Spring Term 2008

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

Commencement ceremonies for the 209th graduating class were held on May 24th under picture-perfect conditions. The keynote speaker this year was Henry Morgenthau ’37 whose grandson was a member of the Class of 2008. In 1985 Mr. Morgenthau received the Deerfield Heritage Award which is given annually in recognition of that alumnus whose professional and personal achievements represent a special contribution to the betterment of society. Since 1974 Mr. Morgenthau has served as District Attorney for New York County.

The Academy announced the retirement of Jeff Louis ’81 and the selection of Philip Greer ’53 as Head of the Board of Trustees. After graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Business School, Mr. Greer co-founded Weiss Peck & Greer, a highly regarded pioneer in venture capital investing. The Greer Family Distinguished Teaching Chair honors the legacy of great teaching at Deerfield, and the Greer Store in the Gymnasium remains one of the favorite gathering spots on the campus.

The preliminary college results confirmed that Deerfield graduates continue to crowd into the same colleges. By my unofficial tally, while Deerfield graduates have enrolled in more than 150 colleges over the past ten years, half have enrolled in just 15 colleges. Brown remains the most popular school over that stretch, however, Georgetown is gaining ground and has overtaken Penn in second place. Students spread their nets wide this year, submitting an average of nearly 13 college applications. Of the 196 graduates, approximately 8-10 are considering a gap year.

Boys Varsity Lacrosse had another stunning year, missing a perfect season at Avon with a one goal loss in May. According to LaxPower, the team ranked second in New England and 19th in the country. The Deerfield Tennis program continues to rock: Girls Varsity went undefeated at 10-0, and JV wasn’t far behind at 8-1. Mr. Morsman’s Boys Varsity more than held its own, finishing 13-2. For those who are counting, Mr. Morsman completed his 48th year at Deerfield and is the longest serving Master other than, of course, the Boydens.

News of the Class

For at least the fourth consecutive year, the parent body at Commencement included representatives of the Class of 1969. This year Frank Henry’s daughter and Steve Sheresky’s son became alumni, bringing the total number of classmates whose children have graduated to 12. Steve and his wife Tapley headed the Senior Parents Committee this year which shattered all previous fundraising records by raising approximately $2.6 million for a new exercise facility to be constructed next year where the old squash courts are located.

Ben Walbridge wrote recently that the youngest of his children will be attending the University of California at Berkeley next year. If Ben makes it down to the boathouse, he’ll probably run into Eric Tompkins whose son was recruited to row at Berkeley a year ago.

Christian Liipfert completed his third BP MS150 bike tour from Houston to Austin in April under trying weather conditions. As you may recall from prior postings, Christian’s brother was diagnosed with MS several years ago, and Christian has been participating since then in this annual fundraising event. This year Christian raised approximately $4,000 for the cause from friends which BP matched.

In another act of generosity, Rusty Young hosted a benefit concert featuring The Boss in May. The sold out event netted over $3 million for the renovation of the Count Basie Theatre and also provided seating at no cost to 40 wounded New Jersey war vets who were bussed up by the military from Walter Reade Hospital for the event. Another Jersey Boy, AC Starkey, passed on a Deerfield Phonathon that night in order to hear Springsteen play Born to Run from start to finish. AC continues to be active in the Princeton community where he recently was named a trustee of the Morven Museum which showcases the cultural heritage of the Garden State.

In April, Folio Magazine published its list of 40 people to watch in 2009. Ed Grosvenor was singled out for having bought 75% of American Heritage “with the intention of reviving the magazine’s historic, literary roots”.

While visiting the Academy last month, I stopped in to see Mimi Morsman who is in charge of Deerfield Reunions as well as the Lambert memorial service. I am pleased to tell you that John Lacey, with assistance from Ben Walbridge, has agreed to head up attendance. In his most recent e-mail to me, Lacey indicated he is considering asking Mr. Merriam to check names off on a clipboard upon arrival next June 12th to make sure that everyone gets in the spirit of the weekend. You all will be hearing from John shortly. This year’s reunion will conclude with a service honoring the life of Bryce Lambert on June 15th at 10:30 in Memorial Hall. If you have been procrastinating, you may still be able to get a room at The Hotel Northampton (413-584-3100).


Class Trivia

Eric Tompkins and John Lacey correctly identified Marty Kaiser as the Mystery Classmate in my Winter Term Report Card.

Best wishes for the summer.

DWS

Winter Term 2007-2008

To the Great Class of 1969:

The Winter Term has ended to the relief of many, and the dramatic contrast with last year would have escaped notice had not the words “global warming” become a part of the public vocabulary. Without drawing any conclusions, you can see what how much the weather changed between my visits to campus over a two week period in the slide show to the right.

Academy News

Those members of the Class who swam on Mr. Boyle’s undefeated Varsity team during the 1968-1969 Winter Term (Herndon, Liipfert, Walbridge, Allen, Galuszka, Calder, Louis and Spitznagel) will be glad to know that this year’s Varsity team culminated its season by winning the 46th installment of the New England championships which were hosted at the Koch Natatorium. You can read all about it here.

On the college admissions front, 69% of the senior class applied under either an early action or early decision plan. Of the students who applied, 47% were admitted which means, if you’re following my math, that approximately two-thirds of the parents are probably now in a state of high anxiety. One of the most astonishing statistics in the annual college lottery is that all 14 early decision applicants to Penn were turned down. Over the last number of years, more Deerfield graduates have matriculated at Penn than at any other school except Brown.

Class News

Much of the Class appears to have spent the winter in hibernation, however, here’s what little I can report:

In case you haven’t visited Albany Road Redux since my report card on the Fall Term, you will find postings about Tee Johnson and Steve Esthimer, each of whom is featured in artistic releases. You can learn more about each by going to Tee-vita! and Shotgun Wedding on Albany Road. In other media news, Ed Grosvenor has published the first issue of American Heritage since buying control of the magazine and the related website last fall. A reviewer in The Washington Times wrote, “In its new life under the editorial directorship of Mr. Grosvenor and Executive Editor John Ross (a former senior editor of Smithsonian) American Heritage is both handsome and eminently readable. The winter 2008 issue is on newsstands and worthy bookstores.”

With politics much in the news, I have begun checking in with Classmates during the extended primary season. A few weeks ago I contacted Marty Kaiser who, as you know from past reports, is a big Poo-Bah in newspaper circles (as well as the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online) to get his prognostication on the Wisconsin primary. To his credit, Marty correctly forecasted the outcome but underestimated the margin of victory. Earlier this week I contacted Michael Buerger, our only Ohio representative, and Christian Liipfert from the Lone Star State, neither of whom, based on the actual results, need consider giving up their daytime jobs for political punditry. The next major stop for the Democrats is PA where we have half a dozen Classmates.

As our Massachusetts classmates may know, Howie Carr was in a contract dispute last fall over plans to move from WRKO-AM to a competing morning drive-time show. What you may not know is that Howie has a far wider following than simply New England which I recently discovered when I picked up a copy of The New York Post and found his column weighing in on Senator Kennedy’s Obama endorsement.

In February, Bill Morine, public information coordinator for the North Carolina American Radio Relay League, the US national organization of amateur radio operators, was appointed to lead the National Public Relations Committee.

In case you’ve been short sub-prime or are feeling particularly flush, Rusty Young has arranged for The Boss to host a one-time concert benefiting the Count Basie Theatre this spring. According to the announcement, VIP/Gold Circle Seats are available for the Springsteen concert on May 7th at prices ranging from $15,000 – 5,000 per seat. Classmates who have attended events in the past and are prime prospects include AC Starkey, Todd Stone, Larry Gottlieb, Mark Hall, Jim Lunt, Douglas Arnstein and John Davies.

I omitted to mention last fall that Lunt Silversmiths sponsored for the 17th year a golf fundraiser for the Baystate Franklin Medical Center, an acute care center in Greenfield. Jim Lunt, president of Lunt Silversmiths, commented, “I, too, am grateful for our hospital’s supporters. Thanks to them and to a great management team, Baystate Franklin Medical Center enjoys good health and thus can provide the same for all of us who live in this community.” The event raised $38,000.

Photo Trivia

After a real dearth of photos, I recently came across the picture on the left and, since I didn’t recognize at first the Classmate in question, thought others might be similarly puzzled. You can let me know who you think it is by e-mailing me at dwsquires@gmail.com.

Thanks to all who shared their remembrances in January about Mr. Lambert. A memorial service in his honor is planned at the Academy on Saturday, June 15th at 10:30 AM. Tell me if the hapless soul under Mr. Lambert's skeptical gaze in the photo doesn't look like Jim Lunt.

The Academy reconvenes on Easter, March 23rd for the beginning of Spring Term. Until then, best wishes to all.

DWS

Goodbye, Mr. Lambert

Houlton, Maine is a town of 5,200 located at the end of I-95, 2 hours north of Bangor and on the border with New Brunswick. It is the seat of Aroostook County (know as “The County” to all in Maine), which is by far the largest county in the state and is known for forests, lakes, few roads, seemingly endless potato fields, the French language and border crossings into Canada. It is what Bryce Lambert referred to as “God’s Country”, and it is where he was born and where he died. He was in physical and mental decline at the end, and was a nursing home resident.

I made the trip to Houlton on January 4, 2008 with Rick Warren; native of Bangor, several generation owner/publisher of the Bangor Daily News, Deerfield class of ’63, and, according to Bryce Lambert, “not a very good croquet player”. Rick and Beth Warren had hosted a dinner for BVL a few years back that included his “scholars” Whitney Azoy ‘58 (former diplomat in Afghanistan), Jo Ann and Robert Clough ’69, and Republican Senator Susan Collins (BVL: “I am of course a democrat....”). We ALL addressed the honored guest as “Mr. Lambert” through the course of that evening.

Houlton is small enough so that we could interrupt a local citizen’s snow shoveling to obtain detailed directions to the funeral home, which is across from the town hall and looks and feels like a farmhouse. The thirty or forty in attendance were mostly members of his extended family but included 6 former students. A Deerfield banner was prominently displayed over the small box engraved with “Bryce Voter Lambert”, which was surrounded by miniature books of poetry, history and Shakespeare. Easels displayed photos of family, friends and students with Mr. Lambert, and a table held several notebooks of saved letters from former scholars. His L.L. Bean overcoat and his Brooks Brothers raincoat were on display. Prominent were photos of Mr. Lambert’s trip to Jordan, where he was royally hosted by former student King Abdullah II. Speakers included Jay and Mimi Morsman, 2 former students and members of his family. One of his nephews and a niece made it clear that Mr. Lambert’s teaching and style were also of great importance to many outside the Deerfield community. A eulogy was delivered by the local pastor. There was of course humor, but also heartfelt respect, love and sadness expressed. The pastor was careful to correct his grammar and eliminated every “very” from his talk. This was after witnessing a perforated essay held up by Marshall Peck ’70 showing the effects of the “very cutter”. It was a simple and brief gathering, but the representation by multiple generations of students from as far away as Missouri gave added meaning to the continued importance of Mr. Lambert in the lives of so many of us. I think he might have smiled.

When I arrived in Bangor in 1987 a letter from Mr. Lambert appeared welcoming me to “God’s Country” and telling me of the mermaids that he saw on his lawn on the coast. When I performed surgery on one of his older brothers Mr. Lambert appeared and gave glowing reports to my nurses about his former scholar (maybe because I was able to recite “Richard Cory” to him at his brother’s bedside). When I wrote my father’s obituary it was cut out and enclosed in a letter with compliments (and no corrections!) from Mr. Lambert. When his own health began to fail, he enclosed his medical reports for my opinion (which I doubt affected any of his decisions). When he told me of plans for his remains to be in the cemetery at Deerfield, he requested that former scholars recite poetry over the site, and promised to not correct us. When he died I was left with a profound sense of loss and a renewed appreciation for my good fortune at having been his student. More than anyone, he embodied for me all that was fine about the unique educational experience that is Deerfield Academy.

Robert A. Clough ‘69