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In every issue

In this issue

3 From the Head of SchoolThe Campaign for Thacherby Michael K. Mulligan

5 From the Editor

campus life

alumni

OverviewSix months of life at Thacher are chronicled in this Fall/Winter issue ofThe Thacher News. From the opening of School to a spring trip focusing on theAntebellum South, it has been another busy half-year at The Ranch.

EditorJane D. McCarthy

DesignTim Ditch, Jane D. McCarthy, and J. Bert Mahoney.

ContributorsDavid V. Babbott, Camilla Evans-Hensey, Jake Jacobsen,Alexander F. Lurie 02, Richard J. Mazzola, Jane D. McCarthy,Kurt R. Meyer, Joy Sawyer-Mulligan, Michael K. Mulligan, andThomas A.H. Scarborough

Sports SectionJoy Sawyer-Mulligan

Class NotesJane D. McCarthy

PhotographyPhillip Channing, Eugene F. Lally, J. Bert Mahoney, Jane D.McCarthy, Kasiana J.P. McLenaghan 04, Joy Sawyer-Mulligan,Thomas A.H. Scarborough, and Timothy O Teague

The Thacher News magazine is published twice ayear by The Thacher School, and is sent free ofcharge to alumni, parents, and friends of the School.In preparing this report, every effort was made toensure that it is accurate and complete. If there is anomission or an error in spelling, please accept ourapologies and notify the Head of Schools Office atThe Thacher School, 5025 Thacher Road, Ojai,California 93023, call (805) 646-4377, or e-mailjmccarthy@thacher.org.

Third Class postage is paid at the Oxnard Post Office.

POSTMASTER:Please send form 3579 to the preceding address.

The Thacher NewsFall 2000 / Winter 2001Volume XIII, Number 1

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Campus Life6 Family Weekend

8 Cultural and Departmental Weekends

9 Architectural Review Committee

10 Playsby Rod M. Jake Jacobsen

12 Fall and Winter Sports Recap

14 Guest Professors

15 Tidbits, Numeracy Puzzle

16 A Southern Sojournby Thomas A.H. Scarborough

18 Thachers Historical Societyby John A. Davenport, CdeP 21

Alumni45 Class Notes

55 Annual Fund Report Corrections

56 Obituaries

59 Calendar

Printed by Ventura Printing with soy-based inks.

Cover PhotoDuring this winters Departmental Weekend, Dawn M.Cleveland 03, Charmiane S. Lieu 03, and John L. Babbott03, participated in the Equine Drawing class.

NAISM E M B E R

ALUMNI

22 Laurin H. Healy, CdeP 31Still the Perfect Place

24 George G. Pfau, CdeP 42Three Stints at Thacher

26 Bruce N. Oxley, CdeP 54Student and Teacher

28 Michael S. Milligan, CdeP 62Teaching:An Exhilarating Experience

30 Stephen Van B. Griggs, CdeP 63Three Times and Counting

32 Paul Gavin, CdeP 71Dreams and Excellence AreWorth Pursuing

34 Molly T. Perry, CdeP 85Friendship Runs Deep

36 Mark A.T. Holman, CdeP 86Thacher As a Retreat

38 Diana Garcia, CdeP 95Mary H. Everett, CdeP 94Friendship Blossoms Despite Roles

TRUSTEE

40 John G. Lewis, Jr., CdeP 59Holding Thacher As a Beacon

BOOK SHELF

42 David G. Lavender, CdeP 51Whats in a Name?

Profiles: Alumni Returneth

British philosopher and essayistFrancis Bacon once quipped,Money is like muck. Not goodexcept it be spread. Now here is onetruism that bespeaks the Thacherethic. Thacher horse muck has en-riched, for many years now, the citrusand avocado orchards of this Valley.Practically speaking, muck spread onfields promotes fecundity in the soil;metaphorically speaking, fecundity isalso defined by that which is markedby intellectual productivity. Mynot-so-subtle point: Money for aschool, when that school is basedupon a sound and inspirational mis-sion and philosophy (and a sane ad-ministration), produces a fruitfulenvironment for its students. It allowsdeserving students to attend who mostcertainly would not otherwise be ableto enroll. It allows a school to attract,pay, house, and professionally developtop-notch facultythe backbone ofschool excellenceand it allows thoseteachers to teach manageable numbersof studentsperhaps the single mostimportant criterion in school excel-lence. It makes it possible for a schoolto build and maintain facilities thatsupport and enrich student learning,both in and out of the classroom. Itprotects a school from being subjectto economic vicissitudes. In short,moneylike muck spread on a fieldenriches, protects, and assists thegrowth of the crop. Money, when

spread, is vital for promoting and protectingschool excellence.

I raise this topic of money because at Thacher,money is the means and not the end. We are,after all, interested most passionately andpointedly in insuring that the Thacher educa-tion is the very best that it can be. At this pointin our history, however, money is what weneed to excel. Money, says our curmudgeon ofWalden Pond, buys not one necessity of thesoul. This, I think, is true. Our soul is welltaken care of here at Thacherand most of usspend much of our time thinking about chal-lenges other than those of fundraising. But weare at that point in our history when it is timeto pursue increasing the Schools resources inorder to achieve that level of excellence whichwe have defined as our goal in the Schools re-cent Strategic Plan. In fact, we are now in aperfect position to affirm what is strong at

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 3

From the Head of School

Thacher and to address our weaknesses. Ourgoals as outlined in the Plan:

Recruit and retain students who exhibit thehighest standards of character, academic apti-tude and skill, emotional health, and a desirefor the distinctive experience of a Thacher ed-ucation;

Recruit, retain, and develop faculty who ex-hibit the highest standards of character, teach-ing skill, and emotional health, as well as thecommitment and ability to contribute to theextra-curricular program;

Develop each students mind, body, and spiritin preparation for life as well as for college;

Provide excellent, well-maintained facilitiesthat support and enhance all aspects ofThachers program; and

Inspire the enthusiastic support of its entireconstituency for the implementation of itsstrategic agenda.

We know that when we have to deny admis-sion to deserving students because they can notafford to attend Thacher; when we cant hirepromising experienced faculty because they arebeing paid significantly more at other nationalboarding schools; when we cant gather insideas a School communityparents, students,and teachersin the auditorium simply be-cause we cannot all fit; when we cannot all sitdown as a faculty and student community inour Dining Room; when we are unable tohouse all of our teaching faculty on the campusbecause we do not have enough homes; whenour horses stand on unforgiving adobe brick inthe heat or in mud to their hocks in the rain be-cause of poor drainage and incomplete coversover their stalls, then I say it is time for us tothink about money.

Furthermore, our boarding school peers, nearlyall more heavily endowed by significant mar-gins than Thacher, are able to weather thestorms of the economy with far greater easethan are we. To quote another Englishman, aheavy purse makes a light heart.

At Thacher, our hearts, while not burdened perse, are decidedly not light either. We have muchwork to do, but it is work that is well-researched and carefully considered, work thatthis faculty and administration and Board hastaken on because we wish to leave the Thacher

HeadThe Campaign for ThacherDo the Best Work in This World by Michael K. Mulligan

page 4 The Thacher News

for a comprehensive Campaign. This Cam-paign for Thacher will be our gift to this pres-ent faculty and to future generations ofThacher students. It will be our way of pro-tecting Thacher against the vagaries of theeconomy and protecting ourselves from tu-ition-dependencythis coming for the Schoolwhich is already one of the nations most ex-pensive boarding schools. You will hear fromall of us about how this Campaign will unfold,this letter being the first in a series of commu-nications to all our friends.

So we are offand now writinga very ex-citing chapter in Thachers history. This is ouropportunity to give back to this School in fullmeasure, and more, than that which we havetaken. And the time is just right. As the greateconomist John Maynard Keynes wrote: Ma-terial Poverty provides the incentive to changeprecisely in situations where there is little mar-gin for experiments. Material Prosperity re-moves the incentive just when it might be safeto take a chance. Neither too comfortable,nor too lean, we find ourselves in the perfectposition to turn to our friends and undertakethis opportunity for transformation. It is ourchanceas I wrote when I first took over asHead of School eight years agoto secureThachers star in the constellation of Americasgreatest boarding schools.

I look forward to talking with you, to askingyou for your help, and to acknowledging thatwhen the day is done, we will have, in ShermanDay Thachers words, done the best work inthis world that we can. e

of tomorrow stronger than the Thacher oftoday. You have, I hope, all heard about andread Thachers Strategic Plan. This is the skele-tal structure and research from which we areabout to launch our next agenda.

The Plan has provided the underpinnings ofour administrative work now for three yearsand has been the means by which we deter-mine how we should expend our energies. It isnow the job of this administration and Boardto find the resources by which we can bring tofruition the vision of the School Communitythat we have arrived at by asking all of us:How we can be a better school?

I have answered that question already twiceabove, but I will reiterate it nonetheless here.

One, by creating an endowment such thatwe are able to recruit, pay, and retain an out-standing faculty and house them adequatelyon campus as befits a top-flight national board-ing school.

Two, by being able to help all deserving stu-dents who, by virtue of their talents and theirabilities, have earned their place at Thacherstable.

Three, by being able to rebuild our remainingaging dormitoriesLower School, Casa, TheHill; expand the Dining Room and repair theancient kitchen; build a student center; createan Auditorium and Performing Arts Centerwhich can actually take care of the needs ofthe faculty, students, and parents.

Even as I write, our Thacher Board of Trusteesis assiduously working to create a nucleus fund

To all who completed and returned the ques-tionnaire regarding The Thacher Newsmagazine, thank you! We gleaned somevaluable insight regarding the most highly-readsections, portions that arent of particular in-terest, and other features that could be in-cluded to enhance the magazine. A briefsummation of our findings follows, as well assome modifications that well try to incorpo-rate in future issues.

Of the 75-plus people who responded to thesurvey, more than 80% think that the maga-zine is about the right length and almost asmany think that publishing twice each year isappropriate. The only other opinion voicedwas that the magazine could be publishedmore often but in smaller doses. Most peoplespend 30 to 45 minutes reading the magazineand pay particular attention to the Profile sec-tion: 71% read the Alumni Profiles, 59% readthe Faculty Profiles, and 49% read the TrusteeProfiles.

Class Notes, of course, are very popular; manyturn to this section first and then peruse thebalance of the magazine. Another area that isread by nearly all is the Head of Schools Col-umn (read regularly or occasionally by 82%of the respondents); this was also mentioned asone of the most memorable parts of the publi-cations. The Sports section is almost equallysplit between those who thoroughly read it andthose who seldom read it.

I was delighted to find that the magazine isprovocative as well as informative. As a resultof reading the magazine, nearly half of the re-spondents shared an article with someone;37% chose to donate to the School beyondtheir usual donations after reading the maga-

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 5

From the Editor

zine; a third saved an article and one-quartersent in a Class Note; one-fifth have contactedan old friend or former faculty member, or at-tended an Alumni Association event becauseof the magazine; about 8% have written to theHead of School because of this publication.

Your specific suggestions for improvement aremost appreciated. In particular well endeavorto be more timely; to include more exciting,better quality photographs; to offer more com-mentary on Ojai and its environs; to includecurrent students thoughts and opinions; andto share more Thacher history. Please note thatThacher now has its own Historical Societywith a News section highlighting some stories,tales, or memorabilia about the School, theThachers, Ojai, the Sespe, and so on. One ex-ample begins on page 18 of this issue: a fasci-nating sketch of life at Thacher and the localcoastal area as recorded by John A. Daven-port, CdeP 21.

In short, 85% of those completing the ques-tionnaire are Very Satisfied with TheThacher News. Most thought it was profes-sionally written and inviting, contains a goodmix of articles in an appealing layout, and it re-flects positively on Thacher.

Dont feel left out. If youd like to give yourtwo cents, its not too late. Simply completethe survey on Thachers web site (only 15%submitted the questionnaire via this route) orcontact me for another form. e

EditorThe Survey Says by Jane D. McCarthy, EditorP

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Dear Friends of Thacher,As we put together each issue of The Thacher Newsmagazine, we try to present you with interesting articlesabout the School and its extended community. How wellare we doing? Let us know which parts of the magazine youenjoy and which you skip over. Well do our best to takeyour reading interests into account as we plan future issues.After you complete the survey, fold and tape as indicatedand send it to us. If its more convenient, feel free to respondvia fax (805-646-9490), e-mail (jmccarthy@thacher.org), oron Thachers Website (www.thacher.org). All of yourresponses will remain entirely anonymous. Your opinionsand advice are most appreciated.

Jane D. McCarthy, Editor

1. The current length of The Thacher News (72 to 80 pages) is

Too short About right Too long

2. The frequency of Thachers magazine (twice per year) is

Too few About right Too much

3. On average, how much time do you spend reading eachissue of The Thacher News magazine?

No time Less than 15 minutes 15-30 minutes 30-45 minutes 45-60 minutes More than one hour

4. How do you usually read The Thacher News?

Leaf through until I find an article of interest Read front to back Read back to front Read only a specific section

Which section? __________________________________(e.g., Class Notes, Books, Profiles, Heads Column, etc.)

5. How often do you read each of the following sections ofthe magazine?

DontRegularly Occasionally Seldom Recall Seeing

Heads Column Letters Sports Profiles: Trustee

Former Faculty Alumni/ae

Other

6. Below is a list of comments that could be used to describeThachers magazine.

Strongly Strongly NoAgree Agree Disagree Disagree Opinion

Its professional and inviting

Mix of articles is balanced

Quality of the writing is good

Design is appealing

Photography is exciting

Information is timely

It reflects positively on the School

It makes me proud to be affiliated with Thacher

It keeps me informed about Thacher

It makes me feel closer to Thacher

It keeps me in touch with alumni

It covers controversial issues impartially

7. Please rate your level of interest in reading stories on thefollowing subjects:

Very Somewhat NotInterested Interested Interested

Alumni Faculty Students Alumni Association events Issues affecting education Current events at Thacher Thachers fundraising efforts Sports Books by alumni Thachers history

18.What type of stories or subjects would you like to see inThachers magazine that are currently not covered?__________________________________________________________________________________________________

19.What, in your opinion, were the most memorable one ortwo articles in recent issues of Thachers magazine?__________________________________________________________________________________________________

10.Below is a list of comments about Class Notes. Are theytrue or false for you?

True False

I turn to my Class Notes first whenI open the magazine I have sent in my news in theAlumni Fund donation envelope I think there are too many Class Notes I think there are too few Class Notes I like the wedding and baby picturesin Class Notes

11.What actions, if any, have you taken as a result ofreading Thachers magazine?

Saved an article Showed an article to others Contacted an old friend or former teacher Sent in a Class Note Wrote a letter to the editor for publication Wrote a letter to the Head of School Participated in an Alumni Association event Made a donation to the School

12.Overall, how satisfied are you with Thachers magazine?

Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Not at all satisfied

Your responses to the following queries will help inanalyzing this data. Remember, all responses are anonymous.

13.Sex Male Female

14.Age 18-24 25-24 35-44 45-54 55 or over

continued

Tellus

whatyouthinkPlease complete

and returnthe questionnairefound at the endof this magazine.

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15.What is the highest education degree you have attained?

High school diploma Bachelors degree Masters degree Doctorate Juris Doctorate Doctor of Medicine or Dentistry

16.Where do you live?

West Coast Midwest New England Mid-Atlantic South International Other _________________________________________

17.Do you have children under 18 living in your household?

Yes No

18.Please check the category that best represents your totalhousehold income, before taxes, in 2000.

Under $25,000 $25,000 $49,000 $50,000 $74,999 $75,000 $99,999 $100,000 $149,999 $150,000 $199,999 $200,000 $499,999 More than $500,000

19.Any further comments or suggestions you have aboutThachers magazine will be carefully read and muchappreciated. If youd like to talk to me personally aboutthe magazine or this survey, please call (805) 646-4377.

JDMc

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.Please fold and seal as indicated and send it to us. Postageis prepaid if mailed in the U.S.

Jane D. McCarthy, Editor

Family WeekendTakes the Campus by Storm by Jane D. McCarthy

host of things that are mostly out of control ofa teenager; yet cruelly enough, these are thevery factors upon which teens often suffer orthrive and must learn to overcome by virtueof other more transcendent personal quali-tiesWhile those qualities that lie outside ofthe control of the average teen do not reallymatter when it comes to horses, those qualitiesthat are within ones graspdetermination,caring, conscientiousness, patience, thought-ful observation, and a generally positive atti-tudemake all the difference in whether youeventually become a partner with your horse,whether you ultimately end up enjoying theexperience, and of preeminent importance,whether you ultimately succeed or fail in thisgreat mystery we call life.

Michael then introduced Assistant Head ofSchool for External Affairs Monique DeVanewho gave an insiders look at the hot-off-the-press results from last springs Parent Survey.She also demonstrated the newly revised WebSite with such features as calendar (daily,monthly, yearly; spliced with subjects, topics,and locations), sports pages (schedule ofevents, game scores, and photographs), par-ent-related pages (opportunities for involvmentand giving, Horseman Hand Book, and otherreferences), and alumni-related pages (infor-mation on gatherings and Golden Trout Camp,ways to get involved, giving opportunities, andforms for submission to Class Notes or updat-ing contact information).

artistic techniques,determined the pHvalue of varioussubstances, andtranslated Latininto understandableEnglish. Mean-while, back on ThePergola, book andThacher gear salesbeckoned to par-ents and childrenalike. Over 70books, ranging intitles from a BeetlesAnthology to anEncyclopedia ofVietnam, a Historyof the Balkans toEcological Hotspots were pur-chased in honor ofstudents and nowappear on the li-brarys shelves.Sweatshirts werethe big sellers earlyin the day, while

cap and T-shirt sales comprised the majorityof sales as the morning air warmed.

At mornings end, Head of School Michael Mul-ligan shared with parents Thachers techniquesto effect students growth and change. Amongother illustrations,Michael explainedhow and whyThacher uses a four-footed critter as anagent of change:

Our students areforcedto leave alltheir comforting oldroutines by the way-side and step intoa new, sometimesscary world, wherean entirely differentcomprehension isrequiredhorses donot care about yourgender, your ad-dress, your appear-ance, your religiousconviction, yourskin color, yourpopularity, or any

Rain throughout the weekincluding show-ers Friday afternoon, just as families arrivedon campusforced this falls Family Week-end planners to scuttle Class Barbecues at var-ious venues across campus and merge them intoone large feeding fest on The Pergola. Parents,particularly fathers, commandeered the Schoolsnew mobile barbecues and turned out delicioustri tip, chicken, and sausage that was compli-mented with polenta, salads, and other delec-table taste treats from Thachers catering serv-ice. Following dinner, families strolled into theAuditorium to watch the Performing Arts Sam-pler, a one-and-one-half hour show highlight-ing scenes from Shakespeares As You Like It.

Following last years lead, Saturday morningbegan with Assembly in the Outdoor Am-phitheatre. As usual, surprises kept the crowdentertained, especially when Physics Instruc-tor David Harris lay down on a bed of nails sothat History Teacher Austin Curwen couldbust a concrete block balanced on Davidsstomach. Mr. Harris explained that thisdemonstration would clarify some physicsprinciples, but, really, he just wanted to showoff his abs of steel.

Mini-class periods allowed students to takeover the role of teachers as they demonstrated

Campus Life

Blake Adams-Ayers 01, Christy Acquistapace 01, and Ben Heilveil 02 lead thegrand procession

Students and their families shop for Thacher gear and books for the library

page 6 The Thacher News

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 7

Shooting trap and watching athletic contestswere Saturday afternoons pastimes. BrandonChase (father of freshman MacKenna) helpedA.J. Goldman and Austin Curwen supervise20 parent-student trap teams; at days end,Chris Brown 01 and his father Fred hadamassed the most points. On the fields andcourts, Toad teams racked up several winsagainst Cates teams: Varsity, Junior Varsity,and Fourth Team Boys Soccer, and Girls Vol-leyball. Thachers Boys Third Team Soccertrounced Ojai Valley School, as well.

Many students wrangled their parents for adinner out in Ojai, while others feasted onprime rib, salmon, and a huge array of saladsin the Dining Room. John Barkan, CdeP 67(father of Andrew, CdeP 98, Will 02, andPhoebe 03), told Director of Food ServiceRichard Maxwell, The parents in the know

The traditional Gymkhana Presentation of the Colors

eat in Thachers Dining Room on Sat-urday evening. The food is betterthan anything one can find in town.The Mulligans then hosted about 100students, parents, and siblings at theirweekly Open House. Pumpkin carv-ing, cookie baking, playing pingpong, and singing the Oldies (whileembarrassing their children) were themain events.

Even though rain forced the ChapelService into the Auditorium, it didntdampen the spirits of those who as-sembled to hear Belinda Higgins,mother of Bo 01 and Owili 03Eison, give her message, Empower-ment Through Sacrifice and Prayer.She spoke of how much she missesher most valuable possession, herchildren, but that by sacrificing herdaily con-tact withthem, shehas em-poweredthem edu-cationally,

emotionally, andspiritually: Theyhave gained inde-pendence, faith inothers, their ownspiritual relation-ship, and knowingwhen they mustmake sacrifices,[thereby learning]tolerance, honesty,truth, and in-tegrity.

The rains did, how-ever, decimate theGymkhana Field,thereby causing apostponement of10 days for the

Thachers food service, Bon Appetit, prepared a delectableluncheon feast

Rebeccah Gore-Judd 04 talks with her Green teammates before their firstGymkhana

Horse Exhibition. About 100 local parents,family members, students and faculty mem-bers trekked back to School on November 8to watch the freshmen demonstrate the equineskills they had attained since School began.Christy Acquistapace 01, Blake Adams-Ayers01, and Ben Heilveil 02 served as the ColorGuard and led the riders into the arena; Es-ther Guzmn 01 sang the Star-Spangled Ban-ner to open the festivities. While the nearlyfull moon rose, six teamswith such clevernames as Can We Lope, Yet; the Jolly Ranch-ers, and Halseys Angelsexecuted intricatesteps and patterns, loping, and balancing actsset to contemporary music. As the sun set inthe west, Family WeekendExtended Stylecame to a magnificent close. A video of theevent was crafted and sent to all freshmenparents so they could view their sons anddaughters incredible progress since the begin-ning of school. e

Weekend

page 8 The Thacher News

Cultural andDepartmental WeekendsTempting Sights, Sounds, and Tastes by Jane D. McCarthyAdd Variety to Campus Life

Every fall, books arent cracked, athletesabandon the fields, and horses graze insteadof gallup for three days. Instead, studentsand faculty members take part in art, music,and drama events across the southern part ofthis Golden State during Thachers annual Cul-tural Weekend. Edie Carey, granddaughter ofThachers former Headmaster Newt Chase,shared her folksy, asymmetric, and dynamicmusic, descriptions that actually fall short ofthe richness of her tunes. Assistant Head ofSchool Peter Robinson especially enjoyed theway that the usual syntax of lyrics matchingmusical phrases is not present; she breaks thatconvention to accentuate certain sounds andaspects of the music. Edie has two compactdiscs now: Call Me Home released in August2000, and The Falling Places which featuresthe song If I Were You that was nominatedfor the Best Acoustic /Folk Song at the ThirdAnnual Gay/Lesbian American Music Awardsin 1999.

The Community boarded vans and buses forvarious cultural events throughout Californiaand south of the border. Several groups headedto Los Angeles to see the Getty Museum, theGene Autrey Museum, and the County Mu-seum of Art, while others headed to Santa Bar-bara to visit the Museum and the Zoo. Otherswatched shows including Izzy Tooinsky, theOjai Camerata, the Mark Morris DanceGroup, and The Rainmaker. Head of SchoolMichael Mulligan and Horse Department in-structor Chuck Warren took two differentgroups of riders horse packing in the Sespe,while Marvin Shagam took nine boys on acamping/surfing expedition to Baja. SpanishInstructor Franoise Kasimirowski Garciaopened her home for students to learn how tocook a gourmet French dinner while the Perrysoffered a paella dinner.

In February, the Thacher campus became a col-lage of artistic activities when the Arts andHorse Departments joined forces to offer aweekend entitled, Our Western Heritage.Jim Brooks lassoed the community into theAuditorium, where he shared general and per-sonal histories of the Western cowboy, Blackcowboy, and his life as a drifting cowboywhile working on ranches from Montana toMexico. A variety of workshops and clinicsenticed students, facultyand even equinesand caninesto participate throughout theweekend. Many offered participants the op-portunity to create tangible souvenirs: bezzledsilver rings or pendants with semi-preciousstones; braided leather; southwestern photo-

graphs; equine drawings in ink, pastel, andpencil; woven blankets; or long-handled hand-forged forks for barbecue cooking. Others triedtheir hands at frying bread cooking, writingWestern songs, driving horses, and roping cat-tle. Many of the campus canineswhetherbred as stock dogs or notbecame proficientat herding sheep around cones and barriersupon command.

These activities built up healthy appetites forhome-made country-style vidals prepared byour Kitchen Crew. Toes started tapping whenRob Seals gave a noon-time concert on ThePergola, and again on Saturday evening whenthe Western Swing Band, The Lucky Stars,dazzled the masses. This very hip, funny, coolband has worked with Dave Alvin (singer,songwriter, and founder of the seminal bandThe Blasters) who has produced and writtenwith Tom Russell. Wedged between these livelymusical interludes, Tom Russell gave a concertentitled The Man from God Knows Where.Tom sang the unsung history of a raw, primi-tive American that was, as Kerouac wrote un-tamed by the restless machine of modernmaterialism. His songs were inspired by fam-

ily members who were on a pilgrimage to-ward a land where love abides and spoke ofthe triumph of individuals in the face of iso-lation, rootlessness, disease, madness, and sui-cide. Acoustic guitarist, Andrew Hardin,played accompaniment.

Junior Alex Lurie concisely summed up whatmany thought of this jam-packed weekend: Ihad the time of my life! It was really a high-class,well-done, sensational weekend. I have heardnothing but plaudits for this weekend. e

Campus Life

Students forge forks for barbecuing

Shades of gray oil paintings

Students make silver bezzled jewelry as part ofCowboy Cultural Weekend this winter

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 9

Celebration of modesty. Elegant sufficiency.Connection to values. Authenticity. Illusionof freedom. This disparate concoction ofphrases may seem nonsensical or relevant toanything; however, once the context of thesestatements is revealed, youll likely concur thatthese descriptions are on target.

Just after the New Year began, architects,Trustees, and administrators of Thacher con-vened to discuss and develop guidelines for fu-ture development of Thachers campus. Central

to this theme is providing a lasting inspira-tional legacy that meets the needs of the com-munity, while being in concert with Thachershistory, Mission, and Strategic Plan. The afore-mentioned descriptions emerged as the groupdiscussed the feel and appearance that shouldbe part of all structures on campus. Partici-pants quickly reached the consensus that ex-pansion and modernization of Thacherfacilities must be balanced with an eye to in-corporate natural beauty and to be in keepingwith Thachers time-honored values.

In a quasi reunion of the classes of 1969 and1976, alumni architects shared their visions ofhow Thacher might envision and create theSchools central corridor. New York architectsRoss Chip Anderson, CdeP 69 and PeterMatthews, CdeP 76 and Bay Area architectNick Noyes, CdeP 76; along with Dan Gre-gory, CdeP 69 (writer/publisher/editor in ar-chitecture and design for Sunset magazine)spent two days on campus discussing variousthemes and scenarios for Thachers key build-ings. Representatives from Thachers Board ofTrusteesJustin Faggioli, CdeP 69 (Chair of

the Trustees Buildings and Grounds Commit-tee); Marshall Milligan, CdeP 69 (Presidentof the Board); Paul Yelder, CdeP 77 (ViceChair of Buildings and Grounds); Laurie Dachs(parent of Eric, CdeP 94; Abby, CdeP 96;Emily 01; and Michael 03); and John andBetsy Grether (parents of Robert, CdeP 99,Ted 01, and Russell 03)along with mem-bers of administration chimed in with practicalthoughts about community usage, traffic pat-terns, and orientation of buildings. These ded-icated alumni architects comprise an

Architectural Review Committee thatwill work closely with the Buildingsand Grounds Committee of the Boardto develop schematic designs, to pro-vide architectural expertise for build-ing projects, and to serve as a soundingboard for insuring that building proj-ects are consistent with Thachers Mis-sion and Philosophy.

The Architectural Review Committeeis helping us establish a level of archi-tectural quality that will hold Thacherin good stead for years to come, re-marked Head of School Michael Mul-ligan. Developing standards that arebefitting of the excellence of the Schooland its culture is an innovative step thatcomes at a time when we can make acritical impact on the campuss ap-pearance for the next 100 years. This

is especially true in that several structures keyto the life of students and faculty are beingconsidered. Although the configuration is notyet finalized, a Student Commonsincluding amulti-purpose room (for dances and small per-formances), a student grill, Web caf, studentmailboxes, and the Student Storewill replacethe present Auditorium. Thanks to a generousdonation from Sue and John Carver, CdeP53, the Commons should be in place forthe Reunion Weekend in June 2003.

The Hills Building that presently includesthe Dining Hall, Administration, andBusiness Office, will be renovated tohouse a state-of-the-art kitchen, dining for300 student and faculty members, and theAlumni/Development Office. Greatercommunication between the various com-ponents of administration will be possi-ble along with the ability for all studentsand faculty members to eat together atone time.

A new Performing Arts Center will havethe capacity to seat up to 500 people.

Campus Life

The entire Community including faculty andfamilies can be seated at once as well as allthose who typically attend the Family Week-end Sampler, rather than standing or drap-ing themselves on scaffolding on theperimeter of the Auditorium. Music practicerooms, dressing rooms, a gallery for display-ing student art, and an orchestra pit will alsobe included for more professional perform-ances. This will be sited just south of the pres-ent Auditorium, where the Health Center andrustic landscaping currently stand. Part ofthis Performing Arts Complex will honor themany contributions to the School by FredLamb, CdeP 40.

Plans are also afoot to create a more formalentrance to the School along the path be-tween the Heads house and the gymnasium;some may recall that this was the original en-trance to the School along the row of peppertrees. This will create a more formalized andwelcoming approach to the heart of theSchool, yet capture Thachers Western her-itage. e

Michael Mulligan points out the new barn location to thewest of the horse area

ArchitectsChanging Thachers FaceArchitectural Review Committee Established by Jane D. McCarthyAlumni, architects, and administrators discuss howThachers appearance may evolve as newconstruction takes place

The Architectural Review Committee ponders theentrance to the new Performing Arts Complex

Plays

page 10 The Thacher News

Across the BoardsA Grateful Directors Look Back at by Rod M. Jake JacobsenTheatre at Thacher, 2000-01

Apleasant and provocative juxtaposition ofthe old and the new marked Thachersdrama program this year.While the Masquers again performed two full-length plays (Shakespeares As You Like It inthe fall and Rodgers and Harts musical gemBabes in Arms in the winter), the freshman In-troduction to the Arts curriculum received awelcome transfusion of talent and energy withthe addition of Mr. Sandy Jensen to the FineArts faculty. After each of the three academicquarters a different ensemble of SandysThacher Thespies (self-styled modern-daySespe Thespians) performed a variety ofradio plays, Christmas carols, and one-actswhich delighted the swelling audiences of stu-dents, faculty, and parents. Sandy was not onlya professional actor on stage and in film andtelevision, but has also worked professionallyon the technical sidea rare combination. Hebrings to the campus not only his years of ex-perience but also an infectious enthusiasm forthe craft of acting and the creation of soundand light environments. He is enjoying hiswork as a teacher, while his students are gain-ing the kind of experience which will preparethem not only for further productions atThacher but for public presentations in gen-eral. The Thacher Thespies are well on theirway to being the hottest new act on campus!

Meanwhile, two large casts (over 20 each) ex-plored the distinct genres of Shakespeare andthe classic American musical in Thachers mainstage productions. The company of As YouLike It showed their versatility, intelligence,and hard work as they brought the Forest ofArden to the Lamb Auditorium after unsea-sonably cold and wet weather made an out-door performance too risky to try. Theminimal set, actually a thrust stage with somegreenery and a few set pieces and special light-ing effects, allowed the audience to concen-trate on the players interpretations of theBards language perhaps even more than usual.Our veteran actors (led by Will Barkan 02 asOliver, Alden Blair 01 as Touchstone, AntheaTjuanakis 01 as Rosalind, Chris Bonewitz 01as Orlando, Logan Clark 01 as Celia, andMeredith Walker 01 as Jacques) anchored acompany which included many younger actorsnew to Thachers stage. The Chamber Singers,directed by Mr. Greg Haggard, played the rolesof choristers, providing a vibrant concert-in-a-play. Most impressive for me was watch-ing the principals gradually internalize thewords of Shakespeare on the way toward de-

veloping their characters organically, thought-fully, innovatively. In addition to making themost of our regular rehearsalsa provocativediscovery process for all of usthe senior Mas-quers worked with each other independently aswell. Their commitment to expressing the nu-ances of language and character resulted in aperformance beyond my already-high expec-tations. My favorite moments in any play arethose when the students infuse their speecheswith a unique and honest energy which en-lightens me, allowing me to hear the languageas if for the first time. The cast of As You LikeIt provided many such moments for me lastNovember.

Not long after the Shakespearean stage wasstruck it was time to hold auditions for thewinter musical. Rodgers and Harts Babes inArms is a play not often performed profes-

Campus Life

John Babbott 03: A building process islearning to sing, dance, move, and act atthe same time: very tricky for some of us.

Julia Erdman 03: Its amazing to me howmuch time and effort the cast devotes tothe show. We put in a good two monthsand yet its over so quickly. But for thoseselect moments when you are in fact infront of an audience, truly performing,you remember what all that work was for.Feeling the energy of the house and es-tablishing a connection with the audienceis one of the most indescribable feelings.When the three nights of the show end,you cant help but feel relieved; but a partof you is missing.

Jackie Fiske 03: Babes in Arms was thegreatest experience Ive had at Thacherthis year. While everyone was happy tohave their 9:30-10s back, I was wishingfor a rehearsal.

Meredith Walker 01: Over the course offour consecutive Thacher productions,Ive comet o realize that the appeal of act-ing lies in having the excuse to regress tochildhood make believe. Complete withdress-ups! Of course, when I was a child Ididnt pretend to be a chronically melan-choly intellectual (Jacques) or a promis-cuous, hypochondriacal stage mother(Phyllis Owens) but thats just in the de-tails

Will Barkan 02 and Logan Clark 01 as Oliverand Celia in As You Like It

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 11

sionally these daysperhaps theplot is too innocent, too cornyfor modern tastesbut in my ex-perience audiences are always sur-prised to hear some of theirfavorite tunes in this gem of ashow: My Funny Valentine,The Lady is a Tramp, Imag-ine, and Johnny One-Note.The cast caught on early in the re-hearsal season to the possibilitiesfor sheer fun and frolic. As GregHaggard taught them the musicand Gallia Vickery worked herchoreographical magic, both theold-timers and the rookiesblossomed. My co-directors and Iknew we had a winner: the choruswas as strong as any weve hadsince our collaboration began fiveyears ago, and the principalsshowed consistent enthusiasm fortheir roles, unsophisticated as they might beby todays standards. The richness and beauty,the power and personality in the voices of vet-eran singer-actresses Esther Guzmn 01(Bunny) and Julia Erdman 03 (Terry) wereknown qualities, while senior Peter Frykman(Val) and sophomore John Babbott (Gus)stage novices in December, believe it or notand sophomore Jackie Fiske (Susie Ward)commanded our attention more and more asopening night approached. These studentscould sing! Add to this raw talent and energythe fact that Babes in Arms is truly an ensem-ble musical (only a few scenes did not includethe entire cast) and a hit show was all but cer-tain. Indeed these eight seniors, two juniors,six sophomores, and three freshmen gave thelarge audiences something to sing about. Thematuring of our veterans and the emergenceof several brand-new Masquers made this mu-sical a happy theatre experience for us direc-tors, too!

The reservoir of dramatic and musical talentgrows wider and deeper at Thacher: opportu-nities for creatively seem to grow every year

as students and teacherswork to maintain the tra-dition of excellence andfun on stage. From theThespies to the veter-ans, from the AdvancedActing Class (who willperform their own play inMay) to independent per-formers, theatre seems tobe taking place everyweek at Thacher thesedays, and I feel grateful tobe a part of a collabora-tive effort with talentedand selfless actors and di-rectors who love theprocess as much as the re-sults. e

Chamber Singers provided a concert-in-a-play in As You Like It

Lauren Fiske 04,Charmiane Lieu 03,Erica Reynolds 01,Clare Holstein 04, andMike Disner 01perform Imagine inBabes in Arms

Michael Disner 01 andJackie Fiske 02 portraySteve Edwards and hissister, Susie Ward, in

Babes in Arms

page 12 The Thacher News

Spor

ts

JUNIOR VARSITY BOYSSOCCER

Captain: David Babbott 01Coach: Jack CrawfordSeason Record: 10-1Condor League Championship

Our seniors were outstanding all year and the pri-mary reason behind our success, according toCoach Crawford. The seasons highlights were threevictories over Cate and a total of 40 goals scored onopponents, with only five allowed.

THIRD BOYS SOCCERCaptains: Max Greene 01, Brian Kelly 01,and Simon Xi 01Coach: David HarrisSeason Record: 8-1-1Tony Dunn Sportsmanship Award

True class, grace, and commitment is how CoachHarris described this team. During Family Week-end, they showed complete domination by theboys, and an end-score of 4-1, with some of thebest soccer Ive seen in 11 years at this level.

FRESHMAN BOYS SOCCERCaptains: Max Kuhl and Ward SorrickCoach: Michael MulliganSeason Record: 2-1-1

Even with juggling horse responsibilities andsports, wrote Coach Mulligan, these boysshowed impressive determination, unity, and spiritthroughout the season. They enjoyed each otherscompany and improved their team play significantlyby seasons end.

Sports Recap

by Joy Sawyer-Mulligan

Fall SportsThree teams secured Tony Dunn SportsmanshipAwards in the fall and three more teams wonCondor League Championships in the fall.

VARSITY GIRLS TENNISCaptain: Elizabeth Sanseau 01Coach: Rae Ann SinesCondor League Record: 3-2Season Record: 9-5

In addition to Capn Sanseau (first in singles play),seniors Caitlin Mulholland (second in doubles), EmilyDachs (first in doubles), Andrea Black, and Mered-ith Flannery (the latter two both third in doubles andrecipients of Most Improved Player honors) gavecritical support to the younger racqueteers on thisspirited squad.

JUNIOR VARSITY GIRLSTENNIS

Captains: Smitha Reddy 01 and EmmaWhite 01Coach: David JohnstonSeason Record: 3-4Tony Dunn Sportsmanship Award

Abundant joie de vivre matched joie de tennis inthis team which, in Dr. Js opinion, deserves MostValuable and Most Improved Player.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRYCaptain: Deloria Lane Many Grey Horses01Coach: Pierre Yoo

With the loss of five of the top seven runners oflast years squad, the 2000 runners turned a page towrite a new chapter. At League Finals, Deloriapicked up first place and was later named MostValuable Runner; Phoebe Barkan 03 snaggedeighth; and Dawn Cleveland 03 won Most Im-proved kudos.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRYCaptain: Rob Dickson 01Coach: Jamie DialCondor League Champions

This team went undefeated in the League, snag-ging a fistful of clanking medals along the way atraces such as the Brentwood Invitational and theMt. SAC competition. John Babbott 03 claimed theMost Valuable Runner award while Drew Fleck 03received the Most Improved award.

VARSITY BOYS SOCCERCaptains: Mike Back 01 and Tyler Manson01Coach: Fred ColemanCondor League Record: 10-0-0Season Record: 11-0-0Tony Dunn Sportsmanship AwardCondor League Championship

This teamas fast as any weve hadalwaysplayed up to its level, said Coach Coleman, evenwhen the opposition did not. It was unquestionablyone of the two or three best ever Thacher VarsityBoys teams.

Varsity Boys Soccer Team won both theCondor League Championship and theTony Dunn Sportsmanship Award

GIRLS JUNIOR VARSITYBASKETBALL

Captains: Esther Guzman 01 andStephanie Hubbard 01Coach: David HarrisCondor League Record: 1-6Season Record: 1-9

We had a strong turnout and collectively theyplayed with a great deal of heart, hustle, andhumor, reports Coach Harris. Despite a disap-pointing season record, a good half of the gameswere close.

BOYS VARSITY LACROSSECaptains: Chris Brown 01 and Tyler Man-son 01Coaches: Jack Crawford and Bo MansonCondor League Record: 7-2Season Record: 11-2

Our come-from-behind triple overtime loss to Catewas our finest effort: Down 4 to 1 at the half, theboys returned to the field and out-scored the oppo-sition by an equal 4 to 1 margin to tie the game withtwo minutes remaining, said Coach Manson. Thesudden-death triple overtime proved a classic nail-biter, with shots hitting the pipes and the goalie re-peatedly, but not the nets inner V. The team camein second in the League.

BOYS JUNIOR VARSITYLACROSSE

Captains: Erik Fiske 02 and Andrew Poole02Coaches: Tom Scarborough and TerryTwichellCondor League Record: 2-6Season Record: 2-7Tony Dunn Award

These guys gave 100% on the field, every practiceand every game, according to Coach Twichell, andgrew in competitiveness and skill with every pass-ing week, even facing two Varsity teams on theirplaying schedule (OVS and Laguna Blanca). MostImproved on the squad was John Babbott 03; MostValuable Player was Andrew Poole

BOYS FRESHMANLACROSSE

Captains: Ned Lincoln and Robert NevilleCoach: Greg CourterSeason Record: 1-5

Because the team invested great effort in practiceand in games, the guys expereinced terrific growthand improvement over the course of the season,Mr. Courter said. Most Valuable Player honors wentto Ward Sorrick and Lee Shurtleff; Chris Goldmanwon Most Improved. e

GIRLS THIRD TEAMSOCCER

Captains: Kerry Connolly 01, Grace Logs-don 01, and Emma White 01 Coach: Diana Garcia, CdeP 95Season Record: 0-4

Illness, injury, and stormy weather hammered atriple whammy on the Thirds this winter on the firstscoreboard; but on the second, the important onethat records sportsmanship and spirit, this squadwas undefeated.

BOYS VARSITYBASKETBALLCaptains: Michael Back 01and Jay Thornes 01Coaches: Brian Driscoll andTed HoldenCondor League Record: 8-0Season Record: 11-10Condor League ChampionsFor the second consecutive year,these courtiers earned the Con-dor League Title with the roster ofseniors (in addition to the captains:Blake Caldwell, Eric Butts, andCanyon Cody) having beaten Cateseven of eight times in their tenureon the court. The key to the boyssuccess, reports Coach Driscoll,was their balanced strength, as

different players took top-point honors in nearlyevery game.

BOYS JUNIOR VARSITYBASKETBALL

Captains: Chris Bonewitz 01, Mike Disner01, and Emmett Hopkins 01 Coach: Derick Perry, CdeP 83Condor League Record: 3-5Season Record: 4-8

With the three senior captains, as well as seniorsSimon Xi and Max Greene providing what theircoach called truly excellent senior leadership, thisteam enjoyed the spirited participation of boys fromall four classes. The team showed its competitivemettle in a last-second victory over St. Bonaven-ture, and their coach later confided that hednever seen a team play with such heart and en-thusiasm.

GIRLS VARSITYBASKETBALL

Captains: Laura Neville 02 and AnnieWheatley 03Coach: Rae Ann SinesCondor League Record: 3-5 Season Record: 4-9Tony Dunn Award

With four freshmen on the team and no seniors,this was a rebuilding year. Freshmen Whitney Liv-ermore won leading season scorer honors and SteffiRauner led at the free-throw line; and juniors LauraNeville and Mercedes Farrell led the team in three-pointers.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALLCaptain: Jennifer Bowie 01Coaches: A.J. Goldman and Diana Garcia,CdeP 95Condor League Record: 2-5Season Record: 3-7

This very young team enjoyed their vast improve-mentsboth individually and as a teamthrough-out the course of the fall. The irrepressible andtough Betsy Bradford 02 won most ImprovedPlayer, while Captain Bowie (a four-year VarsityPlayer) earned Most Valuable Player honors.

Winter SportsTwo League Championships and two Tony DunnAwards highlighted the winter sports season.

GIRLS VARSITY SOCCERCaptains: Emily Dachs 01 and AntheaTjuanakis 01Coach: Fred ColemanCondor League Record: 4-0-3Season Record: 6-2-5Co-Condor League Champions

This senior-dominated team played in rain, sleet,and occasionally near gale-force winds to prevail asco-Condor League Champions. In the first round ofCIF playoffs, they bested the only team to beatthem in season play and nearly won the secondround against Flintridge Prep (one of the SouthernCIF Sections two top teams).

GIRLS JUNIOR VARSITYSOCCER

Captains: Andrea Black 01 and MeredithFlannery 01Coach: Mary Everett, CdeP 94Season Record: 7-1

This team was undefeated and unscored upon (withthe exception of a game against the higher divisionNordhoff). After a close 1-0 win against Cate inthe rain, recalled Coach Everett, a great secondhalf run gave us a 4-0 win the second time around.Hannah Carney 01 won the Most Improved award.

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 13

page 14 The Thacher News

Guest ProfessorsEnhance CurriculumStudents Sample Congressional Law and Japanese Culture

During the fall semester, John Nathan,Ph.D., taught A Cultural History of Japanfrom 1100 to the Present. Japanese liter-ature and aesthetics as expressed in the prose,poetry, and cinema of various periods en-tranced students each Tuesday evening forthree hours. The course was more of an ana-lytical reading and writing class than a historycourse, according to Senior David Babbott.We started with The Tale of Genji, whichdates to ancient and elegant Japanese courtculture, and then moved chronologicallythrough Japanese historical and cultural tra-ditionSeveral of the books we read weretranslated by Dr. Nathan directly from theJapanese. In addition to the shorter papers wewere writing frequently, we wrote a longerpaper on a subject of our choice. It was an ex-cellent course because Dr. Nathan was ex-tremely knowledgeable, purposefullyentertaining, and used personal stories in ad-dition to the texts.

Since 1994, Dr. Nathan has been theTakashima Professor of Japanese CulturalStudies at the University of California, SantaBarbara. He is known for his biographies ofYukio Mishima, director of some of the finestdocumentary films featuring Japan, and a pre-eminent translator of Japanese literature. Heauthored two books: Words, Ideas, and Am-biguities: Four Views of Translating from theJapanese and Sony: The Private Life. Dr.Nathan received both his bachelors and doc-torate from Harvard University in Far EasternLanguages and Comparative Literature. Heand his wife Diane live in Santa Barbara andthey have two children: Emily 03 and Tobywho is 12.

This winter, former California CongressmanPaul Norton Pete McCloskey, Jr., taught anine-week course on Constitutional Law totwo classes of upperclass students. He is afourth-generation Californian, who graduatedfrom Stanford University and Stanford LawSchool. He served as a District Attorney be-fore forming what is now the biggest law firmin the Silicon valley. In the early 1950s, Mr.McCloskey served in the Marine Corps inKorea and received two Purple Hearts, theNavy Cross, and the Silver Star. He was electedto Congress in 1967 and served until 1982. Healso ran for the Republican presidential nom-

ination in 1972. Hes written five books, twoof which his class used in their course. He nowpractices law in Redwood City and farms inYolo County, California. His wife, HelenHooper McCloskey, is the aunt of three Cde-Pers: Alix Blair, CdeP 98, Hannah Hooper,CdeP 00, and Alden Blair, 01.

Max Greene 01 wrote of his experience inclass: I received insight, knowledge, and anew perspectiveI have learned to questionthe working of things, to know that an indi-vidual can make a difference, and to desire tochange the current system of politics that canbreed corruption and selfishness. I believe thatI will use the important life lessons that Mr.McCloskey has taught me in my future studiesas well as in my pursuit of happiness and pos-sibly public service in the future. I think that nomatter what I do in the future, that Congress-man McCloskeys teachings will stay with meand bring a new perspective to the decisionsthat I will make in my life. e

Campus Life

John Nathan

Pete McCloskey

coach for cross-country and track) and GregDelVecchio; and Elizabeth Reynolds Mahoney,CdeP 88 (Horse Department faculty member)and her husband, Digital Media Guru Bertwelcomed Aidan McKay Mahoney on Sep-tember 15. Just before Christmas, William Tag-gert Tag Curwen joined his folks, Austin(History Department and Horse Packer), andAlison (Study Skills teacher) Curwen. MissingSuper Bowl Sunday by just a few days, EvanHowse Perry was born to Molly Twichell,CdeP 85, and Derick Perry, CdeP 83 on Feb-ruary 3. As of this writing, one more is on thehorizon: Wendi (Art teacher) and Jamie Dial(Outdoor Program) are expecting their firstbundle of joy in June. All of these precious lit-tle lives bring great joy (and plenty of diapers)to our Community.

Tidbits

Four seniors received word recently that theyare part of the 16,000 National Merit Final-ists and, therefore, eligible for college scholar-ships. Mary Ann Bronson (Juneau, Alaska),Robert Emmett Hopkins (Healdsburg, Cali-fornia), Brian John Kelly (Portola Valley, Cal-ifornia), and Kevin Robert Schmidt (Bellevue,Nebraska) should here this spring if they willbe part of the 7,900 Merit Scholarship win-ners to receive scholarships. Congratulations,scholars, and good luck in this next stage!

Just before the elections in Israel, Thacher par-ent Brian Lurie (father of Alex 02) spoke on thecurrent political and social climate in Israel.He correctly predicted that Sharon would winby a landslide and shed some light on the mostpertinent matters facing Israel today. He capi-talized on the pressing issue over the Old Cityin Jerusalem, discussing the complications of thisholy city's owenership. He spoke of the esca-lating violence in Israel and of the near future.To close the evening, Mr. Lurie shared a bless-ing that he translated into English: "may theLord bless you and keep you, may the Lordcause His face to shine upon you and be gra-cious unto you, may the Lord give you a life ofhealth hope happiness and His most preciousgift of peace." According to Alex, "This prayersums up the reason for my dad's devotion to hiscausepeace among Jews and between Jews andtheir neighbors." e

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 15Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 15

Numeracy Puzzle

Last issues puzzle has been solved by sev-eral creative people. Here was the puzzle:

The radii of the three largest circles are1, 2, and 3, respectively. What is the ra-dius of the smallest circle?

Kip Witter, CdeP 64, Dick Rhodes, CdeP59, Tom Cleveland (stepdad of AndrewFleck 03), Phil Thacher, CdeP 54, andEric Anderson, CdeP 88, all sent in cor-rect answers of 6/7. As Eric wrote:

It relies on the fact that nay line connect-ing the centers of osculating circles inter-sects their point of tangency. This allows

Heres the new puzzle:You are presented with 12 coins, one ofwhich is counterfeit. Find the counterfeitcoin in less than four weighings with onlya balance scale if all 12 coins are identicalin appearance, and you know only thatthe counterfeit coin does not weigh thesame as a good coin.

Send your solution to Kurt Meyer in theThacher Math Department via e-mail atkmeyer@thacher.org, or via U.S. mail atthe School address.

TidbitsLeft to right, from young to youngest, Gordon Larson, JJ Mazzola, Caroline DelVecchio, AidenMahoney, Tag Curwen, and Evan Perry

for the construction of three right trian-gles with sides whose lengths may be de-fined in terms of three unknowns.Application of Pythagoras Theorem toeach of the three triangles gives threeequations in those three unknowns. Thustheir values may be determined. The ra-dius of the fourth circle is one of thoseunknowns

X2 + h2 = (1 + y)2

(2 x)2 + h2 = (3 y)2

(3 x) 2 + h2 = (2 + y)2

y = 6/7

Great job, fellows

Babies Galore are gracing our Community.Gordon Fairburn Larson was the first to ar-rive on May 29 to Phoebe Fairburn Larson(Associate Director of Admission) and MarcLarson. James Joseph JJ Mazzola arrived onAugust 7 to Chris (Dean of Students andFrench teacher) and Rich (Athletic Directorand English teacher) Mazzola; on August 25,Caroline Redfield DelVecchio made her ap-pearance to parents Sarah (History teacher and

page 16 The Thacher News

A Southern SojournRedefining Terra Incognito: The Deep South by Thomas A.H. Scarborough

Five Thacher students signed away one oftheir spring vacation weeks to journey fromNew Orleans to the Mississippi Delta, withTom Scarborough, a scholar of AntebellumSouth who returned to Thacher this spring toteach the History of the American South. Dur-ing an organizational meeting a few weeks be-fore the trip, Tom asked Brian Kelly 01, RobDickson 01, Andrew Ma 02, Kasi McLe-naghan 04, and Julia Robinson 04 what im-pressions came to mind when they thought ofthe South. Their responses, Tom found, weremostly drawn from cultural stereotypes andbiases propagated by the entertainment indus-try. Most of them possessed little or no hardknowledge about the region. Indeed, for manyAmericans residing in other regions of the na-tion, the South remains terra incognito. Tomention the South is to invoke troubling im-ages of hard-hearted masters whipping theirslaves, fire-eating secessionists, lynchings, andall other manifestations of overt racism, Tomexplains. It elicits impressions of rural isola-tion and poverty, uneducated hicks, andLynyrd Skynyrd playing Sweet Home Al-abama in front of a giant Confederate flag. Infact, the South has at one time or another beenall of these things. Southerners themselves haveall too often demonstrated a positive geniusfor playing down to the lowest expectationsof the regions harshest critics. Yet we remainfascinated with the South. Perhaps this is be-cause the Souths own Manichean internalstruggle to balance good and evil has beenplayed out so publicly for so long. Bill Clin-ton is only the latest apt metaphor for thisstruggle. The South has allowed us to see withshocking clarity the Darkness that exists withinall of us, and it is troubling. But the South ismore than Americas version of a Greektragedy. This is what I hope the students willcome to see on their journey to the most South-ern place on Earth.

Upon his return, Tom crafted a detailed ac-count of the groups Southern Sojourn withhistorical facts woven throughout. Excerpts ofthat fascinating transcript and photographs arepublished here.

Campus Life

We make the short walk to nearby Jackson Square and I hire a carriage to take us on a tour of theQuarter. Our guide is knowledgeable and he gets most of the history rightThe streets of the Quarterare already crowded with tourists out for the nights revels. As our carriage crosses Bourbon Street thedin pouring from the bars momentarily drowns out our guide. The strains of Dixieland jazz, electricblues, and Cajun shuffles collide, creating a maelstrom of noise that is uniquely New Orleans.

We amble through the LSU campus toHill Memorial Library where Tara

Zachary, the head of manuscriptacquisitionsallows the group to

examine some manuscript documentsfrom the papers of the Bisland family, aplanter clan from Natchez, Mississippi.

Among the documents we scrutinize arebills of sale for slaves, ledger booksrecording plantation expenditures,

personal letters to and from friends inScotland, and numerous sight

draftspromissory notes whichfunctioned as negotiable currency in a

region chronically sort of specie andhard case. Though most of the

documents we examine date from 1803-1810, the paper is in remarkably finecondition...[since they dont contain]

acids or bleaches that would cause[them] to deteriorate as rapidly.

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 17

During their last dinner togetherin a little restaurant on Du-maine Street, Tom asked the stu-dents how the trip had influencedtheir perceptions of the South.They cited such distinctions asthe warmth of the people, the na-ture and character of ruralpoverty, the slower pace of dailylife, and reverence with whichSoutherners regard the past,Tom wrote. All were unanimousthat even in todays American in-stant disposable techno-franchiseculture, Southerners still retain areassuring awareness of time andplace, and a self-conscious senseof apartness from the culturalmainstream. And the students arerightthe South is different. But,to an extent that many peopledont realize, the Southandparticularly Afro-Southernershave shaped and mediated oursocietys cultural vocabulary forover three centuries. Whetherfrom apathy or an intrinsic dis-like of all things Southern, thosewho remain ignorant about theSouth can never truly understandthemselves as Americans. For theSouth is indeed quintessentiallyAmerican, and we may all bemore Southern than we care toadmit.

If you are interested in receivingthe entire report, please contactJane McCarthy at Thacher, andit will be sent to you. e

past the port of Vicksburg,a red, yellow, and pink

apparition appears along theroadside. It is Margarets

Grocery & Market, which,despite its name, no longer

sells anything. An elderlyAfrican-American woman

turns out to be MargaretDennis, and she lives at thestore with her husband, the

Reverend D. H Dennis.Margaret is 86 years old, and

she tells us she was marriedto her first husband for 39

years until he was murderedin their store. She doesnt say

whether the killers were blackor white. After years ofwidowhood, Margaret

married the reverend 16 yearsago, and the two of themconverted the store into a

local beacon of charismaticfaith. I love everybody, no

matter what color they are!Margaret exclaims. When Ipray I dont say Dear Lord,

please watch over your blackchildrenI pray for Him to

love and protect all of Hischildren.

Painted on the side of the structure isDockery Farms and the names ofthe first two proprietors, Will andJoe Rice Dockery. I tell the studentsthat if one were to identify a singlelocation that could be considered thebirthplace of the Delta Blues,Dockery Plantation would be thatplace. Here, in the plantationscluster of sharecropper cabins,Charley Patton grew up, and his hotguitar licks inspired other developinglocal Blues musicians like TommyJohnson, Willie Brown, Son House,and Robert Johnson.

Andrew Ma 02, Kasi McLenaghan04, Rob Dickson 01, JuliaRobinson 04, and Brian Kelly 01

page 18 The Thacher News

Philadelphia Story, California became my sec-ond home in what some account as the besttime in life. The journey itself came about byhappenstance when Russell (who had sufferedpneumonia at an early age which left a slighthearing difficulty) contracted increasing deaf-ness and was advised by a Swiss doctor thatthe only way to arrest this defect was by mov-ing from the damp climate of Philadelphia toArizona, New Mexico, or California. Ourmother, a stout-hearted woman, took this ad-vice seriously. She headed our small family ofthree (our father had died many years earlier),set off for the Golden West and entered Rus-sell in The Thacher School in Californias OjaiValley, to the astonishment and cluckings ofPhiladelphia cousins, uncles, and aunties whoreally should have known better.

Santa Barbara, where my mother and I firstsettled on coming westlay in a bit of landbetween two promontories, a town of perhaps25,000 people and facing the distant island ofSanta Cruz. Its oldest monument was the Mis-sion located above the townSome familieswere indeed rich; others including my own haddifficulty from time to time making ends meet(my mother at one point pawned what jewelryshe possessed to keep her sons in school).

Our favorite trips by car were to the Ojai Val-ley to visit Russell and the Heffelfinger broth-ers. The ambience of this beautiful valley isdifferent from that of Santa Barbaraprimi-tive and more jaunting. One enters the Valleyvia a road from VenturaThe Valley itself is acup in the mountains surrounded to the westby the high peaks of Matilija and to the northby the massive outcrop of the Topa TopaRange. What is now the town of Ojai was thencalled Nordhoff, named for the family ofCharles Nordhoff, who went on to write thefamous Mutiny on the Bounty and other booksdealing with far-off Polynesia.

Into this Valley and village Sherman Thacher

had come in the 1880s when, upon graduatingfrom Yale, he broke down in health and soughtrecuperation on his brothers orange ranch.Sherman, the product of New Haven, soon re-gained his strength in the orange orchards andbegan to receive letters from the East askinghim if he could tutor various New Haven andYale boys having trouble with their studies. Hetook on one, then two, then three, and out ofthis grew The Thacher School, where boyscould combine preparing for college withhorseback riding and camping on what Sher-man Thacher was wont to call The WesternRim. Today it is a modern place equippedwith all kinds of playing fields and tenniscourts. In the days I am speaking of it wasmore primitivea main building with a largepiazza overlooking the Valley and surroundedby pepper trees, a study hall and dormitoriesup the hill, and off in the sage several barnsincluding the old stone barn which gave theranch its name, Casa de Piedra. That also wasthe name of The School Song which Sher-man indicted:

Then heres to old Casa de PiedraAnd heres to the Westland so freeWhere the mountains rise to the (good) landAnd the Valley runs down to the sea.

Mr. Thacher, stern taskmaster, had no greatenthusiasm for parents who entrusted theirsons to his care and indeed took extreme pre-cautions to insure that their visits to his Valleywould be few and far between. However, thereproved to be one chink in his armourthe factthat little manly boys no less than little girlsgrow older day by day and need each other.Every year the School put on two or threedances and the nearest supply of feminine pul-chritude lay in the Santa Barbara School forGirls. My mother, a former Philadelphia belleand later a school teacher, capitalized on theabove fact and in the end became duenna andchaperone for bringing a bevy of young girls tothe Valley to make the dances not only possi-

As announced in the Spring/Summer 2000 edi-tion of The Thacher News, the Thacher His-torical Society is an ad hoc committee ofpersons interested in promoting and enhancingthe history of The Thacher School. Soon afterthe magazine was posted, Mrs. Piers Dixon(Ann Davenport Mavroleon Dixon of London,England) sent Michael Mulligan a slim auto-biography by her father, John Davenport,CdeP 21, thinking that his writing aboutSDTs era might be interesting to the ThacherCommunity. With her permission, excerpts arepresented here.

When I think back to the California ofthose days it is usually with the unlikelycombination of trains and the sweetsmell of orange blossoms. Trains because priorto World War II there was no other way ofspanning a three-thousand-mile continent thatone now accomplishes in a Boeing 148 in amatter of hours. The effete Easterner boardedthe Pennsylvania Limited at Philadelphia andsome 14 hours later disembarked in Chicago.From there, the Santa Fe took one across theMississippi and thrust Westward across Ari-zona and New Mexico and so up a final steepgrade to Needles and the Tahachapis wherethe great double-header engines drew off at asiding, panting from their long exertion, and adifferent engine and engine crew took charge.It was mostly downhill all the way, firstlythough sage brush, then into rich ranchlandwhere the walnut and orange orchards spreaddown to Los Angeles and the edges of that Cal-ifornia landmark, the broad Pacific.

I first made this journey at the age of nine inthe autumn of 1913 in the company of mymother and my elder brother Russell, five yearsmy senior and was destined to make it manytimes over in the next 10 years. For, while bornand bred a Philadelphian and of that MainLine celebrated in Phillip Barrys The

TheCaliforniaThat Was

by John Alfred Davenport, CdeP 21

This view of Gymkhana (circa 1895) is arecent gift to Thachers expanding archives

Fall 2000 / Winter 2001 page 19

ble but events of the first order. It became hertask to round up the most likely girlsescortthem to the Ojai, chaperone them while thereand so add greatly to civilizing Mr. Thachersclosely guarded domain. I accompanied her onthese expeditions as a kind of page boy, tooyoung to enter into the festivities, but oldenough to admire my seniors and betters asthey danced away an evening

Sherman Thachers influence on this life ofstudies and horses was all pervasive though al-ways formal and curiously objective. Everymorning, S.D., as he was nicknamed, openedthe academic day in the main study hall with areading of his and the Schools favoured poets,with a decided emphasis on the poetry of Rud-yard Kipling who best expressed ShermanThachers philosophy of hard work and Godsown gift of common sense. We came to feel inour bones such favourites as Kiplings IF andRecessional, such lesser known poems asWhen Earths Last Picture is Painted,McAndrews Humn, Gunga Din, andabove all The Explorer which somehowsuited the still unspoiled country in which helived:

In the little border stationTucked away beneath the foothillsWhere the trails run out and stop.

For Sherman, Kiplings Explorer summedup just about all of the manly virtues whichhe tried to instill in his ever changing classes ofyoung men, his great disappointment, I learnedlater, was that on a trip to England he was un-able to meet Kipling face to face. To this earlymorning poetry reading was added in theevening a half hour of prose reading: Dickens,Thackeray, Jack London, Brete Hartes TheLuck of Roaring Camp and on Sundays, theOld and the New Testament. Sherman, it willbe recalled, had been brought up in the strictPuritan orthodoxy of the New Haven of the1870s. Bit by bit life had eroded orthodox be-lief in God at least as set forth in the prayerbooks. He was when one came right down toit an agnostic in religious matters but a firmbeliever in the Puritan ethic. An agnostic is notan atheist. He simply does not know, and con-fesses as much. Years after I had graduatedfrom Thacher, I had occasion to stand with itsheadmaster on the School Pergola overlook-ing the beautiful Valley. In a rare breakdown offormality Sherman gestured towards the dis-tant hills as if to say: There must be more outthere than what we see but it is unknowable.

But if agnostic in the matter of God, S.D. wasquite sure of himself in the matter of ethics.Smoking was anesthetized at the School ex-cept for faculty members who were given asmall shack in which they could indulge in thatforbidden habit. The dangers of drink or sex-ual promiscuity were harped on. One of theSchools more famous pupils in the days afterI had left it was Howard Hughes, who whilethere broke all the rules and was unceremoni-

ously kicked out. Sherman lamented evenwhile practicing such disciplinary measures.He had a theory that the boys he really wantedto help were not the obedient scholars but themisfits. Howard Hughes, he once said, wasthe only boy I never really could help. Ap-parently Hughes in the end took the thoughtfor the deed. From his enormous fortune, madein oil-rig equipment and other ventures, camea gift of the Schools first-class science labora-tory.

My own experience of the Puritan ethic camewith stunning force one morning at SchoolGymkhana wherein we practiced all mannerof games on horseback. One of those gameswas the sack race in which one galloped thelength of the field, pivoted ones horse on thesack while scooping it up with one hand andthen raced back to the finish line. On that dayI missed the pivot, had to wheel twice andcame down the field swearing at my faithfulmare to the astonishment of many onlookers.Sherman took me into his office the next morn-ing and verbally chastised me, first for dis-gracing the School before visitors, secondly forblaming what was my own error on my horse.

My second memorable encounter with S.D.came not too long before my graduation. Insummoning me into his office to discuss thefuture, S.D. remarked almost casually: Youknow, John, you are not going to Yale nextyear. Why not? I retorted, for my marksand other deportment was on the whole ex-cellent. It turned out that Sherman believed Iwas just too youngnot just in years but whathe called maturitythe growing up processwhich for him was so essential. It came as abitter blow for it meant getting out of step withall my classmates. In fact, as it turned out, itwas one of the best turns that any man hasdone for me. I was too young emotionally, sex-ually, and in other ways to go to college.

So where next? Sherman held in his hand asmall catalogue of a quite different kind of ac-ademic institution than Thacher or Yale. It wasa newly founded school called Deep Springs,tucked away in northern California betweenOwens Valley and Deer Valley, and foundedby a man very different from S.D. Thacher. Hewas L.L. Nunn, who with a brother had de-veloped the first rudimentary elements of long-distance power transmission that today we findso commonplace. The Nunn brothers hadstarted this development in Telluride nearOgden, Utah, at the edge of the Rockies. Theyhad made an enormous success and not a littlemoney and had additionally made a practice ofhiring high school students and collegians todo some of the work. From this came the ideaof developing a school where actual workwould be interlaced with academic studies.And the final result was the Deep SpringsSchool, where selected studentstuition fullypaid for out of an endowment fundcom-bined studies with actual ranching.

So in the Autumn of 1922, I boarded a train inLos Angeles that chugged slowly and withmany stops up the Owens Valley, the conduc-tor as I recall in dungarees and sleeves. Onegot out at Bishop in the shadow of the HighSierras to the west and lesser mountains to theeast. From there one was met by car andwhisked over the hills to school itself, some ce-ment and stucco buildings, surrounded bybarns, two or three silos and shacks shelteringvarious forms of farm equipment.

It was a desolate enough place very differentfrom the beautiful Ojai, and I recall soon afterarrival I got a note from Mr. Thacher saying:You will probably find your first experiencedisappointing. Most things in life are. Yet asthe year developed Deep Springs developed itsown attractions and proved enormouslyworthwhile. Studies were less formal than atThacher and in one caseDifferential Calcu-luswe had a fellow and older students asmaster. Ranch work soon came to be as excit-ing as horseback riding in the Ojai and equallyrewarding. Fields to be plowed in autumn andspring, cattle to be herded in all kinds ofweather, innumerable practical chores to be at-tended to. Fellow students and workersonlyabout 20 in numbercame from all classes insociety for Deep Springs was no Ivy Leagueplace

Nunn exerted his powers of persuasion, whichwere not inconsiderable, to have me stay onat Deep Springs for more than one year. Thiswas not to be. I was scheduled to enter Yale inthe autumn of 1923, and the schedule heldafter considerable argument. But not withoutone farewell lookat the California thatwas. On leaving the school in June, I teamedup with a companion, Bob Aird, now a physi-cian in San Francisco, for a final fling at theWest. Buying a mule in Bishop, we made atwo-week pack trip at night across the tower-ing Sierras. Three days of hard climbingbrought us to the top of those sheer moun-tains. We camped on the third night close to ahigh glacial lake. Before supper I made my wayup to an eminence from which one could looknorth and south along the jagged peaks. It wasa wild and unforgettable scene of massive erup-tion. For the Sierras are in face a giant fault orslippage, sheer on the west and gently slopingon the east. Millions of years ago the Earth soto speak had given way, leaving behind a tum-bling sea of rock as far as the eye could see. Igazed at the dislocation, this desolation andgrandeur for a while, then was glad to returnto our campsite. Next morning we started ourvery different descent westward. First rockygoing. Then the tree line and the opening up ofpasture land. Wonderful streams of clear crys-talline waters. And finally and at last the firstsigns of civilizationthe ranches and then thetowns. We sold our mule for about what wepaid for him in one of them. The Westernyears, the boyhood years, were over. e

AlumniReturneth

In the olden days, Sherman Day Thacher identified students whom he wanted to return to Thacher toteach once theyd finished college. Frequently for only one-year stints, these young men rejoinedThachers Community on the other side of the fence with increased demands and responsibilities,forced professional relationships with their former teachers and coaches, and barely enough wrinklesto discern them from fresh-faced students. Yet, this opportunity was seldom turned down when offeredby SDT; after all, it was quite an honor to be the anointed one, to get to return to the idyllic settingof their high school years, and to rub shoulders with motivated, intelligent students. As well, it gavereal-life experience to these young alumni and helped build their rsums for future career aspirations.

Theres no question, though, that Thacher benefits from this practice, as well. Bright young minds;strong coaching and athletic skills; and positive mentoring, role models, compassion, and compre-hension of current students struggles enhance Thachers faculty immeasurably.

At Thacher today, several young teachers are also alumni: Derick Perry, CdeP 83; Elizabeth ReynoldsMahoney, CdeP 88; Molly Twichell Perry, CdeP 85; Mary Everett, CdeP 94; and Diana Garcia, CdeP 95.The experiences of these last three alumni are included here, along with nine others who returned toThacher during the last seven decades. Our featured Trustee and author are also alumni and are pro-filed here as well. This was an interesting topic to research and write about; we hope you enjoy read-ing about these folks as much as we enjoyed putting this piece together. JDMc

Illustration byAnthea Tjuanakis 01

Laurin H. Healy George H. Pfau, Jr. Bruce N. Oxley

Michael S. Milligan Stephen Van B. Griggs Paul Gavin

Molly T. Perry Mark A.T. Holman

Diana Garcia and Mary H. Everett John G. Lewis, Jr. David G. Lavender

page 22 The Thacher News

Laurin H. Healy, CdeP 31Still the Perfect Place by Jane D. McCarthy

In some regards, its fortuitous that LaurinHealy, CdeP 31 ever came to Thacher. Hegrew up in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois,and finished Evanston Township High Schoolin June 1930. He was only 16, but WilliamsCollege had accepted him for the fall. His par-ents worried that he was too young to startcollege and would benefit from a year of mat-uration before going away. Some familyfriendsthe Hopkins of Evanston and theMorrissons of Chicago and Groton, Con-necticuthad sons, Larry and Reeves, respec-tively, who were attending Thacher. Laurin hadspent summers at his family farm in WesternMassachusetts, hiking, riding horses, camping,

and doing farm chores.Larry and Reeves sug-gested that Laurin jointhem at Thacher wherethey could enjoy theseoutdoor activitiesaswell as academicsbe-fore heading off toWilliams. Thus, in Sep-tember 1930, Laurinarrived with his home-town friends for anextra year of highschool. Thacher wasthe perfect place. Itstill is, according toLaurin.

This was a wise deci-sion for both Thacherand Laurin. He thrived

at Thacher, a much smaller school thanEvanstons student body of 2,000. Larry, MitchBoyd, and Laurin roomed in a corner of theUpper Upper School, where Laurin inheritedthe nicknames Shawn or OLealy inhonor of the Irish playwright Sean OCasey.Mitch recalls, For a fellow who was at theSchool for only one year, he fit in very well.He was pleasant, tall, slender, and a great base-ball player. Laurin made the First Teams inbaseball and soccer, the latter a sport he hadnteven tried until he arrived at Thacher. Laurinexcelled academically as well: he loved study-ing Latin with Morgan Barnes, trigonometryfrom Joseph Lowery, and he received com-mendation for his work in French IV. Heserved on the Boards of The Notes and ElArchivero; made the Committee of Ten; andwon the Honor Man distinction.

Not surprisingly, Laurin spent much of his freetime outdoors. He joined The Bit and Spur

Club that worked on the Yoemans Trail run-ning between the S.D. Thacher Trail and thefoot of the Ingram, north of the athletic field(now part of the Gymkhana area). Weekendcamping trips to the Sespe Valley and horse-packing trips were especially enjoyable. Justone disappointment arose during those daysat Thacher: few students were curious or in-terested in identifying and studying the birdsthat they came across on their wilderness for-ays. [Fortunately, he found an outlet for this in-terest later in life.]

One of the fonder memories for both Laurinand Reeves was listening to Sherman DayThacher read Dickens and other classics in theParlor following dinner on Sunday evenings.As Reeves reminisces, Its still amazes me thata school of boys would sit there quietly andlisten to half an hour of reading. Neither Lau-rin, Bill Lisle, nor Reeves remember Mr.Thacher being sick during their senior year; hecontinued playing baseball with the boys dur-ing Recess and participated in most of the ac-tivities even though he was in his early sixties.According to LeRoy Makepeaces book, Sher-man Thacher and His School, however, Mr.Thachers health was intermittently poor. Re-peatedly he was required to spend a week ormore resting in Santa Barbara, and duringthese periods the School was conducted by Mr.William L. Thacher and Mr. Barnes.

On June 12, 1931, 20 boysincluding Lau-rin, Bill, Reeves, and Larryreceived diplo-mas from S.D.T. during the Commencementexercises held at the Outdoor Theatre. Mr.Thacher then announced that he and hisbrother William would retire from active serv-ice at the School after 42 and 36 years, re-spectively, would retain their homes at theSchool, and would be available on an emeritusbasis. The reins of the School were turned overto an executive committee of three (none ofwhom yet possessed all of the necessary qual-ifications, but when working together dis-played the academic, business, and personalprowess for the headmaster position). Supe-rior authority was bestowed on MorganBarnes who had taught at Thacher from 1903to 1910 and from 1917 until his appointmentas Acting Headmaster, and had served asTrustee and Secretary-Treasurer of the Schoolsince it was incorporated in 1924. ForestCooke was appointed Acting Associate Head-master, and Anson Thacher, CdeP 23, wasmade Business Manager. It was stipulated thatany two could veto the decision of the other.

Profile

page 22 The Thacher News

William fulfilled his intention of traveling andbeing peripherally involved with managementof the School; Sherman Day died six weeks fol-lowing Commencement.

Laurin, Reeves, and Larry all matriculated toWilliams. Laurin majored in U.S. History andmade the Varsity Soccer Team for three years.Various campus groups took advantage ofLaurins leadership and writing skills: he wrotefor the weekly school newspaper, TheWilliams Record, he served as ProductionManager of Cap and Bells (the Colleges un-dergraduate extracurricular theater organiza-tion), and he was the Treasurer of theThompson Concert Committee, that broughtconcerts to Williams. When Ignace Paderewski(Polish pianist, composer, and statesman)played at Williams, Laurin wrote the $3,000check for him: Quite a bit of money in thosedays! Laurin drove a better deal with theCleveland Orchestra: an entire orchestra forthe same three grand. The Cleveland con-cert, Laurin recalls, had to be delayed sev-eral hours. It was three degrees below zero andthe woodwind players couldnt thaw out theirreeds in order to play. Again, Laurin suc-ceeded academically despite his intense in-volvement in the Williams community; he wastapped for Gargoyle, the Senior Honorary So-ciety.

When Laurin neared graduation, Mr. Barnes,who had now taken over the headship ofThacher, asked Laurin to teach at Thacher.Laurin agreed to try it for a year. He lived inMiddle School; taught Latin, U.S. History, Al-gebra, and Current Events; and returned to thesoccer and baseball fields, this time as coach ofthe Second Teams. It was an extremely re-warding and interesting year, Laurin remem-bers, even though it required a lot of hardwork. Somehow I managed to stay at least aday ahead of the students in Algebra. Eventhough Laurin loved teaching at Thacher, hethought that he would be a better teacher if heknew more about the world that the studentswould face when they had finished school.Laurin left Thacher the second time, again,after spending only one year. He returned toChicago to work as a reporter for the ChicagoDaily News. Upon his return to Illinois, Laurinrekindled his friendship with Thacher class-mate, Jim Kellogg, CdeP 31, who lived in sub-urban Winnetka. Jim introduced Laurin to oneof his neighborhood friends, Patricia Kelly.

Patti and Laurin married in 1939 and movedto Springfield, Illinois, in 1940, where he set upa state capital bureau for the Daily News. Thepublisher of the newspaper, Frank Knox, wasnamed Secretary of the Navy just before WorldWar II broke out. He wrote a letter on Lau-rins behalf that helped him receive a Navalcommission. Laurins military training was a30-day crash course at the Great Lakes NavalStations Rabbit Hall. Initially he was as-signed to Public Information work in Chicago,but was then ass