bulletin spring 2010

BULLETINBULLETINS P R I N G 2 0 1 0

T h e W i l l i s t o n N o r t h a m p t o n S c h o o l

“All That Is In My Heart”A look back at Brian Wright’s tenureas Williston Northampton’s 19th headmaster

Please send class notes, obituaries, and changes of address to: Alumni Office The Williston Northampton School 19 Payson AvenueEasthampton, MA 01027t (413) 529-3301f (413) 529-3427 [email protected]

Send letters to the editor and other correspondence to the Communications Office at the address above, or sendemail to [email protected].

CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICEREric Yates

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONSAND MARKETINGAndrew Shelffo

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONSKathleen Unruh

COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATEBurns Maxey

COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATEKathryn Good-Schiff

Originally issued in 1915, the Bulletin is published by the Advancement Office for the benefit of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the school.

Conroy Scores 1,000 Points

Cert no. BV-COC-013529

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Healy ’91, and Mark Timm ’76.Conroy scored the milestone bucket on

an uncontested layup following a block byKay Samples-Smart ’11 and a pass fromJenna Spooner ’10. Conroy ended thegame with a season high 22 points as theWildcats moved their season record to 4-2.

K ristina Conroy ’10 scored her1,000th career point in Williston’s46-19 win over Berkshire School.

Conroy becomes the seventh Willistonplayer to reach the 1000-point mark, joiningKarly Gray ’06, Darrell Harrison ’05, ColleenHession ’02, Abby Ouimet ’99, Debbie

VOLUME 96 NUMBER 2

FEATURES

12 The Farewell TourHeadmaster Brian Wright visited alumni, parents, and friends

across the country and around the world

14 The Wright TimesA visual timeline of achievements and memories

Brian Wright, Wave Rider

by Ann Vanderburgh

Shared Vision Brings Success

by Chief Financial Officer Charles McCullagh P’10, ’13

The Right Choice

by Jim Cain ’64

20 Happy Trails, Ann Vanby Peter Gunn

22 A Passionate Manby Andrew Shelffo

24 The Changing Role of the Headmasterby Richard Teller ’70, archivist

COVER:

Dr. Brian Wright, headmaster, teachespublic speaking to all ninth graders. Photograph by Ben Barnhart

DEPARTMENTS

2 Headmaster’s Column

4 Campus News

26 Class Notes

44 In Memoriam

48 From the Archives

In the next issue of the Bulletin:

Meet Williston’s

20th Head of School

Robert W. Hill III

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ASaying Farewell to WillistonH E A D M A S T E R ’ S C O L U M N

2 SPRING 2010 BULLETIN

I’ve often said that if you speak with two WillistonNorthampton alumni, you’re likely to hear two very differentversions of what it was like to be a student here. That’s be-cause this school does a marvelous job of providing studentswith outstanding resources, caring faculty, and a supportiveenvironment, key elements that enable students to excel in aneducational experience that is unique to them. And the sameadage probably holds true for headmasters: ask any two of uswhat it was like to be the head at Williston, and you’ll proba-bly get very different answers, because Williston often meansdifferent things to different people.

As I look back over my time at Williston, I struggle for the right way to summarize my time here. I am obviouslyvery proud of all we have accomplished together at Willistonduring my tenure. Working closely with the Board of Trusteesand faculty and staff, we have developed a Master Plan andupdated Aspire to give a focus to the future of this greatschool.

We have achieved the practical and far-reaching goals of a successful fundraising campaign and organized an importantmarketing evaluation that fostered the remarkable Williston+

program that will continue to enhance our connections withthe Five Colleges. We have improved many aspects of ourcampus, from the Homestead renovation, through the beauti-ful new 194 Main Street dorm, to major upgrades of our athletic facilities. All of these changes are tangible signs of apromising future for our school and have resulted in Williston’sincreased visibility in the independent school world.AlthoughI am extremely proud of these changes and of the improvedeconomic stability of our school due to the success of ourCampaign for Williston Northampton: Legacy & Vision, I hopethat my years here at Williston will also be remembered forthe ways in which we have all worked to improve the day-to-day lives of the faculty and students.

We have come a very long way in our eleven years

together. Our faculty has done an amazing job adding to andenhancing programs and classes in academics and the arts.From establishing the Writing Center to adding AP classesand Chinese language instruction, we have continued to present our students with challenges and opportunities whileproviding the necessary support for our students to be suc-cessful. I hope that by making significant strides in raising fac-ulty salaries, adding a second sabbatical, improving andexpanding faculty housing, working hard to find ways to ex-pand professional development in the face of difficult eco-nomic times, and, my favorite, creating the Children’s Centerfor the faculty offspring, we have done much to support our wonderful teachers.

My years of teaching public speaking and entertaining stu-dents, faculty, alumni, and Williston Northampton friends inour home have provided me with some of my happiest hoursat Williston. My close connection with the alumni has taughtme that the spirit of this fantastic school is consistent with thegenerations of amazing people Williston Northampton hasgraduated in the past and I am sure will continue to graduatelong into the future.

But any list of activities or accomplishments couldn’t possibly represent all that is in my heart. In my heart I knowthat being at Williston has made me a better person, which isexactly what everyone here wants for themselves, and moreimportantly what we want for our students.

The other day I was walking across campus during one ofthose moments of quiet that sometimes happen in the after-noon, at that time between classes and athletics when the stu-dents are either already at practice or are getting ready to goand the campus is quiet and seems deserted. I spotted a studentwalking along the path in front of the Reed Center. He waswalking with purpose—it looked to me like he was late forsomething—but then he suddenly stopped, bent over to pickup something, and then continued on his way. Before going

by Dr. Brian R. Wright

A few months ago, the world’s odometer ticked over from 2009 to 2010, a fact that precipitated a lot of looks back

over the previous decade. I glanced at a few of these lists and found them wanting, not because of the philosophical

problem I have with when the new decade actually begins, but because a simple list, no matter how long it might be,

can’t possibly capture every important moment that happened in a decade, nor can it capture a decade’s worth of emo-

tions. And I feel much the same way as I look back over my tenure at Williston and try to put a coherent structure

around it to make it fit conveniently into a Bulletin column. The problems are compounded because it’s difficult to

measure one person’s impact or influence on a place like Williston, since a school is never about one person.At its best,

a school is a place that shows everyone that they are the most important person in the world and that their dreams

matter.And Williston is an example of a school at its best.

SPRING 2010 BULLETIN 3

into the Reed Center, he deposited whatever he’d picked upin the trash can—he’d picked up litter that someone else hadleft behind. I smiled to myself, because just that morning in assembly, Swanee had told the students to be on the lookoutfor litter on campus, reminding everyone that it doesn’t takemuch to make our campus look poor, and it doesn’t takemuch to keep our campus looking good. There was this student, with no one around to remind him, doing a small,selfless act to make the school a better place. If the true test of character is what we do when no one is watching, thisyoung man proved that he has great character.

I can’t—and won’t—take direct credit for this behavior—I couldn’t even tell exactly who it was because, well, my eyesaren’t what they used to be. But I do like to think that I cantake at least a little credit for fostering an environment wherethis student—and all students—gain the necessary educationin a supportive environment to make the right choices, evenwhen no one’s looking.

I leave here with gratitude to all of the students, faculty,staff, parents, alumni, and friends who’ve allowed me to be apart of their lives over the past eleven years. I leave here withconfidence that Williston will continue to provide an excep-tional educational experience to students under the guidanceof Robert W. Hill III the next head of school. I leave here with trepidation about the future but faith in the fact thatWilliston has prepared me—as it has prepared students for 169 years—to be successful in the next stage of my life.

So I guess one thing we headmasters may agree about is that you can take us out of Williston, but you can’t takeWilliston out of us.

Long may we cherish Williston. —Brian

A Growing ProgramEnergizes the Campus

Students and faculty have benefitted from the growth of theWilliston+ program during the 2009-10 school year, the first fullyear of the program’s existence. Thanks to the hard work of KimEvelti, Williston’s curriculum development specialist for Five

College resources, Williston’s teachers and students have enjoyed lecturesand hands-on learning experiences led by professors from the Five Colleges,visited the various college campuses and explored the rich resources theyhave to offer, and gained important insights into the academic expectationsof college life. The Williston+ program brings Williston students in touchwith the rich resources of the Five Colleges and in doing so enriches theireducational experience while better preparing them for the next step intheir academic lives.

One example of the positive experiences Williston students can havethrough the Williston+ program involves the Fine Arts Department. Thisyear Department Head Deb Sherr brought in members of the UMass Grad-uate String Quartet to work with Williston’s Chamber Orchestra, in a mu-tually beneficial arrangement. The graduate students ran sectionals (separate meetings of the 1st violins, 2nd violins, violas, and cellos), during which thesections practiced their respective parts. Deb says, “The Williston membersof the Chamber Orchestra really appreciate the presence of the quartet, andthe quartet is pleased to be getting the experience.” The collaboration willcontinue for the entire academic year, and the UMass students will performfor the Williston community this spring.

Deb made the initial connection with the UMass students and their teacherwhile on sabbatical last year. The endeavor is made possible by fundingfrom the Henry M. ’52 and Judith M. Zachs Faculty Chair, awarded to Deb in 2006 for a period of five years.

“With no doubt, people fromUMass are not only skillful musi-cians, but also great ‘peer eds’.They help us with any problemabout music, like basic skills, andways to control and expressmusic through playing. (Theyeven helped me fix my violin.)Their participation makes ourmusic more beautiful, and I thinkour orchestra members are defi-nitely making progress becauseof them. In rehersals, sectionals,or concerts, they [have been] agreat part of us."

–Haoshu Xu ’13

Find out more — www.williston.com/willistonplus


campus news

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From left, above: During one visit of several that he made tochemistry classes this fall and winter, Dr. James Chambers, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at UMass,Amherst, conducted a dissection lab. Dr. Chambers and graduatestudents working with him on research into memory and the brainmet with all Williston chemistry classes.

Students enjoyed an opportunity to learn some African drummingtechniques and rhythms during a workshop offered on campusthis fall by Faith Conant, director of the Five College West AfricanMusic Ensemble based at Mount Holyoke College.

Dr. James Wald, associate professor of history and director of the Hampshire College Center for the Book, discussed anti-Semitism with students.

Below: James Alic Garang, doctoral student at UMass, Amherst,spoke about his experience as a refugee and “Lost Boy” of Sudanand heard students in World Civilizations classes present their re-search in the Africa Museum project. His talk, “When ElephantsFight, It is the Grass that Suffers: Pithy Account of Sudanese CivilWars,” gave students, faculty, and parents a window into hisstruggles and the determination and strong values he maintainedthroughout his journey.

The Natural History Museum at Amherst College is one of the numerous museums at the Five Colleges that Williston studentsvisit regularly.

Williston musicians practiced their parts in sectionals directed bymembers of the UMass Graduate String Quartet. The UMass stu-dents worked with the Chamber Orchestra throughout the year.

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Williston’s annual Photographers’ Lecture Series kicked off in January withrenowned photojournalist Yunghi Kim.The series features internationally ac-claimed photographers who present theirwork to the school and community. Ad-vanced photography students participatein a class taught by the photographerspreceding the public lecture. Past visitingphotographers have included photojour-nalist Ed Kashi, who is known for hisunique approach to storytelling with newtechnologies in his coverage of currentworldwide political and social issues;Sean Hemmerle, an architectural andlandscape photographer; and PulitzerPrize-winning photojournalist Ed Keating.

Yunghi KimA Boston Globe photographer for sevenyears, Yunghi Kim continues to captureinternational conflicts through her im-ages. In 1992 while covering the faminein Somalia, Kim was taken hostage byrebels. Days after being freed by theUnited Nations and CARE, she returnedto Somalia to complete her assignment.She documented the lives of formerSouth Korean Comfort Women who wereforced into sexual slavery by the Japan-ese during WWII. She also photographedRwandan refugees in 1994, political up-heaval in Indonesia in 1998, the turmoil inPakistan and Afghanistan in 2002, andthe Iraq War in 2003.The recipient of sev-eral World Press Photo awards, Kim wasnamed Magazine Photographer of theYear by the National Press Photogra-phers Association. She is a regular con-tributor to US News & World Report, Time,and Fortune.

Serge J-F. LevyWhile Serge J-F. Levy’s work includesfreelance photography for publicationsand projects of self-portraiture, he contin-ues his personal visual journal of captur-ing the street by carrying a 35mm filmcamera through every waking moment.Levy is a self-taught photographer whoseimages have appeared in The New YorkTimes Magazine, The London SundayTimes Magazine, Life, and Harper’s Magazine. His non-commercial work is ac-knowledged equally and has been exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Schroeder Romero Gallery inChelsea, and the Leica Gallery in Tokyo.Levy is a member of the faculty at the International Center of Photography inManhattan. He also guest lectures andteaches at Vassar College, where he was awarded the $25,000 W.K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts in 2000.

Photographers’Lecture Series

2010


EXAMINING THE CONSTITUTION

On Saturday, January 30, Peter Gunn’s U.S. history students par-ticipated in the We the People Conference in Boston, a state-wide academic competition sponsored by the Center for Civic

Education.The program requires each group to prepare three researchpapers investigating substantive questions about different aspects of thehistory, philosophy, and development of the U.S. system of government.At the event, the students make a formal presentation and then defendtheir research without benefit of notes before a panel of judges. Amongthe judges were (pictured at right with Peter) Ceara Mahoney ’98, whoparticipated in the We the People program in 1998 and now serves as

Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County; and Jamie Gass ’87,Director of the Center for School Reform at Pioneer Institute, a pub-lic policy research firm in Boston.

The Williston students finished third overall in the competition.Peter Gunn wrote in a school-wide email after the competition, “Theirperformances impressed me and the nearly two dozen parents in atten-dance for the depth of understanding and eloquence of expression.Our students engaged in a challenging intellectual opportunity andmade the most of it.” In 2000, Williston won the championship andrepresented Massachusetts in the nationals in Washington, D.C.

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Parish KohanimA commercial and art photographer,Parish Kohanim has been dedicated tophotography for over 25 years. Hisclients have consisted of many Fortune500 companies such as Coca-Cola, De Beers Diamonds, and Fossil. His im-ages have appeared in the pages ofHarper’s Bazaar and Vogue. After winningnumerous Gold Addys, a CLIO award,and becoming a Canon Explorer of Lightfor his advertising work, Kohanim is nowdedicating himself to his fine art photog-raphy. Whether his subject is a still life ora portrait, his images emphasize a de-tailed study of light, form, and color witha contemporary approach.

Robert Lyons ’72Robert Lyons’ recent project, IntimateEnemy, provides a rare look at perpetra-tors and survivors of the Rwandan geno-cide through black and white portraits. The project resulted in the book IntimateEnemy: Voices and Images from the Rwan-dan Genocide, one of Lyons’ numerouspublications. During the past 25 years, hisphotographs have been widely exhibited inthe United States and Europe and repre-sented in permanent collections includingThe Metropolitan Museum of Art and theSeattle Art Museum. Lyons lives andworks in Berlin, Germany and westernMassachusetts. He received a BFA fromHampshire College and an MFA from YaleUniversity. Currently he is a guest lecturerat the OstkreuzSchule in Berlin.

Sasha Bezzubov and Jessica SucherSasha Bezzubov and Jessica Sucherhave been artistic collaborators since2002. Their work captures the politics ofpilgrimage and destruction caused by nat-ural disasters. They are multiple FulbrightScholarship recipients for their projects,and much of their collaboration, such asthe Searchers Project, looks at the roleof western tourism in the developingworld. Bezzubov’s apocalyptic land-scapes of the aftermath of natural disas-ters have been exhibited internationallyas well as at The Front Room Gallery inNew York City. In 2009, Nazraeli Presspublished Wildfire, a monograph that cap-tures the result of California forest firesin 32 color images by Bezzubov. His workis in the collection of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, The Art of Giving Some-thing Foundation, and has been featuredin The New York Times Magazine andNewsweek. Bezzubov received an MFA inPhotography from Yale School of Art. Inaddition to pursuing photography, Sucherhas worked as a curator and Manager ofPublic Programs at the Museum of Artsand Design in New York City. She earneddegrees from Brown University and NewYork University.

Listen to student interview podcasts witheach of the visiting photographers atwww.williston.com/podcasts.

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EXCELLENCE, JUSTICE, AND HONOR: MARY ALCOCK ’84 ADDRESSES THE WILLISTON COMMUNITY

The following Williston Northampton seniors were inducted into the Cum LaudeSociety on February 2, 2010, at an assembly in the Phillips Stevens Chapel:Gillian Barker, Benjamin Cowan, Gabriela Garcia, Woo-Sung “Kevin” Jung,

Huan-Ting “Tim” Lin, Qasim Mahmood, Deirdre Quirk,James Thomson, Brooke Yarrows, Kevin Yochim, Shikun

“Aerin” Zhang, Hanyu “Jessica” Zhou, and YanZheng “Daniel” Zhu.

Students and parents of inductees were in-vited to attend the assembly. Parents and fam-

ily members who couldn’t attend watchedthe live webcast. A reception followed theevent at Headmaster Brian R. Wright’shouse.

Mary E. Alcock ’84 was the guestspeaker for this February’s induction. A Cum Laude Society member, Ms. Alcock is counsel based in the NewYork office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen &Hamilton LLP. A member of the New

York State Bar, Ms. Alcock is recognizedas a leading employee benefits lawyer by

The Best Lawyers in America and The Legal500. She received her JD in 1993 from Yale

Law School and received her undergraduate de-gree summa cum laude from Yale University.

Ms. Alcock spoke of her early years in Easthamp-ton and the impact Williston and her family had on her life

and scholarly pursuits. Those strong connections prompted her andher family, in 2007, to make a gift to the school by naming her mother’s childhoodhome, at 11 Payson Avenue, Daley House in her honor. She said, “When it comes tohonor, please also remember it is not the ‘with honors’ on the degree or the name ofthe deed on the house that is truly important. It is community. It is caring. It is remem-bering, respecting, and cherishing of the past, but always looking to the future.”

While at Williston, Ms. Alcock was ac-tive in the theater and formed Williston’sAs Schools Match Wits team, helping tobring the group to the playoffs numeroustimes. Her awards included the WhiteBlazer, presented at graduation to the“young woman who has distinguishedherself with the greatest contributions tothe academic, athletic, and communitylife of the school while exhibiting exem-plary leadership and integrity.”

The Cum Laude Society recognizesacademic achievement by students insecondary schools for the purpose ofpromoting excellence (Areté), justice(Diké), and honor (Timé). Founded in1906, the society modeled Cum Laudeafter Phi Beta Kappa, and in the yearssince its founding, Cum Laude hasgrown to 350 chapters around the world.

SAVING LIVES IN HAITI

Thanks to their dedication, donations,and volunteer efforts, Williston’s ninthgraders have raised a grand total of$1,310 for Haiti, to be donated in full tothe Meds and Food for Kids Foundation,an organization dedicated to saving thelives of Haiti’s malnourished children andother nutritionally vulnerable people. Thedonations resulted from two fundraisingevents: $510 was raised during a NinthGrade Program assembly, at which theeffort was first announced, and $800was raised subsequently through salesof wristbands and a refreshment tableset up during the intermission of the chil-dren’s theater production in February.

Ninth Grade Class Advisor Adrienne Mantegna ’94 congratulatedall those who helped by buyingbracelets, saying, “You should all feel in-credibly proud of your efforts, your dona-tions, and your empathy (the “E” in thefreshman’s class theme C.O.R.E.).You’ve done an incredible thing!”

A school-wide fundraising effort wasundertaken by Pastor Daphne Burt, whourged the community to remember that“our brothers and sisters in Haiti are stillin great need.” Pastor Burt organized anonline auction of original artwork, goods,and services donated by faculty andstaff. Auction items included those ofparticular interest to students, such as a“Golden Ticket” allowing a student toproceed directly to the front of the lineon stir-fry night and home-baked cookiesand cakes delivered to students. Facultyartists donated their work includedphotography teacher Edward Hing ’77,ceramics teacher Natania Hume, theaterproduction manager/quilter Amy Put-nam, drawing teacher Susanna White,and painting teacher Marcia Reed.

See how the community supported Haiti relief efforts atwww.williston.com/haiti.


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VISION IS THE ART OF SEEING WHAT IS INVISIBLE TO OTHERS

In January, Williston held its eighth annual school-wide Diversity Conference.This all-day event focused on delivering diversity education to students, faculty,and administrators through a variety of perspectives and presentations by faculty,students, alumni, and parents.This year’s theme was “Vision is the Art of Seeing

What is Invisible to Others.” The day began with a keynote address by Rodney Glasgow, director of diversity and

community relations at Worcester Academy and facilitator, trainer, and activist in theareas of diversity, equity, and social justice. He spoke to students about his experiencesof growing up black and gay and how his differences affected where he is today. Hethen role-played cultural characters who defy stereotypes such as an Asian girl whodoesn’t like math and a gay football player.

Afterwards students participated in two separate workshops of their choice led byfaculty, students, alumni, and visiting guests. Jim Wald, a Hampshire College professor,led a workshop on anti-Semitism. Through dialogue about local and global examples ofanti–Semitism, the class discussed how prejudices impact people daily.

Nola–rae Cronan, director of student activities, has been leading diversity workshopssince the conference began eight years ago. She says, “I do several workshops each yearand I really love it. I think it’s an opportunity for students to try something new andtalk about different topics they haven’t talked about before. The conference really givesthem an opportunity to explore different opinions in race, culture, ethnicity, and lan-guage to expand their view of the world.” This year she led a workshop called, “Was IAlways White?” a class on the history of the cultural definitions of whiteness.

Other workshops included African drumming, a how-to of cooking Asian food, thehistory of hip-hop, and doll making for Nigerian orphans.

The day came to a close with a performance by Sacred Slam, a non-profit organiza-tion that works with individuals, organizations, and communities to promote respectfor diversity and the peaceful resolution of conflict. Their audio and video presentationincluded a compilation of stories, drawings, and animation contributed by studentsfrom many countries who have first-hand experience with conflict in their homelands.

POMMES FRITES, ANYONE?

French students and teacher Claire Frierson had an opportunity to practicetheir conversation skills while visiting Quebec during February long weekend.They toured the Parlement du Québec,spent a day skating and sledding at the Village des Sports, and enjoyed the evening activities and massive snow and ice sculptures at the city’s Winter Carnival. And, perhaps most of all, they enjoyed the superb cuisine.


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Winter SportsRecapWilliston athletes achieved many victoriesand postseason successes worthy of recog-nition during the winter season. We arealso proud that all who wore the blue andgreen this winter represented Willistonwith the kind of respect for others that wemost value in our community.

WrestlingUnder Coach Matt KaneLong, the wrestling team got off to a good start, winning three dual matches. At the DougParker Tournament, Ross Ewing ’11 tookfourth at 189 lbs., Connor Adams ’12 tookfifth at 215 lbs., and Walter McLaughlin ’12took sixth in the 285 lbs. division. In theClass A League Tournament, Sean Lowney’11 took fifth at 171 lbs. and Devin Clark ’10took sixth at 145 lbs.. Tony Alvarez ’11 (at160 lbs.) and Connor Adams both qualifiedfor the New England Independent SchoolWrestling Association Championships, butwere unable to perform at their best due toinjuries.

SkiingLed by Coach Ed Hing ’77, both teams en-joyed successful seasons. The boys’ teamachieved a fourth place finish in the finalleague race of the season. On the girls’ team,Gabriela Garcia ’10, Lindsey Dirats ’11, andMadison Dirats ’14 finished in the top 20 atthe New England Championships.

Swimming and DivingAccording to Coach Dave Koritkoski, the boys saved their best performances for the end of the season and at the New EnglandChampionships, they were crownedthe New England Small SchoolChampions. Reece Liang ’10 fin-ished third in the 100-meter breast-stroke with the third fastest time inschool history to earn All-NewEngland honors. The girls’ team hadseveral wins, including victories overNorthfield Mount Hermon, Kent,and Westminster. At the New Eng-land Championships, the girls swamwell but narrowly missed winningthe small school championship.

Boys’ BasketballThe varsity team faced itsshare of adversity but

played hard throughout theseason. The boys defeated theMasters School in theKingswood Tournament, andwon against a strong contin-gent of alumni in January.Joseph Donovan ’10 and Benjamin King ’13 receivedHonorable Mention recognition onthe Western New England All-Star team.

Girls’ BasketballUnder Coach Kevin Kudla, the varsity teamfinished with a 13-8 record, including victo-ries in seven out of nine road games. High-lights included a second place finish inWilliston’s Ray Brown Tournament andgritty wins over Deerfield, Hotchkiss,Choate, and Westminster. For the secondconsecutive year, the team earned a berth in the NEPSAC Class B Tournament. As the#7 seed, the team played a competitive game before falling to the defending champions.Kristina Conroy ’10 and Kay Samples-Smart’11 were named to the Ray Brown All-Tournament Team and the NEPSAC ClassA/B All-Star Team. Kristina, a three-timeNEPSAC All-Star, finished her Williston career with 1,266 points, fourth most inschool history, including 133 three-pointers.

Boys’ HockeyLed by Coach Derek Cunha, the varsityteam earned an 11-14-2 record. Highlightsincluded third place in the St. Sebastian’sChristmas tournament, a hard-fought 3-3 tie

at Salisbury, and a 6-5 road win over Deerfield Academy—the first win againstDeerfield since 1976. Benjamin Kravitz ’10wrapped up a remarkable Williston career inwhich he played in 113 consecutive games.

Girls’ HockeyThe varsity team enjoyed its finest seasonsince the program began in 1983. Under theleadership of Coaches Christa Talbot ’98 andMolly Ward ’82, the girls set two schoolrecords: 18 wins and a 10-game winningstreak. The many highlights included win-ning all four games in the Exeter Tourna-ment, defeating Tabor Academy for the firsttime in seven years, and an exciting 2-1 over-time victory over Berkshire. The team earneda #5 seed in the NEPSAC Division 1 Tour-nament, its first tournament berth in 15years. Despite a valiant effort, the girls lost 3-

0 to eventual champion Westminster.Goalie Meghann Treacy ’11 was

named to the NEPSAC Divi-sion One All-Star Team.

Girls’ SquashLed by Coach Andrew Keller,the varsity team achieved 9

wins against 4 losses. Highlightsincluded 7-0 shutout wins over

Berkshire, Kingswood, and Canter-bury, and two 4-3 victories over Suffield.

Sarah Fay ’11 held down the tough #1 spotall winter. The team earned an invitation tothe New England Class B Championships atPomfret, where the girls had an excellentshowing: Jillian Grant ’11 finished sixth, Jennifer Arboleda ’10 finished fourth, LindsayMcDonough ’10 finished third, and Chen-I“Ariel” Ting ’11 finished in first place.

Boys’ SquashUnder the guidance of Coach AndrewKeller, the varsity team finished with a 9-3record. Highlights included two 7-0 victoriesover Suffield and 4-3 victories over Salisburyand Pomfret. Woo-Sung “Kevin” Jung ’10and Jacob Roscoe ’10 led the squad all win-ter, playing in the tough #1 and #2 posi-tions. The team competed at the Class BNew England Championships and finishedin third place. Highlights of that day includedPeerapatr “Putter” Sirichantaropart ’10 takingfourth place in the #6 draw, Kyung Jun“Charlie” Park ’11 taking third place in the#7 draw, Byung Ho “Ben” Ko ’12 finishingin second place in the #4 draw, and Jerry Lo’11 winning the #5 draw.

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www.williston.com/bulletin/webextras

Watch video of these events at www.williston.com/video

� Headmaster Brian Wright discusses leadership with middle

school students in Springfield

� Mary Alcock ’84 addresses students, and 13 students are

inducted as new members of The Cum Laude Society

� Students in the Film Club summarize the events of

the Diversity Conference, including workshops presented by

Five College faculty and Williston faculty, students, and alumni

� Kristina Conroy scores her 1,000th career point

� Dredging mishap at Williston Pond

Read Ann Vanderburgh’s reflections on her 32 years at Williston at www.williston.com/AnnVan

See photographs of alumni receptions atwww.williston.com/receptions

Williston students interview visitors in thePhotographers’ Lecture Series at www.williston.com/podcasts

Learn more about Williston+ at www.williston.com/willistonplus

web extras


The Headmaster’sFarewell TourHeadmaster Brian Wright and his wife Janet visited alumni,parents, and friends of the school around the globe at recep-tions held in honor of Dr. Wright’s 11 years of leadership atWilliston. Dr. and Mrs. Wright, who have visited families inAsia each year since the launch of the Campaign for WillistonNorthampton: Legacy & Vision in 2005, extend their sincereappreciation to all of the reception guests and the hosts,listed below, who so warmly welcomed them.

October 27 – Hong KongWaco Wai Kong Ng and Rebecca Ng P’11

October 29 – ShanghaiMark Li P’11

November 5 – TaipeiLung-Pin Ting and Chih-Jan Chen P’11Ding-Hang Lee and Lee Wang P’11

November 8 – Seoul Yongsik Park and Younghee Goo P’11

November 12 – TokyoNobuko Ishii Hirata ’80

November 16 – BangkokChira Sirisamphan ’76

November 20 – VietnamRichard Sherwood, consultant

January 10 – Los AngelesMaria Burgee Dwight LeVesconte ’52

January 14 – San FranciscoDavid Connolly ’83, trustee

February 10 – Palm BeachJohn Hazen White ’76, trustee

March 24 – Washington, DCPeter H. Cressy ’59

March 25 – PhiladelphiaKevin Hoben ’65, trustee

April 7 – New York CityDan Cain ’64 and Jim Cain ’68

April 15 – BostonNed Lynch ’65

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Brian Wright, Wave Riderby Ann Vanderburgh

As I reflect upon Brian’s time at Willis-ton, I consider the fact that I have workedunder four headmasters over the course ofmy career here, and so I have seen somebig transitions in leadership. Given all thatBrian and I have navigated in the course ofour work together, I guess that I shouldn’tbe surprised that the wrench of departureis so much harder for me this time around.When I contemplate all that I have learnedfrom Brian, I realize first and foremost thatI have learned immeasurably from Brian’sability to meet challenges; in particular,from watching him surmount each chal-lenge that he faces. Like a boat riding hugewaves, he rises to the top every time, intactif not unscathed. I have seen Brian takegiant leaps of faith at numerous criticalmoments in making large and small deci-sions for the school, setting pivotal eventsin motion.

From the start of his time here atWilliston, Brian made his commitment toteaching very clear, describing it as “thereal business of the school. ” In asking thatall academic administrators teach at leastone class, Brian has emphasized the importance of staying connected to the

classroom experience, and he has clearlydemonstrated that priority through his own teaching. In my classroom observations as dean of faculty, I have seen firsthand Brian’s work teaching publicspeaking to our ninth graders in English 9.He shows our students how to look attheir inner fears and find ways to workwith them. He emphasizes with them the importance of practicing small actions—eye contact, physical gestures,posture—that will build their confidencenot only for their classroom presentations,but for life. Brian asks his students to lookat what makes them nervous or apprehen-sive about being in front of a group, andthen he shows them how to minimize theimpact of that through breathing, regulatedpace and pitch, focus, and preparation. Inasking his students to look at how theymanage their own anxiety about speaking,he provides them with a rubric for facingpotentially far larger life challenges, bethey internal or external ones.

Brian can size up in an instant the envi-ronment around him. So many times hehas poked his head into my office andknown right away if my day is a good oneor a bad one. In my first year as dean offaculty, I worked all summer, navigatedopening meetings, and then found myselffacing the first day of classes. It was the first

time in 28 years that I was not jumpinginto the typical full-time teaching/coach-ing day, but had only one class to teach. I did not realize how unsettling that was,or what sort of an irreversible loss was entailed by this transition, until Brian cameinto my office that morning to see how Iwas doing. In that moment he knew betterthan I did the depth and finality of themove I was making, and all of the conflict-ing feelings of grief, fear, and excitementfor the unknown future that such a newchallenge brings. I remember all of thoseconflicting emotions welling up as soon as he asked me how I was feeling and whata difference it made to me that he under-stood where I was and what it was like. He sat with me and listened, and somehowI got through that morning.

Occasionally, we have been at cross pur-poses with each other, which is never anyfun. More often, we have been sad for eachother, for the different difficult challengesthat we have each had to face. But mostly,and at the most important moments, we’ve been in sync with each other, in thateffortless way of communicating where weeach can say something that has meaningon several different levels, and where wecan each hear the reply that comes back in the same multifaceted way.

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Brian has been a huge catalyst in mygrowth process, and I am enormouslythankful for all that he has done to helpme find my way. After catapulting me intoa new and life-changing position, he haswatched me forge ahead, perhaps wonder-ing himself what was in store for me. As it

became increasingly clear to both of usthat I would choose not to stay at Willistonbeyond his tenure, Brian became an evenmore active participant in my process,helping me to think things through and tohave faith that the path ahead would un-fold. He has shown me how to ride my

own huge waves, and he has made it clearat many different points that he is confi-dent that I can do it. When my plans formy near-term future finally coalesced, hewas relieved and joyful that my long pe-riod of indecision and soul searching hadresolved itself into a clear vision and a de-termined excitement about a new path,with new challenges. I wish that same joyand excitement for him as he begins hisnew post-Williston life.

Shared Vision BringsSuccessby Chuck McCullagh P’10, ’13

I first met Brian in Virginia, when I in-terviewed with him for Williston’s chief fi-nancial officer position as he was finishingup as headmaster at a day school there andpreparing to move to Easthampton. I thinkwe were both pleased with how that firstmeeting went, because Brian and I arrivedon campus within a few days of each otherin 1999 to assume our new roles at Willis-ton. As I look back over Brian’s tenure atWilliston, one of the reasons we have beenable to work together so successfully is thatwe began at the same time and thereforewent through similar adjustments to ournew surroundings. I also think we shared a

This page, from left: the Zachs Admission Center,renovated in 2000; academic administrators werealso asked to teach a class beginning in 1999;the Children’s Center opened its doors in 2000.

Dr. Wright has taught public speaking

to every class of ninth graders

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similar vision, from the standpoint of theschool’s physical plant, and had compatibleideas regarding the best way to positionWilliston Northampton for success in the21st century.

Under Brian’s leadership, we have seena number of significant improvements. Iam sure that at Reunion Weekend last year,when alumni from Brian’s first year re-turned for their 10th reunion, they found acampus noticeably different from the onethey remembered from their student days.For those alumni, the most noticeablechange on campus was probably the newdorm at 194 Main Street, which opened itsdoors to ninth grade boys in September2008. The first new dormitory built atWilliston in 35 years, 194 Main Street fea-

tures a design that fits in beautifully withthe surrounding neighborhood and a geo-thermal heating system that is environ-mentally friendly and cost-efficient. Whatmany people may not know is that in ad-dition to being a campus jewel, the newdorm is part of Williston’s master plan,which Brian first authorized in 2001 andwhich was updated in 2006.

A key element of the master plan is thecreation of a residential quadrangle behindPhillips Stevens Chapel where the major-ity of our boarding students would ulti-mately live. The new dorm is an importantfirst step towards making that vision a real-ity. Other improvements outlined in themaster plan include moving languageclasses to larger, improved facilities, provid-ing additional space for mathematicsclasses, and renovating the Robert A. WardSchoolhouse so that it is handicap-accessi-ble and air conditioned. There are alsoplans to renovate the Clapp Library tomeet the ever-changing demands for re-search media and materials. Other impor-tant projects defined by the planningprocess under Brian’s leadership includecontinuing the improvements to the Lossone Rink and expanding the DavidFitness Center.

The list of campus changes that havetaken place under Brian’s leadership is extensive. It includes:

� Renovation of Ford Hall.

� Construction and creation of the Children’s Center.

� Creation of Studio Theatre.

� The Haynes Building, the base of operations for the Physical Plant Department.

� Renovation of The Homestead and the creation of the Zachs AdmissionCenter.

� Creation of additional playing fields at Galbraith Fields.

� Squash courts renovation.

� Sawyer Field synthetic playing surfaceand Berube Stadium.

� Conversion of Plimpton Hall to astand-alone college counseling facility.

The eight-lane, latex-cushioned track and synthetic surface field at Galbraith Field, completed in 2006;12 all-weather tennis courts were built in 2006; the dedication of the Wilmot S. Babcock Pool in 2007;the Writing Center has seen thousands of student visits since 2005; Dr. Wright hosted students in hishome after Cum Laude inductions and other formal events.

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� Dedication of the Robert A. WardSchoolhouse.

� Gateway signs at the major street entrypoints to campus.

� Birch Dining Commons improve-ments—window replacement and airconditioning.

� Galbraith Field synthetic field, a neweight-lane track, new tennis courts, anda new athletic grounds maintenancebuilding.

� Four new lighted crosswalks.

� Naming of the Babcock Pool.

� Numerous improvements to LossoneRink, including new locker rooms,bleachers, boards, and glass.

� Dredging of the campus pond.

At the heart of each of these projectshas been Brian’s desire to keep Williston asone of the premier college preparatoryschools in the country while ensuring thatwe build a community that faculty, stu-dents, staff, and alumni are proud to be apart of, one that is also a good neighbor tothe City of Easthampton. Two of the proj-ects that Brian has been most enthusiasticabout—the establishment of a Children’sCenter on campus and the faculty salaryinitiative, which sought to increase facultysalaries in relation to our peer schools—aredirectly related to improving the quality oflife on campus. Additionally, one of the keyphysical plant efforts during Brian Wright’stenure was to improve faculty housing,both the quality and quantity. In that re-gard, we have acquired seventeen contigu-ous properties over the past decade, many

of which provided Williston with addi-tional faculty residences. Many of the on-campus homes and apartments receivedsubstantial improvements and upgrades, in-cluding lead paint abatement, kitchen ren-ovations, and bathroom upgrades. Also,four residences were torn down to allowfor other campus improvements.

I know there are some projects thatBrian would have liked to have completedwhile he was headmaster, most notably anew science building. The fact is, however,that sometimes it is just as difficult to say“no” to a project as it is to go ahead withone; the pressure to constantly build andimprove has to be moderated with a soundfiscal policy which ensures that the schooldoes not take on more than it can handle.Brian has had to walk this line during histime as headmaster, and the list of campusimprovements shows his regard for disci-pline and his concern for the well-being ofWilliston’s community. It doesn’t do any-one any good if we have a campus full ofnew buildings and no one to live and workin them.

More work lies ahead for Williston, butas Brian prepares to depart Williston, heleaves behind a stronger campus, one thatis better than it was when he and I first setfoot on it back in 1999, and a school thatis poised to achieve even greater heights inthe future.

Since 2003, Brian and Janet Wright have hosted dinners for international students; lighted crosswalkshelp ensure safety on campus; Berube Stadium atSawyer Field, dedicated in 2005, allows for all-weatherplay and games “under the lights”; the CommunityGarden, funded by Catherine Skove ’75, will one daysit at the heart of the new residential quad.

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This page: The 194 Main Street dorm, housing ninth grade boys, is attractive and environmentally friendly; Chinese language instruction began in 2008 andcontinues to grow; hundreds of alumni, parents, and friends attended the “Thank You” gala that concluded the Legacy & Vision capital campaign in 2008.Facing page: Students enjoy healthy food in the Birch Dining Commons, renovated and named in 2005; renovations to Lossone Rink were completed in 2007;the Williston+ program expanded the school’s academic offerings.


The Right Choiceby Jim Cain ’64

On a hot June night in 2008, alumni,faculty, and friends of The WillistonNorthampton School gathered on campusto celebrate the conclusion of the mostsuccessful fundraising effort in the historyof the school. Board of Trustees PresidentChuck Tauck ’72 announced the final tallyfrom the stage erected in the Athletic Center: The Campaign for WillistonNorthampton: Legacy & Vision had raised$36.4 million, surpassing the campaign’s$36 million goal. The money raisedboosted the school’s endowment, providedmore resources for faculty, increased finan-cial aid, and funded various campus capitalprojects, most notably the new 194 MainStreet dorm.

That moment would not have beenpossible if a lot of people had not put in alot of hard work to make it happen. Andnone of those people would have beenable to work so hard towards such a wor-thy goal unless a few people had the visionthat Williston could, indeed, launch—andmore importantly, complete—a successfulcapital campaign. One of those peoplewho was instrumental in moving the capi-tal campaign from a dream to a reality wasBrian Wright.

I was a member of the board whenHeadmaster Denny Grubbs announcedthat he would be retiring, and I was askedto become a member of the search com-mittee to find Denny’s successor. After aseries of meetings, visits to schools, and reference checks, we all became painfullyaware that finding someone as capable asDenny was going to be a greater challengethan we had anticipated. When the searchcommittee met in my office in New Yorkwith the intent to make a selection betweenour two finalists, our search consultantkicked off that meeting by announcingthat one of the candidates had withdrawnher application, so we were left with onlyone. It was obvious that the remainingcandidate was not the first choice of aclear majority. Someone on the committeehad the nerve and foresight to recommendwe step back and start over. In hindsight, itwas the best decision the committee hadmade up to that point. Rather than feeldefeated and deflated, we raised our sightsand decided to pursue a seated head whowould be attracted by both a change ofscenery and the potential Williston held.When I met Brian, I was immediatelytaken by his energy, insights, and passionfor making our school an even betterplace to educate young people. And that

impression has changed little over hiseleven years as headmaster.

When Williston’s Board of Trusteesvoted in September 2002 to go ahead withthe $36 million Legacy & Vision campaign,there was considerable doubt among manypeople about whether Williston could pulloff such an ambitious campaign. After all,Williston is a school that for many yearsrelied on the largesse of its founder,Samuel Williston, and a true culture of giv-ing had never really taken root at the

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school. I have to admit I was among theskeptics who doubted Williston’s ability tosucceed in a campaign of the size beingconsidered. Brian worked hard to help theboard recognize that Williston neededmore in the way of financial resources inorder to keep pace with other schools of-fering similar opportunities for teenagers.At the campaign kickoff celebration in2005, which also took place on a hot Junenight on campus, Brian stood at thepodium and told the more than 700alumni and friends gathered there that thetime was right for a campaign. “This is anopportunity to ensure the next generationan even better Williston Northampton education by solidifying the strength and

reputation of the school,” he said. “Ourgoal is to ensure that we become one ofthe nation’s leading independent schoolswhile maintaining our unique mission andculture.” Fast forward to a few years later,and we were celebrating the largest andmost successful campaign in the school’shistory.

This June, when alumni and friendsgather on campus on what we hope isNOT another hot June night, we will havethe chance to say thank you and farewellto Brian and Janet Wright. We will cele-brate the time they spent here, thank themfor their service to the school, and wishthem well in the future. And we will all remind ourselves that because of achieve-

ments like the campaign, Brian leaves behind a stronger school than the one he joined when he became headmaster in 1999.

We owe a lot to Brian and also to ChrisBiehn, Williston’s former chief advance-ment officer, who drove us to realize a po-tential in our school’s community wedidn’t fully recognize at the time. We alsoshouldn’t forget to be grateful for the can-didate who withdrew her application forthe headmaster’s position that ultimatelybecame Brian’s. Without her decision, whoknows how things might have turned out?

BULLETINBULLETINS P R I N G 2 0 0 9

T h e W i l l i s t o n N o r t h a m p t o n S c h o o l

Smith College Mt. Holyoke

College

Hampshire College

AmherstCollege

UMass

Left: Jim Cain ’64 speaks at Reunion 2009.Below: The Brian and Janet Wright Scholarshipwill allow more students to experience what Dr.Wright calls “the gift of a Williston education.”

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In June, after all of the students have gone home, the seniors have been sent on their way to college, and

the alumni who celebrated Reunion have returned to their post-Williston Northampton lives full of

fresh memories, Ann Vanderburgh will leave Williston after 32 years of service to the school. She will

mark the transition to a new phase of her life by traversing Vermont’s Green Mountains via the 270-

mile Long Trail, America’s oldest long-distance hiking trail. When she returns from the trail, she will

begin training to become a pastoral counselor, which means that people who find themselves in hospital

will enjoy the devotion and compassion that has distinguished Ann Van’s relationships with nearly two gen-

erations of the Williston family.

Hiking the Long Trail is an appropriate way for Ann tocommemorate her years of service to Williston, because notonly is Ann an accomplished hiker, but she also appreciatesthe value of the journey and the lessons a person can learnalong the way. Ann’s Williston journey began in 1978 whenshe was hired as a math teacher. Ann’s deep faith in humangoodness quickly made her a vital member of the commu-nity, and she made a strong connection with one of the firstclasses to get to know her. The class of 1983 dedicated thatyear’s Log to Ann with these words, “She is more than ateacher, she is a friend.”

Ann and I have been colleagues for twenty-five years, and I’ve always admired her. One reason why is that she challenges the stereotype of the traditional prep schoolteacher—she is not the scholar/coach/Pied Piper we see depicted in movies like Dead Poets Society. In contrast to thatimage, Ann strives to learn with her students, to help themgrow through self-empowering athletic experiences, and toenjoy the quiet conversation with an advisee workingthrough a tough situation. Ann and I have contrasting teach-ing styles, but when I came to Williston in 1985, she im-pressed me immediately with her empathy and her ability tosupport a diverse range of students. She showed me the value


Happy Trails, Ann Vanby Peter Gunn

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in drawing energy from our students and that great learning comesfrom us being ready to be taught by young people.

Despite the differences in our approaches, we discovered thatour shared interest in social justice made us good allies. Ann and I worked together on the inclusion of sexual orientation in ournon-discrimination policy. While in 2010 that may seem like nobig deal, twenty years ago we stood alone before the faculty in ask-ing for a vote that would open Williston up to many teachers andstudents who might otherwise never have joined this community.Ann deserves credit for believing that we could invite the facultyto say out loud what she knew we felt in our hearts. When the his-tory of Williston over the past thirty years is written, that examplewill stand out and echo its testimony to the vision, courage, anddedication of Ann Vanderburgh.

Ann began at Williston as a math teacher; she steps down asDean of Faculty. In between, she’s also been a dorm parent, coach,advisor, mentor, and friend. Along the way, Ann has accumulatedsignificant honors, including the Karin O’Neil Instructorship andbeing elected to Cum Laude by her peers. But anyone who knows

Ann knows that she measures her impact on the school not interms of dry lists, but in hugs, letters, and warm memories. Fromthe math classroom to the playing fields to the dorms and espe-cially to those quiet spaces where we face ourselves most directly,Ann Vanderburgh has provided everyone she’s met with support,teaching, and love. She leaves behind her own long trail of stu-dents, parents, alumni, and colleagues who have been touched byher compassion, empathy, wisdom, and, of course, her famous,handwritten letters that she often began composing in her mindwhile out hiking.

The poet Emme Woodhull-Bache remarked that you need spe-cial shoes for hiking, and a bit of a special soul as well. And afterworking closely with Ann for 25 years, I know that she does, in-deed, have a special soul.

Thank you, Ann, for making Williston a better place to be.

Read Ann Van’s personal reflections on her 32 years at theschool at www.williston.com/AnnVan.

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You may have heard the theory of studying by osmosis—put the book on your head and theknowledge will naturally move from the area ofhigh concentration—the book—to the area of lowconcentration—your brain. The merits of such a

system are dubious at best, so if you happened to walk by hisEnglish class, you shouldn’t have been fooled into thinkingthat Paul Sonerson was engaging in junk science when hetold his students to place their assignment books on theirheads. Instead, this is just one method Paul used to help hisstudent focus for the day, an exercise that had the addedbenefit of virtually guaranteeing that every student wouldbring their assignment book with them to school every day.It’s also part of the art of teaching, which often involvesmuch more than just lecturing and grades. Ask Paul whatteaching is about, and he’ll say that it is about the “dailywork of trying to put skills into the hands of the student sothat they can ask hard questions and engage hard questions.”

When the Middle School holds its annual Closing Ceremony in May, the eighth graders won’t be the onlyones saying goodbye to Whitaker-Bement: English teacherPaul Sonerson has decided to retire after a 27-year career at Williston.

Committed. Passionate. Energetic. Connected. These arethe words people use most often to describe Paul, and ifyou’ve had the privilege to spend any time with Paul,whether in the classroom, the Dining Commons, or out onthe quad playing kick ball or Ultimate, you know that thoseterms are spot-on. Paul brings his high energy and torch-like focus to whatever he does, whether it be organizing aVeterans Day assembly for students and faculty, working as afaculty representative for Williston’s Annual Fund, or teach-ing students in his fitness class how they can be healthy forthe rest of their lives.

Paul spent most of his time at Williston teaching Englishto seventh and ninth graders, and for the past few years, only

A Passionate Manby Andrew Shelffo

Refereeing the 2010 Dodge Ball Tournament

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to seventh graders. He chose to focus on thesegrades because he sees them as crucial times toreach out to students, because they are transitiontimes between elementary school and middleschool, and between middle school and highschool. And it is during these times when it is important to help “build a foundation of thought,”as he puts it.

Paul will be remembered as a teacher whopushed his students to do their best work. AnnVanderburgh, Williston’s dean of faculty and a col-league of Paul’s for all of his time here, states thatPaul “clearly encourages students to push them-selves, to take risks in their learning, and to reachfor high standards.” But even as he pushes, Annsays, “Paul’s sense of humor and love of being with students shines through.” Director of theMiddle School Sarah Kotwicki wrote in Paul’s2009 faculty evaluation that Paul is “an invaluablepart of the success of our Middle School.”

Everyone at Williston will miss his energy, in-tensity, and his passion for teaching, but we willalways value his friendship, and we thank him forwhat he has given to the school and wish himhappiness and good health in his retirement.

Paul is “an invaluable

part of the success

of our Middle School.”

—Head of the Middle School Sarah Grubbs Kotwicki

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Brian Wright recalls a gathering of the Guild of NewYork City School Heads some years ago. “A longstand-ing head of school who must have been there for fortyyears got up and essentially said that he had been ‘theheadmaster in the days of real men. When I was head-master I was my own development director, my ownbusiness manager, my own admission officer, my owncommunications director. I didn’t have any of those

people doing those jobs. I did them all. Clearly you’re all doing onesixth of the job that I did.’” It is unlikely that many in the roomshared that point of view. In the 169 years since the first Willistonhead, Luther Wright (no relation), took office, the job has changed. Asdifferent responsibilities have been shed or delegated and new oneshave arisen, the challenge of balancing the demands of different con-stituencies has also evolved.

The first challenge came from founder Samuel Williston himself.Sam had certain expectations of his Principal,as the office was then called. In his Constitu-tion of Williston Seminary (1841), he states,“No person shall be appointed Principal ...who is not a professor of the Christian Reli-gion, and a man of reputed piety, of exem-plary manners, of good natural abilities andliterary acquirements, well acquainted withhuman nature, and apt to both govern andteach.” Beyond these character attributes,

Williston set down few specifics in the job description, but the Princi-pal was to offer “concurrence” in the adoption of rules and regulationsestablished by the faculty, and to “exercise a general supervision overall the Classes and Departments.” He was to report annually to thetrustees on the condition of the Seminary. In the beginning, the hiringof faculty remained the responsibility of the board.

Samuel Williston wrote that “In consideration of the peculiar andresponsible duties thus imposed upon him, it is deemed proper andeven desirable, that the Principal not be employed during the entireperiod of school hours, in the work of immediate, daily instruction.”That ideal of remaining above the fray of daily class work was imprac-tical from the start. Every Williston Principal throughout the 19thcentury spent the larger portion of his time in the classroom. JosephSawyer (faculty, 1866-1919; headmaster 1884-1886 and 1896-1919)was never happier than when he got out of the office to traipsearound Easthampton with his surveying class. Sawyer himself com-mented on the difference in classroom style between the second prin-cipal, Josiah Clark (served 1849-1863), and the third, MarshallHenshaw (1863-1876): “With Josiah Clark a good recitation was a joyfor all day. With Marshall Henshaw a mangled translation was highwaymurder.”

But it seems clear that Samuel Williston was looking for a manager,rather than academic leader. Luther Wright, whom the founder hadknown since boyhood, had established an innovative science curricu-lum as principal of Leicester Academy in the 1830s. That credentialgot Williston’s attention. Moreover, Williston had pegged Wright as theman who could run the Seminary with the same efficiency that Sam’s

plant managers ran the factories. It was not for nothing that the facultycalled him “Boss Wright” when his back was turned. But there had re-ally never been any question of who was in charge. Williston, backedby a board entirely comprised of his friends and relations, held thepurse strings and expected to make the big decisions.

Shortly after Marshall Henshaw began work in 1863, he was calledinto the Presence. According to Henshaw’sown account of the interview, Samuel Willis-ton was blunt. “I wish you to understand, Mr.Henshaw, that I do not intend ever to giveWilliston Seminary another penny. I haveoften wished the whole thing at the bottomof the sea. It has failed to accomplish thechief object I had in founding it. I desired toestablish not only a first class Classical school,but especially an English [i.e., Scientific]

Seminary, where young men, who could not go to College, could ob-tain the full equivalent of the English part of a College Course. Well,they tell me the Classical department does pretty well, but the Englishdepartment is nothing more than a Country High School. I supposethere was no call for such a school as I proposed.”

Henshaw, who had left a Rutgers professorship to come to East-hampton, and who was recently widowed with two children to sup-port, must have been appalled. So he did what perhaps no one elsehad never done: he stood up to Sam Williston. In essence, he told


The Changing Role of the Headmasterby Richard Teller ’70, archivist

Joseph Sawyer with his surveying class, ca. 1905

Luther Wright

Marshall Henshaw


Williston that he ought to leave educational decisions to educators.Give me the money and the autonomy, said Henshaw, and I’ll give youa science program to rival Harvard’s. Williston was impressed, so muchso that he immediately funded two new faculty positions, authorizedthe purchase of elaborate European laboratory apparatus, and, almostas a bonus, began construction on a gymnasium. Williston and Henshaw quickly established a good working relationship, which developed into a close friendship.

In the wake of Williston’s death in 1876, factions on the faculty anda newly assertive board served to force Henshaw’s resignation. Therefollowed two decades of retrenchment and mediocrity at the Semi-nary. Henshaw’s successor, James Morris Whiton, was a train wreck.Whiton had Henshaw’s assertiveness but none of his talent, plus a spe-cial gift for inspiring rebellion among his student charges. He lastedonly two tumultuous years. The next two principals, Joseph W. Fair-banks and William Gallagher, appear to have been selected by theboard because they were “safe.” Their records as leaders at Willistonrender them nearly invisible to history.

For the trustees had co-opted the leadership, and with it, the po-tential for change. They seemed committed to preserving SamuelWilliston’s original vision which, as the decades passed, became lessrelevant to the educational demands of the later 19th century. In addi-tion, neither the board nor the principals were able to resolve the fi-nancial issues created by the absence of Samuel Williston’s bottomlesscheckbook. Williston had left the school an endowment, but much ofit was pegged to long-term securities, or to industrial enterprises thatwere no longer productive. Whether by personal preference or boarddesign, Fairbanks and Gallagher were content to focus on daily aca-demics, without any real effort to create or influence long-term plans.

During this time of front-office figure-heads, much of the actual administration ap-pears to have devolved to Joseph Sawyer, anapparently tireless polymath who appeared toenjoy day-to-day management and who hadthe respect and affection of virtually everyone.When Fairbanks suddenly resigned in 1884,the trustees asked Sawyer to serve as interimprincipal. Two year later, Sawyer had to re-

mind his handlers that they had intended his service to be temporary.The board hired William Gallagher. When Gallagher stepped down in1896, the board again turned to Sawyer, and offered him the positionin his own right. Sawyer had neither sought, nor particularly desired,the honor. Having served on the faculty for thirty years, he was wellaware of the malaise under which the school had been operating. Heappears to have accepted the position with one major provision: thathe be given the authority actually to do the job.

Perhaps a younger and less inward-looking board was more willingto accept this. Perhaps they assumed that Sawyer, at 54 already olderthan any of his predecessors had been when they stepped down,would stay on for a few uneventful years before retirement. But 22years later, when Sawyer finally did retire, he had reformed the schooltop to bottom, from the curriculum to the budget, established suchmodern policies as school-sponsored athletics and in loco parentis, and

for the first time, begun serious fundraising among alumni and friends.A new model had been established, in which much of the vision forWilliston’s present and future resided on the campus, while thetrustees, in a strong partnership rather than supervisory role, providedthe means and strategy for such vision to become real. Such a partner-ship enabled Sawyer’s successors, Archibald Galbraith (served 1919-1949) and Phillips Stevens (1949-1972) to accomplish, with theirboards, extraordinary leaps forward in the expansion of the school,growth of the curriculum, improvement of academic standards, devel-opment of a new campus, and move to coeducation.

That balance continues today. Brian Wright notes that, “we’re in agood place; I think there’s a role for everybody involved: the head, theboard, and the faculty.” During his time, “the board has had somestrong ideas, but at the same time they also were looking to me and to

the school to make them real, and not topush us to do things that were not com-fortable ... what are things we could doand still stay true to who we are? I thinkthere’s been a really good push-me, pull-you dynamic going on between theboard and the school for most of the bigpicture issues.”

Joseph Sawyer ran his own shop. Hewas the last to do so. The tenures ofArchibald Galbraith and Phillips Stevenssaw the creation of positions for business

manager, athletic director (initially the same person!), director of ad-mission, alumni secretary, dean of students, director of college coun-seling, and director of development. Since the 1970s those offices haveevolved and expanded, while the school has added associate and assis-tant heads, a dean of the faculty, and a variety of assistant deans, associ-ate directors, and coordinators. There’s even an archivist. All thesethreads come together on the head’s desk. Striking the balance amongday-to-day administration, long-range planning, and fundraising pres-ents very special challenges.

“Certainly all heads of schools these days have to be more con-cerned about fundraising and business matters,” notes Brian Wright.Some argue “that the model should change: They should no longerget school people to run schools; they should be looking for corporatepeople or business people or something of that sort. I think that’swrong-headed, but I understand what they’re driving at.” It is for thisreason that Brian has taught throughout his eleven years at Williston,presenting a three-week public speaking component in every sectionof English 9. He is the first Williston head since Sawyer to have spentsignificant time in front of a classroom.1 “I really felt that it was impor-tant when you’re being pulled [toward external matters] to keep youranchor at the other end, too; to keep your feet in the school, becauseif you don’t, you can very easily find yourself pulled entirely awayfrom the day-to-day nature of what the school is.”

1Northampton School for Girls founders and Co-Principals Sarah

Whitaker and Dorothy Bement (served 1924-1962) taught, respectively,

Religion and French throughout their long careers.

Joseph Sawyer


1932Mary Kimball HollandEquinox Terrace324 Equinox Terrace RoadManchester Center, VT 05255-9253(802) 362-7213

1933Donald Cook16779 Timmons RoadSpring Run, PA 17262-9704(717) 349-7879

Ethel Ham Palmer25 Neelen DriveWyckoff, NJ 07481-2407(201) 891-1595

75th Reunion1935Frank Conant314 Bassett Brook DriveEasthampton, MA 01027-1077(413) 529-0809

1939John Williams2423 East New York AvenueDeland, FL 32724(386) [email protected]

70th Reunion1940Irving Callman239 N. Charlotte StreetLancaster, PA 17603-3403(717) [email protected]

Sarah Showalter Hubbard10964 SE Sea Pines CircleHobe Sound, FL 33455(772) [email protected]

As John Williams ’39 says, “Beingin touch with classmates is fun.My recent phone calls have beenlong overdue and rewarding. Evenwith new hips and knees, im-paired hearing, frail bodies andaches and pains, many soundedmore positive about the hope ofreturning this June for our 70thReunion than five years ago!”Priscilla August Glovsky hopes tocome. She has five great-grand-children. Can anyone match that?Doris Fitch Pendleton and AileenO’Brien O’Donnell are, as always,enthused and hopeful. I believeDoris was our only representativefive years ago. Let’s support her

this year. Annette ChurchillHodesh has two new hips and aknee but is not keen on flying.Any rides available from the AnnArbor area? Barbara Dow Merrillwill try to leave Florida early inorder to attend. She travels by carwith two dogs, but does not driveherself. Rebecca Grafton Sparks inColorado visits her daughter, a retired doctor, in Maine eachsummer. Hopefully, she can com-bine her yearly visit with a stop atReunion. Betty Huber Billingsdoes as I do and comes northeach summer. Last year it was hercollege; this year NSFG is calling.Nancy Traill Soderberg reportsthat June is a busy time for themin Maine, but she will try to comefor at least part of the weekend. Ihad a delightful chat with ConnieMoskal Litsey who sounds just asvibrant as I remember her. She is

William Rittase (1887-1968) was a Philadelphia-based photographer whose modern reputation is based primarily on his industrial images, particularly ofconstruction and railroad scenes. On several occasions between 1936 and 1945 he worked as a catalog photographer for both Northampton School forGirls and Williston Academy.

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not able to travel but sends herbest wishes. I sent postal remindersto all with whom I spoke, and Ishall still try to track down a fewothers of you for whom I do nothave a good address or phonenumber. Let’s make a goodshowing. Stay well and makeyour plans to attend now. In thisset of class notes, Aileen O’BrienO’Donnell and I also wish tojoin with all NorthamptonSchool for Girls alumnae whoremember with great affectionand appreciation the life ofCharlotte Turgeon FF. She wasnamed Alumnae Secretary in1967 which was followed by herpromotion to Assistant Develop-ment Director in 1972. Her enthusiasm and devotion literallysaved us; no one could have beenmore dedicated and involved whenit was badly needed before themerger with Williston Academy.

–Sarah

1941William McClelland781 Colrain RoadGreenfield, MA 01301-9704(413) 774-4406

1943Mary Ann Thomas Cash2002 Battlecreek Drive Apt 11106Fort Collins, CO 80528-6220(970) 207-9373

Richard Pickett431 Oriental Poppy DriveVenice, FL [email protected]

Harding Reemsnyder460 Saw Mill RoadGuilford, CT 06437(203) [email protected]

65th Reunion1945William Williams56 Birchwood LaneLincoln, MA 01773-4908(781) 259-8079

1946Charles Burke11 Winding LaneSpringfield, MA 01118-1959(413) [email protected]

Elizabeth Ockenden Loweth76 Powell StreetRichmond Hill ON L4C4S4Canada(905) [email protected]

1947Caroline Gavin Arnold172 State StreetAmherst, MA 01002(413) [email protected]

Kenneth Barratt2059 W. Placita De EneroGreen Valley, AZ 85614-5433(520) [email protected]

1948Lois Hicks Coerper7315 Brookville RoadChevy Chase, MD 20815-4057(301) [email protected]

Stanley Gedney27 Gatto LanePearl River, NY 10965(845) [email protected]

I’m writing this from sunnyFlorida as my wife, Fern, and I arespending a month with mydaughter in Fort Lauderdale. It’sgreat to get out of the bitter coldfor a little while. You may not

realize one of the key responsibil-ities of being a class representativeis to ask you to make your gift tothe Annual Fund. I think theamount of money that you giveto our alma mater is important,but that you participate is evenmore important. This year we areundertaking the crucial challengeof increasing our alumni partici-pation in the Annual Fund. Don’tforget our Annual Fund yearcloses June 30th. I urge you tomake every effort to participate. Ifind it most satisfying to talk toyou, my classmates, about what isgoing on in your lives. Because ofthe complexity of life in general, Iwould very much appreciate youcontacting me when there isnews that we would all be inter-ested in. Lately, we have had somedistressing news. Wally Novak’49, not an official member of ourclass, but a good friend and team-mate, had a medical setback fromhis service in the U.S. Army. Forthe last couple of months, he hasbeen in a VA facility in Leeds,MA. I think he would be happyto hear from you. His phonenumber is 413-695-8700. Anotherclassmate, Robert (Booper)LaPrade, who has been workingin the government for manyyears, has had a couple of setbacksand has returned to Easthamptonto reside with his sister on Ply-mouth Avenue. Mario DiMarzo’47passed away on November 13thafter a lengthy battle with cancer.Mario leaves us with fond mem-ories of good times, a lot oflaughs and winning ball games.Recently, I’ve spoken with AlanCarter who is living in Tampa,FL. Alan completed his tour ofduty with the Air Force where hewas a full colonel in the intelli-gence section. Al never fails tosend me highly interesting andinformative emails. He’s enjoyinghis retirement. Had a pleasantchat with Curt Richards at hishome in Enfield, CT. He sendsgreetings to all of our classmates.Jim and Barbara Ubertalli havebeen spending time in Croton,NY, where their daughter, Don-nalee, has bought a new home.Lucky for me, it’s close to ourhome in Pearl River, NY. We’vebeen able to get together a coupleof times in the past few months.It’s amazing to me that when wetalk or get together, how com-fortable it is to pick up where weleft off some time ago. Oldfriends remain good friends.

–Stan

1949William BushnellP.O. Box 483Epsom, NH 03234(603) [email protected]

60th Reunion1950Priscilla Ruder Lucier30 Thyme LaneOsterville, MA 02655(508) [email protected]

Robert Sunter11066 French Creek RoadPalo Cedro, CA 96073-9527(530) [email protected]

Some numbers-crunching that Idid with the Williston Class of’50 roster revealed the following:Of our 80-some-odd classmates,there are 28 known to havepassed on; 11 that the school doesnot know how to contact or whohave requested that they not becontacted—perhaps some ofthese 11 are on the “passed on”list or maybe have spent time inprison and would prefer that itnot be revealed; and 15 who haveso far responded to my plea forupdates since I became class cor-respondent in 2007. This leavesabout 26 remaining to be heardfrom. If you are one of these 26,please respond to the requestsstated at the end of this note. InWilliston news, I received anemail from John Anz ’82’s associ-ate, Allison Gomes, that John,who served Williston Northamp-ton for eight years as the Directorof Alumni Relations, recently resigned to accept a position atCamp Becket Chimney CornersYMCA as Director of the AnnualFund and Alumni Relations. John,Allison, and I had developed arapport through written andphone correspondence that wasoften a reflection of our sharedsense of humor. For example, Ioften chided John about his beingin charge of squashing programsat the school. (Actually he was asquash coach.) Even though I willreally miss John, I am looking for-ward to a continuing correspon-dence with Allison. I receivedcommunication from two of ouraccomplished classmates. RonRubin recently stepped downafter his 20-year tenure as Chair-man of the Department of Phar-macology and Toxicology at theState University of New York. Atan event in Saratoga Springs, NY,he had an opportunity to reestab-

Back row L-R: Michael, Tristan (two), and Lorie Hokemas; Middle row L-R:June, Julie, and Bob Sunter ‘50; Front row L-R: Owen (five), Jane, Oliver (1 1/2), and Stephen Osborn.

lish ties with some fellow Willistonalumni. He credits his Willistonexperience as indirectly openingmany doors for him. Ron hintedthat he just might return to East-hampton for our Reunion in June.I also received a phone call fromBob Alden. At the conclusion ofour lengthy conversation, I wasstruck by the observation that,while I find my own memory tobe flawed and gradually fading,Bob possesses the most remark-able and detailed memory that Ihave witnessed in anyone our age.Bob’s accomplishments are so numerous that I cannot do justiceto them all in the limits of theseclass notes. After Williston, Bobattended George WashingtonUniversity where he earned threedegrees with the highest standing.Following graduation, he embarkedon a career as a reporter with theCleveland Press, later moving on toThe Washington Post (the newspapersometimes jokingly referred to asthe “Washington Compost”) wherehe worked for a time as a sports reporter. Bob rose rapidly in thePost organization and was eventu-ally appointed editor, a positionhe held for the next 40 years. Heretired from the Post in 2000 aftera record-breaking streak of 3,300days of not missing a day of work.Bob became President of the National Press Club in 1976.While living in McLean, VA, heand Diane, his wife of 47 years,raised four children and now havefour grandchildren and one great-grandson. In 1975, the FairfaxCounty Board of Supervisorsnamed the Robert Amps AldenTheater as an honor to him forhis many community contribu-tions. In other life events, Bobwas acquainted with Bowie Kuhnwho became the well-knowncommissioner of baseball, and heshared an honor bestowed by his

alma mater, George WashingtonUniversity, with an old friend,Red Auerbach, the legendarycoach of the Boston Celtics. InMay 2005, Bob also received thedistinguished alumni achievementaward from GW. Bob is exten-sively involved with theLewisville Presbyterian Church,holding a number of leadershippositions there. Bob and Dianedivide their time between theirhomes in Virginia and Vermont,and several years ago, Bob was invited by our own headmaster togive the annual convocation ad-dress at Williston. There is quite abit more, but I will quit now. Ifyou would like a copy of the fullreport I received, Bob can becontacted at [email protected]. Also, you can find fur-ther information in the classnotes in the Bulletins of 2000,2004, 2005, and 2007 submittedby Al Shuttleworth. In addition toBob Alden, there are notes aboutWally Sweet, Bob Couch, ClayHardon, Bob Capece, Jon Rosner,and Bob Sunter (me). I will con-clude these class notes with a repeat of the two requests that Istated in the class notes of the Fall2009 Bulletin: Please make a con-certed effort to join me and yourother classmates at our 60th Reunion in June. Who knowshow many of us will still bearound and be able to be at our75th Reunion in 2025? At age 93I definitely plan to be there! Andplease, submit a brief biographyof what your life after Willistonturned out to be and what youare up to now. I am sure that I amnot the only one of your class-mates who is interested in hear-ing about you. My warmestregards to all.

–Bob

1951Sally Poole Farnham-Jaferian308 S. Santa Anita AvenuePasadena, CA 91107-5275(626) [email protected]

Susan Cross Hunter93 Glengarry RoadStratham, NH 03885-2152(603) 778-7600

1952James Walles473 Lake View DriveFort Mill, SC 29715(803) [email protected]

Alan Galbraith and his wife,Diane, have been volunteering tohelp the Alpha Omega Institute(AOI) in Grand Junction, CO, formany years. Although their homeis in Jackson, WY, their associationwith AOI has taken them tomany states to teach Biblical Creation concepts. This year, theyare teaching at a host churchwhich is near the home of LarryBall and Bobbi June Fisher-Ball.The Balls were thrilled to be ableto make their Grand Junctionhome available to the Galbraithsfor their teaching venue. It hasbeen several years since Larry wasable to visit with them, and theyhad many memories of WillistonAcademy and The WillistonNorthampton School to share.They shared a group hike in theColorado National Monumentwhere the scenery and weatherwere just spectacular. Larry andBobbi June have been enjoyingfrequent church activities andabundant fly fishing on numerouswestern rivers.

1953Donald Cutting3940 Sierra DriveHonolulu, HI 96816-3343(808) [email protected]

1954Francoise Dearden Bartlett5 Timberland PassChappaqua, NY 10514-1812(914) [email protected]

Alan Lazarus31 Carpenter’s RidgeCincinnati, OH 45241-3273(513) [email protected]

Lots of news to report at thistime. Many of you already knowthat our Joel Schiavone has put usthrough an emotional ringersince New Year’s 2010. While skiing with his sons in Vermont

over New Year’s weekend, Joeltook a bad fall. He could not getup on his own and had to betaken down the mountain by skipatrol. He was then transportedto a Brattleboro hospital with asevere hip injury. Fortunately, hisfamily communicated with hisNew Haven internist, who toldthem to have him moved to theDartmouth-Hitchcock MedicalCenter in Lebanon, NH, an out-standing trauma center. Almostfour weeks and several surgeriesand other procedures later, Joelhas emerged from the HitchcockICU/Critical Care unit where hewas on major life support most ofthe time. Joel’s feistiness helpedhim through that ordeal. Besidesseverely damaging one of his hips(now surgically repaired), he gen-erally smashed himself up badly.Remember that a few years agohe had a major heart procedure?Since then, he has been on bloodthinners, which probably intensi-fied a lot of internal bleeding, resulting in at least two long sur-geries. Other things happenedwhile he was in the aforemen-tioned unit. Ventilators, monitors,tubes…you can imagine his fearsand frustration. Guess who ulti-mately physically removed at leastsome of the life support? You gotit! What a man! Staff eventuallydetermined that with the aid of afeeding tube, Joel was receivingand digesting food as he should.With that final step in place, theyfelt there was no medical need tokeep him in New Hampshire, andhe was transferred to Gaylord inWallingford, CT, for a long periodof rehabilitation (we are talkingphysical rehabilitation—mental/moral rehab is probably not an option). Once he is stronger, hemight appreciate a visit. Myguess…he has a lot of work to doto get ready for our next Reunion.We are asking him to not chompat the bit so much that it takes afurther toll on him. We are tiredof praying for his recovery. WhenBill Opsahl first informed me ofJoel’s accident I, in turn, con-tacted the family and, recognizedas one of Joel’s frequent email exchangers, was asked to be theirspokesperson to the Willistonfamily. They have been besiegedby all the people in Joel’s posse.He has quite a few friends…believe that? Please, those of youwho are getting this news for thefirst time, send me your email address. Write to [email protected] send some news on yourlife…good, bad, or whatever.Now for some sad news: Jack


Alan Galbraith ’52 (left) and Larry Ball ’52 (right) hike in the Colorado National Monument. Larry is sporting a WNS cap!

McGrail passed away on October13th. According to his wife, Car-ole, he had another stroke. “Hisashes were put in the Bay heloved so much.” He lived in KeyLargo, FL. Was there ever a nicerguy with a more perfect smile?Bill Opsahl and I have communi-cated regularly since Joel’s acci-dent. He helped me set up thebroadcast emails on Joel’s progress.Bill is busy with his singing (anactual Whiffenpoof) plus attend-ing to his family which now con-sists of several nationalities andreligions. Bill wrote that he has aNorwegian name, is part BostonIrish (mother’s side) and has Jew-ish grandkids. Jerry Rosen wintersin a great area just west of PalmBeach, FL, plays a lot of tennis inthe Florida Inter-Condo SeniorLeague, and keeps his days full ofactivities. Ed Peters has retiredfrom the faculty of the Universityof Pennsylvania as of June 30,2009. He is now the HenryCharles Lea Professor Emeritus ofHistory and lives in Guilford, CT,not far from the Schiavones. EdLonergan and his wife, Nancy,also live nearby in Old Saybrook.They have been great prayers forJoel’s recovery. Dick Lightfoot,who lives in Hadlyme, CT, helpedme get in touch with the Loner-gans. Dave Salzman is as active asanyone I know at our age. “Prob-ably, like most of us, I have a fewmedical issues that have slowedbut not stopped me.” He’s engag-ing in worthwhile activities as atraveler, sportsman, and volunteer,and divides his time betweenFlorida and New Hampshire. BillChilds lives in Dorset, VT, andplays that rugged game of plat-form tennis which, I know first-hand, can really do a number onone’s knees. Lucky him. WarrenRival P’78 and Jean Rival P’78still live in Laconia, NH, andseem to be doing quite well. Nocomplaint mentioned. BoyntonHussey checked in sounding justfine. Joel Katz is in constant con-tact with me and has been veryconcerned about the Banjo man.Likewise for Marc Richman. I justhad an email exchange with JoeTopor who is spending January inMexico. Cartel? Dodging bullets?Pun intended. I did speak withKamel Hassan who we werehappy to see at the 55th. BillJudge and I spoke for quite awhilelast week. Bill lives inWilliamstown, MA, and wasmost pleasant to speak with. Iam trying to catch up with RayMontgomery who is an author.Let me say one thing that I mean

from the bottom of my heart:More than ever before, I havefound out that Williston gave us a“tie that binds.” The response toJoel’s accident and news updatesare only part of the emails that Ihave received. Your news is important as well. On behalf ofJoel, Donna, and myself, I thankeach and every one of you forbeing who you are and for shar-ing your deep, deep feelings.Hope to hear from more of you.Go Joel, go!

–Alan (Laz)

55th Reunion1955Joanna Ewing Jones1077 Washington StreetBath, ME 04530-2742(207) [email protected]

Samuel Morey2170 South Quail RunCottonwood, AZ 86326(928) [email protected]

On January 6, 2010, I contacted29 of 67 classmates for whom Ihave email addresses. I remindedthem of three things: Class Noteswere due, the Annual Fund, andour 55th Reunion June 4through June 6, 2010. I will try tobe there, but I continue havinglocomotion problems due to osteoporosis. I’ve lost four inchesin height. I hope it has stabilized.Steve Britt plans to be there andwill work on the reunion com-mittee. Jack Hathaway probablywill not be there because of aconflict (wife Trudi’s 50th collegereunion) but will work on the reunion committee. Howie Sheais iffy on being there, but proba-bly would work on the reunioncommittee. He, and wife June,were very busy working on char-itable causes such as the SalvationArmy from prior to Thanksgivingthrough New Year’s. ChipIde plans to be there, and I imag-ine he would work on the reunioncommittee. Finally, Guy Cambriawill try to be there. He said, “Ihave shrunk four inches and amunder treatment for multiplemyeloma (a cancer of the bonemarrow). The chemo hit me hardthe first time, but an adjustmentand subsequent treatments havebeen pain free. Everyone seems tofear the bone marrow test, butmine was almost painless so if youmust have it, do not fear.” He alsowrote, “Also have lost fiftypounds, which takes me back toWilliston days.” His multiple

myeloma is “incurable but man-ageable. I feel very fortunate. Myfamily has responded very well,and, because my daughter can runher DC consulting business fromher Blackberry, she has been herethrough the worst, which again,was not bad at all. My son teachesat Concord Academy in Massa-chusetts, and comes down once aweek. I sold the boat and ammaking adjustments to daily liv-ing with the help of my wife,Barbara, who keeps track ofeverything.” Guy’s courage in theface of adversity is admirable. Wefeel someone out there may ben-efit from hearing his story, andI’m sure he would discuss his caseif he were to be called at 860-872-4678. PLEASE REMEM-BER: Class Notes are usually dueJanuary 15 and July 15. I can’tsubmit them if you don’t sendthem to me at [email protected]. Weneed to know how many peoplewill be at the 55th Reunion June4 – 6, as well as who will workon the reunion committee. Callme at 928-649-9515, email me,or write me.

–Sam

1956Carl Woolley1514 Martha AvenueAnn Arbor, MI 48103-5369(734) [email protected]

Steve Oberbeck attended WildcatWeekend in Mystic, CT, in Sep-tember and hopes to see othersfrom his class at this year’s event.Look for the email announce-ment about Wildcat Weekend andmark your calendar.

1957William Harmon55 Court StreetWestfield, MA 01085(413) [email protected]

Luta Madison Hickman6314 Gun Cap CourtCentreville, VA 20121(703) [email protected]

Curt Wright and Bill Harmonenjoyed meeting with Headmas-

ter Brian Wright at WildcatWeekend in Mystic, CT, in Sep-tember. Both of them hope to seemore of their classmates at thisalumni event. Look for the emailannouncement about WildcatWeekend and mark your calendar.

1958Elria Giamatti Ewing24 Salter StreetPortsmouth, NH 03801(603) [email protected]

Robert Hutzler2930 Florida BoulevardDelray Beach, FL 33483-4621(561) [email protected]

The start of the New Year bringsa new decade. Our class closedout the last one losing two mem-bers; Dick Morrison and PeterKnight both chose to leave usquickly. In fact, Pete Knight attended the annual WildcatWeekend and left us a few weekslater.Time is getting short for allof us. Now for the news and afew editorial thoughts. Art Pad-more was recently initiated intothe prestigious R.O.O.F. (I don’tknow what that means, butmaybe Art will explain it to you.)Peter Young reports that his tripto visit Reed Fitkin in Oregonwas wonderful. Peter and his wifehad originally planned to fly tomeet Reed and his wife inHawaii for Christmas until hecalculated the flying time fromNassau. Peter, Reed, and theirspouses toured the northwesternstates and Peter was educatedabout the benefits of not living inthe United Kingdom. Peterthought Oregon was much likeEngland, as it rained most of thetime. Pete Knight, Dick Brady,Bob Platt, Peter Hewes, DonBarnard, Doug Gray, GenePfeifer, Jay Fraze, and JamieIrvine were amongst the atten-dees at Wildcat Weekend in Mys-tic, CT, in September.They allenjoyed watching the grudge sail-boat race between Hewes andIrvine. No results were published,but reports have it that the CoastGuard is seeking Irvine for ram-


L-R: Andy Solomon ’59, Bill Haynor ’59, & Al Case ’59 share brunch at Junior’s Deli

ming an innocent vessel. Look forthe email announcement aboutWildcat Weekend and mark yourcalendar. As a post-Wildcat Week-end occasion, the annual WillistonChristmas Luncheon was held atthe Griswold Hotel in Essex, CT,with Mary Knight (Peter Knight’swife), Peter Hewes, Irene andDick Brady, Gene Pfeifer, Ceciand Jamie Irvine, Faith and John

“Winky” Moss ’57, DonBarnard, George Ryan, CurtWright ’57 and Charlie Fair-brother ’63 in attendance.Accord-ing to Brady, this event wasostensibly moved up to Novem-ber as a Going Away Party for theIrvines, but, typically, Jamie decided not to move until 2010.The group’s gift for Jamie was aflight on Moss Airlines from any-

where in the country that Jamieselected. No word on where hewill go.Any suggestions? Speak-ing of the Irvine move, Jamie hasmoved from his historic birth-place in New England to sunnyFlorida.When Dick Sandulli andSteve Seybolt heard about the invasion, they immediately puttheir homes on the market.Attention all golfers! GaryMullins is organizing the firstWilliston golf trip for the fall of2010. Plans include a hotel withmammoth casino and an exoticgolf course. Email him for furtherdetails.Another Florida invaderduring the winter months wasClem Salvadori, who attendedsome sort of questionable motor-cycle event in St. Augustine.Rumor also has it that CharlieLyons and Al Slawsby left thewarm clime of Massachusetts fora few days’ visit to the sunshinestate.Anyone visiting Floridashould contact John Ossolinskiwhen visiting the Gulf Coast. Ozhas become the toastmaster of theTampa-St. Pete and south area.He promises to organize a welcoming party in Bradentonfor you with Dave Fasser andDenny Fuller. If you need Ossolinski’s phone number, sendme an email and I’ll happily pro-vide it, but only if you promise tobother him. Finally, the class willmiss John Anz ’82 who resignedfrom his position as Director ofAlumni Relations at the start of2010. John was a tremendousasset for Williston and did somuch to improve alumni relationsduring his tenure. John is tooyoung for the Wildcat group, buthe will always be welcome. Sendmore news for the next issue, orI’ll have to dream up somethingabout you.Take care, everyone,and stay in touch.

–Hutz

1959Mary Beth Adams Dorsey31 Shipyard Point RoadP.O. Box 82Franklin, ME 04634(207) [email protected]

Andrew Solomon5223 Braesheather DriveHouston, TX 77096-4107(713) [email protected]

On the afternoon of Halloween, Iwas in LA visiting with my son,Keith Solomon ’87, while for thethird year he was in charge ofbuilding the Haunted Castle forhis daughter’s magnet school’s

annual fundraiser. I had brunchwith Al Case and Bill Haynorwho drove over one and a halfhours from where Al lives to joinme for a few hours of gettingback together at Junior’s Deli.Both Al and Bill also visited ear-lier in the year with Brewster Sta-ples when they were in Maine. Alwas on a Carnival Cruise of theeastern seaboard and Bill on busi-ness. They do get around! Dick“Pots” Potsubay writes that heand Ornie are enjoying their livesat Regency Oaks RetirementCommunity in Clearwater, FL,where entertaining and challeng-ing activities, such as history andart, abound. Pots has taken to watercolor painting and loves italmost as much as the cuisinethere. He regrets missing our Reunion because of health rea-sons but says that he is recoveringnicely. Richard “Chip” Palmerand his wife Laurel are planningupcoming trips to the Newportarea to visit their daughter Rebecca—a lawyer—and herfamily. Tom Korson writes, “Asidefrom the birth of our grand-daughter in August, one of thehighlights of 2009 for me was our50th class Reunion. I was proudto be part of the decision to rec-ognize Andy Solomon for his out-standing work on behalf of theschool, dedicating the photogra-phy lab in his name. We take greatdelight in our son, Andrew, whois completing his time in medicalschool and who, as I write, is inter-viewing for residencies at a num-ber of excellent programs aroundthe country. Other news from meis that I am now teaching with aninteresting, vital organizationcalled Active Minds, which pro-vides educational programs forseniors. My first lecture was onJapan, a happy coincidence, sincewhen I was at Williston I tookmost of our sophomore year offin Japan where my father had asabbatical. Check out my blog,apocryphalpress.com, a satiricalslant on the news.” I had thechance to visit with Gil Knierand his wife, Norma, who droveto Houston to be with familyduring the holidays. It was a spe-cial treat as he had not been ableto attend Reunion and we wereable to share the weekend withclassmate closeness.Alas, thoughwe spoke on the phone severaltimes, the press of family madeface-to-face contact impossible sowe are planning for better resultsnext time.Syd Williams continuesto write a daily column about poli-tics, finance and the world in gen-


L-R: Al Case ’59, Marilyn Case, Judy Staples, and Brewster Staples ’59 in Maine

Syd Williams ’59 and his wife Caroline with their extended family



eral. It proves the Williston mindis an open book with profounddepth and insight. He sent a pic-ture of him, his wife Caroline,and extended family. What abounty!

–Andy

John Harper, Syd Williams, PhilFisher, Bob Stilson, Richard“Red” White, John Curtiss, andAlan Case were the only sur-vivors from the 50th Reunionthat arrived at Wildcat Weekendin Mystic, CT, in September.They all hope to see more oftheir classmates at this alumnievent. When greeted by Head-master Brian Wright, the classmembers apologized for the remainder of their class andpromised that there would bemore next year. Look for the emailannouncement about WildcatWeekend and mark your calendar.

50th Reunion1960David DeLuca306 Barrington StreetRochester, NY 14607-3307(585) [email protected]

1961Barbara Curtis Baker584 Stony Brook RoadBrewster, MA 02631(508) [email protected]

David Shaw38 Lavoie DriveEssex Junction, VT 05452(802) [email protected]

After having career jobs, manag-ing households and raising chil-dren, being responsible volunteersand creative individuals...we don’tjust stop at retirement...so you’ll

see themes of activity and fun andavailable time for new adventuresworking through the NSFG Classof ’61. Retiring and making pur-poseful volunteer contributions,gathering family together regu-larly, helping to welcome newgrandbabies, traveling to worlddesires, and developing new skillsand talents seem to be themes forwomen in their sixties! LindyBurr Bouffard is enjoying inter-national travels with husbandArthur as well as spending timewith one-and-a-half-year-old firstgrandson, Bode. Joani Mont-gomery Mihalakos wrote her hol-iday cards early in order to bewith daughter, Staci, in Florida asthey awaited the delivery ofJoani’s first grandson, Gabriel.Stephanie Woodbury Clayton isour poet and photographer,spending time with her daughtersand grandchildren and with hus-band, Ned Clayton ’59. MaribethPerkins Grant seems to be busybalancing family time withchurch work...and I do the samewith theater house managing!Where did that come from? Andthe stories go on. Can we believethat we’ll gather on the campus atWilliston Northampton in a yearand a half to celebrate friendshipsformed 50 years ago? Mrs.Cantarella FF, Mississippi Mud,the Christmas Concert in whitedresses, the Sacred Lawn and MayCourt, the Angelus Bell, green tunics and bloomers, the honorcode and so much studying.Timeto gather and share. Plan to bewith us. We look forward to thatgathering.

–Barbara

1962Linda Stanton Maynard154 N. Main StreetWest Lebanon, NH 03784-1114(603) [email protected]

CharlesVernon218 Preston StreetWindsor, CT 06095-3001(860) [email protected]

Tom Louis writes, “All of theLouis extended family is doingvery well, all six children (twoLouis and four Buck), two grand-children, Germaine and me. Ikeep stating that I’m going totaper professionally, only to findthat I’ve agreed to do more. Either I must like what I do or Iam in a severe state of dementia.Someday I’ll taper, but it probablywon’t be this coming year. Recre-ation includes biking, sailing,

reading, traveling, and enjoying allfamily. Professionally, I teach, research, edit a journal, and amon advisory panels; Germaine wasjust appointed Director of theDivision of Epidemiology, Statis-tics and Prevention at the NIHNational Institute of ChildHealth and Human Development(NICHD). She recreates as I do;mostly we do so together (a won-derful thing). Margit, Mike, Brid-get, and Charlie are still inHingham, MA, just having addedto their great, old home. They areworking hard and enjoying familyand friends. Grandparenting isjust wonderful. Erica just movedfrom Boulder to SteamboatSprings where she is the managerof an about-to-be-opened spawithin the recently opened ‘1Steamboat Place’ condo complexat the base of the main mountain.Yes, these upscale places alwayswant to be number one! As wedo every year, Germaine and Iwill be good parents and ski inColorado. The children Germainecreated are also doing very well.Mitch is a coastal engineer inWoods Hole;Ali is in her last yearof law school at the University ofBuffalo (Environmental Law isher goal); Katherine is a junior atthe University of Michigan and isheaded to Spain for a semesterabroad; and Dan is a sophomoreat Syracuse University, with inter-ests in something biomedical.Now to the Eastern Shore of theChesapeake Bay: In July webought a ‘retirement home’ in St.Michaels, on the water, WSW exposure (Google World 9788Pintail Place, St. Michaels, MDand you’ll see what we did). It’sperfect for us now and in the future. For the next several yearswe’ll have two places. We headthere frequently, and our sailboatis there. Life is great in all regards.However, as friends and col-leagues have health problems, Iam reminded of the fragility ofthe ‘great’ and want to makeevery moment count.” JohnMarchildon writes of his ownfamily, “We had a great Christmason Cape Cod, and both our boyswere able to get back home for agreat time. Ted has left the activeNavy, transferred to the NavyReserve, and is hard at work enjoying the full-time MBA Pro-gram at BC. Dory and I had agreat year in real estate here onthe Cape and can’t believe the reduction in prices that has takenplace—an awesome time to jumpin the water with mortgage ratesjust under five percent. We are off

Andy Solomon ’59 at “The Hoot,”an annual fundraiser for his grand-daughter’s school

10% discount for alumni logged into WillyNet

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to Boca for 10 days on the 30th.”And Pat Evans adds, “I’m stillpracticing law full-time in Water-town, NY. Son Rick is teachinglacrosse in England this year aftergraduating from Hobart andstarting long pole in the NationalNorth South Lacrosse game thisspring. Daughter Kate is homefrom two years’ volunteer work inIndia and working in Denver,CO, with disabled vets.”

1963Richard Curtis95 Bog Pond RoadBrewster, MA 02631(508) [email protected]

Eva D’Addario Franklin59 Larkspur DriveAmherst, MA 01002(413) 253-3453

JohnVibberts7 Moody CircleSandwich, MA 02563-1819(508) [email protected]

Charlie Fairbrother and David“Duff” Tyler enjoyed meetingwith Headmaster Brian Wright atWildcat Weekend in Mystic, CT,in September. Both of them hopeto see more of their classmates atthis alumni event. Charlie and Duffwill be on the organizing commit-tee for Wildcat Weekend 2010.Look for the email announcementand mark your calendar.

1964Lydia Allen Kitfield98 Cross Point RoadEdgecomb, ME 04556(207) [email protected]

William Northway1352 Chimney RidgeTraverse City, MI 49684-9215(231) [email protected]

I attended Wildcat Weekend inMystic, CT, last September andwas disappointed that other class-mates weren’t able to attend. I amlooking forward to seeing morefrom 1964 this year. Look for theemail announcement about Wild-cat Weekend and mark your cal-endar. After an article about JDSalinger’s death and a story from a’61 grad (Sandy Campbell), aflurry of emails from members ofour class resurrected some greatstories and memories. We have anemail list, so if you would like tobe part of our reflections, pleasesend me your email address. Lotsof good connections. I am col-lecting the stories and will emailthem as an ongoing document.Residencies, among many, nowinclude Australia, California,Nova Scotia, Florida, Arizona,Michigan, Texas, and of courseHolyoke! Bernie Wharton ’72stopped by and we had too brief achat, but perhaps it will be a start.

–Swanee

45th Reunion1965Pauline Eskenasy3891 Laurel Park HighwayHendersonvlle, NC 28739-7991(828) [email protected]

Charles Sullivan1100 Jefferson NEAlbuquerque, NM 87110-5724(505) [email protected]

Ned Lynch was the junior alum atWildcat Weekend in Mystic, CT,last September. He hopes to seeother classmates as well as alumsfrom later classes this year. Lookfor the email announcementabout Wildcat Weekend and markyour calendar.

1966Virginia Hopf West317 Brentford RoadHaverford, PA 19041-1718(610) [email protected]

Louis Pellissier977 Medinah TerraceColumbus, OH 43235-5028(614) [email protected]

Peter MiceliP.O. Box 2141West Hempstead, NY 11552-2141(516) [email protected]

Dave Stevens ’66 won the Prospec-tor/Developer of the Year Awardfrom the New Brunswick Prospec-tors and Developers Association.

1967Gail Reddin6 Treehouse CircleApartment 2Easthampton, MA 01027(413) [email protected]

James Hitchings49 Draper RoadDover, MA 02030(508) [email protected]

John Newton35 Admirals WayChelsea, MA 02150-4002(617) [email protected]

1968Louisa Miller Hoar2916 Bluff Point LaneSilver Spring, MD 20906-3043(301) [email protected]

Rockwell Keeney282 Ames RoadHampden, MA 01036-9110(413) [email protected]

1969Elizabeth Odgers 154 Emery RoadLyndeborough, NH 03082-9726(603) [email protected]

David Reichenbacher786 N. Taney StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19130-2614(215) [email protected]

Jim Hustace writes, “Aloha, all iswell here in Hawaii! Our twosons are home for the holidays.James just received his master’sdegree from the University ofRedlands, and Kip just returnedfrom a semester at Stanford’s Flo-rence campus (he will return toPalo Alto in January).” DanBecker is appearing in TwelveAngry Men in January and Febru-ary and is then off to Costa Ricato study drawing. He is alsostudying for a Captain and/orMasters Ship License and hopesthat by the time he finishes, win-ter will end. Bill Morrison is “en-joying the SoCal life, i.e. greatweather and lifestyle. Hate thetaxes.”The Gary Mysorski clancelebrated its first Christmas withgrandson Milo, and the holidayswere very special “as we watchedhim decide which of the manygift items he preferred —e.g., astuffed Smurf or the cardboardcontainer that held it. The con-tainer won. We were also blessedwith the arrival of my sister andher family from Iowa to spendthe week around the start of 2010in a slightly warmer Texas climate.My mother also traveled from hernew home in Iowa and finallymade a hands-on connection

Sangkoo Yun ’69 received The “Nairamdal (Friendship) Medal” from HisExcellency the President of Mongolia on November 2, 2009

Dave Stevens ‘66 won the Prospector/Developer of the Year Award fromthe New Brunswick Prospectors and Developers Association

with her first great-grandchild.This has been a year of very exciting reunions (with familyand schoolmates) and a new eraof life (as an in-law and grandpar-ent). It’s a positive trend that Ihope will continue for years tocome.” Sangkoo Yun also had apositive 2009, as on November2nd she received a medal fromHis Excellency the President ofMongolia. She writes, “The awardis intended to be given to all Rotarians who made contribu-tions to TRF, and in particular toall Korean and Mongolian Rotar-ians who participated in theWindbreak Forest project called‘Keep Mongolia Green.’ The‘Nairamdal (Friendship) Medal’ isthe highest recognition given bythe President of the Republic toa foreigner. President Elbegdorjwas the Prime Minister when hepaid a visit to the site on the occasion of the InaugurationCeremony of the first year of theKeep Mongolia Green project atSouth Gobi in May 2005. It givesme great pleasure that our con-certed effort has been recognizedas being successful as we concludethe five-year project. Also notedwere many other internationalservice projects initiated by theKorean Rotarians such as the Giftof Life projects providing openheart surgeries in Korea for morethan 130 Mongolian children withcongenital heart disease, givingthem a chance to lead normal,healthy lives and making thedreams of their families real. Afterthe award ceremony, the Mongo-lian Rotarians gathered to cele-brate the recognition won byRotary. There were all PAG’s, allclub Presidents, and members ofthe Steering Committee for theKeep Mongolia Green project.The award also made multiple nationwide TV news and dailynewspapers both in Mongolia andKorea.” Graham Faiella writes inwith his own professional news:“My ‘job’ (and I use that word advisedly...) as a ‘writer’ (ditto) hasbeen a bit slow in the past year. Iwas doing a lot of work in recentyears in the Turks & Caicos Islands(TCI), trying to produce socialstudies textbooks for TCI elemen-tary schools, as well as editing abook on the history of TCI. In2008 the government of TCI effectively imploded with theCommission of Inquiry into cor-ruption there amongst govern-ment officials in general, and thePremier in particular. Not muchwill happen until they get back ontheir feet, and the book projects

are on the back burner. Otherwise,I have a private writing projectthat will take another year or so—depending on coffee breaks—tocomplete. All the best for twenty-ten (or whatever we’re calling thisyear).” Eddy “Brigotti” Mair, “thenot so young rascal,” is still happyliving by the sea on Plum Island.He adds, “I think it was our 25thReunion in 1994 when I was onthe Internet and was telling [for-mer Headmaster] Denny Grubbsand some of you guys how coolthe Internet was, and some of yousaid that it was just a fad! Ofcourse, there was a fellow in mysixth grade class who thought theBeatles would never last! I am really impressed by many of youthat have continued to makemusic a big part of your lives.Rock on!” Yours truly is one ofthose many. Last summer Iswitched over to keyboard in myband, but I still needed an outletfor my guitar. I decided to startplaying as a street musician, a.k.a.busker. I figured I would get toshare my music and make a fewbucks. But it turned out to be alife-changing experience. It’s allabout the people I meet. The vari-ety of people is incredible. There’san 87-year-old judge with hisyounger female companion whowas an opera singer in China. Sheonce harmonized in Chinese overmy singing. Then there’s thewoman from Tehran who hasturned me on to Persian music.There was the Russian family whospoke no English, but we managedto communicate through themusic. I saw a delightful moviecalled Julie and Julia about a youngwoman in Brooklyn who cooks arecipe a day from Julia Child’scookbook and writes a blog aboutthe experience, which turns out tobe about much more than cooking.I’ve started a blog to share aboutthe people I meet. Attention mustbe paid. Visit me at www.busking-inphiladelphia.blogspot.com andleave a comment, if you want. I’dlove to see what you all think.

–David

40th Reunion1970Sara Cornwall212 Gillies LaneNorwalk, CT 06854-1059(203) [email protected]

Diane Eskenasy3891 Laurel Park HighwayHendersonville, NC 28739-8921(828) [email protected]

Richard Goss186 Jack Frost LaneP.O. Box 1018Conway, NH 03818(603) [email protected]

1971Edward Pytka180 Ross Hill RoadCharlestown, RI [email protected]

1972Otha Wills516 Greene StreetOgdensburg, NY 13669(315)[email protected]

1973Cynthia Archer 88 Columbus AvenueHolyoke, MA 01040-1811(413) [email protected]

The big news, as a class, is thecreation of a Class of ’73 website(www.wns73.com), designed andcreated by our own CharlieMoore. Classmates have been busyplanning a remembrance forEddie Meyer and others of ’73who have passed on, and they areraising college funds for Eddie’sson, Jessie. Co-chairs for this endeavor are Jeff DeCaro, ChrisOlson, and Jack (Kip) Tatelman.Eve Kummel has taken on theposition of social chair along with


L-R: George Triana ’74, Jimmy R. Triana ’72, the Trianas’ uncle Vincent,Eddie Triana (Kent ’76), and Freddy Triana ’73

L-R: Martha McCullagh, P’10 & ‘13, Sarah McCullagh ’10, Laura McCul-lagh ‘13, Chuck McCullagh P’10 & ‘13, Jim Tobin ’84, Mark Cutting P ’02& ‘06, Christy Cutting P’02 & ‘06, Patricia Cohen Wiseman ’70, JohnPomeroy ’71, Chad—a friend of Tiffany Cutting, Tiffany Cutting ‘02,Steve Williams ’87, and his daughter

Ginger Phakos. (Thank you,Beaver, for alleviating my guilt bytaking on this important role as itbecame evident that I couldn’t doit!) Bruce Lisle and John Sise arein charge of developing a memo-rial to the Class of ’73. So, checkout the website and please con-tribute! We were and are a greatclass, and this is a tangible way toremember Eddie, others whohave passed, and our school. Innews from individual class mem-bers, Eve Kummel is starting aCommunity Garden in Otis,where she lives. The intention isto feed those less fortunate. Evehad to present her plans to theBoard of Selectmen in order togain approval for this fantasticproject. Betty Chase Hyde and Ihave re-connected with Eve afterall these years. We recently haddinner together with Penny DodsMolyneux ’74, and there are plansfor more. Grant Randall sawReggie Fuller ’75 and his wife inDecember at a fund-raising eventfor Community Caregivers Organization in Albany. Reggie’swife is on the board, and Grant isan active volunteer. Reggie saidhe wants to get together withothers from Williston at Saratoga

for the horse races this summer.Grant and his wife Ginny have anew puppy named Molly who isa Bernese mountain dog. Grantpromises she’ll be on campus inJune for Reunion! Kip Tatelmanwrites, “So at this very moment itis t-minus two days before the‘Friends of the Class of ’73’launches its cool website, thanksto the creative genius of noneother than our classmate, CharlieMoore. I hope that by the timeyou read this we will be fully engaged with our fellow class-mates regarding our two initia-tives (go to www.wns73.com tolearn more). Personally speaking,I have recently completed myhouse renovation at 1 AnchorageLane in Marblehead. Yes, this willbe my last building project, Iswear!! My New Year’s resolutionis to embrace every day with pas-sion, commitment, and intention.(Three days into the new year asof this writing. So far, so good.)All the Tatelmans are presentlyhealthy, which is incredibly goodnews to share. We’re looking todo some traveling at the end ofthis coming summer. MaybeGreece, maybe Italy. One lastgroup family trip before my two

kids graduate college. It’s all aboutworking out scheduling conflicts.Blessings to all.” And finally, I wasrecently hired as the ExecutiveDirector of the Holyoke Taxpay-ers Association. It’s a non-profitthat acts as a watchdog for howour taxes are spent! In Holyoke,it’s quite an interesting positionsince we’re the poorest city in theCommonwealth with services galore for those who need it. It’spart-time, although it doesn’t feellike it, and a great balance since Icontinue to work with my elders,many of whom have dementia orAlzheimer’s. All the animals aredoing well, amazingly, since Willahas feline leukemia and Lucy haskidney disease. Brinkley says hi toall! Be sure to check out the newwebsite, www.wns73.com.

–Cindy

1974Penny Dods Molyneux58 Patterson RoadWorthington, MA 01098(413) [email protected]

Steven Simpkin10 Ross RoadHolyoke, MA [email protected]

George Triana writes, “I will always remember and treasure myyear at Williston Academy. In fact,it is one of my most wonderfulyears…having such a wonderfuleducation and to top it off—ayear of playing soccer. My wife,my three children, and I reside inCharlotte, NC. I coach soccer andhad the opportunity to coach aClub Team this past season. I alsoconduct my own soccer clinics onthe side. It is physically exhaustingat times but, amazingly, once I amon the field I get the energysomehow.”

35th Reunion1975Kathleen Krohn 920 Midway RoadNorthbrook, IL 60062(847) [email protected]

David “Segs” Segal wrote in December, “I look forward to theNew Year and hope that the national employment situationimproves, as my last position waseliminated in March 2009. I havebeen unable to obtain a payingposition since then. In the interim,I have been volunteering one day


2010R EUNION W EEKEND

Join classmates and former facultyfor a very special

Reunion weekend June 4, 5, & 6

Register online at www.williston.com/reunion2010

or if you prefer to register by phone, you may contact

the alumni office at (800) 469-4559 or 413-529-4559

per week here in Rochester, withFlower City Habitat for Human-ity. I put my construction skills towork this past Labor Day week-end when I visited Scott Nichol-son and his wife, Robin, at theirhome in Portsmouth, RI. The dayI arrived, as we enjoyed dinnertogether, Scott mentioned that hewas planning some minor houserepairs over the weekend andwondered whether I would assist.Since he was aware of my con-struction experience, he askedwhether I could help him ‘eitherpartially remodel the kitchen orreplace a portion of the roof thathad developed a leak.’ Tongue incheek, I asked whether this was apaying job. He replied that theywould feed me well and provideplenty of cold beer. Of course, Iagreed immediately. Four dayslater as we sat together on thecompleted roof drinking a coldbeer and enjoying the sunset overthe water, we laughed as weagreed that next time a roofneeded replacement we woulddefinitely hire professional roofersto do the job. I have to say that ifI were employed this year Iwould not have had the opportu-nity to volunteer with Habitatand to spend four days with my

friend Scott helping him to replacehis roof. I am thankful to be ableto have the time to give somethingto my community and thankfulthat I still have good friends—myclassmates and teachers from myWilliston Northampton days.”

1976Dana Richdale146 South Queenscliff CircleThe Woodlands, TX 77382(281) [email protected]

Another chunk of time has flownby since our last correspondence,and it makes me think that timeis relative. The clock sure seems tobe moving faster with each pass-ing year. It might just be me, but Isense that it is becoming increas-ingly more difficult to get peopleon the phone. With caller ID andnuisance telemarketing calls beingthe norm, more and more of usare reluctant to answer. Happily, Idid make some connections—one via phone and the other viaemail. I had a good and interest-ing conversation with Susan DeSt. Croix. She and her twin sister,Janet De St. Croix, came toWilliston Northampton viaAramco, the large American oilconcern that developed the Saudi

oil fields dating back to the mid-dle of the 20th century. Susanmentioned that at first they wentto school in Switzerland and latertransferred over to WillistonNorthampton, sight unseen. Fromthere, she attended Ithaca Collegewhile Janet headed south toFlorida for school. Susan andJanet have remained close to eachother since their days at WillistonNorthampton, and both havelived for many years in variousFlorida locales ranging from theKeys up towards the Orlandoarea. Much of Susan’s career hasbeen spent in massage therapywith a current awareness of theworld and forces around us caus-ing her to focus her energies innew directions. We had an inter-esting conversation regarding2012 and many of the propheciesforetold. My other connectionwas with Tiela Chalmers whoreplied via email. Tiela has livedfor many years in San Franciscowhere she has practiced law, butmore recently has been workingfor the Bar Association of SanFrancisco as their Executive Director of the Volunteer LegalServices Program (VLSP). Sheoversees a staff of 30 whose mis-sion is to recruit, train, and men-tor attorneys who volunteer theirtime, then match them up withlow-income people who needfree legal help. The non-profitVLSP focuses on safety-net issuessuch as housing, family law, andhomelessness.Tiela spent her undergraduate years at Swarth-more College and earned her JDfrom UC Hastings College of theLaw. She shares her life with twofine daughters (ages eight and 16)and a wonderful girlfriend. Heroldest daughter is oriented towards academics, and heryoungest daughter is all aboutreading. That brings to mind anice a quote I read recently,“Learn to Read and Read toLearn.” The following links pro-vide a greater insight as to howTiela gives back to the local com-munity: www.sfbar.org/vlsp andwww.probono.net/sf. I also triedto reach out to Richard Cernak,Judith Johnson Cordova, CarolynMurphy Anderson, Jim Nagle,Dave Stevens, Nancy PeirceHarsch, and Elizabeth MurphyDowhan. With a bit of luck, someof the above individuals will re-connect during the ensuingmonths and an update will beforthcoming. Referencing theFall 2009 Bulletin, it is importantto note and thank all that have either volunteered their time or

made a financial contribution tothe Annual Fund. With theworld’s economy still in flux, financial support of the school isas important today as it ever hasbeen. Special thanks to the SilverCup Society members and tothose who have made commit-ments as Elm Tree Associates.Awarm and special thanks also goout this year to John White (1841Society Benefactor, Board Trustee,and Margaret Eastman FrenchAward recipient), and Meladi andRobert Hagedorn P’06 (1841 Society Members). On a briefand lighter note, a quick checkreveals that seven of our “76”classmates reside in California,and six of our classmates resideoutside of the U.S. This combinedtotal represents approximately10% of our class members. Untilnext time, be well.

–Dana

1977Jennifer Carpenter Reid238 Sawmill RoadBrick, NJ 08724-1364(732) [email protected]

1978John Intorcio31 Marshall StreetNorth Reading, MA 01864(978) [email protected]

Jennifer McLeod Sleeper45 Falmouth RoadWellesley, MA 02481-1216(781) [email protected]

Shane Anderson writes, “Last yearat this time or a little earlier, I hada disk replacement in my cervicalspine at C6-C7. Seems I ruptureda couple of disks somewherealong the way. I am back to 100%according to a recent check up, sono more excuses, I’m workingmy way back to a daily pool mileor two. Liam and Ryan are in firstgrade and kindergarten, and bothare doing very well scholastically.We have been trying to teachLiam the concept of ‘thinkingahead.’ When he lost his firsttooth last week, I told him thatafter the tooth fairy came perhapswe could go down to the localstore and buy something nice. Hisresponse was that he wanted tosave the money. When I askedhim why he was saving he toldme, ‘So I can buy a house.’ OK,tables turned…classes start forDaddy next week! Anne is welland her book Flourishing withFood Allergies has now received anumber of awards and critical ac-


Kevin R. Burke ’00 & COL Steve White '77

When Williston’s Campus Store Manager LindaMidland P’10 got a request for a Willistonbanner recently, it took her a moment to realize that her customer was an alumnus in

Afghanistan. First LT Kevin Burke ’00 told Linda that while ona Blackhawk helicopter heading into Kabul he struck up a con-versation with another officer (COL Steve White ’77) andthey soon realized that “not only were we both from NewEngland, but we both went to Willy.” As it turns out, their offices are just across the hall from one another on the baseand the connection has been a great help to the youngeralum. Burke says, COL White has “gone out of his way tohelp me out… he’s been a great mentor.”

Alumni Connections

claim. So what else can I say? Thisyear I am grateful for, and blessedwith, good health all around, twowonderful, smart kids, and a bril-liant, resourceful, and beautifulwife. Warmest wishes and regardsto all of you, and please do nothesitate to email me [email protected] ifyou’d like to catch up!” RogerRamos writes, “My daughterSylvia, 22, is a college junior andworking for a non-profit organi-zation. My son Michael, 17, is ahigh school senior, hoping to attend culinary school next fall.Josh, 15, and Justice, 15, are bothhigh school sophomores. They areboth very involved in music. Joshenjoys singing in the school choirand plays piano, while Justiceplays drums in the marching bandand JROTC drum corps. Mywife and I are busy at work andraising our kids. During our 30thclass Reunion, Pamela Pickerfound out that my wife onceworked with her father at Para-mount.” Steve Staggs reports, “Ihave recently been appointedSenior Director of AM PrivateInvestments, Inc., a registered investment advisor that specializesin advising family offices andhigh net worth individuals regarding alternative, direct, andfamily business venture invest-ments. For the time being, mywife, Sharon, and I will continueliving in Westfield, MA. So we invite any old friends comingback to visit the school to give usa call or stop by for a visit.” JenMcLeod Sleeper says,“Our holi-days were a little bit of a downerthis year. Tom’s mom passed awayon Christmas Eve. She was ill, soI guess you could say that it was ablessing, but it has been very hardon Tom and the kids. I am just try-ing to keep everything togetherfor everyone!” Carol AdamsDupree wrote in January that untilthe beginning of February shewas on a trip in Arizona, “theonly place in the country that’swarm! We’re still working on ourplace in Georgia. Makingprogress, but we won’t move untilwe sell our place in Florida. Any-one interested? My sister and Iare training for a two-day 160mile bike ride for MS in October.Our brother did it this past Octo-ber and we decided we could dothat, too. At least, I hope I can.I’m enjoying the riding and get-ting in better shape. Other thanthat, life is good and I hope tohear from more of our class in thenext Bulletin.” Paul Sigrist writes,“I performed with the New York

Gilbert and Sullivan Players ontour (Midwest, South, California,and Wolf Trap outside of DC)throughout the first half of 2009.Upon returning, I directed theopera students of the LakeGeorge Opera Festival in a pro-duction of Ruddigore. After vari-ous singing jobs throughout thefall, I am performing three pro-ductions in repertory at CityCenter in NYC before goingback out on tour in the South atthe end of January, 2010.” AmyHolzer Irvin shares that “it hasbeen a busy year with both of myboys graduating from high schooland moving to a next step in theirlives. My oldest son, Alex (19), isdoing a year internship withProject Search (a transitional pro-gram for high functioning kidswith special needs) at AnthemWellpoint Insurance. Eric (18) isat Belmont University inNashville planning to major inmusic business/performance. Myhusband, Dudley, is thankfully inremission from Non-Hodgkin’sLymphoma and is busy with thesport of curling. I spent the firsthalf of the year preparing forgraduation, the summer gettingEric ready for college, and the fallgiving H1N1 shots and practicingfor my concert with the Wor-thington Chorus. I am gratefulfor all of the friends I have recon-nected with this past year onFacebook, and I hope to see youall in person at a Reunion in thenear future. I think it has beenlong enough! Let’s celebrate turn-ing 50 and have a big party!” JohnIntorcio says,“My family is well!Our oldest, Josh, is a high schoolfreshman this year and is having ablast! Though he has to put upwith classes during the day, he’sreally enjoying the social andsports scenes. Unfortunately, aftera concussion in November play-ing goalkeeper for the soccerteam, he took a second knock tothe head in January playing bas-ketball and is going to have to sitout for the rest of the winter sea-son. Our youngest, Jake, a seventhgrader, was elected class represen-tative and is enjoying the ski clubagain this winter while also play-ing on the travel basketball team!They’re keeping us busy! My wife,Shawn, was laid off in Februaryafter 12.5 years with the samecompany. She started a new job inJuly with Black & Veatch that net-ted four months of paid vacation, araise, and a much improved com-mute to her new home office!”

1979Claire Kelley Hardon486 School House LaneDevon, PA 19333-1253(610) [email protected]

Owen Mael67 Ripley StreetNewton, MA 02459-2210(617) [email protected]

30th Reunion1980Thomas Pieragostini2944 Nichols AvenueTrumbull, CT 06611(203) [email protected]

Holly Steuart RichardsonP.O. Box 2707Evergreen, CO 80437-2707(303) [email protected]

Well we did it! We made themove to Evergreen, CO, leavingthe beaches for the mountains,and we couldn’t be happier withour decision. The boys love theirnew school, especially the factthat it’s within a quick bike rideversus the 40-minute commutewe used to endure. The abun-dance of playmates right in ourown backyard is another hugeperk, but the hiking has been thebiggest plus of all for our family. Ilook forward to seeing everyoneJune 4-6 and encourage you tovisit our class Facebook site puttogether by Tom Pieragostini. It’sa perfect way to reconnect beforewe return to campus.http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49095782980&ref=ts.See you on the quad!

–Holly

1981Katherine Mattison Moeker5935 South Logan CourtLittleton, CO 80121(303) [email protected]

Joe Scott shared his thoughts onWilliston’s newly hired Head ofSchool. “Turns out that Bob Hill,the new headmaster, is associatehead at our local private school inAsheville called Carolina Day. Imet Bob for a beer and told himevery story of our misbehaviorthat I could think of. Bob taughtat Westminster for a long stretchprior to moving to Asheville, sohe was keen on New Englandprep school lore. Make no mis-

take about it: Bob is the rightman for the job. He’s bright, en-ergetic, and loves making a differ-ence. I encourage everyone fromour class to get to know this fineman.” Deeda Hull Osgood oftensees Virginia Barrett, her daugh-ter’s godmother. “We went out toCalifornia to look at collegeswith my son, and we spentThanksgiving with Virginia.Good fun!” Her kids are now 15(Ravenna) and 18 (Grayson).Deeda adds, “Boy how timeflies—I feel like that was us notthat long ago!” And RickMoskowitz “reports” in: “SantaMonica, CA—It’s now official:Ryan Harry Moskowitz was bornat St. John’s Hospital at 6:38 p.m.PST, on Wednesday, September16th, 2009. He was 20 inches inheight, weighed exactly eightpounds, and is perfect in everyway, according to his father, Rick.Ryan and his mother, Stacy, camehome from the hospital on Sep-tember 18th and are doing great.He spent the weekend getting ac-climated to his new surroundingsand watching baseball and foot-ball on television. Ryan especiallyenjoyed watching his two favoritemajor league baseball teams, theBoston Red Sox and the LADodgers, advance toward theplayoffs. When invited to com-ment on the Curse of the Bam-bino, still a sore point amongsome citizens of the Red SoxNation even after the Sox offi-cially put an end to it by crushingthe hated Yankees in the 2004ALCS, Ryan shrugged. ‘Bambino?What Bambino?’ he asked. ‘I’mthe only Bambino around here.’When asked his reaction toUSC’s stunning loss to Washing-ton even as UCLA improved itsrecord to 3-0 with a victory overKansas State, Ryan declined tocomment. ‘I’m not going there,’


Ravenna (15) and Grayson (18),children of Deeda Hull ’81



he said tersely, declining to takesides in the great cross-town (andintra-familial) rivalry between theTrojans and Bruins. ‘I have at least17 years before I have to eventhink about filling out college applications, so what’s the rush?’young Ryan added, twirling apacifier in his fingers for empha-sis. Unlike his older sister Lauren,Ryan is a prodigious eater andtakes most of his meals au naturel,a la Mom. Thanks to his vora-cious appetite, Ryan has alreadyunofficially passed his birthweight, which most newbornstake two full weeks to accom-plish. Lauren just adores herbrother, who she calls, ‘Bayyyyy-beeeee.’ When it’s time for feed-ing or a diaper change, shegenerally climbs on a stool nextto the bed or changing table for abetter view. She also likes to patRyan on the head any time heshows signs of distress. Like Lau-ren, Ryan aspires to be an inter-national traveler and to host hisown program on the TravelChannel. He originally wanted tocall it ‘Ryan Air,’ but when toldthat this might raise some trade-mark and copyright issues, pro-posed ‘The World According ToRyan’ instead. Ryan is alreadyplanning his first airline trip, ten-tatively scheduled for February2010, to visit his Aunt Jenniferand Uncle Max in Washington,DC, and to deliver his first majorspeech on the state of the nation.When told that Lauren had herpicture taken with the pilot thefirst time she flew, Ryan said,with characteristic pluck, ‘Makesure the airline makes it worthyour while if you do that again.Those photos will be quite valu-able someday’.”

1982Thomas Rouillard1 Old Alewive RoadKennebunk, ME 04043(207) [email protected]

Margaret Espy Spurrier1300 Champions DriveRockwall, TX [email protected]

John Anz writes, “While I alreadymiss the daily interaction andsupport from my many friends onthe faculty and staff at the school,I am happy to report that there is,indeed, life after Williston. Ihave moved on to assume the responsibilities of Director of theAnnual Fund and Alumni Rela-tions at the Becket-ChimneyCorners YMCA Camps inBecket, MA. It is a wonderful organization with a rich his-tory of excellence and achieve-ment, yet also a place where thereis so much hope and promise forthe future...reminds me of anotherplace I hold near and dear. Iwill keep a keen and enthusiasticeye on the many developments atWilliston over the comingmonths and years, and I look for-ward to staying closely involvedand to seeing many friends andclassmates in the future. I will always offer my support, in anycapacity, for as long as it isdesired. Easthampton and Willis-ton are my home. Finally, to BobHill, I pledge my personal sup-port as well, and wish himgreat determination and resolve ashe leads our fine school into thisnew decade and new chapterin its history. I will most defi-nitely stay in touch—a promise—or a threat—depending uponyour point of view. And, onlyweeks after leaving Williston’s

employ, I had the pleasure of accepting an invitation to join the‘Breakfast Club’ for their weeklydebriefing on the good...thebad...and the medically invasive!Glenn Swanson (Swanee) ’64hosted the coffee and muffinhour at his home during LongWeekend. Al Shaler FF, DickGregory FF, and fellow “junior”member Greg Tuleja were therefor some good, clean (PG-13)conversation. Bob Couch ’50 wasmissed that morning, and RayBrown ’55 will re-join the groupagain in the spring once backfrom Florida. I may not be aweekly participant, but I look for-ward to joining this motley crewoften enough to retain an accept-able standing among them. Youcan find these legendary figuresmost Friday mornings between 9and 10 in the Stu-Bop.Yourfriend, John [Anz].” Andrew Di-rats competed in the Bay StateGames Alpine Skiing competitionon January 23rd at Bousquet SkiArea in Pittsfield, MA, alongsidehis daughters and current varsityskiers Lindsey ’11 and Madison’14, fellow alum Chris Shields’94, and current student TaylorPotasky ’14, daughter of KrisMamulski ’81 and Todd Potasky’81. Madison and Taylor finished1st and 2nd, respectively, in theirdivision. Go Wildcats!

1983Keri-Sue Baker 1315 Appleby AvenueBaltimore, MD 21209(410) [email protected]

Mark Berman4030 Jebb Island Circle EJacksonville, FL 32224-7916(904) [email protected]

1984Jody Gutman Golden288 King StreetCohasset, MA 02025-1620(781) 383-2685

Rex SolomonHouston Jewelry9521 WestheimerHouston, TX 77063-3369(713) [email protected]

25th Reunion1985Angele Hebert Myers135 Heritage AvenueAshland, MA 01721(508) [email protected]

1986Geordie Dunnington170 Centre StreetMilton, MA [email protected]

Ellen Rosenberg Livingston215 Hickory RoadWeston, MA 02493(781) [email protected]

Mijanou Malise Spurdle5960 LaGorce DriveMiami Beach, FL 33140(305) [email protected]

1987Stephanie Naess Kennedy7533 Kamaomao PlaceHonolulu, HI 96825-2907(202) [email protected]

Matthew Roberts26 Devon RoadDarien, CT 06820(203)[email protected]


L-R: Jim Tobin ’84, Chuck McCullaugh P’10 & ‘13, Patty Wiseman ’70, andJohn Pomeroy ’71

L-R: Chris Shields ’94, Madison Dirats ’14, Taylor Potasky ’14, Lindsey Dirats ’11, and Andrew Dirats ’82 at the Baystate Games Alpine Skiingcompetition at Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield, MA

1988Jennifer Hatch GubbinsP.O. Box 1761709 Wild Apple RoadSouth Pomfret, VT 05067(802) [email protected]

1989Carin Nelson-Yates185 North Main StreetSuffield, CT 06078(860) [email protected]

Jeffrey Lovelace1660 Euclid Street, NW #AWashington, DC 20009-5624(202) [email protected]

20th Reunion1990Dana Caruso342 Southwick Road Apt. 17Westfield, MA [email protected]

Frank J. PurcellSwallowtail Farm584 Clems RunMullica Hill, NJ 08062(856) [email protected]

Hey class of 1990! I’ve been let-ting Dana [Caruso] do all the

driving for a long, long time andit’s finally my turn to jump in andshare a Bulletin update. Thebiggest news of course is that therumors are true—it apparentlyhas been nearly 20 years! Plansare under way for a terrific returnweekend this summer, so if youhaven’t already made plans to bein attendance then GETGOING! I’m looking forward toseeing everybody and catching upon what we’ve all been up to!Look for more updates in thenear future from me, Dee [DeidreGriffin], Beth [Babyak],etc…Here’s how to tell if you areout of touch enough that youneed to attend reunion: In thepast year alone do you know whojust became a new father? (JohnBailey and Mike Olshansky) Justgave birth to twins? (Pam Light-cap Rentz) Travelled to Ethiopia?(Matt Frankel) Wrote and per-formed Running on Faith?(Quincy Coleman—available oniTunes). Launched a new line of“Jelly” nail polish? (NonieRamirez Creme—my wife, FionaProctor Purcell ’91, swears this isthe world’s coolest job). Has acool, new job? (Beth Babyak) Justquit his job after 15 years? (me)Ran for city council? (Jay An-drzejczyk) Gets to teach African

Dancing to 3rd graders? (AshleyChoate Walker). Never misses anepisode of “Lost”? (Jenn Johnson& Stacy Rosoff) Teaches Japanesesword fighting? (Mike Mason) Ofcourse…. this is just the tip of theiceberg, and if you didn’t alreadyknow all of this you should makeimmediate plans to come catchup this summer. On the otherhand, if you did know all of this,you spend way too much time onFacebook, and you really need aweekend out with old friends!Hope to see as many of you aspossible. I also wanted to acknowl-edge, for those who may not beaware of the somber news, thatAdam Washburn passed away lastfall. I still can’t fathom thatAdam’s signature grin isn’t some-where out there walking aroundMassachusetts. I’m also sure thatno matter how long it has beensince each of us talked to Adam,we all miss the charming anticsthat he was known for in school.It has been a good, long timesince we marked the loss of oneof our own, and plans are beingmade to find a special way to remember Adam when we are together at Reunion. Meanwhile,please keep Adam, Abby and theentire Washburn family in yourthoughts. Make a note of my updated contact info here, anddrop me a line as soon as you geta chance. My best to everybody!

–Frank

1991Reid Sterrett710 Hinesburg RoadCharlotte, VT 05445-9381(802) [email protected]

1992Danielle Maloney26 Mystic Street, #3Charlestown, MA 02129(617) [email protected]

Hope Nawada 45 E 25th Street, Apt 31ANew York, NY 10010-2943(212) [email protected]

1993Kathryn Hicks Gulick683 Clermont StreetDenver, CO 80220-5023(303) [email protected]

Sarah Griggs Swierzewski416 Marlborough Street, Apt. 302Boston, MA 02115-1559(617) [email protected]

1994Jade Brennan 328 Auburn StreetCranston, RI 02910-3315(443) [email protected]

LaShandra Smith-Rayfield7927 S. Vernon #2Chicago, IL 60619(773) [email protected]

15th Reunion1995Stephen Hoyt28 Pleasant View DriveHatfield, MA [email protected]

Martha LewisP.O. Box 322Winter Park, FL 32790(407) [email protected]

The Reunion Committee is get-ting focused on the festivities inJune. You will be seeing more activity from the committee bothwith the traditional methods andvia Facebook. If you have missedthe previous two reunions (like I[Steve Hoyt] did), now is the timeto redeem yourself (like I will). Ifyou are waffling about whether toshow up or not, the answer issimple, you should show up. Weare really looking forward to agreat group coming back toWilliston. Thanks to all of youwho have been in contact so far.Pass the word to anyone you arein touch with about the festivitiesin June. Thanks!

–The Committee

1996Darcie Kauffman 21 Englewood Avenue, Unit #21-5Brookline, MA [email protected]

Danielle Saint Louis 299 Flatbush Avenue, Apt. #2Brooklyn, NY [email protected]

1997Seth Kassels180 Manhattan DriveBoulder, CO [email protected]

Elizabeth-Anne Zieminski265 Prospect StreetLee, MA 02138-1105(413) [email protected]

Hello there fellow ’97ers. Well,2009 has finally come to an end,and here we are in 2010. It’s reallydifficult to believe sometimes thatit’s been so many years since high


Justin Thomas ‘90

Justin Thomas ‘90 ex-hibited ‘Recent Paint-ings’ in the GrubbsGallery at Williston in

the fall of 2009. His work explores the birds that inhabit thearea around his studio in Windsor,MA.

Inspired by the changes of thelandscape in the valleys and hills

of western MA, Thomas depicts the birds not as a bird-watcher but as an observer connecting and relating thehuman experience with the bird’s evolution.

“The birds I have chosen to paint are ones that live aroundmy land in Windsor Bush. They build their homes, maintainthem over time, and work very hard to sustain themselvesand their loved ones. Some birds stay year round while oth-ers leave and with luck they or their offspring may return. Ilike to think they return to their same homeland because,like me, a deep attachment has been formed,” he explains.

Thomas attended Rutgers University’s Mason GrossSchool of the Arts and graduated with a BFA from UMassAmherst. He is co-owner of Ugone & Thomas Company, located at 1 Cottage Street in Easthampton, designers offine lighting and home accessories catering to American finecraft galleries. Visit jannaugone.com for further information.

Bird Watching

school. And some days it seemsages away. I hope this year bringsmuch happiness, success, goodhealth, and many Willys reunitingand enjoying get-togethers. Hereare a couple Willys letting usknow what’s going on in theirlives. Steve Porter moved backfrom Manhattan to expand hisDJing business in Holyoke. Stevebought a really cool old millbuilding in the canal district. Lotsof storage in those renovated millsfor a lot of records. “I’m stillDJing quite a bit, but I’ve justsigned on to produce the NBA’splayoffs and finals ad campaign. Iwill be recording the All Stars inDallas and making music videoswith them. It’s been a crazy yearthat all started with my remix‘Slap Chop Rap.’ Other than that,I hope everybody is doing great,and getting younger than me because I’m starting to feel likean old fart!”To check out Steve’sNBA commercials, search onYouTube for “NBA Where Defense Happens (Defense! Defense!)” or “NBA Where Determination Happens.” Whoknew at those Stu-Bop dancesthat we would all be getting afree spinning session by such awell-known and accomplishedDJ! Rabia Bajwa got married thispast July to a British chap andnow lives with her husband inLondon. “I’m teaching Arabic atSOAS University while trying tofinish up my dissertation.” Rabia’sPhD is in Arabic Linguistics, andher dissertation is about conversa-tions in the Qur’an. CongratsRabia, and good luck! EmilyKlug Bain says hello to everyone

from Jackson, WY, where she andher husband had a precious babygirl, Sage Carter Bain, on Octo-ber 8, 2009. Welcome to theworld, Sage, and congrats, Emily!Brian Skehan had an eventfulyear. He received his PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbi-ology in June of 2009.“After-wards, my wife Nancy and I, withboth our families, took off toThailand to visit her relatives andrelax before we returned to workat UMass Memorial Medical Cen-ter in November. On ChristmasEve, we were very fortunate towelcome our new daughter, NoraAnne, into our family and are enjoying all of the fun and chal-lenges that come along with having a newborn! In addition totaking care of Nora, Nancy will bepursuing her Pulmonary and Crit-ical Care fellowship at BrownUniversity next year, while I willbe attempting to finish my MD atUMass. Hope to see everyone at aReunion soon and wish everyonea happy and healthy new year.”Congrats to Brian and Nancywelcoming darling Nora! I seeSkehan MD on the horizon! SeanDurkin just moved to NYC for aone-year break from the tropics. “Idon’t think you can get a moredrastic change in environmentthan going from laid-back islandlife to city living, and I haven’tlived in a cold climate since Igraduated from Williston, so this istaking some getting used to. Ithink the only thing that hasn’tchanged is that I’m still living onan island of 20 square miles. So farso good, and would love to hearfrom any of you that are in thecity in 2010.” I suggested a properNYC Williston reunion. And inhonor of the tradition of [currentfaculty member] Mr. Thompson’sEnglish class thinking outside ofthe box, Sean suggested a bar orrestaurant that would let us all situnder the table. Well, that’s it fornow. Happy New Year to all, andkeep those updates coming!

–Liz and Seth

1998Devin Koller32B Round Hill RoadNorthampton, MA 01060-2124(413) [email protected]

Christa Talbot 85 Park StreetMcPhee House, Apt. 1Easthampton, MA 01027(413) [email protected]

1999Corinne Fogg 3 Langdon Street, Apt. 41Cambridge, MA [email protected]

Gregory Morrison11 ShorelineNewport Coast, CA 92657-2005(404) [email protected]

10th Reunion2000Katelyn Webber 4 Trenton Street #2Charlestown, MA [email protected]

Peter Whiteford2 Grist Mill RoadNorwalk, CT 06850(845) [email protected]

Joyce Kwong ’99, Kitana Andrews’00 and Serra Aladag ’00 reunitedat a karaoke bar in New York tocatch up and sing a few songsfrom their Widdiger days.

2001Adam BranchP.O. Box 304Leeds, MA [email protected]

Katherine Ciejek 8893 E. 24th Place, #102Denver, CO 80238-2839(720) [email protected]


Pro Musicis pre-sented violinist ErinKeefe '98 in a liveperformance at

Carnegie Hall on March 24,2010. In this concert in Weill Hall,Keefe played Mendelssohn’sSonata for Violin and Piano in FMajor, Kodaly’s Duo for Violinand Cello, Op. 7, and Strauss’sSonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 18.

Keefe recently won the2009 Pro Musicis International Award following her audition inNew York for the Pro Musicis Jury chaired by Pulitzer Prize win-ner Maestro Gunther Schuller. Winner of a 2006 Avery FisherCareer Grant, she has established a reputation and is earningpraise as a compelling artist who combines exhilarating tem-perament and fierce integrity.

After earning a Master of Music degree from The JuilliardSchool and a Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Insti-tute, Keefe went on to collaborate with many of today’s leadingartists. As a member of Lincoln Center’s prestigious ChamberMusic Society Two program for the 2006-09 seasons, Keefeappeared in numerous programs at Lincoln Center as well as ontour throughout the US. In January of 2008 she and other Society Two members were featured on “Live from LincolnCenter” playing Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht.

In the fall of 2009, Keefe released her first solo CD includingworks by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Ravel, Sibelius, Lutoslawski, and Hindemith, recorded with pianist Anna Polon-sky. Her festival appearances have included the MarlboroMusic Festival, Music@Menlo, Music from Angel Fire, Ravinia,and the Seattle, OK Mozart, Mimir, Music in the Vineyards, andBridgehampton Chamber Music Festivals.

Williston alumni and friends were invited to a reception fol-lowing the performance.

Erin Keefe ‘98 at Carnegie Hall

Emily Klug Bain ’97 and her familyincluding daughter, Sage CarterBain, born October 8, 2009

2002Devon Ducharme P.O. Box 1910Newport, RI 02840(401) [email protected]

Thomas Lucey2200 Market Street Apt 514Denver, CO [email protected]

Oluwatosin Onafowokan33 Glendale StreetEasthampton, MA 01027-2004(413) [email protected]

Evelyn Sylvester8863 Salmon Falls Drive Apt BSacramento, CA [email protected]

Michael Waidlich was married onOctober 10, 2009, in Millers Falls,MA, to Naomi Gendron. Therewas a small group of Willistonalumni in attendance.

2003Jason Chandler73 Claridge PlaceColonia, NJ [email protected]

Elizabeth Kulik 314 Carroll Street., NW, Apt. 215Washington, DC 20012(413) [email protected]

Ezra Barnehama shares updateson a few classmates: BenjiBorowski is currently attendingVermont Law School and madeLaw Review his first year. He recently sold his Bowflex to sub-sidize the purchase of his newSubaru. Colin D’Amour contin-ues to defend this nation’s free-dom as he serves as an officer inthe USMC. Sam Astor is living

the dream and loving it in NYC.Carmen Silvestri is living inBoston and working to ensure wedo not have another financialmeltdown. Ezra himself has beenin Boston since receiving hisMBA from Clark University in2008. I also heard from threeother happy New Yorkers. PeteDavid is working as a physicsteacher at the Trinity-PawlingSchool in Pawling, NY. He reports that he attended a week-long workshop for AP Physicsteachers at Taft last summer andran into none other than [currentfaculty member] Ms. Rappoldherself! He is just one of twomembers of her ’01-’02 APPhysics B class who are nowphysics teachers themselves, theother being Devon Ducharme’02. Nikki Miller is working asmarketing manager for an “aerialtheatre” in NYC called The SkyBox in exchange for aerial train-ing time and access to the equip-ment. She’s also thrilled to bestudying a complex mix of bodywork and dance that reorganizesthe relationship between cogni-tive and somatic intelligence inthe service of either a particularmovement discipline or simplybeing more efficient in daily life.Nikki’s ultimate goal is somedaymanaging to fuse theater, film,dance, aerial, Shakespeare, andmusic! Abby Slotnick is living inNYC and loving her job at acompany that does payroll andaccounting for independent filmsincluding The Wrestler, Precious,and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.She was recently seated next toPrecious producer Lisa Cortes dur-ing the Gotham IndependentFilm Awards, and she has also rep-resented her company at theNantucket Film Festival and the

Hamptons Film Festival. Joe Vasicek will be graduating fromBYU in April, and he is intern-ing with the Washington Insti-tute for Near East Policy thisspring semester. He lived in Jor-dan for four months in the sum-mer of 2008 as part of a BYUstudy abroad program, and hemay be going back after gradua-tion. Alli Arbib is working forVerité, an organization withwhom she’s traveled to Ghanaand Cote d’Ivoire in an effort tomonitor the abuse of interna-tional labor rights.

–Liz

2004Alex Teece92-1075 Painiu PlaceKapolei, HI 96707-1457(413) [email protected]

Danielle Wieneke 230 East 30th Street, Apt. 13 BNew York, NY 10016(518) [email protected]

5th Reunion2005Eleanor Etheredge Crystal Houses, Apt. 214-112000 South Eads StreetArlington, VA [email protected]

Peter Higgins49 Harbey RoadWest Springfield, MA 01089(413) [email protected]

2006Shawna-Kay Chambers 3055 Emerald BoulevardLong Pond, PA [email protected]


L-R: Serra Aladag ’00, Joyce Kwong ’99, and Kitana Andrews ’00

L-R: Ezra Barnehama ’03, Colin D'Amour ’03, and Robert “Benji”Borowski ’03 enjoy the Winter Classic at Fenway Park to welcome 2010

Back row L-R: Jon Waidlich ’05, Mike Waidlich ’02, Jared Brewer ’02;Front row L-R: Megan Griffin ’05, Brittany Sochard ’02, Naomi Waidlich,Laura Wilson ’02, Jessica Ward ’02, Allison Joseph ’02




Lauren Noonan 325 Riverside DriveFlorence, MA 01060(413) [email protected]

John Scannell321 Cross StreetBridgewater, MA 02324(508) [email protected]

John-Claude Wright, now a sen-ior at George Washington Uni-versity, is one of the nation’s topscorers in men’s water polo. Hehas 59 goals this season and 191spanning four years. For two yearsstarting in 2005, John-Claudeplayed on Jamaica’s junior nationalteam before moving up to thesenior team, where he still partici-pates. Another class of 2006 ath-lete, Kristen Dirmaier, captainsher field hockey team at Con-necticut College, plays ice hockeyduring the winter, and lacrosse inthe spring. She played all threesports during her time at Willis-ton, as well.

2007Christian D’Amour135 Ashford RoadLongmeadow, MA 01106(413) [email protected]

Kelsey Lindsey 620 Washington StreetFranklin, MA 02038(508) [email protected]

2008Evan Davis108 Dover RoadLongmeadow, MA 01106(413) [email protected]

Amadi Slaughter 6902 Sussex AvenueEast Orange, NJ 07018(973) [email protected]

Sam Grant continues his runningas a three-season athlete at ColbyCollege, participating in crosscountry, indoor track, and out-door track.

2009Sam DeMello, a first-year studentat St. Lawrence University, wasnamed to the second team of the2009 Liberty League men’s soccerall-stars. A midfielder, Sam wasthe second leading scorer for theSt. Lawrence Saints with sevengoals, four of them in league play.His seven goals tied for fifthamong all Liberty League players.

Former FacultyCathleen Robinson134 Middle StreetHadley, MA 01053(413) [email protected]

Cyrus Cook taught English atWilliston Northampton from1982 to 1990 before heading torival Choate Rosemary Hallwhere he has remained for thepast twenty years. He tells us, “Fornine years, I was Dean of Fresh-men Boys, and for the past fiveyears, I have been Head of theEnglish Department. I’ve alsobeen assistant boys’ thirds basket-ball coach for the past four years!Megan Shea, my wife, crossedpaths at Bates with Karen BrownGolding ’81, the oldest daughterof Ray Brown ’55. We have twochildren: Emma, 13, and Eben,

nine. This fall, I was awarded theCharles Rice Chair in English.”Cyrus would love to hear fromhis former Williston Northamp-ton students. Former scienceteacher from 1982-1998 and Director of Intersession LoisDurso P’85 writes, “We are veryhappy living in Center City,Philadelphia, and I find I am delighted to be within walkingdistance of so many things Johnand I both enjoy doing. Museumsand theater are important to us,and we attend music and danceconcerts, plays, and exhibits quitefrequently. The only teaching Iam doing now is for Planned Par-enthood. I am a Planned Parent-hood Educator and havepresented to classes ranging from5th and 6th graders to visuallyimpaired adults ages 25 to 82. Ialso spend a lot of time workingwith a group called Granny PeaceBrigade Philadelphia. We focusour energies on peace in Iraq andAfghanistan as well as on effortsto get Congress to re-assume itswar powers. One of the projectsof the Granny Peace Brigade is toknit socks for veterans. We havesent out close to 500 stump socksto amputee veterans here inPhilly, in Wilmington, DE, and atWalter Reed Hospital. We are alsoworking to see that 11th and 12thgraders know about the Opt-OutForm which allows them tomaintain their privacy from re-cruiters under the No Child LeftBehind Act. We want war to endand the troops brought home togood mental and physical care. Iam the email secretary for this

group. John and I do travel, but itis mostly visits to grandchildrenwith one trip a year to Europe.The most recent trip was to visitgood friends in Germany and totour a bit in Poland in the areanear Gdansk and the MasusrianLakes.We have 11 grandchildren,nine boys and two girls, and wejust celebrated our 50th anniver-sary.Two of our kids are close by,one in Bryn Mawr with her twoboys, and another in Lawrenceville,NJ, with three boys and a girl, andwe can use public transportationto visit them. Our Denver daugh-ter and her two boys and husbandare a flight away. Our son, TonyDurso ’85, is now living in Fred-ericksburg, VA, with his wifeMaria and their three children.He is Head of the Upper Schoolat Fredericksburg Academy. Tovisit Tony and his crew we usethe train.” Former French teacherand Director of Admissions from1970-1976 Tom Evans writes,“Down here on the Cape, ourWilliston Northampton connec-tion tends to be with the Bakers(Barbara ’61, and Ellis ’51) sincethey are in the next town over.For a number of years, they tookour house in August while we vacationed a few weeks in Maine,and when they started looking toretire here, my wife Jan steeredthem to an ad for the house theyended up buying. In 2006, after26 years in the job, I steppeddown as head of Cape Cod Acad-emy. It was time to turn thingsover. We’d gone from 75 studentsto 400; a rented, dilapidatedbuilding to all the buildings we

Julia Stifler ’06

Julia Stifler ’06, asenior at ColbyCollege in Maine,spends much of

her time as a program leaderat SETC (South End TeenCenter), a safe space forteenagers in Waterville, Maine. Recently Stifler, who is aninternational studies major and Chinese minor, devoted aweekend to taking six teens on an overnight retreat to theLeadership School at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro, Maine.

CVC (Colby Volunteer Center) Assistant Director JohnPerkins commented, “Julia truly went above and beyond theresponsibilities of the program leader position by organizingthis trip for the girls. Her extraordinary efforts show just howmuch she cares about the teens at the SETC and are a truerecognition of thinking beyond oneself.”

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could dream of on 45 acres, allpaid for; a faculty and staff of 11to well over 100; graduatingclasses of three or four to wellover 40; and a college matricula-tion list any great old schoolwould be proud of! I was a luckyguy! Now I’m keeping busy as abank trustee (a large, mutual bankbased here on the Cape, NOTone of the problem banks weread about!), serving on severalother local boards, and doing my‘real’ work as a Head Search andGovernance Consultant for inde-pendent schools. We’re a smallfirm of five, doing work acrossthe U.S. and abroad.” FormerSpanish teacher from 1991-1997and current lawyer Julie CarrollFay returned to do a professionalday/in-service workshop on legalissues and professional boundariesfor the Williston Northamptonfaculty before classes started inthe fall. Current faculty memberClaire Frierson remarked howwell Julie’s teaching experiencehas benefitted her legal work.Julie is married to current historyteacher and golf and hockeycoach Mike Fay, so she and herfamily still live on campus inMariner House on Brewster Avenue. Julie says, “After a yearworking in Northampton atGrife and Walaszek with RogerWalaszek ’65, I am back workingfor my old Hartford law firm,Shipman & Goodwin, three daysa week. I am doing school lawwork, representing both publicand private schools and doing afair amount of work in the areaof students with disabilities/spe-cial education law. As part of mypractice, I continue to do a lot oftraining, workshops and seminarson a variety of education topicsand have started teaching a schoollaw class at Quinnipiac LawSchool. It is great to be able tostill teach in this capacity. As forthe family, the kids are terrific!Tim is nine (fourth grade), Jack isseven (first grade), and Maggie istwo going on 10! We are busy asthe boys are playing all kinds ofsports: football, soccer, hockey,baseball. Mike, of course, has hadthem all (including Maggie!) outon the golf course so that he canstart grooming some golf partnersfor himself.” Leanne Gravel, whotaught Latin and coached swim-ming from 1987-1991, tells us,“Jim and I are headed into our25th year together and live hap-pily in Scarborough, ME, withour four teenagers. After stayinghome for 10 years to get the chil-dren to school-age, I returned to

teaching Latin at a parochialschool and established a Latinprogram for grades 5-8. I also gotback into coaching and ended upas Head Coach of a USA swimteam for children aged 6-21. Asmy responsibilities grew enor-mously with the swim team, Ihad to back away from Latin, butI still home-tutor and am cur-rently getting a student ready totake the AP exam in the spring.My husband works at UNUM,and my children are 19, 18, 16,and 14. The oldest, Danielle, is asophomore majoring in Math atthe University of Southern Maineand is also a coach for me. Robbyis a senior at Scarborough HighSchool is headed off on four recruiting trips for swimmingnext month to determine wherehe will go to college. Kip (JamesJr.) recently got his license and isa junior at SHS, and Jerry is afreshman.” Alan Hall writes, “Tobring you up to date on me andput ‘the Academy’ (as I think of itfrom those long ago days!) andme in some context, I had myfirst teaching job, hired right fromDartmouth in the spring of 1949by Mr. (Archibald) Galbraith,probably one of his last headmas-terly decisions. The new head-master, Phil Stevens, was in onmy job interview. I spent twohappy, confusing, challenging, andexhausting years teaching English,coaching soccer, skiing, and track,and serving as an assistant house-master. I was fortunate to havementors like Chuck Rouse P’47,’51, “Bab” Babcock P’58, andHoward “Boardy” Boardman toguide me. Those two years werewhen the move from the ‘old’ tothe ‘new’ campus took place andmy wife, Merry, and I lucked outto be the first couple to live inthe new apartment—what thenseemed to be luxurious quarterson the first floor of Ford Hall. Afederal July 1, 1951, deadlinethreatened my WW2 GI Bill if Iwasn’t enrolled in a graduate pro-gram. I needed to return to aca-demic studies and thereforemoved to an urban flat inPhiladelphia and the Universityof Pennsylvania to obtain mymaster’s degree in English. FromPenn I went to St. Paul’s Schoolin Concord, NH, for the next 57years as a teacher and administra-tor from 1952-1992 and then as apart-timer in fundraising andpublications. I’m still on the pay-roll as a consultant. That meansthat these days I write obituariesfor the SPS alumni magazine!After 1988, I moved from SPS to

my house in nearby Hopkinton,NH, commuting to the campusuntil last month when a long-planned move to Thornton Oaks,a retirement community not farfrom the Bowdoin campus, tookplace. I have continued to be intouch from time to time withWilliston and with friends on thefaculty. Ellis Baker ’51 and BobCouch ’50 were students when Iwas there as a young master.Henry and Lorraine TellerP’70,’73 and Leon Waskiewicz’42 were special faculty friendsfor years, especially when, forabout ten years, I was a trusteeacross the river at Wilbraham &Monson. I continue to read everypage of the Williston Northamp-ton alumni magazine. That goodhabit led me a year or so ago towrite to two then-youngsters onmy corridor in ’49-’50, Lew Rabinovitz ’53 and Louis Stern’53, whose names caught my eyeon some Reunion page. Theyboth wrote back, and it was a delightful moment of nostalgia toread of their successful and busylives of over half a century—one

of the perks of having been ateacher!”After spending 1992-1994 at Williston Northamptonteaching U.S. history and civilrights and coaching varsity base-ball, boys’ varsity basketball, andgirls’ soccer, Scott Jackson pursuedlaw studies at George WashingtonUniversity in DC where he metRose, his future wife. They live inOakland, CA, with their threechildren:Will, 9, Katherine, 6, andSophia, 2. Scott is a deputy dis-trict attorney and coaches youthsoccer, baseball, softball, basketball,and lacrosse. He remembers hisdays as dorm parent “in the infa-mous Ford Hall. We love the BayArea but I often think of my daysat Williston and what a great experience it was for me.” For-mer history teacher, collegecounselor, and wrestling coachDon Knauf writes,“I think of mymany good times as a member ofthe Williston Northampton com-munity and of the friends I hadduring that time in my life.[After] I left Williston Northamp-ton, I spent 27 years coachingwrestling at Southern Connecticut


Former faculty got together at Ariani's in Cape Coral, Florida, in JanuaryL-R: Bob and Mary Varnum, Cathleen Robinson, George Dunnington,Ray Brown, Ruth Stevens, and Dorothy Dunnington

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State University, retiring in 1996.Now I find myself coaching ahigh school team in Stuart, FL.Summers are spent playing golf inWaterville, ME. We don’t do toomuch traveling except for our annual trip to Aruba each fall.”Don Lightfoot ’66, former collegecounselor, tells us that he and hiswife Joanie have lived in St. Augus-tine, FL, since July 2008. “We soldour New Hampshire house,Joanie took retirement from HPafter 23+ years, and I retired after38 years from school, college, andprivate business careers. Last year’sformer faculty update promptedpast trustee Charlotte Bruins ’47to reconnect with me. She, too, isnow on the East Coast, and I enjoyed getting caught up onnews about her three children. Ivolunteer at the World Golf Hallof Fame Museum one day aweek and work part-time at theSt. Augustine Golf Club.” Whileworking there, Don bumped intoformer classmate Tom Harden-bergh ’66, and his brother Rick’64, who were playing a round ofgolf on a rainy November day.Don adds, “My daughters remainin Connecticut;Taber is in theadministration at Yale School ofManagement in VT and Court-ney is in Burlington, as a mar-keter and sales director for thestart-up business True BodySoap.” Joel N. Morse taught Span-ish at Williston Academy between1969 and 1971 with then Depart-ment Head Dave Thomas P’69and under Headmaster PhilStevens, “a Williams man like myself.” He tells us, “Currently, Iam a full professor of finance atthe University of Baltimore. Pre-viously, I was Associate Dean andDepartment Chair. I also am aconsultant on large complex liti-gation that involves corporate finance, securities cases, and per-sonal injury (more defense thanplaintiff). My daughter Meganwas born while I was at Williston.Now she lives in Dallas with herhusband, Mike Hiltabidle, and hertwo children Audrey and Max.”Former field hockey and girls’lacrosse coach Buffie (Readinger)Race (1975-1981) writes,“I’m inmy eighth year of teaching swim-ming at Seoul Foreign School inSeoul, South Korea. It’s a greatschool and I enjoy all the travelopportunities. I have also coachedvolleyball but gave that up in ’08when I took a sabbatical year andstarted a master’s program inschool counseling. That was aGREAT year! I spent it mostly atmy farm in Shushan, NY, but was

able to travel while taking thecourses online! My son Trevor,now 33 years old, married Tashaand had Cali, my first grand-daughter, who was born in April.Kelly just turned 31; she and herhusband Rob have bought theirfirst home and now live inWellington, CO. I still have pic-tures of both Trevor and Kellywhen they were just toddlers thatwere taken by students inCouchie’s [Bob Couch ’50] pho-tography classes! Pat ArchbaldP’76, ’79, ’81, GP ’13 and MaryHart live close to Waldoboro, ME,where Trevor and Tasha live, sowhen I go up to visit I can oftensee Pat and Mary, too. I will be atSFS for at least another year afterthis one since that’s part of thesabbatical requirements. Unfortu-nately, they don’t play eitherlacrosse or field hockey here.They do play hockey in their PEclasses but not as a competitiveteam. There is a stadium in Seoulbuilt especially for field hockey,but I haven’t had any luck goingto see them practice or compete.I’ve actually played badmintonwith the coach of the men’s fieldhockey China team, but with thelanguage barrier it’s sometimeshard to communicate.” Duringwinter break, Buffie went bungeejumping off the Kawarau Bridgein the south island of NewZealand. Chris Russell, whotaught in the history departmentand coached varsity boys’ soccer,varsity boys’ hockey, and varsitygirls’ hockey at Williston duringhis tenure from 1998-2008, iscurrently on the faculty of TheSalisbury School. He teaches UShistory, coaches the varsity boys’soccer team, and works with sev-enteen boys in college counseling.Chris and his wife Merrilee liveon the campus of another rival,the Hotchkiss School, whereMerrilee runs the economicsprogram. They have a babydaughter, Adele Grace MardonRussell, born September 21,2009. With years of teaching andcoaching experience under hisbelt and a family to focus on,Chris comments, “I’ll be honest.It’s the first time I have everstarted a soccer season and nothad anxiety dreams about games.”Joe Corry taught history at Willis-ton Academy from 1960-1963and coached football and basket-ball. He is now “happily retiredfrom the University of Wisconsin(Madison) and spent the firstseven years in retirement as thefirst executive director of the Re-tirement Association for faculty

and staff. Several of us helpedfound it [and we have] 1,000members now.” Paul Laurent ’44returned to his alma mater in1947 to teach Spanish, French,and algebra and coach soccer andtrack. He remembers his years atWilliston Academy fondly. Hesays, “A high point for us this pastyear was the concert dedicated toHerb Pomeroy ’49 at the latestReunion [June 2009]. My wifeMarge, children Holly and Hal,and the grandchildren all attended and loved the show. Itwas great to see the college-agegrandchildren appreciate thewonderful jazz that was our gen-eration’s music. The fact that itwas done so professionally was areal plus. We wish to thank JohnAnz ’82 for setting this up.” Herbwas a legendary jazz trumpeterand educator, spent most of thepast fifty years at the BerkleeCollege of Music in Boston, andis credited with creating their jazzcurriculum. Last year, 2009,would have been his 60th classReunion. Paul continues, “A noteof interest in the photo of thehurdlers in the last Bulletin[Spring 2009]. I’m the one withthe birthmark on his right leg. Wenoticed that there was a bigblowup of it on the wall in theold gym and showed that to thegrandchildren!” Rick FrancisP’81, ’83 joined the WillistonAcademy faculty in 1958, and before retiring in 2000 he taughtmath, headed the athletic depart-ment, and coached football andbasketball. “And for one year, wasCarp’s [Dan Carpenter P’65 ’68’72 ’73 ’77] assistant in baseball.”But one thing he has not retiredfrom is his passionate commit-ment to the Cape Cod SeaCamps, Camp Wono for girls andCamp Monomoy for boys. Thesummer of 2009 was his 61st sea-

son working with the camps, andhe was proud to see three grand-sons in attendance. This past fall,Rick and wife Marilyn enjoyedan eighteen-day repositioningcruise on the Princess Line, sail-ing from Copenhagen to Ft.Lauderdale with stops in Oslo,Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast,Reykjavik, Qaqortoq (Green-land), and St. John’s, Newfound-land. Rick recently stepped awayfrom his duties with NEPSAC(New England Prep School Ath-letic Council) and was thrilled tosee Williston’s Director of Athlet-ics Mark Conroy do a “fantasticjob in his first year as president.”Recently, Rick was honored tobe selected for induction into theNew England Basketball Hall ofFame. He reminds us that RayBrown ’55 was also elected as a“prep girls coach” in 2006, a fewyears after Rick’s late brotherFrosty was honored for his con-tributions as a referee. Rickwrites, “I humbly accept such anaward for whatever recognition itbrings to the school. I enjoyedmy 22 years as a varsity coach andanother 10-15 working with theyounger boys.”


The Breakfast Club, L-R: Bob Couch ’50, Dick Gregory, Al Shaler, andGlenn Swanson ’64 in the StuBop


\Ç `xÅÉÜ|tÅAlbion G. Hart ’28

Albion Hart died on December 3, 2009, at theage of 101. After Williston Academy, he grad-uated from Wesleyan University and NewYork University. He worked in New Jersey asa teacher and high school principal, retiringin 1976 as superintendent of schools in Atlantic City. After moving to Florida, hemanaged an information booth in Oak Bluffsfor 12 years. He was an active member andtrustee of Trinity United Methodist Church.Albion is survived by his daughter-in-lawVirginia, three grandchildren, and severalgreat-grandchildren. He was predeceased byhis wife Cora Ripley, and his son Albion(Pete) Jr.

Katharine “Kitsy” Doe Chalmers ’30

Kitsy Chalmers died on October 21, 2009.After Northampton School for Girls, shegraduated from Smith College. When the billallowing women in the Navy was approved,she joined the war effort and served at theNaval Air Station in Jacksonville, FL. Shehelped name the Blue Angels, for which shebecame known as the “Mother” of the BlueAngels. She retired from the Navy in 1962and served at the reorganization of The GirlScout Council of the Nation’s Capitol. Kitsyis survived by her husband of 55 years David,her cousin Nat Barrows, his wife Ann, andtheir extended family of Ben, Abigail, Lydia,Isabella, and Hannah H. Barrows ’01.

Helen Murray Ruschp ’30

Helen Ruschp died on August 2, 2009. A grad-uate of Northampton School for Girls, she wasan avid sportswoman. She worked at theMount Mansfield Co. in Stowe, VT, from 1940until her retirement in 1978. Helen is survivedby her stepdaughter Christina, her stepdaugh-ter-in-law Carolyn, and her grandchildren Andrew and Allison. She was predeceased byher husband, Sepp, and her stepson Peter.

Margaret Button Perry ’31

Margaret Perry died on May 25, 2009. AfterNorthampton School for Girls, she attendedSmith College. After her marriage and reloca-

tion to Louisburg, NC, she served on the W.R.Mills School PTA, the Louisburg Garden Club,and the Vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Inlater years, she studied art and became an accomplished oil painter. “Button” is survivedby her sons William and Bennett, three grand-children, and seven great-grandchildren. Shewas predeceased by her husband Bill and hergrandson David.

Janet Wittan Spear ’35

Janet Spear died on November 18, 2009. AfterNorthampton School for Girls, she graduatedfrom Hollins University. She opened JungsFlower Shop in 1948 and operated it formore than 20 years. She was an active volun-teer with the American Red Cross, the FourSeasons Garden Club, and the U.C. BookClub in Gastonia, NC. Janet is survived byher sister-in-law Antonia Sperandeo, threenephews, and a niece. She was predeceased byher husband Guy.

Jean Hendrian Craig ’36

Jean Craig died on July 29, 2009. AfterNorthampton School for Girls, she graduatedfrom the University of Michigan. When herfuture husband joined the Army, she joinedThe American Red Cross in Europe. Aftertheir return, Jean attended the University ofHartford and worked as an elementaryschool teacher, Sunday school teacher, andGirl Scout troop leader. She is survived by hersister Barbara Hendrian; her sons Peter,Christopher, Douglas, and Jonathan; andnine grandchildren. She was predeceased byher husband Frederick.

Sidney G. Piness ’37

Sidney Piness died on October 17, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he graduated from JohnsHopkins University and became a biology instructor at the University of Maryland.After graduating from Georgetown Univer-sity Medical School, he served in the ArmyMedical Corps. He established an internalmedical practice in Plainfield, NJ, and servedon the staff of Muhlenberg Regional MedicalCenter. He was affiliated with the Medical

Society of New Jersey and the Union CountyMedical Society. He also served as presidentof the Plainfield Area Medical Association andthe Union County Heart Association. Sidney issurvived by his wife of 58 years, Carol, his sonAndrew, his daughter Nancy, his nephew DavidAbrams, and his granddaughters Kara andJulia. He was predeceased by his sister Ethel.

Philip Cushman Smith ’38

Philip Smith died on October 1, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he graduated fromBrown University and served in the Armyduring World War II. He worked in the print-ing business and had long tenures at the National Publishing Company, McCall Print-ing Company, and Corporate Press Incorpo-rated. Philip was a lifelong musician, playingin the Roland Cumberland Band, the OlneyBig Band, and the Rockville Concert Band inMaryland. He is survived by his wife of 52years, Ary, his son George, his grandchildrenPhilip and Alia, and his nephews David andStephen. He was predeceased by his sisterKatherine and brother Allerton.

Paul W. Flagg ’39

Paul Flagg died on September 13, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he served in the Army asa sergeant in military intelligence duringWorld War II. He graduated from BryantCollege, and retired as secretary-treasurer ofFlagg Industrial Supply Co. in New Haven,CT, after 40 years of employment. Paul wasan active member of the New Haven Grid-iron Club and the Kiwanis Club. He enjoyedhockey, singing, and traveling. He is survivedby his wife of 66 years, Betty; his children Jef-frey, Leslie, Margaret Lumbard, and Andrew;and ten grandchildren.

John “Jack” J. Tansey ’39

Jack Tansey died on August 24, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he graduated fromBrown University and the University ofMaryland School of Medicine and served as amedical officer in the Naval Reserve. He directed the amputee and prosthetic clinic atKernan Hospital (now Johns Hopkins

Bayview Medical Center) for many years. Hewas also clinical associate professor of ortho-pedic surgery at the University of MarylandSchool of Medicine, and became chief of orthopedics at St. Agnes Hospital. After retir-ing, Jack was a consultant to several agenciesof the federal government and volunteeredwith Health Volunteers Overseas. He is survivedby his wife of 63 years, Shirley, his son John, andhis daughter Sheila Hughes. He was prede-ceased by his brother James N. Tansey ’42.

Alan S. Montague ’40

Alan Montague died on July 23, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he joined the Army whileattending The Citadel military college inCharleston, SC, and served in France duringWorld War II. He successfully ran as a write-in candidate for mayor of his hometown,North Bend, OH. After working engineeringjobs at Seagram Distilleries and Portland Cement, he joined Hamilton County as sani-tary engineer, became assistant county administrator, and retired as director of publicworks. Alan was active at St. Luke EpiscopalChurch and sang in the Sons of Dixie Barber-shop Chorus. He is survived by his wife of 58years, Martha; his son Alan; his daughterNancy Greer; his sister Mary Elizabeth Russell;two grandsons; and two step-grandsons.

Maury Tuckerman “Tuck” Stadler ’40

Tuck Stadler died on July 10, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he served in the FirstBeach Battalion of the Navy during WorldWar II. He graduated from Yale Universityand had a successful career as a journalist, reporter, and news director. He worked forStars and Stripes, The Kansas City Star, televi-sion stations in Oklahoma, and WINS inNew York City. He published articles in TheNew York Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,and other venues. Among his career high-lights were interviews with Martin LutherKing Jr., Malcolm X, President Kennedy, andPresident Truman. Tuck is survived by hiswife, Evalyn; his children Priscilla, Frances,and Gustavus; his grandson Christophe; hisbrother John; and his sister Joan Martin. Hewas predeceased by his brothers Henry,David, and Eliot.

Priscilla “Peggy” Storer Hornberger ’41

Peggy Hornberger died on September 4,2009. After Northampton School for Girls,she graduated from Wellesley College. Shewas an accomplished artist, specializing in oilpainting. She loved wildlife, nature, and gar-dening and was an avid golfer. She also vol-unteered at libraries in the Bremen, ME, area.

Peggy is survived by her children William,Karen Hutchins, James, and Anne Cannon;four grandchildren; and two great-grand-children. She was predeceased by her hus-band H. Richard.

James H. Lord ’41

James Lord died on August 23, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he attended WesleyanUniversity and worked in France as a transla-tor for the Military Intelligence Service. Hespent most of his life in Paris and becamewhat The New York Times described as “akind of Boswell to the artistic and social elite.”In three memoirs, he wrote portraits ofGertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau, Balthus, PeggyGuggenheim, and others. He also wrote essential works on Alberto Giacometti and amemoir about Picasso. His fourth memoir, MyQueer War, will be released in April 2010. Jamesis survived by his adopted son Gilles Roy-Lord.

John Roger Evans ’44

Roger Evans died on July 23, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he attended Oberlin Col-lege and Case Western Reserve MedicalSchool. He worked in general surgery prac-tice for 39 years. In retirement, he helpedbuild a bike trail, worked with Habitat forHumanity, and volunteered at an elementaryschool. He was an avid outdoorsman, oncecommenting, “The forest is my cathedral.”Roger is survived by his wife, Randi; his chil-dren Jody, Timothy, Peter, and Nancy; and sixgrandchildren.

Donald M. Lowe ’46

Donald Lowe died on July 29, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he earned degrees fromYale University, the University of Chicago,and the University of California at Berkeley.He taught courses on critical social thoughtand on China at San Francisco State Univer-sity, retiring in 1992 as professor emeritus ofhistory. He authored six books and was co-founder and associate editor of Positions, ajournal of East Asian and American Studies.Donald is survived by his wife of 35 years,Tani Barlow, his brother David M. Lowe ’50,his sister, and his daughters Lisa and Lydia.

Thomas J. Lynch ’46

Thomas Lynch died on October 23, 2009.After Williston Academy, he graduated fromSt. Michael’s College, the University of Ver-mont, and Georgetown University School ofMedicine. He was the first hematologist atHackensack Hospital and one of the first inBergen County, NJ, to treat leukemia. He heldnumerous roles at the hospital, including di-

rector of medical education. He was also the assistant Bergen County medical examinerfor 25 years. Thomas is survived by his wife,Barbara; his children Thomas, Susan, andChristopher; his former wife Nancy; eightgrandchildren; his stepdaughters Ann-Marie Wordelman and Joanne Faustini;and two step-grandchildren.

Ellen Emery Beeson ’47

Ellen Beeson died on September 24, 2009.After Northampton School for Girls, she attended Goucher College. She was hostess orVIP guest at many industry and social eventswhen, after several moves and promotions,her husband Dick became president and CEOof Colgate Palmolive Ltd. in Toronto. Dickwas later recruited to Kentucky Fried Chickenin Louisville, KY, and ultimately became pres-ident and CEO of the Canada Dry Corpora-tion in New York. Charlotte Bruins ’47 recallsthat as the “first lady” of these companies,Ellen “was considered an outstanding con-tributor to the company’s image worldwide.”In addition to her husband of 59 years, she issurvived by their children Gayle, CathySweeney, and Scott; and six grandchildren.

Mario D. DiMarzo ’47

Mario DiMarzo died on November 13, 2009.After Williston Academy, he attended Ford-ham University, Bridgewater State College,and Suffolk University Law School. He servedin the Army during the Korean War. He alsoattended Bentley College and Boston CollegeGraduate School of Education. He was amember of the Brockton High School (MA)faculty for 33 years and simultaneously prac-ticed law with the Law Firm of Adams &Crosby. He served on the board of directors ofMassasoit Community College and theBrockton YMCA. Mario is survived by hiswife of 49 years, Joan; his children Lisa Danby,Karen, and Paul; and four grandchildren.

Noelle (Cornwell) Gayer Sisson ’47

Noelle Sisson died on October 18, 2009.After Northampton School for Girls, shegraduated from Boston University. Sheworked as a first grade teacher and coun-selor, and was also an “other mother” to numerous children by providing foster carefor more than 20 years. Noelle was active inher church on the Christian EducationCommittee, the Board of Deacons, and theLadies Guild. She is survived by her hus-band, Robert; her son Damon Gayer; heradopted daughter Diane Sevigne; her step-children Paul, Peter, Barbara Roach, andJennifer Brown; and numerous grandchil-


dren and great-grandchildren. She was pre-deceased by her daughters Melissa Cham-pagne and Leslie Gayer.

Jane Mattas Christian ’48

Jane Christian died on November 27, 2009.After Northampton School for Girls, shegraduated from Sweet Briar College. She wasa successful realtor and champion ofwomen’s golf. She belonged to the CountryClub of Scranton and the Waverly CountryClub, and was an active volunteer with theGirl Scouts and the Junior League of Scran-ton. Jane is survived by her children MarjorieMiller, F. Philip III, and Clyde; five grandchil-dren; and her sisters Peggy Comegys andElizabeth Coughlin. She was predeceased byher husband F. Philip II.

Philip B. Hill ’48

Philip Hill died on November 18, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he graduated fromPrinceton University and the West VirginiaUniversity College of Law, and served in theNavy. He was elected to the Iowa House ofRepresentatives and the Iowa Senate. After returning to West Virginia, he practiced lawwith Snyder & Hassig, and was president ofthe West Virginia Bar Association. Philip wasactive with numerous charitable and educa-tional groups. He is survived by his wife, Lily;

his daughters June, Liz, and Marian; andseven grandchildren.

Seward T. Highley ’51, FF

Seward Highley died on September 5, 2009.After Williston Academy, he graduated fromMiddlebury College and Simmons College.After serving in the Army, he taught biologyand chaired the science departments atWilliston Academy and The MillbrookSchool. At Williston, he also coached soccerand skiing, and was master of Swan Cottage.A lifelong birder, he worked in retirement atthe Center for Coastal Studies and the Inter-national Wildlife Coalition, both on CapeCod. Seward is survived by his daughters Deb-orah, Susan, Carolyn, and Helen Matel; sevengrandchildren; and his former wife, Patricia.

John “Jack” R. McGrail ’54

Jack McGrail died on October 13, 2009.After Williston Academy, he graduated fromTufts University and the University of Con-necticut Law School. He practiced law for over35 years and was past president of the NewHaven County Bar Association, CT Bar Asso-ciation, American Trial Lawyers Association,and received the Yale Sappern Civility Award.He is survived by his wife, Carole, his sisterAnne Koletsky, his sons John and Timothy, hisdaughter Nancy, and six grandchildren.

James “Jim” A. Jeffrey, Jr. ’56

Jim Jeffrey died on September 17, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he began a career inbroadcasting. He started in Concord, NH, atWKXL and went on to WPRO in Providence,RI, WDRC in Hartford, CT, KDKA in Pitts-burgh, PA, WAVE in Louisville, KY, KHOU inHouston, TX, and KTVK and KFYI inPhoenix, AZ. He worked in many areas, fromtalk shows to sports reporting and directing.He was an original member of Ping Golf ’sWall of Honor for coverage of the LPGA. Jimis survived by his wife, Diane, his sons JamesIII and Mark, his sisters Jill Janas and GraceNelson, his brother Edward, five grandchil-dren, and three great-grandchildren. He waspredeceased by his brother John R. Jeffrey ’55.

Richard O. Johnson ’56

Richard Johnson died on December 13, 2008.After Williston Academy, he attended theUniversity of Massachusetts at Amherst andworked in building and real estate. Togetherwith his business partner, Jerry Gates, he developed residential areas throughout theAmherst area. Dedicated to many civic andreligious causes, he served on the boards ofthe Hitchcock Center for the Environment,the Boys and Girls Club, Interfaith Housing,Kiwanis Club, Knight of Columbus, andother groups. Richard is survived by his wifeof 42 years, Edna; his children Russell O.Johnson ’85, Jennifer Johnson Wilson, andTimothy; and five grandchildren.

Peter D. Knight ’58

Peter Knight died on October 10, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he attended Scarritt Col-lege for Christian Workers and Berkeley Divinity School. He was rector of St. Paul’sEpiscopal Church in Southington, CT, untilhe moved to a career with New England LifeInsurance Co. He was elected to the WillistonAcademy Board of Overseers in 1971. Peterand his wife owned and operated The OldMystic Inn for nine years, and he was pastpresident of the Mystic Chamber of Com-merce. Peter is survived by his wife of 25years, Mary; his children Susan Lapointe, Andrew, Karen Hardy, and Kelley K. Knight’86; and five grandchildren. He was prede-ceased by his son Peter J. Knight ’81 and infant daughter Ellen.


L. Guy Palmer II ’53

Guy Palmer died on January 16,2010. After Williston Academy,he graduated from Yale Univer-sity, served in the Army, and

began a distinguished career in the invest-ment industry. In 1966, he was a founderand president of the investment manage-ment firm Davis, Palmer and Biggs, Inc.After his company was purchased by Fidu-ciary Trust Company, he was a senior offi-cer at Fiduciary and later at Ayco/AmericanExpress. From 1984-1987, Guy was directorof the Internal Pension Asset ManagementGroup of General Motors. He was a mem-ber of the board of directors of Atlanta

Capital Management Company from 1987-1996. In 1996, he was a foundingpartner of Chatham Capital Group in Savannah, where he continued as a con-sultant until his death. Guy served on a number of corporate, charitable, andeducational boards, including Williston’s Board of Trustees from 1976-1986 and1988-1990. He received Williston’s Distinguished Service Award in 1986. Guy issurvived by his wife of 51 years, June; his brother William B. Palmer ’49; hischildren L. Guy IV, Deborah Doherty, Philip, Edward D. Palmer ’86, andDorothy Straub; and 12 grandchildren.

Edwina W. Hatch ’60

Edwina Hatch died on November 7, 2009.After Northampton School for Girls, shegraduated from Marjorie Webster Junior Col-lege in Washington, DC, and attended theUniversity of Oslo, Norway. She was a physi-cal education teacher and coach at privategirls’ schools in New York for more than 25years. An accomplished tennis player, she wasinducted into the Platform Tennis Hall ofFame. She was also a winning golfer. Edwinais survived by her son William and daughterDiana. She was predeceased by her husbandRaymond.

Bart W. Perini ’60

Bart Perini died on May 1, 2009. After Willis-ton Academy, he was employed by Perini Cor-poration. He retired as president and CEO ofParamount Development Associates and presi-dent and COO of Perini Land and Develop-ment Co., subsidiaries of Perini Corp. A sailorand sportsman, he belonged to the RuffedGrouse Society, Falmouth Skeet Club, Addieville East Farm Hunting Club, and theKingman Yacht Club. Bart is survived by hiswife of 23 years, Carol, his children HeatherYork and Noelle, two stepchildren, and threegrandchildren.

Hunter Harris III ’61

Hunter Harris died on June 25, 2009. AfterWilliston Academy, he graduated from WakeForest University and served in the Air Forceduring the Vietnam War. He lived in Hawaiiand the Philippines, graduated from AngelesUniversity, and worked at Sterling Drug Inter-national. He was a member of the Elks Club,the American Legion, the Manila Army andNavy Club, and the Reserve Officers Associa-tion. He is survived by his son Antonio.

Willett Sherman Foster IV ’64

Will Foster died on February 5, 2010. AfterWilliston Academy, he attended Colgate Uni-versity, graduated from the University of Ver-mont, and enlisted in the Naval Reserve. Aftera series of construction jobs and co-owning aswimming pool franchise, he began working atEdlund Company (Burlington, VT) in 1972. Atthe time of his death, he was CEO of EdlundCo. Will enjoyed riding his motorcycle, ice-boating on Lake Champlain, flying his sea-plane, and racing vintage cars. He was an activemember of the Young Presidents’ Organiza-tion. Will is survived by his wife Frances; hischildren Wendy Farrington, Mary-ElizabethFoster ’88, Caroline S. Foster ’03, and Willett(Witt) Foster V; five grandchildren; and hisbrothers Stephen P. Foster ’66 and James. He

was predeceased by his former wife PamelaLovell Snow.

Eugene Charles Gadaire ’67

Eugene Gadaire died on January 15, 2010.After Williston Academy, he graduated fromGeorgetown School of Dentistry. He wasrated one of the top six dentists in Washing-ton, DC, by Washingtonian Magazine. He issurvived by his wife of 40 years, Betsy, and hissisters Sylvia, Diantha Ferrier, and LilaForastiere.

Robert David Murphy ’67

Robert Murphy died on December 20, 2009.After Williston Academy, he attended BostonCollege. He was president of the T. Robert Sulli-van Insurance Agency in Boston and a longtimemember of Hatherly Country Club. He is sur-vived by his sisters, Constance Hughes andLaura Kensington, and six nieces and nephews.

Christopher K. McCarty ’76

Christopher McCarty died on August 30, 2009.After The Williston Northampton School, hegraduated from Union College and AlbanyLaw School. He practiced law in Southampton,MA, for 15 years. He helped establish the Hill-town Ambulance Service and was an EMT andmember of the Worthington Fire Department.He was also active in the Chester Theater.Christopher is survived by his mother, Phyllis;his brothers Dennis W. McCarty ’70 and PeterC. McCarty ’78; his sister Meredith Clanton;and five nieces and nephews.

Adam Washburn ’90

Adam Washburn died on October 29, 2010.After The Williston Northampton School, heattended Elmira College and graduated fromHolyoke Community College. A lover of his-tory, he was a voracious reader and distin-guished himself with knowledge of NaziGermany and its role during World War II, atopic he first encountered in Glenn Swanson’64 (Swanee)’s history course. Adam always enjoyed discussion and debate, using humorand wit to his advantage. His love of Willistonwas significant throughout his life, and friendsand family were his guiding lights. John Bailey’90, Lance Vachon ’90, Harry “Chip” Healey’90, Simon Keyes ’90, Annie DeRose Westlund’90, Leah Fasten ’90, and Gordon Couch ’89attended a memorial gathering in his honor.Adam is survived by his parents, Timothy andJulie Jennison Washburn ’66 FF, his sistersAbigail Washburn ’91 and Anna WashburnRayner ’95, his paternal grandmother MarionWashburn, his nephew Maxwell TimothyRayner, and his uncle Jonathan Jennison.

Former Faculty/Staff

Alphonse Barry

Alphonse Barry died on December 22, 2009.He joined the Williston Academy PhysicalPlant Department in the late 1950s andshortly thereafter became the school’s chef,remaining at Williston until 1971. He lastworked at Holyoke Hospital. Alphonse waspredeceased by his wife.

Charlotte Snyder Turgeon H ’77

Charlotte Turgeon died on September 22,2009. A graduate of Smith College, Charlottewas a prolific author, editor, and translatorwith 53 published works. She attended theCordon Bleu Academy in Paris and enjoyed alifelong friendship with her Smith classmateJulia Child. At Amherst College, where herhusband taught, her social and culinary skillswere utilized by successive presidents in extending hospitality to many distinguishedguests. Later in life, Charlotte worked asAlumni Secretary at Northampton School forGirls. Upon the merger with Williston Acad-emy, she became School Secretary and assistedHeadmaster Robert Ward with many ceremo-nial and practical duties. Dick Gregory FFremembers her as a “grand lady … one of thesturdiest and most imaginative presences” oncampus. Retiring in 1977, Charlotte was pre-sented with Williston’s Eminent ServiceAward. She is survived by her childrenCharles, Thomas, and Charlotte White; eightgrandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.She was predeceased by her husband Freder-ick and her son Richard.

The school recently learned of the deaths of thefollowing individuals:

Chia Yung “Charlie” Yuan ’25Jane Ferris Fryatt ’29Katharine Borden Lake ’31Rev. Benjamin E. Berry ’39Patricia (Bennett) Hoffman ’40Arthur L. Reed ’46Carol LaFrance Rockoff ’48Andrea Nadle Lefkovits ’67Robert E. Wheeler ’67James “Jimmy” R. Triana, Jr. ’72Melanie C. Hawrylow FS



Neither the long-rumored Zamboni nor themissing Confederate submarine have so far

appeared. But when the campus pond was drainedearlier this winter, the first stage in a project to remove several decades’ accumulation of muck, pilings from the old wooden bridge were revealed,and have now been removed.

This project was made possible by gifts fromJ.H. Maxymillian, Inc./Maxymillian Technologies,James H. Maxymillian ’56, Neal A. Maxymillian’83, and Chuck Tauck ’72.

Old photographs reveal that over the years,there were actually several wooden trestles con-necting Sawyer Field with the main campus. Between weather and the wear and tear fromcleated shoes, bridges didn’t last long. This writer,who grew up on campus, recalls that crossing could be an adventure. There were what appearedto a small child to be giant gaps in the floorboards.The whole ramshackle structure was replaced bytoday’s Parents’ Bridge in 1957.

Williston Pond is the uppermost in a series ofdescending artificial ponds developed to providewater power for Samuel Williston’s textile mills inthe mid-19th century. Beyond being the sceniccenterpiece of a lovely campus, it has served as anoutdoor biology and ecology laboratory,hockey venue, and from a time when thecurriculum was very different, a project forthe surveying class. (The sketch is from sur-veying teacher Joseph Sawyer’s notes, 1883.)

from the archives

IT’S ALL IMPORTANTThe Archives collects school documents andmemorabilia of all kinds. We’re especially interested in student journals and letters, academic work, photographs, and much more.We’d also like to fill gaps in certain school pub-lications, notably Northampton School year-books for 1934 and 1956, many issues of theNorthampton Annual Catalogue, Pegasus, andThe Willistonian. Right now we’re particularlyseeking summer reading lists from over theyears. Don’t let these important pieces of ourhistory be lost to future generations! If you havematerial you would like to share, or stories totell, please contact Archivist Richard Teller ’70, at (413) 529-3288, or [email protected].

by Richard Teller ’70, archivist

Make your gift to the Williston Northampton Annual Fund by June 30.

www.williston.com/giving

Thank you!

Think back. Remember the great teachers, coaches, andexperiences that you had when you were a student atWilliston. Generations of our students have enjoyed thesupport of alumni, parents, and friends of the school thatmade it possible for them to live and learn together.

Your contribution to the Annual Fund will continue that tradition, helping to ensure that today’s students have thesame great experience at Williston Northampton that you did.

Can they count on you?

Nonprofit Org.U.S. PostagePAIDThe WillistonNorthampton School19 Payson Avenue

Easthampton, MA 01027(413) 529-3000www.williston.com

Change service requested

Parents: If this issue is addressed to your son or daughter who no longermaintains a permanent address at yourhome, please notify the Alumni Office of the correct new mailing address bycontacting us at [email protected] or(800) 469-4559. Thank you.

The children’s theater program, Anne of Green Gables, delighted youngsters at sold-out shows during the publicschool’s vacation in February. The play, the third directedby Director of the Williston Theatre Emily Ditkovski, followsAnne’s misadventures as Matthew and Marilla of Green

Gables mistakenly adopt her rather than a young boy theywanted for chore duties. Anne uses her imagination to helpher adapt to this new and very different life. Based on thenovel by Lucy Maud Montgomery, this version was drama-tized by Joseph Robinette.

The WillistonNorthampton School

www.williston.com/theater

bulletin spring 2010

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