DEAR
North Texan Continuing legacy Let us know what you think about news and topics covered in The North Texan. Letters may be edited for length and publication style. Online: northtexan.unt.edu (follow the “Contact Us” link) Phone: 940-565-2108 Fax: 940-369-8763 Email: northtexan@unt.edu
Such good memories
As I read comments regarding North Texas memories, I find myself nodding yes, as I, too, have those same memories. I feel as if my education began and ended in Denton. As a young child, I was fortunate to get to attend the kindergarten lab school, once during the long term when I was 4 and again in the summer when I was 5. In Denton then, it was safe enough for a 5-year-old to walk unattended the short distance from home to the school. It felt like coming home when I entered North Texas as a freshman. I remember so much from then — the UB
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and coffeecake, the One O’Clock Lab Band playing at the Union, choir tours with Mr. Mac, opera tours with Mary McCormic (yes, I go back a long way). I lived in Kendall Hall but spent most of my time in the Music Building. Such good memories … such a good school. Janette Kavanaugh (’56, ’69 M.M., ’82 Ph.D.) Longview
World class
Besides my many lifelong friends and other teachers at North Texas, I most remember my piano professor, Silvio Scionti (pictured on the right). I was privileged to study with him from 1952 to 1956. Being accepted by Dr. Scionti was a
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Winter 2016
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distinct privilege and honor. We who studied with him were indeed a family, and our camaraderie was something to behold. To this day, many of us are in touch with one another. Dr. Scionti was a world-class pianist and teacher, serving some summers on the international juries of piano competitions in Europe. As well, he took several of his students to compete, and two of them, Monte Hill Davis (’52, ’57 M.M.) and Jack Guerry (’52, ’55 M.M.), were prizewinners in several of the competitions. I should describe Dr. Scionti as giving his life blood to teach all of us, and his example was set for those of us who became teachers in later years. Also, during that same time, several of us studied with his wife, Isabel Scionti. She, too, formed many wonderful pianists and teachers. What a most happy, productive time, that. Cecil Lotief (’56) Dallas
Regarding the “Living Healthy” story in the summer issue: In the late ’70s and after recovering from a broken back, six months in the hospital and six months in a full body cast, I met Bob Patton who convinced me to enter the master’s-level exercise science program he was starting up at North Texas. After finishing my M.S., I started my doctorate with Peter Raven, but I realized teaching and research was keeping me away from my family, so I decided it was time to go to work. My first job out of UNT was at Tenneco where I took what I had been taught and the passion from Bob Patton and built a worksite program that won awards for excellence and became world renowned. After 16 years, I left Tenneco and wrote several books and then went to work for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. I have been there for 18 years and now serve as wellness officer. UNT, Bob Patton and the kinesiology faculty gave me so much I could never thank them for, but seeing their legacy continue at UNT doesn’t surprise me and warms my heart. William B. Baun (’80 M.S.) Houston