Thacher Magazine: Fall 2012

The Magazine of The Thacher School * Fall 2012

THACHER

From Inquiry to ImpactCultivating curiosity, passion, and hard work to develop and share our best ideas.

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CONTENTS

04

14

12 • Armchair WanderingThacher’s board of trustees gathers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to exchange ideas about the future of the School.

14 • Leading With IdeasThe Edward E. Ford Foundation has decided that Thacher’s Senior Exhibition program is an idea worth spreading. Taking that as our cue, this issue explores the many ways students, faculty, alumni, and others move from curiosity to commitment—and then spread the word about their best ideas.

on & off campus

01 • View From OlympusMichael Mulligan explains some of the underpinnings of the Thacher experience.

02 • Up FrontThe idea behind this issue.

02 • Readers RespondYour responses to our survey.

04 • The PergolaAn assemblage of noteworthy School and community intelligence.

alumni & community news

28 • GatheringsCoverage of Reunion 2012, includ-ing class photos.

32 • Class Notes, etc.Alumni news, milestones, and news from faculty, staff, and friends.

40 • In Memoriam

45 • The Best We Can DoTwo Thacher seniors make a difference.

FRONT COVERAs Thacher science teacher and resident astronomer Chris Vyhnal well knows, cloud cover need not thwart stargazing. After a recent one of his “open observa-tory” nights, he sent the following e-mail message to the School: “Thanks to everyone who came out for the open dome on Friday. Despite the hazy cloud cover, we were able to see Jupiter and three of its four Galilean moons, a blue giant star, a red giant star, and an open star cluster.” Photo by Pamela Springsteen.

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VIeW FROM OLyMPUs…

HThe Thacher School 1

most likely to persevere and succeed through the grueling summer of “Beast Barracks” at the Academy are those who are least likely to contem-

plate any alternative to their education: They are there to stay and make the United States Military Academy work for themselves. We see the same thing with the Thacher Horse and Camping Programs: Those who embrace the discomforts—the long days, hard work, steep hills, rain, snow, and sleet—are those most likely to succeed across the board at Thacher. Grit, a term popularized by Duckworth when she borrowed the word from the western movie True Grit starring John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, amounts to working hard, embracing challenges, overcoming failures, and understanding the relationship between and among failure, achievement, and fulfillment. This is what we are about. Not surprisingly, those who believe Thacher is the school for them—and that nothing else compares—are the ones most likely to overcome the inevitable challeng-es confronting them here at Casa de Piedra.

Duckworth also talks about the value of “deliberate practice.” Deliber-ate practice is the toughest work of all—learning something new that re-quires the full focus of mind- and/or body-tiring hard work. It is not mere practice of doing well what you already know; it is, rather, learning new material of whatever kind and mastering it. Think now of what it takes to learn a new instrument or make significant advancements beyond what you already know on what you have played for years. The discipline of deliberate practice is how all humans make significant advancements in skills, and it is largely a function of this so-called grit. Can you sit down, delay your gratifications, and work hard at something that is not easy?

Paul Tough, in his new book How Children Succeed, documents that those willing to engage in deliberate practices are not necessarily the smart or gifted; they are the determined. Contrary to so-called “cog-nitive theory,” which holds that success is a function of the intellect, Tough’s central thesis is that long-term success is largely a function of attitude, character, and determination.

some Key Ideas Behind Our Work at ThacherWork hard. Be curious. Make a difference.

HARD WoRk IS THe MeANS By WHICH we learn, grow, and estab-lish—for all to see—our integrity, our commitment, and our focus. The cognitive scientists and researchers tell us that our brains grow around our activities. “Use determines outcome,” they intone. Dr. JoAnn Deak likens our brains to a series of rubber bands that, when stretched, grow. Some are long, loopy, and easy to grab. These are our strengths, and they become even stronger through more use. Those tight, small bands, however, are our weaknesses; these, especially, need to be pulled and lengthened. Hard work stretches these bands, our weaknesses. Stay at the work and eventually that which was a weakness becomes a strength, or at worst, not as much of a weakness. The significance here is that intel-ligence is not fixed; indeed, our attitude about learning, challenge, and failure is more important than the (ceaseless and inevitable) challenges that life plants squarely before us. our students need to know that hard work is often the difference—over the long haul—between success and failure. They also need to know that the world beats a path to the door of that man or woman who stays on task and does not quit. Hard work is an important foundation upon which character is built.

Researchers (Carol Dweck at Stanford University and Angelina Duckworth at University of Pennsylvania) document the cause-and-effect relationship between “belief systems” and positive outcomes. What a student believes about challenge and the growth mindset, for example, is crucial to learning. Does encountering failure reinforce the notion that the student cannot do the work? or does it simply serve as an inspiration to overcome the challenge—a necessary stumbling block on the path to success? Coaching kids towards the value of hard work, overcoming failure, and developing “grit” is, of course, part and parcel of the Thacher experience; it is just recently that the rest of the educa-tion and research world is starting to understand these tenets.

Interestingly, Duckworth sees the benefit of the counterintuitive “counterfactual thinking” on the grit continuum. Those West Pointers > C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3

Whether students are reaching for that next hold, exploring a quiet stream, “playing for change” before a live audience, or getting back up on that horse, the Thacher experience is designed to foster curiosity, grit, and a commitment to improvement.


ReADeRs ResPOND…

2 Fall 2012

◆ A little more history.

◆ Would love to see some discussion of what faculty members do in their sabbatical peri-ods from Thacher, and perhaps more about why they choose to come to our school. Would be interesting to hear from students today and in past years how technology has shaped their Thacher experience—differently, of course, over the years.

◆ Sexuality on campus.

◆ Where are they now, for ex-faculty? Quick blurb bringing us up to speed. What hap-pened to Mr. Ho? or Crawford? What’s Pratt up to?

Editors response: Andrew Ho (1999-2000) is an assistant professor of education at Harvard Uni-versity; George Pratt (1996-9) is on the humanities faculty at Idyllwild Arts Academy; Jack Crawford (1999-2002) teaches history and coaches lacrosse at Loyola Blakefield in Maryland.

◆ Please keep publishing the magazine! I love having something I can actually flip through.

◆ Is it possible to know more how our gradu-ates are doing at colleges? ◆ The Thacher magazine is one of the best-written publications I receive. I usually read it cover to cover.

And, lest we only show the positive responses...◆ Topics? No. But I feel that the $ spent on the magazine would be better spent helping defray tuition.

◆ The unmitigated optimism and self-con-gratulatory tone makes for a dull read.

◆ There’s so much hype about how Thacher remains the same. How has it changed yet stayed the same? How well did Thacher pre-pare you for your college academic and social experience? What could Thacher have done differently?

Last but not least (to end on a happy note): ◆ Campus dogs.

UP FRONt…

ANyoNe WHo HAS ATTeNDeD SeNIoR exHIBITIoNS will agree with me that they offer some of the most enjoyable mo-ments of the Thacher school year. each spring, we are treated to scores of thought-provoking presentations by students who share the results of independent research into topics of their own choos-ing. These 30-minute talks bear the imprint of each student’s interests and (usually contagious) passions. In this way, Senior exhibitions are Thacher’s answer to TeD Talks, and they live up to the TeD tagline:

“ideas worth spreading.” But there is more to it than the dissemination of engaging ideas. The Senior ex is so powerful because it is emblematic of what happens in many less-observable ways throughout the year at a school that recognizes that some of the most powerful learning hap-pens when students become the teachers. Senior ex weekend, when the presentation venues overflow with friends and family, affords that rare public and communal opportunity to behold the transformation that is at the heart of Thacher’s goal of helping young men and women become effective thinkers and leaders.

So, when casting about for this issue’s theme, we naturally gravitated toward the Senior exhibition Program and the major grant it recently garnered. As we sought out stories on this theme, we looked for people—

The Pollinators

from campus and beyond—who were asking questions, conducting research, advocating on behalf of a cause, and spreading ideas in order to make a positive difference.

This issue contains only a sampling of what we found, for we found more than could be covered in 40-some pages. (For example, we couldn’t cover the beekeeping activities of the environmental Action Committee, pictured above, which raises awareness of a critical species that also hap-pens to offer an apt image of the industrious, idea-spreading community we profile.)

our feature section begins with news of the edward e. Ford Grant and our plans for it. We turn next to alumni/ae: some whose Senior ex topics set them on a path to their futures, some who share with us the ideas that animate their work, and a few who have delivered TeDx Talks. We’ve illustrated the whole section with a photo essay featuring students and faculty members who are spreading an idea or advocating for a cause that is important to them. - Christopher J. Land, Editor

thIs sUMMeR’s COMMUNICAtIONs survey asked readers to suggest topics or themes they’d like to see covered in the Thacher magazine, and we’ve taken notice. here’s how some of you responded:


The Thacher School 3

thACheRThe Magazine of The Thacher School

Volume 6, Issue 2Fall 2012

EdiTORChristopher J. Land

AssOCiATE EdiTORJane D. McCarthy

AlumNi EdiTORSuzie Nixon

ClAss NOTEs EdiTORAaron Boydston

FEATuREs COpy EdiTORMark Lewis

ARChiVAl EdiTORsBonnie LaForgeTheresa Vyhnal

dEsigNCharles Hess, design director

Lisa Lewis, designer

phOTOgRAphy David Amano ‘15, Blake Bowie ‘14,

Julia Girardoni ‘15, Christopher Land, Caitlin Jean Peterson, Brian Pidduck CdeP 1992,

Joy Sawyer-Mulligan, Pamela Springsteen, Dana Vancisin

hEAd OF sChOOlMichael K. Mulligan

diRECTOR OF dEVElOpmENTBrandon C. Doyle

diRECTOR OF AdmissiONWilliam P. McMahon

Thacher is published twice a year by The Thacher School, and is sent free of charge to alumni, parents, and friends of the School. Every effort is made to ensure that contents are accurate and complete. If there is an omission or an error, please accept our apologies and notify us at the address below.

Copyright © 2012 The Thacher School

Third class postage is paid at the Oxnard Post Office.

POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 to the following address.Editor, Thacher Magazine5025 Thacher RoadOjai, CA [email protected] x264

how to submit Class NotesOnline: blogs.thacher.org/classnotesE-mail: [email protected]: 805-646-1956 (fax)

Thacher is printed by Ventura Printing using an environmentally friendly waterless printing process, soy-based inks, and recycled paper.

michael K. mulligan, Head of school

Could it be that the researchers are finally documenting what we have seen for years at Thacher?

CuRiOsiTyWithout curiosity, there is no learning. kids who really want to know an answer to a problem, puzzle, or concept will go to extreme lengths: They will stay up all night researching; they will run to mountain tops looking for clues; they will work alone and in groups for hours on end to solve conundrums. Without curiosity, there is no motivation on the part of students—and education grinds to a halt. We blame our public schools for these failures—but it remains the case that one can learn even in miserable set-tings, if one is curious. Consider one of Amer-ica’s greatest learned presidents—Abraham Lincoln—who mastered the Bible, Shakespeare, the classics, mathematics, and history through self-directed study and learning—all in the backwoods of kentucky; he never knew formal schooling. He was an autodidact whose curiosity knew no bounds. Frederick Douglass, a slave, gave bread to white boys who would teach him the meaning of the letters that he saw being carved into the bow and stern of the great sail-ing ships. He became a preeminent American scholar and statesman because he would not be deterred from learning. He had no teachers, no assistants, no support. Curiosity is the greatest gift a student can bring to a classroom. Hard work and curiosity together are the main driv-ers in achievement.

Parents, let me also add this: you want your sons and daughters to go to the best col-lege possible? of course—and why not? But what those best colleges want are kids who are not packaged to look good—but who are, rather, actually good—which means that they are hard, determined, and gritty workers—and insatiably curious. These are two pillars of true scholarship.

mAkE A pOsiTiVE diFFERENCE—NOWMost of us suffer from the illusion of time. This simply seems to be one of the existential challenges before all humans. We somehow think that what we are doing now is part of the waiting game for something “later on” when we will actually be able to start living life. “When we get out of school...When we get a job... When we retire...then we can finally...?” What? Life, in my modest opinion, is to be lived right here and now. It is to be enjoyed fully and happily. For all we have is now. The future is a mere concept and entirely uncertain. I told our students at the New year’s Banquet: you want to make a difference in this life? Start

now. Make a positive difference now. This dis-cipline alone sets one on an upward trajectory. And failing to make a positive difference here and now is to misunderstand, fundamentally, just how powerful each of us is at this very mo-ment. The reason is that every one of us has a potent and entirely underestimated influence. our attitude can either be positive, productive, and uplifting—or something considerably less than this that pulls ourselves and others down. At Thacher, our students can start with the small things that improve the atmosphere for those all around us: picking up trash, helping the grounds and kitchen workers, smiling and welcoming those whose paths we cross, strok-ing our horse’s neck (and slipping him an apple, to boot), counseling a friend in need, taking special pride in a morning job, helping another who is struggling with a concept: you name it.

And our students can make big differences now, as well. Consider what seniors Justin Myles and Anna Fleming are doing by work-ing with Ventura County to build bio-swales to spread and use our horse manure. or the work of seniors Shelby Luce and ellie Han-cock in raising thousands of dollars to help Playing for Change bring music into schools, both locally and around the world. These kids are hard workers; they are curious; and they wanted to make a positive difference now. And they have already.

The bottom line is that our students are powerful and capable. They just may not know it. All parents know the power of their chil-dren: They can bring us to our knees on one day and lift us to the heavens on the next. But the good news is that we now know intelligence grows through “deliberate practice”—working on the edge of one’s ability—and through an attitude that failures are seen as mere tem-porary barriers designed to help us learn and grow. And this is where we come in. We are here to help them grow in awareness and un-derstanding of their potential—through train-ing, coaching, advising, counseling, and the presentation of carefully calibrated challenges designed to show them the critical relation-ships among challenges, failures, achievements, fulfillment, and selflessness.

The work of great schools is to empower our children to take on those disciplines and attitudes that uplift not only their lives but also the lives of those around them and the world we live in—starting now. That is our work at Thacher. Sacred it is. (Says yoda.)

> C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1


The Pergola…

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fall anacaPa scholars

Choreographer, danCer, and danCe sCholar Cynthia ling lee Cdep 1998 was one of three anacapa scholars to spend time on campus this fall. as seems to often happen at Thacher, Cynthia’s senior exhibition—her first foray into choreography—set her on her career path. The other two anacapa scholars during the fall term were filmmaker Melissa Johnson (who worked in the admission office a decade ago and coached the girls’ Basketball Team to a championship) and david ewing duncan p ’13, who writes on science and innovation (especially life enhancement and life extension) for The New York Times, The Atlantic, and other publications.

The cast and crew on the stage of the Outdoor Theatre, the perfect venue for this year’s Fall Play.

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The ThAcher SchooL 5

faculTy hones PresenTing skills

every fall, the faculty convenes on campus before the start of school for some group professional development. The emphasis this year was on presenta-tion skills as trainers from stand and deliver (including danny Klein Cdep 1986) led a workshop in “high perfor-mance communication.” The hands-on sessions placed the faculty on the student side of the classroom, where they worked on short presentations and engaged in various activities designed to help them fine-tune their teaching instruments.

fall exTra-day TriPs

Thacher alumnus Dan Klein teaching some of his former teachers.

There is more than one way to leave your comfort zone, and this year’s fall EDTs offered up plenty—from leaps of faith to long hours in the saddle. But the dividends remain the same, among them: self-knowledge, friendship, and a renewed sense of appreciation for the natural world.


The Pergola…

fall faMily Weekend

The grand enTry: Thacher riders cautiously traverse the steep trail to the gymkhana field before throwing all caution to the wind as the riding groups perform one daring routine after another. during friday evening’s performing arts sampler, doug Klink

’16 (violin) and The Thacher string ensemble wowed the crowd with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto Number 5.

6 FALL 2012


scoreboards

SPRING SPoRtS

girls’ VarsiTy lacrosseRecord: 10-7 (1-2 league)Captains: Lauren Butler ‘12, Emma Patterson ‘12Highlights: thacher girls won the CIF first-round game vs. Chadwick and lost in a heartbreaker (9-8 in overtime) vs. the number-one-seed Palos Verdes High School (who went on to play in the Southern Section final). the girls had tremendous fun all season and were determined to win, and to commit the work and emotional investment necessary to do so. Said one of the girls, “We had the most incredible, spirited team. I had such an amazing season because of the attitude.”

girls’ JV lacrosseRecord: 4-2 (4-1 league)Captains: Margot Hughan ‘12, Katherine Krey ‘12Highlights: the toads faced Cate on their family weekend and earned a convincing 8-4 win, and finished off the season with an exciting 10-8 win at home also against Cate. Perhaps the most exciting victory came against Midland, 8-6, on their family weekend, avenging an early-season defeat.

boys’ VarsiTy lacrosseRecord: 7-6 (4-0 league)Captains: Garen Fabian ‘12, Marshall Gifford ‘12, Ian Bearden ‘12Highlights: 2012 was a strong year for thacher lacrosse. Anticipating the abilities of this team, the varsity boys were handed the hardest schedule of the last eight years. the results were a handful of close losses to quality teams, and one sweet victory in the last 30 seconds of a tight game at oak Park. Playing such a difficult schedule meant that thacher was more than ready for in-league rival Cate, play-ing them to an 18-0 advantage in two games. there was some outstanding individual play, most notably from Garen Fabian, who for the second year led the team in scoring; from Grady Jacobsen ‘13, who kept this team in many a close game with his lights-out netminding; and from J.J. Ntshaykolo ‘13, a Junior All-American who anchored what came to be one of the most stingy defenses in all of South-ern California. It was on defense that the toads shone most brightly, limiting opposing offenses to only 5.31 goals per game, the fifth best of the 67 SoCal teams.

boys’ VarsiTy TennisRecord: 7-7 (2-4 league)Captains: Willie Halsted ‘13, Conrad troast ‘13Highlights: Beating Dunn after losing to them earlier in the season. thacher also squeaked out a win against Laguna with a 9-9 win-on-games victory. Also highlight-ing the season was a great win by Conrad troast against Cate’s number 2 player, Austen Lochre, who arguably is the second-best player in the league. the boys put forth a great effort all season and showed strong improvement as the season progressed.

boys’ JV lacrosseRecord: 2-8 (2-2 league)Captains: Parker Dawson ‘13, Sandy Ballou ‘13Highlights: this inexperienced team showed significant improvement, in particular, freshmen Nate Currie and Kevin Griffee. the Big Gymkhana weekend game victory over oVS was the most exciting of the season. Down by two points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, they fought to even the score and then won in sudden death overtime.

baseballRecord: 7-7 (3-3 league)Captains: Joe Bell ‘12, tim Kent ‘12Highlights: the team won its last four regular season games to be eligible for the CIF playoffs, including one over Vil-lanova and one over Condor League champ Dunn. Senior Joe Bell finished with a .375 batting average and two home runs; Evan Farese ‘13 hit two home runs in the playoff game vs. Village Christian Academy and played four different positions. tim Kent pitched well throughout the season, logging nearly 40 innings on the mound. Cody Renfrew ‘13 also pitched well and played a solid second base. Freshman John Carey pitched a complete-game shutout vs. Villanova, the first freshman to do this in recent memory.


The Pergola…

rock cliMbingSeniors: Katie Yu, Jesse GatesHighlights: During the first portion of the term we focused on building our physical and mental strength through abundant strength training and bouldering at the Gymkhana Field. Building upon this foundation we worked on understanding the systems involved in lead climbing and reading climbing situations in order to manage risk in the pursuit of a successful climb. outside of the gates of thacher, we camped and traveled in the Los Padres

Track and fieldCaptains: Anouk Ackerman ‘12, Andrew Atwong ‘12Highlights: track had many highlights this season, includ-ing some record-breaking performances by the girls (see sidebar at right). thirteen individuals and three relay teams qualified for the CIF Southern Section Prelims. Andrew Atwong, who went unbeaten for the whole season in the Condor League in the 1600, 800, and 3200, finished as a three-event Condor League champion and the Condor League MVP. the boys’ and girls’ 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 went unbeaten in the Condor League, as did Momo Lewis ‘14 in the Condor League in the 100-meter sprint. Kennedy Green

‘15 won the 100 and 200 as a freshman with limited practice. Julian Garcia-Kasimirowski ‘12 came out for his first season and became an integral member by competing in the triple jump, high jump, shot put, and discus. Anton Doty ‘12 came out for his first season and finished fifth overall in CIF Southern Section finals. He would easily be a top athlete in almost any other state. Wallace Kalkin ‘14 competed in her first season and won the Condor League triple jump. She also competed in the long jump and high jump. Nayla Kidd ‘14 came out for her first season and won the discus throw, while also scoring in the hurdles and the shot put at the Condor League championships. the girls’ team finished second in the Condor League by only 10 points, while the boys’ team won the league championship by 60 points, scoring 2.5 times more points than second-place Cate. this year the track team fielded over 30 athletes, growing from only seven last year.

dance enseMbleSeniors: tabitha Sullivan-Wallace, Eva Batalla-Mann and Jade Lopes,Highlights: Led by the seniors, the Ensemble worked on three pieces in the spring. the first, Time Stops, was the recreation of a dance done in 2009 to music by Explosions in the Sky. Dancers worked on executing the same choreography at different tempos and adding individual stops in the chore-ography. the second piece, Bond, also explored ideas about time, including clock imagery, and the pace of a day through the night. our final dance, The Winner Is…. with music by Devotchka, included a group of student “walkers” who joined Dance Ensemble for four rehearsals to create this piece.

In addition to our performances at Grandparents Day and Gymkhana Weekend, we took a trip to the LA. Dance Festival. this all-day event was an opportunity for thacher dancers to take a variety of classes with members of LA modern dance companies. Dancers took a hip-hop class at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and the following day attended the inaugural LA Contemporary Dance Festival. Classes in a variety of contemporary styles were taught by members of Method Contemporary Dance, oni Dance, Lin-eage Dance Company, In/Ex Dance, Dorn Dance, and several others. After an exhausting day of five hours of classes we enjoyed dinner out and a return to watch a performance. It was a wonderful experience to take classes with company members and later see those companies in performance.

ThE 2012 TracK anD FiElD season was marked by record-setting performances by five female runners. Senior anouk ackerman inked her name in the books in the 800-meter run by besting (by more than 1.5 seconds) the school record set by logan clark cdeP 2001. She delivered her 2:23.93 run at carpinteria high School during the Southern Sectional Prelims. as coach Joel Sohn describes it, “anouk ran a fast first lap hanging on to the race leaders; as she came off the turn for the final 100 everyone made a move. She accelerated through the finish watching the clock tick closer and closer to her goal. She crossed the line with her arms raised in joy and triumph, bent over in exhaustion, and walked off to hug her teammates and coaches—a huge smile (as always) on her face.” anouk finished the meet ranked 17th in the Division iV South-ern Section (which includes over 100 schools). Says coach Sohn, “it was beautiful to watch,

and she made it seem effortless. i knew she was running hard, but you couldn’t really tell by her body language or face until after she finished.”

The other record to fall, in the girls’ 4 x 100, was broken at a home meet. runners Jasmynn roman ‘13, Sophie McMillan ‘14, rachel Turner

‘13, and Kennedy Green ‘15 broke, by more than a second, a school record that had been on the board since 1996. Kennedy Green, the frosh, was still learning how to use blocks, but shot out like a cannon. She handed off to Sophie McMillan with the lead already secured. Sophie streaked down the back straight to give a per-fect pass to Jasmynn roman, who ran a very strong turn. The final handoff came to rachel Turner. She ran hard through the finish, despite having nobody else anywhere near her. The time of 53.61 stood on the record books all year, and that same team will be back next spring to find out whether they can shave off a little more.

records fall in sPring

National Forest and climbed at Portero John Wall, Lizard’s Mouth, and Gibraltar Rock near Santa Barbara. “As their coach,” wrote Brian Pidduck CdeP 1992, “I was deeply impressed by their motivation and concern for one an-other. Each individual developed a great deal as a climber, but most of all, each demonstrated the essence of what French alpinist Gaston Rebuffat meant when he articulat-ed the phrase ‘the brotherhood of the rope’ in describing the deep bond that develops between climbers as a result of the simple act of climbing and being in the mountains.”

anouk ackerman ‘12 enjoyed a record-setting season.

rachel Turner ‘13 carries the baton.


records fall in sPring


books

John aaron CdeP 1971 formally declared his indepen-dence from nicotine with the July 4, 2012, publication of Romancing the Smoke: Reflections of a Nicotine Addict. enlivened with his clever and colorful illustrations (and optimized as an eBook), this book—both humor-ous and poignant—chronicles his journey “out of nico-tine Canyon” in the hopes that “it can help loosen the grip the cigarettes have on folks.” learn more at John’s blog: romancingthesmoke.blogspot.com.

award-winning author William Bryant logan CdeP 1970 is back with another of his examinations of the seemingly simple. Air, the third work of an elemental trilogy that includes Dirt and Oak, gives character and depth to a subject that is easily taken for granted. In the words of environmental writer Bill McKibben, “The invisible is made powerfully, inescapably vivid here.”

anybody who appreciated the insightful perspective John lenczowski CdeP 1961 brought to the foreign policy panel discussion at reunion 2012 will want to pick up John’s recent publication: Full Spectrum Diplomacy and Grand Strategy: Reforming the Structure and Culture of U.S. Foreign Policy. according to former U.s. senator (virginia) Chuck robb, “In this book he gets under the hood and leaves nothing to the imagi-nation. he’s got the answers and he’s tired of waiting.” John was also a contributor to another 2012 publica-tion: Fighting the Ideological War: Winning Strategies from Communism to Islamism, edited by Katharine C. gorka and patrick sookhdeo, a well-received anthol-ogy proposing solutions to Islamist violence.

Jack huyler (faculty emeritus), whose reminiscences of Thacher, The Stamp of the School, offers a rich compendium of Cdep history, has served up a trove of legend and lore about another place that is near and dear to him: Jackson hole, Wyoming. Every Full Moon in August, edited by Jack with the help of Marlene deahl Merrill, is a collection of 151 campfire tales of

“old Jackson hole.” Told by Jackson hole old-timers, these tales were shared from 1978 to 1996 at annual potluck gatherings (coinciding with the august full moon, of course) .

blurb & squib


10 FALL 2012

The Pergola…froM The archiVes

100... 50... 25.... YEarS aGO aT ThachErA Backward Glance Through the Pages of CdeP Publications

1001912: old ideas are new again: the Middle School boys purchase a piglet as a pet, and several weeks later enjoy a pork banquet. (october 2012: three piglets arrive at Carpenter’s orchard to help manage kitchen waste and eventually become meals themselves.) Sherman Day thacher travels to Los Ange-les to exchange ideas with President taft.

751937: September: the new Middle School welcomes boys with its well-arranged rooms and the miracle of tile shower rooms and hot water. “Year after year beheld...”: the words of oliver Wendell Holmes’ celebration of a certain mollusk fall on 85 pairs of ears, of which 16 belong to teachers, as School starts for the 49th time.

501962: the Epicurean Society sponsors a series of lectures aiming to close the gap between the scientist and the philosopher. Dr. Lynn White (professor of history at UCLA), Dr. Harrison Storms (of the U.S. Project Mercury), Dr. George Abell (of the Astrophysics Department of UCLA), and Miss Mary Ellen Chase are among the speakers scheduled. It is hoped that the lectures will spark independent research and discussion among the students. thacher’s Radio Club, using a high-powered transmitter and receiver with a dipole antenna, has conducted conversations on the air with operators in Guam, Australia, Hawaii, Alaska, and Cuba. the operator in Guantanamo Bay offered a report on the tensions there to Norton tooby CdeP 1963 who, in exchange, reported on the half-inch ice in the watering troughs.

251987: october: Coeducation at thacher celebrates its 10th anniversary. The Thacher Notes offers Mr. Marvin Shagam’s thoughts: “…boys, since girls have arrived, are now more willing to show their feelings, express themselves, and that is infinitely to the good. A lot of this machismo is gone—girls don’t go for that the way boys used to think they would. And they’ve learned from the girls to show af-fection, to show sorrow, to show true joy and are far more natural and more human because of the influence of our young women. I think that’s all to the good.“

102002: october: Seventeen members of the community visit Colby Chapman, an ojai boy with leu-kemia. they travel to LA to donate blood and visit with him, and afterwards Colby declares their visit

“better than meeting Britney Spears,” which he had done the week before.

52007: November: Writing in The Thacher Notes, Jay Harman CdeP 2008 raises the issue of lack of play and lack of creative use of free time by students, lamenting a dearth of wholesome shenanigans.

TWin PEEKS

The Thacher notes, casa de Piedra’s student-run conduit for information and ideas, took new shape this year. now printed on newsprint in four-color, the publication continues a tradition more than a century old. One of the editors of the 1912 issue (pictured above) was Thornton Wilder cdeP 1915, prompting one to wonder which of our current editors may go on to literary greatness.

pork Carpenter’s

become Ange-

Dr. George Abell Ellen Chase

lectures will lectures will lectures sparkthacher’s Radiohacher’s Radiohacher’s

that that the

show af- human The Thacher notes, casa de Piedra’s student-

run conduit for information and ideas, took


They say The eConoMy is on the mend and a good indicator of this is the current state of housing starts. Well, here’s a real-estate puzzle with which to celebrate: a developer has located eight houses (as marked) on 32 acres of land in a development that he plans to subdivide. perform the subdivision for him so that every parcel has exactly one house, all plots are of equal area, and all plots are identical in shape.


coMMunicaTion surVey resulTs during the summer, we invited our 4,500 alumni and parents to complete a survey and help us better understand how our audiences use our communications materials and what they think about them. here’s a little about what we learned from

the 810 responses:

20%

Thacher WebsiTe

FIFTEENperCenTage Who

sUBMITTed a Class noTe onlIne

Top threewebsite actions

For more reader responses regarding the magazine, see Readers Respond on page 2.

nuMeracy

Winners of The conTesT froM The sPring 2012 issue:

all Three of These ConTrIBUTors took time to find numerous zones where the stipulated conditions are met, and so all three get honors this round: gordon B. Chamberlain Cdep 1956; david Babbott p ’01, ’03,

’05, and former staff member; and Kip Witter Cdep 1964.To clarify the time zone confusion referenced in the previous nu-

meracy puzzle, puzzlemaster Kurt Meyer explains: My wife, alice, and I were visiting the famed penfolds Winery outside of adelaide, austra-lia, and, to our chagrin, missed our private tour due to an unexpected half-hour time change between adelaide and Melbourne. It’s oK; we drowned our sorrows....

44.4%

18.3%

Percentage for whom social media is their Primary source of information

ReadeRs who say they planned a tRip to campus as a

Result oF Reading the magazine

readers for whom the magazine is their Primary source of information about the school

Percentage of readers

who devote 30 minutes

or more to reading each issue of �acher magazine

Thacher Magazine

Types of magazine conTenT mosT likely To be read: (in order) class notes, View from olympus, Thacher history

66.5 44.4%

13.2

1 read school news2 Make a gift3 post class notes


Holing Up in Jackson

the community. Paramount to the success of IMC’s work is its ability to train and inspire local leaders (not dissimilar, Ms. Aossey pointed out, to Thacher’s mission). With such a goal, she said, we must be willing to claim our failures, share them with our peers, and together learn from them.

Board retreat examines ideas for the School’s futureBy Jane D. McCarthy and Blossom B. Pidduck CdeP 1992

armchair wandering…

I t had Been nearly a decade since Thacher’s Board of Trustees last met off-site to delve more deeply into topics that affect the School’s program.

In June, they traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyo-ming, to explore ideas central to Thacher’s strategic goal of leadership and 21st century education models. Three speakers shared their inspiring ideas and expertise with the trustees, their spouses, and representatives of Thacher’s administration.

Historian and President of the University of Richmond Dr. Edward Ayers spoke of in-spiring leadership in students, integrating problem solving as a basis for leadership stud-ies, and the importance of civic engagement to help students understand that they can be leaders now, rather than training them to be leaders later in life. Teaching leadership, he suggested, involves providing students with certain tools including data fluency, the abil-ity to think critically and act ethically, and an understanding of the importance of building bridges, being flexible, and developing a sense of destination.

Nancy Aossey, CEO of International Medi-cal Corps (IMC), focused on crisis manage-ment and on-the-ground leadership. Through IMC’s work in often unstable, volatile, and critical situations around the globe, she’s come to understand the importance of decen-tralizing decision making, so that solutions reflect local realities and involve members of

00 FALL 2012 12 FALL 2012

Dr. Yong Zhao (professor at the Universi-ty of Oregon and author of World Class Learn-ers and Leading the Way) talked about train-ing our students to become entrepreneurs, job creators, and problem solvers rather than employees. As he sees it, a school’s curricu-lum should support and enhance creativity,

124071-4_FL12ArmchairSHIP_EM.indd 12 12/5/12 1:38 PM


entrepreneurship, passion, and the diversity of talents amongst its students.

dr. Zhao gave everyone pause when he asserted, “The best education is not a planned path, but a rich environment.”

These perspectives both echoed and helped refine the Board’s thinking on strategic ini-tiatives related to leadership, globalization, interdisciplinary teaching, and modes of as-sessment. In addition, they sparked thinking and conversation about the nature of a Thacher education in a dynamically changing world.

When not in session, participants took a scenic float down the Snake River, hiked to Jenny Lake, survived white-water rafting, and dined at the National Wildlife Museum and Jack Huyler’s Rocking H Ranch.

The backdrop of the Tetons, the sight of the occasional moose, the perfect blue of Jen-ny Lake might seem incongruent with talk of 21st century skills, but the selection of venue was anything but arbitrary. Floating down the Snake River or gathered around a camp-fire on Jack Huyler’s ranch, trustees were immersed in Sherman Day Thacher’s notion of experiential education. As we educate our young men and women “to do the best work in [this new and changing] world that they can,” we know that an appreciation for and communion with the sanctity of the natural world will always be central to that goal.

These shared experiences in beautiful surroundings provoked deep thinking about Thacher’s mission while it fostered friend-ship, communication, and an appreciation of the Western ethos that is central to the Thacher education.

Friday night dinner at the National Wildlife Museum with trustees Erin Archer CdeP 1996, Brendan Bechtel CdeP 1999, Susie Bechtel, Bryan Beckham CdeP 1974, Cabot Brown CdeP 1979, Christine Carter CdeP 1990, John Carver CdeP 1953, Cindy Casteñeda CdeP 1988, David Chao CdeP 1984, Stacey Cowles CdeP 1978, Jennifer Crittenden CdeP 1987, Monique DeVane, Sasha Gifford, Henrique Guerra CdeP 1989, Emily Hancock CdeP 1983, Doug Hodge, Lisa Kirkland, John G. Lewis, Jr. CdeP 1959, Bill Oberndorf, Louise Patterson, Phil Pillsbury CdeP 1967, Dudley Rauch, James Richardson CdeP 1969, Janie Carroll Richardson CdeP 1983, Andrew Shakman CdeP 1990, and Sarah Lavender Smith CdeP 1986

Others in attendance: Helen Bechtel, Louise Beckham, Ray Canham, Jason Carney, Anne Cowles, Brandon Doyle, Brian Driscoll, Hanson Gifford, Henry Hancock, Jack Huyler, Ingrid Jacobsen, Jane Lewis, Jane McCarthy, Mark Millstein, Amanda Minami, Michele Moehring, Joy Sawyer Mulligan, Michael Mulligan, Arthur Patterson, Blossom Pidduck CdeP 1992, Brian Pidduck CdeP 1992, Sharon Pillsbury, Candace Powers, Weston Richardson CdeP 1980, Lisa Shannon, and Morgan Smith CdeP 1985

124071-4_FL12ArmchairSHIP_EM.indd 13 12/5/12 1:38 PM

14 fall 20112 14 fall 20112

Powerful ideas, the ones that make a real, positive impact on the world, don’t arise on their own and they certainly don’t spread without the help of passionate

advocates. Whether these advocates are the originators of the big idea or simply the evangelists, there is alchemy in the pro-cess—along with skills that can be learned and taught. Across the Thacher experience, we aim to foster these skills in our students, and also to give them opportunities to experience the process of developing and sharing powerful ideas. Head of School Michael Mulligan frames this work in the impera-tives to be curious, work hard, and make a positive difference in the world, principles that undergird much of what we do here. But nowhere are these virtues more evident than in the Senior Exhibition program.

In this issue of Thacher, we examine a wide range of big ideas and the ways they are being spread. Although we start and end

with Senior Exhibitions, we also address the TED Talk phenome-non—with its trademark “ideas worth sharing”—and how some members of our community have taken part in that movement.

In the following pages, you’ll read about the Edward E. Ford Foundation Grant that recognizes Thacher’s thought leadership in the area of high school senior capstone pro-grams. You’ll hear about four (of many) alumni for whom their Senior Exhibition project set them on their paths to do-ing “the best work in the world that they can.” And you’ll hear from some alumni about the big ideas that animate them and how they go about spreading the word.

Throughout, we’ve illustrated this section with some faces of those on campus who passionately espouse concepts and causes big and small, new and old, in a way that expresses their commitment to leaving this community better off than when they arrived.

Leading with Ideasleveraging curiosity, vision, and disciplined inquiry

to make a positive difference in the world

By Christopher J. land f Photos by Pamela springsteen

124071-5_FL12FeatureSHIP_EM.indd 2 12/5/12 12:13 AM



16 fall 2012

After more than two deCades of asking Thacher seniors to pursue a line of academic inquiry and then share their findings with the community, the Senior Exhibition program is getting a chance to do the same. Last spring, we received word that Thacher had won a prestigious Edward E. Ford Educational Leadership Grant. The $250,000 award (matched this fall by two anonymous donors) paves the way for Thacher to create a forum in which high schools can share and develop their senior capstone experiences.

Plans are well underway for the first Thacher Summer Capstone Collo-quium, to be held June 17-21 on the Thacher campus. “The idea,” explains Head of School Michael Mulligan, “is to gather leaders of senior-year, aca-demic capstone projects to collaborate and share ideas.”

Drawing together representatives from independent, public, and char-ter schools, this peer-to-peer learning network will collaborate on a set of best practices for independent projects. In addition to gaining insights and ideas to strengthen existing programs, participants will develop a li-brary of resources and examples with the intention of fostering and men-toring schools interested in developing and expanding capstone programs.

As the only foundation that focuses exclusively on independent secondary schools, EE Ford helps schools such as Thacher “leverage their unique talents, expertise, and resources to advance teaching and learning throughout this country.” Since its inception in 2008, the Edu-cational Leadership Grant Program has made 20 gifts of $250,000 each. According to the website, recipient programs “must be generative; be transformational; be replicable; include partnerships; and address the question: “What is the public purpose of private education?” In winning this grant, Thacher joined other institutions conducting groundbreaking work, including Flintridge Preparatory School, where Peter Bachmann CdeP 1970 is headmaster.

“I am confident that the Senior Exhibition is a transformational experience that changes the nature of high school for young men and women,” says Michael. “This grant is good external validation of some-thing we have been working on for quite some time—a program we are proud of, and one we expect to continue refining. Now we get to carry that project to a broader community and have the opportunity to learn from other schools as well.”

among the sCores of meetings—faculty, department, dorm area, camping group, athletic team, cheese club—that mark the rhythm of a school year, there is but one that each year seems to me distinctly and consistently pleasant. Toward the end of the school year, the mem-bers of the Senior Exhibition Committee convene to reflect on the round of exhibitions just completed, and plan for the years to come. (It helps that we all like each other and there’s usually a nice dinner in the mix.) Of equal importance, the glow from the recent triumphs—the kid we’d thought of as shy who surprises all by commanding the room for 30 minutes, the one who beautifully mixes scholarship and dance, the one whose authoritative mastery becomes apparent in a skillful answer to a tough question—remains warm enough that the challenges and frustra-tions along the road to the big weekend fade into the background. But for me, it’s the freedom we experience in that meeting to tinker as much as we want that makes it so enjoyable and rewarding.

The opportunity to ask and debate big picture questions (What are we doing well? What are we doing poorly? How can we encourage more creative projects while maintaining academic rigor?) is especially engag-ing because we know that we can act right away and make real changes based on our conclusions. It’s rare in our line of work to have this level of freedom to question, challenge, and reinvent the very fabric of an academic program on a year-to-year basis. This annual, dynamic meet-ing results in old practices and policies discarded, others reaffirmed, and new ideas to pilot in the coming year. With more than 20 years of this kind of tinkering behind us, we feel as though we’ve learned much about this unique sort of educational tool, and we suspect that our peers at schools with similar programs have done the same.

The Senior Exhibition Program we have today is very much a home-grown, organic product. It has evolved according to the experiences, ideas, and perspectives of our own students and faculty. At this point in its evolution, we have enough confidence in the Program to feel that we

have valuable wisdom and experience to share with our peers at other independent, public, and charter schools across the country. At the same time, we see great potential in learning about how our peers have faced the challenges inherent in this kind of program and using their insights to further strengthen our own product.

It’s easy to feel evangelical about Thacher. Working here acquaints one intimately with the unique and wonderful opportunities that we enjoy as members of this community, and it’s natural to want to share our work with others; however, much of what makes this place so special is specifically rooted in our unique setting and traditions. The Senior Exhibition Program, however, lends itself to export. It doesn’t require a saddle or a backpack, just committed teachers and students, which are in abundant supply throughout the country. And learning about the ex-periences of students and teachers in programs like ours will enrich and inform our own decisions and practices.

One particularly exciting aspect of the planned colloquium is the op-portunity to interact in meaningful ways with teachers from public and charter schools. As teachers, coaches, and advisors, our experiences are so dissimilar to those of public-school teachers that there is little overlap in terms of the challenges we face. However, while the programs at different schools will naturally vary somewhat, the experience of a Thacher senior undertaking a Senior Exhibition will be very similar to other students engaged in capstone projects at schools of every size and kind. Because our program is malleable, this colloquium will undoubtedly yield new ideas that we can put into practice at Thacher right away.

While I’ve never been one to seek additional meetings, I do look for-ward to adding another opportunity to meet with my fellow tinkerers after we host the first Thacher Summer Capstone Colloquium and dis-cuss all the new ideas and opportunities that have emerged as a result of this exciting initiative.

An Idea Worth Spreadingthe senior exhibition program wins edward e. ford grant

Continuous improvement: Thacher’s senior exhibition ProgramBy Jeff hooper, director of the senior exhibition Program



The evoluTion of ThAcher’s senior exAccording to the Thacher Library Archives, the first Senior Exhibition project was filed by Alex Wilson CdeP 1979; the topic was the the Flying V Rodeo (a mid-cen-tury, all-female extravaganza). It was several years before the next one: The Rise and Fall of Broadway by Harte Israel CdeP 1992. By 1994, the program had a new champion with the installation of Michael Mulligan as head of school, and there were seven recorded, from Gothic and Islamic Architecture (Meredith Bressie) to Homelessness (Dermond Thomas). And by 1996, the Senior Exhibition was a re-quirement of graduation.

Since then, it has continued to evolve and grow. In the hands of a series of thoughtful custodians (Jake Jacobsen, Elizabeth Bowman, Kurt Meyer, and, today, Jeff Hooper) the program has built on success, borrowing ideas from other pro-grams, to become the robust and highly developed capstone experience it is today.

No longer are formal outlines and polished research papers required. Instead, the emphasis has shifted to ensuring a rigorous process and well-crafted final presentation. To this end, students now organize and share their research using an electronic research journal, essentially a blog. Another recent addition to the process is a presentation advisor who enters the project in the spring to coach seniors as they wrap up their research and begin to think about communicating what they have learned to a live audience.

And now, as the first Thacher Summer Capstone Colloquium provides a forum for sharing the program beyond Thacher, it also opens up promising new channels for insights and improvements.

senior ex presentations can take many forms, and sometimes include performance. (Top to bottom, left to right) Mark frykman cdeP 2007 fires up his wok; Andrew Atwong cdeP 2012 receives congratulations; valorie Denton-Moore cdeP 2011 performs original choreography; carey Jonker cdeP 2009 demonstrates his wind turbine; Madi Manson cdeP 2009 performs aerial dance.


18 fall 2012

logan clark cdep 2001 ethnomusicologist

I was neither the most talented musician at Thacher nor the most dedicated, but despite my lack of technical ability and incompetence at reading music, I was determined to make music a major part of my life in some way. Dur-ing my senior year Music Theory class, I discov-ered something that (forgive me) struck the right chord: the beautiful relationship between math and music. I was much more adept at calculating integrals than I was at singing in-tervals, and this new way of looking at musical structures allowed me to manipulate with my mind what I could not with my fingers. With the guidance of Kurt Meyer and Gregory Hag-gard, I used the Senior Exhibition opportunity to investigate the mathematical relationships between notes in the Western scale. I mar-veled at Plato’s simple ratios of string lengths and hoped, along with Johannes Kepler, that there truly was a “music of the spheres” relat-ing the movements of the planets in our solar system to the physical properties of the eight notes in an octave.

In college, my ethnomusicology professor broadened my perspective on the ways that people around the world organize sound into music. After graduating, I spent several years under the delusion that I had to do something

“practical” with my life before I realized that the most practical thing was to follow the intellectual passion that my Senior Exhibition had ignited. In my third year as a graduate student studying ethnomusicology, I spend my time learning about musical systems from all parts of the world, traveling to Guatemala to study religious music in indigenous Maya com-munities, and developing a fierce repertoire of mariachi music. Most high-schoolers don’t get the chance to look beyond that carrot of pre-college requirements—to study what they are really curious about. That Thacher gave us the opportunity to investigate our deepest per-sonal interests at the time when we were in the crucible of forming our sense of self, of moral-ity, of personality, is a unique and invaluable characteristic of its curriculum, and probably saved me from ending up as a lawyer (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).

douglas land cdep 2008 urban planner

A couple of months ago I was interviewing for a job and found myself spending half of the meeting reiterating what I could remember of my Senior Ex. It’s something that comes up all the time when people ask about my back-ground and interests.

As a senior at Thacher I researched the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, studying the neoclassical architecture of the White City and how the fairgrounds influenced American urban planning in subsequent years. Intended to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Co-lumbus’ arrival in the New World, the Fair drew the attention of the entire nation as a symbol of American exceptionalism. After defeating New York, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. in a competition to host America’s World’s Fair, Chi-cago commissioned the nation’s most esteemed architects, like Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted, and Richard Morris Hunt, to design and construct a temporary city embodying classical notions of civilization (as at Athens and Rome). The extraordinary success of the Fair prompted a national movement to consider planning as an integral part of developing cities, shaping the trajectory of the American metrop-

Setting a Bearing Beyond the Senior Exhibition

for many Thacher alumni of the past couple of decades, the senior exhibition was more than a graduation requirement. in many cases, it helped them awaken, develop, and delve deeply into a passion. in some cases, this passion set them on a path they still follow. here are four such stories.



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seniors AnnA fleMing and JusTin Myles are working with ventura county to find new ways for Thacher to compost manure and thus create a useful by-product from what is otherwise part of the school’s waste stream.


20 fall 2012

olis throughout the 20th century. As the result of a bizarre coincidence, one

of the authors I cited on my Senior Ex, archi-tectural historian Joseph Siry, became my first-year advisor when I enrolled at Wesleyan University in the fall of 2008. Professor Siry and I borrowed from my interests in architec-ture and urbanism as a springboard for select-ing a few of my courses that year. It didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted to continue studying issues of urban economics, architec-ture, zoning, and how these shape cities today. So I majored in urban studies, and spent my junior year “abroad” at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation in New York and Paris. Out-side of school I tested different types of indus-try revolving around cities, too.

Two summers ago, I interned for an urban design think-tank in New York, which paved the way for my current position with HR&A Advisors, an urban planning consultancy whose projects include The High Line, Times Square, and LAX. Ostensibly I could have made the same curricular choices after Thacher without the Senior Ex under my belt, but it certainly gave me momentum.

amanda grumman cdep 2002 professional horse trainer

I knew I was going to learn to ride horses at Thacher because my sister Samantha did so two years prior. I didn’t expect that experi-ence to shape the rest of my life. When senior year came, my advisor Liz Reynolds Mahoney CdeP 1988 and I teamed up, with the help of the whole Horse Program, to introduce a long yearling named Chevy into my training. Up until that point, I had ridden older, more schooled horses with only a few exceptions. It was an absolutely amazing adventure that prepared me for the variety of horses I would ride in college and as a professional horse trainer over the last six years. After receiving my bachelor’s in equine business manage-ment, I’ve been fortunate to teach, ride, and train all types of riders and horses throughout Southern California, and I think about Chevy often to remember that my abilities then only give me more confidence to do it now. From a timid, skeptical freshman in high school to a professional training and showing the young and green horses now, I know that little bay colt with the pointy ears has a lot to do with it. I am so grateful to the instructors and coaches who took a chance on me a decade ago because when I go to work, smell the barn dirt, and

review the daily schedule, I know I can handle the young and green horses and riders in my program, and I love every minute of it.

ysette guevara cdep 1994scholar

I was fortunate to be one of the students during the pilot year for the Senior Exhibitions (1994) and was very glad for the experience. I don’t remember the exact title now, but under the guidance of Cecilia Ortiz, I studied the Mexican Revolution as it was depicted in lit-erature, film, and painting. This allowed me to give a multimedia presentation to the audience, which took some of the edge off the public speaking aspect of it!

After Thacher I went on to major in Latin American Studies in college, and then earned a PhD in Spanish & Portuguese Languages and Literatures. My dissertation research com-prised readings from history, political science, and philosophy.

On the most superficial level, you could draw a very direct line through the subject matter of my school work. What remains, however, even after having left academia, is a specific way of working, a specific line of thought: Whenever I face a question or problem, my first instinct is to collect evidence from different fields in order to draw connections between those findings. What presently consumes my mind as a youth development consultant is how we define adulthood, and how we prepare young people to make that transition to adulthood. In my research, brain science is as pertinent as an-thropology is as pertinent as the law. And in my workshops, a comic strip or film trailer might illuminate a point more efficiently than a short story or bildungsroman.



one idea cArolyn McMAhAn, director of the health center, likes to share is that of not spreading germs. here, she administers a flu shot in her ongoing efforts to keep the campus healthy.


00 fall 2012

his girls’ cross country team may have finished second in the state this fall, but what freD coleMAn is most passionate about is simply inspiring students (and anybody else) to develop a healthy, lifelong running habit.



if it’s happening in the sky (or falling from it) chris vyhnAl can tell you about it, along with the science behind it. his regular all-school e-mails spread a contagious passion for (among other things) as-tronomy and meteorology.


24 fall 2012

What Idea Animates You These Days and How Are You Sharing It With the World?

eight educators weigh in

nelson chase cdep 1966 Executive director of School Year Abroad

This year we are embarked on a fascinating research project to see if we can document how significant international educational experiences are transformative in nature. Stu-dents at our schools in Italy and Spain are par-ticipating in a project to see if we can measure their growth on three scales over the course of their year abroad—in creative thinking, intercultural development, and self-concept. We have reams of qualitative data from our alumni as to the transformative nature of the School Year Abroad experience; now we are looking to see if that can be backed up with quantitative data as well. We will be present-ing initial findings from our research at this year’s annual conference of the National Asso-ciation of Independent Schools, and we intend to report on final outcomes next year.

eric gross cdep 1985 Director of academic equity for a public school district

Somewhere along the line I developed a penchant for justice. Helping students to develop productive habits of mind such as curiosity, perseverance, and a growth mindset is important because it can free people from ignorance and dependence and lead them to become teachers and leaders in the cause of freedom and justice. That’s why I became a teacher, then a principal, and now the director of academic equity for a public school district. Academic equity is my job! I get paid to help teachers and principals help migrant children, English learners, and impoverished students learn how to learn. While we are far from having closed the achievement gap, we keep experimenting and learning together. The process is as fun as it is meaningful.

barry smith cdep 1961 CEO of the Rogosin Institute in New York City

We are applying lessons learned in diverse communities in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens in New York City to reduce the costs of chronic and end-stage kid-ney disease that, today, affects a total of 26 million Americans and costs us all $42 billion a year. With obesity, diabetes, and hyperten-sion being three major risk factors for such disease, there is great room for risk reduction, disease prevention, and early detection. These are activities in which individuals, families, and communities, alongside health profes-sionals (and nurses, in particular), can play a major role. Direct person-to-person encour-agement and education, public service an-nouncements, and broad use of social media are all essential to success. The educational programs must be culturally sensitive, diverse, and innovative. For example, two National Basketball Association players have helped us produce public service announcements to raise awareness about the roles of obesity, dia-betes, and hypertension in kidney disease.

richard scholz cdep 1965 Self-employed music teacher

I directed a small research project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that explored the question “What is health and where does it come from?” by asking people to draw us a map of the services, people, and information sources that are important to their health. This work has led to invitations to present at the Mayo Clinic, at the Califor-nia Health Care Foundation, and at several national conferences. I always include music and song in my presentations. I also collabo-rate with the choreographer Pam Kuntz, who creates performances that combine “ordinary civilians” and professional dancers. For a health-neighborhood-mapping performance, our “civilian performers” ranged in age from 8 to 87 and included a retired mayor who has lived with MS since his mid-20s, a county medical director, a hospice nurse, and an 18-year-old cancer survivor.

Jen de forest cdep 1985 Head of the Blue Oak School in Napa, California

I consider myself a classically progressive educator, and I am committed to spread-ing two big ideas about schooling. First, I believe that teachers should learn the art and science of education through doing, as apprentices in real schools working with real teachers. To spread this idea I co-founded the Progressive Education Laboratory, which has just launched its inaugural class of teaching fellows, and which won an Edward E. Ford Foundation Leadership Grant. Sec-ond, I want to combat the rise of scientism in American education which has culminated in a federalized testing system. We need to not only create more schools like Blue Oak, but to carefully study the ways we assess our students and our curricula, and make our findings public. I have advocated this idea by co-chairing a conference with a professor at New York University called “But Does It Work?,” which drew 300 participants from around the country. I have also authored a handful of articles on this subject.

carolyn blayney cdep 2003 Grants and fundraising manager, International Rescue Committee, Somalia

Work in the field of humanitarian aid re-quires constant research to update and evolve mechanisms for delivering assistance to pop-ulations affected or displaced by conflict. Dy-namics of world conflict are rapidly changing. Aid interventions have to be tailored to adapt not only to camps but also urban settings and global networks of resettled refugees. Programs must take into consideration these nuances in order to have the most impact. My Fulbright research and professional experi-ence in Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, and Somalia have focused on how modern aid solutions can meet new dimensions of humanitarian crisis with evolving funding mechanisms. To be effective as a humanitarian in diverse settings, and with a wide range of actors, I must com-municate through my action and diplomacy in the field. This requires clear and consis-tent communication with all actors involved, including donors, militias and military, host governments, and aid recipients.



orren fox ‘15 (holding Daisy schryver) has 32 chickens of his own, four ducks and 250,000 bees. recently he was invited to speak about his passion for raising these animals at the Dolectures conference in upland, california.

parker maccready cdep 1978 Professor in the school of oceanography at the University of Washington

I study the physics of ocean-water motion in coastal and estuarine regions. I look at how rapidly ocean water flows through estuaries and how deep water is brought to the surface at the coast. In both cases this circulation plays an important role in the growth of phytoplankton. As a working scientist I teach classes, mostly to graduate students, and write papers for scientific journals. Occasion-ally I also do outreach, such as giving a class for high school teachers or helping with a museum exhibit.

lawrence chickering cdep 1958 Founder and president of Educate Girls Globally We promote education for girls by promoting reform of government schools in developing countries, starting in India. Underlying our work is the following: That scale and sustain-ability of social change depend on promot-ing change in government institutions and policies; that the empowered poor can play an important role in promoting change; that an empowerment model that empowers all major stakeholders in government schools can operate at very large scales and very low costs, creating such value for the government that it will start to pay for the service—and may, eventually, pay for all of it; that the key to empowerment is sharing “ownership” of schools with all major stakeholders, includ-ing government, parents, teachers, girls, and even government bureaucrats; and that the empowered poor can become social entre-preneurs, creating extraordinary value even without pay. We have worked for more than a decade on the model, waiting until the con-cept was proven. That has happened over the past year, and we are now starting to commu-nicate through articles and talks.


26 fall 2012

a method to animal madness laurel braitman cdep 1996

Laurel Braitman aims to prove that music has charms to soothe the savage beast. A sci-ence historian and a 2012 TED fellow, Brait-man arranges concerts for zoo gorillas and other nonhuman audiences, on the theory that animals, like people, have different musical preferences. “My vision for the future is one in which we have a much more sophisticated un-derstanding of other animal personalities and individual tastes, and that includes music,” she told the BBC, which did a story about her work.

Braitman has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell and is a doctoral candidate at MIT. She currently lives in the San Francisco area while she finishes writing Animal Madness, a book about mental illness in nonhuman animals. She was led to the topic by her experience with Oliver, a Bernese mountain dog with a fragile psyche. “What really propelled the change was going to CVS to pick up Prozac for Oliver,” she told The New Yorker during an interview in 2011. (She’s also been interviewed by NPR for a story about why girls are fascinated by dol-phins, horses, and unicorns.)

The TED Fellows program “helps world-changing innovators from around the globe be-come part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities,” according to the TED website. As a 2012 fellow, Braitman attended the annual TED Conference in Long Beach. “It was a magical eight days,” she wrote on her

blog. “I am beyond grateful to the TED Fellows program for bringing me, for giving me and the animals a platform, and for throwing me into a community so vast and interesting that a week later I am homesick for something that three weeks ago I didn’t even know existed.”

accepting the unexpected offer dan klein cdep 1986

Think improv is merely a technique for ac-tors? You must have missed Dan Klein’s TEDx-Stanford talk. (Not to worry, you can catch it on YouTube.) Klein is a Stanford professor who teaches improvisation not only to drama majors but also to students studying business or design. As a consultant, he teaches improv to corporate executives. As a TEDx speaker, he teaches it to you, for free. “You are all improvis-ers,” he told his TEDxStanford listeners. “ … So in the next five minutes, I’m going to give you a crash course in how to recover, how to reclaim that improviser spirit, that best part of yourself where you can be creative, where you are ex-posed and open to good fortune, and where you can tap into that raw animal magnetism that comes from being alive and in the moment.”

Klein, who has a degree in cognition and creativity from Stanford, says people should be open to unexpected offers—from their friends, from themselves, and from the world.

“Everything is an offer,” he said in his TED talk. “Even, and especially, the mistakes.” Most

people wince when they make a mistake, but improvisers seize upon these miscues as op-

portunities. “Accept it, and see where it takes you,” Klein suggested.

The best-laid plans of mice and men may often go awry, but that can be a good thing if you improvise a useful response. “You have to accept the offers that the world gives you,” Klein says. “People who accept offers are re-warded by the adventures they go on.”

skid row edt ali arastu cdep 2004

A lot of students get the first hints of their vocations while attending Thacher, but Ali Arastu’s moment of revelation was unusually dramatic. “I’ve wanted to be a doctor since high school,” he said during his TEDxUSC talk in May 2012. “I remember being out in the high mountains and I was slammed with high-altitude pulmonary edema, and I was in a tent, couldn’t breathe, dying, and all of a sudden a chopper came and picked me up and took me to a hospital, and doctors gave me a second shot at life.” The experience inspired Arastu to make medicine his career, but it did not sour him on wilderness adventures. A couple of years ago, before beginning his medical school stud-ies, Arastu hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches from Mexico to Canada. Along the way, he took a detour that resulted in an epic misadventure in Los Angeles, which (long story short) ended with Arastu being befriended by a denizen of L.A.’s Skid Row district. “It was like a different kind of wilderness,” he said.

After finishing the Pacific Crest Trail and starting med school at the University of South-ern California, Arastu found himself returning to Skid Row regularly and befriending the peo-ple he found there. One of them, a man named Zane, later died in Arastu’s arms. Arastu could not save him, but perhaps he could save others. “Maybe all I could do was tell people Zane’s story,” he said. “Maybe all I could do was tell people that Skid Row exists. And that it doesn’t have to.”

Still a med student at USC, Arastu also has been named a 2012-2013 Albert Schweitzer fellow. His Schweitzer project involves taking inner-city kids on camping trips, to illustrate the connections between environmental and human health. “I know how powerful extend-ed trips into the wilderness can be to inspire lifestyle changes,” he said in an interview pub-lished on the Schweitzer Fellowship website.

TED-Talking Toads the thacher community participates in the ted talk phenomenon

Once upon a time, americans flocked to Chautauqua assemblies to hear inspir-ing lectures on intellectual subjects. nowadays they simply visit ted.com to watch videos of talks filmed at the annual ted conferences. founded in 1984 as

the technology, entertainment, and design Conference, ted over the years has broadened in scope and reach, to the point where the most popular talks generate millions of online views. The ted Conference is held in long Beach every spring; tedglobal is held each sum-mer in edinburgh, scotland. ted also has sponsored hundreds of independently planned tedx events in far-flung local communities. The ted idea is to give everyone access to “riv-eting talks by remarkable people,” some of whom turn out to be toads:

Laurel Braitman

Dan Klein

Ali Arastu



PHo

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ErE

As co-heads of spectrum, seniors PAul cresAnTA and MAeve Briggs are committed to creating a safe and welcoming place on campus for students to discuss matters of gender identity and sexual orientation.


28 FALL 2012

gatherings…

renewing friendships with classmatesand faculty, enjoying a multitude of activities and meals together, and experiencing the sights, sounds, and smells of casa de piedra once again...

Many thanks to everyone who attended—alumni, friends, faculty, family—for filling three days to the brim with joy, fun, and inspiration. We appreciate all the class representatives who reached out to class-mates, encouraging participation in the celebration, in person and through generous gifts to the Alumni Fund. Others took the lead facilitating seminars throughout Saturday, including: Don Yates CdeP 1952 on environmentally regenerative building and development; Jim Swinerton CdeP 1967 and Rich Look CdeP 1962 on slam poetry; Brad Yates CdeP 1982 on the Emotional Freedom Technique; and J.P Manoux CdeP 1987 with theater games. Over lunch, Marvin Shagam moderated a panel in the Study Hall, guiding a large audience and panelists (Hans Lind-gren CdeP 1962, John Lenczowski CdeP 1967, Tom Cole CdeP 1987, Guadalupe Nickell CdeP 1992, and David Gal CdeP 2002) through an animated discus-sion on U.S. foreign policy.

Jen Crittenden CdeP 1987 entertained through-out our traditional banquet as emcee, engaging everyone under the tent in recalling some of our finer and funnier moments at Thacher, from the 1940s through today. Alumni stepping up to the podium to offer stories, poetry, song, and toasts were: Brooke Sawyer CdeP 1942, Bill Weston CdeP 1947, Tom May CdeP 1952, John Stephenson CdeP 1957, Michael Milligan CdeP 1962, Chad Brown CdeP 1967, Bill Dawson CdeP 1972, Mark Granger CdeP 1977, Brian Kopperl CdeP 1982, Sydney Fish-er CdeP 1987, Jessica McLaren CdeP 1992, Brian Shaw CdeP 1997, Monique Gaskins CdeP 2002, and Claire Shaw CdeP 2007.

On Sunday morning, as last rides, hikes, games, and meals were relished, Mike Voevodsky CdeP 1982 guided a congregation through a process of remembering classmates who have impacted us and those who have passed on before us—with the dynamic view of the Ojai Valley behind him, home away from home.

Reunion Weekend, June 2012

CdeP 1942: 70th Reunion

J.P. Manoux CdeP 1987 leads “Yes, And...” Theater Games and Improv; Driscoll Robbins CdeP 1988 and begoggled son Cole; Emeritus faculty member David Koth with Henry Chaney CdeP 1972; Brooke Toeller Kathrein CdeP 2002.

124071-6_FL12GatheringsSHIP_EM_CX.indd 32 12/5/12 1:42 PM

Members of CdeP 1962 and their guests (top) enjoying their 50th Reunion Banquet under the tent on the Upper School Lawn. Adrian Hall, Sarah Perkins, Kate Kochendorfer Smith, and Dana Howbert (below), all CdeP 1997, catch up at Reunion.

A small group of alumni have been working on a permanent memorial to Jesse W. Kahle. Our goal is to rebuild and update Jesse’s Ring behind the Hunt Barn to

include an attached covered round pen, new fencing, lighting, sprin-kler system, cordless PA system, bleachers, and a covered instruc-tor’s/announcer’s stand. A bas-relief of Jesse and an appropriate inscription will be placed on the announcer’s stand. Once completed the “new” ring will be a valuable addition to the Horse Program and the School.

We have raised 25 percent of the necessary funds from a relative-ly small group of alumni, but recognize that there are more of you who might like to participate in this tribute to Jesse.

Due to the importance of the regular fund raising efforts of the School for the Annual Fund and other capital projects, etc., we encour-age you to contribute to the Jesse Kahle Memorial over and above what you would normally give to Thacher. Checks can be made out to The Thacher School with a memo to the Jesse W. Kahle Memorial.

Jesse was a wonderful teacher, friend, and role model for many of us during our years at Thacher. Improving the ring that he originally built will be a fitting tribute for Jesse and will show future genera-tions of Thacher students how much we appreciate and remember his influence on the many lives he touched.

—The Jesse W. Kahle Memorial Committee

MeMoRial foR Jesse W. kahle

reunion Class photos

CdeP 1942: 70th Reunion CdeP 1947: 65th Reunion

Reunion coverage continues on the next page»

124071-6_FL12GatheringsSHIP_EM.indd 33 12/5/12 12:17 AM

00 spring/summer 2007

CdeP 1972: 40th Reunion CdeP 1977: 35h Reunion

CdeP 1957: 55th ReunionCdeP 1952: 60th Reunion


Match faces with naMes: for larger, downloadable versions of these images and captions that identify each class member, visit www.thacher.org/magazine/fall201230 FALL 2012

124071-6_FL12GatheringsSHIP_EM_CX.indd 34 12/5/12 1:44 PM


CdeP 1970: 40th Reunion

CdeP 1982: 30h Reunion CdeP 1987: 25h Reunion



MATCH fACES wITH nAMES: for larger, downloadable versions of these images and captions that identify each class member, visit www.thacher.org/magazine/fall2012

124071-6_FL12GatheringsSHIP_EM.indd 35 12/5/12 12:17 AM

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BOB “SHOVEL” THOMAS reports, “First, a bit of history: In the class of 1940 there were four members who had been there for five years! Dick Bard, Herb Lyttle, Murray Smitheram, and Bob Thomas (better known as Shovel). Of the other three, my relationship was closest with Herb. He was sure that the funniest thing that happened in our five years was Head-master Morgan Barnes giving me my nickname regarding my signature, ‘It looks like Shovel to me!’ We shared our moment of fame when Life magazine came to a Gymkhana! Thacher vs. Cate—we won! My business career was with Chevron and, in 1961, I was working in Fresno and had Herb’s feedlot as a customer. Presently, Marion, my wife for 69 years, and I live in a very fine retirement complex in Bellevue, Wash. The only change in our lifestyle is that we are no longer snowbirds as we sold our Palm Desert house this year.”

ROY D. HOLLAND writes, “In the fall of 2011, Jackie and I sold our last RV, ending 25 years of the nomadic lifestyle that we loved. During those years we logged a total of 185,000 miles and worked in or visited 39 states and 10 Canadian provinces and territories, including two trips to Alaska. Before we settled in South Dakota, we were full-time RVers for five years. We enjoyed having the same bed to sleep in wherever we were parked, but we finally faced up to the fact that we had better get off the highways before we create a problem for someone else!”

TONY ARNOLD shares, “When you live at the same address for 32 years, and each of you is a pack rat at heart, that really comes to 64 years of accumulated things. We seldom threw away anything but, fortunately, I had an awakening and became a flinger, not a clinger. Ruth has not yet entirely adopted the new mindset. This parting of the views might have become a crisis for our marriage if we had not decided to move into a local retirement community whose advan-tages now mostly make up for the pain of parting with pos-sessions. Our four children (all CdeP) were a great help in siphoning into their own homes some of our hoarded heir-looms. Goodwill and the Salvation Army also contributed open arms, and, if we still have about 10 cubic yards more than this apartment’s capacity to handle, at least we have made notable inroads. What led to this revolutionary turn of events was my sudden aging, thanks to medical problems that required some drastic knife-work on my innards, some 20 pounds of which were carved away. There have been some negative consequences, but on the plus side I now have better dimensions.”

1940

1943

1946

class notes…

ALEXANDER VAN DYKE reports, “My youngest son, Todd Jones, M.D., was married to Jennie Poste, M.D., on the island of Ischia, Italy, at the beautiful Soccorso Church on Sep-tember 12. Todd plans to go into pediatric or cardiothoracic surgery and Jennie plans to take a fellowship in endocrinol-ogy. Transportation was provided to many of the wedding participants courtesy of my second son, Major Scott Jones USAF, who is a Delta pilot. My second daughter, Beth, a newly minted BSN from Duke University, had to stay home to work on the Duke oncology floor. Beth plans on working towards a degree in nurse anesthesiology. My wife, Penelo-pe, passed away in 2005.”

JOHN JACK MILLER III writes, “I now live a benign life on a two-acre hillside raising veggies, flowers, and fruit, after hav-ing surgery for a benign lung tumor and benign meningioma, which is still present and growing slowly under medical therapy. My full-time career in pediatric rheumatology, as a professor at Stanford, ended 15 years ago, but was followed by full-time consultation posts in London and Mexico City, and a part-time outreach clinic for Stanford in Santa Cruz. In my most active years I was an invited speaker or media-tor at meetings in Bergen, Helsinki (where I had an evening with classmate BERTEL EKMAN), Paris, Pavia, Prague (during communist and post-communist eras!), Manila, Malaysia, Sin-gapore, Sydney, and Warsaw. I have an award from a five-year USA Pediatric Rheumatology meeting and have been named a ‘Master’ by the American College of Rheumatology. So I am happy with Thacher getting me into college!”

JOHN P. CARVER reports, “Spent a delightful week in a moun-tain cabin near Lake Casitas in late May. Babbling brook, tons of birds and toads and frogs, and seclusion! Oldest son owns a 2.75 acre ‘spread’ in Ojai with 4 goats, 12 chickens, dogs, cats, and numerous coyotes who wish to feed on the livestock. Oh yes, also one wife and two children. I am working in conjunc-tion with LEE FOLLETT on an elaborate mailer inviting all of you 53’s to celebrate our 60th anniversary next June 13-16. Su Nido Inn, Patton’s Cabin adventure, and brief speeches!”

ALAN H. GALLAWAY shares, “I’ve had my 48-foot trawler in Aruba for a little over a year now and I like it there. I go back three to four times a year. There’s a nice tennis club where I get a chance to hit some balls, and I’m getting revved up to play in a couple of 75-and-over tournaments next year. I just won the area Toastmasters’ humorous speech contest and will compete in the Division in October. My speech is titled The Candidate and I announce my candidacy for president of the U.S. and why I’m more qualified than both Romney and Obama.”

* INDICATES REUNION YEAR ^CORRESPONDING PHOTO ABOVE

32 FALL 2012

1946

1951

1953

1955

Read and submit class notes online at blogs.thacher.org/classnotes

124071-7_FL12ClassnotesSHIP_EM.indd 2 12/5/12 12:20 AM


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WILL H. STRONG writes, “Linda and I moved to Charlotte in 1989. The golfers in our class will know that the Carolinas are the golfing Mecca of our country with courses such as Pinehurst, Hilton Head, Kiawah Island, and Sea Island. Over in the mountains of western North Carolina lie some of the most brutal, but fun, mountaintop golf courses in the country. Playing golf twice a week is about the max I can do, then I get tired of the game. So, after nearly 40 years in the arena, to fill in the rest of my time, I have become a visiting lecturer on international management at the University of North Carolina Graduate School of Business. I am now in negotiations with Wake Forest to do the same thing at their graduate school, and I am volunteering here in Charlotte as a consultant for SCORE, an offshoot of the Small Business Administration, to assist entrepreneurs to start and grow new businesses. To top it all off, I am teaching a Spanish course at the Latin American Coalition to immigrants who want to start their own busi-nesses. Linda, whose accomplishment I am speechless about, read an article in the Charlotte Observer about taking on new careers. She did what I call an Albert Schweitzer. Linda entered nursing school at the age of 50, became an RN and spent 15 years as a surgical nurse at Carolinas Medical Center. Linda retired at 65, and I gave her a giant retirement party. I think the entire staff of the hospital came, including surgeons; at least it felt like it when I got the bill!”

ERNO R. BONEBAKKER announces, “Celebrated my 70th birthday with a family climb of Mount Katahdin. Six of us went the distance including son, Bear, daughter, Annie, and her 9-year-old son, Charlie. Victoria and 7-year-old Henry went halfway but turned back after he did a face plant on the rocks. A great experience for all!”

MARK C. LAMBERT reports, “We still adore living in the Hollywood Hills, enjoying lots of the ‘Equity Exempt’ theater available here in Los Angeles. Great talent abounds! I am still covering a couple of nephrology practices one or two week-ends a month at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and loving it... too exciting to give it up yet.”

STEPHEN GRIGGS writes, “My wife Trish and I sold our house in New Jersey in June and have been living in our cabin in the Berkshires since then. Our 23rd soccer camp season went well and one of our campers was Charlie El-more, son of former faculty members Toby and Amy. Toby is the new soccer coach at Hotchkiss and I’ve spent a little time coaching with him this fall. We are staying east and will close on a house in Guilford, Conn., where we previously lived before I left my coaching position at Yale.”

1958

1960

1961

1963

MIlestones

Photos (L to R): Kelly H. Clark ‘44 and his wife, Priscilla, with Head of School Michael Mulligan; Chad Brown ‘67 with his two sons, two daughters-in-law, two daugh-ters (adopted from China), and five grand-children; Greg Bard ‘68, Trav Newton ‘68, Edgardo Catalan, Joanna Bard Newton, and Dan McGilvray ‘68 at Joanna’s home on the 4th of July; Josh Rosenblatt ‘76, father of the bride, Sarah, and family; Kevin Flynn ‘78 fishing in Baja

engageMents

REBECCA A. BOWMAN ’84 is engaged to marry James Griffing in the spring of 2013.

MEREDITH BRESSIE ’94 is engaged to marry Marc Herrenbruck at the end of October. (photo 1)

CLAY PELL ’00 and Michelle Kwan became engaged on September 3 on Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island.

MarrIages

JEFF A. MASON ’63 married Jane Drew on New Year’s Day 2012! Jeff and Jane enjoyed over 40 trips during their five years together before his passing in August (see obituaries). (photo 2)

DICK C. LIVERMORE ’64 married Cynthia Snorf on April 28, 2012, at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco! Toads in attendance were JOHN LIVERMORE

’35, PETE JANSS ’64, NORI LIVERMORE ’66, SAM LIVERMORE ’69, DAVID LIVERMORE ’73, ROB LIVERMORE

’79, SARA LIVERMORE ’79, WHITNEY LIVERMORE ’04, and OLIVIER DOMERGUE ’13. (photo 3)

PAUL A. MANNING ’79 and Amy Sherboure were married on September 8, 2012, at the Saint Francis Chapel in the mountains at Fallen Leaf Lake, Calif. In attendance at the small ceremony were a few Thacher classmates: BRUCE KRILL

’79, LARRY BOSCHE ’79, and Emma Willard exchange student RENA ZERN FULWIELER ’78. Paul and Amy spent their honeymoon in Yosemite and are now living in Mill Valley, Calif. (photo 4)

1

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class notes…

Lawrence) two days later. Kate (Emma Willard ‘76) and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in June and then we celebrated the wedding of Sarah to Joseph Flaherty on August 4 at our house in Easthampton, Mass. I still work for IBM from home and Kate is just about to start her dream job managing the museum shop at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield. Life is good.”

KEVIN P. FLYNN^ notes, “Went fishing in Baja recently and I could not help but remember the great camping trips in Mexico with Mr. Shagam. Eating lobster but roughing it at the same time was a great experience for a smut!”

JOHN W. DAVIES^ took 4-year-old Markus to Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh during Russian May holidays. Then in June, Markus had his first-ever visit to California to meet his Ameri-can family.

JAKE B. CUNNINGHAM’S^ brewery, Chatham Brewing, won the Matthew Vassar Cup for being judged the Best Craft Brewery in the Hudson Valley. WENDI HAGGARD NITSCHMANN describes, “This summer was quite event-ful. In June, I finished the first draft of my book, The Long Engagement. Then I was able to relax and celebrate my hus-band’s 50th birthday. We rented a chateau in the Loire Val-ley of France for two weeks in July, and invited friends and family to join us. It was fabulous. The pièce de résistance was the murder mystery dinner I hosted on his birthday: ‘A Medieval Murder.’ Our guests were assigned parts and then had to act out the story. It was loads of fun and very enter-taining! After that, we spent two weeks in Rolle, Switzerland, on Lake Geneva, close to where my husband went to board-ing school. We had my two youngest and his two youngest children with us there. Now I am busy editing my book and working on my blog (www.beduwen.com), which allows me to write randomly, but still write! I hope some of my old Toad friends will stop by!”

REBECCA A. BOWMAN^ shares, “After 18 years at sea as a cruise ship entertainer, I am now settled in the Bay Area, where I was fortunate to take over a small, but busy, home-staging business, www.sorellastaging.com, which I love! In my spare time, I sing in a non-denominational choir in San Fran-cisco, am learning guitar, and take ballet a few times a week. Apparently, that entertainer blood has not left me completely! I am also recently engaged to the handsome and talented James Griffing, and looking forward to an intimate wedding party next spring. Life is a constant surprise! Hoping to see all of you at the next reunion!” DAVID K. CHAO^ writes, “I had 36 hours to kill between an appointment in Japan and France. So, I went to Jerusalem and looked up an old Thacher

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1974

1976

34 FALL 2012

CHAD E. BROWN^ shares, “My mother, still alive at age 92, has sponsored an annual family reunion at Smoke Tree Ranch in Palm Springs. This photo, from the 23rd such reunion this spring, features my two sons, two daughters-in-law, two daughters (adopted from China), and five grandchildren. I feel very blessed. Looking forward to our 45th at CdeP in June.”

TRAVERS NEWTON, JR.^ enjoyed visiting with GREG BARD, DON MCGILVRAY III, and former Thacher teacher Edgardo Cat-alan at the home of Trav’s mother, Joanna Bard Newton. Trav’s grandfather, Richard Bard, was the first President of the Board of Trustees of Thacher, and his grandmother donated the Bard Field. Trav hopes to bring his mom to Thacher soon to see the field for the first time.

NEAL HOWE writes, “This school year, my wife, Patricia, and I are serving as the Parent Association representatives on the School’s Board of Trustees. We are in this role, in part, because our daughter is a senior and, in part, because of the remarkable record of service and support that the class of ‘69 has demon-strated over many, many years. Who would have guessed? Patri-cia and I will miss seeing the School as often as we have the past three years but we hope to see you if you’re in Sacramento or at the next reunion.”

BILL B. LOGAN III was named a True Professional of Arboricul-ture for 2012 by the International Society of Arboriculture. Bill enjoys running his Brooklyn tree-care firm, Urban Arborists, and he especially appreciates the challenges of keeping historic trees in New York alive.

JOHN AARON’S book, Romancing the Smoke, was published this summer (see page 9). John says, “I battled nicotine addic-tion for almost 40 years, trying everything to quit. Then I wrote a book about it. It worked. Romancing the Smoke highlights the absurdity of tobacco; and it may help a smoker find the trail out of Nicotine Canyon.”

BRYAN N. BECKHAM writes, “I attended the recent Thacher gathering held at the spectacular New York Botanical Garden. Stayed with fellow classmate LANCE IGNON and his family: Judit (wife), Lili (11), and Sophie (9). Lance and family just moved to NYC for work. Action-packed weekend, including dinner with Emma Willard exchange student PHOEBE COLLINS. Hoping to see more of the 1974 classmates at future events. These events are always a great way to get the most recent pulse on the School and catch up with old and dear friends.”

JOSH C. ROSENBLATT^ reports, “It’s been a big year for us. Sarah, our eldest, finished graduate school (Columbia) in May followed by her younger sister, Ali, finishing undergrad (Sarah

class notes…

1978

1982

1983

1984


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classmate, MENASHE BLEIWEISS. He is now a respected rabbi and has a wonderful family of 10. It was great to see him and makes me realize the definition of happiness and satisfaction is ever relative.”

This summer ERIC GROSS reported, “I just finished my first year as Director of Academic Equity and Categorical Programs for Santa Cruz City Schools after six years as a principal. I’m now heading for Cancun for a few weeks to relax before I return to my work with migrant students, English learners, and students living below the poverty line. I recently saw RODD KELSEY in Sacramento. He doesn’t like to brag so I will: Dr. Kelsey is now leading the research division of the National Audubon Society for the Pacific Flyway.” MELISSA JENSEN WILLIAMS^ broadcasts, “Just moved to Ireland with the family for some amount of time—between a year and forever. Anyone have plans to be passing through Dublin?”

CHRIS G. DIENER notes, “Our oldest child (of five), Abbey, was accepted to MIT and just started as a freshman there in August. Our next oldest, Jonathan, turned 16 two weeks after Abbey left and started driving her car. Now, of course, it’s ‘Jon’s car.’”

BRIAN E. GREENE^ reports, “I married my Nepalese sweet-heart a few years back in Ojai with a number of Thacher alumni in attendance. Made it a combination-of-cultures type of event including Nepalese dance—we enjoyed it. Now, my wife Rosi, our families, and I are overjoyed to share that on May 12, 2012, we welcomed our new love and the youngest Greene, Samirah Isabella Shrestha Greene. My sis-ter, DAYNA GREENE ‘85, came out for our daughter’s Chati (sixth-day ceremony to ‘pen a newborn’s destiny’). Next big event is sixth-month rice feeding.” JEFF A. MENASHE^ reached the 22,841-foot summit of Aconcagua in Argentina on December 31, 2011. MARIELLE C. WARREN and her dad, former Thacher teacher, Chuck Warren, hiked 170 miles of the John Muir Trail over 12 days and finished by greeting the class of 2016 at Golden Trout (see photo page 35).

DANNY A. SONENSHINE was named one of OC Metro’s 2012 “40 Under 40.” After six years of corporate law, Danny switched gears and opened his first restaurant in 2005 and now owns 19 Wingstop franchises. (Go to blogs.thacher.org/classnotes for the full article.)

MEREDITH A. BRESSIE announces, “This is quite the year! Marc and I are engaged to be married at the end of October at Meadowood in St. Helena, Calif., and then we are off to Rome for the honeymoon. We look forward to all of our up-coming adventures—renovating houses in the area together


Photos (L to R): John Davies ‘82 and son, Markus; Jake Cunningham ‘83 2nd from the left; Rebecca Bowman

‘84 and fiancé, James Griffing; 1984 classmates Menashe Bleiweiss and David Chao in Israel; Melissa Jensen Williams ‘85 with her children; Brian Greene ‘89 with wife, Rosi, and daughter, Samirah, at the Grand Canyon; Jeff Menashe ‘89 on Aconcagua in Argentina

1985

1986

1989

1991

1994

MIlestones

ANNIE JACK ’95 married Travis Riddell in Jackson Hole, Wyo. on July 28, 2012, in the company of many beloved Toads, including EMILY WILSON ’95, DAVID MCCLOSKEY ’96, ANTONIA FAIRBANKS SIVYER ’95, MEGHAN JEANS ’93, KACEY PERKINS TIFT ’95, WILSON RENIERS

’95, RAMSAY PALMER ’95, and ABIGAIL JOHNSON CANNON ’95. (photo 5)

SHAUNA NYBORG ’99 married Seth Weisburst on July 14, 2012, in Mendocino, Calif. Celebrating with them were many CdeP 1999 ladies: JAMIL ABOU-SAMRA, SHANNON HASTINGS BAKER, SARAH BRUSS GABRIELSON, KATIE ISAACSON HAMES, EVAN KANALY HERBERTS, CLAIRE KENDRICK, ERIN HOPPIN LEE, KIM CAHILL PETERSON, SARAH SAWYER, and ANNIE NYBORG ’00. (photo 6)

ANTHEA TJUANAKIS COX ’01 and Ian Cox celebrated their wedding for a second time on July 7, 2012, in her father’s village of Kato Zakros on Crete. Among the family and friends who traveled from the States to participate in the traditional Greek ceremony were DARREN BECHTEL

’00 and Katharine and Goodwin Harding (parents of JOHANNA HARDING ORTIS

’91, MEGAN HARDING DEBOER ’93, and SEAN HARDING ’98). (photo 7)

CLAIRE C. MILLIGAN ’02 and Jessica North were married with a symbolic ceremony on May 12, 2012, in Santa Barbara with family and friends and they made it legal in New York City on May 24. Standing up for Claire were matron of honor LUCY MILLIGAN WAHL ’00, bridesmaid STEPHANIE HUBBARD MCGIRT ’02, and “bridesman” DAVID GAL ’02. New York witnesses were Lucy, Andrew, Gretchen, and MARSHALL MILLIGAN ’69. (photo 8)

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class notes…

and, hopefully, having kids soon to keep life from becoming dull! Know that I think of you guys a lot and hope you are all well. Can’t wait to see you at the next reunion.” KATIE KIRKMIRE VINING^ ran in the 2012 Boston Marathon in April, while four and a half months pregnant! JENNIFER L. KRITZ reports, “My new job is going well! I’m now Deputy Director of Public Relations for Tufts University, with respon-sibility for the university’s Health Sciences campus in Boston, which includes Tufts University School of Medicine, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Tufts is a wonderful community, and I am really enjoying my new role.”

ANNIE JACK RIDDELL^ and Travis Riddell were married in July and are happily living in Jackson Hole, where Annie runs a nonprofit consultancy and Travis is a pediatrician. They have one “daughter,” a Bernese Mountain Dog called Birch.

ALEXIA ALLEN shares, “I’m running Hawthorn Farm, a small diversified permaculture farm near Seattle. I grow much of what I eat and, with two full-time farm apprentices, plan to take the local farmers’ market by storm next year. Now I just wish I had a useful job for my horse and pony, besides producing compost. I host a monthly pizza party with the wood-fired oven in the backyard when I am not traveling on adventures or teaching about birds and natural history. Those who remember my teenaged veganism might be surprised to know that I am locally famous for raising and butchering chickens. The best poultry you can eat, in my opinion!” JOANNA MACKIE shares, “We are looking forward to spend-ing this academic year, 2012-2013, in Zurich, Switzerland, for Kevin’s sabbatical. It’s hard to believe our daughter, Eva, will turn three while we are there. We will also introduce Eva to her two great-grandmothers and many extended family members in South Africa during the holiday season.”

J.R. VALENZUELA^ reports, “At the beginning of August, I revisited the Eastern Sierras for the first time since working a summer at Golden Trout Camp after my junior year at Thacher. Traveled through Evolution Valley and the Ionian Basin in Kings Canyon National Park and had memories of freshman year Homer as I was surrounded by Charybdis Mountain, Scylla, and the Three Sirens. Had rain and hail every day, exquisite lightning displays, and the simple pleasure of being off-trail with com-pass and paper USGS maps. Unfortunately, on the way back, I couldn’t find the all-you-can-eat taco buffet in Lone Pine that I had dreamed about for a few nights before. Selah.”

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IN JUNE, I WAS ASKED TO PREPARE BACKGROUND MATERIAL FOR a course providing Wyoming K-12 teachers with the tools to expand their energy curriculum, with particular relevance to the local energy economy in their part of the state. Wyoming is arguably the preeminent energy state in the nation, with our economy, politics, and even demographics tightly interwoven with the energy business. Yet the majority of the population does not understand how energy works: how coal is mined, where natural gas goes, how uranium is refined, why wind power is limited by electricity transmission. My work with this course inspired me to envision a book modeled after the popular Roadside Geology series, to be named Roadside Energy of Wyoming. The idea is to take everyday expressions of energy development along Wyoming’s state highways (pumpjacks, drill rigs, wind turbines) and use this surface infrastructure to explain how energy works in the state. The book is intended to be informative in a fun way: taking mundane driving along our often-barren expanses, and linking it to the energy found in underground reservoirs, in surface rivers and lakes, and even in the wind that noticeably reduces your miles per gallon as you drive west.

The publisher of Roadside Geology is interested in the project, so I am working to secure funding for the necessary travel and background research. My intention for this book is to inspire curiosity and build an informed citizenship of the state and the country.

an Idea Worth sharIng FROM SARAH KONRAD CDEP 1985 OF LARAMIE, WYOMING

Sarah works for the Department of Renewable Resources at the

University of Wyoming.



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EPhotos (L to R): Katie Kirkmire Vining ‘94, with Gary Clancy, at the Boston Marathon Exhibition; Annie Jack Riddell ‘95 and Travis depart from their wedding; J.R. Valenzuela ‘97 had rain and hail everyday while in the eastern Sierras!; CdeP 1999 at Mollie Gardner’s ‘99 wedding: L to R, Julian Quasha, Katie Russell, Eliza Gregory, Brooke MacDonald Moorhead, Kim Cahill Peterson, Evan Kanaly Herberts, and Sarah Sawyer; Lauren Fiske ‘04 with husband, Johnny Bubb

CHRISTIAN “KIP” DONATH is Assistant Professor of Politi-cal Science at the American University in Cairo. He divides his time between California and Egypt.

SURIYA JAYANTI is “happy to report that I have joined the U.S. Foreign Service. I was living in Brussels, but now I’m currently back in Washington for diplomatic and Arabic training. I’ve been assigned to our embassy in Kuwait to serve as a Political Officer starting in March 2013. If you find yourselves in any of these three cities, look me up! SARAH G. MORROW^ writes, “I completed my master’s degree in Integrative Health Studies and recently became the Business Development Director at GCC, an Australia-based global corporate wellness company. I’m living in San Francisco and still playing soccer! Also, I’m including a photo from MOLLIE GARDNER’S ‘99 July 7 wedding in Sonoma, Calif. There was an entire Thacher crew there!”

BETSY H. BRADFORD shares, “So great to see everyone at reunion and at Claire Milligan’s wedding in May!! Can’t be-lieve it’s been another five years! I graduated from Stanford Business School this year (same ceremony as ROB BRAY for his PhD) and am currently learning Spanish and traveling all across South America—looking forward to spending No-vember in Buenos Aires with LAURA NEVILLE! I’ll be back in San Francisco in January, working for Bain again and hope to see more Toads then.” BRYAN A. THOMPSON says,

“Hello, brief update: I’m still an Oakland Police Dispatcher (two years) and I started an admiralty litigation consulting practice, ‘American Admiralty Litigation Consultants.’ I’m currently attending Golden Gate University School of Law—class of 2014!”

CARA L. BONEWITZ started working at Christie’s in the spring as the Gallery Design Coordinator! LAUREN E. FISKE^ announces, “This summer I married Johnny Bubb, who I met through Northwestern University. It wouldn’t have been a celebration without my Thacher friends, so I’m especially grateful that many of them were able to come! Johnny and I are living in Chicago, where I am currently in my second year of medical school at UIC. In addition to the medical school curriculum, I am working with two of my classmates to expand health-education programming, HIV testing, and social support for women at an HIV/AIDS clinic in Humboldt Park. The population served by the clinic is largely Puerto Rican, so I am using my Spanish frequently!” MICHAEL J. QUINTANA writes, “Hi there. Thank you to everyone in the Thacher community for welcoming me and the group I perform with, Light Wire Theater, to the School to share one of our shows with y’all. It was a memorable and magical experience. We have taken our show to some amaz-

MIlestones

WHITNEY SNYDER ’03 married her best friend and love of her life, Adam Bystran, on September 15, 2012, in Keene, N.Y. In addition to friends and family, Toads in attendance were JACKIE FISKE ’03, MARY LEIGHTON ’03, EMILY NATHAN

’03, MEGAN BOSWELL ’05, and JOHN BOSWELL ’70. (photo 9)

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BRIAN GREENE ’89 and Rosi welcomed Samirah Isabella Shrestha Greene on May 12, 2012. Seen here with her aunt DAYNA GREENE ’85.(photo 1)

BRIAN C. EMME ’92 and Lisa welcomed their second child, Isabel Jane, on September 22, 2012. “Big brother Jake is excited to have a little sister!” (photo 2)

JUSTIN STEPHENS ’94 and Seana announce the birth of their son, Beckett Shanstrom Stephens, on May 29, 2012. “Healthy!” (photo 3)

JENNIFER RIESSEN RICKARD ’96 and John are thrilled to announce the arrival of their son, John Treloar Rickard IV, on June 30, 2012, in Palo Alto, Calif. “He is a very happy baby and big sister Riesse adores him.” (photo 4)

BETSY GREENWAY CARNEY ’97 and Brian welcomed Grace Greenway Carney to the family on September 19, 2012. She joins big sister, Laudie, and big brother, James. “Lots of tadpoles here in Richmond, Va.”

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38 FALL 2012

class notes…Photos (L to R): Ned Lederer ‘05 measuring handicapped kids for wheelchairs; Alex Simon ‘09 directed Como Estabamos starring Drew Connick ‘09; Middlebury Toads: Nick Orr ‘10, Max Hoffman ‘10, Alex Macmillan

‘10, Sebastian Schell ‘10, and Ian Bearden ’12

ing places in this world and recently we took the show to a stage that has never been available to us previously—televi-sion! Light Wire Theater auditioned for America’s Got Talent and I was with them. If you could, please spread the word and keep watching!!” (Go to blogs.thacher.org/classnotes to watch their audition.) WARD C. SORRICK has recently made a big career transition; he moved from store manager at AT&T to account manager for an online video production and marketing company in San Francisco called RockBridge Productions. He is also working as producer on four in-dependent feature films under a company he co-founded called Electrum Films. You may catch him visiting and work-ing in Los Angeles when he is not running around northern California with a film crew! He wishes the best to his fellow Toads and offers his place in SOMA to anyone visiting the Bay Area. Or contact him to rendezvous for food!

NED F. LEDERER^ is working in Khovd, Mongolia, a town of around 30,000 that is considered the seat of civilization for about 1,000 miles in any direction.

DACKORY A. HILL shares, “This August, I started my new position as College Preparation Coach with a nonprofit in St. Louis called College Bound, an AmeriCorps program. I’ll be assisting high school students through the college process, preparing to take the ACT, finalizing college lists, complet-ing applications, filling out FAFSA applications, and reading financial aid award letters. I have a newfound appreciation for all of the hard work that Mrs. Morales-Kent and Mrs. Meyer put into each class, ensuring that each student attends the best-fit school. In May, I received my Master’s of Public Policy Administration from University of Missouri-St. Louis and, once this service year is over with College Bound, I plan to take the next step towards becoming a certified teacher, specifically math. (Shout-out to Wales and Hancock!) It’s been a year of development for me, finishing school, starting a new job, get-ting baptized, but I think I will be able to handle it all very well. Can’t wait until the next reunion so I can see BILLY IRWIN’s new baby, but by then the baby will be four and talking!”

ANNA M. REESER details, “After graduating from Berkeley and then working for a year with MORGAN SMITH ‘85 and SARAH LAVENDER SMITH ‘86 at Morgan’s litigation graphics firm, I am now on a six-month adventure in South America. My boyfriend, CJ, and I arrived in Colombia in September, where we are currently volunteering at ProAves’ El Dorado Bird Reserve in the Santa Marta Mountains. We see a different species of bird every day and help with re-search on the rare Santa Marta red-crested tree rat. I am learning to do field biology and to speak Spanish, as well as hiking, writing, and drawing in the downtime. In Novem-ber, we will fly to Brazil and spend time in Rio, possibly the

Pantanal, and Sao Paolo. We plan to travel to Buenos Aires and through Argentina in December, then cross into Chile via Patagonia, where we will trek for a while. We’ll continue traveling in Chile through February. The plan is open-ended; so if any fellow alums have recommendations for places to visit, trek, or volunteer on that general route, please let me know!” MARK O. WOLCOTT writes, “I moved to San Diego in August, drawn by warmer weather and a change of scene— apparently the wrong direction since so many of you are moving to the Bay Area. It was amazing catching up with you all at reunion, and I hope to see more of you (and other fellow alums) in the next few years. Give me a call/Facebook message if you’re ever in town!”

KRISTEN R. FINDLEY posted a school record at the 2012 Vanderbilt Invitational in the 1500 meter with a time of 4:17.45 moving her from 69th in the nation to 5th. Congrats, Kristen! ALEX L. SIMON^ wrote and directed a short film starring DREW CONNICK that they filmed in Barcelona, Spain, this summer. Como Estábamos is about a bipolar man and his serendipitous friendship with an older foreign woman and will be finished by December. Filming was made possible by funding from the Chappell Lougee grant. After completion, they will submit the film to several film festivals and hope for the best!

KYLE L. MONTES and ROBBIE S. YEAGLE hiked the John Muir Trail in its entirety this past summer!

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• Shoot using your camera’s best photo setting.• Files should be 200KB or larger.• Save photos as JPEG files.• Identify every person in the photo, state time and place, and suggest a caption.

We can accept good, old-fashioned prints as well. Unfortunately, we cannot accept photocopiesor images from magazines or newspapers.

TWO WAYS TO SUBMIT PHOTOS:

1. e-mail digital files as attachments to [email protected].

2. Mail prints or digital discs to: The Thacher School Alumni Office 5025 Thacher Road, Ojai, CA 93023

How to Submit Digital PHotoS:



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faculty, staff & frIends…

Three new FaculTy chairs were awarded To a Trio oF deserving faculty members during this fall’s Trustee weekend. The Jerome h. Berenson Faculty incentive chair, established in 1986 as part of the centennial cam-paign, was awarded to history teacher DR. SARAH DELVECCHIO. The Philip Bard cdeP 1917 great Teacher chair in science, which supports the salary of

a teacher who has been selected by the head of school, was awarded to science department chair DR. CHRIS VYHNAL. Finally, the Bonnie Moon robinson chair—established to recog-nize Bonnie’s 30 years of outstanding leadership of the faculty and superb teaching—was given to english teacher JOY SAWYER MULLIGAN.

at another assembly this autumn, dorm head and latin teacher AARON

SNYDER brought 2-year-old son gavin to the stage to announce that he’s go-ing to be a big brother...to twins! double the excitement, especially if the birth results in two “holidays!” says proud mother-to-be, math teacher THEANA HANCOCK SNYDER. a precedent will have been set in november for a double holiday: associate director of admission RICH HARRIS and his wife, ebele okobi, welcomed twins to their family just before Thanksgiving.

history teacher MIKE MCGOWAN, his wife, susannah, and their two children led a dozen Thacher students on a month-long trip to spain over the summer. Beyond honing their language skills, especially during their three-week homestays in sanlucar, students also visited cordoba, Madrid, Toledo, seville, and the escorial.

Back in May, english riding and fine arts instructor ELIZABETH REYNOLDS MAHONEY ‘88 and her husband Bert loaded their three sons into a van and drove to st. george, utah, to cheer on liz as she participated in a full-distance triathlon: 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run. Between four-foot waves and 40-mph headwinds, it’s a wonder she could stay on course. But she did, and completed this grueling ironman, something 30 percent of the competitors couldn’t say. The one she completed in sonoma over the sum-mer was a cakewalk in comparison.

senior associate director of admission AARON MIESZCZANSKI completed his master’s in independent school leadership at the university of Pennsylvania over the summer. academic secretary and assistant to the dean of students and assistant head of school MARY LONEY did not return to grove city, Penn-sylvania, after all. she planned to care for her ailing father, but he passed away unexpectedly just before she left california, allowing her to stay at Thacher.

on June 12, librarian JENNIFER FINLEY married gerrard Mcgill at the san-ta Barbara courthouse’s sunken garden. after honeymooning in Mexico, the newlyweds returned to live in the late potter otto heino’s home and studio on Mcandrew road. and former Thacher librarian, now assistant professor/librarian at santa Barbara city college ELIZABETH BOWMAN, was one of six recipients of that institution’s 2012-13 Faculty excellence award.

Faculty member emeritus CHUCK WARREN met up with daughter MARIELLE ‘89 to hike the John Muir Trail into golden Trout to greet the class of 2016 during Fall extra-day Trips. chuck writes, “it only rained a total of 1.5 hours during our 12-day, 170-mile trip. Twenty-two years ago in June, Marielle and i did the re-verse trip, starting from gTc, in seven days. of course, in June we were able to glissade down the passes.”

english teacher BO MANSON and his wife, Julie, began their sabbatical by spending six weeks in the italian province of liguria (near genoa) in the village of ruta di camogli. They filled their days by hiking the hills and promontories of the Parco di Portofino, swimming in the Mediterranean off the rocky coast of the italian riviera, and dining on fresh, organic foods from the regional farmers markets. They also traveled to Tuscany and Pug-lia (italy’s heel). They wound up their european travels with a week in ireland, where Bo served as a w.B. yeats scholar at the university of limerick. while there, they visited sligo, hiked the wind-swept irish coast, and saw the 4,500-year-old burial mound of Queen Maeve.

Chuck Warren and daughter Marielle ‘89 on Forester Pass (13,200 feet)

Julie and Bo Manson hiking the olive groves, grape vineyards, and dirt tracks of Chianti

Jennifer and Gerrard photographed by David Kepner ‘07

Talented trio: Doc V, Doc D, and Ms. Mully


In MeMorIaM…

40 FALL 2012

charles a. hayWard cdeP 1935Chuck Hayward passed away on September 21, 2010, in Escondido, Calif. Known as “Abe” while at Thacher, Chuck was popular for his dignity and humor at School. He played soccer and baseball, sang in the Glee Club, was a “B” Camper, and served as a prefect. His cousin, Robert Hayward CdeP 1940, also attended Thacher. Chuck went on to graduate from Stanford in 1939. From 1953-75, he was the owner of the Charles Hayward Lumber Co. in Escondido. He was married to Winifred Wallace for 62 wonderful years and together they raised three sons, Charles, Jr. and

Bruce Hayward, both presently residing in Oceanside, and William Wallace (Ted) Hayward CdeP 1963, deceased. When not occupied with work and family responsibilities, Chuck most enjoyed hunting and camping in Baja and fly-fishing in Montana. He was a devoted husband, a warm, wise and loving father to three sons (including Ted CdeP 1963), and a true gentleman of the old school to all.

JaMes h. cheeK, Jr. cdeP 1936James H. Cheek, Jr., business executive, committed civic and church leader, and devoted husband, father, and grandfather, died peacefully of natural causes at age 94 on June 2, 2012. Jim was born in 1918 in Richmond, Va., and grew up in Los Angeles. He was educated at Thacher, the Virginia Military Institute, and MIT, where he received a postgraduate degree in electrical engineering. A fan of all athletics, at Thacher Jim was on the second soccer

team, the track team, and managed the baseball team. But, according to El Archivero, his greatest worth in athletics was proven on the tennis court. While at VMI, Jim met his wife, Anne, who lived in Nashville. They married in 1941 and began life in Schenectady, New York, where he worked on developing the first radar systems for GE. With the emergence of World War II, Jim began his service to the country and was posted at Fort Knox before being sent to battle as an artillery intelligence officer in the

Seventh Armored Division under General Patton. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, received numerous military honors, including a Bronze Star, and was discharged in 1946 after reaching the rank of Major. He returned to civilian life, beginning a 33-year career at General Shoe Company (later known as Genesco). During his almost 70 years of life in Nashville, Jim served his community in many ways, with his main passion being a leader of the Episcopal Church. He was a member of the Rotary Club and the Belle Meade Country Club. Throughout his entire life, he was known as an exceptional gentleman, living life with incredible grace and virtue.

donald M. Mennel cdeP 1936 Donald McKisson Mennel, age 94, of Fostoria, Ohio, passed away on September 17, 2012, at the Good Shepherd Home. Born in Toledo, Ohio, on May 18, 1918, Donald spent childhood summers on Neebish Island in Michigan and winters in San Diego. At Thacher, he was on the track team, the first soccer team, the first baseball team, and was captain of the first gymkhana team. Donald also sang in the Octet, was on The Notes and El Archivero boards, and was an “A” Camper. After Thacher, he went on to graduate

from Yale University in 1940 with a BA in English Literature. At Yale he lettered in soccer and was a founding member of the Sons of Orpheus and Bacchus, a singing group competing with the Glee Club. Soon after graduating from Yale, Donald joined the Mennel Milling Company in 1940 until enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1941. While stationed in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana), Africa, he met Patsy Louise Lewis, an Army nurse, and they were married in 1945. Soon after, Donald resumed his role with the family milling company, where he became president in 1958, growing the company for the next 25 years. In 1983, he enrolled at Ohio Northern University’s Claude W. Pettit College of Law, earning his JD in 1986, and ran a business out of his home for the following 15 years. An avid businessman, Donald’s activities included service as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mennel Milling Company and its affiliates, and as director for several other companies. He also found time for service organizations including the Chamber of Commerce, the Fostoria Community Hospital, the YMCA, as well as the Masons, Rotary, and University Clubs. Donald is survived by his three children, nieces and nephews, eight grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.

John M. ferry cdeP 1937John Mansfield Ferry died peacefully at his home in Wakefield, R.I., on Thanksgiving, November 24, 2011, surrounded by many members of his devoted family. John was born in New York on February 24, 1919. He chose Thacher due to a great need for the dry western air and a desire for country life with animals and horseback riding. With his deep and clear voice, John was a valuable asset to the Thacher Glee Club. In addition, he was Editor-in-Chief of The Notes, helped with El Archivero, played on the soccer and baseball teams, and was a “B” Camper. Following Thacher, John graduated from Harvard College with the class of 1942. He also married Elizabeth Gibson in 1942 and was soon swept up in World War II, where he participated in five European campaigns, was awarded a Bronze Star, and was discharged in 1945 as a captain in the Army, 18th Field Artillery. After a brief investigation into the possibility of ranching, he attended Harvard Law School, where he received his LLB cum laude in 1949. By then he had two children and was soon to have a third. John worked as a lawyer in Boston first with Ropes and Gray in 1949 and then Choate, Hall and Stewart, where he was a partner from 1960 until 1986. As a member of the Lawyers’ Alliance for World Security, he went to Russia to inspect the dismantling of missile launching sites, a highlight among his travels around the world. One of the last outings John took was to a Thacher gathering in the fall of 2011 in Gloucester, Mass. During the program, Head of School Michael Mulligan asked him, as the oldest graduate present, to share some of his experience. John rose to the occasion, saying how happy he was that Mr. Mulligan stressed living in the present and not waiting to live in the future, and was honored to have that moment to express his appreciation for

the philosophy behind life at Thacher. He died a short time afterwards. Mr. Ferry was brought up in New York and Newport, lived in Cambridge, Mass., from 1947 to 1986, and summered in Wakefield from 1955 to 1986. He and his wife became year-round Cambridge residents in 1986 and he lived there until his death. John enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, playing tennis, horseback riding, and raising sheep. He belonged to various civic organizations throughout his life including the Center Club of Boston for 20 years. John is survived by a son, two daughters, a sister, two granddaughters, a great-granddaughter, and many close nieces, nephews, and devoted godchildren.



frederIc cunnInghaM, Jr. cdeP 1939Frederic Cunningham, Jr., passed away on September 28, 2011, just a few weeks after celebrating his 90th birthday. Frederic, with his sparkling wit, was the life of every gathering at Thacher. He received the nickname

“Bag” because of his tendency to stroll about campus in dilapidated jeans and shirt and a pair of sneakers that had seen better days. After Thacher, Frederic went on to Harvard University, where he earned his BA in 1945, his master’s in 1947, and his PhD in 1953. Soon after, he became Professor of Mathematics at Bryn Mawr College, and taught there until his retirement in 1996. In addition to his passion for mathematics, Frederic had a deep love of music and played the tenor viol in consort ensembles. Frederic was preceeded in death by his brother Lawrence CdeP 1942 and is survived by his wife, three daughters, and two grandchildren.

rIchard MyrIcK cdeP 1939Richard Myrick died peacefully in his sleep on February 2, 2012. He was 91. Dick, called “Mort” at Thacher, was known for his lively sense of humor, especially when sharing the “Mort Myrick Theories” that kept everyone chuckling. He played soccer, participated in Glee Club and Dramatics, and was the leader of Mort Myrick’s Melodius Melodiers swing band. Dick went on from Thacher to graduate from Princeton in 1943 and, during WWII, he served in the Army Corps of

Engineers. After the war, he earned a PhD in social psychology at Claremont before moving to Washington, D.C., to work with the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Upon retirement, Dick spent many happy years at his house in Deer Isle, Maine, painting landscapes and recreating his garden. He had a wonderful way with art, literature, and gardening, and was forever interested in helping others. He was married for a time to Susan Mordecai of Madera, Calif. Having just experienced his brother’s passing six months prior, he is survived by his sister and three nephews.

rIchard Bard, Jr. cdeP 1940Richard “Dick” Bard, Jr., passed away on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the age of 88 in Spokane, Wash., due to complications from heart surgery. Dick had many nicknames while at Thacher: Bard, Red Bird, and Baad, to name a few. It was written in El Archivero that “His winning personality was evidenced in the minds of his friends by the remarkable influx of letters addressed in feminine scrawls, proof of the compatibility which exists between Baad and the world in general.” He was born in Oxnard, attended Hueneme Grammar School, The Thacher School (along with his brother, Archibald CdeP 1941), and Cornell University, graduating with a civil engineering degree. He served as a survey and instrument man with the 427th Armored Field Artillery Battalion in the Asiatic Pacific (Philippines) from 1943-1946. In 1944, he married Barbara Ann Hitchcock of Santa Barbara. After the war, Dick and Barbara settled in Ventura County, where he worked in the family business, Berylwood Investment Company, as vice president and manager of

the Simi Ranch until 1960. The company incorporated in 1911 but actually dates back to 1865 when Thomas R. Bard came to California as an agent for Thomas Scott (Undersecretary of War to President Lincoln and President of the Pennsylvania Railroad) in early oil exploration. Thomas R. Bard pioneered much of the development of Ventura County. In 1960, Dick moved his family to Darby, Mont., where he surveyed in the Bitterroot Valley. In the early 1970s, Dick and Barbara moved to Colville, Wash., where he worked until retiring in the late 1990s. Coming from a pioneer California family, he was passionate about his work, his family, and his country, and was a man of integrity and honesty, much like his father and grandfather before him. Dick is preceded by his uncle Philip CdeP 1917 and is survived by two sisters; two daughters; nephews Gregory CdeP 1968, Thomas CdeP 1972, and Henry Newton CdeP 1968; eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

herB g. lyttle, Jr. cdeP 1940Herb George Lyttle, Jr., passed away on July 11, 2012, at home in Fresno, Calif., at the age of 90. Born in Menlo Park in 1921, Herb was a fourth-generation Californian. After spending his early years in Hueneme, Herb moved with the family to Ojai. He and his two younger brothers, John CdeP 1942 and Richard CdeP

1945, attended the Ojai Valley School before Thacher, where Herb proved to be an expert horseman. He and his white horse, Electron, won many awards in Gymkhana and the two were featured in an action picture that served as the School icon for many years. His sportsmanship and fair play were so exceptional that they won him lasting friendships at opposing schools, as well as with his classmates. “Herbie” played on the first Soccer Team, the first Gymkhana Team, the first Baseball Team, and the Track Team; he was also an

“A” Camper and served on many committees. In 1940, Herb began studying animal husbandry at Cornell University, though World War II interrupted his academic career. The U.S. Marines soon recognized his math skills and put him to work teaching future radar operators in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was there, on October 9, 1943, that he married Sally Miller of Tarzana, Calif., with whom he would have four children. Several months later he was sent to officers’ training school in Quantico where he fell ill with polio. He survived the disease but left the Marines with atrophied chest muscles, a handicap he stoutly ignored most of his life. In 1956, Herb became manager of a feedlot in Kerman, near Fresno, where he turned a profit after recognizing that the mill was grinding the feed too coarsely. In 1961, the family purchased a home on a small vineyard near the San Joaquin River, where they kept horses and a few dogs, with German shepherds being the favorite. After Sally died in 1992, Herb remained on the ranch a few more years until he met and married Patricia Hopper, a widely acclaimed ceramic artist. Herb had a great capacity for friendship and his warmth and humor were legendary. He is survived by his wife, brother Richard CdeP 1945, children, grandchildren, including grandnephew Trevor McProud CdeP 2000, and eight great-grandchildren.

WInston B. neWell, Jr. cdeP 1942 Winston Blodgett “Bud” Newell died peacefully in New Orleans on July 24, 2012, at the age of 88, from complications following a stroke. Bud was born to Winston Newell CdeP 1917 in Minneapolis on March 25, 1924. In 1930, the family moved to California, where Bud grew up in West Los Angeles. He attended Santa Monica schools, Thacher, and Caltech, and was an Eagle Scout, avid surfer, and championship tennis player. “Zoot” was known at Thacher for his humorous and intelligent chatter. It was written in the El Archivero, “His


44 FALL 2009 42 FALL 2012

In MeMorIaM…

gift for gab has been the joy of all his classmates and the plague of the faculty.” His athletic prowess, matching his quick banter, served him well on the first Soccer Team, the first Basketball Team, the first Track Team, the first Tennis Team, the first Baseball Team, and the first Swimming Team. During the war, Bud served in the Navy in the Pacific on the minesweeper USS Counsel as Quartermaster 1st Class. After the war, he began a career in the grocery business in Minneapolis at the Winston and Newell Company (later Supervalu) and met and married Elizabeth Battin in 1948. In 1968, Bud moved to New York City where he worked for Eggsert and Speedata as a marketing executive. There he met his second wife, Ellen Schwarz Stich of New Orleans. They married in 1975 and lived happily and lovingly in Santa Monica and New Orleans, surrounded by family and friends who enjoyed their bountiful hospitality. Bud brought tons of fun to his home life, was a natural at anything he put his mind to, and was able to carry that enthusiasm to his children and others with an easy and infectious camaraderie. His love for jazz, sports, games, politics and wine was monumental and ongoing. Bud will be remembered for his amicable disposition, charm, class, wisdom, and very funny and engrossing conversation. All who knew him mourn his loss but none will forget his presence and powerful impact on their lives. Bud is survived by his wife Ellen, children, grandson, and the many close friends and family who loved him so dearly.

charles B. McVay IV cdeP 1943Charles Butler McVay IV was born on June 11, 1925, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and passed away on February 28, 2012, at the age of 86. Like his father and grandfather before him, Charles also aspired to a Navy career. It was

a historic moment when the three generations of McVays were captured in a photograph taken for the Stars and Stripes newsletter. Unfortunately, Charles’ Navy career ended earlier than anticipated when he was accidently hit with a rifle butt and subsequently lost the sight in his left eye. Always with a passion for life, Charles shifted his attention to education, attending Stanford University, and a new career in

the documentary film business. Later, he became top sales representative for the Royal Typewriter Company and for Olivetti and Savin Corporation. Charles was educated at Punahou School in Hawaii, at Thacher for two years (1939-41), and St. Albans in Washington, D.C. He was a dear friend of the Russian community in Washington, having unofficially been adopted by them as a young man and he remained close to his Hawaiian relatives on his mother’s side. Charles was a devoted husband to Elaine Cohen McVay for 32 years. In the last seven years of his life, Charles returned to his missionary roots in Boston and was again close to the sea he loved.

henry c. carlIsle, Jr. cdeP 1944Henry Coffin Carlisle, Jr., died of complications from pneumonia on July 11, 2011, at the age of 84. Carlisle, who grew up in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, did not see much value in the horse while at Thacher. He was, however, an enthusiastic camper, skilled cook, and musician who led a swing band at the School. He was also captain of the swimming team, president of the Hairy Hoof Club, and served on many committees at School. After a stint in the U.S. Navy, Henry studied at Stanford University, where he grew to love books. When he moved to Paris after graduation, he met writer and painter Olga Andreyev, granddaughter of playwright Leonid Andreyev, and was introduced to a world of bohemian intellects. The couple married in 1951 and relocated to New York in 1954, where Henry began editing books

and essays at Alfred A. Knopf. The lifestyle was a far cry from that of his Californian mining family, but Henry embraced it and became interested in Russian literature and Cold War politics, becoming a publisher, editor, and novelist who fought against the censorship of Soviet dissident writers. The San Francisco native wrote several satirical and historical novels, inspired by his ancestry, and collaborated with his wife to translate Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot and other Russian works into English. When they moved

to Connecticut in 1964, Mr. Carlisle joined PEN America, an organization dedicated to defending freedom of expression. As an active member of the Freedom to Write Committee, and president of the organization from 1976 to 1978, he successfully campaigned for the release of dissident Andrei Amalrik from a Soviet prison. Carlisle moved his family back to San Francisco in 1978, and became a fixture at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers summer conference, and was part of a literary social circle in San Francisco. In addition to his son, Mr. Carlisle is survived by his wife and his brother Miles CdeP 1950.

frederIcK g. KnooP cdeP 1947Frederick George Knoop died peacefully on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, at the age of 83, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Known as “Frosty” and

“Frio” while at Thacher, he arrived in his Middle School year and immediately distinguished himself by winning four major letters in one year (soccer, basketball, baseball, and track). Born and raised in northern California, Fred attended University of California Berkeley after Thacher and was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Following college, Fred married Grace Elizabeth Gilmore in 1952, with whom he was married for 53 years, before her passing in 2005. Fred and Grace settled in Atherton, Calif., where they raised their family. In 2006, Fred married Lynn Heatley Brown and moved to Carmel. He was a trustee of the Santa Catalina School in Monterey; a director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association; a director and member of the Menlo Circus Club; and a director of the Burlingame Country Club. In addition, he was a former member of the Pacific Union Club in San Francisco and the Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells. Fred acted as President and CEO of Galvanizers, Inc., was the developer and owner of the Palo Alto Industrial Center, and owner of Loma Rica Ranch in Grass Valley, Calif. He

purchased Loma Rica Ranch in 1963, expanding it into an internationally recognized thoroughbred-breeding business which included many record-holding racehorses. An accomplished outdoorsman, Fred was an excellent horseman, a skilled pilot, and a fearless racecar driver. Surviving Fred is his loving wife, his children, grandchildren, and cousins, including Launce Gamble CdeP 1984 and Mark Gamble CdeP 1986.

WIllIaM t. BaldIng, Jr. cdeP 1952William Thomas Balding, Jr., passed away on November 23, 2010, in Honolulu at the age of 77. William attended Thacher for one year (1948-1949). He is survived by his brother, two sons and a daughter, and six grandchildren.


ye c. htoon cdeP 1955Ye Htoon, also known as Roland Chan Htoon, passed away on May 7, 2010, at the age of 73. Ye Htoon was the eldest son of Khin Khin Thein and Chan Htoon, former Attorney General and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and the architect of the first constitution of Burma in 1947. Ye’s wife, Onma Maw, is the daughter of statesman Dr. Ba Maw, the first Prime Minister and the

Head of State of Burma. During his two years at Thacher, “Rolo” or “Htoon-babe” captivated his classmates with amazing tales of his weekend exploits, capers in Burma, and travel adventures. He also acquired skills in basketball and soccer, though many of his opponents were utterly dismayed by his interpretation of the rules of both games. Another skill noted in El Archivero was his agility with a horseshoe, “with or without the horse attached.” After Thacher and Ananda College in Sri Lanka, Htoon graduated in 1961 from Bucknell University and received a postgraduate Bachelor of Law degree from the Rangoon University in 1965, becoming a prominent Burmese lawyer, a successful entrepreneur, and one of the notables of the now-extinct Scouting movement in Burma. Htoon was a pioneer in bringing digital switching telephone exchanges to Burma, amassing a vast experience with the country’s economic system. Imprisoned for many years between 1962 and 1993 as a government dissident, Ye Htoon was arrested the first time in 1962 and detained for a year for alleged participation in the July 7 upheaval. He was jailed again for nine months in 1971-72 for his connection with Burmese expatriates and foreign firms. Action was taken against him a third time in 1975 for participation in what has come to be known as the U Thant crisis, student-led protests over the shabby treatment by the Ne Win government. Htoon was freed in July 1980 under the Government’s Amnesty Order No. 2180. Almost a decade later, Htoon was sentenced to

“19 years hard-labor rigorous imprisonment,” for participating in the 1988 democratic uprising, though he was imprisoned for only four years, from 1989 to 1993. Ye Htoon, as the leader of the Myanmar Mingala Foundation, appeared to be making preparations for the 2010 Burmese elections before his death. Classmate David Laylin wrote of Htoon, “Basically, it seems that he died as the result of brutal punishment by the former Regime, due to his lifelong commitment to the ideals learned at Thacher.”

rIchard e. h. JulIen, Jr. cdeP 1956Richard Edward Hale Julien, Jr., passed away on May 16, 2012, at the age of 72. Born on July 24, 1939, in San Francisco, Dick was a lifelong resident of the Bay Area, leaving only to attend university at the Michigan Institute of Technology and high school at Thacher, where he enjoyed the Glee Club, Los Troubadores, and Masquers, and played on the first Soccer Team, the “A” Basketball Team, and ran for the Track Team. Returning to study law at University of California, Berkeley, he met and married Diane, and became “Dad,” “Opa Richard,” and “Dickie” to several children and grandchildren—names he took more pride in than anything else. Dick is survived by his wife, his son and daughter, Sophie CdeP 1982, and his grandchildren. Later in his life he came to incorporate many Burgess children and grandchildren into his life, whom he loved as if his own and without whom his life would not have been as complete.

thoMas M. doyle cdeP 1958Thomas Morris Doyle passed away on April 10, 2012, at the age of 71, in Houston, Texas, from complications following heart surgery. A fourth-

generation Californian, he was born in Berkeley, Calif., on May 15, 1940, and attended Berkeley-based schools and Thacher through his Lower-Upper year. While at Thacher, Tom shared his athletic skills with the first Soccer Team and the first Basketball Team. After graduating from Stanford University, Tom’s international career took him to many parts of the world including Turkey, London, and Asia; though as a talented, intuitive fisherman and golfer, he also appreciated the streams and mountains (and golf courses!) of California and the West. Tom is survived by his son, sister, niece, nephew, great-nieces and great-nephew. His elegance and wit, not to mention crossword acumen, will be missed by all.

Jeffrey a. Mason cdeP 1963Jeffrey Andres Mason passed away peacefully at his home in Surf City - Huntington Beach, Calif., on August 21, 2012, at the age of 67. According to the El Archivero, “Jeff Mason is a peculiar, fascinating, and awesome individual.” At Thacher, Jeff was an avid bridge player, a renowned chess expert, a fascinating conversationalist, and a versatile and

effective actor. From Casa de Piedra, he went on to graduate from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1967, and Birkbeck College of London with a master’s in 1969 and a PhD in 1975. The library he left behind gives some indication of his lifelong fascination with ideas, from Lao Tzu to Wittgenstein via Plato and Aristotle—who inspired his persistent return to ‘Philosophy and the Good Life’ as a core theme, one which he gracefully embodied throughout his life, including his battle with cancer. Mason embarked on an academic career spanning over 20 years in England. Incurably adventurous, Mason taught his two children to enjoy the great museums of London by first hiding candy among the exhibits and then doling out fascinating tales of battles and myths, gods and monsters. As a professor and teacher, Mason could extemporize on a large number of subjects, quickly tailoring his speech to whoever would listen, from his students at London’s Middlesex Polytechnic, to high schools, to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He occasionally—also literally—wore the hats of philosophers-through-the-ages, inviting questions from a modern audience which he would answer in the voices of Locke, Kierkegaard or Schopenhauer, indulging a predilection for hamminess first realized during school days. Jeff recalled his experiences at Thacher with a nostalgic delight that left none in doubt that the environment set him on the path of curiosity concerning the life of ideas and wonder at the beauty of nature. Mason’s Meditations, originally written for The Philosophers’ Magazine, is available at philosophyandliving.blogspot.com. Jeff—bodysurfer, African drummer, professor of philosophy—is survived by his two children, Ben and Jennifer, and his wife, Jane, with whom he enjoyed over 40 trips and vacations during their five years together.

roBert a. Isaacson cdeP 1966Robert Anton Isaacson died peacefully on September 25, 2012, at the age of 64, after struggling valiantly with prostate cancer for over seven years. Bob was born in Santa Barbara on June 29, 1948, to Baine CdeP 1929, son of Deming CdeP 1903. He lived most of his life on his beloved El Chorro Ranch near Lompoc. While at Thacher, he was a member of the


Glee Club and the Letterman’s Club, in addition to the first Soccer Team and the Gymkhana Team. Bob received his BA in English at Claremont Men’s College (now Claremont McKenna) and his MA and teaching credential at University of California, Santa Barbara. While teaching English for 32 years at Allan Hancock College in both Santa Maria and Lompoc, Bob authored two textbooks and published Unconsecrated Ground, a collection of his own poems. Due to his great interest in the history of the West, Bob also authored and co-authored a number of books and articles that have brought into print previously untold chapters of western history. He also helped friends to compile, edit, and publish volumes of important local history such as Reminiscences of Early California. In addition to teaching and writing, he and his wife, Sally, enthusiastically ran a beef cattle herd for 35 years. Bob also served as a board member on the Vista Del Mar School Board, the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, and the Vista Del Mar School Foundation, and as poet laureate of the Society of Los Alamos. A dedicated steward of the land upon which he was privileged to live, he worked hard to have his family’s ranch placed under a conservation easement. One of Bob’s proudest moments was being named the 2011 Conservationist of the Year by the California Rangeland Trust. He is survived by his wife, his daughter, Katie CdeP 1999, and son-in-law, his mother and brothers, and his niece and nephews.

thoMas l. Wheeler, Jr. cdeP 1968Thomas Lee Wheeler, Jr., passed away on September 3, 2012, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 62. At Thacher, Tom was known for his horseback riding ability as a member of the first Gymkhana Team. He also participated in the Outdoor Committee and was an active member of the Radio Club. In 1973, Tom graduated from Stanford University and, four years later, successfully commenced from Southern Methodist University Law School. He completed his career as president of Wheeler Management Company, Inc. Tom leaves behind a sister, Sylvia Wheeler, and his body, which he willed to University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.

Paul h. turPIn cdeP 1971Paul Hunter Turpin passed away peacefully on August 18, 2012, as a result of pancreatic cancer, in the home he built in the foothills of Carpinteria, Calif., surrounded by his wife, Evan, and two sons. Paul was born on January 17, 1953, in Pasadena. Encouraged by his family from an early age, he grew to be a talented watercolor painter, filling his work with idyllic tropical landscapes, perfect waves, and beautiful women. It was during those early years that Paul’s lifelong love affair with baseball and the Dodgers would start. His passion for baseball would later continue in Santa Barbara, where he and friends started a softball team, the Range Animals, on which he played

for many years. Paul loved all sports, and was an excellent surfer, skier, fisherman, golfer, and tennis player. He was a voracious reader of every kind of book. He played several instruments and amassed a remarkable collection of guitars and ukuleles. Born into a family that loved travel and adventure, Paul carried this love with him for his whole life. The islands of Hawaii and Jamaica, as well as a family home at Plum Lake, Wis., were among his favorite destinations and became the inspiration for his art.

The ocean was where Paul found joy and solace. From his beloved Padaro to the Hollister Ranch, he was never far from the sea. Paul loved his family and friends to his core; they will dearly miss his smile, his style, and his radiance that brightened any room he stepped into. In addition to his wife, sons, and parents, he is survived by his beloved brother, George CdeP 1973, and sister, brother-in-law, niece, Sterling Ferguson CdeP 1996, and nephew, his in-laws, and many cousins.

roBert d. dIcKson cdeP 2001Robert Douglas Dickson passed away on June 9, 2012, at the age of 29. He was laid to rest on June 27 on a hill overlooking the Conn Valley he loved. Rob was born January 21, 1983, in San Francisco, to Robert and Julie Emerson Dickson of St. Helena, where he attended primary school. At Thacher, Rob was captain of the league champion Cross Country Team and the Track Team and completed an independent study course on this passion in which he proved himself an inspirational leader. After graduation, Rob began his military career in the Navy in 2002 as a nuclear propulsion technician. He then served in the Texas Army National Guard as a medic in the 143rd Infantry Regiment (Long Range Surveillance) and was deployed to Afghanistan as a medic with an additional infantryman classification in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces. He was stationed at FOB Ghazni. This past May, shortly before his accidental death, Rob trained and qualified at the U.S. Army Airborne School. His fellow soldiers honored him with a memorial jump and ceremony at Camp Mabry on June 14. Rob’s commitment to excellence was recognized by numerous awards during his military career, including the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with Campaign Star), and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Rob is survived by his parents; a daughter, Sarah Lynn Read, and her mother, Amanda; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and loved ones.

Peggy de forest, frIend of thacherMargaret MacCormick de Forest, known to all as Peggy, died peacefully in her sleep on July 11, 2012, after a long illness at Santa Barbara Convalescent Hospital. Peggy was born in Framingham, Mass., and graduated from Middlebury College. She moved to California in 1950 to teach at the Montecito

School for Girls. On July 12, 1952, she married Kellam de Forest CdeP 1944, her loving, devoted spouse for nearly 60 years, becoming daughter-in-law to Lockwood de Forest, Jr. CdeP 1916 and sister-in-law to Lockwood de Forest III CdeP 1953. The couple returned to Santa Barbara in 1992, after Kellam’s retirement from the film industry. Peggy was known to all for her warm, generous spirit and will be sadly missed by her husband, her sister, her three children, Ann, Carmaig CdeP 1975, and Elizabeth, her sons-in-law and daughter-in-law, former daughter-in-law Jen Nielsen de Forest CdeP 1985, and her six grandchildren.

In MeMorIaM…

44 FALL 2012


Where did you get the idea to stage a concert?During our fall Extra-Day Trip junior year on the Kern River. We talked about how often students have great ideas but don’t make them happen. We thought it would be good to organize a ben-efit concert to prove to our com-munities that students our age can create positive change.

What became of your idea?We actually organized a concert that was held in Ojai’s Libbey Bowl on September 22! The head-liners were Megan Slankard and Robert Francis. But Thacher per-formers also got into the action. These included the Chamber Singers, Nan Macmillan ’13, Evan Farese ’13, and Will Sturgeon CdeP 2008. At first we thought we’d hold the concert on the Upper Field, but the newly renovated Libbey Bowl in Ojai turned out to be a much better venue. The concert brought a good turnout from the Thacher and Ojai communities and lots of donations. There are obviously things we would have liked to change. But we made a profit and raised awareness. That, at the end of the day, was what it was all about.

Where did the money go?The money will go to the Playing For Change Foundation, whose mission is to ensure that any-one with the desire to receive a music education will have the opportunity to do so. The Playing For Change Foundation is dedicated to the fun-

the best we can do…ellie hancock ’13 and shelby luce ’13

A couple of teenagers on a camping trip got it in their heads

to be the change they wanted to see, and when it came time to share that idea,

music was both the medium and the message. …hoW did you Persuade the school to let you do this?By being persistent. We met with Mr. Mulligan, Mrs. McMahon, Mr. Robinson, and heads of the busi-ness office and maintenance to try and prove that we weren’t going to just talk the talk. We constantly showed them our progress and re-minded them of our dedication.

What did you learn?We first learned about the impor-tance of organization and teamwork. There is no way we would have been able to pull this off without the sup-port of the Thacher community. We also learned about age discrimina-tion. Many bands and companies did not take us seriously and we really had to work to be as convincing as possible. But most importantly, we learned the value of hard work.

Standing on stage and talking to 350 people who came to support you and your work is an inde-scribable experience. After a little more than a year of meetings, phone calls, and convincing, it was nice to see it all pay off.

best moment?The best moment was when we received the Ojai Noble Peace Prize. It was the moment we realized we had raised awareness and brought together the Ojai community and the Thacher community to support Playing For Change. The moment was even better because we were presented with our

award by last year’s winner, Kristofer Young, who also hap-pens to be the father of Jovi Geraci CdeP 1994 and Ken Young CdeP 1997.

damental idea that peace and change are possible through the universal language of music.

Why Was this cause imPortant to you?This cause was important to us because we want-ed to provide students with the opportunity to receive music education. We are passionate about the Foundation’s motto that change is possible through the universal language of music. Both of us believe that music has made a difference in each of our lives. This cause is also important to us because we wanted to set an example for stu-dents our age to make a difference. With the right mentality anyone can create change for one’s community or the world.

KristoferpensGeraciYoung

Shelby Luce (left) and Ellie Hancock

introducing their concert.

124071-8_FL12BestWeCanDoSHIP_EM.indd 3 12/5/12 12:22 AM

Invite your Schoolmates to join you at Casa de Piedra!

Winter Alumni DaySaturday, January 12, 2013

The Thacher School5025 Thacher RoadOjai, CA 93023

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

P A I D

OXNARD, CA

PERMIT NO. 1215

From Inquiry to ImpactCultivating curiosity, passion, and hard work to develop and share our best ideas.

124071-1_FL12CoversFrontBackSHIP_EM_CX.indd 2 12/10/12 7:52 AM

Documents

Thacher Magazine: Fall 2012