Choate Day 2023

 To the Grand Class of 1969:

I thought this weekend might be an opportune time to touch base with the Class since the rivalry with Choate has endured longer than any other school tradition. On the whole, the results on Saturday were excellent. The only fly in the ointment was the loss to an undefeated Choate football team which built an insurmountable lead before the first half ended. That said, the football team had an excellent year, ending the season 6-3.

As you all know, we are approaching our 55th reunion June 7-9. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen who made the 50th Reunion such a success, and many of them will be doing a reprise next year. I am hopeful that we can organize an independent program with presenters similar to what we did in 2019 and also find a way to recognize those who are no longer with us. There is no unifying class gift that we will be soliciting as there was when we replaced the Union Soldier on Main Street, but I know I will be interested in seeing how the replica has weathered over the past five years. 

Please reach out to me or to our indefatigable Attendance Chair Lacey if you have suggestions for what you would like to see at our 55th reunion. In considering reasons why you should attend, you may wish to watch this short video I clipped from the school website: https://vimeo.com/536808625

All the best.

DWS

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all in advance.  

Fall Term Report Card

To the Grand Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

By all appearances, the Academy returned to normalcy this term. Students were required to be vaccinated, and masks were not required. Sit down meals and interscholastic sports resumed, and the Thanksgiving break will not be extended as it was last year. One pandemic-induced change that seems permanent is that the school day now consists of three 90-minute sessions as opposed to seven 45-minute periods with the dual objective of providing greater engagement and a more intensive learning experience.  

On the Lower Level, Varsity Football continued a revival of the program that began to take shape in 2019 after a lost decade at the hands of Choate. In what would have been the centennial game of the rivalry but for the cancellation of interscholastic games last fall, Deerfield easily defeated Choate 50-26 and finished the season 8-1. The only loss this fall was to Loomis Chafee in an away game. From a quick glance at the roster, many members of this year's winning team will be back next year.

Another item worth noting is that the Class of 1970 finally got to celebrate its 50th reunion in person last weekend. I was told about 50 attended but I doubt their experience matched the buzz of past classes under the Great Tent or that a swim in the River in November held the same allure as it would have in June. 

News of the Class

While many of us have retired by now, some classmates have embraced e-commerce and created attractive websites to market their offerings. Read on for a sampling.

As I first mentioned in 2015, retirement allowed Tim Truby to turn an avocation for travel and photography into a fulltime pursuit. Although COVID-19 put a temporary hold on travel, he did manage to get back on the road and spent time this year in the Faroe Islands off of Denmark and the Dolomites in Italy, two of his favorite spots. Tim also lined up an exhibition of his work at bG Gallery in Santa Monica in June. Since I first commented on Tim's work, he upgraded his website where you can view (and purchase) his photos. 

The twentieth observance of 9/11 was a particularly solemn remembrance in New York and elsewhere. As part of the commemoration, the NYC Culture Club at the Oculus in the World Trade Center featured a solo exhibition of Renewal, the work of Todd Stone. Todd has substantially revamped his website where you can view (and purchase) his work.

Hurricane Ida was unkind to Ed Grosvenor in September when torrential rains flooded his home in Rockville, MD and ruined archival materials of American Heritage. You can read about it in the WaPo and, if you would like to help out, you can contribute to American Heritage which is a 501(c)(3) by going here. Alternatively, if you would prefer to buy a copy of a black and white photo from our era, you can visit Ed's SmugMug site where Ed has organized most of the photos he took in his three years at Deerfield. 

After an 18-month hiatus due to COVID-19, Rusty Young is back in business and has scheduled concerts in eleven different cities in Florida this season. If you're in Florida and are game, you can book an event here.

Our son (Deerfield '09) celebrated his wedding one year after the pandemic-induced, family-only legal ceremony. I was pleased to see that his Deerfield education had paid off when I surveyed the couple's wine selections and saw that they had selected a Cabernet from Alexander Valley Vineyards. When I passed this along to Hank Wetzel, he confirmed their excellent judgment and indicated that this year's harvest had produced a small, but high quality crop. You can view Hank's offerings by visiting his online store (after verifying that you are of legal drinking age).

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

DWS

Jere Urban (1951-2021)

Rat Patrol 50 Years Later

David Chittim shared with me the sad news that Jere Urban had passed away, less than two years after our 50th Reunion and only four months after receiving a cancer diagnosis.

Jere, along with Bernstein, Marx, Stone and myself, came from Scarsdale, a NYC suburb which attracts families on account of its excellent public schools. None of us chose to return after graduating, and the three of us still living all spent our careers in NYC. That was not Jere's choice who embraced a more low key rural lifestyle. Jere attended the 50th, and I'm glad I suggested the Rat Patrol pose for a reprise of the photo in our yearbook. The notice below is from the local newspaper.

MONKTON — Jere Urban, 70, passed away due to pancreatic cancer on March 15, 2021, on the hillside in Monkton where he and his wife Robin Shalline, his love of 45 years, built their own home, raised a family, and cultivated a beautiful life together. In front of him was the fireplace his friend Phil had built; behind him were the Adirondacks, the first place he felt home, and a place that would call him back for adventures throughout his life. Surrounding him were his dear loved ones.

Jere grew up outside of New York City with two older sisters, Alix and Xenia, and their adventurous parents, Jerome and Xenia. His family made frequent fishing, canoeing and hiking trips to the Adirondacks, where Jere forged a deep connection with nature, especially water.

During his younger years, Jere found joy in athletics. His grit, heart, and quick thinking on the field would continue to be qualities that others appreciated in him and that he developed throughout his life. He attended Deerfield Academy where, like many young people during the ’60s, Jere felt ambivalent about his place in the world, but also appreciated the opportunity for an excellent education.

Following high school, Jere continued to explore his sometimes unconventional interests. At age 18, to his father’s dismay, Jere drove his mom’s pink Cadillac to the Woodstock music festival. Although his parents expected him to pursue a medical career at St. Lawrence University, Jere grew interested in learning practical homesteading skills. Living in a farmhouse with friends, Jere kept goats, hayed fields, repaired cars, made dandelion wine, and found more courage to be himself.

Upon graduation, Jere hitchhiked from New York to Alaska. In typical Jere fashion, he had a wild idea and went for it. Venturing down the Yukon River with hitchhikers he’d met along the way, Jere scavenged wood from an old sawmill and fashioned a raft, floating 300 miles through the Canadian wilderness. The group ate well, fishing for grayling and trading Molson for moose meat. A lasting image from that trip is of hearing the roar of rapids up ahead as they approached the U.S. border at midnight.

Despite finding great adventure, time in the wilderness revealed a longing for community and relationships. Jere returned to the East Coast, landing among like-minded people at the Kingsland Bay School in Ferrisburgh, Vt., an experiment in community living and holistic education, where he worked as a house parent and teacher. There he met the love of his life, Robin. The story goes that Robin was leaving on a road trip to Maine, and on a whim invited Jere. He was game (and already an admirer). What could have been a seven hour trip turned into thirteen as the two made stops for beachcombing, picking up hitchhikers, and falling in love. It was the beginning of a life together full of adventure and spontaneity.

At Kingsland Bay, Jere developed his skills in helping young people. He enrolled in UVM’s graduate program in Counseling and this became his life’s work. Jere recognized his privilege and harnessed it to elevate the lives of those without similar opportunities. He brought this spirit of service to work in community health organizations and local schools, particularly Bristol Elementary School where he was a Guidance Counselor for thirty years. Jere loved the BES community.

Jere’s proudest accomplishment was raising his family in the home he built with his own hands. When he and Robin first visited the land in March 1980, they skied to the back meadow and saw a pair of bluebirds, which sealed the deal. After marrying, they cultivated kids and gardens with great care and attention. An indomitable team, they worked tirelessly on projects, knew each other’s strengths, and found ways to make the impossible happen. Jere’s determined and inventive spirit is everywhere on the property; from the stone walkway to the swingset he built for his grandchildren. Jere left the land more beautiful than he found it.

“Bear,” as Jere was known by his family, appreciated the small wonders of his home: fireflies in the field, a homemade meal from the garden, children digging for worms, one last sled run at sunset. He inspired his family to pursue lives of meaning and wonder, to seek out adventure and to foster relationships. Bear loved deeply and openly, would cry easily when moved or inspired, and expressed love through actions: homemade gifts, a sure hand on the tiller, small acts of kindness. During his passing we shared that it is now our turn to take the helm and to paddle him around the bend to his next journey.

Jere is survived by his wife, Robin Shalline; son Chris (Mara Mueller) and their children Aurelia and Juniper; daughter Anna (Asa Sourdiffe); and son Cam (Marta Solomianko); sister Alix Keast (Tom Banasiak) and niece Emma; sister Xenia Urban (David Ford) and nephew Alex (Allegra Shum); brother-in-law Paul Shalline (Susan) and nephew Jason; and cousin Peg O’Malley. He will be missed by many dear friends.

A celebration of Jere’s life will be held later this spring. If you’d like to make a donation in Jere’s memory, please consider contributing to the landscaping committee at the new Monkton community center. Jere devoted significant time to this project and imagined people gathering and enjoying the view of the surrounding pond and mountains. Checks can be written to: Town of Monkton. Mail to: Bill Joos, Treasurer, P.O. Box 12, Monkton VT, 05469. Subject line: Community Center Landscaping (in memory of Jere Urban).

Spring Term Report Card - 2021

To the Grand Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

In another Deerfield first, the 222nd Commencement took place under the cover of the Jay and Mimi Morsman Tennis Pavilion on a cold and rainy day.  Given the decision to hold a virtual reunion in June, few might have imagined that an in-person Commencement with no limitations on the number of guests would have been possible. The event was streamed live, and you can see it here. If you prefer to listen to highlights, you can fast forward to hear the head of the Board of Trustees (0:18:00), the Head of School (0:31:00), the student body president and the student council chair (0:57:35) and the keynote speaker (1:24:47).  Underclassmen left a day later, shaving off four days of academic instruction. The four days that were eliminated have been added to the Fall Term, and the academic year will begin before Labor Day for the first time ever to the disappointment of more than a few.

With the departure of the students, construction crews will be busy restoring buildings that had been retrofitted for the pandemic. Dewey (which we knew as the Heath Center and which served this past year as the primary quarantine facility) will be demolished as originally planned to make way for a new dormitory. 

Applications set a record, and enrollment for next year will be the highest ever even though only 12% were admitted. Students began getting vaccinated as they became eligible by age group during the Spring Term. Although more than 8,100 tests were administered during the Spring Term, only six students tested positive. Students will need to be vaccinated before returning to campus in the Fall, and remote learning will not be a choice. As it was, by the end of the Spring Term less than ten students were learning remotely.  

A truncated schedule of interscholastic athletics began in April, the highlight of which was Boys Varsity Lacrosse which finished 12-0 and earned the #1 national ranking.

News of the Class

An Italian at heart, AC Starkey put the top down and the pedal to the metal of his 2003 Maserati and set what may have been a land speed record from Vero to Palm Beach where he hosted me for an outdoor lunch at one of his favorite trattorias. This was undoubtedly a dry run for his upcoming trip to Sicily and the Amalfi Coast this summer where he plans a month-long stay, capped off with two nights in Paris on the return.

I received several photos in transit of the motley crew on the left who you may recognize from the 50th Reunion, if not from Pocumtuck. Together with their wives, this group shipped off earlier this month aboard the riverboat American Jazz for an eight-day cruise up the Mississippi from New Orleans to Memphis.

In other news John Mills was the principal author of a brief submitted by the New York City Bar Association in connection with a case to be heard later this year before the Supreme Court on the "doctrine of assignor estoppel" which prevents sellers of patents from later challenging their own patents.

Best wishes to all for the summer.

DWS

Winter Term Report Card - 2021

To the Grand Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

In a year full of changes, one thing that has remained constant in the academic calendar is the traditional two week Spring Break which began when classes let out earlier today.

The start of the Winter Term was delayed until January this year for the first time. Instead, two weeks in December were filled with "D-Term", a virtual learning experience focused on "community building" and "engaged citizenship". In another change to the calendar bound to disappoint some, the upcoming academic year will begin before Labor Day for the first time.

The school retrofitted various buildings (including Hitchcock which had functioned as the bookstore since 2001 and Ephraim Williams which had housed the Office of Advancement since 1999) in order to accommodate the day students for the Winter Term and has made the decision to extend the boarding requirement for the Spring Term. About 12% of the student body chose remote learning over spending the winter in Deerfield, up from 5% during the Fall Term. The school administered 14,769 COVID tests, with only 29 individuals testing positive.  In a sign of progress, all K-12 employees of public and private schools in Massachusetts became eligible for vaccinations today although it remains unclear just how much this will affect the the way the school operates from day to day during the Spring Term.

Another change this year has been the admissions process which has been predicated forever on a belief in the importance of in-person interviews. Years ago I was told that the school dispensed with the interview requirement one year and, in retrospect, regretted the decision. Like so many things in the past year, it's hard to know how many of the pandemic induced changes are transitory and how many are permanent. Presumably in-person interviews, standardized tests and revisit days will be reinstituted as soon as it is safe again. For those who pinned their hopes on attending Deerfield, demand for the limited number of spaces was up this year as expected. Decisions were communicated on March 10th.

Given the long lead time it takes to plan a reunion and the uncertain course of the virus, the school chose to replace in-person reunions with a series of virtual meetings this June for the classes whose reunions were scheduled for June 2020 and 2021. Those classes will be invited to campus in June 2022 for a "cluster reunion" with adjacent classes. In another first, the 50th Reunion for the classes of 1970 and 1971 is going to take place this Fall. Those alumni who had been hoping to relive dormitory life in June will need to find other housing options during the peak foliage season in New England. 

News of the Class

I've mentioned Neil Jacobs' after-school program in the Boston area several times since learning about 3Point Foundation at our Reunion. You will be interested to read an interview Neil gave last Fall to Boston Speaks Up which includes information on his foundation as well as the backstory on how he wound up at Deerfield.

You may recall that Camp Timanous (which was owned by the Suitor family for more than 80 years) made the painful decision last year that it couldn't re-open safely. David Suitor confirmed recently that the camp has adapted to all contingencies and will be open again this summer with a full complement of campers. Another business hard hit by the pandemic has been live concerts. After having had to abbreviate the calendar 2021 concert schedule, Rusty Young has been busy rescheduling performers (one of whom is Chubby Checker whose 50th anniversary of "The Twist" is this year) as well as venues and has 70 shows lined up for the 2022 season.

In more dated news, Margarita Curtis H '57 '69 was appointed Interim President of Ursuline Academy in New Orleans for the 2020-2021 academic year. Margarita was a four year student at Ursuline, the first all-girls' Catholic school in the country, and graduated in 1969. Since her retirement from Deerfield, she and her husband have been living in New Orleans.

Best wishes to all.

DWS

Fall Term Report Card - 2020

To the Grand Class of 1969:

I had no doubt that the reopening of the Academy during a pandemic would be newsworthy, but I initially hesitated to write because I thought that there would be little of interest about the Class to report. When I looked back at my emails and texts, however, I realized that there was more than I thought, including some news about Classmates who continue to make their mark. 

News of the Academy

For those who may not have attended the Town Hall, here is what I noted:

• Since July 30, the Academy administered nearly 16,000 tests and succeeded in containing positive cases to a handful
• Before school re-opened the Academy reconfigured dorms so that every boarding student lives in a single and made other physical alterations in order to enforce social distancing
• Class sizes were reduced, and eight teachers were added to handle the additional sections
• The school has incurred approximately $8 million in incremental costs as a result of the pandemic but contributions have been robust, and the endowment now totals over $1 million per student
• In order to further insulate the campus, the day students will have the option of learning remotely or living on campus for the Winter Term
• The annex of The Deerfield Inn has been sublet for COVID space, and Ephraim Williams, which housed the alumni office, is being repurposed temporarily to serve as as a dorm
• A new "dining pavilion" is being constructed adjacent to the Dining Hall so that sit-down lunches in two shifts can be re-instituted
• A skating rink is being constructed behind the MSB where the Great Tent had been set up for outdoor learning
• While school is out until the first week of January, a so-called "D-Term" will run from December 7 - 18. The D-Term is being billed as a remote-learning and community-building experience that will include virtual School Meetings, virtual "sit-down meals" and other events
• Applications remain strong, albeit without campus visits

Also of note this term is that the Academy's architecture is now the subject of an excellent 200-page guide published by Princeton Architectural Press. The Academy is one of only three secondary schools in the series. Advancement sponsored a webinar last month which featured presentations by the author and another architect, both of whom are alumni. What I found most interesting was the explanation of the way in which today's buildings relate to each other without there ever having been a central plan and how the more recent construction makes architectural allusions not only to existing buildings but also to antecedents - such as Dickinson High School and Plunkett - that are long gone. Parenthetically, the Civil War Memorial and our role in its restoration is noted in a walking tour of Deerfield and the broader community.

News of the Class

For the historians in the Class, AC Starkey has maintained his laser-like focus on the good life as I first pointed out in my 2015 Fall Term Report Card. This fall he treated himself to a low mileage Maserati ragtop for trips to the local McDonalds' in Vero, once again proving that "living well is the best revenge". His fellow Veronian, Rusty Young, has lined up performing artists and venues for the upcoming concert season, but hasn't yet released tickets for sale. 

Neil Jacobs is now spending half of his time managing 3Point Foundation which he founded ten years ago and which he described to us at the 50th Reunion. If you are thinking of what you might support on Giving Tuesday, I encourage you to consider 3Point which is committed to remedying the inequities in opportunities to learn and develop that affect life outcomes of economically disadvantaged urban youth. 

The new technology we adopted this year has enabled Dick Prokesch - who is based in Georgia - to cover for another infectious disease specialist in Nebraska from time to time. Robert Clough, when he wasn't at his summer cabin in Maine culling the fish from Moosehead Lake, assisted the Millennial surgeons in the Bangor ME and did some performance reviews. He and Jo are scheduled to arrive in the Florida Keys on December 1 where the tarpon await them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. 

DWS

Spring Term Report Card - 2020

To the Grand Class of 1969:

Since Graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2020 would have been today under the Great Tent, I wanted to share with you how the groundskeeping crew honored the Class of 2020 in their absence: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAfnZw3AmED/

News of the Academy

Because all of you have received emails from the Academy announcing changes to the 2020 Academic calendar and the postponement of this year's Reunions until next June, I have limited my summary to what you may not already know. 

Within weeks of transitioning the Spring Term online, the Academy offered rebates of $2,700 to boarding students and $1,100 to day students which amounts were based on the average cost of meals per day and the cost of maintaining and cleaning the dormitories. I have no insight as to when the campus will re-open or how the Academy will deal with international students from nearly 50 countries, although it has refunded deposits and postponed the deadline for the first tuition payment to July 1 by which time it will have made a decision. The Academy packed up and shipped students' belongings earlier this month so that the Physical Plant staff would be able to keep to its annual maintenance schedule beginning in early June in the hope that the campus will re-open in September.

Despite having to reschedule revisit days as virtual events, 64% of admitted students accepted their offers, up from 59% last year. For applicants hoping to matriculate in 2021,  Zoom and Skype interviews have taken the place of on campus interviews. COVID-19 updates and information from the Academy are available through this link.

In case you are curious how the Academy reacted to the Spanish Flu in 1918, The Scroll contained this interesting historical note in the final edition of the year, "While the influenza ravaged Greenfield, Turner’s Falls, and even South Deerfield, Deerfield itself remained largely unaffected. 'Deerfield has not been hit by the epidemic as far, only one very mild case being reported there, and the closing rules do not affect that part of the town,' stated a later article in The Greenfield Recorder from January 1919. However, Deerfield Academy did temporarily suspend class, extending the winter break by at least a week. 'Deerfield Academy was to have reopened yesterday, and the board of health was willing, it said, provided that South Deerfield and Sunderland people did not attend,' the article further stated. 'This would have meant a greatly reduced attendance so Principal Frank Boyden decided to wait another week to see how conditions develop.' While it is unclear when Mr. Boyden resumed classes, archival Commencement programs show that Deerfield held graduation ceremonies in 1918, 1919, and 1920."

News of the Class

Over 40 of us convened via Zoom in April for an informative Q&A session with Dick Prokesch on COVID-19 and a virtual cocktail hour. As circumstances dictate, I hope to organize a follow-up session with Dick who has been serving on the frontline. 

In other news, within a week of the closure of the Boston public schools, Neil Jacobs transitioned his after school program 3Point  so that it was hosting 14 live one hour sessions each week on Zoom and posting videos and other materials on BAND where students could leave written comments and chat. Teachers, classroom coordinators, basketball coaches and dance instructors were able to engage with students virtually while continuing to promote critical thinking, communication, social-emotional learning and the values promoted by 3Point. 

Rusty Young has been busy rescheduling concerts and booking concerts for next season, recognizing that no one knows when people will feel comfortable attending live events again. Dave Suitor told me that Camp Timanous - which his family has been associated with since 1936 - concluded that it could not safely re-open this summer. You can read about it here and see a clip of Dave.

On a lighter note, Robert Clough is enjoying life in the Keys at the expense of the local tarpon as you can see from the action shot on the left. The local fish will soon get a breather as Robert is planning to head to Maine next week where he will be teaching, helping and mentoring in surgery a few days each week when he isn't fishing.

Stay healthy and be thankful that nearly 70 of us were able to connect again on campus a year ago.

DWS

Winter Term Report Card - 2020

To the Grand Class of 1969:

As the end of the term approached this week, I could not stop thinking of Al Pacino's words from Godfather III who famously said, "Just when I think I'm out, they keep pulling me back in!" That's a bit how I feel now about the blog which I thought I had unmoored from the academic calendar after the 50th until a few Classmates pulled me back in....for now at least.

News of the Academy

If you were to venture on campus this term, I suspect the most tangible change you would notice might be the implementation of the new casual dress code which was approved by the Trustees in the summer of 2019. Unlike the dress code in past years, new articles of clothing like t-shirts and jeans are now allowed, and students no longer have to wear a blazer or sportcoat over their clothing.

The building we knew as the Health Center (and subsequent generations of alumni as "Dewey House") will be torn down in June to make room for a two story dormitory in the same location now that a new medical facility has been placed in service. The new dorm will house 20 students and is expected to be ready for the 2021-2022 academic year. The Health Center was built in 1948 and modeled after a colonial home by William and Geoffrey Platt. Beginning in the 1930's, the New York-based Platt firm designed a total of thirteen buildings on the Deerfield campus including the Main School Building, the Gymnasium and the Dining Hall.

On the sports front, Boys Squash was the standout team this term, compiling an 18-5-0 record.  Boys Hockey had a winning record for the second year in a row after five losing seasons. Boys Basketball continued to struggle, however, with the only wins in the Eight Schools Association being against St. Paul's and Choate.

News of the Class

As anyone who attended the Reunion can attest, Tim Truby has followed his passion for photography to some of the most spectacular places in the world. Tim's been busy since then upgrading his website so that it now has all the bells and whistles you would expect to find on an e-commerce site. Tim is in the process of putting together photos of an excursion he took to Iceland in May and soon will be turning his attention to his Scotland and Ireland portfolios which could turn into gallery shows.

I caught up with Christopher Beach in mid-February who, at the time, was aboard a steamer on the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar (f/k/a Burma). He and Wesley were bound for Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore in spite of the coronavirus news. They saw very little evidence of the disease other than a few masks and lots of hand sanitizer. Christopher said there was not one Chinese tourist around and that everyone had been especially happy to see them as many sites and hotels were only half full. Christopher estimated that there were only about 200 cases of the virus in an area with a population of 250 million and did not seem overly concerned.

In other news, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of a defendant for whom John Mills had co-authored an amicus curiae brief in December.  Separately, John was recently registered as a patent barrister with the United Kingdom’s Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.  With this license registration, John is entitled to represent clients in the UK, but primarily in London, on patent disputes as well as other intellectual property matters.

On a belated note, Rusty Young quietly tied the knot with Stacey Kasselman over Thanksgiving. Stacey jumped into the deep end when she visited Deerfield for the first time on the occasion of our 50th Reunion and then led a yoga class in the new Athletics Complex. Rusty's concert venture MusicWorks is experiencing another strong year catering to the appetite for classic rock and folk artists of the 60s and 70s by staging nearly 40 events in nine cities across Florida this season.

AC Starkey and I each attended alumni events in Florida at which the new Head of School spoke. It has not escaped my notice that February seems a popular time for Northeastern schools to visit alumni in Florida.

I was happy to confirm earlier this week that Casey Reed and his wife Debra were not in the path of the devastating tornado that caused such damage to parts of Nashville.

Lastly, Steve Esthimer generously sent me all but one of the Deerfield Scroll issues from our Junior and Senior years plus Deerfield Magazine issues from our era. I was glad to receive them since I had deep-sixed my copies while overzealously doing a spring cleaning. I'm hoping they will be a handy reference if I suffer a senior moment while trying to remember some essential bit of trivia.

Let the heart hold memory bright.

DWS

The 50th Reunion

To the GRAND Class of 1969:

As I said in my comments before the Class Dinner in the new Athletics Complex, we have transitioned as a Class from being merely Great to being truly Grand. Nearly half the living alumni in the Class attended as did two erstwhile Classmates who left before graduation.

Those who were at the Reunion know that it was a magical weekend under perfect weather conditions. The anecdotal feedback has confirmed that the weekend exceeded the expectations of many who had returned in trepidation, which was particularly gratifying to those of us who had spent so much of the last two years cultivating attendance and planning events. In many ways we remained true to form as products of an iconoclastic era and chose the road not taken by our elders at previous 50th reunions:

• We chose as our Class Gift the restoration of the Soldier on the Civil War Memorial at the entrance to the Academy and had our Class photo taken there rather than on the steps of the Memorial Building. The unconventional gift served as an acknowledgment of the unique bond between the Academy and the Town after which it is named. A PowerPoint video documenting the restoration of the Soldier is accessible to members of the Class on our Google site Albany Road Redux;

• We honored the twenty members of the Class no longer with us in unprecedented detail at a Service of Remembrance in the Brick Church that made them a part of the weekend. The program as well as the complete collection of remembrances also have been posted on Albany Road Redux; 

• We heard presentations by nine Classmates - a new record since the format of the weekend was changed several years ago - on medicine, the arts, religion, law and volunteerism - that showcased their interests and considerable skills; and

• We rewrote history at the clambake on Saturday night by admitting Margarita Curtis - the retiring Head of School who also graduated from high school in 1969 - as an Honorary member of the Class, thereby achieving co-education ex post facto, something previously accomplished only by the Class of 1957. 

It was a grand time for a Grand Class. For those who did not attend, I hope you will take the opportunity to return for a future reunion or, if just passing through Deerfield, to admire the Soldier who will be gazing down on Old Main Street long after we are all gone thanks to the generosity of the Class of 1969.

DWS

Winter Term Report Card - 2019

To the Great Class of 1969:

The Academy let out for Spring Break on Saturday following some strange fluctuations in the normal weather for the time of year.

News of the Academy

Within months of the announcement that the Head of King's Academy would be decamping to Deerfield, King's Academy snared a Deerfield teacher while on sabbatical to be its new Head of School. In case it slipped your mind, Margarita Curtis's predecessor (and the Academy's ONLY alumnus since 1797 to serve as Headmaster), was also the first Head of School at King's Academy.

A cursory review of The Scroll revealed a surfeit of articles on the genders but no information for those who devoted the time to answer the endless questionnaire as to how, if at all, the dress code will change. In a throwback to the 60's, the former head of the Weather Underground (NOT to be confused with the weather service of the same name) was invited to speak on campus. A review of the Pocumtuck from the '40s through the '70s by The Scroll revealed compromising photos of students posing as racial caricatures.

A member of the Class of 1993 generously donated the hockey rink which replaced the Barn, and the results of the upgrade were gratifying. For the first time in recent memory, the Boys Hockey team compiled a winning record, finishing the season 15-9-3. In other sports, Boys Swimming had its best season since 2014-2015, going 9-2 with its only losses to Exeter and Andover. Girls Squash, a perennially strong program since the new squash courts were built in 2007, ended a 12-3 season with a second place finish in the New England Championships. Things look promising for Boys Squash next season on account of the JV's 16-0 record. Could any of this success have something to do with the fact that the position of "Captain Deerfield" is being shared with a girl for the first time this year?

News of the Class

Clough, Carter, Squires, Young, Louis, Berkowitz

A week ago Rusty Young provided the tickets and Richard Berkowitz supplied the spread for the motley group to the left at the fourth and final mini-reunion before the main event, June 6-9. The six of us were in Fort Lauderdale for a concert by the Fab Faux, the foremost Beatles tribute band for the past twenty years.

Our quinquennial Attendance Chair Lacey has put the finishing touches on a communique encouraging you to register which should go out this week. There's no good reason to procrastinate as the price only goes up as the date approaches. As of Friday, 33 Classmates had registered. The list of attendees is updated each Friday afternoon, and you can find it by going to Who's Coming.

In other news, Margarita Curtis has been making her final tour as Head of School before her formal retirement on June 30th. Doug Arnstein and Ben Walbridge were among the attendees at a Deerfield event in San Francisco last week which was billed as a celebration of her legacy, and I attended a similar gathering in Palm Beach the week before. John Mills recently attended a "DACONNECT" networking discussion in Washington, DC where he volunteered to provide career counseling to recent graduates. John is one of NINE Classmates who will be making presentations at the Reunion. A detailed invitation describing the program for the Reunion is scheduled to be sent at the end of the March.

Please mark you calendars for June 6-9 and register for the Reunion now. Lacey's feeling the pressure to deliver a record turnout which seems within reach.

Best wishes to all.

DWS

Fall Term Report Card - 2018

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

As you know, it has been a busy Fall Term by any measure at the Academy. In late August the Board announced the appointment of John Austin, the current Headmaster of King's Academy, Jordan, as Deerfield's 56th Head of School, culminating a six month search. In October the Morsman's 99 years of cumulative service to the Academy was honored at the dedication of the Morsman Tennis Pavilion on the Lower Level, and in November the Athletics Complex, Deerfield's most ambitious building project ever, was dedicated.

Some of the topics which received extensive coverage in The Scroll included a three page spread on the Arts Program and debate over the Kavanaugh nomination. Other topics of interest included a presentation to the entire school by the '83 graduate whose 2012 email to the Head of School led to the sexual abuse investigation, an article on the being Black at Deerfield and another on the role of politics in the classroom. Juuling on campus and anti-bullying efforts also made the news. 

Varsity Football matched last year's 6-3 record but lost to Choate 44-8 for the tenth year in a row. By now it has become glaringly obvious that this is no longer the rivalry it once was because Choate has chosen to go all-in on its football program and now fields a team each year that probably could beat most NESCAC schools. This year's Choate team went undefeated again and won each game by an average score of 39-6. 

News of the Class

Stone, Kjorlien, Squires, Davies, Starkey

After a three year hiatus, some of the local members of the Class met for drinks and the obligatory mug shot before heading off to a nearby restaurant for dinner. In addition to those pictured on the left, Peter Bernstein joined us at the restaurant for what turned out to be two-and-a-half hours of nonstop conversation.

The first of these dinners was in 2006, and since then no fewer than fourteen Classmates have joined me at one dinner or another. What these dinners have had in common each time we have gotten together is the ease with which we have able to reconnect and resume conversations that began decades ago.

The Reunion Committee and its various subcommittees have been working overtime planning our 50th. Under the able direction of Lacey and his wingman Arnstein, members of the Committee have been re-engaging with Classmates, in some cases for the first time since graduation. Although registration will not open until mid-January, the responses to date have been overwhelmingly positive. Whether or not you have decided to attend, please submit your bio for Pocumtuck Revisited before the year-end deadline. The Reunion Yearbook will be mailed to everyone in the Spring. On a scheduling note, the final mini-reunion will be on March 1 in Fort Lauderdale where Rusty Young will be producing a concert by The Fab Faux, the foremost Beatles tribute band.

The members of the Program subcommittee (Beach, Clough, Ewing, Rawles and Olchowski) have been doing a crash history course re-familiarizing themselves with the Class by scouring through nearly 50 years' worth of class notes in the alumni magazine. They would welcome hearing from any Classmates who might like to make presentations or participate in discussion panels at the Reunion. Another way to participate in the Reunion will be by submitting a remembrance of one or more of the twenty Classmates who have passed away since 1969. A description of what we are looking for will be mailed out in early 2019.

Around the same time we also will be describing in greater detail the Class Gift which Lacey alluded to in his recent letter. The instal- 

lation of a bronze replica of the Deerfield Soldier funded by the Class will complete a multi-year collaboration to restore the 1867 Civil War Monument at the center of the Deerfield campus. The fabrication of a replica combines 3-D imaging technology with bronze casting techniques that date back more than 2000 years. The image on the left is a digital model created by scanning an identical soldier earlier this month in New Haven. A full-scale physical model will be created from the digital image and then used by a fabricator in New York to create the bronze replica which will be placed on the obelisk next Spring.

Best wishes to all.

DWS

Tee Johnson 1951- 2018

H. Taylor Johnson, known to all of us as Tee, died Monday evening in Knoxville, his adopted home following his return from Buenos Aires in 2010. Tee sent me the photo on the left in 2009 - looking quite svelte in his Deerfield fleece - following some weight loss surgery.

Tee was a larger than life character who never tired of adventure and diverse experiences. College proved a poor fit following Deerfield, and by the late '70s, Tee had carved out a career working in live entertainment. Over the course of 18 years, Tee worked on 4,000+/- live entertainment events featuring some of the top performers in Pop, Rock, Jazz, Broadway, Opera, TV and Film. He wore a variety of hats which included audio engineer, production and technical director and tour manager, and this experience in acoustics and related fields led him in a new direction as an entrepreneur. In 1997 Tee started an on-line outlet for upgraded Russian microphones which he then sold in 2003 and founded Taylor Hohendahl Engineering (T.H.E. AUDIO) to concentrate on a totally new design of microphones with proprietary electronics and manufacturing techniques. He moved to Buenos Aires in 2004 where he could more economically manage some costly health issues he was having at the time and set up a lab there.

Tee and his wife moved back to the United States in 2010 where he worked for several years in government contracting, specializing in matters involving the GSA, Department of Defense, U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers and related agencies. The last several years he was involved in the local music scene where he and his son worked at a spot that Tee described to me as "the hottest small music venue in Knoxville". Despite angioplasty and stents in 2017, Tee maintained a sense of humor, writing me after the procedure, "Somehow my reading material stack has gone from economics and science fiction to nutrition and history! Maybe the good doctors at the University of Tennessee changed a few brain cells during the procedure(s)..... who knows and who can tell?" Outside of work Tee continued to pursue a diverse range of interests which included cymatics, spatial localization and acoustics/wave propagation science, law studies and accounting forensics.

Tee would visit me on his occasional trips to New York, one of which coincided with a dinner I hosted in 2005 (dubbed the "G-7" dinner because there were seven of us from the Class). The next day Tee wrote the following which seems prescient on the eve of our 50th, "Once again, in reflections this morning, I am amazed at not only the diversity of our class, but at the many, many things that bind us together. No matter that I did not "hang out" a lot with many of the classmates of the last G-7 dinner; we had an immediate and deep bond that transcended any of our previous experience together and emanated from a respect for the intelligence, perseverance and experience of the last 36 years. In celebrating all of the things that are similar and that bring us together we have celebrated the best of ourselves and the best of what our "Deerfield experience" gave us. This is what our class shares and what we should always support."

Tee's widow wrote me last night that the local music venue where he worked part-time would be holding a Celebration of Life for him this Sunday afternoon. Hundreds of musicians in the area worked with him and loved him.

DWS

Spring Term Report Card - 2018

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

The School held its 219th graduation this morning, and the newest alums are leaving behind the rest of the students to complete the academic year. The self-reported college matriculation results were lower than usual, however, the most popular destinations among 158 students who did disclose their plans were Brown (12), University of Virginia (9), Cornell (8), Columbia (6), Georgetown (6), Middlebury (6), Bowdoin (5), Duke (5), Princeton (5) and Trinity (5). In total, 26.5% of the students who reported are headed for the Ivies but, in a first, none to Dartmouth.

On the admissions front, Deerfield accepted 17% of its 1,822 applicants and had a 68% yield, meaning that 11.6% of the applicants actually will enroll. Of those who will be coming next September, 21% are either legacies or have siblings on campus, 13% are international, and 38% will be receiving financial aid.

In sports, Lacrosse (13-2) and Baseball (7-10) continued their respective patterns of recent years. Boys Crew was undefeated (5-0) in the regular season and finished first yesterday in the annual New England Interscholastic Rowing Association championship.

The search firm hired to find a new Head of School has been taking soundings at regional events. A number of scheduled changes have taken place on the Board which, at its meeting this month, promised to take up the question of the dress code with the goal of reaching a decision by January 2019. Other issues on the agenda, according to The Scroll, are the upcoming renovation of the Health and Wellness Center and opportunities for improving Deerfield's use of technology.

News of the Class

Ed Grosvenor accompanied his wife this month to southern Tuscany where she had taken courses a few years ago. Ed, not surprisingly, had his camera handy and posted on Facebook some shots of Florence and a picturesque fishing village on the Italian Riviera. Tim Truby visited Iceland earlier this month and posted some stunning nature photographs. You can see those photos and more of Tim's work by visiting his website. Christopher Beach is off to Namibia this month for his annual trip to some far off spot. Although Christopher retired in 2015 as President and Artistic Director of the La Jolla Music Society, he has found himself having to fill-in from time to time following the abrupt departure of his successor earlier this year.

No sooner was the ink dry on Edition 57 of Patent Law Fundamentals than John Mills sent off to the printer the manuscript for Edition 58. Over the course of his career as an attorney at the United States Patent & Trademark Office John examined nearly 400 patents, all of which he has catalogued for posterity. In the category of better late than never, Barry Ahearn spoke about “A Brief History of ‘Precision’” at the Ezra Pound International Conference in Philadelphia last June. Barry has been a full professor of English at Tulane University for twenty years and is an authority on Pound.

News of the Reunion

As you know by now, eleven members of the Reunion Committee visited campus earlier this month. If you had been there and were to have stood opposite the the Main School Building before anyone was stirring, you might have believed that nothing had changed since 1969. Old Main Street remains the prettiest street in America, and the school buildings that front the Street are all as you remember. It is only when the students begin crossing over from the dorms on the east side of the campus that you begin to realize that time has not, in fact, stood still. John Shanholt presciently noted this upon the graduation of one of his daughters in 2005 when he wrote, "Now I await my class reunions with more desire. Again I observe that Deerfield, while appearing to be the same school in the same place, is in so many ways a substantially different and better institution than the one I left in 1969. Now I have two fond and distinct memories - what it was then, and what it recently has been." This is a meme that I think only those who return for the Reunion will appreciate.

As I mentioned in my recent letter, we attended the now weekly school meeting in the auditorium of what we remember as the Memorial Building. You all will have the opportunity to see that the auditorium we knew, while in the same space, has been totally transformed. I invite you to experience what we witnessed with two videos. The first clip is of Kiana Rawji '18 Harvard '22 delivering her Senior Meditation  "In Search of Weight". I also mentioned that our visit was timed to coincide with the presentation of the Tom Ashley Award. See Lilly Hartley, this year's recipient, describe her personal and professional journey since her graduation in 1997. Rather than take my word, you can judge for yourselves the benefits of the return to co-education.

Arnstein, Kay, Suitor, Walbridge, Olchowski, Jacobs

The day after our campus visit, Neil Jacobs hosted the first of several regional reunions. Echoing Lacey's comments from the day before, our stringer Dave Suitor commented on how easily the conversation flowed after nearly a 50-year hiatus with Classmates we might not even have been close to when he wrote, "Our shared experiences about Deerfield life and teachers who inspired and tortured us in our tumultuous teenage years proved to be a powerful conversational bond." I encourage you to take advantage of one of the upcoming regional reunions to break the ice and get a taste of what Lacey and Suitor are referring to.

For those who may be wondering where all the years have gone, the Academy apparently agrees and has redefined what it means to be considered "Grand" under a policy adopted last year. As of a result of the "60 is the new 50" policy, we will remain known merely as the "Great" Class of 1969 until at least 2029. That is the unfortunate reality for all those in the Class who feel that they will have earned the right to be called "Grand" on the occasion of the 50th Reunion. As a consolation for deferring receipt of the honorific title, we will be invited to Reunions annually following our 60th rather than every five years, thereby guaranteeing full employment for our tireless Attendance Committee.

On a final note, the Reunion Committee has plans to infiltrate the 2018 reunion with three members of the Class. Their mission is to observe and collect information that will inform our planning and make our Reunion the standard by which other 50th reunions of our era are judged.

We will have more to communicate about the Reunion in the fall. Until then, best wishes to all.

DWS

Winter Term Report Card - 2018

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

School will let out for Spring Break tomorrow to the relief of everyone including the parents of applicants whose wait to learn whether a Deerfield education is in their children's future will be over. If the Admissions Office has gotten it right, approximately two-thirds of those accepted actually will enroll. Applicants this year will have been able to see Deerfield's most ambitious building project ever, the $60 million athletic complex. The question for inquiring minds, therefore, is similar to the line in Field of Dreams, namely, "If you build it, will they come?"

The question is not an idle one for those alumni who are distraught about the nine year losing streak to Choate on the football field and the decline of the once proud hockey program which hasn't fielded a winning team in recent memory. For what it's worth, the squash and the swim teams were strong again this term, which suggests that first rate facilities, at least in those sports, can make a difference. A disquieting thought in view of the substantial investment in facilities is that the traditional spectator sports whose success seemed so integral to school spirit in the past are simply unimportant in the grand scheme of college admissions for most and that more students are opting for co-curricular alternatives to the sports program.

The news which eclipsed all else this term is that Margarita Curtis, Deerfield's first "Head of School", announced that she would be stepping down at the end of the 2018-2019 school year after a 13 year run. Her exit is timed such that both our 25th and our 50th reunions will coincide with a changing of the guard. Prior to the arrival of Mr. Boyden as Deerfield's first "Headmaster" in 1902, Deerfield changed the "Preceptor" every two years on average. Each of the last four heads (excluding interim Head Russ Miller) has lasted longer than the 50 prior to Mr. Boyden.

In other news, The Scroll reported that the dress code is under review (again). It was so much simpler before the return to co-education and the introduction of a rule book that, like the tax code, only seems to grow longer over time. The issue, as you might guess, involves the definition of  "Academic Dress" for the girls which, as the Head of School succinctly put it, "leaves itself more open to interpretation". No changes are going to be made without the involvement of the Board which views the dress code as a part of the Academy's distinctive identity.

News of the Class

As you know from my recent letter, the Reunion Committee has organized a series of coast to coast mini reunions which are scheduled to run from this May until March 2019. The first of these is a luncheon in Boston on May 3, a day after a campus visit by members of the Committee. The visit will include attending a school meeting, touring the new buildings, having lunch with the Head of School and meeting with the Academy's CFO.

If anyone still questions the demographic tsunami headed towards Florida, a well-attended visit by the Head of School to Palm Beach earlier this month should dispel those doubts. Anecdotal evidence from our class includes Robert Clough who left behind the cold weather in Maine and is wintering at his home in the Florida Keys for the first time this year. Jim Kay is also giving up the northeast for Florida, and AC Starkey arrives in Vero this weekend where Rusty Young now lives year round. I expect more of you to join us in Florida which now has as many electoral votes as New York (29). In case you're wondering, in 1968 New York had 43 electoral votes, and Florida had 14. Massachusetts, which was tied with Florida at the time, now has 12.

This month marks the publication of the 57th edition of Patent Law Fundamentals, John Mills' treatise summarizing current developments in that field of law. Staying current will set you back ~$1,500. Lyn Lee writes that he is in the midst of a two year sailing sabbatical and will be back in Seattle this July. Tee Johnson has been living in Knoxville, TN since 2009 where he remains involved in the music industry. In January, Tee did a show with Three Dog Celebration, a spin-off of Three Dog Night, whose best known song "Celebrate" was released in 1969.

Classes resume on March 26th. Enjoy the break!

DWS

Fall 2017 Postscript

To the Great Class of 1969:

Shortly after I hit the send button last Sunday, two issues of The Scroll appeared online. Some of the more newsworthy items from the Fall Term included the following:

Head of School Margarita Curtis began the school year by announcing plans to construct the "Jay and Mimi Morsman Tennis Pavilion" in recognition of their 99 years of combined service to the Academy. The structure will cover six of the 18 courts and will feature a roof, radiant heat and walls that can be raised and lowered to allow for year-round play. The facility will be completed in time for the 2018 season.

To their disappointment, returning students learned that a healthy lifestyle doesn't come cheaply and that a smoothie in the Greer would cost them more this year. Prices were raised modestly for the first time in five years and reflect, in part, the shift to healthier ingredients and improved selections.

A Facebook post in October by a 2016 alumna sparked a lively discussion about the various ways racial discrimination was experienced by minority students on campus and how to recognize more nuanced ways it is exhibited.

Deerfield's Center for Service and Global Citizenship announced nine faculty-led trips to such far off places as Panama, Oaxaca, the Dominican Republic, Tanzania, China, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Jordan and, somewhat incongruously, South Dakota.

The Debate Team represented Deerfield at the International Independent Schools' Public Speaking Competition in Winnipeg where it was judged the best American School team. One member of the team qualified for the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in South Africa next April by winning awards as both Top American Speaker and Top Persuasive Speaker.

This fall, 35 juniors and seniors elected "athletic concentrations" as their extracurricular afternoon activity. In lieu of participating in one of the seasonal sports, these athletically-minded students were allowed to focus their energy on preparing for winter or spring sports and taking their skills to a new level. In order to be eligible for an athletic concentration, a student must participate in interscholastic sports in both other terms.

In October, the Reed Student Art Center opened on the first floor of the Hess Center in the Memorial Building in the hopes of promoting the student arts program. The gallery - which displays work by students in the studio art, architecture and photography program - is the first space on campus dedicated to student art.

As a reminder, classes resume on Tuesday, and this term you may substitute sweaters for sports jackets and turtlenecks for shirts and ties. No official word yet on whether cocoa and cookies will be served again in the lobby of the Main School Building on dress down Fridays but expectations run high.

DWS

Fall Term Report Card - 2017

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

The fall term ended on Friday. Unfortunately, news is unusually sparse this term because the only issue of The Scroll was published in mid-September. I did, however, manage to locate a list of where the most recent alumni indicated they would be matriculating in the fall. For reasons that never seemed compelling, the destination of the graduating classes has been on a need to know basis since 2014. For 2017, colleges with five or more matriculants included Cornell (10), Georgetown (9), Trinity (7), Brown (6), Columbia (6), Princeton (6), Williams (6), Dartmouth (5), Tufts (5) and Yale (5). In total, the Class of 2017 dispersed to 82 different colleges in all regions, guaranteeing another busy year for the Placement Office.

On the sports front, a much improved Deerfield football team squared off against Choate at Jim Smith Field on November 11th in a game that was streamed live. The day was sunny but as the shadows grew long, the hope of beating Choate proved elusive for the ninth year in a row. Deerfield held Choate to its lowest point total of the season (28) but could only muster one touchdown in response. Despite the disappointing outcome, the team finished the season 6-2 which was its best record since 2010.

The location of the cameras on the Deerfield side of the field provided occasional glimpses of the state of the new, 130,000 square foot Athletic Complex which is scheduled for completion next fall. For a preview of what this stunning facility will look like, go here.

News of the Class

Since my letter in July, we have added several more members of the class to our Reunion Committee and assigned responsibility for the major tasks to a handful of subcommittees, of which Attendance is receiving the greatest focus. While the Reunion is still some time away, it's not too early to mark your calendars for June 6-9, 2019. Registration will begin in January 2019.

Hank and Maggie

Hank Minor, his wife and his falcon Maggie packed up and left North Carolina for Oregon earlier this year where he continues to pursue what was once known as the sport of kings. For those who may not recall, I first profiled Hank's interest in falconry five years ago. In other news from the West Coast, Rick Swig honored Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda with the "Mensch Award" and induction to the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California. The award is presented annually to an athlete who is not of the Jewish faith who exemplifies the qualities of generosity, accomplishment and community service. Rick is a hotel consultant in San Francisco who frequently is quoted in the press on the state of the local hospitality industry.

On the opposite shore, John Mills recently was appointed to the faculty of Cooper Union where he received a B.S. in Engineering many years ago. John has been a renowned expert in patent law for decades and is the author of the eight volume Patent Law Fundamentals. Outside of work, he has taken up sailing in the Chesapeake Bay in his free time. For classmates who may be in New York this fall, the Conrad New York Hotel is displaying through December 15th a series of watercolors by Todd Stone depicting the evolution of the City's skyline following the 9/11 attack as seen from Todd's studio on the 67th Floor of 4 WTC. Earlier this month, Todd gave a talk at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum where some of his work is also on display.

In Florida, where a number of classmates are relocating, Rusty Young completed organizing for the fifth consecutive year concerts featuring music from the '60s and '70s. The concert venues range from Melbourne to Fort Lauderdale on the East Coast and include a couple of spots on the Gulf Coast. Here's the schedule for 2018 if you're in the area.

For a change of pace, Robert Clough went on an "Ancient Empires" cruise last month and reportedly ate his way through Sicily. The trip also included visits to Pompeii, Malta, the Amalfi Coast and Rome.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

DWS

Spring Term Report Card - 2017

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

The graduating class concludes their time as students at Deerfield today, taking with them their memories and leaving behind the rest of the school to finish exams.

After an opening day loss to Brunswick, boys Lacrosse won 14 out of the next 15 games, most of them by lopsided scores. The program seems to have made a full recovery following the anomalous 2015 season in which the team went 9-7. Tennis also completed another successful season and has gone 45-24 over the past five seasons without losing once to Choate. Baseball, on the other hand, suffered its fourth losing season in a row. Over that stretch it has compiled a cumulative won-lost record of 20-45, highlighting a nagging problem that Deerfield has not been able to overcome in the traditional spectator sports.

The hockey rink was demolished over Spring Break, and construction of the new athletic complex is underway. The schedule calls for completion of the new facilities in the Fall of 2018. This signature facility may enable Deerfield to address the recent slide of certain traditionally important sports, most painfully apparent for the last eight years on the football field against Choate.

One of the more interesting articles in The Scroll described an independently conducted survey of the student body by grade on various issues affecting student life. Not surprisingly, a significant majority of the students felt under either moderate or heavy pressure to get into a good college. Whether or not all that angst paid off for the Class of 2017 will have to remain a mystery because the Academy, for the fourth year in a row, has chosen not to list in the final issue of The Scroll where the graduating class plans to matriculate in the Fall. I would think parents of applicants to the Academy would be keenly interested in knowing the results since the all-in cost to attend Deerfield next year will top $60,000, only $5,000 less than a year at Harvard. You can read about the survey and the other findings here.

News of the Class

We have begun to gear up for our most consequential reunion two years from now by beginning to put together a committee. There are various subcommittees to divide up the work, however, the focus of everyone will be on maximizing attendance. Responsibility for organizing that effort once again falls upon the shoulders of the estimable John Lacey who is rediscovering the relevance of the first year marketing course he took at HBS forty years ago. In addition to the opportunity to see what changes fifty years have wrought to once familiar faces, the 2019 reunion will mark the first time that returning classes will be able to tour both the Hess Center for the Arts (which was still under construction in 2014) and the new athletic complex. Be prepared to be amazed at not only the facilities but at how well they fit in to the campus we knew.

In other news, Steve Esthimer discovered two years ago that the cure for sleep deprivation was to retire, and he now spends his time in Chapel Hill on the various extracurricular interests that used to infringe on his teaching duties, including his band. Frank Henry left Old Main Street last year for the historic East Side of Providence where his wife Wanda is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Brown. Zech Chafee is well acquainted with the quality of life benefits that Providence has to offer, and will be observing his 27th work anniversary in the United States Attorney's Office there this summer. AC Starkey, lifelong Princetonian and the only acknowledged "BowieNetter" in the Class, recently invited 300 of his best friends to a Bowie-themed birthday bash for his wife. I have pictures if your imagination is failing you. Ben Walbridge retired on April 1 from International Marine Underwriters where he had been Regional President of the Pacific Division for the past twelve years. Ben was last spotted trekking in Guatemala with his youngest son.

It's time once again to fire up the barbecue and to celebrate the change of seasons in the northeast. Best wishes to all for the summer.

DWS

Winter Term Report Card - 2017

To the Great Class of 1969:

Whatever your political persuasions, you have to admit the last few months have been a wild ride! The election was destined to result in a sense of time warp regardless of the outcome but who would have guessed that the Newspeak-worthy phrase "alternative facts" would propel 1984 to the top of the best sellers list for the first time in 33 years or that the ratings for Saturday Night Live would be at a 20-year high or that Ladbroke's would begin quoting odds on impeachment even before the inauguration had taken place? With just over two years until our 50th Reunion, who's to say where we will be on this long and winding road when we meet again.

The one thing you can take to the bank at this time is that our Reunion will take place June 6-9, 2019. The timeline I received from the Academy indicates that preparation for the event typically begins about two years beforehand. If you would like to become proactive in the planning or would be interested in hosting a regional mini-reunion in advance, please let me know.

Our Reunion will be orchestrated by Rachel Moore who I met on a recent visit to New York. Rachel joined Deerfield's Office of Alumni and Development last fall to head up the 50th Reunions as well as the Boyden Society which previously had been managed separately. As Tom Ehrgood knows from his work at Amherst, there is an obvious synergy between 50th Reunions and Planned Giving. In that regard, eight members of the Class are members of the Boyden Society at last count, and I anticipate that number will grow meaningfully if history is any guide.

News of the Academy

The big news this term, if you haven't had a chance to read the most recent issue of Deerfield Magazine, was that the Board of Trustees gave the go-ahead to replace the hockey rink with a new $68 million Field House which is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2018. The new athletic complex will include, in addition to a new hockey rink, more locker rooms, year round practice facilities, an indoor tennis court, a "spinning room" with 20 bikes, an elevated track and a golf simulator. Let's hope the new facilities improve the fortunes of the hockey team which had a losing record for the fourth year in a row as well as the other teams which now will be able to practice during the offseason in the Field House. The addition of new squash facilities ten years ago succeeded in transforming the squash program as demonstrated once again this year by the girls' squash team which went 14-1 and tied Greenwich Academy for the New England Championship.

News of the Class

Marty Kaiser has been named a Senior Fellow of the Public Square Program which is an initiative of The Democracy Fund, a bipartisan organization which makes grants to organizations it believes will improve the political system.

Ed Grosvenor is hoping to relaunch American Heritage Magazine which has been dedicated to improving historical and civic literacy since its founding in 1949. Ed raised money through a crowdfunding platform in December but will need additional funding to save American Heritage. You can help Ed meet his worthy objective by making a tax deductible contribution to the American Heritage Society, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit.

AC Starkey joined Rusty Young recently for a John Sebastian (The Lovin' Spoonful) concert in Delray, FL. By all appearances, Rusty has had a busy winter organizing classic rock and folk music concerts featuring music from the '60's and the '70's all along the I-95 corridor from Vero Beach to Ft. Lauderdale.

You can add my name to the growing list of retirees in the Class. I decided that 40-years on Wall Street was enough and will now be focusing on what the future may hold. The wisdom of this decision was reinforced recently by John Mills who called me to recount a harrowing personal experience and made the observation that it had forced him to recognize that life was not some sort of dress rehearsal for whatever's next.

Best wishes to all.

DWS

Fall Term Report Card - 2016

To the Great Class of 1969:

School let out on Friday for Thanksgiving Recess, probably to the relief of all.

News of the Academy

The Headmaster believed that some of life's best lessons were to be learned through sports, and for those who measure the success of the athletic program by the result of the Choate game, the lessons could begin to comprise an entire curriculum. In a game that was streamed from Wallingford, Deerfield suffered an eighth straight loss to Choate and finished the season 3-5. Although the game was not close, there is something heartening to be learned from Yale's unexpected win over Harvard this weekend in "The Game" which ended a nine year losing streak. As surely as the sun rises, that day will come for Deerfield, but for now we are left to ponder how long it may be before we too can say, like Yale alums, "Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet".

In other athletic news, The Scroll reported in January 2015 that the school was developing plans for replacing the ice rink and building a field house on top of it. From what I can tell, those plans continue to move forward, but remain contingent upon obtaining sufficient commitments. Although Deerfield completed a successful capital campaign only last year, this project was not part of Imagine Deerfield which was launched in 2011.

I suspect that many of you are scratching your heads (if not tearing out your hair) over the recent election results. With negligible dissent, nineteen members of the Editorial Board of The Scroll endorsed Hillary Clinton. While I could find no indication that there had been a mock election this term, a poll last Spring showed the top three choices to be Sanders (40%), Clinton (21%) and Trump (17%). For the historians in the Class, we held a mock election in 1968 at another very divided time in our history. The results that year were as follows: Nixon 50%, Humphrey 38% and Wallace 12%. The actual popular vote tallies that year were Nixon 43.4%, Humphrey 42.7% and Wallace 13.5%. Nixon won 301 electoral votes (which is probably less than Trump will wind up with) and, of course, wound up being re-elected. We all know how that ended. I would venture a guess - which we can all debate in June 2019 with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight - that the largest beneficiaries of the President-elect's economic policies, ironically, will live in blue states on either coast. For additional perspective, listen here to Howie Carr's interview from last June.

News of the Class

This September marked, sadly, the 15th anniversary of 9/11. As you know, Todd Stone has dedicated his life since then to capturing not only the horror of the moment but also the rebirth of Lower Manhattan in the aftermath. In that effort, Todd has been aided by Larry Silverstein who bought the Twin Towers several weeks before the attack and has spent his time since then rebuilding the site. As part of the commemoration of the anniversary, Todd participated in a video interview which was taped in space made available to Todd by Silverstein for a studio. I encourage you to watch the interview by scrolling down this page link and to celebrate one of our classmates. You can see some of Todd's work at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Rusty Young's concert business in Vero has diversified into comedy events in Delray. If you're in FL this winter, you might want to see if you can get tickets. You can check out upcoming events here. Ed Grosvenor continues to work to save American Heritage Magazine and launched a page on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform, to raise funds. You can contribute by going here before December 16th and sharing the link. Ed attributes his love of history to Mr. Crow and to his great grandfather Edwin Grosvenor who, the Headmaster often reminded him, was his history professor at Amherst.

Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving.

DWS

David M. Herron 1951-2014

The Academy has reported that David Herron passed away in 2014. Dave entered as a sophomore and was a member of the Glee Club junior and senior years. The following is his obituary from the StarTribune:

David M. Herron of Vadnais Heights, died Nov. 26. He was born June 21, 1951 in Newton, Mass., the son of Fred W. Herron and Ruth Johnson Herron. He graduated from Deerfield Academy and attended Macalester College where he met his wife and many life-long friends. He worked for many years in the information technology industry in the Twin Cities. An accomplished sailor, he enjoyed many hours sailing on White Bear Lake. He was an avid music collector and especially enjoyed sharing his love of music with friends and family. David was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Eleanor Feist. He is survived by his wife, Deirdre Vaughan; daughters, Anne and Emily; sister, Martha "Bobbie" Herron; & brother, Jonathan Herron. Visitation will be on Saturday, Dec. 6 from 5 to 7 PM at BRADSHAW, 4600 Greenhaven Dr. at Highway 96, White Bear. Memorials preferred to White Bear Sailing School, P.O. Box 10865, White Bear Lake, MN 55110. 

Published on November 29, 2014