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Lawrentian THE
FALL 2013
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Volume 77 Number 4
publisher Jennifer Szwalek editor Mike Allegra art director Phyllis Lerner proofreaders Rob Reinalda ’76 Linda Hlavacek Silver H’59 61 ’62 ’63 ’64 GP’06 ’08 Jean Stephens H’50 ’59 ’61 ’64 ’68 ’89 GP’06 contributors Jennifer brewster ace england ’15 Lisa M. Gillard Hanson Jacqueline Haun Nancy ruiter Selena Smith Paloma Torres Tim wojciechowicz ’78 p’06 ’10 ’12
The Lawrentian (USPS #306-700) is published quarterly (winter, spring, summer, and fall) by The Lawrenceville School, P.O. Box 6008, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648, for alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends. Periodical postage paid at Trenton, NJ, and additional mailing offices.
The Lawrentian welcomes letters from readers. Please send all correspondence to mallegra@lawrenceville.org or to the above address care of The Lawrentian Editor. Letters may be edited for publication. The Lawrentian welcomes submissions and suggestions for magazine departments. If you have an idea for a feature story, please query first to The Lawrentian Editor via email (mallegra@lawrenceville.org). Visit us on the web at www.lawrenceville.org. www.lawrenceville.org/thelawrentian
From the Editor
I
’ve always been a big fan of swashbuckling epics, and the first and last word in swashed buckles is Errol Flynn. By the time I entered my teens, I had seen the bulk of the Flynn filmography and was always ready and eager to watch the dashing fellow brandish a sword and run someone through. A number of years ago, when first I learned that Errol Flynn’s son was a Lawrenceville alumnus, however, my first instinct was to shrug. I had plenty of practice with this shrug; I used it when I also learned that Charlie Chaplin’s son and Woodrow Wilson’s brother-in-law went here. I’m sure they were fine fellows, but none of these people were going to get me excited from an editorial standpoint. Oh, what an ignoramus I was. My shrug was much, much too hasty. Sean Flynn ’60 was a swashbuckler of the first order. Armed with a camera instead of a rapier, the younger Flynn journeyed to Southeast Asia to chronicle the horrors of the Vietnam War on film. Not one to shy away from the action, he was known to speed into disputed areas behind the wheel of a bright red, rented G Swashbuckler and son. motorcycle. Unfortunately, in 1970 he was captured in Cambodia and was never heard from again. Now Flynn is about to get some well-deserved recognition as Mythic Films is producing a documentary about the Lawrentian. The film’s objective is twofold. First and foremost the filmmakers are on the hunt to discover what happened to Flynn after he disappeared into a Cambodian jungle. Second, and perhaps more intriguingly, the filmmakers want to get a sense of who Sean Flynn really was. That’s where Lawrenceville comes in. Angela Krass, a producer of the film, spent many days perusing our archives to get a sense of the “real” Sean Flynn, a man many knew but few knew well, one who spent most of his life both running from and reaping the benefits of his father’s fame. In this issue’s cover story, “Finding Flynn” (page 30), Lawrenceville’s crackerjack archivist, Jacqueline Haun, chronicles both the documentary and the life of this amazing fellow. It’s a great story. Or, to put it another way, my shrugging days are over.
Postmaster
Please send address corrections to: The Lawrentian The Lawrenceville School P.O. Box 6008 Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 ©The Lawrenceville School Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Warmest wishes, Mike Allegra Editor mallegra@lawrenceville.org
All rights reserved.
Oops… In the spring issue’s “Board Bits” column, Darrell Fitzgerald’s class year was incorrect. He graduated in 1968. The editor regrets the error.
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