40years - The Taft School

Transcription

B
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40years
of COEDUCATION
Summer 2011
in this issue
h The Alumni Parade
took a new route
this year, ending in
the new Mac House
quad where the assembled group then
adjourned for lunch in
the Moorhead Wing.
Robert Falcetti
B ulletin
Summer 2011
24
And Then There
Were Girls
Coeducation at Taft turns 40
By Phoebe Vaughn Outerbridge ’84
30
Reading My Father
An excerpt from her new book
By Alexandra Styron ’83
34
121st Commencement
Remarks by Jake Cohen ’11, Melody Palmore P’11,
Annie Oppenheim ’11, Nick Auer ’11 and Willy MacMullen ’78
Departments
42
Alumni Weekend
Photographs by Bob Falcetti, Phil Dutton,
Peter Frew ’75 and Andre Li ’11
2 From the Editor
2 Bulletin Poll
3Letters
4 Alumni Spotlight
11 Around the Pond
18Sport
21 Annual Fund Report
48 Tales of a Taftie:
Varian Fry ’26
49 From the Archives:
The House That
Winnie Built
from the EDITOR
This May marked the 40th anniversary of
Taft’s first graduating class that included
girls, which also meant that the Class of
1971—the last all-male class—was back for
its 40th Reunion. My brother-in-law Henry
is in that class, and yet by the time his brother (my husband, Al ’80) graduated nine
years later, it seemed as if girls had always
been part of the mix here.
As you will see in Phoebe Outerbridge’s
article (page 24), Taft’s smooth transition
to coeducation was the envy and indeed the
model for the prep school world. But that
transition is far from over. Until the alumni
rolls reach the same parity as the study body,
there will still be vestiges of the boys’ school
days. To date there are 6,112 living alumni
and 2,657 alumnae, so, yes, there will occasionally be issues of the Bulletin when men’s
stories will dominate, and yes, the Citation
of Merit wall will eventually have more
women, but it may still be a few years before
our alumnae reach the pinnacle of their
careers. (They are still a bit young for this
august group.)
This May also marked the first time
the school welcomed THREE members
of a 75th reunion class back for Alumni
Weekend. What made this especially moving
is that Curt Buttenheim, Matt Ely and Frank
Killorin and their classmates were the last to
know Horace Taft as their headmaster. We
were honored to have them back at their
alma mater and enjoyed their stories. Now,
let’s hear yours!
—Julie Reiff
WWW
Taft on the Web
Find a friend’s address or look
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at www.TaftAlumni.com
Visit us on your phone with
our mobile-friendly site
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What happened at this
afternoon’s game?
Visit www.TaftSports.com
Don’t forget you can shop online
at www.TaftStore.com
800-995-8238 or 860-945-7736
B ulletin
Summer 2011
Volume 81, Number 4
Bulletin Staff
Director of Development:
Chris Latham
Editor: Julie Reiff
Alumni Notes: Linda Beyus
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Mail letters to:
Julie Reiff, Editor
Taft Bulletin
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A.
[email protected]
Send alumni news to:
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Alumni Office
The Taft School
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Scan this QR code with
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Taft’s mobile site. x
Bulletin Poll
Instead of Trivia, let’s try a different sort of question this time…
In 1969, the Taft Papyrus suggested the recent trustee vote for
coeducation might be the most
important decision in Taft’s then
80-year history. Do you agree?
What decision or milestone
would you rank at the top of the
school’s 121-year past?
Email your vote to Reiff [email protected]. Or take our poll on Facebook…just
“friend” Horace Dutton Taft. We’ll publish the top choices in the fall issue.
Congratulations to Bill Shiland ’73, who correctly named 1970 as the year the study
hall desks were unbolted and removed from what we now call Potter’s Art Room.
2 Taft Bulletin Summer 2011
Deadlines for Alumni Notes:
Fall–August 30
Winter–November 15
Spring–February 15
Summer–May 15
Send address corrections to:
Sally Membrino
Alumni Records
The Taft School
[email protected]
1-860-945-7777
www.TaftAlumni.com
The Taft Bulletin (ISSN 0148-0855)
is published quarterly, in February,
May, August and November, by The
Taft School, 110 Woodbury Road,
Watertown, CT 06795-2100, and is
distributed free of charge to alumni,
parents, grandparents and friends of
the school. All rights reserved.
Letters
Love it? Hate it?
Read it? Tell us!
We’d love to hear what you think
about the stories in this Bulletin.
We may edit your letters for length,
clarity and content, but please write!
Julie Reiff, editor
Taft Bulletin
110 Woodbury Road
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
or Reiff [email protected]
Beyond the Bushes
I may not have all my facts right, but over
40 years ago I remember being a member
of something called The Alumni Council,
or some such animal! We had a meeting at
Taft to discuss coeducation, and 10 or more
of us sat around a big table debating the ins
and outs and challenge of Taft going coed.
As relatively young men, we focused on
what would happen in the dormitories, behind the bushes, etc. The meeting went on
for quite a while.
Around the back of the room sat several
of the committee’s wives knitting and reading, basically staying out of this discussion
by the “boys.” Finally, one woman and then
another stood up or sat up tall and said more
or less: “You guys are a bunch of idiots, don’t
worry about the bushes and dorms, we (the
ladies, girls, new coeds) can handle those
issues, get on with it, go coed!”
With that, the discussion came to an
abrupt halt at the big table, the committee
voted to recommend to the trustees that Taft
go coeducational. End of meeting.
Congratulations on the 40th; coed has
served Taft well.
struck others who have read the article that
these former faculty and alumni certainly live
the Taft motto. How lucky Taft has been to
have had five headmasters who were mentors
not only to students, but to faculty members
whose will to serve was enhanced during
their years at Taft.
—Francisco A. Besosa ’67
Love it? Hate it?
Read It?
In response to your message requesting feedback on the Bulletin: yes, yes and yes.
I read it pretty steadily, which says a lot
given the many subscriptions, school bulletins and catalogues that come to our house.
I have to congratulate you on the quality
of the Bulletin, which has improved steadily
from good to top-notch in the two decades
I have been receiving it, mostly if not all
under your editorship, I think. I like particularly the way it documents the best things
about Taft and the school’s community and
traditions in a serious and engaging way.
These alumni pieces can so easily become
clichés or celebratory hype, but the Bulletin
manages to avoid this.
—Matt Lieber ’88
machine (dry copies replacing both ditto and
mimeograph) and the IBM Selectric typewriter with changeable type.
—Bob Foreman ’70
Heads On
In your article on headmasters (“Heads Up”
spring 2011), I don’t see how you missed
my husband, Phillips Stevens ’32. He became headmaster of Williston Academy in
Easthampton, Massachusetts, in 1949 and
retired in 1972 after 24 years at the helm.
From Taft’s point of view, maybe it’s even
more important that he was class secretary
for many years. He had gone on to Williams
(which he loved) after Taft, taught a few
years at South Kent School, during which
time we were married.
After a job as a VP in a small factory doing
war work in New Haven, he was elected to
Williston, now Williston-Northampton School.
—Sarah Stevens
Ed note: Since this issue celebrates Taft’s 40
years of coeducation, it is worth noting that
as headmaster of Williston, Phillips Stevens
oversaw the school’s merger with Northampton
School in 1971—the same year as Taft.
Guys and the Machine
Regarding the photo on page 42 of the
spring Bulletin, at far right, seated, is Carleton
Sexton ’70. Far left is possibly John Bell, ’70.
The machine they are at I believe was
a calculator. The computer I recall was in
a six-foot-high rack and printed out in dits
and dots on paper tape. One had to learn its
language, Fortran, to speak with it. With a
few exceptions, no one could be bothered. I
certainly could not, preferring to spend my
time in Bingham.
At that time the more prominent innovations (in the Business Office) were the Xerox
On the Cover
B
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40
years
of COEDUCATION
v The school’s first
co-head monitors
Story Viebranz ’12
and Will O’Meara
’12 (story on
page 14). For more
on coeducation,
turn to page 24.
Robert Falcetti
Summer 2011
—Larry Leonard ’48
[See also “And Then There Were Girls” on
page 24.]
Motto Men
(and Women)
What a great article about Taft faculty and
alumni who have gone on to become headmasters and headmistresses of other schools!
I poured through it because I knew that my
classmate, Dan Lee, had gone on to head
two schools. It struck me, as I’m sure it has
More Headmasters
As impressive as the list of headmasters in the spring issue is, of course we found more.
Our apologies to those who were not listed.
Peter Buttenheim ’60, Berkshire Country Day MA, 1979–1987
Tom Lord, faculty 1977–1987, Berkshire School MA, 1987–1992
Tom Nammack ’76, Montclair Kimberly Academy NJ, 2005–present
Phillips Stevens ’32, Williston Academy MA, 1949–72
(See the entire list, revised, at www.TaftSchool.org/headsup)
Taft Bulletin Summer 2011 3
The Waves of Suzy Wong
alumni Spotlight
By Julie Reiff
Steve Jackson ’53 never thought he’d write a
book, but he has.
“The Voyage of the Suzy Wong is the story of
the voyage I made with three ex-servicemen directly after being released from military service
in the Philippines in 1959.”
The four men had the all-teak 41-foot yawl
built by American Marine Limited in Hong
Kong. They worked on the boat themselves,
finishing the deck, installing electrical and
plumbing systems, sanding and painting the
hull and installing the rigging.
The journey lasted 18 months and took
them from Hong Kong to Miami, traveling
west, a distance of 26,000 miles—via Manila,
Borneo, Singapore, Ceylon, Seychelles, up the
Red Sea and through the Suez Canal, to Beirut,
Tripoli, Majorca and Casablanca.
“Our story is not just about crossing
oceans—it’s about the relationship between four
servicemen, and how they were able to build a classic wooden boat and sail it home without financial
backing and or any real sailing experience.”
The book also tells about meeting actor
William Holden, who starred in The World of
Suzie Wong, for which their boat was named. The
men had a contract with Paramount Pictures to
promote the movie as they sailed from port to
port. At the end of the trip, they sold the boat to
William F. Buckley, who sailed it for 17 years.
Now, 50 years and four owners later, the Suzy
Wong is being restored to her original condition
by a new owner and will be relaunched in April
2012. The book will also be available next year
through Amazon.
v Aboard the Suzy
Wong with fifth crew
member, a white chow
pup named Sart Tau,
or “Killer.”
Engineers Without Borders
For the residents of the Gali Bhitra and
Holi Chowkarea of Abheypur, India, clean
drinking water can be hard to come by.
Thanks to the efforts of Engineers Without
Borders (EWB), that situation is changing.
Seth Lentz ’05, president of the
Hartford Professional Chapter (HPC)
of EWB traveled there recently to help
with a project.
“It is very easy to take for granted that
when you walk up to a sink and turn the
handle, clean water will appear,” says
Lentz. “But in the villages that I worked
in, this was simply not the case.”
HPC installed two 5,000-liter storage
tanks that can be filled when electrical
power is available and used as a source
of potable water when power is not. The
facility helps 150 households—close to
700 people.
“The sincere gratitude that was expressed to our team when we opened the
valve to the storage tanks and water poured
out was fantastic,” adds Lentz, “and not
something I will soon forget.”
Lentz previously traveled to Honduras
twice with the Lehigh University
Chapter of Engineers Without Borders,
and worked with the village of Pueblo
Nuevo on two major issues: contaminated water was and insufficient water
pressure during times of peak demand.
To combat these, a 20,000-gallon water
storage tank was constructed and a hypochlorinator was installed
EWB’s vision is a more stable and
prosperous world in which communities
have the capacity to sustainably meet
their basic human needs by providing
necessities such as clean water, power,
sanitation and education. They provide
professional educational opportunities
and organize programs to help members
gain enriched global perspectives.
“It can be very challenging working in
an environment that is foreign to you,”
he says, “but I have found it to be extremely rewarding.”
For more information, visit www.ewb-hpc.org/india.
n Seth Lentz ’05, far right, was the vice presi-
dent of the Engineers Without Borders student
chapter at Lehigh. He is now the president of
the Hartford Professional Chapter.
Baltic Reunion
It was no ordinary mini-reunion for
classmates Steven Erlanger and Jerry
Boak, 1970 classmates who had the
chance to reconnect at, of all places,
the Lennart Meri Conference in
Tallinn, Estonia, in May.
The conference focused on issues of
global foreign and security policy and
the values and institutions that underpin
them: the prospects for a more united
European foreign policy; the future of
the European neighborhood; the wider
Middle East; the transatlantic link; the
economy of the Eurozone; and Russia.
“It may come as no surprise,” says
Boak, “but the people of the Baltic
states view with some anxiety their
large Eastern neighbor.”
Erlanger did panels on the euro
and Libya and the political far right,
but, as the Paris Bureau chief of
the New York Times, his time got
consumed halfway through the conference by the breaking scandal over
the IMF chief—a potential French
presidential candidate.
Boak, meanwhile, “dazzled attendees with his expertise in oil shale” says
Erlanger. (See “Rock of Our Energy
Salvation?” winter 2008 Bulletin.)
“It was great to see Jerry again,”
Erlanger adds. “I had dinner with him
and the Swedish foreign minister,
whom I’ve known for a long time and
who drilled Jerry with questions about
shale, nuclear waste disposal, Icelandic
volcanoes and the like. It was a great
pleasure, and very instructive, to listen.”
“We did not get nearly enough
time together,” says Boak. “But I think
we both enjoyed the opportunity to
catch up. I found the same bright,
humorous, intellectual colleague I remembered from all-nighters putting an
edition of the Papyrus to bed, with the
added bonus of a wealth of interesting
experiences from his diverse assignments over the years.”
alumni Spotlight
Trailing Colors
How do you wrap your heart around
800,000 strangers? Why bother to try?
What power do words have against
machetes? Do we have any reasonable grounds for hope? asks Gretchen
Icenogle ’86 in her play Trailing Colors, a
drama of love, loss and good intentions.
“None of these questions will finally be
answered,” she says, “but it does have
elephants. So there’s that.”
With the unlikely twin inspiration
of Philip Gourevitch’s book about the
Rwandan genocide and the Oakland
Zoo’s valiant efforts to breed African
elephants in captivity, Icenogle—a 2010
Oregon Literary Fellowship recipient
in nonfiction—first wrote the story as
a one-act play in 2000, which was later
performed at a festival in Santa Barbara.
Eleven years and at least that
many drafts later, the full-length version of Trailing Colors opened at the
Headwaters Theatre in Portland this
May. (Not even elephants can compare
to some plays in the time they need for
their gestation, says Icenogle.)
“In times as dark as these, an invitation to dive vicariously into someone
else’s suffering must seem outright
perverse,” admits Icenogle. “And
honestly, if suffering were all we had
to offer, the play wouldn’t have made
it this far. But there’s unexpected
solace in recognizing the smallness
of our hearts and imaginations
(relative to the demands the world
makes on them), and reaching out
nonetheless to connect with other
flawed creatures, be they American
or African, human or pachyderm.”
She adds that the show is also funny,
though not in a South-Park-goesto-Africa kind of way, but there are
elephant jokes.
“The play moves with ease between
its underlying call for action and the
smaller but riveting plot lines among individual characters,” writes Natalie Baker
in the Willamette Week. “Brutally honest
in one moment...and hilarious in the
next...Icenogle’s piece provides an emotional balance that keeps the two-hour
performance interesting and fresh.”
“Trailing Colors needs to be seen
by one and all,” agrees reviewer Kay
Olsen. “How can a piece that is primarily about one woman’s experience with
genocide be a romance and a horror
story all at the same time?”
A portion of the play’s proceeds
benefited Partners In Health Rwanda,
Human Rights Watch, Doctors
Without Borders and the Elephant
Sanctuary. For more information, visit
www.trailingcolors.blogspot.com.
Japan Relief
In response to the earthquake and
tsunami that the northeastern part of
that country has endured, Phish (lead
guitarist Trey Anastasio ’83) released
Japan Relief at www.LivePhish.com
and Phish Dry Goods to benefit Peace
Winds America. All of the funds they
collect for disaster relief will go to support operations through their sister
organization, Peace Winds Japan.
“Relief operations began March
15,” writes www.Phish.com, “and
are currently underway in Miyagi
Prefecture, where Peace Winds is on
the ground providing food, clothing,
medicines and temporary shelter
to survivors of the Great East Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami.
“Japan Relief features Phish’s entire show from July 31, 1999, which
crackled with energy, intermingling
classic and new material with an exploratory vibe that meshed with the
atmosphere of respect and beauty.”
In the past, charitable downloads
at www.LivePhish.com have raised
over $100,000 for four nonprofits: the
Harbor House of New Jersey (The
Headphones Jam), the New Orleans
Musicians’ Clinic, the New Orleans
Jazz and Heritage Fund (Katrina
Relief) and the American Red Cross
(Haiti Relief). Additionally, the
Mockingbird Foundation receives
funding on an ongoing basis from the
proceeds at www.LivePhish.com.
For more on Phish’s summer
concert series, including a gig at the
Hollywood Bowl, visit www.Phish.com.
For more on Trey’s other recent
activities, visit www.LivePhish.com.
TaArt Gathering
Taft’s burgeoning group of alumni
artists hosted their first gathering in
April and continue to add new artists
to the network.
Andrew Belcher ’02, Octavia
Giovannini-Torelli ’04 Will, Strumolo
’01 and Dan Teicher ’02 created
TaArt, Taft Alumni in the Arts, last
fall and held the inaugural reception
on April 12 at a stylish Midtown loft
in New York City.
The reception was pleasingly
crowded, and alumni of all ages attended. On the walls surrounding all the
mingling alums and teachers were current student artwork, poetry written
by alums, a slideshow of photographs
and a reel of short films made by alums. The party offered a wonderful
environment to view the
art, bounce ideas off of
other Tafties and have fun
listening to the live bands.
The group wants to create a thriving community
of Taft alumni in the arts—
though Belcher emphasizes
that TaArt is “not just for
artists. It is meant to foster
the creativity in all of us.”
n Charlie Baker ’05, Greg de Gunzberg ’01, Teddy
“The TaArt event was
McCarthy ’01 and Andrew Belcher ’02
a blast for everyone who
attended,” acting teacher Helena Fifer how many alumni had chosen to purtold the Taft Papyrus, “and it made
sue the arts as their life’s calling.”
me realize that there are endless pos Check out artist profiles at
sibilities for ways alumni, faculty and
www.taftart.org, or join the Taft comstudents can use it as a resource for
munity of artists.
collaboration. It was exciting to see
—Source: Nick Auer ’11
Walls of Prints
Marc Chabot ’74 has made a life in fine
prints, a vocation he calls “a gift.”
Chabot buys and sells 19th- and
20th-century American and European
works of art on paper, yes, but that
doesn’t begin to describe his love for
what he does. The hunt is the thing.
He thrives on the daily challenge of
finding good material he can readily sell; in
20 years he’s placed art in collections and
museums across the country and in Great
Britain. When he says his work enhances
his well-being you know he means it, and
that is a rare event in any workplace.
The Chabot focus is dramatically evident in his Southbury flat, where every
wall is covered with framed prints and
other works of art. More stock is stacked
along the walls. Chabot’s “favorite room” is
a room where he can roam and absorb the
beauty and utility of prints and reflect on
the skill with which they are made as well.
“When you collect prints which speak
to you, you are making a specific aesthetic
pronouncement,” he said. “And this gives
an observer a good idea of who you are.”
Currently Chabot has for sale a rare
and tempting piece of Americana, a
print of George Washington made by
Rembrandt Peale in 1827 and derived
from the famous “porthole” portrait
that a teenaged Peale painted of the first
president, working alongside his father
Charles Willson Peale. Artists represented range from Joseph Albers to Anders
Zorn, with many well-known names in
between.
In addition to classic prints from the
19th century, Chabot also favors works
on paper produced by the artists of the
20th-century Modernist movement.
He admires “everything the movement
brought to American art.”
As for Marc Chabot, he has sketched
and drawn all his life and he immersed
himself in the arts and mysteries of printmaking at Skidmore. “Everything I’ve
done since is art-related,” he said.
For 14 years Chabot has taught children’s art classes at Weir Farm in Wilton,
where kids aged 6 to 13 draw and paint
from nature. “Some of them came back
seven years in a row,” said Chabot.
To learn more, visit
www.mcfinearts.com.
—By Richard W. Stevenson
Litchfield County Times
[www.countytimes.com]
Reprinted with permission.
v Marc Chabot at home in Southbury. Walter Kidd/www.countytimes.com
alumni Spotlight
Golden Age
Mike Giobbe ’59 powered his way
to a silver medal in the discus and
a bronze in the shot put at the 25th
National Veterans Golden Age Games
in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 900
competitors showed up from all over the
United States, all age 55 and up and all
military veterans. The National Veterans
Golden Age Games concluded June 1.
“It was quite an experience,” and the
competition was intense. “Some were
old, some disabled, some were woman
but all were determined,” Giobbe, an
Army veteran, said.
Competitive events included swimming, cycling, golf, shot put, discus,
10-meter air rifle, table tennis, dominoes,
shuffleboard, horseshoes, nine-ball,
bowling, checkers and croquet.
The games are designed to improve
the quality of life for all older veterans, including those with a wide range
of disabilities and are sponsored by
the Department of Veterans Affairs,
Veterans Canteen Service and Help
Hospitalized Veterans.
The Games are supposed to demonstrate the value of regular exercise,
recreation and friendly competition for
all veterans, especially those dealing with
age-related illnesses. Veterans competed
in seven age categories in ambulatory,
wheelchair or visually impaired divisions.
“Sports and fitness are vital ingredients of VA’s national rehabilitation
n Mike Giobbe ’59 of Boca Grande celebrates
on Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the
background still carrying his shot and discus.
special events,” said spokeswoman
Tonya Lobbestal.
The Games serve as a qualifying
event for competition in the National
Senior Games in a number of competitive events.
—Terry O’Connor, Gasparilla Gazette
New Alumni Trustee
Jennifer L. Burns ’93
Jennifer followed her siblings
Christine, Gregory and Timothy to
Taft. Arriving as a mid, she quickly
began dividing her time between
classroom, rink and the offices of
the Taft Papyrus. She remembers Bill
Nicholson’s honors English class as the
place she first learned the craft of writing, and credits Lance Odden, Mike
Maher and Bob Boothby with sparking a lifelong love of history. Jennifer
played defense for the three-time New
England Championship ice hockey
team and was co-editor of the Papyrus
during her senior year. She graduated
magna cum laude and was awarded the
Bourne Medal in history.
At Harvard, she was a history
major, writer and editor for the Let’s
Go series of travel books and star of
her dorm’s intramural hockey team.
After graduating, Jennifer worked
at Harvard Business School, writing
cases on Nike’s global labor practices,
Chevron and environmental regulation and the De Beers diamond cartel.
Pursuing her own scholarly interests
full time, Jennifer began a Ph.D. at the
University of California, Berkeley, and
wrote a dissertation about the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. After
two years of postdoctoral teaching at
Berkeley and a one-year fellowship at
Stanford, Jennifer became an assistant
professor of history at the University
of Virginia, where she teaches courses
on modern American political, cultural
and intellectual history.
At UVA, Jennifer served as a resident faculty fellow in an undergraduate
dorm, a member of her department’s
graduate committee and as an informal
mentor to graduate students.
In 2009, she published her first
book, Goddess of the Market: Ayn
Rand and the American Right, which
received rave reviews in the New
Yorker, Time and the Washington Post,
among other publications. She appeared on The Daily Show with Jon
Stewart and on NPR and was named
a Top Young Historian by the History
News Network. In 2010, she was
named a distinguished lecturer by the
Organization of American Historians.
She maintains free podcasts of her history lectures on iTunes.
Jennifer lives in Arlington, Virginia,
with her husband, Nick Cizek, a physicist. In their free time, she and Nick
enjoy salsa dancing, biking and skiing.
Each year, Taft alumni elect a member of their own to serve a four-year
term on the school’s Board of Trustees.
Results are announced at the Alumni
Luncheon on campus in May.
In Print
Shapely Ankle Preferr’d: A History of the Lonely Hearts Ad 1695–2010
Fran Beauman ’95
What do women look for in a man? And what do
men look for in a woman? And how and why has this
changed over the centuries?
Every week thousands of people advertise for love
either in newspapers, magazines or online. But if you
think this is a modern phenomenon, think again—the
ads have been running for over three hundred years. In
1695, a popular London pamphlet published the brave
plea of a young gentleman who “would willingly Match
himself to some Good Young Gentlewoman, that has a
Fortune of £3000 or thereabouts.”
This was just the beginning. In the 1730s, papers
carried regular ads in which income or respectability
were the most desired qualities, though some asked
for a “shapely ankle” or a “non-dancer.” By 1900, 25
British newspapers were dedicated solely to matrimonial ads. Shapely Ankle Preferr’d tells the story of ads of
all kinds—from aristocrats and MPs, bus conductors
and nurses, country squires and city swells, and even
from a man who had lost a leg “due to the kick of an
Ostrich, in the East Indies.” The reasons are strangely
familiar: the size of the city makes it hard to meet
people; they’re busy at work; they’ve just returned
from abroad. Loneliness is not new.
The surprising views of Lord Byron, Charlotte
Brontë and George Orwell are revealed, and every ad
is a snapshot of its age, from the criminal scams of the
1890s to the sad appeals of widows after the Second
World War. Beauman, author of The Pineapple: King
of Fruits, uses newly uncovered evidence to answer
crucial questions about how humans choose their
mates. The result is a startling history of sex, marriage and society over three centuries—hilarious and
heartbreaking by turn.
Listen to the Wind
Kristin Flagg ’83
Born and raised in Washington, Connecticut, where
her brother and sister used to have her act out skits
from Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, Kristin (known at
Taft as Kristy Kunhardt) was weaned on her parents’
collection of musical theatre LPs and old Italian operas and her siblings’ diverse collection of 45s.
“I spent hours digging through their records singing
along with a pool cue as my microphone while at the
same time singing in choirs and choruses. While my sister practiced piano and taught me Peter, Paul and Mary
and Bob Dylan, my brother was showing me guitar licks
on his Les Paul Gold Top and teaching me how to count
out Grateful Dead time signatures. I like to think that
my grandmothers (one a vocalist and pianist who studied at Juilliard and loved Puccini, the other a concert
violinist in D.C.) were pointing out my life path.”
At Northwestern University she studied theater
and classical voice with an emphasis on cultural
anthropology and ethnomusicology while part of a
college band called Ice-9 and a one-woman show on
Margaret Mead
Then, with a 4-track cassette recorder in hand,
she headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I began
to write songs and experiment with multiple vocal
harmonies. From there she moved to Boston, playing gigs at The Old Vienna Coffeehouse, Tatnuck
Bookseller, Johnny D’s and The Iron Horse and making her first first full-length recording.
For the last several years she has been building a
recording studio, playing guitar and piano, and has a
day gig that allows her ample time with ample canines.
Listen to sample clips at www.kristinflagg.net.
Original Sin: A Sally Sin Adventure
Beth McMullen ’87
She has a license to kill. And carpool. On the surface, Lucy Hamilton looks just like all the other
stay-at-home San Francisco moms. She takes her threeyear-old son, Theo, to the beach, to the playground
and to the zoo. She feeds him organic applesauce and
free-range chicken. She folds laundry and plays on
the floor with Matchbox cars until her knees ache.
What no one knows about Lucy, not even her adoring husband, is that for nine years Lucy was Sally
Sin, a spy for the United States Agency for Weapons
of Mass Destruction. And that’s just the way Lucy
wants to keep it—a secret. But when Lucy’s nemesis
Ian Blackford, a notorious illegal arms dealer, hits
the USAWMD’s radar, the Agency calls Lucy back
to action to lure Blackford out into the open. As
Lucy struggles to unravel the mystery that surrounds
Blackford’s return, she realizes that the answers she
needs lie in a past she’s tried very hard to forget. Racing
against time, Lucy must fight to save herself and her
loving family—and, oh right—the world.
Beth McMullen graduated from Boston
University with a degree in English Literature. After
landing a gig with Reader’s Digest, she eventually
realized she’d rather write books than condense
them. She relocated to San Francisco, California,
and worked in Silicon Valley to pay the bills, trying to do as much writing and traveling as possible.
Finally, after getting married, she and her husband
decided to take one year and see as much of the
world as they could before they ran out of money.
It’s a big world.
McMullen currently lives in Davis, California,
with her husband and their two children. She divides
her time between writing and, well, we’re not allowed
to say. The book is the first in a series.
Read the first chapter at www.bethmcmullen.com.
The Way of the Happy Woman
Sara Avant Stover ’95
The Way of the Happy Woman playfully prescribes
how to honor each season of the year with wholesome foods, yoga, meditation and reflections. When
we listen to and follow our biorhythms, health and
happiness follow.
Yoga teacher and retreat leader Sara Avant Stover
presents suggestions for yoga sequences, meditations,
affirmations, journaling exercises, and healthy meals
and recipes for each season. The book makes the case
that the key to a woman’s health and happiness resides in the ancient, and nearly forgotten, knowledge
of how to live in accordance with daily, seasonal and
yearly rhythms.
Women need this wisdom now more than ever,
says Stover. Natural nurturers, women instinctually
care for others and think that paying too much attention to their own needs is “selfish.” Over time
this approach to life can take a heavy toll, leaving
women depleted and defeated and not knowing
why. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Women
don’t have to stop helping others to fulfill their own
needs and desires.
Readers learn to prepare simple, healthful foods
according to ayurvedic wisdom for spring, summer,
fall and winter. Yoga postures and contemplations can
help to synchronize readers’ inner and outer worlds.
Women are ready for a powerful shift, a shift toward self-nurture and an empowered, happy life. The
Way of the Happy Woman is an owner’s manual for the
radiant mind, body and spirit every woman craves.
Reading My Father
Alexandra Styron ’83
Few novelists of the past 50 years have enjoyed the
huge success and lengthy renown of William Styron.
With Sophie’s Choice, Lie Down in Darkness and
Pulitzer Prize-winning The Confessions of Nat Turner,
Styron established himself as a masterful chronicler
of the American experience. But his gift for fiction
came at a heavy price. The last 25 years of Styron’s
life were marked by episodes of devastating depression, the first of which he documented with stunning
candor in Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness.
Reading My Father is a portrait of this towering, mesmerizing, occasionally crippled man by his
youngest daughter, Alexandra Styron, wrought with
intimacy, incisiveness, integrity and love. (See page
30 to read an excerpt from the book.)
The challenge, and the theme of Alexandra’s
childhood, was to navigate the tempest of her father’s
titanic personality. But when depression pulled
Styron under, the rules—and the life his family had
long known—would change completely.
Synthesizing discoveries made in her father’s
Duke University archives with her own memories,
some long forgotten, Alexandra offers a vivid look
at the experiences that shaped William Styron’s life
and his novels. Expanding on a beloved New Yorker
essay, and casting light, not judgment, Alexandra
has written a memoir every bit as compelling and
beautifully cadenced as her father’s novels, and with
grace to spare.
She is also the author of the novel All the Finest
Girls. A graduate of Barnard College and the MFA
program at Columbia University, she has contributed
to several anthologies as well as The New Yorker, the
New York Times, Avenue, Real Simple and Interview.
She lives with her husband and two children in
Brooklyn, New York.
For the latest news
on campus events,
please visit
www.TaftSchool.org.
around the Pond
By Maggie Dietrich
Photos by Phil Dutton
n At the museum:
Jackie Topete with
her mom and
“baby Ruben”
n Jason Feinman
is set to tackle the
Appalachian Trail
n Matt Bacco
and Mimi Picotte
load up their
bike-powered
blender.
Project Time
It was a perfect spring evening for the
Senior Project Museum, unleashing a
festive and celebratory spirit. Students’
projects took over the faculty room,
Lincoln Lobby, Bingham and spilled out
around the pond.
Senior Projects, now in their sixth
year, give seniors the ability to explore
special passions and interests, collaborate with peers, faculty and staff, and
exhibit publicly the ways in which they
embody the Portrait of the Graduate.
This year’s crop of projects included
many interesting and creative ones.
Caroline O’Neill and Sasha Bogdanovics
learned to design and construct birdhouses, which they modeled on Taft
buildings.
To raise awareness about a serious
issue, Jackie Topete’s “Diapers and
Dorm Life: My Teen Mom Experiment”
entailed a month-long teen pregnancy
simulation. The baby simulator, Ruben
Topete, acted like a real baby, needing to
be fed, burped, rocked or changed, and
waking up every two hours. Topete kept
a journal to document the experience.
“I wanted to understand what it was
like to raise a child as a teenager and
teach the Taft community about this
national issue,” said Topete. “During the
simulation, I was always tired and rarely
saw my friends. I had to take my baby to
classes with me and he cried the whole
time. The experience was much more
difficult that I thought it would be, but
it was a very interesting project and I am
glad I did it.”
Nick Auer showcased his singing
and comic talents, hosting a cabaret
continued on next page—
around the POND
—continued from previous page
SHOUT!
Club
Nearly 150 students and faculty
Spotlight participated in the
National “Day of
Silence” to raise awareness of the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and questioning
(LGBTQ) students. Participants took
a vow of silence for a day as a way to
help “end the silence.” This powerful event was organized by SHOUT
(Students Homosexual and Other
United at Taft), a club that has gained
momentum this year with a group of
about 25 students and faculty advisers
Andi Orben and Simón Ponce.
The club promoted the Day of
Silence with a series of stark photographs of Taft students and faculty
with bandanas over their mouths.
These images were displayed in the
hallways, on posters and in a video
clip at Morning Meeting. Participants
remained silent for part or all of
the day, wore all black, ate lunch in
the silent East Dining Hall and/or
participated in the SHOUT-Out on
the Jig patio following dinner that
broke the silence with music.
“It’s great to see how the community responded to the day,” said
student organizer Kash Griffith ’13.
“There was so much positive energy
leading up to and on the day itself. At
the SHOUT-Out, we counted down
and then just started shouting. It felt
so good!”
Another successful new SHOUTaffiliated program, Rainbow Rhino,
entails a two-hour training that creates formalized allies for the LGBTQ
community. After the training, participants display a sign by their room
or office that formally identifies them
as safe and affirming to talk to about
LGBTQ issues. Orben developed the
training to increase awareness and acceptance of the LGBTQ community
and has run ten “Rainbow Rhino”
sessions since September. More than
80 students, faculty and staff completed the training.
n Members of SHOUT organize an annual Day of Silence.
show to a packed Choral Room.
The show was a true collaborative
effort, with the chamber orchestra
and director of instrumental music
T.J. Thompson accompanying him.
Over in Woodward Chapel, Sam
Willson gave an organ demonstration.
But Senior Projects were not the only
game in town. Now in its 47th year, the
Independent Studies Project (ISP) is a
unique program where students in any
class can express their independence,
creativity and personal interest and passion through a yearlong project.
For his ISP, Matt Petroff ’11 designed and built a small linear particle
accelerator that accelerates molecules
from the air into a copper target. For
his work, Petroff was a finalist at the
Connecticut Science Fair, won prizes
from the IEEE, a professional association for the advancement of technology,
and Connecticut College, and met the
governor. At Commencement, Petroff
received the David Edward Goldberg
Memorial Award for outstanding independent work.
“Constructing this sort of device is
normally only in the realm of large institutions with equally large research budgets,”
said Petroff. “However, the concept is
simple in principle and an accelerator can
be built without extensive resources.”
For her ISP, uppermiddler Connie
Chung, who also earned a Goldberg
award, embarked on a more “classical”
line of study through her paper “The
Augustan Rise to Power,” which she
presented and defended like an Honor
Thesis and may look to publish it in a
history journal as well.
“I was so impressed by her ability to
engage in discussion and debate with
faculty members in a truly collegial manner during her final presentation,” said
ISP director Rick Lansdale.
Nine of the ISPs were completed by
nonseniors this year, including Ina Kosova
’12, who translated her grandparents’
memoirs from Albanian into English.
Hollywood Comes to Taft
h Modern Family’s
Ty Burell during
filming on campus
Andre Li ’11
Taft’s idyllic campus is featured on the
big screen yet again. The cast and crew
of the movie Goats came to campus for
three days to film this spring, a follow-up
to a shorter filming session last fall. In
the movie, Taft’s campus serves as Gates
Academy, an East Coast prep school.
Some Taft students had the unique experience of being extras in the film.
“Being an extra was such a fun experience,” said Sarah Kaufman ’12. “It made
me realize how much work goes into
making just 30 seconds of a movie. The
cast was so friendly and fun to be around
and the six hours we were working went
by so fast!”
Filming brought Hollywood stars
to Taft, including Ty Burrell, Dakota
Johnson, Graham Phillips and Anthony
Anderson. The director of the film is
Christopher Neil.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when
I saw Ty Burell, especially since I had
just watched his show, Modern Family,
the night before,” said Sebby Orman
’11, who also got hired as an extra.
“Working on the set was actually very,
very exhausting. I was an extra in only
one scene, but it took four hours to film!
Meeting Ty, however, was totally worth
the time and effort.”
Actors were spotted all over campus,
watching sports practices, eating in the
dining hall and chatting with students.
“I can’t wait to be forever immortalized in the cinematic adventures of
Goats!” said Dani Lewis ’11, which is
true for her as well as for Taft.
Front Lines
Military expert Francis J. “Bing” West
shared his perspective on military and
international affairs, based on firsthand experiences. West is a Vietnam
veteran, military scholar and author of
The Village, a counterinsurgency classic. His provocative, new book, The
Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way
Out of Afghanistan, provides a sober
assessment of the war in Afghanistan.
West’s visit came right on the heels
of Osama bin Laden’s death, making for
a highly topical discussion about international relations and military conflicts.
At his Morning Meeting presentation,
West discussed the nature of war, the
challenges of the Afghanistan conflict,
and drew a connection between
Taft students following the school
motto, “Not to be served but to serve,”
and those who serve in the military.
West served as assistant secretary of
defense for international security affairs in the Reagan administration. He
has been on hundreds of patrols and
operations throughout Vietnam, Iraq
and Afghanistan. For more information on West, visit www.bingwest.com.
West’s visit was made possible
by the Rear Admiral Raymond F.
DuBois Fellowship in International
Affairs, which offers Taft students
the opportunity to learn more about
n Former Assistant Secretary of Defense
international affairs through annual
“Bing” West was this year’s DuBois
Fellowship speaker
presentations by guest lecturers.
Among other guest speakers
Remembrance Day. Vertes is an awardthis spring, Agnes Vertes, president
winning independent documentary
of Holocaust Child Survivors of
filmmaker and a child survivor of the
Connecticut, shared her personal and
Holocaust in Budapest.
tragic experience to mark Holocaust
Andre Li ’11
Co-Head Monitors
Elephant in the
Room
The spring performance of
The Elephant Man by Bernard
Pomerance made for a moving and
inspiring evening in Woodward
Black Box Theater. Performed in
the round, the show brought to life
the real-life story of John Merrick,
a horribly deformed man in 19thcentury London.
“It is always good, as a director, to take on complicated
characters,” said Rick Doyle. “For
this show in particular it was a
challenge to try and see the characters’ world as they see it and
then get the student actors to see
the same world. This cast was a
wonderful group that relished
the experience.”
The show featured the acting talent of Ben Johnson ’12
playing John Merrick, Tommy
Robertshaw ’14 as Frederick
Treves, the surgeon who rescues
him from a freak show act, Will
O’Meara ’12 playing his manager
and Emily Nelson ’12 as the actress who befriends Merrick.
Uppermids Ben Johnson and Emily
Nelson in The Elephant Man.
It was a historic moment in Bingham
when Headmaster Willy MacMullen
’78 announced the new co-head
monitors and co-chairs for next year
to a cheering student body. New this
year, one boy and one girl from each
class were elected as the new student
leaders. Will O’Meara and Story
Viebranz are the newly elected cohead monitors for the Class of 2012.
Assistant headmaster Rusty Davis
chaired a student-faculty committee to examine all areas of student
leadership elections, from the election process to the possibility of
co-head monitors. The committee
suggested several subtle but substantive changes to the process and also
recommended that the school elect
co-chairs of all class committees as
well as co-head monitors.
“The committee did remarkable
work,” MacMullen
said, “and their recommendations were
really well received.
One of the reasons
for the head monitor
recommendation was that we have
had numerous ties over the years
for class committee chairs, and cochairs have always worked out well.
But more importantly, we saw this as
an opportunity to expand leadership
opportunity. I am really excited—
not just about Story and Will, who
will be terrific, but also about the
change in general.”
Students must also “opt-in” now if
they are interested in serving on their
class committee, and head monitor
candidates need to complete personal
statements that are shared with the
student body.
In the Gallery
Rockwell Visiting Artist Bruce
Stiglich visited art classes
and spoke with students at
Morning Meeting this spring.
“My work begins with a
discovery of found images
that to me seem incomplete,”
he explained. “The process of
completing the image is selfreferential in nature. They deal
with issues of memory, chance,
mysticism, puzzles and pieces.
That these pieces fit and don’t
fit simultaneously, create a
logical formal order and a less
logical meaning.”
His show Accumulation/
Hallucination was in the Mark
Potter ’48 Gallery for the
month of May.
For more information, visit
www.brucestiglich.com.
h Charles Keating, a former Royal Shakespeare Company actor, helps English teachers
Rick Lansdale and Linda Saarnijoki with a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
as Pam MacMullen looks on. Peter Frew ’75
Acting Out
English teachers acted out Shakespeare
and explored ways to incorporate performance work into classroom teaching and
assessment at their department day.
“This day helped us shape the English
curriculum for next year in ways that are
exciting,” said Jennifer Zaccara, head of
the English Department. “In addition, it
was a lot of fun to see colleagues acting
out Pyramus and Thisbe scenes from A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
As a result of the day’s activities,
Shakespeare and performance work
will now take a more central role in
the English curriculum. New next
year, uppermids and seniors will read
Shakespeare and all classes will do sonnet recitations.
New Tradition
This year’s senior class established
a Senior Community Service Day
to give back to the community and
reflect the school motto en masse in
their final days on campus.
The entire class participated, volunteering at either Flanders Nature
Center or Audubon Society. Both
organizations are longtime partners
of Taft, committed to the conservation, preservation and restoration
of natural resources. On a very rainy
Thursday morning, seniors worked
at these sites, removing invasive
plant species, cleaning up trails and
cutting brush.
“Even though it was a wet day,
the seniors embraced the spirit of
the day, worked hard and had a lot of
fun,” said head of Global Service and
Scholarship Jamella Lee. “I expect
this is a tradition that future senior
classes will carry on.”
Student organizers were Lillie
Belle Viebranz ’11 and Meg Cavazuti
’11 of the Volunteer Council as well
as the school monitors. In addition to
Lee, faculty members Jeremy Clifford
and Baba Frew provided support to
make the day successful.
The Power of One
The all-school summer reading
book is the compelling memoir The Power of One by Bryce
Courtenay.
“When the young protagonist
faces an uncaring adult world with
little support from others and a
negligible sense of self, he uses his
friendships as a means to understand the world,” writes one senior
who recommends the book, “giving him the courage, intelligence,
and power to survive. The Power
of One is an empowering story that
illustrates the trials of adolescence
and the value of friendship...”
“Courtenay’s The Power of One
is South Africa’s Forrest Gump,”
writes another.
Previous selections for the allschool summer read, which dates
back to 2001, include Zeitoun by
Dave Eggers, Namesake by Jhumpa
Lahirir, Nickel and Dimed by
Barbara Ehrenreich, Tracy Kidder’s
Mountains Beyond Mountains, Kite
Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Never
Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat, House
of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus,
Color of Water by James McBride
and Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
You can find more summer
reading suggestions from students
and faculty on the website:
www.TaftSchool.org/students/
readinglist.aspx
around the POND
in brief
Summer Fellowships
Kilbourne Summer Enrichment Fund in the arts
Bulletin Wins Bronze
The Council for the Advancement of
Support of Education recognized the
Taft Bulletin with a bronze medal for
excellence among Independent School
Magazines.
Natalie Bell ’12--------------------------------------------Architectural design, Columbia University
Katerina Rosen ’12-------------------------------------------- Creative writing, Columbia University
Oliver Salk ’13----------------------Summer camp for film and acting, New York Film Academy
Cassie Willson ’13-------------------- Music, Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University
Sam Lamy ’14-----------------Photography, Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University
Kasey Pietro ’13---------------- Musical theater, Boston University Summer Theatre Institute
Meg Page ’74 Fellowships
A.J. Fields ’12---------------------------------------National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine
Paige Rogers ’12-------------------------------------------- Biology course, University of Richmond
Zinhe Zheng ’13-------------------- Biomedical Research Academy, University of Pennsylvania
Robert Poole Fellowships
Brazen Brass
Collegium’s 15th annual concert at
St. John the Divine was packed with family,
friends and alumni. The program, entitled
Brazen Brass, featured music for choir,
brass and organ including Renaissance
music and contemporary Paul Halley
tunes. As always, all Collegium alumni
were invited to join in singing the final
piece, Freedom Trilogy by Halley.
“It continues to be a glorious close
to our Collegium Musicum concert
season,” said music director Bruce Fifer.
Collegium also performed Brazen Brass
at the final Music For a Great Space concert in Woodward Chapel on campus.
Teens and Sleep
“We looked at recent research on the
sleep patterns of adolescents and realized
that a later start time would bring academic benefits and make for healthier,
better-rested students,” said dean of academic affairs Jon Willson ’82.
So after much debate, the faculty voted in favor of a schedule change for next
year that moves the start of the class day
from 7:50 to 8:15 am. Nearly 70 percent
of the faculty voted for the change.
Christopher Browner ’12------------------------------------------Waterbury Police Activity League
Everett Brownstein ’12-------------------------------- Helambru Project, Omprakash Foundation
Katie Drinkwater ’11------------------------------------------------------- WISER, Muhuru Bay, Kenya
Ben Johnson ’12---------------------------------------- Helambru Project, Omprakash Foundation
Grace Kalnins ’11----------------------------------------------------------- WISER, Muhuru Bay, Kenya
Claire Moore ’12-------------------------------------------------------------Trinity Yard School, Ghana
Mai Nguyen ’12---------------------------------------------------------------------Tinkuy program, Peru
Carl Sangree ’14------------------------------------------------------------- AMC teen crew work, N.H.
Blake Turner ’12---------------------------------------------- Immokalee Guadalupe Center, Florida
Lily Tyson ’13-----------------------------------------------------------Rustic Pathways program, India
Irene Villafane Sanz ’13---------------------------------------------------------- Travel to Teach, China
Dima Yankova ’12------------------------------------------------------------------Tinkuy program, Peru
Will Ziesing ’12-------------------------------------------------------Wetlands remediation, Wyoming
Comedy of Errors
Helena Fifer’s advanced acting class
presented William Shakespeare’s
Comedy of Errors in the Black Box in
May. While the original plan was to
perform outside in front of Congdon,
the weather did not cooperate.
“This production was definitely an
ensemble effort, with many of the actors playing multiple roles, changing
costumes—and genders—at breakneck
speed,” said Fifer. “We performed with
no set but great lighting and sound, and
the students did a stupendous job.”
The cast included Maggie Alisberg,
Katherine Carroll, Elias Clough, Liz
Demmon, Charlie Garcia, Jack
Kenyon, KC Pietro, Cassie Willson
and Erin Wilson. Special guests were
Nick Auer, Jake Cohen, Molly Tuohy
and Ebony Easley.
Fifer is eager to work with the English
Department next year as they introduce
more Shakespeare and performance
work into their curriculum. “I know
my students are going to be the experts
when it comes to reading, understanding
and coming up with innovative ways to
perform Shakespeare,” said Fifer.
Walk MS
A team of over 30 students and faculty
participated in the 2011 Walk MS in
Litchfield, raising more than $1,300 to
support multiple sclerosis. This is the
second year that Taft has participated.
College Process Gets Real
The McCullough field house was
packed for this year’s annual College
Fair, which hosted representatives
from over 125 schools from across
the country. Mids and uppermids attended, as did students from local
high schools, including Watertown,
Waterbury, Westover, Trinity-Pawling
and Gunnery. “Meeting people from the different
schools made the college process very
real,” said Eliza Davis ’12. “It didn’t really hit me until I went home with seven
viewbooks that now I actually have to
start thinking about college. The college process isn’t far away anymore!”
College Choices
This year, Taft seniors chose the following
schools in the highest number:
Amherst College..............................................3
Bates College...................................................5
Boston College.................................................9
Bowdoin College..............................................4
Bucknell University..........................................5
Colorado College.............................................3
Columbia University........................................3
Cornell University............................................6
George Washington University........................9
Georgetown University....................................7
Gettysburg College..........................................3
Johns Hopkins University.................................3
Lehigh University.............................................3
Middlebury College.........................................3
New York University........................................4
Northeastern University..................................3
Trinity College..................................................6
Tufts University................................................5
Villanova University.........................................4
Wesleyan University........................................3
Williams College..............................................3
Awards
Violinists Michelle
Chang ’12 and
TaeYoung Woo
’12 were accepted
into select
orchestras. Chang
was accepted into
the MENC (Music
Education National
Conference) All
National Orchestra
this year. Woo was
accepted to the
Connecticut All
State Orchestra.
n Chemistry teacher
David Hostage
was awarded the
2010–11 High
School Teacher
Award from the
Connecticut Valley
Section of the
American Chemical
Society.
Promoted
• Alison Carlson, senior class dean
• Jeremy Clifford, middle class dean
• Shannon Lenz Guidotti, upper middle
class dean
• Ellen Hinman, Classics Department head
• Steve Palmer, English Department head
• Al Reiff ’80, director of Taft Educational Center
• Jen Reilly, middle class dean
• Rachael Ryan, lower middle class dean
• Sarah Sanborn, associate dean of students
• Jen Zaccara, associate dean of faculty
Hired
• Rohan Arjun, global scholarship & service
fellow, admissions
• Kevin Conroy, Spanish (returning)
• John Dawson, history, admissions
• Brianne Foley, history
• Amanda Getty, science
• Caitlin Hincker, English
• Ken Hincker, English
• Michael Hoffman ’97, admissions, history
• Shaadi Khoury, history
• Matt LaBrie, English fellow
• Matt Mason, classics & admissions fellow
• Nick MacDonald, history
• Luis Mendoza, Spanish
• Ben Pastor ’97, alumni & development
• Ledlie Pastor, alumni & development
• Moriah Petersen, science fellow
• Peter Saltsman, director of environmental
studies & stewardship; GSS, science
• Kate Seethaler, dance
n John Boyd ’11
received the Award
of Excellence for
his contributions
to the historical
committee at the
2011 Harvard
Model Congress.
n Head Athletic
Trainer Maryann
Laska was inducted
into the class of
2011 Connecticut
Athletic Trainers’
Association (CATA)
Hall of Fame.
• Will Shotwell, English
• Charles Thompson, information
technology director
• Johanna Valdez, English fellow
• Walt Warner, science
Departed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Kendall Adams ’05, science
Tom Adams, information technology
Brandan Baran, history
Mark Bodnar, information technology
Chris Brown ’64, English
Chris Dietrich, admissions
Joe Freeman, English
Nicole Glazer ’05, Spanish
Mike Harrington, science
Jess Hayward, mathematics
Leon Hayward, mathematics
Bill Kron, science
Meredith Lyons, dance
Rob Madden ’03, Spanish
Simón Ponce, Spanish
Geordie Richards, mathematics
Edie Traina, history
Mark Traina, history
Nikki Willis, English
Sabbatical
• David Hostage
For more on the
spring season,
please visit
www.TaftSports.com.
spring SPORT wrap-up
By steve Palmer
h Rhydian Glass
’12 pitched a strong
game for Taft, earning six strikeouts in
six innings against
Westminster in the
championship game
of the Western New
England Tournament.
n Capping a season that included wins over
Deerfield, Hotchkiss and Choate, co-captain
Philippe Simard ’11 received the Alban Barker
League Sportsmanship award. Peter Frew ’75
Rob Madden ’03
Boys’ Lacrosse 6–10
This was a season of close games in
a very tight league for Taft, including four one-goal losses and three
one-goal wins. Two of the best games
came late in the season, a 9–8 win over
Loomis followed by a 12–13 loss to
Avon. Offensively, Matt Hauck ’11 led
the way, with 32 goals and 12 assists,
earning All-Western New England
honors and a spot in the New England
East-West Game. Jeff Kratky ’13, Taft’s
second leading goal scorer, also earned
All-WNE honors and won 62% of his
face-offs. Defensively, Peter Mistretta
’11 and Matt Tetro ’11 were solid and
were named Founders League All-Stars.
With some talented young players, Taft
returns five of its top six scorers, along
with goalie Chase Murphy ’12 who had
a huge second half of the year, saving
58% of shots faced.
Girls’ Lacrosse 11–4
The girls’ varsity lacrosse season started
with a spring break to Baltimore to
play two of the top teams in the nation,
Severn and McDonogh schools, and
Taft followed with four straight wins for
a 4–0 start. Captains Julia Van Sant ’11
and Pell Bermingham ’11 led the team
all season and in many ways on the field.
Laurel Pascal ’12 was the leading scorer
while Jordan McCarthy ’12 defensively
marked opponents’ best players. Both
were named NEPSWLA All Stars for
their efforts. Highlights down the stretch
included a victory over the always strong
Greenwich Academy (14–6) and an
exciting one-goal win against undefeated rival Hotchkiss (11–10). Taft
will miss the all-around talents of Van
Sant, Bermingham, Jenny Janeck ’11 and
Claire Wilson ’11, but returns 12 players
for the 2012 season, including leading
offensive threat Charlotte O’Leary ’12,
and goalie Lexi Dwyer ’12.
Girls’ Golf 12–2
New England Champions
Founders League Champions
After sweeping league rivals Choate
(6–0) and Loomis (5–0) during the
season, Taft earned its first New England
Championship by winning the 26th
Pippy O’Connor Independent School
Girls Golf Classic held at Blue Hill
Country Club in Canton, MA. Captain
Ali Eleey ’12 was the individual Medalist
out of the 72 girls in the field, shooting
a 77, and her teammates Nikki Yatsenick
’12 (84), Caroline Quamme ’13 (85),
and Erin McPhee ’11 (94) combined for
the lowest team score of 340 to defeat
a strong Greenwich Academy team.
Taft has won the 18-hole team division
for three years now, but this was the
first year the event was sanctioned as
the New England championship. The
Rhinos were also crowned Founders
League Champions a week later, again
with Eleey as Medalist (36), and again
with Quamme, Yatsenick, and McPhee
leading the way for the team score.
Boys’ Golf 10–1
The rough spring weather made for
an uneven season for Taft’s young golf
squad, with a total of six canceled matches. Despite starting three lower middlers
for most matches, the Rhinos played well
as a team throughout the regular season,
going 10–1 with key wins over Choate
(422–423) and eventual KIT champion
Kingswood (408–412). Matt Schimenti
’14 and Henry Wesson ’13 earned All
League honors and played in the top
two spots for much of the spring, while
captain and Galeski Award winner John
Wawer ’11 played well in every match
and steadied the team. At the 22-team
KIT tournament, the season’s finale, Taft
finished 7th behind uppermid Brandon
Sousa’s 78, with Schimenti (79) and
Wesson (80) close behind.
Softball 11–3
Western New England
Runner-Up
Although Taft suffered two losses right
off the bat to tough Canterbury and
Westminster teams, this was a determined team that worked hard each day
together. The Rhinos went on to win
nine consecutive games, giving up only
14 runs while racking up 94 runs during that streak. This was also a season
of firsts for the program, as the team
defeated Choate (4–0) for the first
time in many years to win the semifinal
game of the Western New England
Championship. Moreover, it was the
first time in Taft’s history that the softball team made it to the championship
game of the Western New England
Tournament, a great game despite the
1–3 loss to Westminster. Captains Jess
Desorcie ’11 and Kate Moreau ’11 were
the heart of the infield and were very
productive at the plate. Rhydian Glass
’12 was stellar on the mound throughout the season and one of the leading
batters along with Cassie Ruscz ’13.
came through with their best match
of the season, an improbable win over
top-ranked Kingswood Oxford, 4–3.
Taft’s doubles teams would sweep—the
strength of the team all season—and
then Carlotta Nocivelli ’11 won the
deciding three-set battle at #3 singles.
This was the start of a fabulous 4 match
run, including wins over Choate and
Hopkins to clinch a winning record.
With nine returners, the future looks
bright for 2012.
Baseball 9–6–1
Early season wins over Hotchkiss (7–5)
and Kent (16–8) propelled Taft to
second place in both the Founders and
Colonial leagues with a record of 9–6–1.
However, the Rhinos’ real highlight
came in dealing first-place Avon Old
Farms its only loss of the season, a 6–4
victory behind senior Mike West’s great
pitching. Taft then defeated third-place
Loomis Chaffee in the exciting season
finale. Co-captain Mike Moran ’11 hit a
monster, walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth for the win, and that
came after he pitched a complete teninning game with 10 strikeouts. Moran
finished the season with a 1.42 ERA and
a .327 BA. Fellow seniors co-captain
Nick Manfreda ’11 (.412 BA, .508 OBP,
3 HR), Sam French ’11 (.393 BA, .443
OBP, 13 RBI), and West (.316 BA, .469
OBP, 4.57 ERA) also had tremendous
seasons. Kyle Considine ’12 (1.74 ERA)
and Jackson McGonagle ’12 will return
to lead next year’s team.
Girls’ Tennis 7–6
Captain Lydie Abood ’11 and Courtney
Jones ’13 took over at #1 and #2 singles
this spring and helped Taft race out to
a 3–0 start to the season. That momentum was halted in a heartbreaking 3–4
loss to Westminster that spiraled to six
straight losses. However, the Rhinos
n Captain Louie Reed ’11 on his way to
a 49.29 in the 400m at the New England
Championship meet. Courtesy of Risley Sports
Photography
Boys’ Tennis 15–4
Founders League Champions
Southern New England
Champions
New England Runner Up
Taft again won the Southern New England
Tennis League and Founders League, but
the 2011 squad may be the strongest in
recent memory. Four players won individual league titles: co-captain Herbie Klotz
’11 at #3 singles, Jagger Riefler ’13 at #4,
Andy Cannon ’11 at #5 and Austen Dixon
’11 at #6. Co-captain Phil Simard ’11 was
Taft’s top player for the third year and was
honored to win the League Sportsmanship
award, voted on by all the league coaches.
spring SPORT
Benedikt Burckhardt ’11 also had a great
season at #2 singles and teamed up with
Klotz to form a formidable #1 doubles
team. The Rhinos defeated Groton (4–0)
in the first round of the New England
Tournament, then Deerfield (4–0) in the
semifinals to set up the championship final
with Andover, a 2–4 loss. That final battle
was made up of incredibly close matches
and monumental swings, with the most
dramatic comeback staged by Riefler, who
won after being down 1–5 in the third set.
in the 200 meters. A.J. Fields ’11 led the
throwers all season and placed 6th at the
New England meet with a new personal
best of 44′6″ in the shot put.
Girls’ Track 7–2
This strong, balanced team came within
a few points of winning the Founders
League title. Taft was solid in nearly every event, led by co-captain Idara Foster
SPRING 2011 ATHLETIC AWARD WINNERS
Seymour Willis Beardsley Track Award-----------------------Xavier Louis Reed ’11
Idara A. Foster ’11
Crew Awards------------------------------------------------------------Emerson Davis ’11
Emily K. Ewing ’11
Galeski Golf Award------------------------------------------------------John J. Wawer ’11
George D. Gould Tennis Award--------------------------------Philippe S. Simard ’11
Girls’ Golf Award------------------------------------------------------ Erin E. McPhee ’11
Odden Lacrosse Award------------------------------------------ Matthew C. Hauck ’11
Alrick H. Man, Jr., Tennis Award----------------------------------Lydia H. Abood ’11
Softball Award-------------------------------------------------------Rhydian W. Glass ’12
Stone Baseball Award--------------------------------------------- Michael R. Moran ’11
Wandelt Lacrosse Award------------------------------- Katherine P. Bermingham ’11
Julia C. Van Sant ’11
Boys’ Track 5–6
The season started well with wins over
Avon, Trinity Pawling and a strong team
from Brunswick, but Taft had too many
holes to compete with league champions
Loomis and a powerful Choate team.
The strength of the Rhinos was in the
sprints, especially the 400 meters, led by
captain Louie Reed ’11, who won the
Founders League Meet and placed 2nd
at the New England meet with a time of
49.29. Mike Williams ’11 had a hand in
tying two school records in our fantastic
tri-meet versus Suffield and Hotchkiss.
Williams won the 100m in 10.84 to tie
the mark set in 1996, then he anchored
the 4x100m relay with Mitch Wagner
’12, Zach Karlan ’12, and Reed, winning
in 43.71. Karlan placed 3rd at the league
meet and 5th at the New England meet
’11 who tied the school record in the
100 meters (12.4) and anchored the
new school record in the 4x100m relay
with Lexi Rogers ’12, Candice Dyce
’13, and Sammi Morrill ’13 (50.93).
Lucy Aziz ’11 came close to being undefeated in the PV and discus through
the dual meet season, and was 2nd in
both at the league meet. Taft throwers
were dominant all season, with Maggie
O’Neil ’13 (3rd) and Katie Harpin ’13
(4th) placing at the New England meet
in the shot put, and Harpin (4th) and
Ellen Kalnins ’12 (5th) placing in the
javelin. Leah McIntosh ’13 was a leading
hurdler and jumper and scored in every
event she entered all season, while teammate Candice Dyce ’13 was a double
Founders League champion, finishing
with season-best marks of 16′5″ in the
long jump and 35′9″ in the triple jump.
With so many strong, young athletes,
this team should be in the championship
mix for the next two years.
Girls’ Crew 7–2
The 2011 crew team was the largest in
school history, with six boats. This depth
allowed Taft to be quite competitive,
defeating crews from Choate, Berkshire,
Gunnery and always-strong Porters on
the way to winning most of its dual and
tri races. At the Founders Day Regatta, all
six of Taft’s crews made the finals, and the
fifth boat won a bronze medal. The first
boat won the Petite Final while the fourth
boat finished fourth. At the New England
Championship, Taft received invitations
for all four of the eligible boats. The second boat made it to the Grand Final, and
the first boat won the Petite Final to lead
Taft to a 7th-place finish for the points
trophy. The crew of Hanna Dethlefs ’12,
Liz Sangree ’11, Sasha Bogdanovics ’11
and co-captains Emily Ewing ’11 and cox
Neve Schadler ’11 made for a powerful
first boat and has been at the core of this
team for the past two years.
Boys’ Crew 5–2
This was a deep crew team, with talent
across all five boats. The Rhinos swept
Gunnery and Canterbury early in the
season, then did the same in defeating
Pomfret and Middlesex just before the
New England Championships, where the
third boat made it to the Grand Final.
Taft had its best day at the Founders Day
Regatta, a 23-team field hosted by The
Gunnery. Taft’s second boat won the
Petite Finals, while first and fourth boats
made it to the Grand Finals. Injuries
to co-captains Emerson Davis ’11 and
Tommy Mulroy ’11 and tough weather
made for an uneven season in the top
boats, but Kris Bae ’11, Sam Willson ’11,
David Hanke ’12, William Fitzgerald ’12
and cox Amanda Crown ’11 powered the
first boat in its fastest races.
annual fund report
2010–11
This has been a remarkably successful year for the Taft Annual Fund—a banner year, for sure. Taft alumni/ae, parents,
$3.6 million goal, by raising $3,815,989, breaking
our record of previous years. These new funds equate to almost $6,500 per student, and provide
grandparents and friends helped us exceed our
critical operating support to the school. Our loyal and generous alumni raised an impressive
$1,647,261.
The Class of 1966 celebrated its 45th reunion by
contributing more than any other class, at
$126,132,
and the Class of 1961 demonstrated the highest level of
participation among classes 50 or fewer years out, with
59% of its members contributing. I offer my
most sincere thanks and congratulations to
those reunion-year donors, and to the
entire Taft community for its selfless generosity and loyalty in
this great achievement.
continues…
annual fund report 2010–11
…continued from previous page
Overall alumni participation came in at 38%, in line with recent year levels, but short of
historical highs. We should all congratulate ourselves on this result, but I believe that we can do much
better. That we were still able to realize record-level giving stands as testament to the outstanding
effort of our class agents and volunteers, who work very hard to advocate on behalf of the Annual
Fund and who build and sustain vibrant connections between Taft and our alumni body. Few of us
enjoy being solicited for donations, and fewer still prize the responsibility to conduct that work. It
requires discipline, fortitude, time and enthusiasm to make “the ask,” and hundreds of Taft alumni
and student volunteers have taken on this role in the true spirit of service. This year’s performance,
and the consistent contributions of our corps of volunteers, bodes very well for next year’s campaign,
and for Taft’s future.
Extending its remarkable fundraising streak, the Taft Parents’ Fund had another amazing year
by reaching 95% participation and generating $1,546,425 in support from current
parents. Our parents’ fund continues to set the standard among all such funds at the nation’s best
independent schools. Such phenomenal success would not be possible without the continued
largesse of our current parents, the exemplary leadership of the Parents’ Fund chairs, Tim and Nan
O’Neill, and the determination and toil of the Parents’ Committee. If history is any guide, this team is
poised to produce amazing results again, next year, under the guidance of incoming chairs Don and
Maris Pascal.
As chair of the Annual Fund, I am fortunate and honored to work with many talented and
dedicated volunteers and staff in service to Taft and its future. The Taft Annual Fund continues to
generate financial resources that are critical to providing the best possible learning environment for
our students, and the engagement of the larger Taft community is fundamental to that undertaking.
Thank you for your partnership and generosity in support of Taft.
With warm regards,
Dylan Simonds ’89
Annual Fund Chair
n New Parents’ Committee Chairs
Don and Maris Pascal
n Parents’ Committee Chairs Tim and Nan O’Neill with daughters Jarvy, Caroline ’11,
Eleanor ’11 and Maggie ’14
2010–11 Parents’ Fund Committee
Nan and Tim O’Neill, chairs
Marion Markham and Randy Abood ’68
Jan and Eric Albert ’77
Rachel Cohan Albert and Jonathan Albert ’79
Heidi and Andrew Arthur ’81
Liisa and Kenneth Bacco
Kathryn and Roy Beller
Ann and Douglass Bermingham
Jody and Brian Boland
Constance and Michael Carroll
Sheilah and Tom Chatjaval
Irene and Albert Cheng
Stasha and Mark Cohen
Jane and Jack Cooney
Kathy and Brian Daigle
John Davidge III and Deborah Lott
Jane DeBevoise
Doone and George Estey
Linn ’82 and Robert Feidelson ’82
Melissa and Trevor Fetter
Libby and Terry Fitzgerald
Kristine and Peter Glazer
2011 Class Agent Awards*
Snyder Award
Largest amount contributed by a reunion class
Class of 1966: $126,132
Class Agent: McKim Symington
Chairman of the Board Award
Highest percent participation from a class 50 years out or less
Class of 1961: 59% (includes capital)
Class Agent: Jerry Mitchell
McCabe Award
Largest amount contributed by a non-reunion class
Class of 1962: $97,513
Class Agent: Fred Nagle
Young Alumni Dollars Award
Largest amount contributed from a class 10 years out or less
Class of 2001: $6,546
Class Agent: Kat Tuckerman
*Awards determined by gifts and pledges to the Annual Fund as of
June 30, 2011.
Nicky and Jamie Grant
Nana-Yaa and Ebenezer B. Gyasi
Anne and Randy Harrell
James R. Hedges IV
Ken Hubbard and Tori Dauphinot
Jean Marie and Douglas Jamieson
Radford Klotz and
Shahnaz Batmanghelidj
Barbara and David Knowlton
Val and John Kratky
Karin and John Kukral
Elizabeth and Gavin Leckie
Susan and Robert Long
Lisa and Joe Lovering
Alice and Albert Ma
Christiana and Ferdy Masucci
Lisa and Jay McDermott
Barbara and Rai Mehta
Laura and Frank Michnoff
Regina and Dennis Olmstead
Ellen and Bill Oppenheim
Melody and Marvin Palmore
Maris and Don Pascal
Jacqueline and Harry Pierandri
Lee and Michael Profenius
Elizabeth and Frank Queally
Carla and Fred Reed
Staley and Carter Sednaoui
Cindy and John Sites
Chris and James Smith
Randi and Mitchell Solomon
Claudia and Allen M. Sperry
Daniel Standish and Melanie Dorsey
Joyce and Wing Suen
Mimi and Marc Tabah
Denise and John Trevenen
Kimberly and Michael Tucci
Nancy and Robert Turner
Sarah and Robert Underhill
Cissy and Curt Viebranz
Beverly and Mark Wawer
Susan and John Wilson
Won Hi Yoo and Kyung Ae Song
Peter and Jo Ziesing ’78
And then there were
girls
Coeducation at
Taft turns 40
By Phoebe Vaughn Outerbridge ’84
Illustrations by Nicole Alesi
W
hen Leslie Herrlinger Lanahan ’73 first arrived on the Taft campus
in the fall of 1971 as a new junior, and as one of only 82 girls in
a student body of 489, she turned the handle of her door in Mac
House and was pleasantly surprised. Fresh paint. Shag carpeting.
Groovy curtains. “I had a huge single, and it was all decorated in purple and white
Marimekko. They were trying to make it look fabulous!” recalls Lanahan. Laughing,
she adds that she was admitted the same day as her admissions interview.
The spacious singles in Mac House are mostly doubles now, and much has
changed on campus, and indeed the world, since the first years of coeducation in
the early 1970s when Taft was eagerly beckoning girls to come to the school. The
red carpet treatment isn’t really necessary these days, since about 740 girls apply
to Taft for approximately 95 spots each year. The school reached gender parity
(48 or 49 percent) almost 20 years ago, and new opportunities continue to abound
for girls on campus. Having enjoyed a healthy infancy and a rapid growth spurt,
what is the state of coeducation at Taft today? Has it reached its cruising altitude or
is there still work to be done?
“What is all this rush to coeducation? Isn’t this just flabby yielding to the fad of
instant entertainment and gratification?” wrote Headmaster John Esty in the fall 1969
issue of the Taft Bulletin, exemplifying
some of the doubts and questions that
were naturally raised in the process of
turning 80 years of tradition on its side.
Outlining the evolution of the school’s
coeducation deliberations in his article,
“Coeducation: Frantic, Faddish, and
Fundamental,” Esty wrote, “The addition
of girls would greatly enhance two traditional goals at Taft: diversification of the
student body…and realistic preparation
for college and a mature, adult life.”
While there were more mundane,
pragmatic concerns that accompanied
the loftier reasons to accept girls (Esty
noted the “greater economy of operation” of admitting girls, in the context of
diminishing applications to single-sex
schools), the concept of adding females
to the Taft equation was a reflection of
current culture and educational trends.
“There was this gigantic shift that went
on in the sixties,” recalls Tony Guernsey
’66, who was graduating just as Taft’s
Long Range Planning Committee issued
its recommendation to explore the idea of
admitting girls. “To give you an example,
at my college in 1966 there were parietals,
and women had to be in their dorms by
10 p.m. By 1970, there were coed dorms.”
By then, several top colleges had also begun to admit women [see Timeline].
Taft did in fact dabble in coeducation before 1971. In 1965 the school
began a tri-school experiment with the
nearby girls’ schools Westover and
St. Margaret’s, in an effort to provide
access to science courses to the girls, in
return for courses in philosophy, religion
and Russian. The logistical complications of transportation and conflicting
schedules proved tough to overcome.
The Taft Summer Enrichment Program,
however, which was one-third girls, was
a truly coed experience.
While it may have initially appeared
“faddish,” the process of exploring
coeducation was, and still is, a very
deliberate, continually self-evaluative
process at Taft. After years of thorough discussion and consultation by
an executive committee of the Alumni
Association, the board announced its
support for a move to coeducation in
1969 and Esty commissioned several
joint committees of faculty, staff and
students, who gave the coed movement
momentum. The committees examined
admissions, athletics, dormitories, curriculum and student life in order to
create a complete plan for the transition.
Rather than merge, Taft made the
decision to admit girls in their own right
for the 1971–72 academic year. And the
girls jumped right into the swim.
“We were adventurous, and the stakes
weren’t so high,” notes Jean Piacenza ’75,
director of counseling and community
health at Taft and one of 15 lowermids
that first year. “We were well rounded;
we weren’t afraid to try to be athletes,
students, singers, dancers. My kids said
to me once, ‘Wow, mom, you were a
three-sport athlete!’ And my reply to
them was, ‘Yes—any caterpillar could be
on a team back then!’”
Athletics played a large role in helping the girls assimilate on campus. And
with the passing of Title IX in 1972, a
new door opened for female athletes
everywhere. Guernsey, who sent two
daughters to Taft, credits much of the
female empowerment at Taft to Patsy
The X X Factor
1960:
Kent School
admits girls.
1963:
Taft hires its
first female
faculty member,
Sabra Johnson.
1965:
Taft enters a tri-school agreement with Westover
and St. Margaret’s as a coeducational experiment.
Odden, wife of headmaster Lance Odden (and, according to Guernsey, one of very
few females on the Taft campus in the mid-1960s—four of whom were the daughters
of language teacher John Noyes).
Patsy spearheaded the formation of the girls’ varsity ice hockey team—a team that
enjoyed many undefeated seasons and produced two Olympians. “I think Patsy and
Lance brought the status of a woman to equal or even greater than that of a male student,” says Guernsey.
Opportunities for girls expanded quickly and Taft’s transition to coeducation
was quite smooth.
“Taft was the envy of those schools who merged in the ’70s. We were also the
model for places like Lawrenceville and Deerfield who went coed later,” says Lance
Odden, who took the reins from John Esty in 1972.
Esty agrees. “When I became president of the National Association of
Independent Schools, I discovered our story was considered a model that was sent
out to schools who asked for help and guidance in their own undertaking in becoming coed. In fact, Deerfield’s headmaster invited me to address his faculty twice on
how Taft became coeducational.”
By 1980, the year that Elizabeth Lewis ’81 was elected Taft’s first female head
monitor, girls comprised 40 percent of the Taft student body, the original goal set by
Esty and the board. Both the curricular and the extracurricular programs expanded
greatly with the addition of girls, with more opportunities than ever for both girls
and boys to participate in sports, music, dance, theater and community service
among other areas.
“I think the opportunities for Taft girls get better and better,” says Sara Guernsey
’11, daughter of Tony Guernsey. “Our softball program is growing exponentially.
Some of the best records the past few years have been in field hockey, volleyball and
girls’ golf. And when it comes to extracurriculars, girls take over!”
Both Guernseys suggest, however, that there is still work to be done. Reading
from a plaque on Main Hall, Sara was stunned that out of the last 40 head monitors,
only five were female. Jean Piacenza agrees, adding, “I’m surprised that girls haven’t
taken over. It’s ironic.”
1966:
I had a huge single, and it was
all decorated
in purple and
white Marimekko.
They were trying
to make it look
fabulous!
1970:
John Esty initiates
discussion on
coeducation.
Vassar declines Yale’s
invitation to merge.
Taft officially
announces it will admit
girls as Taft students.
Williams College and
Phillips Exeter go coed.
1969:
Taft’s board of trustees
makes decision to
admit girls. Princeton
and Yale admit girls;
Vassar admits boys.
1971:
Taft opens in the fall with 82 girls.
I think the
opportunities for
Taft girls get
better and better...
And when it comes
to extracurriculars,
girls take over!
Lily Lanahan ’06, daughter of Leslie Lanahan and a former head monitor, finds
Taft to be a place of equal opportunity, but is also perplexed by the female leadership
conundrum. “I’m not sure why there have been so few female head monitors. I think
there have been a lot of capable nominees, male and female. I believe it comes down
to finding someone who can bridge the gap between both genders and who is eager
to get the job done.”
Jean’s daughter Emily Piacenza ’00, the first child of an alumna to come to Taft,
also wonders why, for example, boys’ varsity sports tend to be higher profile, maybe
everywhere but certainly when she was at Taft. Emily (one of few female teachers
at an all-boys school in Washington, D.C.) adds, “I also think having a very strong
female role model makes an important difference in a girl’s life. For me, my mother
set an example that showed me it was okay to be confident, opinionated and smart.
Other girls do not always have that, and at a time that can be really stressful (high
school), it mattered to me that I felt supported.”
The issue of female leadership is now in the purview of the newly created Gender
Committee, whose overall mission is to help foster gender equity on campus.
Comprised of 16 Taft faculty and staff, the committee is designed to be an open
forum to discuss and identify, in the words of its mission, “…areas for promoting
leadership with regards to the multidimensional nature of gender, [seeking] to correct any barriers to the equal treatment of individuals on campus.”
The formation of the Gender Committee is partly a result of Taft’s participation
in a 2008 study designed by the Independent School Gender Project, which set out
to measure the progress of girls and women and the attitudes toward gender at independent schools. A previous self-study on gender, initiated in 1985 by Lance Odden
and conducted by Harvard researcher Carol Gilligan and the Wellesley Center for
Research on Women, yielded the key recommendation to move from a 60/40 male/
female enrollment ratio to 50/50 and to hire more female faculty, among other recommendations. Today, women comprise 44 percent of the faculty.
Jennifer Zaccara, co-chair of the Gender Committee, recently attended an
eye-opening national Gender Project Conference. “I found out that while a great
deal of progress in terms of gender equity had occurred in the ’70s and ’80s, we have
1980:
1973:
Molly Baldrige ’72
becomes first
alumna trustee.
Andover merges
with Abbott.
1972:
Lance Odden becomes
headmaster. Kitten
Gahagan becomes first
female trustee.
1974:
Hotchkiss admits girls.
1980:
Liz Lewis ’81 is elected
as Taft’s first female
head monitor.
slipped from that strong footing,” she
explains. “We have now recognized that
by not keeping the major issues of equity
before us, we end up losing ground.” She
underscores that the issue is not unique
to Taft. “From my perspective, there is
so much positive change right now that
I cannot help but be excited about the
future at Taft.”
As a result of the recent study, and
work on the Gender Committee, one
major, measurable change took place this
spring: the election of two head monitors—one male, one female (see page 14).
Other changes include reexamining the
administrative structure to open up more
opportunities in administrative leadership.
Fewer and fewer boys’ school vestiges
exist at Taft now as the school—and society—evolves and works toward gender
equity from the ground up. The relative
success of Taft’s coeducation transition
stems largely from its organic roots. By
accepting girls in their own right from
the get-go instead of merging the Taft
culture with that of a girls’ school, the
process was almost seamless. Leslie
Lanahan, today a trustee of the school,
reflects: “The school has had time to
absorb and assimilate girls and the potential they bring to campus.” j
1985:
2002:
Taft undertakes
study on gender and
development with
Harvard researcher
Carol Gilligan.
2011:
Vogelstein girls’
dormitory is built.
Girls represent 49%
of student body.
1989:
First new girls’
dormitory, Centennial,
is built. Girls represent
43% of student body.
Taft institutes co-head
monitors, male and
female (see page 14).
2010:
Taft forms
Gender Committee.
v Author
William Styron and
daughter Alexandra
at their home in
Martha’s Vineyard,
Massachusetts,
in 1975.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/
Time & Life Pictures/
Getty Images
Reading My Father
Rex Bonomelli
Excerpted from
READING MY
FATHER, by
Alexandra Styron.
Copyright © 2011
by Alexandra
Styron. Excerpted
with permission
by Scribner, a
division of Simon &
Schuster, Inc.
By Alexandra Styron ’83
One
We buried my father on a remarkably mild morning in November 2006. From our family’s house on
Martha’s Vineyard to the small graveyard is less than a quarter mile, so we walked along the road,
where, it being off-season, not a single car disturbed our quiet formation. Beneath the shade of a
tall pin oak, we gathered around the grave site. Joining us were a dozen or so of my parents’ closest
friends. The ceremony had been planned the way we thought he’d have liked it—short on pomp, and
shorter still on religion. A couple of people spoke; my father’s friend Peter Matthiessen, a Zen priest,
performed a simple blessing; and, as a family, we read the Emily Dickinson poem that my father had
quoted at the end of his novel Sophie’s Choice.
Ample make this bed.
Make this bed with awe;
In it wait till judgment break
Excellent and fair.
Be its mattress straight,
Be its pillow round;
Let no sunrise’ yellow noise
Interrupt this ground.
“It was an
experience
I would
not care to
miss, if only
because of
the way it
tested my
endurance
and my
capacity for
sheer misery,
physical
and of the
spirit.”
My father had been a Marine, so the local VA offered us a full military funeral. Mindful of his sensibilities, we declined the chaplain. We also nixed the
three-volley salute. But we were sure Daddy would have been pleased by the
six local honor guards who folded the flag for my mother, and the lone bugler
who played taps before we dispersed. Of military service, my father once
wrote, “It was an experience I would not care to miss, if only because of the
way it tested my endurance and my capacity for sheer misery, physical and of
the spirit.” The bugler, then, had honored another of my father’s quirks: his
penchant for a good metaphor.
A year and a half later, I was walking across the West Campus Quad
of Duke University, my father’s alma mater. Passing beneath the chapel’s
Gothic spire, I opened the heavy doors of Perkins Library and headed for
the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. It is there that the William Styron Papers,
22,500 items pertaining to his life and work, are housed. I was at the end of my third trip to North
Carolina in as many months. Before I flew home to New York that afternoon, there were two big boxes I
still hoped to get a look through.
In 1952, when he was twenty-six, my father published his first novel, Lie Down in Darkness. The book
was an immediate success, and he was soon hailed as one of the great literary voices of his generation.
Descendants of the so-called Lost Generation, my father and his crowd, including Norman Mailer, James
Jones, and Irwin Shaw, embraced their roles as Big Male Writers. For years they perpetuated, without
apology, the cliché of the gifted, hard drinking, bellicose writer that gave so much of twentieth-century
literature a muscular, glamorous aura. In 1967, after the disappointing reception of his second novel, Set
This House on Fire, my father published The Confessions of Nat Turner. It became a number one bestseller,
helped fuel the tense national debate over race, and provoked another one regarding the boundaries of artistic license. Sophie’s Choice, published in 1979, won him critical and popular success around the world.
Three years later, with the release of the film adaptation starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, that story
also brought him an extraliterary measure of fame. Winner of the Prix de Rome, American Book Award,
Pulitzer Prize, the Howells Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and France’s Légion
d’Honneur, my father was considered one of the finest novelists of his time. He was also praised, perhaps
by an even larger readership, for Darkness Visible, his frank account of battling, in 1985, with major clinical depression. A tale of descent and recovery, the book brought tremendous hope to fellow sufferers and
their families. His eloquent prose dissuaded legions of would-be suicides and gave him an unlikely second act as the public face of unipolar depression.
As it turned out, the illness wasn’t finished with my father. I think we all recognized, in the aftermath
of his cataclysmic breakdown, that Bill Styron had always been depressed. A serious drinker, he relied
on alcohol not only to self-medicate but to charm the considerable powers of his creative muse. When,
at sixty, liquor began to disagree with him, he was surprised to find himself thoroughly unmanned. For
many years after his ’85 episode, he maintained a fragile equilibrium. But the scars were deep, and left
him profoundly changed. He was stalked by feelings of guilt and shame. Several setbacks, mini major depressions, humbled him further and wore a still deeper cavity in the underpinnings of his confidence. It
seems that my father’s Get out of Jail Free card had been unceremoniously revoked. And though he went
about his business, he’d become a man both hunted and haunted.
* * *
One day when I was still a baby, not yet old enough to walk, my mother went out, leaving me in the care
of my seven-year-old brother, Tommy, and nine-year-old sister, Polly. Before she left, my mother placed
me in my walker. For a while, Polly, Tommy, and the two friends they had over played on the ground
floor of our house while I gummed my hands and tooled around the kitchen island. Then, one by one,
…our father
was upstairs
napping the
whole time.
Afraid for
her own life
as much as
for mine, she
couldn’t bring
herself to
wake him.
the older kids drifted outside. Maybe a half hour later, they found themselves together at Carl Carlson’s
farm stand at the bottom of our hill. On the makeshift counter of his small shed, Carl sold penny candy;
no one could resist a visit on the couple of days a week he was open. It took a little while, scrabbling over
bubble gum and fireballs, before, with a sickening feeling, my siblings realized that nobody was watching
the Baby. Racing back up the hill, Polly burst into the kitchen but couldn’t find me. After a minute or so,
she heard a small moaning sound and followed it to the basement door. I was still strapped in my walker,
but upside down on the concrete floor at the bottom of the rickety wood stairs. My forehead had swelled
into a grotesque mound. My eyes were glassy and still. Cradling me, Polly and Tommy passed another
stricken, terrified hour before my mother got home and rushed me to the hospital.
I’ve known this famous family story for as long as I can remember. But I was in my thirties before Polly
confessed a detail I’d never known: our father was upstairs napping the whole time. Afraid for her own
life as much as for mine, she couldn’t bring herself to wake him.
Until 1985, my father’s tempestuous spirit ruled our family’s private life as surely as his eminence defined
the more public one. At times querulous and taciturn, cutting and remote, melancholy when he was sober
and rageful when in his cups, he inspired fear and loathing in us a good deal more often than it feels comfortable to admit. But the same malaise that so decimated my father’s equanimity when he was depressed
also quelled his inner storm when he recovered. In my adult years, he became remarkably mellow. A lion in
winter, he drank less and relaxed more. He showed some patience, was mild, and expressed flashes of great tenderness for his children, his growing tribe of grandchildren,
and, most especially, his wife.
He also managed, for the first time, to access some of his childhood’s unexamined but corrosive sorrows. In 1987 my father wrote “A Tidewater Morning,” a short
story in which he delivered a poignant chronicle of his mother’s death from cancer
He showed some patience, was mild,
and expressed flashes of great
tenderness for his children,
his growing tribe of grandchildren,
and, most especially, his wife.
Excerpted from
READING MY
FATHER, by
Alexandra Styron.
Copyright © 2011
by Alexandra
Styron. Excerpted
with permission
by Scribner, a
division of Simon &
Schuster, Inc.
when he was thirteen. The story would become the title of a collection of short fiction, published in 1993, that centered on the most significant themes of his youth.
During these years he also wrote several essays for The New Yorker, Esquire, The New
York Times, Newsweek, and other magazines. He published a clutch of editorials; wrote
thirty some odd speeches, commencement addresses, eulogies, and tributes; and traveled frequently to
speak on the subject of mental illness.
As for long fiction, it was less clear what he was doing. (If there was a golden rule in our house when
I was growing up, it was, unequivocally, “Don’t ask Daddy about his work.”) First and foremost, my father was a novelist. “A high priest at the altar of fiction,” as Carlos Fuentes describes him, he consecrated
himself to the Novel. He wrote in order to explore the sorts of grand and sometimes existential themes
whose complexity and scope are best served by long fiction. With a kind of sacred devotion, he kept at
it, maintaining his belief in the narrative powers of a great story—and he suffered accordingly in the process. His prose, laid down in an elegant hand on yellow legal pads with Venus Velvet No. 2 pencils, came
at a trickle. He labored over every word, editing as he went, to produce manuscripts that, when he placed
the final period, needed very little in the way of revision. But, even at the height of his powers, this meant
sometimes a decade or more between major works. Like that of a marathoner running in the dark, my
father’s path was sometimes as murky as it was long. j
121
st
Commencement
Exercises
Real World
Jake Cohen ’11, head monitor
Photographs by Robert Falcetti
The real world. We like to throw this phrase around a lot at Taft, but today it sounds more
like a destination. Usually, we hear these words introducing the vague hypothetical. Many at
Taft dread this phrase for faculty often use it as a launch pad for lectures about the ugly world,
far beneath our ivory tower.
In the real world, if you cheat, you get arrested. Sometimes, the phrase is subbed out for the
hit euphemism “in the business world,” which I’m led to believe is just a slightly more dogeat-dog version of the real world. Dog-eat-doggier if you will.
In the business world, if you show up for a meeting late, you get fired. I heard that one from
Mr. Magee a lot, actually. If all I were working on were the words of my teachers, I would
think the real world is some miserable place, far, far away from here, where everyone is just
constantly getting fired and arrested in some purgatorial cycle.
Now, I don’t mean to harp on the faculty too much. They’ve taught me a great deal, both
about academics and about life. For the past four years, they have in many ways stood in the
stead for the parents in front of me. Where my parents could not support me, the teachers
picked up the slack. And where the faculty’s jurisdiction ends, I turned to my peers in the
Class of 2011.
For your help and guidance, I thank you all. But regardless of our debt to the faculty,
we students still clash with teachers on our interpretation of the real world. While their
picture of the real world is painted with grim strokes, as teenagers, we cast the real world in
naïve splashes of color.
If you hear a Taft senior start a sentence with, “In the real world,” you’re likely to hear
them extol the kingdom outside Taft as liberal, lax, loosey-goosey. (My speech writing book
said to use alliteration.)
All 18-year-olds expect to live lives of philanthropy, opera and heli-skiing, after they sell their
internet startups in five years. So, we’re presented with two conflicting visions: The real world as a
grim, ugly, unforgiving pit of sin, or the real world as a lavish utopia, where anything is possible.
The problem is neither one is entirely accurate. The real real world settles somewhere
between our dueling depictions on either end of the spectrum. The real world is equally
our oyster and our headache. When we cross over to the broader world outside Taft, the
j Head monitor Jake Cohen holds
up the class stone before placing
it in the wall of Centennial.
m Neve Schadler receives
the 1908 Medal.
m Cousins Pell and
Sara Bermingham get to share
the front row at graduation.
m Senior Dean Jack Kenerson ’82 presents Lauren Bly with the Berkley F. Matthews Award.
She also received the Maurice Pollak Scholarship Award.
structure and rules we have come to know so well will fall
away. This prospect makes many Taft seniors giddy with
pride and excitement.
I know I’m in that club. At various points in my life, if I’ve
graduated from Velcro shoes, training wheels, braces and diapers, although not necessarily in that order. However, when
those training wheels are popped off, we can fall farther,
and fall harder. We could even get arrested or worse, fired,
banished from the business world, or finance, as Mr. Magee
would like to call it.
As we go out into the real world, the principles of a Taft
education will be more important to us than ever before.
Now, make no mistake about it, we do have a lot of rules here.
Taft institutes rules with the intent of creating good habits.
Curfews make you sleep, breakfast sign-in makes you eat, and
study hall makes you work.
Now, I would hope that eating, sleeping and working are
all habits that we take with us outside Taft. Or, at the very
least, we’ll continue to eat and sleep.
I didn’t intend to write an ode to the Taft Student
Handbook. Do I enjoy tucking in my flannel shirts or signing out on a piece of paper every time I travel somewhere?
The answer is an emphatic No. But those rules and regulations are dwarfed by the honor code—the cornerstone of a
Taft education.
The honor code sets forth a simple message. Do not
lie. Do not cheat. Do not steal. This culture of honor and
integrity distinguishes Taft. You know that satisfying feeling
when you do the right thing and no one is looking? Well, at
its very best, Taft embraces the essence of that decency.
Taft is an ethical community, but it is by no means John
Winthrop’s city upon a hill. While we are removed from the
poverty, war and hunger that make the headlines, we are
not insulated from the basic human struggle. We bicker. We
bully. We scapegoat, and we even stereotype. We’re imperfect,
sometimes very imperfect.
This is where I disagree with the ivory tower image. We
face the same world dilemmas as any other people, just on
a cozy, beautiful brick campus. Psychologists have long
debated exactly how much people are shaped by their environment, and how much of their character is inherent.
I believe people grow like trees; like trees we start with
some core beliefs at our center, but then we add new rings.
Each new person we meet, new book we read, new knot we
tie, forms a ring of growth on our trees.
My four years at Taft have forged an indelible core of
experience. While I can’t wait to see what sorts of fresh
rings the Class of 2011 develops, I would urge you never
to forget the rings we earned here at Taft, the humor, the
values, and the will to serve that Taft has imparted us with
will prove invaluable.
So, Class of 2011, venture out into the real world—whatever it may contain. But don’t forget the most important lesson
Taft has taught us: to do the right thing when no one is looking.
Simple Acts
c Guest Speaker
Dr. Melody Palmore,
mother of Sarah ’11
Dr. Melody Palmore P’11, guest speaker
I was born one of four children to Sierra Leonean parents, in
Sierra Leone, a small, beautiful country that was still an English
colony at the time, on the west coast of Africa. Both of my
parents had a medical background. My father was an Americantrained physician, who worked as a missionary, and practiced
general medicine, surgery pediatrics and a little bit of dentistry.
My mother was an English-trained midwife, and the daughter
of the first African physician in Sierra Leone. I went away to school
at the age of 6. I was sent to an American boarding school, and I
was sent there for the same reason many of you came to Taft.
My parents wanted me to have the best education that was
available. Like you, we had a rigorous academic schedule and
attended school six days a week. But the days were idyllic in
the equatorial tropics, though short, because despite having
our own generator, we only had electricity from 6 to 11 at
night, and once darkness fell, if you’re interested in studying or
finishing that chapter you’re reading, it was usually by the light
of an Aladdin kerosene lamp.
The tropical environment shaped our extracurricular activities. For gym class, we often hacked our way through the bush,
armed with machetes, enjoying long hikes. Or, we would go
down to the swamp to shoot for frogs with our bows and arrows,
later frying up some tasty frog legs for a tasty afternoon snack.
We interacted quite frequently with the American Peace
Corps that was stationed in the town, and on the weekends,
they would come up the hill to join us in a rousing game of
baseball or basketball or soccer, and twice weekly, one of the
volunteers would come up to give us piano lessons. And I have
to admit the reason why I have not mastered that particular instrument is that the practice room often had other occupants:
venomous snakes and spiders—spitting cobras, green mambas,
night adders, tarantulas to be specific. They enjoyed the music,
but I didn’t enjoy them.
Summers at home were relaxing, and we spent time picnicking with other missionary children, and while our parents
were at work, we played in the river that was used for everything from laundry and bathing to transportation, and even as
a dumping ground for the upriver mining company.
The lifeguards’ primary duty was to look out for the crocodiles that lived in the river. Needless to say, I never learned to
swim either. But by the time I was 8, I would accompany my
father on trek, and this meant taking the canoe upriver, or hiking into remote areas, often with cutlasses, and blazing our own
paths to reach people who didn’t have access to health care.
My father did what he could to treat malaria, trachoma,
tetanus and other illnesses that plagued the tropics. Though
there was not a lot to offer in those early days, he dispensed
antibiotics and administered quinine to those who had malaria.
But he and others also educated individuals on how to improve
their hygiene and how to prevent illness.
That is when I began to dream about studying medicine in
the United States with the hope that I would continue the work
that my parents had started. And in my child’s eye, the road to
my dream appeared to be paved, but was I up a creek without a
paddle? The school I attended ended at the eighth grade. And
how was I, a little African girl, to further my education?
When I was 11, an opportunity presented itself out of the
blue, and I immigrated on my own to the United States to live
with one of my father’s acquaintances. Theirs was a friendship
that stretched back to when my father earned a medical degree
at Indiana University.
From this out-of-the-blue opportunity, my dreams suddenly
seemed to be within reach. High school and college came and
went, though several serious setbacks would test my mettle:
illness during medical school and civil unrest in Sierra Leone
forced minor adjustments to be made to the dream.
But the dream formulated at the age of 8 still had room to
grow. So, I did become a doctor, but instead of returning to
Sierra Leone to practice tropical medicine, I chose to participate in the fight, as an AIDS researcher, HIV specialist and
community clinician, against an emerging global epidemic that
if left unimpeded, would destroy sub-Saharan Africa, and continue to ravage men and women and children in marginalized
communities all over the world.
HIV has no real social or socioeconomic boundaries, and,
despite decades of education, research and now even effective
treatment, it continues in the United States and the world to be
a disease behaving as a brushfire epidemic among the impoverished and minority communities. We do not have a vaccine.
We do not have a cure. There’s still much to be done to curb and
eliminate this dreaded disease, and I look to you to work on that.
I’ve been truly fortunate to do the work that I do in the field
that I’ve chosen, and I’m especially humbled to be able to participate in individuals’ lives when they’re at the most vulnerable.
I’ve learned that what really matters, that which feeds your spirit,
are the small acts along the way that can create an interpersonal
momentum that can result in a difference in someone’s life.
For me, this was the Peace Corps Volunteers and missionary
friends from my childhood, who in serving out their dreams
touched my life and helped me formulate mine. Or, the family
that invited me to come and live with them in the United States,
who helped make it possible for me to continue my education.
Allow me to share an anecdote. I was leading a team of
young doctors and students on medical rounds, when we
encountered a young crack-cocaine addicted patient, suffering from a drug and schizophrenic delirium. In what
appeared to be a lucid moment, this young woman asked
me for a drink of water.
Fifteen years later, this young woman was in my office on
a medical visit, and she recounted that story, recalling that I
interrupted rounds to bring her a glass of ice water. That act of
kindness, she said, was the turning point of her life. From that
time on, with the support of her mother, she was able to stop
her cocaine use and be compliant with her medical treatments,
and she is now healthy, working and preparing to remarry.
A glass of water. Small, seemingly insignificant acts,
along with life’s journey, create the moment that can change
an individual’s life.
You have achieved the skills and knowledge to take the
next step in your lives. You have been steeped in the philosophy of service, and the need to give of yourself and your
work, with the knowledge that in the act of giving, you will
find an acquired meaning for your life.
So, graduates, carve out your dream, and find your
purpose. Find your voice, and speak it clearly. Visualize
your potential and be open to new ideas. Strive not only
for success, but to be significant and to leave your imprint.
Remember all things of lasting value come through travail,
and determined intelligent effort.
Accept the challenge to improve the world, and be good
stewards of the gifts you have been given from your family,
your friends, and the community here at Taft.
. Jim Mooney presents the Physics Prize to
Supanath Juthacharoenwong.
m The Class of 2011 was one of the largest in the school’s history and the 40th
coed class to graduate from Taft.
. Graduating seniors Annie Oppenheim, Abby Purcell, Michelle Long and Claire Wilson
m The headmaster congratulates
Valedictorian Michael Perugini,
who also earned the Sherman Cawley
Award and the Bourne Medal in History.
Marathon Run
c Class Speaker Annie Oppenheim,
who received the Berkley F. Matthews
Award and a Senior Athletic Award
Annie Oppenheim ’11, class speaker
Taft is a marathon, and the Class of 2011 just ran it. We started
running the day we stepped onto this campus for orientation,
and it wasn’t always an easy run, but I guess that’s the point.
The important achievements are never easy. There’s nothing more daunting than the sound of a 26.2-mile run. Arriving
at Taft, too, presents itself as a somewhat formidable mission.
Seeing the seniors in their element and the level of comfort they had reached with both their classmates and their
teachers, was both intimidating and unsettling that first year,
and I distinctly remember wondering if I would ever be that
close to people; if I would ever make it that far and have 26.2
in my rear view.
Mile 4: It’s an infamous story that occurred in the middle
of lowermid year. One classmate, already in a cast, decided to
stick a finger of his free hand in a broken water fountain. His
finger got stuck, and several firemen and paramedics arrived
to free him. I think we could all say this is one of our classmate’s first cramps.
We take Taft day by day. You can’t jump from a 6-mile run
to a 16-mile run, but if you increase it by a few miles each
week, that long run might very possibly be easier.
Mile 8: Our workload was manageable, and, as sophomores, many of us girls were still excited by the simple
pleasures of Taft, such as class dinners. In an effort to impress
our male peers, many girls wore heels to sit down, a decision
that clearly annoyed the senior girls. They decided to raid the
dorms while we were at dinner and take our shoes, so we had
to wear heels to class the next day.
A minor uphill rather than a cramp, we didn’t let it phase
us. At Mile 15, just after the half, we faced the stress of junior
year, and our lives at Taft intensified. However, with the added pressure came additional fans, new relationships and more
networks of support.
We continued to push through, and as Mile 18 rolled
around, we were feeling stronger than ever. The Hawaiian
Dance and exam week last spring was an easy mile, boosting
our confidence that we would enter the final segment of our
run stronger than ever.
Mile 20 was tough. Our class confronted challenges as a
whole, and some of the runners fell off the course, unable
to see the race through. Yet we took care of ourselves, we
bonded and worked together to heal.
You run your marathon with your classmates. Everyone
runs at a different pace, but you’re never really alone. When
you pass one person or fall behind another, there’s always
someone ahead that you’ll catch up to, and someone there
when you fall behind.
But your low point might occur at another runner’s high
point, and vice versa. The power of empathy and understanding becomes so strong that these runners become closer to
you than most others in your life.
Mile 25, so close to the finish line, was our best yet. All
other pain disappeared, and the thrill and excitement of
finishing brought classmates together for our final push. We
even got to spend a day at the beach.
Our fans are the faculty and our families. They cheer us on
and support us because they want more than anything for us to
succeed. The faculty guides us and meets us at each mile marker, to ensure that we don’t fall behind and that we push through
the pain. That cup of water or packet of goo that they hand us
at Mile 17 could be the gesture that makes all the difference.
That extended hand from a faculty member reminds us
that we’re here for a reason, and there’s no doubt that we’re
going to finish.
And we did. We are here, past the finish line, right here
and right now. There is so much to be proud of, and we have
accomplished so much. But for most of us, Taft has been who
we are, and what we have defined ourselves by from the moment we first stepped on campus. And now, it is over, and it is
normal and OK to feel this intense combination of emotions.
In fact, I think you should try to hold onto it.
Remember this feeling of love for this institution, your
teachers and your friends, and carry it with you a year from
now, when we are all absorbed in our new lives. Remember
why it is so important to keep in touch, and how much our
classmates mean to us.
We are so prepared, and I know each of our next marathons will be even more successful, but there is something
about your first marathon that you always remember. So,
hold it close while simultaneously taking the time to heal, so
you’re ready and able to start training for the next one.
We are off and running.
b Class Speaker Nick Auer, who received the George H. Morgan
Award, Theater Award and the Joseph I. Cunningham Award
Taft Tweets
Nick Auer ’11, class speaker
Our time at Taft has been marked by tremendous change.
During our years here, we saw the transformation of the
dining halls, the change of the grading system, and the implementation of coed dormitories and roommates. And yes, that
last one was a lie. Just making sure you’re all awake.
But in all seriousness, this educational institution has
changed with the world around it, and these past four years
have marked great advances in the ways we communicate
with each other. The newest and hottest of these developments is Twitter, a micro-blogging website, where users post
messages called tweets of 140 characters or fewer that simply
answer the question, What’s happening?
Twitter began its rise to popularity in 2007, coincidentally
the year a lot of our class arrived as small, unsure lowermids.
We rose to the top, however, just as Twitter was multiplying
in popularity. During 2007, approximately 60,000 tweets
were posted per day. By the end of 2010, 65 million tweets
were being sent every day.
The free service is used heavily for news coverage of world
events, pop culture updates, and what one market research
firm calls pointless babble.
For protesters in the Middle East, Twitter exposed the local injustices to the rest of the world. Alternatively, you could
also find out which Starbucks drink Lindsay Lohan ordered
today. Twitter and the Class of 2011’s parallel histories got
me thinking. What if our class had a Twitter throughout our
entire time at Taft? What would our tweets sound like? What
key themes would the tweets develop?
A message from September of our first year might simply
read, “Wow, this is awkward.” While it was awkward and
uncomfortable being thrown into the swooshing laundry machine that is Taft, we’ve emerged together, and not smelling
too bad. And today’s tweet could be, “We are ready. We will
miss so much, but we must keep moving forward.”
What happened during all the time between that awkward
September and commencement? Two concepts we learned
along the way are the power of humor and the willingness
to serve. A late January tweet, “Who needs Eminem when
you’ve got Mr. Willson? Best prank ever.”
Our fun sense of humor was perhaps most apparent when
members of our class organized a harmless prank in which seniors stole historic photos of former teachers from the faculty
room, and assigned current teachers hilarious tasks that had
to be completed in order for them to get the pictures back.
Mr. Willson was forced to lay down some rhymes about
obeying the honor code. Another tweet would have inevitably discussed Mrs. O’Shea’s task, “Mrs. O’Shea just did the
stanky leg at assembly in front of the entire school. Bingham
hasn’t been this wild since Robert Pattinson.”
It takes a tremendous group of adults to support us in
our laughter, and submit to our strange demands. We cannot thank the Taft faculty enough for all they continue to do,
including their refreshing funniness. As we move forward, we
should never let go of our humor.
After having a good laugh, we also learned to embrace the
Taft motto. Service has become a part of each of us. A tweet
from just a couple days ago, “A large group of seniors pitched
in to clean up the beach we created on the side of the pond.
Non Ut Sibi at its finest.”
The work we have done has been more than just hard
labor. We’ve come at it with a smile. We have learned that
service is a sum of small moments. “Just saw a senior in the
library drop what she was doing to help a lowermid on physics homework,” or, “Have you given blood today? Make your
way to the Choral Room by 6:15 and save a life.”
That’s not to say we don’t have our big moments too. Last
week, we participated in the first Senior Community Service
Day, so we could combine our numbers and produce substantial results. I know each of us will continue to serve long
after Taft.
Twitter has only just begun to take its rightful place in our
society. Just as we begin to take ours. We may not remember our individual tweets, but we will carry their collective
themes forever.
This has been a remarkable few years, and there is no one
with whom I would’ve rather spent my time here at Taft than
this class. Just remember to keep the humor, keep serving,
and keep tweeting.
[Editor’s note: You can follow TaftSchool on Twitter.]
c Headmaster Willy MacMullen reminds the graduating class of the first
talk he gave them, in which he compared them to the Pilgrims in the way
they would each commit to the privilege of creating a new community.
The Taft Compact
Willy MacMullen ’78
At their first School Meeting four years ago, I told a story that
to me seems accidently prophetic, because it is one about a
group of extremely brave people, with very different perspectives, thrown together under confining and stressful conditions
and against long odds—and intent, as a group, in a fierce and
inspiring way, to create something noble and enduring.
The story is of the Mayflower as it edged into Provincetown
Harbor on November 11, 1620. They were a hundred-odd
men and women, and history shows us that they were far
more diverse in background and perspective than commonly
thought. Many were to meet each other for the first time on
the boat—little unified them other than the fact that they
shared berth on a tiny vessel. I said to the new 2011 class,
“They wanted what you do: to be able to be part of a community
that allowed them to complete themselves.”
Their trials were staggering. They had sailed for 65 days,
nearly shipwrecked, saw two deaths and one birth, and teetered
between agitation and outright mutiny.
What was extraordinary was that even as they were exhausted and frightened and hungry, they did not set foot on land
until they had answered that question—until they had explicitly stated that they would each commit to the privilege of creating
a new community. In the space of a single day, they penned what
you and I know as the “Mayflower Compact,” saying,
… [we] covenant and combine ourselves together
into a civil body politic…and enact, constitute, and
frame such just and equal laws…as shall be thought
most convenient for the general good of the colony, unto
which we promise all due submission and obedience.
I return to that moment in history and suggest that there is
an inescapable if accidental parallel between that crew and this
class. Substitute our brick campus for that leaky boat; instead
of those Puritans, fill our holds with students from around the
globe; exchange the Atlantic storms for the institutional and
global tempests they have faced; swap the establishment of a
civil and functioning colony with the creation of a school of
b Seniors process
into Centennial
Quad for the
Commencement
ceremony (Neve
Schadler, Deirdre
Shea, Devon
Shiland, JC Sites,
Kate Standish,
Phil Simard and
Doug Solomon.)
respectful scholars and leaders; bequeath the resolve, courage
and vision of the men and women who penned that compact
to the members of this class; and translate the phrase “combine
ourselves…for the general good of the community” to “Not to
Be Served But to Serve”—and you will be able to understand
the Class of 2011.
And so that is where I return, to the 177 pilgrims who sit
before me. They have shown an astonishing resilience and
even personal courage. There are several who have lost parents
in their years here, and who persevered in the darkest of days;
many lost loved ones: grandparents, godmothers, close friends;
more than a few suffered serious injury, illness, or surgery;
many experienced painful family situations: job loss and financial uncertainty, tangled divorce, untreatable illness; dozens of
others left homes thousands of miles away.
They have exhibited an inspiring moral tenacity and a willingness to stand on principle; and it is this that has made ours a
better school, as they have pushed each other, younger students,
and the faculty to ask the kind of important cultural and ideological questions that shape our globe, nation and school. We
are a better school for their stubborn faith that they could create
change and that they would follow their own moral compass.
They have looked like a family: combative, emotional, passionate—and yet in the end, respectful, conciliatory, forgiving
and even loving. That there were times of dispute and contention is obvious, but this is inevitable and healthy when you
have a class of smart and strong students and we should not
forget that the same voices also brought the class together.
They did not sail across an ocean; that’s the stuff of dusty
textbooks, an old tale. But it is not a vain conceit to look on
this class and note its comparable challenges and struggles, a
similar convening of hopes, an analogous catalogue of acts of
courage, a comparable desire to wrestle harmony from discord,
and a familiar vision and hope for an enduring community. For
this retelling, I will always feel indebted to this class, and believe that they will fare well, on whatever shores they are cast. j
*The remarks above are excerpted
from the talks given on graduation day.
To listen to them in their entirety,
and see more photographs, visit
www.TaftSchool.org/parents/graduation2011.
m Thu Hoang shows her
class spirit.
A record turnout for a 75th Reunion class:
curt Buttenheim,
frank Killorin and matt Ely ’36
celebrate at the Old Guard Dinner. As members
of Mr. Taft’s last class they were proud to get a
50 percent turnout of living classmates.
harry Gridley ’51
gives Lincoln’s nose a rub for
good luck, again. Sadly, Harry
died in July. Please see the Class
of ’51 notes for more on Harry.
alumenndi
Week
Alumnae artists’ show in
the Moorhead Wing.
The hammerhead shark
in the foreground is by
shirley Reid ’73
ted Wetherill ’71
checking out the Graduate Panels
in the East Dining Room during the
Alumni Luncheon on Saturday.
Longtime athletic trainer
maryann Laska
greets scott Willard ’91
at the Alumni Lacrosse Game.
It
derek Chan ’06
and alice Sun
A number of alumni golfers tested
the Watertown links on Friday,
among them were from left,
rocky Gaut, jack McLeod,
j.b. Morris,
clayton Spencer,
don O’Kieffe, ken Gillett
—all from the great Class of 1956.
has been 75 years since Horace
Taft retired as headmaster of the
school, and three of his “old boys”
returned to mark the occasion—
their 75th Reunion.
It’s easy to wonder what the
King would have made of his realm today.
Completion of the dining halls meant the
Alumni Luncheon could be held there at
the heart of the campus instead of in the
field house, which took all elevation gain
out of the parade!
Alumnae artists exhibited their works
in the Moorhead Wing to help celebrate
the 40th Anniversary of Coeducation, as
did a morning panel talk, celebrate that is.
And there were alumni back for
the first time in 50 years—who were
probably as amazed at the place as
Mr. Taft would be. The presence of girls
perhaps the most striking difference for
them both.
But other things had not changed.
The pond is still a great place to hang out
with friends, there were games to watch
and others to play and Lincoln’s nose
was as shiny as ever by Sunday evening.
With friendships rekindled, the banners
have been put away for another year.
Classmates
mandy Shepard Brooks
and celia Gerard ’91
at the 20th Reunion Dinner at the
Litchfield Country Club
larry lu
and
Stone
were welcome guests at
the 45th Reunion celebration.
patty Buttenheim ’79
accompanies her father curt ’36
to the Old Guard Luncheon.
bob
Chaplain
Ganung
dedicates a new bench by
the pond in memory of
will Keys ’06.
willy
Headmaster
MacMullen ’78
greets science teacher emeritus
neil Currie ’41—back for his 70th
Reunion—at the Alumni Luncheon.
Collegium Revisited moves to
the newly acquired Woodward
Chapel (Christ Church) for its
morning concert.
School monitors
jake Cohen and
sara Guernsey ’11
lead the parade.
Citation of Merit
lowell Thomas, Jr. ’42
(listen to Thomas’s remarks online at www.TaftSchool.org/alumni/merit.aspx)
Arriving at Taft as a middler, you quickly established your presence as an athlete, singer, debater,
and school leader respected by all. You advanced your education at Dartmouth College, taking
time off to join the Army Air Corps. Upon graduation, you were assigned duty as an instructor
pilot teaching cadets how to fly B-25 bombers during World War II. Your passion for flying
and adventure set the course of your life. You became a photographer and lecturer reporting
on your travels around the globe. Later at your father’s invitation, you ventured to Tibet
establishing a strong bond with a struggling country. This expedition was the basis for the book,
Out of This World, Tibet, which helped shape our country’s view of that region of the world.
You received the Light of Truth Award in 2005, and the Dalai Lama proclaimed you the genuine
grandfather of the Tibetan movement in the United States. Expanding your communication
skills to film, you collaborated with your father to produce some of the first Cinerama
productions. You followed a little-traveled route to Alaska and became a bush pilot, forming
your own air taxi company. Later you entered the political world and served as a state senator
and became lieutenant governor of Alaska. As an environmental activist you led the efforts to
establish a state park and were recognized for your work to preserve the wildlife, ecosystems
and communities for present and future generations. Alaska’s inhabitants look to you for
visionary leadership in the conservation of their land and will be forever grateful for your role in
the state’s saga. You and your beloved wife, Tay, have written of travels together and your life in
Alaska. You have shared your love for the rugged expanse of Alaska’s terrain and the awe of its
arctic treasures so that others can learn of the wonders of our 49th state and understand the
importance of its role in our country’s future. We admire the wonderful ways in which you have
conveyed a life of adventure and travel—making the marvels of the world accessible to all. Your
constant efforts to preserve the environment, your passionate dedication to wildlife, and your
loyal service to the state of Alaska continue to demonstrate a life of commitment to others and
to nature. It is with enormous pride and gratitude that we acknowledge your accomplishments
and confer upon you Taft School’s highest honor, the Citation of Merit.
For more on Thomas, see “Angel of Denali,” fall 2009.
www.TaftSchool.org/alumni/bulletin/fall09/default.aspx
Face painting
adds a festive
feel to the day.
dick Parrish ’41
proudly representing the 70th
Reunion class, is welcomed
by Associate Development
Director and parade marshal
bonnie Welch.
bo Chapin, jack Hill
and herb Carlson
lead the 50th Reunion class.
Discussing 40 years of coeducation
at Taft are moderator
linda Saarnijoki, panelists
dick Cobb, rob Clark ’72,
karen Stevenson ’75,
lizy Lewis Matthews ’81
and sara Guernsey ’11.
A gathering of ’66 classmates
at the home of
ferdie Wandelt, left,
doug Johnson,
chip Cinnamond,
spike Bermingham
and alex Gerster.
includes
Alumni Lacrosse Team: back from left,
rob Madden ’03,
5th Reunion classmates
toren Kutnick,
hasaan Dawood,
orlando Watson
and cole Ciaburri
at the Headmaster’s Supper
on Saturday
casey D’Annolfo-faculty,
scott Zoellner ’83,
dave Jenkins ’97,
rob Peterson ’80,
scott Willard ’91,
jake Odden ’86,
patrick Kerney ’95,
john DePeters ’10,
whit Brighton ’06,
chris Dietrich-faculty;
front, kevin Nee ’02,
bo Redpath ’10,
henry Millson ’09,
will Bunker ’09,
willy MacMullen ’78,
brendan Gangl ’06,
dan Hillman ’06,
andy King ’86
and rory Shepard ’04.
sam Orton ’61,
who made the trip from
Australia, with classmates
brad Tomlinson
and duncan Burke.
winston Lord,
alison Bower and
greg Seitz ’86
at the 25th Reunion Dinner
v Varian Fry ’26 offered aid, advice
and when possible exit visas to more
than 2,500 anti-Nazi refugees in
Vichy France during World War II.
tales of a TAFTIE
By Julie Reiff
Varian Fry, Class of 1926
Journalist and American Schindler
It was 1940, and France had fallen to Hitler. The
armistice decreed that France must “surrender
on demand” any German refugees wanted by the
Gestapo. France was also divided into occupied
and unoccupied regions, the unoccupied zone
being run by the Vichy French government in
cooperation with the Gestapo. And so what has
been called the largest manhunt in history began
as thousands of politicals, artists and intellectuals
from across Europe who had fled Hitler’s regime
sought refuge in the South of France on their
way—hopefully—to some place safer.
At age 32, journalist Varian Fry ’26 took a
one-month leave of absence from his job as an
editor at the Foreign Policy Association to go
to Marseilles (with $3,000 taped to his leg) and
smuggle out two hundred of the most famous
intellectual refugees. By the time he was done,
over a year later, he had helped over 1,200 men
and women out of France.
He did all this with little or no help from
the U.S. government, which was still trying to
stay out of the war and to cooperate with the
Vichy French government. The U.S. consul in
Marseilles repeatedly warned Fry to leave France.
And so Fry’s work went increasingly underground. Where once he had tried to obtain
visas and exit permits legally, he soon undertook all means necessary to help get much
of the artistic and intellectual talent of a generation to safety. Reminiscent of Casablanca,
forgeries, bribes, smuggling routes through the
mountains, illegal ships on night missions to
North Africa now became part of the everyday
life of this Harvard classics major and son of a
New York stockbroker.
The refugees Fry worked with were amazed
that one man, an American, would accept such
a task by himself. They were surprised both by
his idealism and his naïveté. Fry was besieged
with nearly two thousand refugees, only a few
of them on his list.
He set up the Centre Américain de Secours
(American Relief Center), both as a cover
to the underground operations and to help
some of the thousands of refugees trapped in
Marseilles. Increased pressure from several
quarters for Fry to stop his work eventually led
him to rent a house outside of town.
The long-neglected villa quickly earned the
nickname “Château Espère-Visa, since half its
inhabitants were waiting for proper papers to
leave the country.” At any other time it would
have been idyllic, Fry wrote, but war rations, lack
of central heating, and police searches detracted
from its splendor. It was clearly the company that
more than made up for any detriments.
Here, Fry was able to spend time with some
of the century’s great talents he was hoping to
rescue. Among those Fry helped escape France:
Marc Chagall, André Breton, Max Ernst,
Hannah Arendt, Marcel Duchamp and Nobel
physicist Otto Meyerhauf.
Imprisoned once and brought in for questioning several times, Fry was eventually forced
to leave France. Authorities refused to renew
his passport until he was ready to leave, and
then escorted him to the border. He used the
opportunity to check out escape routes and
contacts in Spain and Portugal first hand. But
his work for the committee was finally over.
Fry spent 13 months in France, longer
than he stayed at Taft. (He spent one semester
here after an unhappy career at Hotchkiss but
wound up graduating from Riverdale Country
School in New York.) Upon his return he got a
job at the New Republic.
In 1942, with information from his recent
contacts in France, he wrote frightening accounts of the Nazi atrocities—slow starvations,
human cattle cars, gas chambers, death camps,
mass executions—accounts most people in the
U.S. were still dismissing as exaggerated wartime propaganda. Again, he pleaded for the U.S.
This profile is excerpted from summer 1998 Taft Bulletin feature “Never Surrender.”
www.TaftSchool.org/alumni/bulletin/sum98. Thanks to Jennifer Zaccara for the suggestion.
to “offer asylum...to those few fortunate enough
to escape from the Aryan paradise.”
But his tenure at the magazine didn’t last
long. He resigned in 1945 because, wrote
Alfred Kazin, “he could not bear the lingering
Popular Front sentimentality about Stalin at
the New Republic.”
The rest of his life was surprisingly quiet.
Max Frankel wrote in the New York Times,
“Fry lived on obscurely to age 59 with the art,
letters, and books of his former clients but
little of their friendship.”
Only after France is liberated could Fry safely
publish his book, Surrender on Demand, without endangering his former colleagues still in
Europe. It receives critical acclaim but little public notice. (It has been reprinted by the United
States Holocaust Museum.) Fry remained
active as a member of the boards of directors
for the American Civil Liberties Union and the
International League for the Rights of Man.
In 1967, he received the French Croix du
Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. In 1991, he
was posthumously awarded the Eisenhower
Liberation Medal, and in 1996 he was honored
at Israel’s Yad Vashem as the first American
“Righteous Among Nations” (one of only three
gentiles, along with Schindler and Wallenberg).
Hans Sahl, who came to America under the
auspices of Fry’s committee, remarked, “[Fry]
gave us the impression of something particularly American: that confidence in man which we,
in Europe, had lost between two world wars.”
One of Fry’s co-workers later wrote, “I
should confess here that I and the other
‘Europeans’ on the committee occasionally
criticized him for being a ‘typical American,’ an
‘innocent abroad.’ But we had it all wrong. That
seeming innocence turned out to be precisely
his strength. Had he known from the outset the
odds he was up against, he might never have
achieved what he did.” j
from the
ARCHIVES
Summer in the Hamptons
The House That Winnie Built
By Anne Romano, archivist emerita
The summer of 1906 was a glorious one for
Horace and Winnie Taft. They spent a good
part of their summer holidays in their cottage
in the little breeze-swept village of Wainscott
in East Hampton. Winifred had fallen in love
with the area in 1900 when they went to visit
the Whitneys, their friends from New Haven.
On August 26, 1900, Horace wrote to [his
brother] Will from East Hampton:
We came here to try something as different as possible from Mt. Desert. It is
delightful. Yesterday afternoon we went
to a tea that the Whitneys (at Wainscott)
gave to Arthur and Mrs. Hadley who are
staying with them for a few days. It was
a delightful company. H. Newton was
there and a number of other bright and
well-known people.
In 1902, “bowing to Winifred’s wishes,”
Horace started building a summer cottage at
Wainscott on three and one-half acres of land
on the shore of Georgia Pond overlooking the
Atlantic Ocean. Ted D. Peck, Waterbury architect, was ahead of his time. His innovative
design for the Taft cottage resembled that of
Frank Lloyd Wright homes on the West Coast.
The house had seven bedrooms and two
baths, and the third floor had additional bedrooms reserved for the housekeeping staff.
The cottage had large roof overhangs and a
very large living-dining room with full picture
windows that looked out to the Atlantic.
Winnie loved the ocean and the on the
white sandy beaches she spent many restful
hours reading. She loved Dickens, Trollope,
Whitman and Dickinson. Horace enjoyed his
game of golf and joined the Maidstone Club.
Indeed, one of his purest pleasures was to
play golf with his brother Will. As members
of Maidstone, the Tafts enjoyed the company
of those who were prominent in social, scientific, literary and artistic circles. In some
instances, their children attended the Taft
School. Horace tried to persuade his brother
Will to summer in East Hampton, but the
New York Times reported that the “scheme
only fell short when no available cottage
could be found.”
Winnie and Horace would spend only
three more summers at their cottage. Winnie
died in 1909, and in 1911 Horace sold the
cottage to a Mr. George Ingraham of New
York, “who bought the cottage for his daughter who was married to William Willis.” The
couple had just had their fifth child, whom
they named George Ingraham Willis, after his
grandfather. Horace told Mr. Ingraham that
“he could not bear to be at the cottage without
Winifred.” Subsequently, five generations of
Willises would summer there….
In the fall of 1994, upon closing the
cottage for the season, Mrs. George Willis
removed a set of books and donated them to
the Taft School archives. Most of the 16 volumes of British Authors by Anthony Trollope
are inscribed with Horace’s signature; a few,
in Winnie’s handwriting, simply said “Taft.”
The collection remains as a reminder of the
couple’s few summer months of happiness
and time together at a place so cherished by
Winifred Taft.
Excerpted from Winnie Taft by Anne Romano,
published in 1997. The house has since changed
hands. My thanks to Debbie Shepherd, friend of
the current owners as well as daughter of Dave
Fenton ’48 and mother of Elizabeth Shepherd
’05, for suggesting this story.
Taft Bulletin
Nonprofit Org
U.S. Postage
PAID
burlington VT
Permit # 101
The Taft School
110 Woodbury Road
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
860-945-7777
www.TaftAlumni.com
Change Service Requested
Coming Events
Tuesday,
September 7
Welcome
Reception
for New Students
and Families
Friday &
Saturday,
October 28–29
Fall Parents’
Weekend
Wednesday,
November 2
Grandparents’
Day
For more events, visit www.TaftSchool.org/events
Saturday,
November 5
Fall Sports Day
Wednesday,
December 7
Holiday Party,
New York City

40years - The Taft School

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