherwax S A R A H K A T E L E V Y writes, “I am excited to announce that I am running for Los Angeles City Council. More info about the campaign can be found at my website, www. sarahkatelevy.com.”

B R E N D A N D E M E L L E married Christine Ottery on Dec.15, 2018, in Seattle. They spent quality time with S T E P H E N S E Y M O U R in London last year while waiting on Christine’s visa to move from the UK. Brendan also caught a Mariners baseball game with S T E V E N T U R N E R last summer. Brendan looks forward to performing at reunion this summer as “Noodie With Weapons” dusts off their instruments after 25 years, including B R O O K S W I T T E R , AT H E N A D E S A I , M A R K A L LY N , T Y L E R L I F T O N , E A N B R I E R E ’ 9 5 , B RYA N G R I E S E M E R ’ 9 5 ,

Laura Bello Okerman ’95 is the co-founder and creative director of SISU, a quarterly print magazine dedicated to telling untold stories of the outdoors in the style of an art and literary journal.

Ashley Wisneski ’96 and husband, Will Heward, welcomed daughter, Josephine Hudson Heward, on July 28, 2018, in Boston, MA.

and their manager,

CARLOS CALLEJA.

95

CLASS AGENTS: Mo Cronin, Liam Dohn, Deirdre Hughes,

Alessandra Nicolas, Ethan Oberman, Kathleen Donnelly Renouf, Tom Terbell, and Andy Torrant LAUREN BELLO OKERMAN

writes, “Just wanted to share the debut of SISU (www. sisumagazine.com), a quarterly print magazine telling the untold stories of the outdoors. In the style of an art and literary journal, SISU creates a new platform for outdoor-loving women, LGBTQ+, People of Color, and other underrepresented humans to present their own stories and content. I am the creative director and co-founder, and have created this new publication on the back of our first venture, Coalition Snow, www.coalitionsnow.com, the world’s first (and only) ski and snowboard

From left to right, 1996 classmates: Meg Jackson Franco, Rachel Hull Feferman, Raj Maheshwari Bolson, and Rachel Phillips got together in Willamette Valley, OR, to celebrate turning 40 together!

Laughs, beautiful scenery, and great wine made for a memorable weekend.

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Lulu Henderson ’97 and her husband, Clay Ackerly, welcomed their first child, Stewart Fox Ackerly, on Nov. 20, 2018.

company for women (by women), where we realized a need for more diverse and independent media in the outdoor industry. Really would love to share this with my fellow alumni! Will be featuring V I C T O R I A P L A S S E ( T I B B Y ) ’ 9 7 in our second issue, coming out in March!”

A L E S S A N D R A H . N I C O L A S and her husband, Christopher A. Glover, announce the birth of their first child, Bronson Christopher Glover on Dec. 12, 2018.

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CLASS AGENTS: Will Copenhaver, Carolina Espinal

de Carulla, Janie Fleming Fransson, Sarah Hall, Biz Morris, Paul Nitze, Matt Oberman, Javier Rodriguez, Adam Sharp, Wade Tornyos, and Will Woodbridge ASHLEY WISNESKI

and husband, Will Heward, welcomed their daughter, Josephine Hudson Heward, on July 28, 2018, in Boston, MA. RAJ MAHESHWARI BOLSON, MEG JACKSON FRANCO, RACHEL PHILLIPS,

and R A C H E L H U L L F E F E R M A N got together in Willamette Valley, Oregon, to celebrate turning 40 together! Laughs, beautiful scenery, and great wine made for a memorable weekend.

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Bob Wainwright ’99, Mark Hinckley ’70, and Tyler Hinckley ’99 on an eightday canoe trip down the Ashuapmushuan River in northern Quebec.

CLASS AGENTS: Tim Donza, Casey Copenhaver Fraise,

Rob Hill, Bill Lane, Keltie Donelan McDonald, James Moorhead, Kim Mimnaugh Sillman, John Stewart, and Kate Allen Tholking L U L U H E N D E R S O N and her husband, Clay Ackerly, welcomed their first child, Stewart Fox Ackerly, on Nov. 20, 2018. Lulu writes, “We came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, so it was a holiday to remember! Fox was welcomed with open paws and excitement by our two black labs, 13.5-year-old, Mbili, and 10-month-old, Roux. Though he’s the smallest member of the pack, he has already begun to rule the roost here at our home in Washington, D.C.!”

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CLASS AGENTS: Ryan Constantine, Sarah Helming, Chris

Looney, Emily Pressman, and Kate Calise Strotmeyer

99

Vivienne Ho ’99 and classmate Alison McAnneny Shore traveled to Japan in October, where they visited Osaka, Kyoto, Kamakura, and Tokyo.

CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Megan Youngling Carannante, Clare Dooley Evans, Steve Hulce, Allie Ray McDonald, Jesse Minneman, Brett Nowak, Alison McAnneny Shore, and Susannah Vincent Toy

Ashuapmushuan River in northern Quebec. We covered 80 miles and (pretty) safely navigated over 70 rapids!”

T Y L E R H I N C K L E Y writes, “This past July, my dad, M A R K H I N C K L E Y ’ 7 0 , my old buddy, B O B W A I N W R I G H T ’ 9 9 , and I embarked on an 8-day canoe trip down the

VIVIENNE HO

and A L I S O N M C A N N E N Y travelled to Japan in October, where they visited Osaka, Kyoto, Kamakura, and Tokyo.

SHORE

00

at festivals in 2019, beginning with the San Francisco Independent Film Festival.

Matt Grossnickle, Susan Harrison, Michael Sachs, Camille Spear-Gabel, Dan Spencer, and John Weiss

01

CLASS AGENTS: Kate Kramer Azzouz, Patrick Endress,

JULIE SHARBUTT,

now living in Los Angeles, recently finished a 2017-18 Artist fellowship in Time Warner’s OneFifty New Storytellers Initiative. Her horror-comedy film 3 DAYS, which she wrote and directed, will premiere

Julie Sharbutt ’00’s film 3 Days will premiere at festivals this year.

CLASS AGENTS: Jonathan Hill, Andrew Kryzak, Casey

Reid, Peter Scala, Rebekah Sprole, and Nate Thorne

Double Belgian, a feature film co-written and directed by G R A H A M W I N F R E Y , had its film festival premiere at NewFilmmakers New York on Jan. 2, 2019. A comedy about two friends starting a microbrewery, the movie screened at Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan. Class of 2001 members C U S H I N G D O N E L A N and C H R I S E I N H O R N attended the screening.

Since moving to L.A., D A N S M A R G has founded a B2B mobile app/tech company called FotoGenie that specializes in creating organically branded images for digital marketing campaigns. He writes, “That work has lead me to work with a number of businesses as well as non-profits, namely Chrysalis, which helps solve homelessness in L.A. and Saving Innocence, which rescues child victims of sex trafficking in L.A. He also became a member of Rotary International. He founded the first digital marketing committee for the Rotary Club of Santa Monica, aimed at creating a national marketing model for recruiting new business leaders as members. Smarg was recognized for his service with the Herb Spurgin Award.

What’s Going On in Your Life?

Submit a class note and photos to magazine@hotchkiss.org

by May 1 for the Summer issue.

Stay Connected to Hotchkiss and friends.

www.hotchkiss.org Dan Smarg ’01 was recently recognized for his service with the Herb Spurgin Award as an outstanding member in the first year of membership in Rotary International.

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not es Cara Seabury Radzins ’04 and her husband, Dave Radzins, welcomed a daughter, Brianna Christine Radzins, on Sept. 27, 2018. Brianna joins her big brother, Nathan, 2.

Double Belgian, a feature film co-written and directed by Graham Winfrey ’01, had its film festival premiere at NewFilmmakers New York on Jan. 2, 2019.

04 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Matt Boller, Lindsey Bruett, Mike Cacchio, Christina Claudio, Conor Cook, Trip Cowin, Brian Fenty, Meg Miller Flanagan, Will Holliday, Vicky Pool Holm, Jay Mills, Rowan Morris, and Cara Seabury Radzins J AY V E R R I L L

recently married Sarah Elisabeth Sims of Canton, GA, on Sept. 8, 2018, at Houston’s First Baptist Church, with reception at Houston’s River Oaks Garden Club. Fellow bearcat J A S O N E D G E W O R T H was in attendance.

W I L L I A M P O L K H O L L I D AY

and his wife, Margaret Ann Holliday, happily announce the birth their son, James Polk Holliday, born on June 6, 2018.

Laura Zwiener Murphy ’04 and her husband, Skip Murphy welcomed their son Wyatt Burr Murphy in September.

Nadia Szold ’03 and husband, Steven Prince, announced the birth of their son, Sydney Jerome Prince, on Oct. 20, 2018.

03

CLASS AGENTS: Alex Bierce, Megan Denault, James

02

CLASS AGENTS: Kyle Boynton, Courtney Quick Burdette,

Emily Bohan Hyland, Molly Shanley Labella, Sarah Armstrong Moffet, and Beth Schmidt

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Eberhart, Lauren Gold, Caroline LaMotte, Christina Bechhold Russ, Lindsay Failing Sinex, and Stephanie Xethalis Stamas NADIA SZOLD

and husband, Steven Prince, announced the birth of their son, Sydney Jerome Prince, on Oct. 20, 2018.

LAURA ZWIENER MURPHY

and her husband, Skip Murphy, were thrilled to welcome a son, Wyatt Burr Murphy, on Sept. 5, 2018. They are looking forward to him being a future Bearcat in the Class of 2036!

G R E G H A M M O N D and his wife, Taylor Hanlon, were married on Oct. 20, 2018, at The Everglades Club in Palm Beach, FL. Fellow Hotchkiss alumni in attendance were MIKE HAMMOND ’03, HUGH EDEN, ROWAN MORRIS,

and

PETER PRITCHARD.

Greg Hammond ’04 and his wife, Taylor Hanlon, were married on Oct. 20, 2018, at The Everglades Club in Palm Beach, FL.

Jay Verrill ’04 married Sarah Elisabeth Sims of Canton, GA, on Saturday, Sept. 8th, 2018, at Houston’s First Baptist Church with reception at Houston’s River Oaks Garden Club. Fellow classmate Jason Edgeworth was in attendance.

C A R A S E A B U R Y R A D Z I N S and her husband, Dave Radzins, welcomed a daughter, Brianna Christine Radzins, on Sept. 27, 2018. Brianna joins her big brother, Nathan, 2.

05

CLASS AGENTS: Jess Buicko, Jessica Chu, Matt

Douglas, Matt Himler, Isabelle Kenyon, Stephanie Korey, Andrew Langer, Doug McPherson, Lilly Haberl Nannes, Jon Terbell, James Thaler, and Madison West

06

CLASS AGENTS: Misha Belikov, Henry Blackford, Adam

Casella, Krishna Delahunty Nirmel, Lizzie Edelman, Anna Simonds Glennon, David Keating, Nika Lescott, Lindsay Luke, Daniel Nassar, and Haley Cook Sonneland FA I T H E . B R I G G S

produced a short documentary film called Brotherhood of Skiing with Wild Confluence Media and The Wilder Studio. The film shares the history and legacy of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, a historically black ski organization founded in 1973. The film premiered at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in November 2018 and is currently on the world tour. To see if it’s coming to your city, check the tour schedule here: https://www.banffcentre.ca/ banffmountainfestival/tour

Scott Clifford ’05 married Chelsea Laverack in East Hampton, NY on June 16, 2018. Bearcats in attendance from left to right: Jon Terbell ’05, Court Hoover ’05, Ramsay Stabler ’73, Dana Clifford ’03, Andrew Langer ’05, Scott Clifford ’05, Greg Gartin ’05, Anna Simonds Glennon ’06, Michael Glennon ’05, Cameron Cooper ’05, Carl Murray ’05, and Christina Chase Simonds P’06. Not pictured: PJ Hance ’05

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Holiday dinner at the Manhattan home of Joey Rault ’06. From L to R back: Oliver Martineau ’06, Sammy Nick Darsie ’06, Tori Pierce Shaub ’06, Misha Belikov ’06, Krishna Delahunty Nirmel ’06, Joey Rault ’06, Welles Borie ’06, Front: Chloe LaBranche ’07, Hester Hodde ’06, Chase Delano ’07

2007 classmates: Yannick Pilgrim, Charlotte Powley, and Crystal Clarke together in Costa Rica in December 2018.

Bearcats from ’07 gathered In Palm Beach, FL at the home of Spencer Price’s family. From left to right: Fentress Boyse ( New York), Marshall Johnson ( Connecticut), Alex Rogers ( Dallas), Mark Allen ( New Orleans), Spencer Price ( Detroit), and Nate Everett (Boston).

07

CLASS AGENTS: Abel Acuna, Kate Balderston, Dana

Bohan, Ellie Edelman, Caroline Emch, Andrew Irving, Alex Korey, Liz Krane, Bart Marchant, Alex Rogers, and TT Sitterley K AT E B A L D E R S T O N

C H A R L O T T E P O W L E Y, C R Y S T A L C L A R K E , A N D YA N N I C K P I L G R I M

were together in Costa Rica in December 2018.

hiked through the Thorofare region of Yellowstone with her fiance Paul Hildebrand; her father, D A V E

08

BALDERSTON ’72, P’07,’12,’14, SEAN

Alex Douglas, Aleca Hughes, Taylor Kenyon, Lizzie Langer, Clark Maturo, Greg Maxson, Emily Myerson, and Molly Reed

GORMAN ’72,

and Sean’s wife, Alison. It was an eight-day, 65-mile hike, and they saw one of the most remote areas in the lower 48. A memorable trip!

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Battalion Surgeon Dr. Zachary Landau, LT MC USN, 1st Battalion, 3d Marines, 3D Marine Regiment, MCBH Kaneohe Bay ’06, his cousin, Dr. Jason Carmel, MD, PhD ’91 and Doug Landau ’78, P’06 were in New York City. The Landau and Carmel families gathered at the Lowe Library to honor Zach’s Aunt, Lisa Landau Carnoy, who received the Hamilton Prize, Columbia University’s highest award.

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CLASS AGENTS: Dana Brisbane, Alexandra Burchfield,

Bearcat alumni and faculty alike gathered on Martha’s Vineyard, MA for the wedding of

A L E C A H U G H E S to Tyler McPherson on June 2, 2018 at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club.

09 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Natalie Boyse, Cameron Hough, Annie Keating, Kevin Powers, Henry Ross, and Sarah Scott CAKEY WORTHINGTON

reports, “We celebrated a beautiful fall Asheville wedding!

Bearcats in attendance included: Leif Asgeirsson,

Bearcat Alumni and Faculty alike gathered on Martha’s Vineyard, MA for the wedding of Aleca Hughes ’08 to Tyler McPherson on June 2, 2018 at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club. Top row, left to right: John Cooper P’08,’11, Amanda Bohnsack ’98, Samantha Sandler ’13, Tyler McPherson, Heidi Peterson ’08, Robin Chandler ’87, Corey Cooper ’08, Christy Cooper P’08,’11; Front row: Amanda Brusca ’08, Alex Kinney ’09, Heather Marrison ’09, Aleca Hughes ’08, Alexandra Burchfield ’08, Dana Brisbane ’08, Spencer Willis ’11.

Charlotte Dillon Ross ’10 was selected 2019 Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ as a Venture Capital honoree.

Cakey Worthington ’09 celebrated an Asheville wedding! From left to right: Leif Asgeirsson, husband of Gersande La Fleche ’09, Cakey Worthington ’09 (bride), Mark Nesbitt (groom), Delaney Osborn ’09, Dr. Emily French ’09 (maid of honor) and fiancé, Dr. Chris Smith.

2012 classmates at Fred Frank’s holiday party. From left to right: Gerald Logan, Fred Frank, Johnny Luke, Nick Piccone, Parker Rawlings, Charlie Hough, Corey Hucker, Kersey Reed, Cortland Moore, Stephen Langer, Rob Kirk, Robbie Gardiner, and Brooks Courtney.

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Erika Hairston ’14 Helps People of Color Find Mentors in Their Career

BY KRISTEN SHIPLEY

E

This article was originally published on wogrammer and is reprinted with permission.

rika Hairston grew up playing video games like Dance Dance Revolution and Need for Speed with her older brother, which sparked her interest in learning

more about tech.

When a high school research project led her to a documentary produced by Stanford University, entitled She++, about the lack of women in tech, Erika knew she wanted to change that reality. She took her first Computer Science class in college and hated it.

Instead of being discouraged, she remembered the documentary, which prefaced that computer science wouldn’t always be easy, but it would be worth it.

“It is important for me not to be the only one,” said Erika. “Working in tech is impactful beyond yourself.”

The New Jersey native graduated from Yale University with a degree in Computer Science and African American Studies in Spring 2018.

She admits that though she sometimes felt like she didn’t belong, she utilized her resources, taking advantage of tutoring and office hours, and surrounded herself with positive people.

“It’s easy to get intimidated by classmates who have been coding forever, but overcoming fear and imposter syndrome is probably one of the hardest things,” said Erika. “I would argue that no one truly overcomes it completely, but learning how to deal with it and finding resources to build confidence is important.”

During her senior year, her passions for tech and social impact converged as she began working on her senior thesis. Her project

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husband of G E R S A N D E L A F L E C H E , C A K E Y (bride), Mark Nesbitt (groom), D E L A N E Y O S B O R N , E M I LY F R E N C H (maid of honor), and fiancé, Chris Smith.

WORTHINGTON

10 focused on her inspiration to pursue tech and why there aren’t many minorities, especially Black women, in the field today.

In her research, she created an app to help people of color find role models in different career paths. The name of the app is Zimela, which means “representation” in isiXhosa, one of South Africa’s official languages that was highlighted in the Marvel blockbuster movie “Black Panther.” Erika recognizes the importance of seeing people that look like you in the roles that you aspire to hold.

This summer, Erika was accepted to the TSAI Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale Fellowship, an 8-week incubator for new companies and nonprofits.

Throughout this process, she worked with mentors to develop Zimela and gained resources to accelerate the process.

“Truly the stars have aligned in development,” said Erika. “To say I’m doing it now is scary, but Zimela was born out of my senior thesis.”

Throughout college, she interned in engineering at top companies like HBO and Facebook as a Software Engineer and LinkedIn as a Product Manager. She created code that reached millions of people and met a few CEOs and CTOs (Chief Technical Officers).

“I got to talk to the CEO of LinkedIn and tell him I want to run my own tech company one day,” said Erika, which she wrote about on LinkedIn, where she will return this fall as an Associate Product Manager.

Embodying the spirit of Zimela, Erika wants others to learn and apply tech skills. During her freshman year at Yale, she co-founded an organization called SheCode. Partnering with the Yale Pathways to Science program for middle and high schoolers, the organization taught over 200 girls computer science skills, including participation in hackathons.

“The thing I am most proud of is teaching people tech,” said Erika.

During the summer of 2018, Erika mentored and taught coding to girls in Accra, Ghana through a program called Girls Trip started by Eyitemi Popo, creator of the magazine Ayiba.

“We taught the girls game design and development through the company LetiArts,” said Erika.

Then, while traveling in Europe, she discovered an opportunity to teach web development to employees at the fashion startup Yoox in Milan.

“I love watching people’s faces when they run a line of code for the first time.”

The tech industry boasts the motto: Fail fast and break things. However, Erika recognizes the tension between that motto and wanting to make everything perfect.

“People of color grow up with this psyche of you have to be perfect; you have to work twice as hard,” said Erika… “This is a hard mentality to break.”

One thing that stuck with her is something she heard from a close friend in Silicon Valley: “One of the reasons why there hasn’t been a Black Zuckerberg is because (among other reasons) there are not enough people trying.”

CLASS AGENTS: Pierson Fowler, Heather Krieger,

Teddy Mackenzie, Shintaro Matsui, and Charlotte Dillon Ross A N N A S A LT Z M A N moved to Shenzhen, China in August 2018 after completing her Master’s degree in east Asian Studies at Georgetown.

She is currently teaching English and hoping to improve her fluency in Mandarin. She plans to travel throughout the region as much as possible.”

C H A R L O T T E D I L L O N R O S S was selected as a 2019 Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ as a Venture Capital honoree.

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CLASS AGENTS: Will Boscow, Shannon Brathwaite,

Emmy Brigstocke, Chloe Field, Kelsie Fralick, Liza Johnson, Abby Rogers, Isabella Steyer, and Annie Wymard

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CLASS AGENTS: Dylan Alles, Jay Anderson, Whitney

Gulden, Kei Helm, Kevin Herrera, Stephen Langer, Alexa Nikolova, and Blake Ruddock F R E D F R A N K shares that on Dec. 15, 2018, he hosted his sixth annual holiday party. He writes, “Many Hotchkiss classmates were in attendance.

The event is called Gala 109, and I hope to one day turn it into a charity event. There were more than 25 alumni in attendance.”

13

CLASS AGENTS: Daniel Camilletti, Addison Haxo,

Christian Lange, Catriona Leckie, Charlotte McCary, and Noelle Wyman

14 CLASS AND REUNION AGENTS: Amro Arqoub, Emilie Bae, Sam French, Meghana Koduru, George Lampe, Isabel Reed, Eva Warren, and Kiki Warren

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Hotchkiss alumni studying at Yale met for dinner at Barcelona Wine Bar in New Haven last October.

From left to right: Kunchok Sonam ’16, Agasha Ratam ’17, Camila Toro ’16, Briggs Bulkeley ’15, Jesse Godine ’17, Canning Malkin ’17, Nicky Downs ’15, Matt Greene ’15, Madison Sprole ’15, Angela Xiao ’17, Chrissy Klingler ’16, Max Li ’17 Not pictured: Bibek Basnet ’15 and James Post ’15

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17

Maddy Dwyer, Liam Fleming, Seabelo John, Walker Jordan, Casey Kemper, Avery Klinger, Ben MacShane, Justine McCarthy Potter, Hafsa Moinuddin, Cam Pal, Jade Pinero, Olivia Ryder, Emily von Weise, and Jake Yoon

Craighead, Neil Dabholkar, Hannah Frater, Sarah Glasfeld, Allie Hubbard-Gourlay, Jelani HutchinsBelgrave, Alyssa Iferenta, Kira Johnson, Christian Kohlmeyer, Corbin Kucera, Sally Kuehn, Kanghee Lee, Canning Malkin, Fin Ong, Pallavi Pemmireddy, Aba Sam, George Sidamon-Eristoff, Katie Smith, Annabel von Weise, Arielle Warren, and Sophie Wilder

CLASS AGENTS: Konstantin Baranov, Katie Comfort,

S E A B E L O J O H N reports, “The principal of my Botswana high school has announced I am the youngest alumnus ever to sponsor a major honorary award. Last October, the very first SEABELO Award 2018 was awarded to teacher, Mr. Tsiripane, and the best class, 3F (Grade 10) at my alma mater Ngwaketse JSS in Kanye, Botswana. The award is an annual perpetual trophy awarded to a teacher and their class for collective outstanding academic performance by achieving the highest average grade. It encourages teachers to help those left behind in order to achieve collective excellence for their class.”

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CLASS AGENTS: Nicholas Bermingham, Julia Chen,

Stephanie de Lesseps, Cahleb Derry, Sumner Erbe, Normandie Essig, Kanika Gupta, Jack Kagan, Brooke Lummis, Stella McKew, Erin Mirkovic, Stephen Moon, Teni Odugbesan, Jack Patterson, Naomy Pedroza, Marco Quaroni, Jonvi Rollins, Harlan Schade, Allie Shuldman, Anne Elizabeth Sidamon-Eristoff, Sam Sitinas, Camila Toro, Turner White, and Hannah Xu

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CLASS AGENTS: Carly Berry, Aaron Casella, Cecily

Will Helm ’18 and Luke Harrington ’18 after the St. Lawrence University vs. Brown University hockey game where Harrington played. Mark Mahoney ’18 plays for the St. Lawrence University hockey team but didn’t make the photo.

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CLASS AGENTS: Ameneh Arsanjani, Frances Astorian,

Emily Ball, Nela Braun, Caleigh Burchfield, Anna Connell, Caitlin Donovan, Sally Falls, Oyinloluwa Fasehun, Nicholas Fleisher, Justin Ghaeli, Esme Govan, Kobi Greene, Isabelle Haberstock, Claire Jennings, Alya Kalra, Emma Knight, Aadi Kulkarni, Nevada Lee, Elizabeth Ostermeyer, Olivia Parsons, Tether Preston, Zayba Qamar, August Rice, Emily Rose, David Schwartz, Samuel Suslavich, Harry Tower Jr., Yang Wang, Zixian Wang, Saylor Willauer, Henry Wilmot, Charlotte Wirth, and Qinzhuo Zhang

Along with three peers at the New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business, A L E J A N D R O J . S A R M I E N T O , COO, and C O L L I N S O . O G H O O R E J R . , CFO, have been advanced to the semi-finals of the $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge, hosted by the W.R. Berkley Innovation Labs.

The group collectively represent Communify, a startup which aims to ameliorate the consequences of globalization on small-scale,

Nicky Downs ’15 has signed a contract to play for the newly created Hartford Athletic soccer club of the United Soccer League. Downs is pictured with Hartford Athletic coach Jimmy Nielsen.

Along with three peers at the New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Alejandro J. Sarmiento ’18 and Collins O. Oghoore Jr. ’18 have been advanced to the semifinals of the $300k Entrepreneurs Challenge, hosted by the W.R. Berkley Innovation Labs.

local economies. The competition is “one of the largest and most innovative accelerator programs and startup competitions in the world,” and is open to students, faculty, alumni, and researchers affiliated with NYU. The competition consists of three distinct categories: new venture, social venture, and tech venture. Each team competes within their respective category, with a total of $300,000 in cash prizes split between the winners. The New Venture Competition, in which Communify is competing, is “the premier platform for identifying, nurturing and showcasing entrepreneurial talent at NYU.” The competition consists of an 8-month intensive program, through which participants compete, but are also aided (pro bono) in the formal incorporation and implementation of their new venture, taking “their ideas from concept to market.”

Amelia Smith ’18 competed in the Eastern States Exposition Center in West Springfield, MA, taking the title of 2018 Northeast Best Junior Handler of the Year.

A M E L I A S M I T H reports from Georgetown: “I began working in Mann Lab, a dolphin research lab on Georgetown’s campus that focuses on bottlenose dolphins in Monkey Mia, Australia, and in the Chesapeake Bay. Over winter break, I completed an externship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, the world’s largest non-profit veterinary hospital. Over Thanksgiving, I competed with my Border Terrier, Amazing Grace, at the Eastern States Exposition Center in West Springfield, MA., where we took the title of 2018 Northeast Best Junior Handler of the Year. Along with the title, I received a $1000 scholarship. During finals at Georgetown, I flew to Orlando to show at the AKC Royal Canin National Championship dog show for the last time as a Junior Handler. At the awards ceremony, I was presented with the title of 2018 #6 Terrier Handler in the United States.”

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Hotchkiss

in m em o ri a m 35

EDWARD “PETER” GARRETT

died peacefully on December 21, 2018 at his family’s home.

He was 101. Born in Seattle on December 7, 1917, he attended Lakeside School before enrolling at Hotchkiss in 1932, travelling crosscountry during the summers by train. After his graduation in 1935, he earned a chemistry degree from Yale in 1939, followed by a business degree from Harvard. His passion was downhill skiing, and in 1940 he was selected for the U.S. Ski Team. He served in the U.S. Navy at Naval Air Station Glenview as a flight instructor during World War II. There he met his first wife, Pandora Briggs, a volunteer in the WAVES program. After the war, the couple settled back in Seattle and began a family. Mr. Garrett also began a career in his family’s businesses, eventually assuming the leadership role of Merrill and Ring, then a third-generation timber company. In 1960, he founded Welco Lumber Company. Evolved forms of both companies are still operated by his family today. In 1989, after Pandora’s passing, he married Hope Ryan.

When they weren’t traveling, the couple split their time between Seattle and Sun Valley, Idaho. A true sportsman of the era, Mr. Garrett pursued skiing (well into his 90s), bird hunting, flying, and golf. Deeply involved in the Seattle community, he served on numerous boards. He is survived by his wife, Hope; his four daughters; a stepdaughter; four grandchildren and a stepgrandchild; and nine great-grandchildren.

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J O H N R I C H A R D “ J A C K ” PA U S

died on his 96th birthday, Nov. 24, 2018. Born in New York City, he attended Hotchkiss from 193941. He then studied mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech. in Atlanta, completing his degree in 2 ½ years, in order to join the war effort. Serving as a Lieutenant in the Navy, he utilized his mechanical engineering knowledge to run the engine room on the ships. After the war, he joined the Merchant Marines and traveled the world on cargo ships for four years. He also took flying lessons and got his pilot’s license thru the GI bill. He began work at the Union Carbide Corporation (now Dow Chemical) in Niagara Falls, NY. There he met the “love of his life,” Laila, who was visiting from Norway. They subsequently married in Norway. Working for Union Carbide for 35 years allowed him, Laila, and their four

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children to live in 10 homes, moving with his job to homes on the east coast of the United States and also in Switzerland. During his career Mr. Paus always made a point to enjoy weekends with the family in activities that included tennis, skiing, hiking, camping, and traveling, and special vacations throughout Europe. On one trip, while the family stayed in Zermatt, Switzerland, he and an Italian friend summited the Matterhorn with two climbing guides. Mr. Paus took early retirement as vice president of Union Carbide at age 60. He and Laila began their retirement in Wilton, CT, and then moved in 1995 to Bainbridge Island, WA, to rejoin children who’d moved West. Jack was preceded in death by wife Laila in 2009.

He maintained an active lifestyle, living in his home until age 94. He is survived by his four children and his grandchildren.

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J . D O N A L D S O N “ D O N ” PA X T O N ,

age 93, devoted husband of Nancy Payne Paxton, of Fairfield, CT, passed away peacefully in his home, surrounded by his family, on May 9, 2018. He was 93. Born and raised in Bridgeport, he attended Hotchkiss from 193943. After proudly serving in the U.S. Navy as a Quartermaster aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hancock in the Pacific during World War II and attending the University of Bridgeport, he began a lifelong career in banking. He was a retired vice president and branch manager for Connecticut National Bank. Accomplished in many areas, he especially enjoyed sailing, skeet and trap shooting, bird carving, and bowling.

He believed in giving back to his community and did so as a volunteer at Bridgeport Hospital, a past member of the Fairfield Rotary Club, and was a longtime blood donor. He was also a member of the Fairfield Beach Club and former member of Pequot Yacht Club. In addition to Nancy, his loving wife of 72 years, Don’s memory will be embraced by his son and three daughters, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. He cherished the time spent with his family and friends, and was especially fond of the many memories made while summer vacationing on Lake George.

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S C O T T B I R C H A R D “ S C O T T Y ” H AY E S died on September 27, 2018. The great-grandson of President Rutherford B. Hayes, he was graduated from Hotchkiss in 1944. After serving in the Navy as a radar technician aboard the S.S. Washington, he attended Yale University and graduated in 1950 – the largest graduating class in Yale history. Mr. Hayes spent the majority of his working life with Cleveland-based Pickands Mather (PM) - starting in the Mesabi Iron Ore Mines in Minnesota, moving to the Sales office in Detroit, and then settling in Cleveland in 1959. He was a sales executive with PM in Cleveland until his retirement in the early 1990s. Mr. Hayes served as President of the Union Club in downtown Cleveland and also was a member of the Tavern Club, where he became recognized as one of the best squash players in Cleveland. He was a trustee of the Ohio Historical Society. Following his retirement, he focused much of his time as president of the Board of Trustees of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio. He actually lived during his youth at the home of the 19th President at Spiegel Grove. Three of his uncles were Hotchkiss alumni, as were his brothers Webb C., Class of 1939, and Arthur, Class of 1943, both now deceased. He was the beloved husband of Dorothy and father of four sons, including Scott Jr., Class of 1971, and James, Class of 1973, and six grandchildren.

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FRANKLIN MARVIN “FRANK” GOULD

of Old Forge, NY, died on March 5, 2018. He was 90. Born on January 17, 1928, he attended Hotchkiss from 1943-45. He then earned his B.A. degree from Yale in 1948 and his M.D. degree from McGill University in 1952. His medical practice was in obstetrics and gynecology. His many interests included golf, the restoration of vintage cars, and the performing arts and film.

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O R E N TA F T P O L L O C K died peacefully at his home in Chicago on November 2, 2018.

He was 91. Born on October 19, 1927, he attended Hotchkiss from 1942-45. He earned his A.B. degree from Williams College in

1949, master’s degree from Princeton, and M.B.A. from Northwestern University. He was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. After the Navy, he worked at Sears Roebuck & Company for almost three decades, retiring in the mid1980s as an assistant treasurer. He was an active member in several academic institutions and nonprofit organizations and class agent for Williams College for more than 50 years.

In 1967, he joined the board of Lawrence Hall, becoming president and ultimately, a life trustee. He was also a member of the board of Lake Forest Academy (1969-1980) and a life trustee (1980-present). He spent 20 years volunteering at Roosevelt High School, a mentoring project through The Princeton Club of Chicago. In his spare time, he enjoyed visits with his family, adult education classes at The University of Chicago, traveling, tennis, and reading, a pastime he truly enjoyed. He was preceded in death by his wife, Anita; a son, and his sister. He is survived by his three children; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; his step-sister, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

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R I C H A R D S TA N L E Y “ D I C K ” H A L E

died at home in Orland, ME, on Oct. 5, 2018, after an adventure-filled 89 years. Born Dec. 27, 1928, in Lake Placid, NY, he spent most of his youth on the campus of Hotchkiss. He attended Hotchkiss from 1946-47, graduating in 1947. He then attended Hobart College and graduated from St. Lawrence University. He served in the U.S. Army, stationed in Tokyo.

He taught math at Hotchkiss from 195-59, was hutmaster at Tuckerman Ravine, and spent two winters at Mt. Washington Observatory.

He also worked on the ski trail crew at Aspen, as a cabinet builder in New Hampshire, and with a lawn-care business in Castine, ME. A champion ski racer during and after college, he won a number of local races and a gold medal in the 1952 National Cross Country race. A true outdoorsman, he also enjoyed kayaking, hiking, biking, and camping. He was among the founding members of Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust and worked with many environmental conservation groups. He leaves his companion of 27 years, Sharon Bray; sons Thomas and Theodore, and their mother, Judith, and many loyal ski, kayak, and hiking friends. His sister, Nancy, predeceased him.

Robert Bryan ’49, 1986 Alumni Award Winner Robert A. “Bob” Bryan ’49, pastor, pilot, author, and environmentalist, died in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, on December 12, 2018 at age 87.

Best known for his work as the founder and chairman of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment, Rev. Bryan logged thousands of miles by aircraft as Archdeacon of the North Shore (Quebec) Anglican Church of Canada in his ministry.

Born and raised in New York, he arrived at Hotchkiss as a prep in 1945, following in the footsteps of his father, James Bryan ‘11, and brothers James, Class of 1935, and William, Class of 1939. Young Bryan impressed his classmates as someone eager to serve others. He was a member of the Student Council and St. Luke’s Society, and served as secretary and treasurer of his class.

He played on varsity teams in track, football and hockey. A teacher wrote of him, “His fine qualities were at once recognized by all: absolute integrity, frankness, generosity, and courage.” After Hotchkiss, he earned a B.A. from Yale University and then a M.Div. from Yale Divinity School in 1957. After serving as an assistant at Christ Church in Cambridge, MA, he returned to the educational world as chaplain at Choate School, serving in that capacity from 1959-1967.

In 1954, he took a canoe trip to northern Quebec and was moved by the wild beauty of that remote area. Then, in the summer of 1960, he found the opportunity to serve the people of that region by taking on an unusual summer job – substituting for vacationing clergy as a missionary pilot in an isolated district of the Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of Quebec, 900 miles northeast of Quebec City. To reach his pastorate, he had to fly thousands of miles over rugged terrain using skis or floats to land on the stretches of ice and water. His experience that summer would serve him well. He went on to spend

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five decades as a bush pilot and minister, beginning with the International Grenfell Association, an organization that carries on medical work in northern Newfoundland and Labrador,and later as president and then as chairman of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation (QLF), which he founded in 1961. QLF exists to support the rural communities and environment of eastern Canada and New England. QLF’s models for stewardship of natural resources and cultural heritage have been applied worldwide — across international borders in Western Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East.

QLF programs are run by school and college students who live and work side by side with members of the communities. Through its scholarship program, QLF has helped more than 1200 young people from the Quebec North Shore, Newfoundland, northern New Brunswick, and Maine.

Lawrence Morris, president emeritus of QLF, said, “Bob fervently believed that friends support friends, that people give to people. Bob would say “persons” (to denote the individual). His strength of personality, his conviction, his charisma, lacked with humor, provided the ingredients for QLF success.”

Rev. Bryan is also known as the coauthor with the late Marshall J. Dodge III of Bert and I ... and Other Stories from Down East and three sequels in this popular folk recording series. Rev. Bryan launched Bert and I with Dodge in part by drawing upon memories of summers during his childhood spent at Tunk Lake in Sullivan, ME, where he was intrigued by the area’s stories and storytellers. It was earnings from those record sales in the 1960s that helped him to launch and grow the Quebec-Labrador Foundation.

He later co-authored with Tim Sample the recording, How to Talk Yankee.

In 2014 he published his autobiography, Robert Bryan: The Flying Parson and the Real Story Behind Bert and I, described by the Maine Sunday Telegram as «an inspiring book about a life well lived.»

His memberships included the Diocesan Executive Council, Quebec, the Corporation of the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, and the Atlantic Salmon Federation. In addition to the Hotchkiss Alumni Award in 1986, some of his other honors include the Seaplane Association International Pilot of the Year Award in 1984, and the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Martin William Souders Memorial Award in 1987. In 1996, he became the first U.S. citizen to receive the L’Ordre du Merite Nord-Cotier, which recognizes individuals who have contributed in an exceptional way to the quality of life of the Quebec North Shore.

He was predeceased by his brothers, James and William, and a cousin, David Bryan ’45. He is survived by his wife, the Rev. Dr. Patricia Peacock; three daughters, and nine grandchildren. Other Hotchkiss family members include nephews, James Taylor Bryan ’66, James Lafrentz Oelsner ’65, Edward Carl Oelsner ’60, William Lafrentz Bryan ’62, Andrew Bradley Bryan ’78, and great nephews, Joseph Henry Bryan ’92 and Seth James Bryan Obed ’99. An uncle, Benjamin Bryan, was from the Class of 1914.

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M U R R AY V E R N O N , J R . died peacefully on June 26, 2018 in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with family by his side. Born in New York, NY on June 10, 1932, he attended Hotchkiss from 1947 until his graduation in 1950. He then went on to Yale University. In October 1954, he joined the U.S. Air Force as a navigator and served until his honorable discharge. In addition to his work at Murvern Enterprises, he was an avid golfer and squash enthusiast and won numerous championships in Connecticut and New York. He also enjoyed boating and fishing on Long Island Sound with his family.

Mr. Vernon was the “fun uncle” to many, many people in his life. He was predeceased by his loving wife, Joan Elizabeth Vernon; his brother, George; and nephew, George Vernon Jr. He is survived by his step-children and step-grandchildren. In addition, he leaves his nieces, great-nephews, great-niece, greatgreat-nephew, numerous cousins and extended family, and his “family” of friends. Murray will always be remembered for his “big heart” and generosity.

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DAVID K. SIMS

of Lakeville and Vero Beach, FL, died peacefully on Nov. 10, 2018, with Jennifer, his wife of 49 years, by his side.

Born in Chicago in 1935, Mr. Sims attended Hotchkiss with the Class of 1953 and graduated from Choate School and Williams College. He began his business career as a broker in Chicago. In 1972, he moved to New York City, where he continued a successful 41-year career in the financial industry, retiring in 2001 from a senior position with Merrill Lynch. In 1984, he and his wife purchased an idyllic property in Lakeville, where they spent many a weekend before finally making it their home. Mr. Sims was a “people person,” who was actively involved with family, travel, and charitable interests and consistently provided loyal friendship and thoughtful leadership.

Civically and culturally minded, he sought ways to help others and bring more meaning to his life by casting his social, intellectual, or philanthropic net just a little bit wider. He served as president of the Board of the Sharon Playhouse and participated on committees for the Salisbury Association and Lake Wononscopomuc. He enjoyed playing tennis and golf, as well as travel. With a combined

passion for history and appreciation for unique cultural experiences, he and Jennifer journeyed to destinations in Africa, Europe, Central America, and Asia. When he wasn’t traveling, he enjoyed being with loved ones in familiar surroundings such as Lakeville, Lakeside, MI, and Vero Beach. He is survived by two sons and two daughters, as well as his brother, Frank Sims ’49, nephews Frank Sims ’75 and Brian Sims ’89, and niece, Laura Davis ’87.

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CHARLES WAMPLER “CHARLEY” DENNY III

of Naples, FL died on November 13, 2018 at 82. Born in Middletown, OH, he was a graduate of Middletown High and attended Hotchkiss in 1953-54. He then earned his B.A. degree from Wesleyan University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

Upon graduating from Northwestern in 1960, he joined his family’s company, The Barkelew Electric. He moved through a variety of positions before becoming plant manager, when his father sold to the Square D Company in 1967. In 1972, he became manager of Square D’s Circuit Breaker Division in Cedar Rapids, IA. In 1985, he moved to Lexington, KY, as vice president, overseeing the Distribution Equipment Group. He served in a number of positions in Lexington, KY, and Palatine, IL. In 1991, Square D was purchased by the Schneider Group of Paris, France, and he was appointed president of Schneider North America. This organization included all of Schneider’s interests in the Americas, including Square D. Mr. Denny served on many civic, charitable, and industrial boards.

After his retirement in 2000, he and his wife spent much of their time in Naples, FL. He is survived by his wife, Sandy, and three sons. Six wonderful grandchildren filled Charley with the wonderment of grand-parenting.

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D O N A L D F R E E M A N “ D O N ” R O B E R T S , 80, of Granby, CT, beloved husband for 46 years of the late Judith C. Yourous Roberts, died on October 8, 2018. Born in Brooklyn, NY on January 9, 1938, he was raised in West Hartford and attended Hotchkiss from 1953 until his graduation in 1956. He then continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business.

After graduation, he returned to the Hartford

area and worked for several major public accounting firms before taking a position with the Emhart Corporation in Bloomfield. Mr. Roberts worked for Emhart for more than 35 years and before his retirement worked as a tax accountant with The Hartford Insurance Company. A Granby resident since 1972, he was a former member of the First Congregational Church in Granby, where he served as treasurer of the Interfaith Refugee Foundation. In his spare time, he enjoyed watching all types of sports, especially his favorite New England teams - the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, and the Hartford Whalers. As a young man, he was an avid golfer and enjoyed playing at several of the Hartford-area courses and country clubs.

In more recent years, he enjoyed spending time with his wife and family and visiting their family cottage in Tolland, MA on Cranberry Pond. He leaves a daughter and son; a brother; and a granddaughter, whom he cherished.

Besides his wife, who died in July, he was predeceased by two brothers.

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C. TODD CONOVER,

former Comptroller of the Currency, consultant, and author, died on December 9, 2018 at a retirement home near his home in Meadow Vista, CA. He was 79. Born on October 13, 1939, he attended Hotchkiss from 1953 until his graduation in 1957. He received a B.A. degree from Yale in 1960 and an M.B.A. in finance from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley in 1965. He served two years as an officer in the U. S. Navy. He went on to an extraordinary career in business, including serving as a consultant with McKinsey & Company; as a founding partner of Edgar, Dunn & Company; as a consulting partner with KPMG Peat Marwick; and as a principal of Starmont Asset Management. He served on the boards of PacifiCorp and Blount International during his career. He also authored The Art of Astute Investing. Mr. Conover served as Comptroller of the Currency of the U.S., the nation’s top bank regulator, from 1981-1985. He was a member of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. He leaves behind Sally, his devoted wife of 57 years, two daughters, and five grandchildren. In addition, he leaves behind two half-sisters and two halfbrothers. Mr. Conover is also survived by his uncle, Leonard L. Marshall ’43, and many

cousins, including Peter Marshall ’70, nephews and nieces, and his Goldendoodle, Charlie.

JEFFERY MACLAREN HUDSON

died on December 15, 2018. He was 79. Born on January 27, 1939, he attended Hotchkiss from 1953-1957. He received his B.A. degree in 1961 and served in the U.S. Navy. He worked as a broker. He is survived by his brother, Arthur Hudson ’49. In addition to his son, Jeffery Hudson Jr. ’88, his other Hotchkiss relatives include nephews Arthur Hudson Jr. ’86 and Timothy Hudson ’87, and a brotherin-law, August Kammer ’61.

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J O H N G E R A L D C H R I S T O P H E R “ J AY ” B A N K S

died peacefully at his home in Westwood, MA on December 16, 2018 at age 77 of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was born on January 21, 1941 in Mount Kisco, NY, and was raised in Redding, Weston, and Lyme, CT. After graduating from Hotchkiss in 1959, he began his college career at Brown University and, at long last, received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1967. In the interim, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, attaining the rank of Sergeant, and worked in the trust department at Bankers Trust Company in New York. In 1965, he married Julie Spencer. After two years in New York City, they moved to Mansfield, MA, where he worked as a reporter and photographer for the Mansfield News. They then moved to Syracuse, NY, where he started as a television reporter for the NBC affiliate and became the anchor for the 6 p.m. television news, and later news director. In 1982, he began his 25-year career as a stockbroker with Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day. During his 40 years in Syracuse, he served on many boards, including the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse Stage, and the Red Cross. He retired in 2007, when he and Julie moved to Martha’s Vineyard. He loved the outdoors, especially canoeing and fishing in the Adirondacks and Martha’s Vineyard. Singing was his passion, which began for him as a child in the church choir. He continued to sing in the choir, glee club, and octet during his three years at Hotchkiss. He then joined the Jabberwocks a cappella group at Brown University. Later in life, he sang in the choir at the Federated Church in Edgartown and the Island Community Chorus, which were great sources of enjoyment and friendship for him.

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in m em o ri a m In addition to his wife, Julie, he is survived by his son, John (Class of 1986) and his wife; a daughter and her husband; five adored grandchildren; and his brother and sister. His sense of humor, penchant for bowties, and wonderful bass voice will be missed by many.

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STEVEN BRUCE “STEVE” DODGE,

a pioneering entrepreneur in telecommunications and real estate development, died on January 17, 2019, in Bonita Springs, FL, following a traffic collision. He was 73. Born in New Haven, CT, he attended Hotchkiss, graduating in 1963, and Yale (B.A. ’67) on scholarship. Over the course of 25 years, Mr. Dodge launched four significant ventures: American Cable Systems, American Radio Systems, American Tower Corporation, and Windover Development. He built each company with ingenuity and drive, shifting from one to the next with uncanny timing. After serving as a Naval officer, Mr. Dodge bypassed an opportunity to attend Harvard Business School in favor of on-theground learning at the Bank of Boston, where he also met his wife, Anne. While at the bank, Dodge joined a team making high-risk loans in entertainment, and cable television, among others. Asking himself, why he was on the inside making loans, rather than on the outside borrowing, he secured equity funding to establish a cable company. American Cable Systems emerged as a major player in the cable industry. He took the company public in 1986, and American Cablesystems was sold to Continental Cable for $450 million in 1988.

Shifting to radio at a time when the sector was struggling, he began acquiring stations, many of them turnarounds. By 1997, American Radio Systems had amassed more than 100 stations in two dozen urban markets. After building the company to become the nation’s second-largest radio operator, he merged ARS into CBS-Westinghouse in 1998. Earlier the same year, American Radio Systems spun off a subsidiary that became the American Tower Corporation. Mr. Dodge built ATC into the leading independent owner-operator of communications towers in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. After these successes in corporate America, he embarked on a series of projects with a common theme – building welldesigned and environmentally sensitive spaces, landscapes and interiors, on prized sites in New England and Florida. Mr. Dodge placed

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hundreds of acres of accumulated property in Land Trust. He founded Windover Development LLC in 2004, which grew into several companies, including Windover Construction Inc., which he sold in 2015, continuing his operations as Beverly Crossing.

He was the driving force behind the ongoing revitalization of Beverly, MA, passionately contributing to the transformation of the Depot area. Following the Boston Red Sox was a lifelong passion for him, and in time he built a home with Anne near the team’s training camp in Florida and began transitioning their lives south. He also enjoyed fishing the mountain streams in Chile with his sons, motorcycling on Sardinia with a group of long-term buddies, and always, reading.

Mr. Dodge was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including induction into the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs at Babson College in 2002, and most recently being inducted into the Mobile Infrastructure Hall of Fame, November 2018. He served on several boards, including Sotheby’s, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Endicott College, and Montserrat College of Art. Education was the primary target of Mr. Dodge’s sometimes anonymous gifts. Despite his many successes, he is remembered and revered most for his quiet leadership, specifically his ability to mentor and instill confidence in others. In the last decade of his life, when his attentions lifted from the demands of major business operations and settled with the satisfaction of daily life and meaningful relationships, he was an especially dedicated husband, parent, brother, and friend. He is survived by wife of 44 years, Anne Nordblom Dodge, two sons and a daughter, five grandchildren, and two brothers, including Lowell Dodge ’58. His niece, Andrea Patstone, is a member of the Class of 1991.

J O H N S . G A R V A N I I I succumbed to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, on September 2, 2018 in Carmel, CA, after battling the disease for four years. He was a dedicated runner, hiker, bicyclist, and crossword enthusiast. An accomplished pianist and church organist, he was actively engaged with the Episcopal Church throughout his life. Music was an enduring part of his life from childhood, when he studied classical piano under his mother’s tutelage from age three. He loved and played many of the great masters, including his favorites: Mozart, Chopin,

Rachmaninoff, and Vidor. Born in New Britain, CT, he graduated from Hotchkiss in 1963 and earned a B.A. in English Literature from Yale, where he also sang in the Glee Club and the Baker’s Dozen singing groups.

He served for three years in the U.S. Navy as a Communications Officer aboard a destroyer. He later joined Xerox Corp. and then M.R. Communications Consultants, where he became Vice President of the Northeast Region. In 1993, he changed careers and became a development officer for private secondary schools, beginning with Hotchkiss. He later worked for Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, Sage Hill School in California, and Avon Old Farms and Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut.

In his fundraising capacity with Loomis Chaffee, he met Nancy Budd of Pacific Grove, CA, relocated to the west coast, and married Nancy in 2013. After retiring, he was a devoted volunteer for a non-profit transportation service for seniors, and he served as a vestry member at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Carmel Valley. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Budd-Garvan; brother, Michael Garvan; daughters Emily Lines and Sarah Bonelli; and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents, Virginia and John Garvan, Jr., and his sister, Laura.

JOHN PETER LASHNITS

of Alton Bay, NH, who grew up and lived most of his life in Connecticut, died at age 72 on December 6, 2018, while surrounded by his two daughters and his wife. John (known early in his life as Peter) attended Hotchkiss from 1959 until his graduation in 1963 and then earned a B.S. in engineering from Yale University and an Executive M.B.A. degree from the University of Hartford. He served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era and commanded a HAWK missile battery in South Korea. He held flight instructor and airline transport pilot licenses, taught flying lessons, and flew charter for several years after graduating from Yale. Then, he embarked on a career as an engineer for the Hamilton Standard division of United Technologies. He held a number of positions within Hamilton, including starting up and running two new companies as Hamilton subsidiaries. In 1999, he transferred to the United Technologies corporate office in Hartford, CT, where he

established and managed UTC’s computer security department with responsibility for protection of UTC assets globally. He traveled extensively for business and retired from UTC in 2013. Some of his interests included flying, metalworking, woodworking, photography, and riding his motorcycle. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Janice (Wentworth), and their two daughters. He will also be missed by two sisters and numerous friends; his cousin, Thomas Lashnits, is a member of the Class of 1966.

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E R I C R I C H A R D S O N C A L H O U N died on November 16, 2018 in Wilmington, NC, after fighting a degenerative neuromuscular disease. He was 71. Born in Charlotte, NC, he graduated from Hotchkiss in 1965 and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970. He then married Mary Howard Sitterson, and they began their married life by packing up their Jeepster and heading West.

They made a home in Jackson, WY, and spent several years exploring the mountains, forming a bond with the place and friends that would last his lifetime. They returned to North Carolina, where he earned his master’s degree in landscape architecture from NC State University before settling in Greensboro.

He dedicated his 40-year professional career to Richardson Properties, 20 years of which he served as president and CEO, leading and growing the company before retiring in 2015. In addition, he acted as vice chairman of Piedmont Trust. He was deeply committed to the Greensboro community, serving in leadership roles in numerous organizations.

His good-heartedness and wry humor accompanied him through the well-trodden routes of his favorite places, be they barbeque joints or boards of directors. In his annual walkabouts, he explored open country: hiking the depths of the Grand Canyon, slot canyons and red rocks of the American Southwest; driving in the Rocky Mountains; and most recently, returning to New Zealand.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Mary Calhoun; his brother, John; his aunt; four children; as well as four grandchildren; and nine nieces and nephews. His brother, David Calhoun ’60, predeceased him.

THOMAS ALBERT “TOM” FERRETTI, D.D.S.,

died on January 22, 2019, after a challenging struggle with prostate cancer. He achieved many goals and accomplishments during his lifetime. Most important, he was a loving son, brother, husband, and father. He was “Tompa” to his two grandchildren who idolized him, and he them. Among his many achievements, he received the “All America” Swimmer Award while at Hotchkiss from 1963-65 and continued to swim for the University of North Carolina during his college years. He was a 1st Lt. in the Marine Corps and Capt. in the USMC Reserve from 1969-72. He received his dental degree from the UNC School of Dentistry and began his General Dentistry practice in Pensacola, FL in 1982. He continued his dental specialty education at the University of Connecticut in Endodontology, finishing in 1991. Dr. Ferretti returned to Pensacola to practice Endodontics, retiring in 2005. Among his honors over the years were Gulf Coast “Best Dentist” for 1987 and in 2002, a Certificate of Merit from the Florida Dental Association. He received the title of Dentist of the Year in 2005 by the EscambiaSanta Rosa County Dental Association. His varied interests included: sailing, fishing, fly fishing, golf, Tae Kwon Do, marksmanship, riding his motorcycles, racing his vintage sports car, as well as restoring old homes and antique Airstreams. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Ann Bruno Ferretti, his son, and two delightful grandchildren. He is also survived by his two brothers, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. “Savor friendships, respect all living things, respect all nonliving things. Forgive, live, laugh, love, write down your thoughts, give your children opportunities, brush your teeth, play the hand you are dealt.” These are but a few of the words of wisdom Tom Ferretti professed during his life.

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ROBERT “RHETT” AUSTELL III

of Haverford, PA and Barryville, NY died peacefully on November 14, 2018, with his wife and children at his side. He was 65. Born in 1953, Mr. Austell attended Hotchkiss from 1967 until his graduation in 1971. He earned his undergraduate degree from Williams College and his M.B.A. from Columbia University in 1977. He worked for Sonnet Corp. and served on the board of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. He is survived by his father, R. Rhett Austell Jr. ’43.; his wife of 43 years, Barbara Austell; children, Kate Elortegui and Rhett Austell and their spouses, Dan Elortegui and Sarah Caldwell; and four grandchildren.

He is also survived by his sisters, Liz Straight and Sarah Cart ’77.

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A faded photograph submitted by Phillip Barney ’54 evokes the joy of a warm day at Hotchkiss in the spring of 1954. Barney and his classmates ambled down to the shore of Lake Wononscopomuc to enjoy their freedom during a Head of School Holiday. As Phillip recalls, “I swam in the lake and cut my foot on a piece of glass getting out. First aid was some bourbon poured on the wound. I ended up at the infirmary, smelling a bit boozy, where the doctor gave me a quizzical look but said nothing as he stitched me up.”

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PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILLIP BARNEY ’54

Spring Fever

Hotchkiss Reunions June 14–16, 2019

•

Classes ending in 4 or 9

Registration is open until June 7 Visit www.hotchkiss.org/alumni (Events & Reunions) For more information, please contact Kamaren Suwijn, associate director of alumni relations, at (860) 435-3114 or ksuwijn@hotchkiss.org.

Classes of 1969, 1964 and 1949: Save the Date for September 27–29, 2019

Alumni Association

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 36 Pittsfield, MA

11 Interlaken Road Lakeville, CT 06039-2141 (860) 435-2591 www.hotchkiss.org ALUMNI