18 20 5655 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/cbff1dc40eb7620071b4d21fb16dbdc5.pdf fd9082271c835964f33331154d394dd4 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 23 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource On Aristotle's Parts of animals : book one, chapter one Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on September 2, 1998 by David Bolotin as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolotin, David, 1944- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998-09-02 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Aristotle -- Contributions in biology Animal nature Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000470 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/82bf7a49a6e2285432ad3fe9b8f84a3b.pdf b6b81e467ed3935b6a6cf058ae090bc6 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 27 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The concerns of Odysseus : an introduction to the Odyssey Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on September 16, 1998 by David Bolotin as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolotin, David, 1944- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-09-16 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Homer. Odyssey. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000598 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/5a1db5b2b3c779f6c4783ffb4a8b7575.pdf 4b507e1e87cf48685695181db9181c49 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 25 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Is there a right to live as we please? : (So long as we respect the right of others to do the same) Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on January 25, 2002 by David Bolotin as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolotin, David, 1944- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-01-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804 -- Ethics. Locke, John, 1632-1704. Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Leviathan. Plato. Gorgias. Ethics -- History Liberty Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000621 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/d63b02c11c5014993eb4cc18d603d85b.pdf 861d63eba2d554a8184abed01a2057be PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 13 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource On Sophocles' Ajax Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on January 7, 1977 by David Bolotin as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolotin, David, 1944- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977-01-07 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Sophocles. Ajax. Ajax (Greek mythological figure) -- Drama Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000754 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/423d873589c3cdcfe4e18fb3be73484c.pdf ef657b8adcde0dc9153d93264df80396 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 23 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Eleatic stranger and Parmenides in Plato's Sophist Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on January 28, 2004 by David Bolotin as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolotin, David, 1944- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2004-01-28 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Plato. Sophist. Plato Eleatics Philosophy, Ancient Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000881 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/5f137a68293223dc39a2274aab3c918b.pdf fd8b0d4719762726a82a488d69fba459 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 47 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The question of place in Aristotle's Physics Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given in 1994 by David Bolotin. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolotin, David, 1944- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Aristotle. Physics. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24003315 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ffa24539e57c9bd8ab060d94f198c02d.pdf bbf54888d1e97ad7d5c96a2cbfae3c34 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 15 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The eyes of Oedipus Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given in February 1986 by Kent Taylor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Taylor, Kent Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-02 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Oedipus Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000209 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/76e6ec982b6f2573cda117ce752cb612.pdf b1654ed6c7bfa5e7f453d3c0ba5779fa PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 19 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The lilies of the field : a teaching at work Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on October 21, 1983 by Kent Taylor as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Taylor, Kent Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1983-10-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Jesus Christ Meaning (Philosophy) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000210 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/173f2f9ff4813fddf1124031feef4dfd.pdf 3ae3588c9f33ef696f01b3c8a05f4160 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 12 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Nietzsche's thought of eternal return and the power to think it Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on February 8, 1980 by Kent Taylor as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Taylor, Kent Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-02-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000211 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/c4519c1d1e2473f5c5d1e8c084fca69c.pdf 7dcbb75d872f9571b1b7d7deb003e365 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 23 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource What is discussion? Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given in September 1991 by Kent Taylor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Taylor, Kent Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-09 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Discussion -- study and teaching Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000268 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/1e946080e120e5f6e1f2a83e683fb1fc.pdf be8bcf8e852cf39f6033af527ba68e8a PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 20 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The impossibility of crows : notes on depth Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on February 2, 2000 by Kent Taylor as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Taylor, Kent Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-02-02 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Kafka, Franz, 1883-1924. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000589 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/9481b37ba27dc9b27fa283963ec29973.pdf 6bc5acce54ca17194a5e58bb491da1fc PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 21 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Opening with a question : the Zen koan Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on February 15, 2002 by Kent Taylor as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Taylor, Kent Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-02-15 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Zen Buddhism Zen literature Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000627 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/296a6c06b979502b796a1a1c4b451c64.pdf 6ce3897cd3202a3c2f9ec0b1da5c2a51 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 27 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Nietzsche : the power of perceiving Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on January 26, 2007 by Kent Taylor as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Taylor, Kent Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-01-26 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24003295 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/b6e20d3468ecb86e6715182002175f58.pdf dfb9d14eb4a3abc7e71084e8f4e80024 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 12 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource On beginning Hegel's Phenomenology Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on September 7, 1994 by Cary Stickney as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stickney, Cary Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-09-07 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770-1831. Phanomenologie des Geistes Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000302 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ac3fbba585907aebc150b0681049f076.pdf d02ac90b3dacb83ab2cfcecf4578d32c PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 8 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource On not hating Hegel Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given by Cary Stickney. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stickney, Cary Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770-1831. Phanomenologie des Geistes Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000435 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/f1d1c2e270373ddbc9464f492f012bc2.pdf f54789714b608017d3c3f853189653aa PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 20 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The death of Don Quixote Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on September 21, 1990 by Cary Stickney as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stickney, Cary Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990-09-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 1547-1616. Don Quixote. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24003364 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/b3ed8b906e47a4df431da8e6fc052130.pdf f0b8efc414011a82dfd71934e35b6ebf PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Thoughts on canto 33 of the Inferno Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on February 6, 2013 by Cary Stickney as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stickney, Cary Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-02-06 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321. Inferno. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24004147 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/6ffdb7a1e7012b47113b0eefe1191ef1.pdf 3d717283c065d690f45ef06fd1636c79 PDF Text Text The College W i n t e r St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe Hegel T h e C l a i m t o K n ow 2 0 0 8 �On Hegel The College (usps 018-750) he ﬁrst seminar I attended at St. John’s, as a visitor to the Santa Fe campus, was on a section of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, considered one of the most challenging works on the Program. I found a volume in the Meem Library and spent several unproﬁtable hours on the reading. In the seminar, I discovered that many of the students were puzzled by Hegel, but they were fearless in offering their ideas and asking questions. And after three years with Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, and other precursors of Hegel, they were well prepared to consider Hegel’s ideas. I left with no greater insight into the Phenomenology, but with a deep appreciation for the seminar, for the Program, and for 18 young adults eager to take on such rigor. Born in Stuttgart in 1770, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel beneﬁted from an excellent early education. He enrolled at Tübingen University, where he studied philosophy and the classics before entering the theological course. (In spite of Hegel’s fondness for cards and lively company, his fellow students called him “the old man.”) By the time he ﬁnished his studies in 1793, he had no enthusiasm for the ministry and instead took a post in Berne as a private tutor. His father’s death in 1799 left him with a modest inheritance, enough to allow Hegel to accept an unpaid position lecturing at the University of Jena. There, he wrote his ﬁrst important work, Phenomenology of Spirit, sending off a manuscript to his publishing house a few days before French troops entered the town in 1806. His thoughts on watching Napoleon ride out of town hint at the quixotic in Hegel: “It is indeed a wonderful sensation to see such an individual, who, concentrated here at a single point, astride a horse, reaches out over the world and masters it.” (Hegel: The Letters) With the university closed and his ﬁnances severely strained, Hegel took a job as a newspaper editor in Bamberg. He spent a year there before becoming the administrator at the Gymnasium in Nuremberg. At age 41, he married for the ﬁrst time, to Marie von Tucher. He shared his ideas on philosophy with his young students and published his second major work, the Science of Logic. In 1818 he became chair of philosophy at the University of Berlin, where his reputation and following grew with the publication of the Philosophy of Right (1821) and his lectures. Shortly before his death, in 1831, he was at work on a second edition of the Phenomenology. In this issue of The College, tutor Peter Kalkavage makes a case for why it’s important to read the Phenomenology, which he considers one of the most important works on the Program. Also in this issue, we look back at the founding of the Graduate Institute more than four decades ago. Since that ﬁrst summer, the graduate program has allowed 4,000 adults to experience sitting down at a seminar table with others at St. John’s, looking to the text and each other for a greater understanding of great works and great ideas. T is published quarterly by St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD, and Santa Fe, NM Known ofﬁce of publication: Communications Ofﬁce St. John’s College Box 2800 Annapolis, MD 21404-2800 Periodicals postage paid at Annapolis, MD postmaster: Send address changes to The College Magazine, Communications Ofﬁce, St. John’s College, Box 2800, Annapolis, MD 21404-2800. Rosemary Harty, editor Patricia Dempsey, managing editor Jenny Hanniﬁn, Santa Fe editor Jennifer Behrens, art director Annapolis 410-626-2539 Santa Fe 505-984-6104 Contributors Ann Deger (SF10) Daniel Lewkow (A10) Ann Kirkland Anna Perleberg (SF02) Andrew Ranson (AGI01) Anna Stubna (A02) —RH Magazine design by Claude Skelton Design �The College The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College Winter 2008 Vo l u m e 4 , I s s u e 1 Annapolis • Santa Fe {Contents} 10 “With a Clear and Single Purpose” d e p a r t m e n t s page 2 • Grateful alumni help build Santa Fe dorm. A Johnnie at the Peace Talks “To Strike the World” Santa Fe’s ultimate team A tribute to a fallen ofﬁcer “On Choices”: Santa Fe Convocation Celeste DiNucci (A87) wins it all. 32 biblioﬁle • Combine a larger endowment with strong alumni giving, and the result is a ﬁnancially sound college with a bright future. • • • • • 14 Hegel and Knowing from the bell towers page page 10 Tutor Peter Kalkavage offers insight into the shapes and images of the Phenomenology of Spirit. Andrew Krivak (A86) recounts a month of silence in The Long Retreat. 18 Green-Collar Johnnies 33 page parents’ voices A Johnnie parent carves a mid-life career out of reading great books with others. Environmentally-minded alumni launch sustainable careers in public service, building, and conservation. 34 alumni P RO F I L E S 24 Four Decades of Graduate Education page page 16 34 Pedro Martinez-Fraga (A84) takes on those who abuse their power. 39 Rave reviews for Sara Barker (A98). 41 Blake Sitney (SF91) opens a window to the world for refugees in Thailand. A bold experiment in Santa Fe one summer opened the door to graduate study at St. John’s. 42 in memorium/obituaries 44 alumni voices Peace Corps volunteer Anna Stubna (A02) ﬁnds friends and a purpose in Niger. page 24 46 48 on the cover Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel Illustration by David Johnson alumni association news st. john’s forever �2 {From the Bell Towers} A Lasting Expression of Gratitude Generous Gift Supports Santa Fe Dorm santa fe new mexican Warren and Barbara Winiarski (class of 1952 and class of 1955), who founded the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley, have made a $5 million gift to the college’s capital campaign. The gift will help fund the construction of a new dormitory on the Santa Fe campus. The Winiarskis said their gift was prompted by an enduring love for the St. John’s Program, a desire to support the community of learning and a special interest in enhancing the campus their two daughters (Kasia, SF83, and Julia, SF92) attended. Their gift was announced at the January meeting of the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors, of which Mr. Winiarski is a long-serving member. The new Winiarski residence center will allow the college to house an additional 60 students on campus, boosting the college’s housing capacity to 80 percent of its undergraduate students. In addition to student rooms and common rooms, the facility will add new seminar rooms and faculty ofﬁces. In describing their decision, Mrs. Winiarski spoke of how she enrolled in St. John’s, joining the ﬁrst class of women, although her parents wanted her to attend college elsewhere. It was a decision she’s never regretted. When a Santa Fe reporter asked her what prompted the gift, she answered: “The Program, of course. There’s no way I can tell you what this college means to me.” Barbara Dvorak Winiarski was a talented artist who was on track to study the ﬁne arts. “My parents expected me to go and study painting, and just as school was ending, a girl in my art class told me about St. John’s,” she recalls. “I came down for one weekend and I thought, of course, this is where I’m going to learn the truth about everything. It was beyond my expectations.” Warren Winiarski began his college education studying forestry at the Colorado School of Mines, and soon discovered that he needed to pursue a different kind of education. “I read How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler,” he says. “It talked a lot about St. John’s, and I realized that’s where I needed to be.” The couple ﬁrst met when Mr. Winiarski was serving on a student court, where his future wife turned up. “He was on that court because they regarded him as responsible, and I was absent without leave,” she explains. Fortunately, “they didn’t expel me.” After St. John’s, the Winiarskis met again and married. Mr. Winiarski pursued an academic career, studying for a PhD and lecturing at the University of Chicago. Along the way, he became keenly interested in viticulture, and his hobby became his career. He started out as an apprentice to other vintners before buying property and establishing Stag’s Leap. “My St. John’s education enabled me to Santa Fe President Michael Peters (l.) said Warren and Barbara Winiarski’s capital campaign gift will strengthen community in Santa Fe. acquire the proﬁciency and the skills I needed in a scientiﬁc ﬁeld,” he says. “I was an apprentice who asked very good questions.” At the famous 1973 blind tasting in Paris, Mr. Winiarski’s 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon—his ﬁrst vintage produced with grapes from vines a mere three years old— emerged victorious among red wines, putting California wines on the map. The capital campaign, now in its ﬁnal months, has sought funding for many critical needs at the campus, from ﬁnancial aid to science laboratories. The dormitory project appealed to the Winiarskis because the college culture encourages learning outside the classroom. When students are excited about an idea in seminar or puzzled by a reading or a proof, they can always ﬁnd someone to talk with about it. “The St. John’s program is founded on the idea of community,” says Mrs. Winiarski. “The tutors are in the Coffee Shop, in the dining hall, interacting with students. That’s one of the big differences between St. John’s and other colleges.” As a member of the board and a long-time visiting tutor for Santa Fe’s Summer Classics program, Mr. Winiarski is attuned to the needs of the college’s Santa Fe campus and knew that the dormitory project would mean a great difference to the community. When he and his wife were students in Annapolis, there were fewer than 300 students. Most lived in the dormitories, but those students who chose to live off campus could ﬁnd affordable housing nearby. Today, it’s more difﬁcult for both Annapolis and Santa Fe students to afford rentals. More student housing, Mr. Winiarski says, makes for a more “intimate, cohesive St. John’s community.” Their gift allowed them to express in a concrete and lasting way their gratitude for the college, adds Mrs. Winiarski. She hadn’t realized how much she missed St. John’s until she was reading some of Julia’s essays. “Many St. John’s alumni feel [that the college] profoundly changed the rest of their lives,” she says. “We’re not alone in that.” x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } -- Rosemary Harty �{From the Bell Towers} Waiting for Condi The world came to Annapolis last November, when the Annapolis Peace Talks took place next door to St. John’s at the U.S. Naval Academy. Among the journalists who spent the day covering the conference was Daniel Lewkow (A10), who represented the St. John’s news magazine, The Epoch Journal. On the eve of the Annapolis Peace Conference, I was standing in line with impatient reporters in the cavernous Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, waiting to get press credentials. Every press representative needed to have his or her picture taken, and there was one camera. So we waited in line. And waited. The White House Press Corps had permission to cut ahead of the other reporters. We were irritated by this, but most of us kept quiet, except for a French journalist from Le Monde, a short man with a bad temper. “How are we supposed to ﬁnd ze truth, if we are not all treated as equals?” he shouted, storming around. The Americans smirked and the Brits rolled their eyes. Two and a half hours later, I got my credentials and walked back to About the Class of 2007 Every year, the college’s Career Services ofﬁces interview as many seniors as they can round up, asking about their college experience and their plans after graduation. A few facts about the graduates: Annapolis (100 seniors interviewed) Youngest and oldest students to graduate: 21, 33 Percentage who took time off: 13 Interesting things they did: Traveled in New Zealand, tutored in Telluride, harvested grapes in Italy and Argentina, took part in outdoor leadership school in Patagonia Percentage who held internships while in school: 26 Percentage with ﬁrm work plans: 26, in jobs including Latin instructor, legislative assistant, astronomer, and teacher Percentage with ﬁrm graduate school or post-baccalaureate program plans: 10 Most frequently named disciplines for graduate study: Medicine, law, philosophy, education Santa Fe (103 seniors interviewed) Youngest and oldest students to graduate: 20, 48 Percentage who took time off: 16.5 Interesting things they did: Worked on a goat farm, as a ranch hand, for a Napa Valley winery, in a bookstore; studied Buddhist philosophy, art, and Greek; traveled Percentage with ﬁrm work plans: 14.5, including publishing assistant, midwife apprentice, wilderness educator, consultant Percentage who held internships while in school: 26 Percentage with ﬁrm graduate school or post-bac plans: 9.8 Most frequently named disciplines for graduate study: Law, psychology, literature, philosophy, medicine, education 3 campus. At nine in the morning, I walked back to the stadium to board a shuttle carrying journalists to the Naval Academy. I joined the hundreds of reporters who crowded into the academy’s Alumni Hall. I looked up to see President Bush, who was delivering opening remarks from another room, broadcast for us on a giant screen. JourDaniel Lewkow joined hundreds of nalists from The journalists covering the Annapolis New York Times, Peace Talks last November. The Washington Post, and National Public Radio were cranking out was a soft-spoken man, the ambassador from Saudi Arabia. stories. Camera crews rushed He made a brief statement and about. And there I was: a 20proceeded to take questions. I year-old student with a tape stretched my tape recorder as recorder and no idea what to close to him as possible, hoping do. No microphone, no producer, no network logo—just that it would pick up some of his words. Before long, a bodya press badge and a confused guard pushed me back, and the look on my face. diplomat swept out of the A bright light ﬂashed from a room. camera, and I squinted to see a Then came a lull. Three journalist interviewing a hours passed. I read my spokesman for the Israeli deleseminar reading from Augusgation. When the interview tine and staked out a good seat ended, I mustered my courage in the front. Another jourand made my move. Tapping nalist, an older woman, leaned the man on his shoulder, I over. “What’s your name?” she politely asked, “Sir, could I asked. “Daniel,” I said, “what’s please have a word with you? yours?” “I’m busy,” she I’m from my publication, The snapped, and went back to her Epoch Journal.” I ﬂashed my notes. A spokesperson for the press badge and prepared for State Department stood up and rejection. But the man nodded announced that Secretary of his head and answered the State Condoleezza Rice would questions that I managed to soon make closing remarks. sputter out. “What are your She was scheduled to arrive at hopes for the conference 5:30, but came at 6:45, an today?” “Would you be willing attractive, digniﬁed woman to talk to Hamas?” As he standing 15 feet in front of me. walked away, I was amazed that She made a few comments to he had been so receptive. close the conference, thanked My conﬁdence bolstered, I us, and turned to head back to sought out more interviews. I Washington. The conference joined a crowd of reporters was over. x clustered in a corner and was whisked along into a small —Daniel Lewkow room. Standing behind a table { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �4 {From the Bell Towers} “To Strike the World” In early December 2007, the Santa Fe community combined a considerable number of students, faculty, and talents to stage a unique performance of orchestral music and spoken word. “To Strike the World,” a performance piece for 12 voices and 12 instruments, was a dynamic production that offers uniquely personal insights into the conduct and consequences of nuclear war. The words were written and arranged by tutor Phil LeCuyer, and music was composed by tutor John Cornell. LeCuyer conceived the piece about ﬁve years ago after reading letters by Harry S. Truman and Toyofumi Ogura in the books Dear Bess and Letters from the End of the World. LeCuyer convinced Cornell to compose the accompanying music, a process that began about two years ago, and was moved forward with the help of tutors David Bolotin, Christine Chen, and Peter Pesic, among others. The piece juxtaposed the letters and creative musings of President Truman against the remembrances of historian and author Ogura, before and after the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. The portraits of Truman and Ogura were composites of their own words as found in their letters to their respective wives. Truman wrote to his wife, Bess, throughout their life together. Since Bess did not reside at the White House, these letters became an important record of Harry’s thoughts and beliefs during that critical time. Ogura did not begin writing to his wife, Fumiyo, until after the bomb was dropped. She succumbed to radiation poisoning two weeks later. Ogura’s experience was the ﬁrst survivor’s account to be published after the war. “Interspersed with Truman’s and Ogura’s words are the intimate voices of 10 private individuals, bringing into language particular experiences that have changed their consciousness,” says LeCuyer. The music helped the audience navigate the rather far-ﬂung moral latitudes covered in the text. Over the course of the almost two-hour piece, the music took the audience from the American heartland to the devastated city of Hiroshima, and back and forth from the historical voices of Truman, Ogura, and the 10 lyrical characters. “The musical sign for the piece is the ostinato accompaniment—rhythmic ﬁgures struck regularly in the bass—which in turns sounds tender, sinister, pastoral or urban,” says Cornell. The music draws on surprising afﬁnities between American Blues modes “To Strike the World” was a showcase of talent on the Santa Fe campus: Above, tutor Greg Schneider portrayed Harry S Truman; bottom left, David Best (SF10) played viola in the orchestra, conducted by Paul Franz (SF08), bottom right. and the scales of classical Japanese melody.” Similar musical motifs in widely changing contexts created thematic echoes that help the audience sense the eerie juxtapositions of poems and narratives, and intuit the mysterious connections of parallel lives,” adds Cornell. The production was performed entirely by members of the St. John’s community. Conceived from the start by LeCuyer as a community production, the piece involved about three dozen students, tutors, staff, alumni, and several friends of the college. “To Strike the World” was studentconducted (Paul Franz, SF08), student-directed (Jacob Gibson, SF09), and student-produced (lighting by Patrick Macala, SF10; sound by Jonathan Palmer, SF09). Dean Victoria Mora brought her daughter to see the piece and was thrilled by the production. “I think it is extraordinary that a liberal education like St. John’s, which does not specialize { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } in musical training, acting, or stagecraft, can prepare people for roles in a complex, provocative, and challenging piece like ‘To Strike the World.’” The college hopes that the piece will live on beyond its December performance dates. Audiovisual recordings of two performances are being edited into one ﬁnal production DVD, which may be used in education efforts in high schools. x -- Jenny Hanniﬁn �5 {From the Bell Towers} A Tribute to a Fallen Ofﬁcer service, and leadership. He said that crew members at the Naval Academy row for the honor of those who came before them, and that some of the lessons of the academy are only really learned when engaging in a team activity such as crew. Rowers understand the traditions of the academy and strive to emulate those who have gained honor for their actions. In this sense, Mr. Clothier pledged, Erik will live on in spirit in the boathouse. The ceremony ended emotionally as Erik’s parents and his young nieces and nephews christened the shell, as is the custom, with ﬁnish-line water, and the current crew team took the Erik Kristensen out for its inaugural row on College Creek. Erik loved being on the water, and so I suppose there is great synchronicity in the symbol of his name gracing the side of a new rowing shell. It also makes sense that the rowers in his boat would be learning what he embodied so well in his life— living for others. x Naval Academy Honors Erik Kristensen (AGI01) By Andrew Ranson (AGI01) Erik was killed on June 28, 2005, in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan. He was leading a mission to rescue four members of his Navy SEAL team that had been overrun by Taliban ﬁghters. The helicopter transporting Erik and his team was hit by a rocket, killing him and 18 other SEALs and Army Rangers. He was laid to rest in the cemetery Andrew Ranson’s classmate and friend Erik Kristensen (AGI01) will be remembered as someone who lived his life for others. Books, Balance and a Frisbee There are more than 600 Ultimate college teams in North America, among them “The Books,” a group of Santa Fe Johnnies devoted to the game that combines elements of football and rugby with the ﬁne art of ﬂinging a Frisbee. The Santa Fe team takes Ultimate seriously. They practice indoors and outdoors with Frisbees customized with the St. John’s insignia. They run drills and ﬁne-tune their forehand and backhand techniques. “I love when the game is played really well—it’s graceful and beautiful,” says Alexander Kriz (SF09). “At St. John’s we ﬁnd beauty in philosophy, art, and literature, why not in Frisbee?” Each year the team, currently led by captains Nicholas Christou, Arik Doak, and Jessica Perry (all SF08), competes in several intercollegiate tournaments. Last fall the team took part in on the Naval Academy grounds, overlooking College Creek. When Erik was a midshipman, he rowed for the Navy crew team. Brooks McFeely, one of Erik’s boatmates, organized the fundraising effort to donate and dedicate the rowing shell. Among the 400 attendees were Erik’s close friends and family, his former classmates and fellow rowers, his fellow sailors and Navy SEALS, and commanding ofﬁcers, including Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and current midshipmen, including all members of the current crew team. Vice Admiral Joseph Maguire, an aide to U.S. Congressman Joe Sestak, read a resolution honoring Erik that was presented to the U.S. House of Representatives. Rick Clothier, Erik’s crew coach, said that the shell with Erik’s name would serve as a living memory of the qualities that Erik embodied: teamwork, honor, dedication to a two-day tournament in Albuquerque, with scrimmages on the ﬁrst day followed by formal matches against competitors including Colorado College, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of North Carolina, and the University of New Mexico. The Johnnies beat Colorado College. “All the games were close,” says Kriz. “It’s remarkable when you consider how much larger their programs are and how many more players they have to draw from. We have a real dedication.” x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } amy raab On a bright, brisk Saturday morning last November, nearly 400 people gathered at the U.S. Naval Academy Boathouse for a ceremony to dedicate a rowing shell in the memory of Erik Samsel Kristensen, who was a student at the Graduate Institute in 2001, where he and I met. Erik was a Naval Academy graduate and a very close friend of mine. Nate Murray (SF09) tosses a disc on the soccer ﬁeld. �6 {From the Bell Towers} News & Announcements Hodson Grant Funds Scholarships Honors for Santa Fe Dean Mora Victoria Mora, dean of the Santa Fe campus, was a ﬁnalist for the 2007 Santa Fe Capital City Business and Professional Woman of the Year. The award honors women of distinction for Medal of Arts Winner Last November, N. Scott Momaday, noted poet, playwright, painter, photographer and storyteller, received the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence. Momaday was among nine recipients who will receive medals from President George W. Bush in a ceremony at the White House; Annapolis tutor Eva Brann received the same honor in 2004. The A Portrait and an Artist National Medal of Arts, established by Congress in 1984, is awarded by the President and managed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Momaday, a former member of St. John’s College Board of Visitors and Governors, is a long-time friend of the college. His novel House Made of Dawn was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969. Last year, Momaday delivered the commencement address in Santa Fe. New Tutor Duane J. Lacey has joined the Annapolis faculty. Lacey earned his bachelor’s in liberal studies and philosophy from Eugene Lang College of New School University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in philosophy from the university’s Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. Prior to coming to St. John’s, he was an adjunct professor at Georgian Court University, a visiting scholar at the University of Notre Dame, and a postdoctoral fellow and visiting instructor at Bifröst University in Iceland. Santa Fe Homecoming demetrios fotos A $3.5 million grant from The Hodson Trust to the Annapolis campus will fund additional student internships, support information technology improvements, and fund a comprehensive master landscaping and facilities use plan for the campus. In addition, this year’s grant will establish a need-based scholarship in memory of Jeffrey A. Bishop (HA96), a long-serving vice president at the college, who died in July 2007. The grant sets aside $1.5 million to go to The Hodson Trust Bishop Scholarship Endowment. In addition to the annual grants, The Hodson Trust has established a scholarship program for men and women who have served in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The awards fully fund tuition, room and board, books, and other mandatory fees that are not otherwise met by federal, state, and other private sources. The scholarships are available to undergraduate and graduate students at the four colleges that The Hodson Trust supports in Annapolis: St. John’s, Johns Hopkins University, Hood College, and Washington College. Many signiﬁcant improvements to the campus were funded or partially funded by The Hodson Trust, including Gilliam Hall, improvements to the Greenﬁeld Library, wiring the campus for the Internet, renovating and expanding Mellon Hall, and renovating the college boathouse. their contributions to the city of Santa Fe. Mora was nominated for her work in the city’s nonproﬁt sector. When she was appointed dean of the college in 2006, she became the ﬁrst native New Mexican and the ﬁrst female to serve in that position. The award honors professional women who have distinguished themselves in their careers and in the Santa Fe community. Criteria considered in choosing ﬁnalists for the award included education, career achievements, and efforts on behalf of the CCBPW’s mission of building powerful women personally, professionally, and politically. Artist Simmie Knox, known for his portraits of Bill and Hillary Clinton, entertainer Bill Cosby, boxer Muhammad Ali, and many other prominent Americans, presented this portrait of James H. Gilliam, Jr. to the college in December. Knox was chosen to paint the portrait of Gilliam, a friend of the college and a trustee of The Hodson Trust, who died in 2003 at the age of 58. A grant from The Hodson Trust made it possible for the college to build Gilliam Hall, one of two new dormitories on the Annapolis campus. The portrait will be displayed in the building. Annapolis President Christopher Nelson (SF70) knew Gilliam as a colleague and a friend. “He was a man who represented the virtues we hope to cultivate in our students,” he said. “We are truly honored to receive this portrait.” { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } A group of Santa Fe alumni, concerned about the scheduling of Homecoming in Santa Fe in early fall instead of July, conducted an online survey of alumni registered on the college’s Online Community. The survey results show that of those who attend Homecoming, a preference prevails for summer reunions. Other questions asked why alumni don’t attend Homecoming at all (cost, travel expenses, and lack of time topped the list), and sought suggestions on what would make the event more enjoyable for attendees and their families. The survey drew responses from 582 alumni. A full report can be found at http://sjcsf-homecomingsurvey.com. x �7 {From the Bell Towers} Words and Music photos by gary pierpoint St. John’s brought gospel music to Annapolis for a free concert in January, a week before the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The brainchild of Annapolis treasurer Bronté Jones, the event featured eight gospel choirs and singing groups from the area and concluded with a dramatic reading of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech by students, tutors, staff, and community leaders. About 600 people attended the concert, many of whom were visiting the college for the ﬁrst time. “The Civil Rights movement was grounded in faith and gospel songs. We wanted to develop a program to bring together old and new friends of St. John’s College,” says Jones, who hopes to make the concert an annual event.x At left, tutor Tom May recites from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech; Above, Deshay Redd delivers a powerful solo. Champion of Champions Last fall, Celeste DiNucci (A87) joined an elite few by making it to the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, having won more than $50,000 on the show during the previous year. In what even the laconic Alex Trebek called one of the most exciting tournaments in recent memory, DiNucci emerged the victor and the winner of a $250,000 cash prize. Correct answers combined with savvy wagering in two quarterﬁnal rounds won her a spot in the semiﬁnals, which went to a nail-biting, one-question playoff when DiNucci and her opponent tied after Final Jeopardy. The playoff question was literature: “A Longfellow poem and a Lillian Hellman play about a girls’ boarding school share this timely title.” DiNucci rang in ﬁrst with “What is The Children’s Hour?” and won a spot in the ﬁnal. Next, taped all in one day, came the three ﬁnal rounds. The tournament champion would be the one with the highest three-day total winnings. DiNucci and her opponent were about $800 apart at Final Jeopardy. DiNucci got the answer wrong, but so did her opponent, and with $401 more in winnings, she emerged the champion. Back in Philadelphia, where she is completing a doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania, DiNucci resumed work on her dissertation on Shakespeare and performance theory. She’s been recognized a few times by Jeopardy! fans and ﬁnds it fun to have achieved a small measure of fame. While her earnings will fund another trip to Italy (where part of her original spoils were spent), she’s most pleased to have a cushion to support her job search. “I should graduate in May, and then I need to ﬁgure out what I want to do when I grow up,” she says. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } For Celeste DiNucci (A87) knowledge pays. �8 {From the Bell Towers} On Choices Santa Fe President Michael Peters greeted 33 January Freshmen and 8 graduate students in Santa Fe by linking the wisdom they will ﬁnd in the great books with the issues and choices of a modern democracy. (The full text of his Convocation speech is available on the college Web site: www.stjohnscollege.edu.) nars and other classes to read, discuss and think about the meaning of character, leadership and citizenship—and you will see examples both positive and negative. These examples begin with the Iliad and Agamemnon, perhaps the Michael Peters, President, Santa Fe ﬁrst leader of a coalition of the willing in recorded history. And from there to the travels and perils Most of you had many other options of Odysseus, whose choices both saved and sacriﬁced the lives of to pursue your education, but you chose to come to St. John’s. his men and threatened his rule. And Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, a Why? woman whose incredible devotion, wisdom, strength and craftiI hope it is because you understand and appreciate the distincness ensured that Odysseus would have a kingdom to return to tiveness of our undergraduate and graduate programs. I hope it is because you love to read, think and explore with others. I hope it is after his wanderings. Herodotus, the ﬁrst historian, introduces you to the tyrannical Persian emperor Xerxes and to the Athenian because you value our commitment to liberal education and lifehero Themistocles, whose strength of character and bold decisions long learning. I hope it is because you want to be part of a commusaved Greece. nity of learning. But most importantly, I hope it is because you Plato’s Republic extends the conversation on governance and have thought deeply about your education. the responsibilities of citizenship. Thucydides in The PeloponBetween now and the elections in November both you freshmen nesian Wars illustrates the range of Athenian leadership and charand graduate students will have many opportunities in your semiacter from Pericles to Alcibiades and the implications of their choices. Pericles asks the Athenians to abandon the countryside in the face of the Spartan invasion and to gather in the city, and then watches helplessly as a plague devastates the population; Alcibiades’ reaction to the Athenian citizens’ personal affront leads him to betray his city and aid her enemies. In the fall before the elections, you’ll read and discuss the challenges and choices of ancient Hebrew leaders like Moses and David. You’ll study Plutarch’s descriptions of the character and decisions of Roman leaders such as Cato and Caesar as well as Virgil’s description of Aeneas’ sojourn from Troy to Italy. . . . While you are engaged with the Greeks this spring, the juniors will study Machiavelli’s The Prince, with its prescriptions on morality and rule. They will also be reading the founding documents of our republic—the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—along with the Federalist papers which outline the difﬁcult choices faced by our Founding Fathers. The seniors will discuss key Supreme Court decisions, and next fall, just prior to the elections, they will examine Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. . . . So as this nation makes choices that will determine its direction for the next four years and beyond, you and your fellow students will be reading, discussing and thinking about the choices that nations and their leaders have made in the past and the implications of those choices on the lives of individuals and the course of history. “A St. John’s education is intended to extend, not limit, your horizons, your opportunities and your choices.” amy raab continued on next page St. John’s students read , discuss and think about citizenship and leadership, says Santa Fe President Michael Peters. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{From the Bell Towers} 9 Envisioning a Graduate Institute Center The Texas architecture ﬁrm of Lake/Flato presented its concept of the Norman and Betty Levan Hall, a new home for the Graduate Institute in Santa Fe, to the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors in January. The building is designed to be environmentally friendly and to blend in with the Territorial Revival architecture of the campus, as well as the beauty of the natural landscape. A gift of $5 million from Dr. Norman Levan (SFGI73) to the college’s Capital Campaign has made it possible for the college to build the long-needed center, which will house seminar rooms, common rooms, and faculty ofﬁces. The design is “respectful of” the Territorial Revival architecture style of John Gaw Meem, without imitating it, he added. Open space and soaring windows will ﬁll the center with natural light. The building will be designed to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certiﬁcation. The design next goes through extensive review by the City of Santa Fe; the college hopes to begin construction next fall. x lake flato A rendering of Levan Hall shows how the new graduate center will blend with the natural landscape and with Meem’s Territorial Revival style. In the spirit of sustainable architecture, the architects have trimmed the size of the building from a projected 11,500 square feet to 9,200 square feet without sacriﬁcing any of the building’s functionality, said project architect Steve Rake. continued But, of course, during your time at St. John’s you won’t be reading, thinking about and discussing only works on politics. You will also read widely and deeply in literature including Dante’s Divine Comedy; immerse yourself in language—translating Racine or Molière and reading Shakespeare’s plays; study science with Darwin’s Origin of the Species and Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity; and mathematics with Euclid’s Elements and Newton’s Principia; and philosophy—Plato and Aristotle; and music— Monteverdi and Bach; and possibly art, in a preceptorial. We read these and other great books precisely because they explore the most fundamental, important and eternal questions. Questions, and the choices they raise, that are as alive today as they were centuries ago. Questions of character and virtue, right and wrong; of human relations; of beauty and creativity; of power and politics; of war and peace; of the divine. We grapple with these questions, these choices, for insights to guide us today in our personal lives and in our lives as citizens and members of society. We grapple with these questions, because, ultimately, they inform our choices. . . . We believe that liberal education is dedicated to the “pursuit of fundamental knowledge” and the “search for unifying ideas”. . . . We don’t aim to be relevant or current, reacting to the latest whims in education or anticipating the priorities of the future. A St. John’s education is intended to extend, not limit, your hori- zons, your opportunities and your choices. In addition, you have chosen to engage in a lifetime of learning. If there is one thing that deﬁnes alumni and friends of St. John’s College, it is a commitment to lifelong learning. This commitment is equally shared by our alumni and friends whether they are investment bankers in New York, cancer researchers in Los Angeles, pottery artists in Northern New Mexico or restaurateurs in Paris. . . . In choosing St. John’s you have also elected to join other men and women who desire to be intelligently and critically appreciative of their common heritage. The programs you are embarking upon are based on Great Books in the Western tradition. We study these books in relatively chronological order, because the books build on one another and in their totality give us an appreciation of the ideas that shape our lives. They allow us, as David Brooks of the New York Times wrote, “to step outside [our] own immediate experience into the past, to learn about the problems that never change and bring back some of that inheritance. . . .” I am conﬁdent that when you graduate, you will have the means to become free and responsible members of society, a society that is hungry for your contribution. Only you can determine whether you have the will. It is and will be your choice, but I speak for the entire college when I say we stand ready to help you make that choice. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �10 {Capital Campaign} “WITH A CLEAR AND SINGLE PURPOSE” What the Annual Fund Means to St. John’s ast November, St. John’s tapped a powerful fundraising force to help with a phonathon for the 2007-08 Annual Fund: crew team members eager for a chance to add to their boat fund. Gathered around a phone bank assembled in the Annapolis Conversation Room, 15 students tackled the phones with the same discipline they bring to 6 a.m. practices, the same competitive zeal they muster for regattas. Crew co-captain Hayley Thompson (A08) chatted with alumni from prior years about what students are like today, changes on the campus, and the needs of the college. “St. John’s was really good to me,” one donor told Thompson. Not only did he make a pledge, but he also offered Thompson advice on her essay on Plutarch. Over two nights, the crew team earned $1,000 for their boat fund and $41,283 in pledges and secured gifts to the college. “We got a lot of answering machines,” says co-captain Sandra Quintana (A08). “When alumni did pick up, they knew what was coming, but they seemed glad to hear from us. They were cooperative, they were friendly”—and most important—“they said ‘yes.’ ” L In addition to persuasive students, St. John’s had another tool in its Annual Fund efforts this year: the Fielding Challenge. Ronald Fielding (A70), chair of the college’s Capital Campaign, pledged to match every gift to the campaign that met one of three criteria: a ﬁrst-time gift, an increased gift, or a multi-year pledge. Fielding, who has already given a $10 million gift to fund need-based ﬁnancial aid at St. John’s, will match qualifying gifts up to a total of $2.5 million—a goal the college was very close to reaching in January. The Fielding Challenge piqued the interest of the alumni Quintana called. “They may not have known much about Mr. Fielding, but the challenge grant was very persuasive,” she says. “They wanted the college to get his money.” As of Feb. 1, 2008, the college had met its initial target of $125 million for The Campaign for St. John’s College. A remarkable 61 percent of the total raised to date has come from alumni. “This campaign has really cemented the culture of giving among our alumni,” says Fielding. “In many ways, this is just as important as the amount raised in the campaign itself.” The Annual Fund is the cornerstone of the college’s ability to operate each day, from providing ﬁnancial aid and { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{Capital Campaign} anthony russo supporting faculty salaries, to turning the lights on in the classrooms, replacing laboratory equipment, and paying staff members who keep the libraries open late at night. Tuition covers about 70 percent of what it costs to run the college. The rest of the money comes from interest on the endowment, federal and state programs, and the Annual Fund. This year, the college’s goal is $3.02 million, says Stefanie Takacs (A89), director of Annual Giving. The goal isn’t arbitrary, she explains. It represents the amount the college needs to make its annual operating budget after other revenue sources are tallied. This year, the goal represents 6 percent of the collegewide budget. As the goal is set higher each year, alumni continue to meet it. Philanthropia chair Brett Heavner (A89) believes that the increase in alumni giving stems from two signiﬁcant changes: the college has improved the way it explains its needs, and alumni have become more receptive to the message. Heavner was one of the ﬁrst members of a national alumni development council that evolved into Philanthropia, which is co-chaired by Sanjay Poovadan (SF83). “There was some momentum coming off the campaign at the time, and Jeff Bishop came up with the idea to develop an alumni group focused on fundraising,” Heavner says. Bishop, who died last July, was the vice president for Advancement in Annapolis at the time. His efforts to reach out directly to alumni to help carry the college’s message were instrumental in improving the college’s ﬁnancial health. Campaign Progress “With a Clear and Single Purpose”: The Campaign for St. John’s College covers fundraising from 2002 through June 2008. As of December 31, 2007, the campaign had raised $125 million in gifts and pledges. Financial Aid—Goal: $33 million; Raised: $39.9 million (120 percent of goal) Faculty Salaries and Development—Goal: $34 million; Raised: $28.9 million (85 percent of goal) Student Support (internships, libraries, student services, IT)—Goal: $8.5 million; Raised: $9 million (106 percent of goal) Buildings—Goal: $49.5 million; Raised: $40.4 million (82 percent of goal) Undesignated—Raised: $7.1 million Total: $125 million 11 Although the campaign target of $125 million has been reached, the campaign continues. Originally, $162.8 million in needs were identiﬁed by the college’s strategic plan. Important priorities remain: an addition to the Evans Science Lab in Santa Fe, renovations to the older dormitories in Annapolis, more support for faculty salaries; increased ﬁnancial aid. Every year, the college must raise Annual Fund dollars to provide for the difference in the budget that tuition does not cover. So far, gifts and pledges to the college endowment total $44.6 million—a signiﬁcant increase over the 2002 starting ﬁgure. But St. John’s still has a low endowment per student compared to peer institutions. We are moving ahead, but so is everyone else. Campaign chair Ron Fielding, A70, says: “While we have made signiﬁcant progress with the campaign, let’s see how much more we can raise. The needs of the college are still clear and important.” { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{Capital Campaign} clarke saylor 12 The Annapolis crew team spent two nights in November calling “The college has done a good job of keeping alumni alumni to ask for an Annual Fund gift. Student activities are informed, explaining its needs, and keeping the line open,” supported by gifts to the Annual Fund. he says. “Alumni have gotten into the habit of making an annual gift. What that means for the college is a stable and solid source of support.” help with Philanthropia, talking with other alumni and Heavner makes his Annual Fund gift for the simple attending networking events. reason that he’s a “believer” in the Her efforts led to her recruitment as Program. Like many Johnnies, he the college’s Annual Fund director—a supports other causes and has an job many of her friends warned her Percentage of Alumni afﬁliation with another educational would be difﬁcult, in part because of a Giving at Peer Colleges institution. “The uniqueness of St. perception that Johnnies don’t like 60% Amherst John’s really makes it a priority recipbeing asked to make gifts to the college. Bowdoin 60% ient of my charitable giving,” he says. However, Takacs believes it wasn’t “My law school was good, but St. John’s 60% Davidson reluctance, but a simple lack of informais not like any other place. It shapes tion, that hampered alumni giving. The Swarthmore 59% people’s lives.” percentage of alumni giving had Middlebury 58% The college has sought to be clear, hovered at about 20 percent for many Carleton 56% straightforward, and persuasive in its years, but in the past three years, Takacs 53% Haverford Annual Fund efforts, says Stefanie observes, it’s jumped to 36 percent. “If Claremont McKenna 48% Takacs (A89), who directs the fund for alumni know what the Annual Fund 44% Macalester both campuses. As a busy young profesprovides—funds for student ﬁnancial sional in New York, she sometimes set aid, supporting the library, for 41% Oberlin aside the college’s Annual Fund mailers example—they do believe it’s worth 37% Grinnell with good intentions, only to overlook supporting,” she says. 36% St. John’s them later. An “accidental fundraiser” Giles Anderson (A95), a literary agent Colorado College 35% who was working for a nonproﬁt in the in New York City, supports the Annual 28% Reed South Bronx, Takacs volunteered to Fund both because of his fondness for { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �13 {Capital Campaign} St. John’s and his desire to see the college endure. In the lean years right after graduation, before he was established in his publishing career, Anderson began giving small gifts regularly to the Annual Fund. “Over time, as I’ve been able to give more, I have,” he says. “I’ve also realized how little money the college had when I was there and how great it is that someone like [Annapolis President] Chris Nelson (SF70) is willing to take on this challenge of reaching out to alumni.” The college’s deliberately small enrollment and low student-to-tutor ratio can’t be sacriﬁced without harm to the Program, Anderson says. “The stronger the college is ﬁnancially, the better it will be at doing the things that drew me to St. John’s,” he says. Along with alumni and parents, friends of the college are important and generous supporters of the Annual Fund. David Walker and his wife, Belinda, make a gift each year in appreciation of the college and the Program. For about 12 years, they have joined others who travel out to Santa Fe for a long weekend of seminars led by St. John’s tutors. Last fall, the group—now with 50 participants—read Joyce’s Ulysses. “It was tough going, but we sure had fun,” he says. Over the years, Walker has become very impressed by the St. John’s approach to education. “It builds in these young kids their ability to think, to be aware, to have judgment rather than driving them into a specialty at such a young age,” he says. “There is a tremendous skill that is the primary outcome of these seminars: you really learn how to listen to people, how to have a conversation about challenging ideas without injecting your ego or trying to win. There is a real partnership in terms of understanding a work and complex ideas—and that’s very rare in this world.” Walker has been persuading his fellow seminar participants from the West Coast to support the college as well. “The college has good leadership,” he says. “And it deserves our support.” Sanjay Poovadan (SF83) has some concerns that without the urgency of a capital campaign, the Annual Fund may not be able to sustain the growth that has made such a difference to the college in the past few years. As an alumnus who could not have attended his “dream college” without ﬁnancial aid, he always keeps his own experience at St. John’s at the front of his mind, both in his annual giving and his volunteer work for Philanthropia. “We’re not just sustaining a community by paying back, we’re paying forward as well,” he says. “As an institution, St. John’s is doing well, compared to where it has been.” But to be truly healthy, long-term, he adds, the college will continue to rely on the Annual Fund. x About the Annual Fund St. John’s College can sustain the Program only because of the success of the Annual Fund and the participation in it by alumni, parents, and friends. Here’s how an Annual Fund dollar supports the Program: • The Program of Instruction (including tutor salaries): 32 cents • Need-based ﬁnancial aid: 24 cents • Institutional support (IT, staff salaries, campus maintenance): 20 cents • Student Services (counseling, athletics, security): 11 cents • Academic support (libraries and labs): 5 cents • Other: 8 cents Sources of Revenue Annual Fund Spending Academic Miscellaneous support 5% 4.3% Student services 10.4% Instruction 32.6% Institutional support 21.9% Gifts (including the Annual Fund) 10.4% Federal & State 4.3% Other 2.7% Endowment income 11.4% Tutition 75% Financial aid 25.8% { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �14 {The Program} HEGEL’S PICTURE GALLERY by Peter Kalkavage, Tutor “To help bring philosophy closer to the form of Science, to the goal where it can lay aside the title ‘love of knowing’ and be actual knowing—that is what I have set before myself.” Preface, PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT H egel’s Phenomenology of Spirit belongs to the quartet of greatest works on education. The others are Plato’s Republic, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Rousseau’s Emile. Despite their differences, these works have important similarities. Each reﬂects on education through a story. In the Republic, this is the myth of founding the best city in speech, a large part of which is about educating the city’s guardians; in the Divine Comedy, it is Dante’s journey to God; in Emile, it is Rousseau’s ﬁction of playing governor to a child not his own by nature. The Phenomenology too presents education dramatically. It is the tale of how, in the course of his violent history, man achieves self-knowledge in the form of philosophic Science. Also, all are tales of liberation. They tell of how we are freed from bondage: from the cave of opinion (Plato), or the dark wood of spiritual amnesia (Dante), or the corrupting inﬂuence of society (Rousseau). In the Phenomenology, the obstacle to our freedom is natural consciousness. This is the realm of the familiar, with which philosophy inevitably begins. In the Phenomenology, human consciousness struggles to rise above the familiar. The power that accomplishes its release is dialectic. This is the logical process by which consciousness evolves by spontaneously generating the contradictions that sleep within it and propel it to its next stage. Finally, each work in the quartet explores the bond between man as thinker and man as the being who acts and feels. Each is about the totality of human experience. Hegel, like Plato, loves images. He calls the Phenomenology a picture gallery: a colorful display of human types or “shapes of consciousness.” These are the phenomena for which the Phenomenology provides a logos or account. In the course of the book, we meet all sorts of characters, as we do when we read Plato’s dialogues or Dante’s Comedy. We meet the Scientist and the Warrior, the Stoic and the Skeptic, the God-haunted Unhappy Consciousness, and the self-deifying Beautiful Soul. Sometimes we meet characters lifted from the pages of ﬁction: Antigone, Faust, and Rameau’s crazy nephew. All are stages on the way to our complete self-knowledge. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{The Program} The human spirit, for Hegel, comes to know itself not through calm methodical inquiry, but through passionate self-assertion. demetrios fotos —Peter Kalkavage, Tutor { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } 15 �16 {The Program} Each of these shapes embodies a speciﬁc claim to know that has appeared on the stage of world-history. The shapes do not ask questions but assert and sometimes act. The human spirit, for Hegel, comes to know itself not through calm methodical inquiry but through passionate self-assertion. Spirit is spirited. This spiritedness is also spirit’s folly: all its claims ultimately fall to the ground. They do so because they are ﬁnite or partial, because they fail to capture the whole truth. Hegel’s shapes of consciousness are the most revealing human types that history has produced. But they are also manifestations of the “universal individual.” This is the universal self, spirit, which undergoes the historical process, dying in one age to be reborn in the next. Here, we see the most striking respect in which Hegel’s book differs from other great works on education. The Phenomenology is not only the path by which man comes to know himself and God. It is also the path by which God, the divine Mind, comes to know himself in and through man. This points to Hegel’s ultimate goal: to demonstrate the presence of divine Mind within human history, eternity within time, God within the human community. Everything for Hegel is deﬁned by its history. But the Phenomenology is neither the history of philosophy nor the history of the world simply. The book does not highlight the teachings of philosophers. Indeed, often action rather than theory occupies center stage. For Hegel, the social realm, in which human selves interact and communicate, is the soil from which knowledge springs and the medium in which it lives. In the Phenomenology we witness how this realm transcends itself and becomes the realm of theoretical knowing—how life becomes knowledge. It is also an account of how knowledge, as self-knowledge, comes to life in the context of human interaction and community. The social world, no less than the inquiries of philosophers, is the work of spirit, which includes everything distinctly human. Spirit, the universal or communal self that both transcends and dwells among ﬁnite individuals, struggles in time in order to know itself. But before it can know itself conceptually, there must be a world that embodies knowing in a pre-conceptual or immediate form—a lived knowing. Spirit learns by making itself present to itself. It does this by generating a world of knowing. It must ﬁrst generate this world, or rather series of worlds, before it can know itself in and through that which it has generated, before it can “wake up” to itself. Antigone is not a philosopher, but she represents a world of knowing. This is the world of the ancient Greek citystate, in which Antigone knows and articulates her position regarding family, gods, and city. This world, together with all the other realms of social life in the Phenomenology, is essential to the perfection of philosophy in the form of Science. The Phenomenology is a series of fascinating unmaskings. It is the logical revelation of the apparent as such. A given shape of consciousness undercuts itself in the very effort to make good on its claim to know: it turns into its opposite. No gadﬂy Socrates is needed here: refutation is generated from within consciousness itself. But within this tragic motion of self-defeating claims, there is also resurgence. Thanks to the positive, productive work of Hegel’s dialectic, the death of one shape is the birth of another, higher shape. Spirit is like the legendary Phoenix, always rising up again out of the ashes of its past—or like the Son of Man, who breaks the bonds of the merely natural and rises from the dead. The series of shapes is ﬁnite. Eventually, the long arduous road, which Hegel calls a Way of Despair, reaches its destination, as the drama of unmasking gives rise, in the ﬁnal chapter, to spirit’s selfknowledge. At this point, all the ﬁnite claims to know, the heroic shapes that populate Hegel’s picture gallery, are preserved as eternal moments in the philosopher’s atemporal, purely logical grasp of the temporal whole. The six main stages of the journey of consciousness in Hegel’s Phenomenology are Consciousness, SelfConsciousness, Reason, Spirit, Religion, and Absolute Knowing. A ﬁgurative rendering of the story in terms of the wayfaring Self might go as follows. As Consciousness, the Self (Man) is fascinated by the external world, by nature and by nature’s promise of being the source and standard of truth. The Self at this stage is not interested in doing, making, or desiring anything. Its obsession with objectivity makes it a purely theoretical bystander, an accidental tourist in the world of things. As Self-Consciousness, the Self goes to the other extreme. Obsessed with itself as this particular individual, and overwhelmed by a desire for self-assertiveness and freedom, it enters the realm of action with the famous “ﬁght to the death” between proud warriors. But { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{The Program} 17 absolute, unconditioned truth, saggressive egotism eventually dissolves into an inﬁnite but only in the guise of images yearning for a pure unchangeand picture thinking. Absolute Knowing takes the able Self it can never reach. Now pictorial content of Religion in a medieval Unhappy Consciousits highest phase, Christianity, ness, the individual feels his and gives it a purely conceptual pride humbled before this form. It transforms image into higher Self. logic, divine pictures into divine As Reason, the Self once more asserts its individuality. It concepts. Selfhood or inwardglories in its sheer humanity ness is now completely trans(man without God), and seeks to parent to itself, knows itself, as master and possess the world philosophic Science. To use a Christian term central to through its own resources, to Hegel’s book, the Self experiexperience itself as the ences reconciliation with the meaning, purpose, and essence external world. Spirit is revealed of the world. Reason is a modern. But Reason’s will to as the unity of self and world, power is shown to be abstract, a inner and outer, subject and mere dream. For all its exertions object, thought and action, and idealistic projects, the Self meaning and life. In the condifails to generate a stable world tion of absolute knowing, Man and remains trapped inside its knows that the external world, as individuality. the product of history, is the At the level of Spirit, the incarnation of his inwardness or realm of external things, which “spirituality.” He is reconciled has always opposed the Self, to his mortality and no longer acquires selfhood and soul. It yearns for a transcendent becomes a social world or Kingdom of Heaven. He is concrete community: univercompletely at home in the true sality that is actual and alive. Kingdom of the here and now. Peter Kalkavage The Self is now fully conscious of The Phenomenology is not only the philosophic history of itself as embodied and substanspirit. It is also what Hegel called his personal “voyage of tial. World acquires selfhood or inwardness, and selfhood discovery.” The Phenomenology of Spirit is the book in has been made concrete and real as a collection of vibrant which Hegel became Hegel, just as the Divine Comedy was Greek city-states, the Roman Empire, modern French the poem in which Dante became Dante. It is the result of culture, and the dutiful German realm of Kantian Hegel’s struggle to unify the conﬂicting inﬂuences of his morality. At this stage, man is aware of himself as the self intellectual life. In reading this astounding book, we are and substance of the world, although he is not yet aware of history as the revelation of his human-divine nature. invited to share his personal journey—and to ask in what At the stage of Religion, Spirit as the communal Self sense it is our journey as well. x manifests itself in concrete teachings, stories, poetry, and Peter Kalkavage is the author of The Logic of Desire: An art—all modes in which man contemplates God, and God, Introduction to Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, through man, contemplates himself. These modes capture published by Paul Dry Books. The Phenomenology of Spirit is the book in which Hegel became Hegel. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �18 {Green Johnnies} GREEN-COLL AR JOHNNIES Young Alumni Build Sustainable Careers by Anna Perleberg (SF02) Numberless wonders terrible wonders walk the world but none the match for man— . . . the oldest of the gods he wears away— the Earth, the immortal, the inexhaustible— as his plows go back and forth, year in, year out with the breed of stallions turning up the furrows. And the blithe, lightheaded race of birds he snares, the tribes of savage beasts, the life that swarms the depths—with one ﬂing of his nets woven and coiled tight, he takes them all, man the skilled, the brilliant! I n this era of disappearing habitats and global climate change, Earth seems ever more mortal and exhausted, and Sophocles’ famous paean to “man the master” increasingly an indictment of our sometimes wasteful and destructive ways. Yet as the warnings become more dire, the response of committed, hard-working individuals to solving the problems facing the environment grows stronger. Here are four Santa Fe Johnnies who have chosen to make their life’s work serve the life of the planet. —Antigone, tr. Robert Fagles, 377-8, 382-90 { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{Green Johnnies} The Triple Bottom Line 19 learning via the Internet and conference calls make up the As environmental remainder of the concerns gain imporprogram, creating a tance in the world very different learning economy, colleges and community than he was universities have reala part of at St. John’s. ized the need to train “Work groups cut future business leaders across time zones: not just in traditional Paris, Puerto Rico, ﬁnance but also in Zimbabwe,” he says. concepts such as He describes the sustainability, in an program as covering effort to harmonize all the standard MBA corporate goals with classes, such as ecoecological needs. While nomics, accounting and many MBA programs ﬁnance, but always with offer relevant elecan eye towards what he tives, few address all calls “the triple bottom aspects of the degree line,” not only proﬁt but from the green people and planet. perspective. Michael “Presidio is unashamed Barber (SF05), at about referring to their Presidio World College in students as agents of San Francisco, and John change; their primary Gorczynski (SF05), at goals are poverty relief Dominican University and environmental best of California in San As a resource efﬁciency specialist for the City of Anchorage, Michael Barber practices that are also Rafael, have found (SF05) is helping the city install environmentally friendly lighting. good business pracprograms graduate tices, making sure those that integrate sustainline up,” he says. While able thinking across the board. studying economics, for instance, he considered not just Barber grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, where the economy is human inﬂuences but ecosystem services, “things like photofueled by heavy industry, mining, and ﬁshing. “You were synthesis, sunlight, water and snowpack that add value to the either for business—especially Big Oil, the energy sector—or economy but that we can’t control. How do we put a price tag you were some kind of tree-hugger who cared more about on these? Should we?” owls than community,” he says. “Feeling that you had to pick At Dominican University of California, John Gorczynski one at the expense of the other—that dilemma had lived with enrolled in the Green MBA program—the ﬁrst of its kind in the me all my life.” Presidio’s Sustainable Management degree U.S.—in the fall of 2006. He’s currently on a break in his homemaintains this is a false choice. town of Houston, Texas, helping with his father’s judicial Over the past year, Barber has ﬂown to San Francisco once a re-election campaign and employed by the mayor’s ofﬁce in month for four days of intensive study, living in Anchorage the the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security. rest of the time, where he is a resource efﬁciency specialist at Dominican’s program offers traditional MBA subjects the mayor’s ofﬁce, involved in a project that will convert all framed in a message of environmental responsibility, city lighting to earth-friendly bulbs within the year. Distance { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �20 {Green Johnnies} Gorczynski says, but it also emphasizes entrepreneurship. He characterizes the triple bottom line as “earth, social justice, and proﬁtability.” A favorite subject so far? His introductory marketing class: “Someone drawn into an alternative business environment inherits a mistrust of marketing,” he explains. “It was interesting and refreshing to study marketing in a way that’s conducive to life.” Responsible Spaces “Before I was into sustainable building, I was into building, and before building, I thought I wanted to study architecture,” explains Sarah Seitz (SF02). Soon after graduating from St. John’s, Seitz explored the latter at University of New Mexico and California Polytechnic State University, but it was soon clear that her passion was for practice rather than theory: “I wanted to have a space of my own, know how to do practical things,” she says. “I wanted to have a career that allowed me to A desire to work with her hands led Sarah Seitz (SF02, front row, second from right) to a career in green building. be outside in the sun, provide for myself, work with beautiful things and have a positive impact on the environment.” “Green building” can be deﬁned many ways. Seitz cites criteria from Clarke Snell and Tim Callahan’s book Building Green, that the structure should have low construction impact (leaving trees and other vegetation intact, sourcing materials that are renewable or local); resource efﬁciency in water and energy use; durability, so the building continues to meet the needs of future generations; healthy, non-toxic materials, safe for construction workers and inhabitants; and the more nebulous concept of beauty, which “has to do with stewardship and making the most of the spaces around you, because moving around constantly will inevitably generate pollution. So it’s { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{Green Johnnies} 21 ingly,” she says. “It’s pretty rare to have the chance to build an not exclusively a beauty that is constructed, but an entire building from the ground up, let alone to live and work innate beauty that is revealed through nurturing and mainwith a group of so many like-minded people.” She’s also taining a space.” Thus, she summarizes, “a ‘green building’ recently prepared displays for the Toronto Home Show and project might focus on the use of low-VOC [Volatile Organic built a utility shed on a rural waterfront property, mostly by Compounds such as hydrocarbons, prone to vaporizing herself. “Five years after I ﬁrst asked the question, I have now and entering the atmosphere] ﬁnishes, energy-efﬁcient discovered that yes, if I lived in Santa Fe and could no longer windows and appliances, using insulation with a high-R value, afford the rent, I could indeed tack together a lovely little and possibly incorporating materials with recycled content. something to live in,” she says. A ‘sustainable’ building might go further to incorporate Seitz is currently working for a builder in Calgary and site-harvested windfall lumber, locally sourced natural plasstudying for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental ters, reclaimed ﬂooring, off-grid renewable energy systems, Design) certiﬁcation. She appeared on an episode of HGTV’s and the integration of the building into the surrounding site World’s Most Extreme Homes, and continues to learn and landscape.” and experiment with earth-friendly materials and building After taking carpentry courses at a community college techniques. in her hometown of Kingston, Ontario, Seitz enrolled in nearby Fleming College’s Sustainable Bridging Culture Building Design and Construction and Nature program in April 2007. Over the course Kina R. Murphy (SF95) holds an underof 20 weeks, she and her classmates graduate degree from the College of built the 1900-square-foot R.D. Santa Fe in conservation science and a Lawrence Place museum from design to master’s from the University of New execution. The museum “is named after Mexico in planning and resource a local conservationist and author who management, with an ecology minor. established a wolf sanctuary, and the In 2003, she received a Fulbright scholinside was designed to have an ‘out in arship that sent her to Linyanti, a the woods’ feel to it, with a log cabin at remote swampland in the “four its center.” Seitz was responsible for the corners” region of Botswana. Working Sarah Seitz (SF02) building’s ﬁxtures, working with subconwith the Centre for Conservation of tractors, donors, suppliers, instructors, African Resources: Animals, Communistudent teams and museum staff. ties and Land Use (CARACAL), Murphy The museum incorporates many aspects of the greenresearched human/wildlife conﬂict in the area. She explains: building philosophy, employing alternative materials such as “When the rains come, animals migrate into farms and straw bales and slipstraw to insulate the outside walls, nonvillages. Lions eat cattle (or people); buffalo or elephants raid toxic milk and mineral paints on the walls and “soycrete” crops or water tanks. My objective was to map wildlife moveto stain and seal the ﬂoor. Some elements were salvaged— ment toward the wetland, to see what time of day animals wood-frame windows that helped make up the permanent moved toward the river, to give people something to go on.” display cases—or donated, as in the case of several large pines The project was life-changing for Murphy. “I did not know donated by the local power company, which became exterior how to care about people until I went to Africa,” she asserts. posts. Says Seitz, “I especially enjoyed using a solid cherry log Out in the middle of the bush, she and her two daughters, then to build a leg for a vanity, and using stained glass to cover the 3 and 6, felt safer than in the U.S. because of the community vanity and backsplash.” that supported them. Her experience with tragedy as well as The museum ranks as Seitz’s favorite building project so far: fellowship—“I probably lost half of my friends in Africa to “With the students having put in so much thought and so AIDS or malaria or crocodiles”—led to action. many hours of hard work, the ﬁnished building was well- “So it’s not exclusively a beauty that is constructed, but an innate beauty that is revealed through nurturing and maintaining a space.” received by the local community and we celebrated accord- { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �22 {Green Johnnies} As president of ConservaAt ﬁrst, she worked tion Assistance Internawithin existing conservational, Kina Murphy (SF95) tion groups, but was frusis building an institute in Malawi to train local trated by their methods: residents in natural “They’re often not effecresource and lodge management. tive because they’re not invested in the community,” she explains. and saw a 1.5 million pula “They’ll go in to help ($250,000) proﬁt in their elephants and not really ﬁrst year. deal with the people. The “They created a really measures have to come viable business from their from the community.” She natural resources without mentions one particular help from large conservaexperience in the tion groups,” she says. “I Okavango delta, working wondered why. I felt I had with a large conservation to come up with a mechaNGO: “They were trying to nism to help communities create community-based access resources in the resource management, and United States.” the natives would smile and With the aid of her nod and show up for the father, Donald Murphy, meetings basically for the former deputy director food. Maybe because I’m of the U.S. National African-American myself, Park Service, she created the natives started Global Conservation Assiscomplaining to me about tance. GCA, of which the conservationists’ attiMurphy is president, tude. They’d ask me, ‘Why empowers communities by do they think we want to asking about their needs live in a zoo?’” Kina Murphy (SF95) and helping to implement Too often, Murphy them—writing grant thinks, representatives proposals, getting fundfrom industrialized nations ing, training community sell Africans short. “People members in the skills they need. Recently, she was invited to in non-industrialized nations know what to do—they just Malawi by their Minister of Environment (now Foreign don’t have the resources, the education,” she explains. But Minister), Davis Chester Katsonga, to brainstorm how to when the impetus emerges from within a community, great address problems faced by the country. Malawi is a densely things can be accomplished: Murphy gives the example of a populated, mostly agricultural nation in southeastern group of Khwai, river Bushmen, who brought in consultants Africa; but its natural resources are not distributed well. to learn methods for economic development. On their own, Murphy marvels at the paradoxes created by inefﬁciency: they designed and built hunting and wildlife safari lodges, “Coffee is grown throughout Africa, but you can’t get a good “I did not know how to care about people until I went to Africa.” { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{Green Johnnies} 23 cup of coffee anywhere,” she They also agree that in an says. “Rice is imported on a emerging ﬁeld like sustainmassive scale in Malawi, even ability, it’s imperative to be though they grow several able to work outside your varieties locally.” Education comfort zone. “Whenever is an important factor in you’re doing something no resolving these issues. That’s one has done before,” says Michael Barber (SF05) one reason GCA is raising Gorczynski, “your technical funds to build a Freedom expertise is not the most Center at Lake Malawi. This holistic institute will serve important thing, but critical thinking, the willingness to several purposes: ﬁrst, training locals in natural resource learn and question conventional wisdom, understand many and lodge management, and sustainable product developdifferent viewpoints, understand science and keep current ment. The center will also provide a venue for these skills by with that.” serving as a high-end tourist lodge and a conference center “At St. John’s,” Barber adds, “you’re not just learning for visiting organizations, “a space where they can hold what you think you’re already good at. Sustainability is conferences and actually support a community.” what human beings are not good at.” GCA is also afﬁliated with other groups large and small, Gorczynski feels now is a perfect time for Johnnies to get including Artists for Africa, Conservation SOS, the World involved in green ﬁelds, since they’ll be at the forefront of Wildlife Fund’s One Europe More Nature program, and the what may prove to be the most profound shift in human Oprah Winfrey-founded National Underground Railroad thinking and behavior in this century. Freedom Center, which works to end world slavery. “Someday, when these topics are part of every MBA, Murphy regularly travels to Africa from Santa Fe—she Johnnies may not have the advantage,” Gorczynski says, returned to Malawi in January 2008—and remains “but right now there’s real opportunity, while these committed and passionate about her work: “It’s about programs are willing to accept that we come from an alterﬁguring out how we in our everyday lives can help each native educational path.” While the ultimate solutions to other.” many environmental issues are not yet apparent, encouraging discussion is the ﬁrst step toward changing the status Sustaining the Conversation quo–and St. John’s is joining the conversation. x When asked how St. John’s prepared them for a sustainable career, these alumni responded with strikingly similar answers. They all say that the ability to dialogue, to both talk and listen, is vitally important in forging connections among the disparate communities who must all participate Learn more: in the protection of the planet: corporations and environGreen MBA (Dominican University of California): mentalists, philanthropists and non-industrialized www.greenmba.com nations. Seitz appreciates the analytical thinking skills Presidio MBA (Presidio World College): www.presidrequired for “interpreting, challenging and navigating iomba.org, or contact Michael Barber directly at alaskabuilding code requirements, and in dialoguing with clients grown@gmail.com to determine their needs and design accordingly.” Barber Fleming College and the R.D. Lawrence Place Museum: credits seminar with giving him “a clear, competitive www.sustainablebuilding2007.ca advantage over almost everyone I meet. A lot of people need to waste years in the boardroom to learn to listen to Global Conservation Assistance: www.gcainfo.org; Conservation SOS: www.conservationsos.org somebody and get to the heart of an issue quickly.” “A lot of people need to waste years in the boardroom to learn to listen to somebody and get to the heart of an issue quickly.” { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �24 {The Graduate Institute} “ W H Y D I D N ’ T W E K NOW ABOUT THESE BOOKS?” Four Decades of Graduate Education at St. John’s by Laurence Berns, Tutor Emeritus D uring the summer of 1965, St. John’s President Richard D. Weigle, on his own, applied to a grant program he ran across in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and St. John’s received a grant of $75,000 to produce a summer graduate program in liberal arts. At the ﬁrst faculty meeting that September, Weigle announced his success. A number of senior faculty members, bothered by what appeared to be a violation of the principle of complete control of curriculum matters by the faculty, reacted angrily: I remember phrases like “watering down the Program” and “cheap publicity gimmick.” Weigle was taken aback by the reaction. After some minutes of this I spoke up, arguing that it was certainly possible to work out a shorter, appropriate curriculum that did not fall short of or violate St. John’s standards, and that we could ensure faculty control by not allowing any curriculum or program to go through without faculty approval. I probably referred to my pre-St. John’s experience teaching in the University of Chicago’s “Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults.” In the Basic Program we would also sometimes seek advice, especially for leading seminars, from Robert Goldwin (class of 1950). The following morning, a Sunday, I received a phone call from Dick Weigle. “Would you be interested in { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } drawing up a curriculum for the program we talked about yesterday?” I said, “Sure.” Since we were planning for a summer program in Santa Fe, we agreed later that the planning was to take place there the next summer. Robert Goldwin was chosen to work out the structural and administrative matters, and the following summer, Goldwin became the ﬁrst Director of the Graduate Institute. I had been commissioned ofﬁcially only to draw up the ﬁrst summer’s program on Politics and Society. But I felt, and knew that many of my colleagues would feel, that we would want to see how what we were offering would ﬁt into some uniﬁed overall program, so I worked out tentative curricula for Literature, Philosophy and Theology, and Mathematics and Natural Sciences segments. After working out my ﬁrst plans, I tried to consult with any faculty member who would meet with me. That turned out to be most of the faculty at Santa Fe that �{The Graduate Institute} 25 Graduate Institute students at the coffee shop in Santa Fe, 1971. summer, including a few outspokenly against the idea. It was for me a pleasant illustration of the objectivity and openmindedness of my colleagues: everyone I showed my lists and schedules to said something like, “Oh that’s nice,” or “Pretty good list,” and almost everyone suggested one or two changes to get in favorite books of their own. One of my most pleasant meetings, was with (then dean) Bob Neidorf, concerning the Philosophy and Theology curriculum. “Larry,” he said, “you’re going to think I’m crazy. I think Plato’s Theaetetus should follow Hume and Kant. The Theaetetus is the answer to Hume and Kant.” I broke into a big grin and said, “I guess we’re both crazy. I reached the same conclusion last night.” Michael Ossorgin, tutor, ordained Russian Orthodox priest, Dostoyevsky expert, and musician, was perhaps the most sweetly intelligent man I have ever known. Some days after I had shown him { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } my Literature selections, he called to invite me to lunch. He had developed a better idea for that sequence, but he would never say that. As soon as we were seated for lunch he turned to me and said, “Larry, I think all of human life can be understood in terms of the Iliad and the Odyssey.” And then for about two hours he led me in a wonderful discussion about how the Iliad and the Odyssey clariﬁed the foundations of human life, at the end of which I asked him if he would redraw the literature sequence to extend the time for the Iliad and the Odyssey. The long study of the Iliad and the Odyssey is still the core of the Graduate Institute’s very successful literature sequence. Michael ﬁnally did produce a list of selections, but not without the prodding and help of Elliott Zuckerman, director of the GI in its second and third summers. The Graduate Institute was primarily conceived as a program for anyone who had received a bachelor’s degree from another institution, to give them ﬁrsthand experience in the St. John’s way of educating. But we expected that it might be especially attractive to teachers. Toward the end of that summer of planning, Bob Goldwin was preparing to meet with the New Mexico authorities for teachers’ accreditation. He asked me to write a short paper about why our program was especially appropriate for teachers. We did get the accreditation and that ﬁrst summer of 1967 the program attracted a large number of teachers, especially high school teachers. �26 {The Graduate Institute} The students turned out to be quite good, enthusiastic and serious. They appreciated how starting classes with opening questions promoted discussion, how tutors developed an art of questions, both for seminars and tutorials. But the one thing I heard most from students, especially the ﬁrst month, was, “Why didn’t we know about these books?” The Graduate Institute has always attracted a variety of interesting students, more than I can talk about here. I remember a Santa Fe physician who had scheduled a paper conference with me one afternoon. After about 30 minutes my phone rang; they wanted the doctor. A quick medical conversation went on. I remember him ordering some treatment instructions, then he hung up, turned to me and said sadly, “I never have time to contemplate.” His paper was for a preceptorial I called Practical Politics, using Books 3 and 4 of Aristotle’s Politics. The ﬁnal papers were to be about some contemporary political problem addressed with principles we had learned from Aristotle. Earlier that year serious rioting had broken out in Detroit. The doctor had written a very interesting nocturnal dialogue between Aristotle and the Mayor of Detroit about avoiding and controlling riots. The ﬁrst year in Santa Fe, we had a small number of inner-city teachers from Baltimore on Hoffberger grants. One of them came up to me after the ﬁrst few classes. We had been reading Plato and Aristotle. “You know, Mr. Berns,” he said, “that idea of the rational life—boy, that sure clears up a lot of things.” His language was simple, just as his thought was clear and deep. It was a beautiful thing to see how the vocabulary of the classics began to infuse itself into his own speech. After a month or so we were reading Hobbes. There was a lady in that class whom Hobbes had moved to speak: “Hobbes is the ﬁrst author we have read who has written about things as they really are. Nobody does anything for anybody else unless there is some reward in it for themselves!” The student I spoke of before was on the opposite side of the table. In his usual quiet and calm manner, he replied: “You know, you’ve been talking about rewards, internal rewards and external rewards, you’ve only been talking about external rewards.” I still remember how at the end of that ﬁrst summer of operation, Bob Goldwin and I were saying good-bye, and one of us, probably Bob, said, “We’ve done a good thing here.” Annapolis tutor Laurence Berns spent the summer of 1966 planning for the ﬁrst graduate segment, Politics and Society, on the new Santa Fe campus. Author’s Postscript: Goldwin offered a few additional thoughts: “You say that in the ﬁrst summer we attracted ‘a large number of teachers.’ As a matter of fact, we failed to attract a large number of any category. The budget drawn up, on which the grant was based, was for a much larger enrollment, but we only enrolled 35 students that ﬁrst summer of 1967. It { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } turned out to be lucky that we had enough for two seminars and not more, because the grant was just enough for a small operation. The business ofﬁce budget had been wildly off target and we squeaked through only because we didn’t attract more students that year. It was my ﬁrst lesson in academic economics: Since you lose money on every student you enroll, you have to keep enrollment small or raise more money.” �{The Graduate Institute} “I Was Just Determined” By Geoff Comber (HA95), Tutor Emeritus Somewhere around 1975 I began thinking: why haven’t we got a graduate program here in Annapolis? I started talking with other tutors and got various reactions, some positive, some negative. As soon as I came back from a sabbatical in late 1975, I began promoting it seriously. The reasons people gave for opposing the program were: 1) it would drain students from Santa Fe and 2) the faculty in Annapolis would be too stretched out because of the Febbie class in the summer. I just kept pushing because I thought the Graduate Institute was one of the best programs that the college offered. It was exactly in line with Scott Buchanan and Stringfellow Barr’s vision for the college, of opening the great books and seminar discussions to working people. I went about developing answers for the objections. Would faculty be strained? It turned out there was actually quite a good deal of support for summer work in Annapolis. Faculty members needed extra income doing interesting work. Then I found a way around the other objective, that it would take away students from Santa Fe. I thought the answer was to offer a ﬁfth segment, one not offered in Santa Fe. I was talking with tutor Harry Golding in the ofﬁce next to me, who suggested History, and he, Larry Berns, and Bob Goldwin worked with me to develop a reading list. But we still had a fair amount of resistance among faculty. When things were looking bleak, Eva Brann spoke up in support of the program at a faculty meeting. That began to turn the tide. Somewhere around the middle of 1976, the faculty agreed to it. Somehow, I became the director. I was operating out of 27 my small ofﬁce and I did it all on top of teaching, with no time off. I was just determined to do it. Funding was the immediate priority. Burch Ault, the vice president in Santa Fe, was a great help in leading me to money. We secured a grant from the Cafritz Foundation and from three additional sources in Philadelphia, including grants for teachers from the Philadelphia city schools. By the third year of the program, 1979, we won a grant to have 25 students from the Middle East attend. That ﬁrst summer we had four faculty members, Malcolm Wyatt, Howard Fisher, Michael Littleton, and me. The next year we had six tutors and 34 students. Within a couple of years, we had 80 to 100 students, and by the time I returned to serve a three-year team as the director in the 1980s, the program was year-round. The program was a great success, right from that ﬁrst summer. From the faculty point of view, there was an opportunity for faculty to get new readings in books that they liked a lot. And of course, the students liked it. I remember one man, in his 40s, who told me: “I’ve made a success of myself, I was trained very well, I went to a ﬁne university—and now I’m ready for an education.” That was the typical attitude of the students who came to us. They had careers, so we made a point of starting classes late in the afternoon. In those days, most of the students were in their 30s and 40s. I believe the average age for the ﬁrst three years was 38. The second year was particularly interesting because we had two students at opposite extremes: one 74 years old, one 16. I was nervous about that young man, but his mother pleaded for him. He was obviously bright, and he really wanted to come, so I cut a deal—that’s the advantage of having no one over you! He could do the work, but not for graduate credit, and I would write a comprehensive report on what he had accomplished at the end of the session that he could use in any way he wished. I ran into him several years later in a supermarket. He was successful, and he was so grateful for the experience he had at St. John’s that summer. I think it was in the third year of the program when someone came up to tell me about the “old man sleeping in his car.” An 84-year-old man who had been wandering around Mexico heard of the program and drove up to enroll. He had no money, so he was living out of his car. We got him a grant, put him in a room, and he was the oldest student I know of who studied in the program. x { T h e C o l l e g e • John’s College • Winter 2008 } �28 {The Graduate Institute} For the Joy of Learning Language and the Eastern Classics by Cary Stickney (A75) Sometime in the early 90s, the idea came about that maybe we could come up with an actual curriculum to study Eastern texts. The people who were most interested got together and proposed a pilot program. The faculty agreed to try it out. There were doubters on both campuses. I was something of a doubter. The rhetoric that I thought I detected that troubled me—and it may have been as much in my imagination as anywhere—was that one good of such a program would be that it would renew the zest for learning of the tutors who might be a little weary of the books of the undergraduate program and existing GI program. It would be a rejuvenation of their thinking and learning. And I had my doubts about that because I thought if you can’t ﬁnd anything more in the books we are already reading, then you should go teach somewhere else. But what I think now is a little different. I think it did bring new excitement, especially for [tutor] Ralph Swentzell (HA95) and maybe for some of the other tutors who were promoting it. It seems to me that what they enjoyed most was that it was being done for the joy of the learning. At ﬁrst we [the tutors] weren’t promising even so much as a degree, and we were ﬁnding our way in much the same way that we ask of our students all the time. As I worry a bit about the college becoming a little too regular, a little too much like other colleges, it looks to me that maybe what drew those pioneers in the Eastern Classics We consider certain Western books to be “great” for different reasons, and I think that’s true with Eastern books as well. Cary Stickney (A75) program as much as anything was a return to the aspect of the college that had to do with learning for its own sake. The pilot program had a fairly high proportion of recently graduated Johnnies in it, and they just loved it. And the people teaching in it loved it. It wasn’t hard to ﬁnd tutors to teach even at the beginning. There were people who wanted to do it. There were a couple of years when we’d barely have enough students to move forward, and would ﬁnd the last few students we needed at the last minute. There did come a moment, at the end of my term as GI director, that I was asked to give a report, and I said “It worked, we’ve done it, but the main problem was funding and recruiting.” My report also said it wouldn’t be a defeat for us if we decided to discontinue it and take it up another time. But no one took that seriously! No one was thinking of discontinuing it at that time. The program grew under the next director, and it continues to grow. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } by James Carey (class of 1967) One of the objections to studying Eastern Classics at the college was that we didn’t know the languages of these works. We had a faculty seminar on the Bhagavad Gita and discovered that a word translated as “grace” in one of the editions was translated as “force” in another. We realized that we needed to get closer to the texts. So those of us who were interested in the program set out, in our own St. John’s way, to learn the languages. In the early years there were about six of us studying Sanskrit together. Several more were studying Chinese. Bruce Perry came out here around that time, with a really impressive knowledge of Sanskrit. And Ralph Swentzell threw himself into putting together a Chinese program. We tried to get an understanding of these languages that would be roughly comparable to what most tutors have in Greek, another demanding language. Over the years we’ve found that the students, at least, think the language requirement contributes to making the Eastern Classics program respectable. It’s astonishing what the students put into their preparation for the language tutorial. Some students who have studied a year of Sanskrit at St. John’s have been able to move directly into third-year Sanskrit elsewhere. A difﬁculty for us in organizing the curriculum was what to do with the big epics of India. One way to read the Mahabharata is through retellings of it, which is how we did it the ﬁrst year. We read retellings of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in maybe two or �{The Graduate Institute} 29 Alistair Hake (EC08) practices the art of Chinese calligraphy, which conveys thought as well as showing the abstract beauty of the line. amy raab three seminars apiece, as though they were novels. The seminars were enjoyable, but we were not dealing with the actual texts. It was someone’s inspired idea—not mine—to make the Mahabharata a mandatory preceptorial topic. That was a good decision. The Mahabharata has turned out to be a favorite text, even for undergraduates who also do the Eastern Classics program. It vies for the most popular text read on this campus. We consider certain Western books to be “great” for different reasons, and I think that’s true with Eastern books as well. The texts of the different schools of Indian thought are great like the Summa Theologiae of Aquinas or the Critique of Pure Reason; they are intrinsically interesting but are also technically demanding. Certainly the Mahabharata is a great epic; that’s incontestable as far as I can see. The Kumarasambhava is a wonderful play. Goethe had read it and was very taken with it. It’s quite beautiful, and it’s hard not to realize that you are in the presence of greatness when you read it. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �30 {The Graduate Institute} A Genuine Love of Learning Since the Graduate Institute began on the college’s Western campus in 1967, 3,595 people have attended: 1,249 in Annapolis; 2,346 in both the Liberal Arts and Eastern Classics programs in Santa Fe. The graduate programs have attracted people in all walks of life, from younger students who have just ﬁnished a bachelor’s degree to octogenarians who want to devote time to reading great books with others. These three recent or soon-to-be graduates—a medical doctor, a teacher, and a marine—illustrate some of the motives that draw adults to St. John’s College. Major Kevin Brooks (AGI08) After he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1988, Major Kevin Brooks earned a master’s in English at the University of Maryland, then began active service in the United States Marine Corps. He expected to return to teach English at the Naval Academy within ﬁve or six years of commissioning. Then, the Marine Corps put him in a jet. “I was having too much fun ﬂying F-18s to go back to a classroom,” he says. He spent 15 years as a pilot and was deployed to hot spots and war zones ﬁve times, including most recently, a stint with Operation Iraqi Freedom combat forces based in Kuwait. When ﬂying assignments began to drop off, Brooks knew it was time to head to the classroom. And although his master’s qualiﬁed him for a teaching stint at the Academy, he still wanted to enroll in the Graduate Institute. With his job and a young son at home, he knew that embarking on a PhD would be “too big a hurdle for now,” he says. “With a little bit of cajoling, I convinced my wife that I should do the graduate program at St. John’s. I’ve been thinking that I’d love to teach at an independent school, and many use the classically-based model of St. John’s: great books, critical thinking, an emphasis on writing, appreciation of literature, discussions of issues like ethics and justice.” His career goals account for just a part of his motive. “It was refreshing to be in a class with such a diverse population of students, not only by age range, but economic background, polit- After retiring from the Marines, Major Kevin Brooks (AGI08) hopes to be a secondary school teacher. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } Patrick Hudson (SGI08) admits that his ﬁrst term at St. John’s was frightening— he hadn’t written as essay for 33 years. ical views, and education,” he says. “What brought everyone together was a genuine love of learning and sharing ideas. It helped me break out of the conservative military mode and really listen to wildly different opinions. And part of being an adult is that while you don’t have to agree with others’ opinions, you need to really listen to them and respect their point of view.” After ﬁnishing the Math and Natural Science segment last December, Brooks will march with his fellow graduates at Commencement in May, about the same time he retires from military service. And whatever he does in the next stage of his career, his experience at St. John’s will be valuable. “It enriches your life,” he says. Patrick Hudson (SFGI08) After completing studies in London to become a surgeon, Patrick Hudson began a planned one-year surgical residency at the University of New Mexico in 1974—and has remained in �{The Graduate Institute} “I am a better person for doing the Graduate Institute,” he says. “But more importantly, I am equipped with valuable knowledge about the world and myself.” Patrick Hudson, SFGI08 valuable knowledge about the world and myself.” Carolyn Thomas (SFGI02, EC07) Wherever she teaches next, Carolyn Thomas will be an inspiring role model—a zealous lifelong learner—for her students. Thomas ﬁrst came to St. John’s in 1998 to take part in a Summer Classics seminar with readings from Augustine. The educational philosophy she encountered in that brief summer session closely matched what she had been doing in her classroom at the Burroughs Academy in teri thomson randall Albuquerque ever since. After more than 30 years as a successful plastic surgeon, Hudson enrolled in the liberal arts master’s program at St. John’s. “I wanted to open my mind, to broaden my perspective, and to hone in on my value system,” he says. After completing his degree last December, he embarked on a master’s program in counseling at Webster University. He plans to do yet another graduate program in medical ethics. His ultimate goal is to offer counseling within the ﬁeld of medical ethics, combining his expertise as surgeon, the background in values and ethics gleaned from St. John’s, and his degrees in counseling and ethics. With the increased complications of access to medical care and health insurance, and ethical issues related to prolonging life, Hudson feels that he can contribute to medicine in a new way as he enters the next phase of his life. “Plastic surgery requires a high degree of dexterity and stamina, and I’ll be 60 next year,” says Hudson. “I don’t want to give up my contact with patients.” Being a “full-service ethicist,” he jokes, is a way to combine everything he has learned and studied to make a meaningful contribution in the world. He plans to provide counseling services speciﬁcally related to body image, life transitions, and men’s issues. Coming to St. John’s had been in the back of his mind for 15 years before he ﬁnally enrolled. What drew him was the depth and breadth of the reading list, and the chance to read great books within a program that emphasized education. “I am a better person for doing the Graduate Institute,” he says. “But more importantly, I am equipped with St. Louis, where she had taught English for 16 years. “I always wanted a pure liberal arts education,” she says. Believing the Graduate Institute would enhance her work as a teacher, she decided to use her sabbatical to study at St. John’s. “With half my forks and half my spoons, I moved to Santa Fe,” she jokes. Her plan was to devote a year to the program, return to teach at Burroughs, and complete the program during subsequent summers. But during her summer in Santa Fe, she grew enchanted with the college and the books read here. She decided to complete her graduate degree in four straight semesters and made Santa Fe her home. In addition to her graduate courses, she audited several undergraduate classes including sophomore music, freshman chorus, and senior seminar. Like many Graduate Institute students, she completed a ﬁfth segment when only four are needed for the degree. Then, with the desire to extend her journey to include books of India, China, and Japan, she enrolled in the Eastern Classics program. That degree took several years to complete, while Thomas continued her work as an educator. She taught, directed college counseling and served as assistant head at the New Mexico Academy for Art. She also enrolled in a doctoral program in philosophy at the University of New Mexico. With her coursework for the PhD compelte, she will focus next on her dissertation and seeking a college-level teaching position. x Carolyn Thomas (SGI02, EC07), at Commencement in May 2002, earned her two degrees while teaching and restoring antique cars. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } 31 �A Long Retreat: In Search of a Religious Life by Andrew Krivak (A86) Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007 In his memoir A Long Retreat: In Search of a Religious Life, Andrew Krivak shares his achingly human journey, in which he embarks on an eight-year period of Jesuit religious formation and then chooses another path for his life. The “long retreat” of his title refers to the 30-day period of prayer and silence when novices encounter the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Although Jesuits are well known for living active, contemporary lives in universities and communities around the world, during the Long Retreat, modern life comes to a halt. The experience shapes a Jesuit’s spirituality, teaching him the type of imaginative and meditative prayer he will practice on a daily basis “and giving him the skills,” Krivak says, “to discern the will of God in his life.” That discernment is at the heart of Krivak’s story. Krivak entered the Society of Jesus in August 1990 and began his 30-day retreat as a novice in January 1991 at a Pennsylvania retreat house. He and his fellow novitiates, about a dozen altogether, walked the same stone paths that hundreds of novices had for nearly a century, moving soundlessly down long, drafty corridors and praying in solitude in rooms no larger than a cell. The only conversation Krivak was allowed—for 45 minutes once a day— was with his spiritual director. “We were just a bunch of regular guys. We didn’t look like monks; no religious garb, no monk’s robes or cassocks. I prayed in a pair of jeans and a Patagonia ﬂeece,” Krivak says. “In the silence, you stop, begin listening, and ask: ‘What am I doing with my life? Excerpt: . . .The purpose of the First Week. . . is to face the reality of sin. From his own experience, Ignatius knew that this intial state of recognition was the darkest and most painful room to enter. . . . . . .In our rooms we were instructed to close the windows, pull the blinds, and be careful at all times for a period of two days to avoid distractions and not to make any unnecessary noise. The effect was truly {Bibliofile} What do I want to do with my life?’ And most importantly: ‘Where is God in all of this?’ There’s an element of Augustine’s Confessions at work. That’s what the retreat’s about.” That discernment he says, “has become the task of a lifetime. Loss is a theme that runs throughout Krivak’s memoir—he feels loneliness, even boredom at times, but also a stripping away of roles and expectations. “There are certainly things one gains by entering religious life,” Krivak suggests. “The satisfaction of serving others, the emotional support of living in strong faith communities, and the consolation that can come with a life of prayer.” But one also gives up a great deal, Krivak says, “such as those cultural expectations of love, respect, and professional success. It was St. Paul who said that faith is the substance of things hoped for. When you realize that you’ve pinned your life on a hope that you’re not supposed to achieve in this world, you feel the things you’ve lost with a tangible pain. It can chip away at your identity. The faith, the hope, even the love—it’s hard work.” During his eight years with the Jesuits, Krivak lived and worked around the world in Jesuit communities from the South Bronx and Syracuse to Bratislava and Moscow. In 1998 he was sent to Cambridge to study theology for the last stage of his formation before being ordained a priest. He made the decision to leave. “I was called to be a Jesuit, and I was also called to leave; through this process of eight years there was an examination of my conscience. There was not an ‘ah-ha’ moment.” Today Krivak, who lives in London with his wife and two children, says he reserves his solitude for writing—he has an MFA from Columbia and a PhD in literature from Rutgers. marzena pogorzaly 32 some kind of paradise lost, “The seat of desolation, void of light,/Save what the glimmering of these vivid ﬂames/Cast pale and dreadful. . . ” I conjured a Hell that roared through my senses with synaesthetic overload. Rancid, aching shouts that approached in terrifying increments, like the New York City subway in August, deafening and piss-smelling, a humid waft crawling beneath clothes and onto every inch of body, to settle there like a second skin. The { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } Andrew Krivak’s memoir about his eight years of Jesuit religious formation is part travelogue, part theological inquiry. Krivak ﬁnds a symbol for his spiritual journey in the Susquehanna River, a familiar landmark from his travels and his childhood. The river follows a meandering path through New York and Pennsylvania before it meets the Chesapeake Bay at the same longitude where it begins. “People who say they want to become a priest or a monk and then leave the seminary or monastery seem like sad and fallen souls to more traditional Catholics. You know, God is at the top of the mountain. You’re either up or down—a spiritual success or a lost failure,” says Krivak. “I don’t think it’s like that. Our paths take radical and disorienting turns without becoming different rivers altogether. That’s what I’ve found in my faith search: long retreats and great bends.” x —Patricia Dempsey No Exit terror of a homeless shelter, with its fetid stillness, disembodied shrieks, and tense boredom. Then, bodies around me became the body of a drowned black man I had seen once, skin emptied of pigment, the stomach bloated and pushing out vomit, eyes rolled back and staring at none of us who stood over him. Go on, Ignatius seems to say, think of what you know of as misery, and know that this is unimaginably worse. �33 { Pa r e n t s ’ Vo i c e s } Inspired by the Program A Santa Fe Parent Pursues the Classics by Ann Kirkland I am, no doubt, like many St. John’s parents—adults who nudge their children toward the education they wish they had had. I went to a large Ivy League university where I sat at the back of cavernous lecture halls, sometimes scribbling down what the professor was saying and sometimes doodling and daydreaming. By the time my own ﬁrst born was in her last years of high school in Toronto, I was a member of a great books group and had heard about St. John’s College. I encouraged her to consider opting for a very different experience from my own. She interviewed in Annapolis but chose the Santa Fe campus. Her experience was tremendous, but St. John’s also changed my life. At my ﬁrst Parents’ Weekend in the fall of 1994, both students and parents were assigned to small seminars to discuss Sophocles’ Antigone. I was hooked. That one guided discussion made me sad about what might have been way back when, but thrilled that through the Summer Classics program in Santa Fe, this opportunity was open to me again and again. I became a devotee, returning each summer to renew and sharpen my curiosity and ability to listen to others with an open mind. I fell in love—with literature, with learning, and with good conversation. Alas, the unfavorable exchange rate between the U.S. and Canada curtailed my annual trips to Santa Fe, but in a ﬂash of blind inspiration, I got the idea to bring the concept to Toronto. And that is how I began to turn this avocation, for which I never had enough time, into my vocation. I use the word “vocation” in both of its meanings: the more pedestrian “employment” and the loftier “call”—or as Fredrick Buechner says, “where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” I abandoned a 30-year career in health administration, and based on my own happy experiences at Summer Classics and with the support of the Great Books Foundation in Chicago, I created a program at the University of Toronto’s St. Michael’s College called Classical Pursuits. I wanted Santa Fe Tutor Hans Von Briesen (HA03) took part in a Classical Pursuits seminar. to create opportunities for others to experience what I had come to cherish: coming together with adults from far and wide to read, discuss and reﬂect on the enduring ideas in great works of literature, music, and art. The program started with four seminar options in 1999: Plato’s Republic, Dante’s Inferno, Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Today, the summer program has expanded to attract more than 150 people to participate in one of 12 seminar options. This coming summer marks the 10th anniversary, which will be devoted to celebrating crowning achievements created late in life. To this, I have added a spring program for Toronto locals (this year six Sunday afternoons on “Reading Ulysses”). In 2002, I launched Travel Pursuits, escorting a group to Italy to discuss Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and to explore aspects of Medieval Italian life, arts and thought. Tutor Jim Carey (class of 1967), from the Santa Fe campus, was on sabbatical in Italy that year and joined us as a discussion leader. The travel program has proven so successful, it has grown to six or seven annual trips, ranging this year from “To Hell and Back with Dante” in Florence to “Mystery and Manners in Savannah,” Flannery O’Connor’s short stories and prose. The highlight for me, though, was “The Power of Place” in Santa Fe this past September in which retired St. John’s tutor { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } Hans Von Briesen (HA03) led our discussions of Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. Whether it is Odysseus trying to get home to his high-roofed house in Ithaca; Aeneas dutifully pursuing a quest that was not initially his own; or Dante trying to save himself, literature reminds us that we are creatures whose natures cause us to long and to seek. Unlike many others setting out on a quest, I was no youth, but in the second half of life. Like the archetype, however, I had become disenchanted with earlier successes, conscious of failures, and increasingly aware of the ﬁniteness of life. What seemed to me at ﬁrst a straightforward and fail-safe plan turned out to be fraught with all kinds of unanticipated obstacles. There still are times like that, moments when I have been tempted to abandon this mission and more than a few dark nights of fear, especially after I burned all my previous professional bridges and realized I could not turn back. There have been many successes and much encouragement along the way, all from eager supporters. These often come just when I have felt ready to throw in the towel. The reward has been the creation of a growing enterprise that is enriching those associated with it, but there has been a price for my chosen path. I did not anticipate that, instead of having more time to read deeply and leisurely, I have less. Without question, I would do it again. I retain the zeal of the missionary, believing that what I am doing—in the St. John’s model—is contributing in a small way to improving the quality of reﬂective thinking and public discourse—essential ingredients for both meaningful lives and a civilized society. x Ann Kirkland’s daughter, Gillian, is a member of the Santa Fe Class of 1998. �34 {Alumni Profile} The Spirit of the Law Pedro Martinez-Fraga (A84) Pursues Justice by Rosemary Harty W hen Augusto Pinochet died in a military hospital in Santiago, Chile, on Dec. 11, 2006, Pedro MartinezFraga (A84) saw one of the most important cases in his legal career come to a deﬁnitive, though not altogether satisfying conclusion. Then a partner with Greenberg-Traurig in Miami, Martinez-Fraga was the lead U.S. counsel in the Republic of Chile’s case against the former dictator, accused of murdering and torturing thousands in the wake of the 1973 junta that brought him to power. Well known in the ﬁeld of international litigation, Martinez-Fraga was retained ﬁrst to help the Chilean Ministry of Industry recover $200 million stolen from the Central Bank of Chile. His success in that case led the Chilean government to hire him to prosecute Pinochet for tax evasion and theft from the national treasury. Drawing on obscure legal precedents that allowed him to pursue the case in the United States, Martinez-Fraga helped secure thousands of documents from banks in Miami and Washington, D.C. The evidence he uncovered allowed the Chilean government to ﬁle criminal charges against Pinochet in Chile. Though he never got Pinochet into a courtroom, Martinez-Fraga gained some satisfaction from the attention the case received in Chile. “Pinochet couldn’t go out as a hero who had saved the country from the grips of pernicious left-wingers,” he says. “He had taken credit for having brought Chile out of poverty, and the Chilean people were very much divided—a lot of people admired him. It became very clear that he was a thief, and they couldn’t forgive him for that.” Abuse of power and authority have always brought out the ﬁghter in MartinezFraga. As a young associate just starting out with Greenberg-Traurig, he worked as an unpaid, specially appointed public defender to gain trial experience. One of his cases involved defending a Cuban immigrant charged with using deadly force against a police ofﬁcer during a protest rally. After seeing a TV broadcast of the incident, Martinez-Fraga went to the TV station to ask for another look at the footage. “They allowed me to see the unedited version that showed exactly what really happened,” he recalls. “The police ofﬁcer was trying to wrest away a bullhorn from my client, who was always behind the line designated for the ofﬁcial protest.” “When you have experiences at an early age that are truly meaningful, that touch the soul, that touch the heart, they become indelible.” Pedro Martinez-Fraga (A84) Confronted with the tape, the prosecutors sought a plea bargain, but MartinezFraga went to court and won his client’s acquittal. Martinez-Fraga’s strong views on justice and injustice were shaped by two formative experiences: growing up as the son of a man imprisoned by the Castro regime for his political activity, and later, studying great books at St. John’s. His father, Pedro Martinez-Fraga Sr., also a lawyer, spoke out against Castro soon after the Cuban dictator took power. He went to jail in 1961 and was not released until 1980. “Though I met him only once [during his captivity], when I was 5 years old, my mother would always talk to me about my father,” says Martinez-Fraga. “He underwent every conceivable violation of human rights, { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } physical abuse, and interrogation, but he never lost his dignity or convictions.” Martinez-Fraga and his father were later reunited while he was studying at St. John’s. At the college, reading Plato, Aristotle, and the Bible also led Martinez-Fraga to contemplate how those in power seek to silence others. He remembers a sophomore seminar on a New Testament reading, led by tutor Nick Maistrellis, in which Jesus is rebuked by teachers of the law (Mark 3). “We came across the passage in which the sin against the Holy Spirit is the only one that was not forgivable,” recalls MartinezFraga. “For me, I think that sin is abuse of power, abuse of authority, and that takes many forms.” Pinochet abused the trust of his people. In the case of the jailed protestor, “the police ofﬁcer in that case knew he had everything in his favor. He had tried to silence a man who had every right to speak in what is purportedly a free country. The same thing happens in the political arena.” When his mother brought Pedro and his two sisters to Florida in 1966, they settled in the poorest part of Miami’s Little Havana. “For the longest time, all four of us and one dog lived in a one-room apartment. We had two cots we would put away every morning,” he says. His mother was “tough, but never bitter,” Martinez-Fraga recalls, though their new life in the United States was a far cry from the prestigious, comfortable life the family had known before Castro. “I remember her saying, ‘look how lucky we are, to have each other.’ She didn’t look at how much we had lost, but all that we still had,” he says. “When you have experiences at an early age that are truly meaningful, that touch the soul, that touch the heart, they become indelible.” Many of the young men Martinez-Fraga grew up with died violent deaths on the streets of Little Havana or went to prison. In his home, prayer and education were most important. His mother found money �{Alumni Profile} larry marcus to buy books and pay for private school. After scoring high on a national exam, he gained admission to Belen Jesuit Preparatory, where he thrived in a strict but stimulating academic environment. “It was there that names like Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle ﬁrst touched my ears,” Martinez-Fraga recalls. A counselor who knew of his interest in both mathematics and the classics told him about St. John’s, and even though Martinez-Fraga was more interested in Stanford or the University of Chicago, he followed his instincts and went to Annapolis. “St. John’s deeply inﬂuenced my life,” he says. “The readings created the conviction that an examined life based on introspection and constant inquiry is the only life worth living.” After graduation from St. John’s in 1984, Mr. Martinez-Fraga earned his law degree at Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He joined Greenberg-Traurig right after graduation from Columbia in 1987 and decided to carve out a career in international litigation and arbitration. With today’s globalization, international law is a thriving area of practice, but 20 years ago, Martinez-Fraga says, “it was virtually unheard of, abstract and distant.” Martinez-Fraga’s task was to establish a national practice group in the ﬁeld of international litigation, an area of the law that encompasses everything from real estate litigation and standard breach-ofcontract cases to complicated criminal cases, such as securities fraud. Most of his cases have involved resolving high-proﬁle and complex disputes. For example, he represented Unión Naval de Levante, a major shipyard in Spain that was sued for $160 million on grounds of racketeering. “We reached a settlement that was far below what it would have cost to bring the case to trial. That’s the type of case that is typical of what I do everyday,” he says. International law never fails to provide Martinez-Fraga with the intellectual 35 challenge he seeks in his professional career. “It’s like playing chess or working a math equation,” he says. “Surely there is frustration when you don’t get to where you want to go, or when you get there in a way that is less elegant than in the way you’re capable of executing.” Most important and more difﬁcult to acquire is “an understanding of cultural nuances; at the deepest possible level,” he says. “Legal traditions and juridic cultures can be learned, but there really is such a thing as the spirit of the law. At the end of the day, the law is but a reﬂection of a people’s values.” In September 2007, Martinez-Fraga left Greenberg-Traurig to become a partner at Squire Sanders and Dempsey in Miami, where he will coordinate the ﬁrm’s international dispute resolution practice in Florida and Latin America, and co-chair that position for Europe and Asia. A more signiﬁcant milestone in his life occured in June 2007. Martinez-Fraga became a father when he and his wife, Liza, { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } Now a partner in a Miami law ﬁrm, Pedro Martinez-Fraga grew up in Little Havana; his mother raised him and his two sisters while his father languished as a political prisoner in Cuba for 18 years. welcomed their ﬁrst child, Alejandra Soﬁa. Martinez-Fraga has pledged to slow down— perhaps give fewer lectures at the University of Navarre, where he is a full visiting professor, or at the University of Miami School of Law, where he is an adjunct professor—and make more time for his family. He wants to share that experience of learning, growing and discovering the world with his daughter, who, as her father did, will grow up in a home ﬁlled with books and lively conversation. x �36 {Alumni Notes} 1935 RICHARD S. WOODMAN is “still working, though part time and traveling a bit—would like to hear from others from class of 1935.” 1948 Last January, JULES PAGANO was elected as a member of the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) Board of Directors. Pagano is Vice President of the American Income Life Insurance Company. The Economic Policy Institute is a nonproﬁt, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy. 1954 ERIC CROOKE and SARAH COVINGTON CROOKE (class of 1955) have spent a half-century living in the same house in Silver Spring, Md. Sarah sent The College an update on the people and books in their lives: “Two handsome sons, both married, and two lovely little grandchildren. Eric’s got a ton of books in our basement. Over a decade since the cleanout of 2 Cumberland Court—Eric’s uncle, [former St. John’s President] John Kiefer, and his wife, Roxana, lived there many years—Eric has ﬁnally gotten the Kiefer books out of boxes and into some kind of order. The sheer weight of the books challenged our shelving. A ﬁvevolume set of Summa Theologiae— all in Latin—weighed in at 13 pounds. And a two-volume set of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion came to more than four pounds. The real classical stuff now covers a whole wall; Plato alone takes several shelves. (One commentary on Plato is entirely in German.) The rest of the books have settled themselves in various nooks and crannies. Shakespeare has his own shelf just beneath our electrical entrance panel. Poetry— including Dante’s Inferno—lies against a wall as close to the furnace as the ﬁre code allows. Religious books are to be found just outside the toilet door. On free-standing shelves in the center may be found T. S. Eliot cheek-byjowl with H. L. Mencken, and the complete works of A. E. Houseman next to O. Henry.” 1959 DICK and MARY CAHALL are already looking forward to the 50th reunion of their class next year. Dick writes: “I went on to graduate school at the University of North Carolina and Mary at the University of Maryland. I then joined the IBM Corp and had a 30-year career there as a software systems architect. My wife taught humanities at the University of Maryland Open University Division for 15 years. I retired from the IBM Corp in 1992 and we moved to Central Oregon in 1996 to be grandparents. During my junior year at St. John’s, I began learning the ﬁve-string banjo and the music that is generally associated with it. Since retirement I have intensiﬁed that study and have expanded the repertoire from its origins in the southern mountains to the swing era and even to certain examples from the bossa nova. Whenever I get back to Annapolis, which seems to be every couple of years, I always get together with Neil Harpe. Neil and I go back a very long time, like the early ’60s. Neil is a master guitarist and bluesman and began his guitar studies about the same time as I began my association with the ﬁve-string banjo. My son lives in Annapolis so we always have a place to stay. 2009 will be our 50th homecoming and we both are looking forward to getting together with our classmates and Serious Stuff AROLD MORGAN (SF68) is co-founder of Capitol Report New Mexico, which has completed its ﬁrst year of operation. “Serious stuff for serious people” is how Harold describes the magazine’s reporting of public policy. The Web site is www.capitolreportnm.com. The blog is http://capitolreportnm.blogspot.com. The magazine is made possible by the Internet; the administrative ofﬁce is in Roswell, N.M., and the production director is in Austin, Tex., while Harold is in Albuquerque. x H particularly those who don’t make it back to ’Naptown as often as we do. Throughout my life, I thank my lucky stars that I went to St. John’s College, and that feeling has intensiﬁed over the years.” 1966 CONNIE LINDGREEN has moved to France. “We’re living in a small village, Montigny sur Loing, which is about 55 kilometers from Paris, more or less directly south of Fontainebleau, and we are but steps away from the forest of the same name, with its wonderful trails, moss-covered rockformations, valleys and plains and ever-changing light. It’s no wonder the impressionists were so enchanted with the area. There are wild boar and stags and hawks and hares in the forest, too, and we’ve seen some of them on our walks. Don’t get that much chance to walk, though...many days are devoted to establishing ourselves in the French system, which is complicated by the fact that I’m a U.S. citizen and therefore have to have all kinds of permits which Peter, being Danish and member of the EU, doesn’t have to have. After nearly nine months, thanks to persistence, a sense of humor and a lot of being-nice-tobureaucrats, I now have a Titre de Sejour! So I’m ‘legal’ for 10 years. A big relief and something we celebrated with champagne, I can tell you! { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } Now to get started on the renovations. The applications for permits are in, and if we’re lucky work will start in May. We still have our house in Denmark, but it’s on the market. Things in real estate are slow here, too; it doesn’t really bother us at the moment, however, since it’s a handy place to store our furniture —and especially the piano—away from the impending dust and disruption here. So life is pretty good. There’s a wonderful local market, a fantastic bakery, and a Saturday market with all kinds of local products. We’re also enjoying that side of just plain living here. Tennis and working on the house are keeping us ﬁt. Actually, the house is the most vertical place I’ve ever lived in and inevitably, being on the top ﬂoor, you want something on the bottom ﬂoor, so there’s lots of stairclimbing in the course of a day. It may seem illogical to be moving into verticality when we’re probably at the age where we should be considering ranch-style ﬂoor plans, but rationality is not really part of this move. It’s an old dream— now coming, bit by bit, to life. Here’s our new address: 35 rue du Trou de la Vente, Montigny sur Loing, F-77690 France.” 1969 News from TOM DOURMASHKIN (A): “I have been practicing emergency medicine now for 26 years in Western Massachusetts. I have three children: Jordan, a �37 {Alumni Notes} physician assistant in Harlem Hospital Emergency Department and father of our two grandchildren, Chloe and Lea (and third expected January 2008); Caitlin, a budding urban planner, an area director of a New York State “Empire Development Zone” in Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Susannah, currently enrolled at the Maryland Institute College of Art and spending a semester in India. I have written the application for a Rural Health Care Grant which brought $900,000 to Franklin County, Mass., for development of EMS services. I am currently engaged in studying certain areas of astronomy, which I hope to publish some day. I spend much of my free time bicycling and have ridden 18,900 miles, well on my way to my goal of cycling the circumference of the Earth at 24,902 miles. CINDY (Stratton, class of 1972), and I have now been married for 36 years.” 1971 JOHN STARK BELLAMY II (A) recently published Vintage Vermont Villainies: True Tales of Murder and Mystery from the 19th and 20th Centuries. The book is available from Countryman Press. 1972 PATRICIA RUMORE (A) just purchased her ﬁrst home: “I’m living in Albany, N.Y., and work for the New York State Department of Transportation with the state’s Capital Program. I also teach ballroom dance at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., and have continued with my love of dancing, from the time of our St. John’s waltz and polka parties. Just like ‘Dancing with the Stars!’ I’d like to hear from fellow alumni.” 1977 ED KAITZ (A) is working with and teaching Special Needs students, playing harmonica music for senior citizens, and editing/publishing a small Maryland journal that integrates mental health awareness, the arts and advocacy. “I hope to be doing some volunteer work with the Maryland Disability Law Center in early 2008,” he writes. 1980 News from MARIA “GINA” C. IRONSIDE (SF) and BENJAMIN D. GOLDSTEIN (SF79): “Ben’s Web engineering company, End Point Corporation, is going great guns after a long 12 years. Gina is with Fair Winds Trading, Inc. Ben is almost 13 and Ben (dad) coached their travel team to an undefeated season this fall. Also, hi to Dan & Theresa Raizen, whose son Nat called to canvas our donation to the Annual Fund. Warm wishes to all.” 1982 TRUDY KOCH (AGI) has retired from 31 years of teaching and opened a quilting and ﬁne arts studio/gallery on the shores of the wide Rappahannock River in the sleepy little town of Tappahannock. She makes quilts and her daughter, Alice French, designs stained glass windows. So drop in! The name of the shop is Water and Queen Studio, after the two oldest streets in town. Postscript from Trudy: “And I want to know where Yani Papidpoulis is!” Moscow in Winter ES MARGULIS (A70) writes from Down Under: “I have spent my business career in advertising, and I just returned from three years overseas, split between Kiev and Moscow. I live in Sydney, Australia, which is deﬁnitely my preferred watering hole. Kiev was lovely with lots of parks and clean streets. Moscow is the bottom pit of the earth and even if I stretched the truth it would be difﬁcult to say a nice thing about it. Don’t get me wrong, everyone should spend three days there and see Red Square, Pushkin Museum, and the Faberge eggs. The best time to see Red Square is deep in the winter when it is minus 20 and the snow is falling. It is truly a Dr. Zhivago moment. However, living there is another story. The infrastructure has not been updated since Stalin died, the metro cars are falling off the rails and streets have holes big enough to swallow a Chevrolet. But the good news is that local vodka was as cheap as Pepsi Cola and probably better for you. I am happy to say that nearly 40 years out of St. John’s, I am only two kilos heavier.” x L { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } 1983 LESLIE KAY (A) writes: “I am happy to report that I have been promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Department of Psychology at The University of Chicago. My laboratory studies the neurophysiology of olfaction and the mechanisms for the inﬂuence of cognitive context on sensory processing (http://kaylab.uchicago.edu). Maryellen and I live on campus in an old row house with our two daughters (7 and 8 years old) and our 2-year-old Golden Retriever. The minivan is parked outside. We welcome hearing from old friends, and I’m looking forward to the 25-year reunion!” 1986 STEPHANIE RICO (A) and TODD PETERSON (A87) report that Todd’s back in San Diego now after a year spent as a “geographical bachelor” out in the desert. Steph is directing a small grant to create a science teacher community to improve teacher retention. They write: “We had a great time at reunion last year, and we’re looking forward to 2011!” 1988 SHIRLEY BANKS (SF) was credentialed last fall as a Certiﬁed Sexuality Counselor by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists: “I counsel Emory University students on any sexuality issue, including relationships, pregnancy prevention, STIs, HIV, sexual identity, unplanned pregnancy, pleasure, etc.,” she writes. “In addition to individual and couple consultations, my job also includes health education and promotion for groups of students. I love what I �38 {Alumni Notes} Welcoming Irene 1996 GILLELAN GOLDSTEIN (A96) and her husband, Stephen, had a busy summer: moving to the water in the Annapolis area and traveling to Ethiopia to bring home their new daughter, Irene Sintayehu. Now 10 months old, Irene loves books, swimming, cruising around the house, and waxing eloquent on “Da Da.” This photo was taken in Addis Ababa in the orphanage where Hannah and Stephen picked up Irene Sintayehu, 5 1/2 months old. They had been parents for “all of 45 minutes.” Joshua Gillelan (A68) and Dorcey Wend Rose (A68) are now grandparents, and George Wend (class of 1951) is now a great-uncle. Exhausted and eternally amused by her new life, Hannah welcomes contact at hannahgillelan@yahoo.com.x H ANNAH do! I also volunteer for American Hiking Society and the Benton MacKaye Train Association as a Trail Crew Leader.” JOHN SELLERS (AGI) writes: “Becky gave birth to Micah James in April 2006. I am teaching math and science at the Forest Grove Community School in Forest Grove, Oregon.” 1990 VIRGINIA BEHRENDS (AGI90) writes: “Well, we took in two high school graduations in June, one in Seoul, Korea (our third visit), and the other in San Diego, Calif.—both grandsons. Son #1 teaches for DOD, thus three trips to Korea, a gem of a spot. Now he is in transit to Ramstein, Germany, so we are looking forward to exploring Germany.” 1992 HALLIE LEIGHTON (SF) invites all Johnnies to join her popular (and free) Rhyme a Day e-mail list, which sends subscribers a word, a brief deﬁnition, and short, funny mnemonic rhyme early every weekday morning. All the words and rhymes are from her upcoming book, Rare Words II and Ways to Master Their Meanings: 500 More Unusual Selections, Some with Poetic Confections for Gleaning Their Meanings, out in March from Levenger Press (www.levengerpress.com). Join the Rhyme a Day e-mail list by sending a blank email to rhymeadaysubscribe@yahoogroups.com OR join at http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/rhymeaday and start your morning with a chuckle. 1994 KATE ROONEY (A) writes: “On May 23, I arrived in Tuscany for some long deserved R&R. The plan was to sit on a hillside, drink red wine, and catch up on my reading. But, about 5:30 that evening IAN SMITH (A03*, see classnote) walked into my life. We were married on October 20 and are living in New York City. Hope to see all our friends at croquet.” Postscript: “I didn’t rob a cradle, he started SJC nine years too late and should have been in our class to begin with!” CHRISTINE COALWELL MCDONALD (AGI) and her husband, Robert, announce the birth of their second child, Grace Murdock McDonald, September 7, 2007. Christine, Rob, and their ﬁrst child, Jefferson Coalwell McDonald, reside in Cornwall-onHudson, N.Y. 1997 MICHAEL CHIANTELLA (A) and his wife, Karen, welcomed Dylan John-Noel Chiantella on November 27, 2007. He was 8 lbs. 7 oz., and almost 21 inches. “I am working in a full-time job I love, as a web Creative Director at Weight Watchers in New York City, managing the Copywriting and Information Architecture teams,” writes JENN COONCE (A). “I’m also smack dab in the middle of earning my master’s degree in Modern Psychoanalysis, at the Boston Graduate School for Psychoanalysis—New York. I just ﬁnished a year and a half of ﬁeldwork with schizophrenic and psychotic patients. Anyone interested in either ﬁeld should feel free to contact me at jenn@panix.com. I’m very dedicated to both.” DOMINIC CRAPUCHETTES (A) has two great pieces of news to share: “First off, I am engaged to be married to a wonderful woman named Karen Litsinger! We are both very excited about making plans for the future. Secondly, my risky entrepreneurial venture is starting to pay off. Our latest party game, Wits and Wagers, has won 11 industry awards and is now carried at every Target nationwide.” MELANIE KIRBY (SF) co-owns and operates two small-scale beekeeping enterprises: Zia Queenbee Co., located in northern { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } New Mexico, and Superior Honey Farms, based in Marquette, Mich. “Specializing in queen honeybee breeding and rearing, I have utilized my Peace Corps Beekeeping Extensionist experience and queen-rearing training in Hawaii to develop a sustainable cooperative,” she writes. Visit www.ziaqueenbees.com. INYA LASKOWSKI (SFGI97) had a successful year showing her art in two major shows: at the Healdsburg Public Library, Calif. (Sculptures) with Chiyomi Taneiki Long and at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Calif. (Poetic Realities) with Andrei Wilenius. She is also presenting artsintegrated workshops for children at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, Calif. REBECCA E. MICHAEL -GAFFNEY (A) writes: “My professional play keeps me on my toes and continuously inspired. My company, Red Letter Days Events, LLC, (www.redletterdays.biz), is privileged to create celebrations for outstanding clients in homebase San Diego, as well as produce events across the country. I take in dance, theater, and a good book when I have a moment and always love to see old friends. Give a shout What’s Up? The College wants to hear from you. Call us, write us, e-mail us. Let your classmates know what you’re doing. The next issue will be published in May; deadline for the alumni notes section is April 15. In Annapolis: The College Magazine St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800 Annapolis, MD 21404; rosemary.harty@sjca.edu In Santa Fe: The College Magazine St. John’s College 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599; alumni@sjcsf.edu �39 {Alumni Notes} Black Comedy Becomes Her Sara Barker (A98) Shines in Regional Theater by Patricia Dempsey A at rebeccagaffney@cox.net if you’re visiting southern California.” smeared them on each other.” Her extensive repertoire also includes study at The Actors Center in New York, and the full gamut of ﬁlm, contemporary and traditional theater, including Shakespeare–she was ﬁrst seen as Isabelle in a St. John’s production of Measure for Measure, and she would later play King Lear. “Like Jackie-O, Lear was also spoiled kid,” she says. “It was all wonderful, but I was ready to leave theater. It can get really insular, especially in New York. I have always been interested in foreign policy and economics,” she says and upon moving to Washington, D.C., Barker landed a position as communications development coordinator with the Women’s Foreign Policy Group. But after urging from a friend over a 2 a.m. glass of wine, Barker decided to crash the audition for The House of Yes. “I was uninvited, [but I turned out to be] the person the director was looking for. I have a bit of Parker Posey in me,” she says, remarking on her quirky similarity with the actress who played Jackie-O in the ﬁlm version of The House of Yes. As for her plans to stop acting, Barker says, she’s content with both her day job and the theater. “I’m passionate,” she says. “I like to be all-consumed with my work; it’s a matter of quality of life.” x as “convincingly vulnerable, eccentric, arrogant—and crazy as a loon.” Shortly before auditioning for The House of Yes, however, Barker, who has a daytime career as a tech writer and editor, decided to stop acting. She moved back to Washington, D.C. this summer from New York City, where she spent the past three years acting in a wide range of productions, including several for an avant garde theater troupe, the International WOW Company. “In one show, the director wanted to ﬁnd out if human joy was possible,” says Barker. “We lined up, had a partner and grabbed a tomato, danced with the partner and bit into our tomatoes and washington shakespeare company s an actor, Sara Barker (A98) has made a career out of exploring the drama of the dysfunctional family. In a production of the offbeat play Independence, written by Lee Blessing, Barker played a daughter who copes with a maniacal “mommy dearest” by creating obscene sculptures in the backyard and coloring her hair pink. This winter, Barker continued to tighten the twisted family ties in the black comedy, The House of Yes, written by Wendy MacLeod and staged at the Washington Shakespeare Company in Crystal City, Va. In the production, she played a pill-popping, coutureconscious twin nicknamed “Jackie-O”—a nod to her obsession with the former ﬁrst lady. Set in McClean, Va., 20 years after the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, The House of Yes unfolds during the neurotic Pascal family’s Thanksgiving dinner. “JackieO is a nutcase,” says Barker. “She’s horribly spoiled, hence the play’s title—she was always told ‘yes’ for her every want. She’s also horribly jealous.” In her portrayal of the troubled 30-year-old, Barker embraced the lighter side of Jackie-O’s spoiled nature. “Being spoiled gives her a zest for life. It allows one to be spontaneous. When parents are strict, a person holds back,” she says. Her inventive interpretation of the role did not go unnoticed—a recent review in the Washington Post described Barker’s Jackie-O readings and open mic nights. The café has been featured in the Washington Post. 1998 1999 STU DAVENPORT (SF) and Lana Labermeier have opened Big Bear Cafe at 1st and R Streets NW, in Washington, D.C. They created a farmers’ market and a holiday art market, and also host poetry SARA J.E. PRIOLA (SF) writes: “Last summer, we welcomed our son, Lucas, into the world. Since then, we have moved back to Santa Fe to return to nature, the big sky and the seasons. So far, we are truly enjoying ourselves!” Sara Barker’s recent theatrical performance received critical acclaim. 2000 ALAN RUBENSTEIN (A) writes: “Heidi and I are moving from Washington, D.C., to Northﬁeld, Minn. We’ll be writing, quilting, and sledding—so look us up if you’re passing through the land of 10,000 lakes.” ERIKA J. (CARLSON) WARZEL (SF) recently took a new job as Historic Preservation Coordinator at Historic Denver, Inc., a { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } nonproﬁt organization in Denver, Colo., dedicated to preserving the city’s architecturally and historically signiﬁcant buildings and neighborhoods. She is running the organization’s Sacred Landmark’s program, assisting owners of historic religious structures obtain funding for restoration/preservation projects, and managing the projects through completion. �40 {Alumni Proﬁle} Celebrating Santa Fe’s Pioneers Members of the ﬁrst four Santa Fe classes (1968-71) are planning a reunion week from July 13-20 in Santa Fe, gathering members of these classes together after nearly 40 years. Although planning is still in progress, anticipated activities include a seminar on the Odyssey and two seminars on Billy Budd, one on the novella and one on the opera, which will be performed that week by the Santa Fe Opera. Additional activities include a tour of Los Alamos Scientiﬁc Laboratories, a historical tour of northern New Mexico, a hike up Mt. Atalaya, and a Festschrift in honor of Ken Kronberg (SF68), who died in 2007. The extended reunion, says Carl Bostek (SF68), is intended to celebrate the pioneers who, along with the 2001 2002 ALEK CHANCE (A) and IVA ZIZA (A00) have recently welcomed their second child, son Luka Marko Chance. Luka was born at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., on August 30, 2007. He thus joins an older sister, Emma, who recently turned four. Both Alek and Iva are still graduate students, working on their political science doctorate and a law degree, respectively. JUSTIN NAYLOR (A) and his wife, DILLON (Wright-FitzGerald, A05), welcomed their ﬁrst child, Peter Wade Naylor, on July 17. Peter was 8 pounds, 9 ounces and 21 inches long, delivered by a midwife in Wilmington, Del. They write: “We live now in a northeastern Pennsylvania farmhouse. We are involved with Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School and raise vegetables for sale in the summers.” REBEKKA SHUGARS (SF) has news: “October 1 made a year that Matt Strader and I have been married. It seems impossible I’m that grown up. We are living in Berkeley. I am still working with developmentally disabled adults, teaching independent living skills. I love my clients; they make my work fun. Matt is getting his PhD in chemistry in May 2008. Provided that a work trial period in February 2008 goes well, Matt will ofﬁcially be offered a post-doc with the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany. I’m learning German with the hopes I’ll need it.” PrizeWinning Pie OHN “TOM” OSBORNE J (A02), was awarded the prestigious Blue Ribbon in the fruit pie category of the Cape Fear Fair and Expo held annually in Wilmington, N.C. The ribbon, along with the hard cash prize of $11, was awarded for his blueberry pie. This is the second Blue Ribbon awarded to Osborne; he was also the ﬁrstplace pie baker in the 2003 Fair and Expo. ﬁrst tutors and staff members, helped establish the Santa Fe campus. The event commemorates the 40th anniversary of the graduation of the class of 1968. Organizers have arranged for discounted lodging during reunion week. Information on the entire event is available online at: http://prosphorai.com. /reunion/index.html x LAUREN SHOFER (A) was named a recent winner of McDonogh School’s Dunloggin Scholarship to graduates of medical schools based on her 2006 graduation from the National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, Illinois, and her submission of an essay describing her educational program and interning to obtain her degree. She is currently a practicing chiropractic physician in Belgium. Lauren married Dr. Baldwyn Bourgois on September 29, 2007, at her parent’s home on the Severn River. RACHEL POLLACK, class of 2002, Osborne was also kind enough to share his prize-winning recipe: 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons water 4 cups blueberries 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 pinch salt 1 precooked pie shell Boil 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup of berries. The berries will begin to burst and the water will start to turn purple. After this, simmer for 3-4 minutes to thicken the juice. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } and instructor in Art History at George Washington University in D.C., was one of her bridesmaids. 2003 ANN KATHRYN CARRUTHERS and STEPHEN MICHAEL ORSINGER (both SF) were married on October 27, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas. Stephen graduated from University of Texas Law School in May 2007 and is now practicing family law in Dallas. Ann is working on her PhD in Political Philosophy at UT. Since she has ﬁnished her course work and “only” has to take her comprehensive exams and write her dissertation, she can continue her work from Dallas. They write: “We are both looking forward to seeing everyone in Santa Fe for our ﬁveyear class reunion, fall 2008!” IAN SMITH (A) writes: “I went to Tuscany to sit on my ass, drink lots of wine, and read, but instead met a girl. Who is a Johnnie. Who stole my heart from the ﬁrst day we met. I’ve moved to New York, and on October 20th, KATE ROONEY (A94) became my wife.” x While still stirring, add the 1/2 cup of sugar, pinch of salt, tsp. of lemon juice. Mix 2 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water; add this to the mixture. Stir in mixture until the berry mixture thickens. It will get very thick and become “translucent.” The color will change from light purple to almost black/purple. After it has become thick, remove from the heat and fold in the other 3 cups of blueberries. Spoon this mixture into a prebaked pie shell. Let the pie cool for two hours. A refrigerator may reduce this time. x �41 {Alumni Notes} Opening a Window to the World Blake Sitney (SF91) Brings Technology to Refugees hough the Mae La Refugee Camp on the Thai-Burmese border has been home to Burmese refugees for more than 30 years, it’s still considered a “temporary” refuge, and as such, life is difﬁcult for about 50,000 people who live in crowded conditions, without running water, electricity or telephone connections. But thanks to Blake Sitney (SF91), who spent two months developing software and a database to make the vast Internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia available in a place where Web access is impossible, the window to the outside world opened a bit wider for the refugees. Between his sophomore and junior years, Sitney had taken a year off to travel through Southeast Asia, supporting himself by teaching when he could ﬁnd work and falling in love with the people and culture of the region. After he graduated, Sitney pursued a career in information technology, working in telecommunications sales for WorldComm before launching his own company, Marigold Technologies. The Seattle-based company offers business-to-business marketing intelligence to telecommunications companies. In 2006, Sitney decided to go back to Asia, not as a tourist, but as a volunteer with the Border Green Energy Team (www.bget.org). Sitney signed on to help build a micro-hydro system in Mor Ti Ta, a small Karen village on Thailand’s border with Burma. The system tapped the power of a small creek to spin a two-kilowatt turbine to provide electricity to the village’s one school, which serves about 300 children. The project provided just enough power to provide light and run a television, DVD player, and other small T appliances such as a rice cooker. “We lived with the villagers, they fed us, and we worked hard alongside them,” he said. “They put on a big celebration when the project was ﬁnally ﬁnished.” Working with the BGET volunteers were 10 students from the nearby Mae La refugee camp, all students in the camp’s Engineering Studies Program. Mae La is the largest of seven refugee camps along the ThaiBurmese border; it houses members of the Karen ethnic minority who ﬂed violence in Burma. The students described how the Burmese military burned down their villages, forcing them to ﬂee into the jungle, where they trekked for weeks to ﬁnd refuge in the camps on the Thai border. When the students from Mae La journeyed to Mor Ti Ta to work on the micro-hydro system, it was the ﬁrst time they had ever left the camp. Villagers live in bamboo huts with roofs made of leaves and mud. Humanitarian organizations support them with basic medical and educational needs, Sitney says, but otherwise, life is bleak. “There’s one little ray of light in this camp, and that’s the ESP school, and a man named Loh Doh, who has dedicated his life to educating his people,” says Sitney. “The brightest and most promising kids go the ESP, and their opportunities to learn are so limited. BGET had previously set up a 1-kilowatt solar system with enough power for 20 computers. I bought them several new computers, built up a network for them, and thought that the Wikipedia would be a great addition to the Internet-less network.” Sitney and his colleague, Mark Abene, downloaded all the text from Wikipedia in English and Thai, then devised a database program and software to create a searchable, static version of the online encyclopedia. The server setup is wireless, allowing multiple connections to access the stored data. Several teachers and students can access the vast Wikipedia archives at the same time, granting access to adults and children who are hungry for a glimpse of the world beyond their camp. The system Sitney developed provides access to information within seconds—almost as good as surﬁng the Web. “It’s an enormous resource for the students,” says Sitney. “They can look up everything from aerodynamics to zoology.” A brief sampling of the ﬁrst search terms students entered: Myanmar, the Bermuda Triangle, Britney Spears, the periodic table of elements, architecture, Ubuntu, Chairman Mao, aerodynamics, solar power, Rinaldo, America, Bon Jovi, and differential calculus. Sitney and Abene have taken the concept to Brazil, at the invitation of Cesar, one of the largest IT ﬁrms in Brazil. They brought with them a Portuguese and English version of the Wikipedia server and described how schools that are too remote for Internet access can still tap Wikipedia as a resource. His next goal is to try to ﬁnd a way to bring free online courses—now being offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others—to places like Mae La. He plans to go back in March to check on the ESP school and his friends in the camp. He also recently helped one of the former refugees get settled in Syracuse, N.Y., where he’ll be continuing his engineering studies. The success of his projects just feeds Sitney’s desire to do more to improve the lives of people through technology and a little ingenuity: “It’s gratifying to have accomplished a good thing, but I can’t help but think of what’s next? What else can I do? x Blake Sitney and students in the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �42 {In Memoriam} Remembering Al Stafford buy glazed donuts, still warm from the oven. He told us where on the dial to tune in to the radio program “Music Till Dawn,” which provided a soothing background accompaniment to latenight studying. Al gave us a helpful introduction to some aspects of college life, easing our way into a stressful ﬁrst year. On non-seminar weekday evenings, Al would have his door open and would heat water to make cups of bouillon. Two or three of us would drift in, drink a cup, chat for maybe 15 minutes, then go back to studying. Weekends Al would go home to the Eastern Shore where he played baritone sax in a local band. He had an excellent musical ear. My classmate Jim De Young once observed that when people were singing together in harmony, Al could always ﬁnd another part for himself to blend in. Al did not return to the college for his junior year, but instead joined the Navy with the intention of becoming an aviator. I recall seeing him on campus a year or so later, wearing his uniform with the dash and insouciance that could be expected of him. A few years later, I was living in Washington. Al found my name in the phone book, called, and we arranged to meet. He had taken time off from the Navy to ﬁnish college, this time at Washington College. We met at a place in downtown Washington where there was a piano player. We talked and drank beer. Al spoke in passing of the challenge of landing a jet ﬁghter on the deck of an aircraft carrier at night, but little else about his life as a Naval ofﬁcer. When the piano player took a break, Al went over to the keyboard and started playing the ﬁrst few bars of an old song that I recognized from a record Bing Crosby had made in the mid1930s. Al didn’t know the bridge, the eight-bar ‘B’ section of the AABA pattern of the standard 32bar format, so I sang it. He picked it up immediately, playing it once to make certain that he had it, then again with harmony and chords. That was the last time I saw Al. Some years later I learned—from a television news program, I think—that he had been shot down over North Vietnam and was a prisoner of war. Towards the end of the 1970s, I moved myself and my family to Maine, where I worked for Marine Maritime Academy. A few years later, Commander Richard A. Stratton, former POW, came to the Academy and gave a talk to the students, faculty and staff assembled in the auditorium. He was immediately recognizable: tall, lanky, with a thick crop of straight black hair cut short, he had been pictured many times on television news programs. I asked if he had ever encountered a POW named Al Stafford and Stratton’s face lit up. “He was my cellmate for two years.” In 1990, I moved to Amsterdam. One evening I was clicking through the channels and came across a Dutch documentary about the Vietnam War. Included was a clip from a ﬁlm made by the North Vietnamese. There, in black and white, were Al and Stratton, supposedly celebrating Christmas as POWs. I cannot think what was in the minds of their captors. Stratton kept his head down and did not look at the camera. Al did. His expression was grim and wary. Obviously, the two of them were under duress. Al looked pretty much the same as when I had last seen him in Washington, but drawn and a bit haggard. After learning of Al’s death, I did a search on the Internet and found much more information about Al’s Navy experience and the last years of his life. You can see the entire account here: www.pownetwork.org/bios/s/ s112.htm Here you can ﬁnd a picture of Al taken after he was out of the Navy, plus information about the injuries he sustained and about his capture: www.a4skyhawk.org/3e/va163/ stafford.htm I was opposed to the Vietnam War from the outset. However, that does not diminish my admiration and respect for Al. He chose his direction and followed it. He was a good man. x potentially dangerous diet drugs withdrawn from the market. Dr. Prout, who received his early education in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Maryland, attended St. John’s for three years before enlisting in the Navy’s V-12 program in 1943. From 1944 to 1946, he was a medical corpsman and attended the Medical College of Rich- mond. He later transferred to Harvard Medical School, from which he graduated in 1948. He completed an internship and assistant residency at Boston City Hospital, and later was appointed an assistant in medicine at Harvard Medical School. During the Korean War, Dr. Prout was deployed as a physician aboard a troopship in the Paciﬁc. He returned to Boston in 1953 to serve as an assistant in medicine at Boston University School of Medicine while completing his residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital there. A year later, he joined Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he completed an endocrinology fellowship. By the by Jacob H. de Raat, class of 1958 Amsterdam H.A. Stafford (class of 1957), died of cancer in 2003; Jacob de Raat wanted to make sure Johnnies knew about this decorated Naval ofﬁcer and Vietnam War veteran who spent seven years in a POW camp. Commander Stafford had retired and was living in Florida with his wife, Sheryl, at the time of his death. My classmate Bill Kingsley mentioned in an e-mail that he had read in The College the notice of the death of H.A. Stafford, class of 1957. I received my copy a few days later and saw that nothing had been written about Al except his name and date of his death. There ought to be more. I matriculated in September 1954, ﬁve years after graduating high school, most of the intervening time taken up by a stint in the military. The dorm room assigned to me was on the second ﬂoor of West Pinkney. Al’s room was a few doors down the hall. Al took the trouble to show me and a couple of other freshmen around the campus, telling us the names of the buildings and about campus lore and student life. He also led us to various places in town, including the Little Campus, La Rosa, the Little Tavern (which sold 10- and 25cent hamburgers we called “death balls”), and a bakery where, after being up until 5 a.m., one could THADDEUS PROUT, CLASS OF 1944 Dr. Thaddeus Edmund “Thad” Prout, a retired endocrinologist and ﬁrst chief of medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, died in December in Sykesville, Md., at the age of 83. During his medical career, he was responsible for helping to get { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } continued on next page �43 {Obituaries} Robert Manson Bunker Santa Fe Tutor Emeritus Robert Bunker, who was a tutor at St. John’s College in Santa Fe from 1966 to 1983, died in his home in Chacon, N.M., with his beloved wife of 65 years, Priscilla Fleitmann Bunker, at his side, surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sons, Stephen and James, and his son-in-law, William. Mr. Bunker grew up in Boston with his parents, Emily and Philip, and his brother, John. They had a summer home in Truro on Cape Cod. As a boy and a young man, Bob loved the freedom he found on the Cape, swimming, sailing, watching the hurricanes and walking the beaches. Shortly before his death he was heard to say that Dyers Hollow, an ocean-side beach, continued to be one of his favorite places. Mr. Bunker attended Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury, Mass. After graduating with honors from Harvard in 1939, he left the East and traveled for the ﬁrst time to the Southwest. When he ﬁrst got off the train in Albuquerque, he wrote, “I’ve never seen land so ﬂat or mountains so high.” His ﬁrst job was with the Indian Service (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and on an assignment in Mexico he discovered he wanted to work with people. His books Other Men’s Skies and The First Look at Strangers are about his years with the Indian Service. During World War II, Mr. Bunker served in the Navy. He wrote, “I was lucky in wartime. Quite apart from losing neither my life nor my health, continued teachers across Northern Virginia for Marymount’s Education Department. Survivors include her husband of 47 years, Harvey W. Wynn of Falls Church; a son, Vincent Wynn of Killington, Vt.; a sister, Esther Jones of Cambridge; and a brother, William D. Gould of Ruxton, Md. late 1950s, he was an assistant professor of medicine and director of postgraduate training at the Diabetes Endocrine Clinic at Hopkins Hospital. When two hospitals merged in the early 1960s to create GBMC, Dr. Prout became the new hospital’s ﬁrst chief of medicine. ROSABELLE GOULD WYNN, CLASS OF 1957 Rosabelle Gould Wynn, who taught mathematics for 30 years in public schools in Arlington, Va., died October 27, 2007. Born in Cambridge, Md., Ms. Wynn was among the ﬁrst female students to attend St. John’s. She later earned a master’s in education from the University of Virginia. After retiring, Mrs. Wynn remained involved in education for an additional 10 years by supervising student JUDITH TOLIVER NEELY, A97 Judith Toliver Neely, who came to St. John’s College after raising four children and later embarked on a career as a community advocate, died in a car accident on Dec. 17, 2007, in Center Township, Penn. She was 58. After graduating from St. John’s, Ms. Neely earned a master of public policy degree at the University of Chicago in 2000. After a short time in New York City, where she worked for the Volunteers of America, she returned to her hometown, I wasn’t even one of those for whom the years were lost. I met Priscilla; we were married and had our ﬁrst two children.” “My wife and I came to St. John’s in 1965,” recalls Santa Fe Tutor Elliott Skinner. “The next year, three vital spirits arrived from Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico: Bob Bunker, Stuart Boyd and Ralph Swentzell. How lucky we were! Bob had a great gift [as a tutor], leading, in his gentle way, the students into philosophy and literature. He held high standards for himself and others, but they were expressed with wry humor and a twinkle in his eye, always cast in the mode of delight in the vagaries of human experience.” Mr. Bunker received his PhD in American Studies (1956) from the University of New Mexico. He was a professor and head of the English and Philosophy departments at New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas (1956- Aliquippa, Penn., in 2002 with a mission to use her education, experience and energy to assist in revitalizing Western Pennsylvania. She served as seed director for Aliquippa Weed and Seed, a community-driven revitalization project, from 2002-2006. At the time of her death, Ms. Neely was working as a family therapist in the Pressley Ridge family-based mental health program, which serves families with children who are in danger of being placed out of the home. She was involved in multiple ministries at Triumph Baptist Church in Sewickley, provided education advocacy for parents, and served on the Quaker Valley School Board. She also served on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } Robert Bunker, shown here in 1983, was a tutor in Santa Fe from 1966 to 1983. 1966), and a tutor at St. John’s from 1966 until he retired in 1983. Mr. Bunker inspired his students, helping them discover how to read philosophy and literature, to love dialogue, to listen to the voices of others and to ﬁnd their own. x Reprinted from the Las Vegas Daily Optic, August 27, 2007 ALSO NOTED: NANCY CLARK ALBERT (class of 1962), Nov. 25, 2007 RAYMOND DROLET (class of 1969), Sept. 27, 2007. COMMANDER WILLIAM W. GRANT (class of 1941), Jan. 4, 2008 EDWARD GRAY (class of 1934), May 4, 2007 REV. FRANK HOWDEN (class of 1962), Dec. 9, 2007 WILLIAM J. JENKINS (SFGI71), Dec. 10, 2007 SUSAN LARRISON (A75), Sept. 28, 2007 HERBERT MOFFITT (class of 1970), Nov. 11, 2007 N’OMI ORR (AGI90), April 19, 2006 DR. RICHARD H. PEMBROKE, JR. (class of 1932), Jan. 4, 2008 RALPH SCHLEY (class of 1936), Oct. 17, 2007 �44 { A l u m n i Vo i c e s } An American in Niger by Anna Stubna (A02) As a Peace Corps volunteer, Anna Stubna lived among the people of Baoure, a village in Niger, where her neighbors called her “Amina,” a Muslim name given to her by a family she lived with during her training in Hamdallaye. H ot. Hot. Hot. There aren’t words for how hot I am. Impatiently I wring out the last sodden T-shirt and survey my yard critically. The sand is swept clean of leaves and twigs; the pattern of neat swirls left by the broom is only broken by the prints of my bare feet. Along the side of the yard, on a clothesline, my sun-bleached clothes drip dry. I hang up the last T-shirt, and fling the soapy water from my bucket in a swift arc. It splashes out and is gone, leaving only a dark residue of wet sand behind. Bucket and soap in hand, I stoop to enter my hut through the tiny door. Inside, the floor is concrete, a luxury that feels blessedly cool beneath my feet in this heat. The thick mud walls are whitewashed light blue, another luxury that took two days of intense labor to ﬁnish. My tiny gas stove And there I was, a recent college grad, with dubious French, a questionable skill set, and homesickness following close upon my heels. It was going to be an adventure. Anna Stubna (A02) sits in the corner, next to the water ﬁlter and my crusted oatmeal dish from breakfast. My foam mattress is propped in the corner, ready to be pulled outside at nightfall. I sleep under the stars and a mosquito net. Malaria is prevalent in this area. “Amina!” I hear my name and stick my head outside. A few women neighbors have arrived, kids and work in tow. I step outside to greet them, and we sit under the dappled shade of the largest tree in my yard. Zara, my closest neighbor and conﬁdant, is pounding grain for dinner. She moves with a graceful, powerful motion, her body long and roped with muscle, her rich brown skin shining with sweat. She is wrapped in layers of bright cloth, her youngest son, Isafu, snuggled to the small of her back like a precious backpack. She is telling me the news of her eldest daughter, Hadiza, who married only six months ago. “She is coming to visit, maybe this week,” she says. I am confused, and ask if she is happy with her new village and husband. “Yes, she is very happy,” Zara replies. “She knows how to take care of her husband. She has no family in her new village, though.” After prodding, for they are reluctant to speak of such matters plainly, it becomes clear that Hadiza is pregnant and will stay with her family until the baby comes. I am concerned. Hadiza is very young, only 16 by her mother’s closest guess. Above: During Anna Stubna’s two years in Africa, women like Zara helped her see life through the eyes of a Nigerien. Zara taught her to cook and wash clothes, and also used her inﬂuence to gain support for Stubna’s work in the village. Left: Zara’s son Isafu toddled after Stubna as she walked through the village. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s } Yakole, an ancient woman with few teeth, is leaning close to me under the tree, and she cackles at the discussion. She thinks it’s funny that I ask these questions about Hadiza; after all, even though I am white, I am a woman, and a young, unmarried one at that. After a moment, she comes to the crux of the matter. “Amina,” she screeches, pointing to my pants, “How will you ever ﬁnd a husband and have a baby if you always wear pants like a man?” This is an old game, and I have a ready answer: “But I don’t want a husband, and Zara is going to give me one of her children.” At this, Zara laughs and agrees, unwrapping Isafu from her back. I accept the baby and coo softly to him as conversation around me resumes. He is very sweaty and warm. Zara is a good mother, and he is clean and healthy. He is used to my strange color and only laughs when he sees my face. However improbable, I am home. Over a year ago, leaving the United States for Niger, West Africa, this scene was unimaginable to me. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I was as untested as the brand-new hiking shoes heavy on my feet. Everything I knew about Niger was in a thin pamphlet I held clutched in my ﬁst. The climate is dry, harsh and unforgiving. The Sahara desert has swallowed the northern two-thirds of the country. The remaining sliver of land is only slightly more hospitable. Because of a lack of natural resources, an enormous population growth, and an infant mortality rate of above 11%, Niger is ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. Every dry season, starvation threatens the mass of her 12 million citizens, 80 percent of whom are sustenance farmers. And there I was, a recent college grad, with dubious French, a questionable skill set, and homesickness following close upon my heels. It was going to be an adventure. As a volunteer, I was given three goals by the U.S. government: to provide Niger with help in development projects, to teach Nigeriens about Americans, and upon returning, to share my experience with other Americans. The ﬁrst goal took some months for me to put into effect in my village. I held information sessions with the women about health issues such Yakole teased Stubna (nicknamed Amina in Niger) for “wearing pants like a man.” Hunger and disease lurk so closely on the fringes of life, it makes simple survival the clear objective. Anna Stubna as improving common hygiene practices, but they eyed me with suspicion. In time, I enlisted the help of Zara, a respected women’s leader, and my friend. She spoke to the women, entreating them to listen and learn. My biggest project was to replenish the depleted medicine stock in the village health facility. For months I traveled to the city to write a grant for money to buy the supplies. In the meantime, Zara taught me to prepare food, wash clothes, and work in the ﬁelds. I saw her children grow. Isafu took his ﬁrst steps in my presence. He toddled after me as I wandered the dirt paths in the village. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } 45 During the course of my 2 1/2 years of service in Niger, I came to recognize myself as an American citizen serving my country. My service was not defensive. I was not armed, or ﬁghting an enemy combatant. Instead, I think of it as a peculiar kind of offense, promoting understanding and acceptance through communication. My Nigerien friends listened to the radio avidly. They asked me questions about the news they heard. At ﬁrst, I wasn’t prepared to be responsible for every action of my government, to explain and answer their questions about our policies, our bombs, our wars. In the end, I simply shared my thoughts honestly, creating a forum for the exchange of new ideas. In turn, I was able to see the world through the eyes of a Nigerien, as a citizen of a country with neither money nor influence in world politics. Hunger and disease lurk so closely on the fringes of life, it makes simple survival the clear objective. Life is understood in terms of the proverb, “The world is like a chicken’s butt, sometimes you get an egg and sometimes you get shit.” Niger is waging her own primal war, on hunger and disease. Everyone engaged in this war knows it. Ado, one of the youngest men I befriended, loved to look through my tattered news magazines. One time in particular he was amazed to see pictures of homeless people in the United States. The poverty and hopelessness revealed in the pictures were things he grasped immediately; his wonder stemmed from the fact that this struggle still existed in our rich country. The ﬁght for the basic necessities of life is far from over, even in the U.S. As a country, we are funneling the vast majority of our resources, and the lives of our citizens, into the war with Iraq. Last year the U.S. budget for military defense was about $440 billion; the Peace Corps yearly budget is about .08% of that sum. Yet the very magnitude of our “war on terror” prevents us, as a people, from engaging in wars we should be ﬁghting. Poverty and hunger are real enemies, as real as any in Iraq. It is time for the words “courage” and “service” to have a humanitarian face. x �46 {Alumni Association News} From the Alumni Association President A s a student, I always appreciated the distinct way in which the St. John’s community received our Friday night lecturers. As lecturers (or musicians, on occasion) entered, we rose to acknowledge them, without applause—since they hadn’t yet demonstrated what they would deliver. After they ﬁnished—after they delivered—we rose again, now with applause for their accomplishment. As I write this, the year has just ended and our Chapters Committee has compiled its annual report on the activities of the chapters across the country. Reading it, I am impressed by the accomplishment of our chapter presidents, and wish that we could all rise and give them applause for what they’ve delivered. Chapter Highlights, 2007 In Northern California, 120 alumni and family members attended the annual Stags’ Leap Winery event, thanks to host Warren Winiarski (class of 1952). New president Reynaldo Miranda (A99) and the chapter held a variety of other events including seminars, potlucks, and concert/seminars. A young alumna initiated semi-regular happy hours. The Washington, D.C., chapter attracted nearly 80 alumni to a holiday party/book exchange. This was in addition to their biweekly seminars (except for summer). New this year were informal happy hours for recent graduates, scheduled on an impromptu basis. Approximately 25 different SJC tutors visited chapters. Annapolis President Our total alumni population is about 9,000. We have 17 active chartered chapters and another 7 active reading groups nationwide. Chapters hosted 250 seminars and other gatherings. More than 85 percent of our alumni live in an area supported by an active chapter or reading group and last year, approximately 1 of every 10 alumni attended at least one event. The tremendous effort of our chapter presidents has such a positive outcome for our alumni. They take time around their daily lives to develop reading lists, gather input from the chapter members, ﬁnd venues to hold events, and rally volunteer teams to organize parties and social events. The result is that more than half of our chapters hold 10 or more events each year. Most of these events are, of course, the seminars. These allow us to come together and think deeply about a text and engage in the conversation that we know brings greater depth to our individual consideration. Most chapters also have purely social programming and networking receptions, the latter being particularly helpful to recent grads, those who are new to the area, or anyone else seeking to make connections. Behind the scenes, the chapter presidents and the other leaders in that group work diligently to bring these programs to life. By the way, if there is something you would like to do that the chapter isn’t doing, reach out to the chapter president Chris Nelson (SF70) and Santa Fe President Michael Peters have also been visiting chapters for seminars and to bring news of the campaign. Readings selected by chapters and reading groups ranged from program books to Eastern classics and current literature. Some of the best attended seminars were those on the Symposium, Oedipus, Billy Budd, Henry IV, The Misanthrope, and The World of Physics and the ‘Natural’ World (by Jacob Klein). Boston alumni tackled The Magic Mountain (over four months) and Twin Cities alumni read Anna Karenina (over three months). Denver/Boulder alumni held a picnic, attended a performance of Julius Caesar, and followed up with a seminar on the play. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION All alumni have automatic membership in the St. John’s College Alumni Association. The Alumni Association is an independent organization, with a Board of Directors elected by and from the alumni body. The board meets four times a year, twice on each campus, to plan programs and coordinate the affairs of the association. This newsletter within The College magazine is sponsored by the Alumni Association and communicates association news and events of interest. President – Jason Walsh (A85) Vice President – Steve Thomas (SF74) Secretary – Joanne Murray (A70) Treasurer – Richard Cowles (A70) Mailing address – Alumni Association, St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800, Annapolis, MD 21404, or 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599. and volunteer to help make it happen. You will be surprised by how rewarding it is. To our chapter presidents, I stand and applaud you on your contributions to the alumni community! Jason Walsh (A85) Alumni Association President At-Large board members of the Alumni Association will be elected at the Association’s Annual Meeting on September 27, 2008, in Annapolis. Alumni representatives to the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors will be elected later in the year. Detailed information about the nominees and the election processes for these elections will be available online after July 27, 2008, at http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu /?elections, or by calling the Alumni Ofﬁce in Santa Fe (505-984-6103) or Annapolis (410-626-2531). �47 {Alumni Association News} Thinking About Forming a Chapter? ANNAPOLIS Beth Martin Gammon, A94 410-332-1816 emartin@crs.org DALLAS/FORT WORTH Paula Fulks, SF76 817-654-2986 puffjd@swbell.net AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO Toni Wilkinson, SGI87 512-278-1697 wilkinson_toni @hotmail.com BOSTON Dianne Cowan, A91 617-666-4381 diannecowan@rcn.com DENVER/BOULDER Elizabeth Jenny SF80 303-530-3373 epj727@comcast.net HOUSTON Norman Ewart A85 713-303-3025 norman.ewart@rosetta resources.com MINN./ST. PAUL Carol Freeman, AGI94 612-822-3216 Freem013@umn.edu PHOENIX Donna Kurgan, AGI96 623-444-6642 dakurgie@yahoo.com SEATTLE James Doherty, SFGI76 206-542-3441 jdoherty@mrsc.org NEW YORK CITY Daniel Van Doren, A81 914-949-6811 dvandoren@ optonline.net PITTSBURGH Joanne Murray, A70 724-325-4151 Joanne.Murray@ basicisp.net SOUTH FLORIDA Peter Lamar, AGI95 305-666-9277 cplamar@yahoo.com NORTH CAROLINA Rick Ross A82 919-319-1881 Rick@activated.com Elizabeth Ross A92 Elizabeth@ activated.com PORTLAND Jennifer Rychlik, SF93 503-547-0241 jlr43@coho.net SAN DIEGO Stephanie Rico, A86 619-429-1565 srico@sandi.net NORTHERN CALIF. Reynaldo Miranda, A99 SALT LAKE CITY 415-333-4452 Erin Hanlon, SF03 reynaldo.miranda@ 916-967-2194 gmail.com e.i.mhanlon@ gmail.com { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } SOUTHERN CALIF. Jan Conlin, SF85 310-490-2749 conlinjan1@yahoo.com WASHINGTON, D.C. Ed Grandi A77 301-351-8411 egrandi@aol.com WESTERN NEW ENGLAND Peter Weis, SF84 413-367-2174 peter_weis@ nmhschool.org ’s C ohn olle .J mn u CHICAGO Rick Lightburn, SF76 847-922-3862 rlightburn@gmail.com SANTA FE Richard Cowles, SFGI95 505-986-1814 rcowles2@comcast.net Al ALBUQUERQUE Robert Morgan, SF76 505-275-9012 rim2u@comcast.net PHILADELPHIA Helen Zartarian, AGI86 215-482-5697 helenstevezartarian@ mac.com ge Call the alumni listed below for information about chapter, reading group, or other alumni activities in each area. MADISON Consuelo Sañudo, SGI00 608-251-6565 sanudoc@tds.net n CHAPTER CONTACTS An annual picnic at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is a popular outing for the Northern California chapter. io A local alumni chapter can become an important ﬁxture in the life of alumni, with seminars providing opportunity to converse in a way that no other part of one’s intellectual life can quite duplicate. The elders of a chapter can tell stories about Scott Buchanan, while new graduates keep us up-to-date with current projects, issues and personalities. Several chapters have been active for more than 25 years. It’s just a matter of getting started. The ﬁrst steps are ﬁnding out where alumni are, then setting up an organizational meeting. If your chapter is east of the Mississippi, contact Jo Ann Mattson (A87) in Annapolis; Western chapters are coordinated by Michael Bales (SF06) in Santa Fe. The alumni ofﬁce will compile a mailing list for your geographic area and will send postcard announcements and e-mail reminders for all your events. The ﬁrst meeting will probably be devoted to getting to know each other and ﬁguring out what you want to do. Chapter events always include regular seminars, and most chapters start as reading groups. The college can provide travel funds for occasional tutor visits to chartered chapters and reading groups, and tutor-led seminars usually draw a large group; however, a tutor is by no means necessary. Santa Fe President Michael Peters and Annapolis President Christopher Nelson (SF70) also visit areas with a number of alumni. Many chapters call themselves “St. John’s Alumni and Friends” because of the spouses and friends who become longterm members of the seminar. Seminars need incur no cost at all. Libraries provide meetings rooms, and sometime chapter members can provide conference rooms at a university or place of business. A restaurant with a quiet back room may also serve the purpose and be a good place for after-seminar socializing. Special events usually require a budget or charge, and deﬁnitely require sharing the task of organizing chores. Holiday parties, picnics, winery tours, potlucks, theater, St by Joanne Murry (A70) movies, art events, bowling, river cruises, all these work well. Special events will often draw from a different population or age group than the usual seminars. The Alumni Association draws on the energy of Carol Freeman to coordinate chapters. She compiles lists of readings and events for use of all the chapters. The college coordinates monthly conference calls for chapters to discuss speciﬁc topics of interest to chapter representatives. When you become a chapter, the chapter president or a designated representative may serve on the board of the Alumni Association. Once at a board meeting, you may ﬁnd yourself enthusiastically drawn into some other project, such as mentoring students or helping with career networking. There is a great deal of support out there: the college alumni ofﬁces, the chapters committee of the Alumni Association, and other chapter leaders. The alumni Web site is also a resource. Click on “Alumni” from the St. John’s home page (www.stjohnscollege.edu), go to Association, and there you will ﬁnd guidelines for running a chapter. In the online community, you can also ﬁnd out what other chapters are doing, who lives in your area, and how to connect with a discussion group. While you’re there, don’t forget to register for the online community. x i A s s o cia t Providing opportunities for more alumni to connect more often and more richly �{St. John’s Forever} greenﬁeld library 48 A Community of Learners I n the early days of the New Program, Dean Scott Buchanan organized seminars for the wives of St. John’s tutors. Buchanan was a great believer in adult education, having been involved with the People’s Institute at Cooper Union in New York before he came to the college. The seminars were seen as a way to involve tutors’ wives in their husband’s work, Emily Murphy writes in A Complete and Generous Education: “In addition to being exciting for the women, these seminars served to bring the college community closer; learning and discussion could go on continuously, { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } over the dinner table as well as the seminar table.” In Annapolis President Christopher Nelson carries on the tradition by offering lunchtime seminars on short ﬁction, and faculty wives—and husbands—have participated along with tutors, students, and staff. x �{Alumni Events Calendar} Alumni Calendar Sunday on the Lawn with the Naval Academy This year, the annual match for the Annapolis Cup takes place on a Sunday, a move to accommodate the Naval Academy’s schedule. That gives the college an extra day to offer local and far-ﬂung alumni some activities to ﬁll the weekend. Saturday, April 19, 2 p.m. Informal croquet festivities on the front lawn, including alumni/student tournaments and children’s activities. 10 p.m. -The Croquet Cotillion, Randall Dining Hall (formal attire requested) Sunday April 20, 1 p.m. on the Front Lawn Join your fellow alumni, current students, midshipmen, Naval Academy alumni, and Annapolitans for the annual match. Piraeus Join alumni and their partners for the college’s new alumni continuing education program. Santa Fe Dred Scott Decision and Selected Lincoln Speeches, led by Jim Carey (A67) and Walter Sterling, Sr. April 11-13 Cost: $230 per person, includes all seminars, receptions and Sunday brunch Annapolis Homer’s Iliad,* led by Judy Seeger and Eric Salem (A77) June 5-8 Cost: $320 per person, includes all seminar, receptions and Sunday brunch On-campus room and board $200 per person for three nights *Note: The section led by Eva Brann (HA89) and David Carl is full. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2008 } �P ERIODICALS P OSTAGE PAID P UBLISHED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE P.O. BOX 2800 A NNAPOLIS , MARYLAND 21404 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The College (2001-2017) Description An account of the resource The St. John's College Communications Office published The College magazine for alumni. It began publication in 2001, continuing the St. John's Reporter, and ceased with the Fall 2017 issue. Click on <a title="The College" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=56">Items in The College (2001-2017) Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Santa Fe, NM Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thecollege2001 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 48 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Title A name given to the resource The College, Winter 2008 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Santa Fe, NM Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The_College_Magazine_Winter_2008 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Description An account of the resource Volume 34, Issue 1 of The College Magazine. Published in Winter 2008. Misnumbered as volume 4. Graduate Institute The College https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/81f4b57c86fb368cd9682d26b15f5cf5.pdf 2895abe637f4f0ad68657014ffb8ac43 PDF Text Text The College St. John’s College • Annapolis • Santa Fe George Eliot and Life’s Pursuits S p r i n g 2 0 0 9 �The College On George Eliot W hat a rebel Mary Anne Evans was. Throughout her life, she struggled against the bonds of conformity and society, ﬁrst by defying her father and refusing to go to church. In a collection of Eliot’s letters and journals published by her husband, J.W. Cross, it’s clear that Eliot’s decision caused great turmoil in the family home. Cross wrote: “This was an unforgivable offence in the eyes of her father, who was churchman of the old school, and nearly led to a family rupture. He went so far as to put into an agent’s hands the lease of the house in the Foleshill Road, with the intention of going to live with his married daughter.” Mary Anne eventually relented and returned to live with her father, whom she cared for through a long decline. After Robert Evans’ death, his daughter (now Marian) devoted herself to the life of an intellectual, feeding her ravenous mind with works of theology, philosophy, literature—everything she could get her hands on. Female novelists including George Sands, the Brontés, and Jane Austen were on her reading list. She spent her evenings at concerts and soirees, attended lectures by Faraday and Dickens, and immersed herself in the political issues of her day. As the assistant editor of the Westminster Review, she fell in with like-minded people, one of whom was George Henry Lewes, a novelist, dramatist, and occasional actor. Her long and loving relationship—outside of marriage—with the already married Lewes caused great scandal and led her family and many of her friends to shun her. The scandal was one of the reasons Evans adopted the pseudonym George Eliot when she published Scenes of Clerical Life in 1857. In a biography, Rosemary Ashton explains how Evans chose the pen name: “She told John Cross that she ﬁxed on George Eliot because ‘George was Mr Lewes’s Christian name, and Eliot was a good mouth-ﬁlling, easily pronounced word.’” Her identity was well known by the time Evans published Middlemarch, which was a resounding success and made her quite wealthy. After Lewes died in 1878, Eliot was devastated. As a way to cope with her grief, she read Dante with her good friend John Cross, who was struggling with Italian. Though it shocked many in her circle, Eliot married Cross, 20 years her junior, in May 1880. He was at her side in their home in London when she died that December. This issue of The College pays tribute to George Eliot and her Middlemarch heroine, Dorothea, by exploring the paths of three women at different stages of life and careers. All have approached life hungry for new challenges and the chance to keep learning. —RH is published three times a year by St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD, and Santa Fe, NM Known ofﬁce of publication: Communications Ofﬁce St. John’s College Box 2800 Annapolis, MD 21404-2800 Periodicals postage paid at Annapolis, MD postmaster: Send address changes to The College Magazine, Communications Ofﬁce, St. John’s College, Box 2800, Annapolis, MD 21404-2800. Rosemary Harty (AGI09), editor 443-716-4011 rosemary.harty@sjca.edu Patricia Dempsey, managing editor Jennifer Behrens, art director The College welcomes letters on issues of interest to readers. Letters can be sent via e-mail to the editor or mailed to the address above. Annapolis 410-626-2539 Santa Fe 505-984-6104 Contributors J. Matthew Grifﬁs (SF08) Jenny Hanniﬁn Sara Luell (A09) Cathi Dunn MacRae J.W. Ocker (AGI02) Jack Owens (class of 1937) Anna Perleberg (SF02) Deborah Spiegelman Magazine design by Claude Skelton Design �Spring 2009 The College The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College Annapolis • Santa Fe {Contents} 12 Changing Course d e p a r t m e n t s page 2 Like Middlemarch’s Dorothea, these alumnae left one path in life to follow another, more rewarding one. • • • • 20 For the Love of Books • page • • • Book lovers revel in places where “stacks of papery happiness” await. • page 12 • 26 Alumni Voices • During the Great Depression, Jack Owens (class of 1937) became a “scholar and a gentleman” thanks to the “old” program. • 30 Homecoming • page • • 11 28 from the bell towers A strategic plan for the college Weathering the “perfect storm” Twenty-ﬁve years of Touchstones The Georgian connection A sustainable table in Santa Fe A Johnnie masters a Mongolian art A Truman Scholar named in Annapolis The master of Temple Iglehart Every day a different challenge St. John’s is a “cool” college EC graduates help current students master languages Philanthropia’s new leaders A man who changed lives News and announcements letters biblioﬁle • Sallie Bingham (SFGI94) explores love and loss in “Red Car,” a collection of short stories. Alumni books in brief 32 alumni page page 20 Autumn revels in Annapolis and Santa Fe 48 Photo Essay page P RO F I L E S 32 Laura Crawshaw (SF75) makes angry bosses happier. 36 A publishing venture allows Darius Fueled by his fascination for “odd things,” J.W. Ocker (AGI02) documents the weird and wonderful on a blog and website. Himes (SFGI00) to promote art and photography. 39 Fun and games—and business—come together for Dominic Crapuchettes (A97). 46 page 30 50 52 on the cover George Eliot Illustration by David Johnson obituaries alumni association news st. john’s forever �2 {From the Bell Towers} “The Best Possible Educational Experience” dimitri fotos It takes a clear vision to guide a college, and the vision stateThe campaign raised $134 million in support of the college’s ment for the college’s 2008-2013 strategic plan is both priorities: increased funding for financial aid, improving tutor straightforward and lofty: salaries and providing more faculty develop opportunities, and Liberal education at St. John’s College involves adherence to improving student life. Both campuses have been transformed an ideal that we attempt to embody in activity. By engaging by the campaign: two new dormitories stand in Annapolis, and students in an examination of the fundamental questions that Santa Fe will begin construction soon on its new Graduate human beings need to consider and by giving students the Institute Center, the Norman and Betty Levan Hall. responsibility for their own learning, we hope to open the world Even with a sharp economic downturn to contend with, the to them in such a way that they become excellent citizens, college is better positioned to address future needs. Leadership parents, partners, colleagues, and friends. We aspire to provide on the two campuses is strong, and the Management the best possible educational experience guided by our mission Committee unites the two campuses together as one college in and supported by appropriate resources. As one college on two effective ways. A committed and talented board helps guide the campuses, including Board, faculty, staff, students and alumni, college. The Program remains under constant review, and with we strive to build a commuincreased opportunities for nity where careful listening, faculty study, new approaches respect for the contributions of to program works and studies others and thoughtful have been undertaken, to the attempts to reach a shared benefit of students and tutors. understanding extend to all Still, the challenges for the aspects of the life of the college remain clear: college. • How do we sustain what we The college’s Board of value? Keeping the college Visitors and Governors small presents continuing formally voted to adopt the financial challenges. strategic plan at its fall 2008 • How do we continue to meeting in Annapolis. The attract students and expand document was crafted by our applicant pool in today’s faculty, staff, board members, higher education climate? and alumni of both campuses • How do we shape our who met to review and discuss campuses’ physical spaces so every aspect of the college, that they are best suited to the from admissions to public pursuits of the program? safety. It identifies seven • How can we become the best primary goals: community of learning— 1. Maintain the health and and what does that mean for The Program is at the heart of St. John’s, and the new strategic plan for the college has that principle as its foundation. vitality of the program of each member of the college instruction for undergradcommunity on each of the uate and graduate students campuses? 2. Promote a student experi• How can we reach out to the ence that complements and enhances the program of world beyond in ways that will benefit those who participate instruction and supports retention in what we offer and best bring benefit to the college? 3. Provide the means to support the program of instruction “How we address and move forward with respect to these and address college priorities questions will determine important directions for the college,” 4. Ensure optimal organizational structure, practices, and says Barbara Goyette (A73) vice president for advancement in compensation that are necessary to maintain the health of Annapolis and one of the chairs of the strategic planning the program, promote effective operations, and improve committee. “We hope to continue to improve the educational sense of community experience for our students and provide the best possible envi5. Develop a physical environment for each campus that is ronments for carrying out the mission.” worthy of the program and college community The complete Strategic Plan can be found on the college 6. Engage alumni in a lifelong relationship with the college website: www.stjohnscollege.edu, click on “About.” x 7. Strengthen involvement with the greater communities within which the college exists The college’s previous strategic plan covered the years 20002008, a time of intense activity dominated by the college’s capital campaign, but also marked by a change in leadership on the Santa Fe campus with the arrival of Michael Peters in 2005. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �{From the Bell Towers} Weathering the “Perfect Storm” In January 2008—well before the global economic crisis was apparent—members of the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors decided the college should undergo a planning exercise to prepare for difﬁcult times. St. John’s has long beneﬁted from the expertise of a particular group of board members who serve on the Finance and Investment committees, says Bronté Jones, treasurer in Annapolis. Most have extensive experience in areas such as investing and business development. They serve as a ready brain trust for Jones and Santa Fe Treasurer Bryan Valentine, who work together on strategic ﬁnancial planning for the college. “The committees asked us to participate in what we called ‘the perfect storm’ scenario, where we looked at what we would do if all these bad things converged on us at once,” says Jones. The practice scenario included a drop in enrollment, a reduction in donor support, and a stock market slump. Both treasurers worked through the numbers and presented strategies to the board members in meetings and conference calls last year. “At the time we were thinking it was just another exercise,” Jones says. “But all of the strategies we drew up in planning are what we’re drawing from now.” Endowment has dropped about 20 percent, to about $105 million as of December 31. The college draws up to 5 percent of endowment to help fund annual operations, so both campuses are trimming budgets in response to the shortfall. The Advancement ofﬁces anticipate a reduction in philanthropic giving, and both campuses are planning a 20092010 budget with less tuition revenue. The Maryland General Assembly—coping with the state’s $1.1 billion budget shortfall—has made cuts to the Sellinger Program, which supports private institutions in Maryland. And mindful of the effects of the recession on students and their families, St. John’s adopted the smallest tuition increase (2.9 percent) in two decades. The college is confronting the same issues faced by many colleges and universities. A survey conducted in December by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) found that 97 percent of respondents were concerned about falling endowments and 52 percent were worried about fall 2009 enrollment. As a faculty member for the Higher Education Resource Institute (HERS), Jones recently led a budget planning session for female college administrators, where she gained a picture of how other colleges are coping. St. John’s is facing tight budgets, Jones acknowledges, but many colleges are in serious crisis. Wellesley College, for example, is cutting about 85 jobs this year, in part because of a $200 million hit to its endowment. Keeping class sizes small and meeting increased demand for ﬁnancial aid are the college’s top budget priorities. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } 3 Some college budgets depend more on endowment, others on enrollment. St. John’s falls somewhere in the middle—a recent development, Jones points out, because increased giving to the college over the past ﬁve years has boosted both Annual Fund support and the endowment. “I consider us quite fortunate compared to some other institutions,” says Jones. “We are trimming budgets, but some other institutions are calling donors to help pay their utility bills.” On the plus side, Jones says, “we have a larger endowment, we have loyal donors, we’ve got access to resources—the contingency fund.” Since 2000, the college has been putting a percentage of budget surpluses into a rainy-day fund that stands at about $1 million, part of which either campus can tap to help meet shortfalls this year. For the next ﬁscal year, both treasurers have asked campus department heads to ﬁnd cost savings in every budget line. “We’re cutting everywhere we can to help us meet the needs of our students,” says Jones. “We are preserving ﬁnancial aid—in fact we are increasing what is available to students with need – and we are keeping class sizes the same.” Both Valentine and Jones are planning for a storm that will last a few years. But like emergency responders who have drilled and practiced for a major accident, both are ready to respond to rapidly changing developments. “It’s a challenge, but this is what we have prepared for,” Jones says. Valentine says the crisis makes for some long workdays, because both treasurers are constantly examining budgets and revising ﬁgures. “We can’t budget on what we hope will happen, we have to be prepared for all kinds of scenarios.” x �4 {From the Bell Towers} Touchstones at 25 After tutor Nick Maistrellis asked the opening question, there was dead silence—for 90 uncomfortable seconds. Maistrellis waited as the middle school students in Hartford, Connecticut, stared at each other, at the ﬂoor, or at their Xeroxed copies of the reading, the Cain and Abel story from the book of Genesis. In the back of the classroom, tutors Howard Zeiderman (class of 1967) and Geoff Comber were observing, along with some of the school’s teachers and administrators. “It was terrifying,” says Maistrellis, recalling the details with clarity 26 years later. Finally, one student spoke up. A seminar happened. Though there were moments of chaos as students embraced their new freedom, they responded to the text and to each other. Maistrellis realized later that if he had broken the silence and prodded the students, the experiment would have been a failure. “The students never would have taken control of the discussion,” Maistrellis says. “That was the beginning of making them responsible for the class.” From its debut in the Hartford Public Schools in 1983, the Touchstones Discussion Project—started by tutors and fueled in part over the years by St. John’s graduates, current students, and alumni volunteers—has grown into an organization with international reach. More than 100,000 students in Jordan have read Touchstones texts in their middle schools. Last year, at the invitation of the government of Tanzania, Zeiderman led seminars for business and government leaders with the goal of forming coalitions to work on long-range plans for the country’s development. Prisoners in Maryland have been reading Touchstones texts with volunteer tutors (alumni and current students among them), and Zeiderman has even led seminars for personnel of the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. In the United States, at least 7,500 schools have included Touchstones in their curricula, from elementary grades through high school. The organization has 27 Touchstones volumes in print, plus three At Touchstones’ Annapolis ofﬁce are (bottom row, l. to r.): Joan Croker volumes in Spanish, (AGI08), Jeremy Jokell, and tutor Nick Maistrellis; (back row, l. to r): a volume in Arabic Stefanie Takacs (A89), Johanna Anderson (AGI09), Ryan Phillips (AGI07), for Jordan, and a and Giuliana De Grazia ( AGI09). volume in Burmese, used in Myanmar. rural Alabama, Pittsburgh, and the same as you are. It leads you Although it takes many of its to learn something about yourChicago. The effort was approaches from St. John’s, shaped into a nonproﬁt organi- self.” Touchstones differs in what it For years, Maistrellis took hopes to achieve in participants, zation and incorporated in time away from St. John’s to 1985 as a 501(c)3. says Zeiderman. “Touchstones help run Touchstones, but by Today, Touchstones is headis a four-stage process to the early 1990s, he had to leave quartered in a building in develop in students the skills of the organization and return to historic Annapolis and has a exploring and thinking both full-time teaching. Looking staff of eight, most of them collaboratively and individually. back, he’s pleased at what Johnnies with a missionary zeal In Touchstones, all—and I mean Touchstones has accomplished for education. Adam Meyers all—students learn to particiand how it has evolved. “We (A08) began working for Touchpate. It is also a program in how thought we had the opportunity stones right after he graduated students can govern themselves to do something really big,” that last year. He runs the Touchas a seminar group and learn to would make a difference, he stones program at the Maryland lead the groups themselves.” State Correctional Institution in says. “We did.” The idea developed over Zeiderman has turned the Jessup. He coordinates volunlong mid-morning breakfasts day-to-day management over to teers and works through the that Zeiderman and Maistrellis Stefanie Takacs (A89), Touchbureaucratic red tape, but he enjoyed every day at an stones’ new educational Annapolis restaurant. Tutors at also gets to choose the readings director, but he’s still involved and lead seminars. Sitting down the college were often getting in leading Touchstones semito discuss a text in a correcrequests to share the St. John’s nars and training for a diverse tional facility “was so far from “method” by schools with group of people and organizaanything I’d ever experienced ambitious and innovative tions. His long-range plan for before,” says Meyers. “Now that programs. (Hartford, for Touchstones? “I want every I’ve done it a while, what keeps example, was a magnet school me interested is the humanity of student in the world to do it,” with aspirations to send more he says. Short of that, he’d be these men. It’s so easy when you students to college.) Comber happy if “every student in the (H95), now tutor emeritus, was go through your normal life to United States did it.” x pigeonhole them as hardened also involved from the begincriminals who have no place in ning, using contacts across the —Rosemary Harty regular society. You can’t help country to bring Touchstones but notice that they’re exactly to schools in places such as { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �5 {From the Bell Towers} St. John’s, Georgia Style a group committed to spreading liberal education and introducing St. John’s to the people of Georgia. OLEG’s ﬁrst accomplishment was a trip to Georgia in the summer of 2008, when students immersed themselves in the culture and engaged in seminarstyle classes with Georgian people. Brockett (OLEG’s executive director), Aduasvili, her sister Miriam Aduasvili (A12), Vincent Tavani (A11), and Acacia Pappas (A11) accompanied Dwayne Lacey (then a acacia pappas Although the country of Georgia has become the focus of international news during the past year in its war with Russia and collapse of infrastructure, when Nini Aduasvili (A11) came to St. John’s, not many students had heard of her home country. It was Aduasvili’s “passion for her country and her culture” that drew fellow Johnnies to learn more about Georgia, says Noel Brockett (A09). Together, Aduasvili and Brockett founded the Organization for Liberal Education in Georgia (OLEG), tutor in Annapolis) on the trip. With a group of about 40 Georgians at New Gelati Academy, part of Gigol Robakidze University in Tblisi, OLEG held seminars on the Meno, Euclid, Heraclitus, Joseph Black, and Jacob Klein. “We were bringing St. John’s to them,” says Tavani. With help from OLEG, New Gelati Academy is developing a program based in part on the St. John’s curriculum. Because of traditions and the focus on the community, says Brockett, “there is a particular potential in Georgia for an education like St. John’s.” One tradition of the Georgian people is the supra feast, when everyone sits down together at a table and takes turns giving lengthy toasts on a variety of topics. While giving the toasts, says Tavani, “they get really philosophical because they are taking their time to appreciate and contemplate what makes life life. It was a lot like seminar sometimes. It reminded us of the Symposium.” In addition to supra, Georgians have a long oral tradition of poetry, often singing and dancing to poems. Many of these Georgian poems will be integrated into the New Gelati program. “To be a good St. John’s student, you need to really enjoy reading and have the enthusiasm,” says Brockett. “The Georgian people deﬁnitely have that passion.” What’s next for the group? Alex Lawson (A03), an alumnus who has worked in the nonproﬁt development ﬁeld, is helping Brockett make OLEG into a nonproﬁt organization, and the group is recruiting board members. Recently, OLEG was awarded the $10,000 Davis Peace Grant, which will help fund a project to send four St. John’s tutors to Georgia for three weeks. x —Sara Luell (A09) Nino Aduashvili (A11) teaches Georgian dance one night a week, one of OLEG’s cultural projects on the Annapolis campus. A Sustainable Table in Santa Fe Organic peanut butter from Portales, apples and apple cider from Dixon and Alcalde, honey from Taos, and hydroponic tomatoes are all part of the daily food service on the Santa Fe campus. Changes began in 2007 when Rex McCreary came on board with Aramark, which runs the dining operation there. Students wanted food service that was organic, fair trade, local, and healthy, and McCreary delivered. “They wanted it, and they deserved it,” says McCreary, who began the process by talking with folks at The Tree House, an organic café and bakery. First to arrive were organic fruit and vegetables purchased from La Montanita Co-op or directly from farmers. This year almost all food served, including meat and turkey, is organic and bought locally. Not many colleges in New Mexico commit to this level of sustainable food service, but McCreary says it’s pretty easy once you let vendors know what you need. Getting bread made without reﬁned sugar, for example, came about just by asking. But sustainable food service does require more people—students, staff, and tutors—to get involved in the process. Places like La Montanita create weekly pick lists that allow McCreary to steer towards seasonal (and thus less expensive) choices. McCreary participates in a panel discussion during freshmen week, and at campus “town hall” meetings, so students and parents know he is willing to hear their suggestions. Currently in the plan- { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } ning stages is a kiosk with webbased access to full descriptions of all the food products served, which will be created and supported by Aramark. Until then, students can always get a full listing of ingredients just by asking. Recycling, green cleaning supplies, and biodegradable disposables (trashbags, to-go boxes, cups, and paper plates) are all part of the efforts. Going tray-less eliminated waste and reduced water use. Food donations to Kitchen Angels (which delivers food to homebound residents of Santa Fe) or the St. Elizabeth Shelter are made when possible. x �6 {From the Bell Towers} Singing on the Steppes On the vast steppes of Mongolia the nomadic culture is in transition. “It’s not unusual to see nomads carry Russian satellite dishes with them each time they move,” says Colin Forhan (A11), who lived on the steppes last summer. “[They] set up satellite dishes next to their homes, called gers. These Mongolians call a home a ger rather than use the Russian word yurt because they prefer to use their native language.” Forhan is also learning another native Mongolian language: throat singing. There are numerous types of throat singing (sometimes called harmonic chanting or overtone chanting) practiced around the world, but Forhan has taught himself a basic Mongolian form known as khoomei. When he sings this way Forhan keeps his tongue in a ﬁxed position to produce harmonics clearly. In throat singing, the singer creates resonance and ampliﬁed sounds with constrictions and shapes; the tongue and mouth ﬁlter out certain tones and draw forth others. The effect is like a loud, vibrational human guitar string. Its history is rooted in a desire to mimic natural sounds such as wind and water. “The sounds of throat singing travel great distances,” says Forhan. “The landscape is so vast in Mongolia. This is [in part] the way this singing started. Standing at the top of a mountain you can hear your voice in every direction. Sounds are louder and more pure.” Forhan was in high school in his hometown, Takoma Park, Md., when he ﬁrst heard throat singing. “I was listening to NPR and someone was throat singing covers for popular Western songs. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.” He became obsessed and began teaching himself throat singing by listening to CDs and surﬁng websites for demonstrations. “It took me three months to make a semblance of a sound.” By the time Forhan was a freshman at St. John’s, he decided to spend the summer in Mongolia to learn ﬁrsthand from nomads who are throat singers. To get to Mongolia, Forhan joined an archaeology program offered by the University of Pittsburgh. After a brief stay in the capital city of Ulan Bator, his group traveled 13 hours to the province of Arkhangai and pitched their tents. They were three hours from the closest town, and they lived like the Truman Scholar Annapolis junior Jamaal Barnes (A10) has been named a 2009 Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Barnes is one of 60 students from 55 colleges and universities in the United States who were selected for their leadership potential, intellectual ability, and desire to make a difference. Barnes is from Sanford, N.C. He serves on the Delegate Council and as a student representative to the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors. He is a co-founder of Epigenesis, a student outreach program designed to instill leadership skills in disadvantaged Jamaal Barnes has his sights set on a career in education. nomads. “I even ate boiled goats’ heads and drank some of the worst vodka I’ve ever tasted. It was a homebrew made from goats’ milk.” Forhan sang with several of the nomads and plans to return this summer to Mongolia on his own. He will stay with friends in Ulan Bator, then head back to the nomads to throat sing in the steppes. In Mongolia, throat singing is a folk music much like bluegrass is in Colin Forhan lived like a nomad in Mongolia, America, says where he feasted on boiled goats’ heads. Forhan. “It’s a special folk octave lower than the sounds music that everyone there has emitted by the vocal chords.” heard of, though not all MongoFor now Forhan is happy to learn lians can sing this way.” Some of the basics. “When I demonthe forms take a lifetime to strated my throat singing for the master, and Forhan readily nomads, they thought it was admits that he may never learn the more difﬁcult techniques. He hilarious—an American trying their singing.” x describes how in one such technique “the note coming out of —Patricia Dempsey the throat singer’s mouth is an youth; a member of Primum Mobile, a group that sings sacred music; and a resident assistant. He has long-term plans to earn a doctorate in education and work for the reform and improvement of public education. “This well-rounded and personable young man brightens up every room he enters,” Annapolis President Christopher Nelson (SF70) wrote in his recommendation letter to the Truman Foundation. “He is a natural leader whose passion for helping others inspires those around him.” Each scholarship provides up to $30,000 for graduate study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental ﬁnancial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and special internship opportunities within the federal government. Recipients must be U.S. citizens, have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills, be in the top quarter of their class, and be committed to careers in government or the not-for-proﬁt sector. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �7 {From the Bell Towers} Leo Pickens (A78), who marks his 20th year as athletic director in Annapolis this year, believes in playing sports for fun—but give less than your best effort at crew practice or on the soccer ﬁeld, and you’ll hear from him. When he talks about thumos, he usually smacks one hand into the other for emphasis—give your heart to a game, Pickens says, and you’re a winner regardless of the outcome. In Temple Iglehart, he’s also a tutor: kunai basketball games are sometimes interrupted so he can be sure novice players have a grip on the rules. As he was inspired by his mentor, longtime athletic director Bryce Jacobsen (class of 1942), Pickens hopes to inspire Johnnies to take up sports with passion and purpose. As a student, Pickens played for the Druids: soccer, ﬂag football, basketball, and softball. In a year spent in Santa Fe, he played soccer and ran in the mountains. Although today he devotes himself to yoga (his headstand is a thing of beauty), Pickens considers running up Atalaya “one of my greatest achievements as a human.” “If memory serves, it’s about a two-mile run from campus to the top. The elevation gain over that two miles is approximately 2,000 feet. In those days there wasn’t any development behind the college, so the trail ran through nothing but that lean, austere natural setting of piñon and Ponderosa and sage. I ran alone, and remember the purity of the air, scented with the sweetness of the pine, and the ever-expanding views as you climbed higher up the mountain. The ﬁnal very steep ascent was excruciating—one of the hardest things I’ve ever done physically, and hence the pride. But once up on top you could see forever, and the effortless, screaming (ﬁguratively speaking, but sometimes literally!) run down the mountain was as close to ﬂight as I’ve ever come. Closer to a religious experience, really, than an athletic one.” x dimitri fotos Twenty Years of Thumos Leo Pickens left a career in banking to return to the college, where for 20 years he has helped Johnnies discover their inner athlete. Every day a different challenge Johnny Zamora grew up just a mile from the college in what was then a virtual village removed from downtown Santa Fe. As a boy, he and his buddies would regularly climb Monte Sol. Little could he have known that his view from the top included the future site of the St. John’s campus. Nor could he have imagined that a twoweek temporary stint would turn into a 42-year career in the college’s buildings and grounds department. Zamora’s retirement party in March was a laid-back affair; he would have preferred to leave quietly, although he was honored to receive from President Michael Peters a plaque in recognition for his service. Just as he saw his old neighborhood change as the city grew, Zamora witnessed the growth of a college that was once also quite isolated. “I started at the college on February 8, 1967,” Zamora says. “The lower dorms had just been ﬁnished.” One of his ﬁrst tasks was to help outﬁt the dorms with furniture and amenities. Over the course of his career, Zamora acquired the licenses necessary to maintain plumbing, electricity, gas, boilers, and refrigeration. “Every day,” he says, “was a different challenge,” from dealing with leaky roofs and snowstorms to refurbishing dorms on a tight schedule for summer program participants. Among his greater challenges was the 1976 “attack of the moths.” For unknown reasons, millions of moths descended on Santa Fe, possibly blown in from Arizona. “There were 500 inside our own home and tons at the college,” Zamora says. One distressed student called Zamora’s ofﬁce, and he sent a crew to deal with the problem. Later, he received another call from the student, who protested: “You sent ladies with brooms.” Students were also part of Zamora’s life in personal ways. When Zamora married in 1974, a student played the { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } organ for his wedding. This particular student seemed to consider Zamora and his wife, Sylvia, his family away from home. “He’d call my wife and ask her what was for lunch, and if he liked it, he’d come over. We didn’t mind at all. This is what you do with family.” Tutor Lynda Myers (SF72) has known Zamora since her freshman year. “His friendly smile and upbeat greetings have always been part of life at St. John’s for me,” she says. A motorcycle aﬁcionado, Zamora now has more time for his hobby. “We’ll miss him here,” Myers says, “but it is nice to picture him and Sylvia driving off on their baby blue Harley, in pursuit of adventures.” x �8 {From the Bell Towers} Sempai and Kohai The innovative method Santa Fe tutor Michael Bybee uses in the Chinese language tutorial of the Eastern Classics program demonstrates how St. John’s is a learning community. “This is nothing more than taking the St. John’s College method as seriously as we can, and applying it to the study of literary Chinese,” Bybee says. In Bybee’s method, sempai (Japanese for “senior students,” in this case Eastern Classics alumni) assist kohai (“junior students,” those currently enrolled in the program). This year’s sempai are Joyce Spray (SFGI76, EC08), Alistair Hake (EC08), Claudia Watson (EC08), and Michael Johnson (EC08). Past assistants have included Kay Duffy (SF04, EC05) and Wendy Skelley (EC05). By dividing the class up into small groups, more language drills can be completed, which has proven to be a very effective way of learning language. In the four years since Bybee began inviting EC alumni to help in the Chinese tutorial, he’s never had a problem recruiting volunteers. He ﬁrst learned this approach to language acquisition from the Japanese educational system in Hawaii and practiced it for years while at the University of Oregon. At a Graduate Institute dinner in August 2008, Spray agreed to help. Hake was already on board, and the two were joined by Watson and Johnson. The student-tutors attend each language tutorial (Mondays and Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.) and, after a general introduction by Bybee to the entire class, break up into small groups to proceed with the day’s lesson. Fall 2008 texts were chosen to establish groundwork in the language. Texts this spring focus on Confucius’ Analects, the Xiao Jing (often called “the Classic on Filial Piety”), some Tang dynasty poetry, and all of Lao Zi. In 90 minutes students and tutors go through that day’s lesson verbally, then nut through the translation at hand. Bybee is quick to point out that they are not translating but rather “reading Chinese.” The sempai-kohai approach makes language a real community effort: the identiﬁcation stops being student to tutor and becomes a richer experience of junior student to senior student. Volunteers have varied reasons for participating. For Spray, tutoring “helps use a part of my brain that hasn’t been used in a long time. Working with Chinese is a stretch—no matter how old you are, it’s a good thing to do.” Eager to retain what she learned in the program, Watson relishes her role as “This is nothing more than taking the St. John’s College method as seriously as we can, and applying it to the study of literary Chinese." Mike Bybee, tutor Joyce Spray, who completed both graduate programs, helps current students with ancient Chinese. sempai. She may pursue a PhD in Chinese history or anthropology. After years of studying the texts of traditional Chinese medicine, Johnson enjoys working on his own translations and appreciates the assistance he gets from Bybee. Johnson is interested in Chinese language, history, and philosophy, and says “teaching it only makes it better.” Hake spent four years studying Chinese medicine texts in England and, much like Johnson, ﬁnds that tutoring keeps him active and engaged with his own personal Chinese studies. He is working on an Eastern Classics master’s essay. The preparation materials are an important part of the process and must at least partially respond to a common assumption made when studying literary Chinese: to do so one needs to have completed three years of modern Chinese. Austin Volz (SF09) worked on the language materials used in the Chinese class as an Ariel intern (there are 30 literary Chinese prepa- { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } rations for each semester). Bybee is quick to note that these materials are used only for the language acquisition phase of the tutorial. The other goals of a language tutorial—learning elements of language in general, learning how to write better, and learning to read particular texts in the original language in some detail—remain the provenance of that year’s language tutor. “We’re inviting students to read literary Chinese with no background in modern Chinese,” says Bybee, and the needs of today’s Eastern Classics students require that to be a viable project. The goals of Eastern Classics students, and the prior academic experience they have coming in to the program, have changed over the years. Now it is not uncommon to have a native Chinese speaker enrolled in the EC, or a student with an undergraduate degree in the language, and their future goals might include a PhD in an Eastern Classicsrelated ﬁeld. Eastern Classics alumni are certainly making their way into the academic arena, a point illustrated by an experience of Bybee’s son, Jon Wheeler. While investigating a Philosophy of China and India class at Occidental College, Wheeler asked Professor Alan Tomhave where he had acquired his background in the subject. It turns out Dr. Tomhave took an Eastern Classics seminar at St. John’s; Bybee was the tutor. x �9 {From the Bell Towers} Energizing Alumni Giving The ﬁnancial downturn calls for creative ways of engaging alumni to support St. John’s, and Philanthropia co-chairs Matthew Calise (A00) and Michael Zinati (SF92) are up to the challenge. Philanthropia is the college’s alumni development council, established in 1997 and fueled by energetic volunteers. The group’s support is one reason St. John’s has experienced a steady increase in alumni giving. The Campaign for St. John’s College, which ended last July, raised $134 million for the college, and alumni contributed 60 percent. “Typically alumni get jazzed up by a campaign. . .then the excitement tapers off,” says Calise. “The opportunity and challenge for Philanthropia is to maintain that high level of energy. This is our charge regardless of the economy, but now more than ever we need to keep relationships going through peer-to-peer outreach and good communications.” Calise, an associate director at Georgetown University Law Center’s ofﬁce of alumni affairs, believes it is important to lay the groundwork for the future by cultivating relationships with students. St. John’s has just 9,000 alumni, he pointed out. “That’s an intimate community,” Calise says. “So we can easily reach out not only to each other, but to current students to embrace the future of philanthropic support for the college.” “St. John’s alumni really care about ensuring that today’s students have the same opportunities that they did to study at the college,” adds Zinanti. “I believe we can appeal to this concern by ﬁnding ways to directly affect the lives of the students and, where appropriate, create personal bonds. In tough economic times, it is important for our alumni to reach out to today’s students and really touch their lives.” Zinanti, an engineer at Ball Aerospace in Westminster, Colo., helped out with Annual Fund phonathons as a student in Santa Fe. A hockey fan, Zinanti also told Jeff Morgan, then campus vice president for advancement, that the college needed an ice rink. When Morgan responded by inviting Zinanti to head up a fundraising effort to build one, Zinanti gained an education in how philanthropy supports every aspect of life at St. John’s. Tuition pays just 70 percent of the cost of educating a student at St. John’s; Annual Fund gifts help make up the rest. “Most undergraduates are not aware of the fact that, whether they are on ﬁnancial aid or not, their education is subsidized by philanthropic gifts,” Zinanti says. “It was an epiphany for me. I was on ﬁnancial aid but I had taken it all for granted.” At Georgetown, Calise works with law school alumni to “build communities of engagement.” He sees a natural ﬁt for this experience with Philanthropia. “We have two powerful advantages going for us in the world of philanthropy,” he says. “We have a fantastic cause—the education, the distinctive Program that St. John’s offers. And we have the need—60 percent of undergraduates receive ﬁnancial aid.” x — Patricia Dempsey A Man Who Changed Lives The college lost a good friend when Loren Pope, former New York Times editor and author of “Colleges that Change Lives” died last fall. Many a St. John’s students learned of the college from the small book, which promoted institutions that are “outdoing the Ivies and major universities in producing winners.” Long before colleges and universities began criticizing rankings, Pope urged students and their parents to look beyond big-name schools to ﬁnd the college that was the right ﬁt. St. John’s, he wrote in the most recent edition, “is a hard-working Shangri-La for the life-of-the-mind teenager who may hate or is bored by high school or is disgusted with education’s stupid SAT system. St. John’s has the courage to reject all that stuff; it’s what you are and what you want out of college that count.” Annapolis Admissions Director John Christensen said the book is often mentioned in admissions essays. Christensen met Pope when he came to the college soon after Christensen joined the college in 1978; at the time Pope had a counseling service in Virginia and often recommended St. John’s to bright high school students. “My predecessor told me to expect calls from him from time to time,” he says. “He did call with some frequency, and those calls were somewhat intimidating at ﬁrst because I was new to the college and quickly realized he knew more about it than I did. But he was a friendly and patient man and those to whom he recommended the college always seemed a good ﬁt.” x A Very Cool College Phonathon volunteers let alumni know that every Annual Fund gift, no matter the size, is appreciated. St. John’s recently earned four pages in a college guidebook called Cool Colleges for the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different. The only “downside” the guidebook pointed out is actually a point of pride for most current Johnnies: “The students at St. John’s gain mastery of an intellectual tradition that goes back several thousand years, but they may not know the latest in teenage street fashion or other aspects of contemporary culture. However, the students I spoke with didn’t care. Basically, the students who are drawn to this curriculum seem not to ﬁnd any fault with it.” x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �10 {From the Bell Towers} News & Announcements NEH, Hodson Grants Last fall, the National Endowment for the Humanities made a $1 million challenge grant through its “We the People” initiative to St. John’s in Annapolis to support the study of works and ideas in American history, events, and culture. In December, The Hodson Trust— established to support four private colleges in Maryland— gave St. John’s a $3 million gift, matching the NEH grant in full. “We the People” is an NEH program that aims to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through libraries, schools, colleges, universities, and cultural institutions. The funding will provide additional support in four areas that are already part of the college’s academic program and mission: faculty study groups on works related to American themes, support for preceptorials, lectures on American themes, and educational outreach to the community. The Santa Fe campus also received a challenge grant from the NEH: $300,000 for support of Tecolote, a series of Saturday programs for New Mexico’s K-12 teachers created by tutor STEVEN VAN LUCHENE. The colloquia (centered on a different theme each year) provide occasions for genuine liberal learning through the discussion of carefully selected texts, led by St. John’s faculty and other experienced leaders. The grant requires a 3-1 match over the next four years, and the college is actively seeking additional support for the program. Faculty and Staff News TUTOR MATTHEW DAVIS (A82) has been appointed director of the Graduate Institute in Santa Fe, succeeding Krishnan Venkatesh. He will begin his new duties in June. Davis has a master’s degree in Philosophy from Dalhousie University and earned his PhD in Political Science from Boston College. He has been a tutor at the college since 1998. In Annapolis, tutor SUSAN PAALMAN will succeed Anita Kronsberg as assistant dean. Paalman has a bachelor’s degree from Rice University and a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has been a tutor at the college since 1997. Tutor Emeritus CURTIS WILSON published an article, “The Nub of the Lunar Problem: From Euler to G.W. Hill,” in the November issue of the Journal for the History of Astronomy. The paper explains how G.W. Hill (l838-1914), a mathematician working for the U.S. Nautical Almanac, found the curve—not an elipse—as the basis on which a theory of the moon could be constructed. It proved much more accurate than any earlier theory. Wilson is also the author of a review of a volume of Jean le Rond d’Alembert, published in November by the international quarterly, Historia Mathematica. MELISSA LATHAM-STEVENS, art director in the Santa Fe Ofﬁce of Communications, has won several awards for publications design from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District IV. Her Homecoming 2008 brochure won an award for visual design, and her Summer Classics brochure won three visual design awards. The Annapolis campus has a new library director: CATHERINE DIXON joined the college in February. She previ- ously worked for the Library of Congress. Hall of Fame Earlier this year, WARREN WINIARSKI (class of 1952, Board of Visitors and Governors member) was inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America, in Napa Valley. In 1976, two ﬂedgling California wineries made history in France by winning a tasting that changed the world’s opinion of New World wines. One of the wineries was Winiarski’s Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. In the years that followed the now-famous Paris Tasting, Winiarski has relentlessly pursued a quest for excellence in winemaking. Praise, Prizes for Scibona SALVATORE SCIBONA (SF97) continues to win accolades for his ﬁrst novel, The End. Scibona, who was a ﬁnalist for the National Book Award, recently received the New York Public Library’s $10,000 Young Lions Fiction Award. More Singing in Santa Fe Capitalizing on Controversy Who says Johnnies are indifferent to political controversy? The students spearheading Senior Prank fundraising this year are selling t-shirts pitting Euclid against Lobachevski. The project was the brainchild of Nate Oesch (A09), who says that early returns show Euclid has the edge in the voting. Above, Clint Richardson and Molly Rothenberg (both A09) model the front of the shirts. The back of the Euclid says: “Perfection Without Defection.” The back of the Lobachevski: “Four Rights Make a Wrong.” x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } Composer and conductor ROY M. ROGOSIN (SFGI08) has joined the college in Santa Fe to develop and lead two new extracurricular choral groups on the campus. The St. John’s Community Chorus is aimed at providing an opportunity for Johnnies, as well as select members of the Santa Fe community, to sing and perform a broad spectrum of choral music from antiquity to the present. The Chamber Singers, for which members must audition, also provides new opportunities for campus singers. Rogosin is a professional conductor with international credits ranging from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Royal Albert Hall in London to the sound stages of Hollywood and the stages of Broadway. x �11 {Letters} Unforgettably Kind Acts Thanks for the proﬁle in The College [Fall 2008] on Jean FitzSimon (A73). She did some unforgettably kind acts as a Johnnie, and I’d like to recognize her and the countless other Johnnies who befriend freshmen and help them out. An example of what she did for me: I was tall (in the Northeast, a six-foot female in the 1960s got only stares and “it’s the 50-foot woman” comments), and I had led a swimmer’s life and not much else, although I had books instead of Michael Phelps’ iPod. Since I wasn’t in the top 10 in the nationals, I had no Olympic dream (before Title IX). I never regretted stopping swimming or going to St. John’s. In fact, I eventually won the St. John’s men’s foulshooting contest and got to play on their basketball, volleyball, and badminton teams until they made me women’s athletic director! This would never have happened but for students at the gym, like Jean, who were willing to play with someone who’d never held a ball, just for the love of playing, occasionally skipping the usual search for someone to learn from so that they could give a little time to someone who wanted to learn. When I came to St. John’s, I had a budget of $5 ($27 today) every two weeks for books, clothes, laundry, culture, etc., which meant I worked several jobs. I still wore my warm-up jacket, a castoff from an old Holy Cross team, and my ﬁrst “grownup” ﬂats, Converse All Stars. My school uniform was completed with men’s jeans and my brother’s old leather belt, and I was often mistaken for a boy. I routinely took off my glasses to go to the dining hall, assuming that I would otherwise notice the sniggers. (Years later, I found out that my unconscious statement. But Jean didn’t just tell me to believe in myself, she just believed in me, and changed my life. She made me conﬁdent enough to become actually somewhat popular at St. John’s, although what has lasted is the love of thoughtful conversation, and the belief that it, like Jean FitzSimon’s generosity, can Now a judge in Philadelphia, Jean FitzSimon change the (A73) committed an act of kindness her world. I even got classmate will always remember. proﬁled in an early newsprint lope had earned me the nickversion of The College. A year name of “the fabulous ﬁlly” later, a younger Johnnie asked by the seniors.) me to be her friend because One day the girls on my ﬂoor “I seemed happy, like someone played let’s-dress-Jane-like-apopular, but kind.” I never told girl. The next thing I Jean that she started it all! remember is Jean FitzSimon, I have always mentored whom I didn’t even know, younger people, in and outside taking me to a clothing store in my family, and often tell them downtown Annapolis and of what someone I didn’t even buying me the ﬁrst slinky (and know did for me at St. John’s, ﬁrst full-price) dress of my life whenever I give them money or with her checkbook, telling me “too much.” In this, Jean is I could pay her back later. I inspiring the next generation even copied that dress as a and doesn’t even know it. I’m pattern when it fell apart about not the only person who eight years later. remembers and thanks Jean To say that I was a nerd even now. without social skills would I hope that the Johnnies who probably have been an undercould help freshmen will read and learn from this story just how gratifying it is to risk making a fool of yourself or annoying someone, to try to give them your time or something you think might be useful to them. I rank this lesson and the mighty power of thoughtful conversation as my most valuable gifts from Jane (D’Agnese ) Atwood (A74) St. John’s. “One day the girls on my ﬂoor played let’s-dressJane-like-a-girl.” Jane (D’Agnese ) Atwood (A74) { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } Philosophers’ Songs Thank you for publishing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic of Letters” [Fall 2008]! Annapolis transfers had told me of it, but I had never learned it. It was so much fun to learn to sing, and now I sing it (and march along) almost every day as I walk to work. Another song the Annapolis transfers used to sing had the line “Immanuel Kant was a big pissant who was very rarely stable.” Does anyone know how the rest of that song goes? Erin Hanlon (SF03) Editor’s note: Thanks to editor Cathi Dunn MacRae, The College has an answer: “The Immanuel Kant line comes from a song within a popular 1970s Monty Python comedy sketch titled ‘Bruces.’ It is usually referred to as ‘The Bruces’ Philosophers Song.’ The sketch appeared on Monty Python’s Flying Circus television show, Episode 22, featuring four professors, all named Bruce, from the philosophy department of the ﬁctional University of Walamaloo in Australia. It’s apparently available on YouTube. The College welcomes letters on issues of interest to readers. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or length. Those under 500 words have a better chance of being printed in their entirety. Please address letters to: The College Magazine, St. John’s College, Box 2800, Annapolis MD 21404. Letters can be sent via e-mail to Rosemary.Harty@sjca.edu. Correction: The photograph on the back cover of the Fall 2008 issue of The College was taken by Clarke Saylor (A08). The credit was inadvertently given to another photographer; we regret the error. �12 {Changing Course} CHANGING COURSE by Rosemary Harty and Deborah Spiegelman “Far off in the bending sky was the pearly light; and she felt the largeness of the world and the manifold wakings of men to labor and endurance. She was a part of that involuntary, palpitating life, and could neither look out on it from her luxurious shelter as a mere spectator, nor hide her eyes in selﬁsh complaining.” G eorge Eliot’s Middlemarch inspired this collection of stories about alumni who have considered—and reconsidered— their paths in life. It seems every major character in Eliot’s novel harbors some great ambition, a desire to make something of his or her life, to gain notice, to achieve greatness. Some characters are motivated simply by greed and shallow personal ambitions, while others—humble Mary Garth, for example, or the shabby Mr. Featherstone—seek lives of integrity and service. Casaubon devotes his entire being to “A Key to All Mythologies,” the manuscript that all but its author seem to realize is a hopeless boondoggle. After discovering his passion for medicine, Lydgate sets out to reform the profession and make great scientiﬁc discoveries. Things end quite badly for these two. But consider Fred, who rejects family expectations and the hypocrisy of a career as a clergyman, to settle happily into working the land as the assistant of an estate manager. Ladislaw tinkers with art and politics as he considers the best way to use his education and energy. Then, there is passionate Dorothea, who after seeing one ill-fated dream die, is willing to let it go and follow another—in spite of the condemnation of family and friends. And in changing course, she ﬁnds greater rewards—in love and in work—that will make a difference to others. For the women in these proﬁles, making a living hasn’t been the driving force in their lives; their course changes—from teacher to nurse, from engineer to lawyer, from lawyer to librarian—have always been most driven by the need to love what they do. Opposite: After 12 years as a Montessori teacher, Sarah Bittle is nearing the completion of a nursing program at Johns Hopkins University. She’ll be a labor and delivery nurse. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �gary pierpoint {Changing Course} { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } 13 �14 {Changing Course} “I started thinking that I wanted to be part of something different.” Sarah Bittle “You Want to Love What You’re Doing” Sarah Bittle (A96) When it came to working with children, Sarah Bittle was a natural: patient, nurturing, and eager to share her zeal for learning with others. It was her success in this ﬁeld—and a crystal-clear view of its limitations—that led her to look for another way to make a difference in the lives of children. During a break from St. John’s, Bittle taught in an afterschool science program. There she discovered her innate teaching skills along with the rewards of seeing children who were excited to learn. “That led me to Montessori, which is all about kids teaching themselves,” she says. The Montessori philosophy focuses on developing each child’s unique potential as a human being. Bittle traveled to Colorado to earn her certiﬁcation from the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies. After she completed her training, she found a job in Kensington, Maryland, as an infant/toddler teacher at the Crossway Community Montessori School. The school was part of a nonproﬁt organization with a focus on outreach to low-income, at-risk families in the greater D.C. area. Bittle managed two classrooms with six infants apiece and two classrooms with nine toddlers each. Working with very young children offered the opportunity to help shape their lives in a positive way. However, her choice was one she had to explain to friends who wondered how she could change diapers and deal with temper tantrums. Where was the intellectual challenge? But Bittle could see reﬂected in the youngsters she worked with each day the concepts she read about in Kant and Aristotle—how experience and potential came together for the children in her care. She could help children acquire language, take in new experiences, and make sense of the physical world. The more they mastered, the more they grew in conﬁdence. She especially enjoyed working with the mothers of her students, many of whom struggled with serious problems such as drug addiction and homelessness, and helping them learn to be better parents. “You could have hopes that the world would be different for them,” says Bittle. “I was really proud of what we accomplished. The program was running before I got there, but I was able to help take it to another level and make it consistent. It comes with its frustrations too; you have some victories and some disappointments.” Working closely with parents, Bittle saw that good healthcare and health education were critical to improving the quality of their lives. “One of the things I could see with our mothers was that they had no idea how to build a relationship with a doctor. If anything goes wrong, they know they can be seen by going to the Emergency Room. The ER often became their primary care clinic.” Bittle explains. “When they could get regular medical care, I would go with them to pediatrician appointments, and for the most part what I saw really curled my toes. Not only did the parents not know how to ask questions, they were offered revolving-door medicine from doctors who didn’t listen. I started thinking that I wanted to be part of something different.” Bittle knew she couldn’t teach with the same dedication or energy for many more years; becoming a school administrator wasn’t appealing. When she began to see how much good prenatal care and healthcare education would help both mother and child, she settled on a new career direction Sarah Bittle worked for 12 years as a Montessori teacher before deciding to pursue a second career in nursing. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �{Changing Course} 15 “I don’t seem to do anything the easy way.” Karen Cook rosemary harty as a labor and delivery/ neonatal care nurse and three years ago, took the ﬁrst steps to pursue it. She investigated accelerated nursing programs and settled on Johns Hopkins’ 13-month BSN program. She shifted to a part-time schedule at work and took prerequisite courses in biology, anatomy, physiology, and statistics at a community college. She applied for loans, gave up a great apartment and social life in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, and moved to an apartment in Baltimore. “I have two roommates who are also in nursing school,” says Bittle. “We have a medical dictionary called Mosby’s, and we all sat there the ﬁrst few nights, thumbing through it and looking at these pictures of these horrible things.” While she is among the oldest students in the program, Bittle hasn’t found the curriculum to be very difﬁcult. “I put a lot of energy and emotional commitment into this, but I actually have more spare time now” than as a Montessori teacher, she says. Nursing can be stressful, physical work, and often emotionally demanding, Bittle has found. The Karen Cook enjoyed being a lawyer, but has a real passion for “amazing moments” she has with patients, just as a library science. student, have shown this career choice was the right one. For example, on a recent rotation she spent time “I Feel Like I’m Doing Something with a patient who had suffered a stroke. Although he was alert Worthwhile” and aware of everything that had happened to him, he wasn’t able to articulate his thoughts. “He was so intelligent and wellKaren Cook (SF74) educated, and literate, very Johnnie-like. He knew what he Anyone who has ever pondered Socrates’ “examined life” wanted to say, but he would get stuck on a word he couldn’t would probably understand why Karen Cook has made so remember or translate,” she says. “It was incredibly frusmany changes in her life. trating to him, but he bore it with such incredible grace, and I Over the past four decades, she has married, started a felt so privileged to have known him.” family, earned a law degree, and worked in private practice. Bittle will ﬁnish the program in July and has already begun She divorced, remarried, and put career goals aside to devote investigating the Washington job market. At a time when time to a new blended family. She traded the law for library unemployment is high—and with student loans to pay off—she’s science, left her library job for a corporate position, and glad that nurses are in high demand. “I’m really looking walked away from another good job to pursue a doctorate. She forward to having a full-time job again,” she says. is happily settled (for now) as an assistant librarian at Most Johnnies, Bittle observes, have two qualities that Louisiana State University in Monroe, where she is also a foster the openness to make dramatic changes in their lives. government documents and reference librarian. “I think it has a lot do with the college, either because of the “I don’t seem to do anything the easy way,” says Cook. type of people who are drawn to the Program, or because of Sacrifices were always involved, such as uprooting her what we read in the Program. It’s probably a combination family and selling a home to live the humble life of a doctoral of both. student. Yet new pursuits led to greater rewards. Recently, — Rosemary Harty (AGI09) Cook—a newly minted Doctor of Communication and { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �16 {Changing Course} “I missed the books.” Karen Cook Information Science at age 55—learned that she received the University of Alabama Outstanding Dissertation Award for 2008-2009 for her thesis, “Freedom Libraries in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project: A History.” It was a gratifying achievement, but ﬁnding a topic she cared about and devoting herself to it—that was even better. While she had the encouragement and support of family, Cook had to convince herself that it wasn’t too late to enter a doctoral program at 49. “I do have to say that I didn’t have the energy that some of the younger students did,” she says. “But when I got into the research projects that I really loved, I found the work energizing. It stopped being something I was doing for my career and became something important in and of itself.” Her independent spirit was one reason Cook chose St. John’s. She left St. John’s after her junior year to marry another Johnnie, Carl Huffman (SF74). She ﬁnished her bachelor’s degree, in psychology, at the University of Colorado, and they moved together to Austin, where Huffman earned his doctorate in ancient Greek philosophy. In Texas, Cook attended law school, graduating in 1979. When her husband joined the DePauw University faculty, they settled in Greencastle, Indiana, and Cook put her career on hold for four years to raise their children. After 12 years of marriage, the two divorced. Cook met her second husband, Robert Bremer, through her son David, who was best friends with Robert’s son Derek. Bremer had a law practice, and Cook went to work for him. She enjoyed the variety of a general practice, where she worked on wills, divorces, appellate work, small claims, “all kinds of stuff.” After eight months, the two were engaged. “We were best friends before we fell in love and we fairly quickly decided to get married—we had so much in common,” Cook says. Bremer also had a daughter, Shannon. Cook had two other sons, Peter and John. Together, they had a son, Arthur, who is now 20. With a big, new, blended family, Cook knew change was imminent. “It was too challenging to have the two of us in practice together and try to raise these kids,” she says. “In a law practice you’re at the mercy of a judge. You have a hearing scheduled for 1:15, a child with a dentist appointment at 3:30, and the judge comes back from lunch at 3. That kind of thing started getting very difﬁcult. It was also difﬁcult to get away from the tension of the practice. When life at work was nuts, it was really hard not to have that come home with us.” Cook took time to consider the long view of her life. What was she good at? What did she really love to do? “I kept coming up with two things: books and computers,” she says. “And I ﬁnally settled on becoming a librarian.” She began working toward her MLS part time at the Indiana University, an hour’s drive away, while working part time at the law ﬁrm. Then, in Cook’s words, “life gets really interesting.” Her husband was burnt out on the law. “We decided it was time for my career to be driving the train,” she says. “I had followed the husbands’ career paths long enough.” Cook took a job at a public library in southern Indiana, and her family followed. She was hired to head up technical services—cataloging, acquisitions and preservation. Her knowledge of computers and interest in technology found fertile ground for development. She was put in charge of selecting a new computer system and soon was named systems librarian. “I learned just about everything there was to running a library,” she says, but after three years, “it was starting to get routine.” Cook next went to work for a library software company in Huntsville, Alabama, where she was the public library product manager, traveling the country and working with libraries to ensure the systems met their need. “I almost doubled my salary,” Cook recalls. “It was nice to be able to earn a decent salary, nice to go to conferences without having to share a room with six people.” She held that job for nearly ﬁve years before she felt the familiar hunger for a new challenge. “I became increasingly interested in the Web and I was also suffering from library withdrawal,” she explains. “I missed the books, and I missed the environment where you are seeking knowledge for knowledge’s sake. For In 2008, Cook completed her doctorate; she also won awards for her dissertation. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �{Changing Course} 17 When You’re Considering a Change Don’t be hasty! Take time to reﬂect, do some reading and research, and make contacts, say the directors of the Career Services ofﬁces in Annapolis and Santa Fe. Margaret Odell in Santa Fe recommends: Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger, Do What You Are: Discover The Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Types, Little, Brown, 2001 Shoya Zichy, Career Match: Connecting Who You Are and What You’ll Love to Do, AMACOM (a division of American Management Association), 2007 Marsha Sinetar, Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow, Dell Trade Paperback, 1987, “a bit dated but still great reading.” Bureau of Labor Standards, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009 edition (also available online at www.bls.gov/OCO) “I would urge working with a career counselor or life coach,” says Odell. “Also, don’t forget that the Career Services ofﬁces can put career changers in touch with alumni in a wide variety of ﬁelds who are happy to share information about their careers.” librarians, part of what drives us is that need to share information with others.” A former colleague led Cook to a job with a contractor at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. She worked as an online publisher, editor, and web developer for “NASA Explores,” an online resource and curriculum guide for K-12 science teachers. “I was working in an educational environment, but I found being a government contractor a little problematic,” says Cook. “I like to speak freely, and that was the ﬁnal thing that pushed me completely out of the corporate environment. I didn’t want to compromise my integrity.” It was time, Cook decided, to go back to school. In 2002, she enrolled in the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In searching for a dissertation topic, she discovered that some alternative libraries created by volunteers in Mississippi were instrumental in contributing to the civil rights movement through programs designed to facilitate participation in democracy, further adult literacy, and address the needs of the Advice from Shahrzad Arasteh in Annapolis: Richard Nelson Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute? 2009 Edition, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, 2009 Barbara Sher, Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want, Ballantine Books, New York, 2nd Edition, 2003. “Any Barbara Sher book would be a wonderful resource for both career changers and career seekers,” says Arasteh. “One general piece of advice I would share (in addition to working with a career development professional) is to take a little bit of time to explore and evaluate your skills, passions, values, and interests before deciding on a new career ﬁeld. It is also important to research and test out, in some way, the potential career ﬁeld or ﬁelds. Then make a commitment to one that is a good ﬁt and work on getting the experience and knowledge necessary to transition to it.” Contacts: Santa Fe Ofﬁce of Career Services: 505-984-6067, modell@sjcsf.edu Annapolis Ofﬁce of Career Services: 410-626-2501, shahrzad.arasteh@sjca.edu. poor and disadvantaged. “Only half of the counties in Mississippi had public libraries, and only eight in the whole state served African Americans,” Cook says. Activists for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee started community centers and libraries that offered wider access to books, newspapers, and magazines. By 1964, 250,000 volumes were donated to the “freedom libraries.” Cook’s dissertation topic “brought together all the things I feel most strongly about,” she says, namely, literacy, education, and democracy. She’s now at work turning her thesis into a book. “These were amazing people, forgotten by history, and they deserve to have their story told.” Cook graduated in May 2008. Her husband, who had worked in institutional advancement after leaving the law, earned a Master of Library Science degree and commutes to the Louisiana Tech library in Ruston. At LSU-Monroe, Cook is a government documents and reference librarian, a job she took knowing it would not offer the long-term challenges she { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �18 {Changing Course} “I didn’t have a playbook the day I left St. John’s that said, ‘I’m going to change careers and make it all merge in the end.’” Liz Travis (SF84) needs. Earlier this spring she began to shop around for new opportunities, and at this point in her life, she believes many doors are still open to her. Feeling accomplished isn’t just about salary or prestige, Cook says. “People do look at me strangely, sometimes: ‘You’ve been a lawyer, and now you do this?’ It’s nice to have money, but that is not a sufﬁcient reason to do something. I like to feel good about what I do at work. I feel like I’m doing something that’s worthwhile, and I’m also in an environment where I’m encouraged to keep learning. That’s probably what you hear from most Johnnies. There’s always something new to learn.” —Rosemary Harty (AGI09) “I Need to Believe I Make a Difference” Liz Travis (SF84) For Liz Travis, the roads taken were neither preordained nor premeditated, but they have brought her full circle, back to Santa Fe and ultimately to a job that brings together a liberal arts education, an engineering background, and a law degree. Travis’ career path illustrates the importance of taking time out for reﬂection. At key stages in her life, Travis took periodic breaks to assess where she was and where she wanted to go. After her sophomore year, Travis took time off from St. John’s, working ﬁrst as a lifeguard in Florida and then traveling home to California, where she took “ﬂuffy” classes at the local community college. “My brain needed a break,” she says. After a year, she returned to St. John’s to complete her degree, imagining that she would become either a lawyer or a theoretical physicist. Her ﬁrst job was with Rockwell Space Division in California, where she worked as an analyst in the development of the space shuttle. When nearby Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and defense technology company, announced a “cattle call,” Travis applied and got the job—in part, she admits, through sheer nerve. First, she pointed out to her interviewer that the advertisement speciﬁed that applicants have strong analytical and communications skills, but not necessarily an engineering degree; second, she highlighted the math and science in the Program. Then she challenged him: “I bet you that on day 89 [of the 90-day probationary period] you’ll want to give me a raise.” While she didn’t get the raise exactly as she’d wagered, Travis attributes her success in the job to skills learned at St. John’s: the ability to listen, to respect others’ points of view, and demonstrate proofs—all of which provide “an amazing toolbox that can be applied to any career,” she says. Having thus embarked on her ﬁrst career, Travis made progressive jumps, from assistant engineer to specialist, earning a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California along the way. “I learned everything one could possibly want to know about [then secret] ‘Stealth’ technologies, about management, and about people,” she says. Taking another leap to lead Alcoa’s research and development group in the areas of logistics and industrial engineering seemed like a natural progression. When her facility closed after two years, Travis decided to spend time traveling and reﬂecting before her next career move. She took a “sabbatical” from work to live in Mexico and Guatemala, helping nonproﬁts and small businesses with process improvements. Returning to the West Coast via New Mexico, she visited a fellow Johnnie who was in law school at the University of New Mexico. “I sat in on a ﬁrst-year torts class,” Travis recalls. “The discussion was about assault, and actually about whether butt slaps, like in a locker room, could be assault. The room was ﬁlled with people from every background and age, and the discussion was lively. On my way home to California, I had one of those ‘aha’ moments and knew I was going to law school.” Travis enrolled in the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, where she discovered a focus for her passion. “I loved the study of the law from the start, but I really got hooked on natural resources and environmental law, along with local government and administrative law,” she explains. “I realized that I was most interested in helping at a community level after years in the corporate world. I saw and see my role as helping the decision-makers in their role as ﬁscal stewards of the public’s money and trust.” With law degree in hand at age 40, Travis was asked by McGeorge to help recruit prospective students while awaiting her bar exam results. The summer stint turned into a threeyear job as the director of admissions, during which she also worked pro bono in a legal services clinic. Finally, she decided it was time to undertake the law formally. Her return to Santa Fe constituted a converging of paths. Around the same time that she learned St. John’s was looking for a director of major gifts, she faced a “life-changing” health crisis. “It was like all the stars were pointing in the right direction,” and she fulﬁlled her desire to move back to her college town. When the position was not offered to her, Travis took and { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �19 teri thomson randall {Changing Course} passed her second bar exam, this time in New Mexico. Afterwards, Travis used her legal skills to help friends in business start-up and development. “Suddenly, I was useful again, combining the past life of business with the business of lawyering in a place where I really wanted to live,” she explains. Travis is currently assistant general counsel for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. “It’s the most perfect job [because] I’m working on construction,” she says. “I’m talking to the engineers; I’m understanding the engineers; the whole ﬁrst half of my business life is translated into being the lawyer for the engineers.” Had she not taken the path to law school via a ﬁrst career in engineering, Travis imagines that her life would not have been nearly as interesting or fulﬁlling. Career change requires courage and conﬁdence, Travis says. “I didn’t have a playbook the day I left St. John’s that said, ‘I’m going to change careers and make it all merge in the end.’” If the work you’re doing every day doesn’t resonate with you, says Liz Travis, it’s probably time to consider a change. A guiding principle for Travis has been the need to feel that she is contributing to a greater good—something one can also gain in volunteering, such as the service she gives as a member of the college’s Alumni Association board. But when so many days are spent working, that work should resonate, she says. “I need to believe I make a difference, and I need to be challenged to continually learn and grow. Without that challenge, I begin to feel as if something is missing and that I should be doing more. . . .When you spend so much of your time at a job, that time should resonate with you so that it doesn’t feel like ‘work’ all of the time.”x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } —Deborah Spiegelman �20 {books} For the L OV E of BOOKS Sleeker design. More storage. Longer battery life. Over 250,000 books available in under 60 seconds. And now Kindle can read to you. Our revolutionary wireless reading device just got better. —from Amazon.com This is not an anti-technology rant. Progress, often, is good. We have iPods, we read e-mail on the BlackBerry, and we post photos and notes to Facebook pages. We check out audio books from the library for long car rides. Great conveniences, all. But it’s sometimes hard to say goodbye to the good things that our gadgets replace. Sure, a scratchy vinyl record can be improved upon, but where are those hole-in-the-wall music stores full of interesting characters? Facebook is instant, but there’s nothing like ﬁnding a handwritten note from a good friend in your mailbox. Independent bookstores are not just places to read books; to a genuine book lover, they’re sacred temples. On a trip to a new city, they’re one of the ﬁrst places you investigate. Is there good coffee, and not a chain brew? A poetry reading? Comfortable chairs in hidden nooks? New paperbacks smell good. Old books have a history. Kindles may be convenient, but what about writing notes in the margins? The College asked three alumni to venture out and report back on the delights found in their favorite bookstores. For Anna Perleberg (SF02), it was easy—she works in one. Matthew Grifﬁs (SF08) found good bargains and a good story in beautiful Gig Harbor. And Jennifer Donnelly (A96) lives in Paris—enough said. Johnnies don’t need to be told to buy books, of course, but May is National Independent Bookseller’s Month. Go celebrate. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �21 j. matthew griffis {books} No Dearth of Books, Gig Harbor, Washington J. Matthew Grifﬁs found the tiny No Dearth of Books just to his liking. By J. Matthew Grifﬁs (SF08) I had to walk nearly a mile. The gas money I saved by not driving was hardly a reason to forgive the orange-suited construction crews who with their mighty road cones forced me to leave my van and take to the streets, like an Arabian desert trekker whose camel has just died. But this is a story about books, and a store that sells them. As I trod the sidewalks of Gig Harbor, Washington, dodging couples with dogs and contemplating the tranquility of the bay, I realized that by walking about in the fresh air and plunging into the organized chaos of whatever catches the eye, I was tapping into an era that while not entirely vanished, is conﬁned to an ever-decreasing space. Approaching No Dearth of Books, I had no idea what to expect. I had no references save the phone book listing that identiﬁed it as probably the sort of independent store I wanted. Eventually my eye was caught by a window ﬁlled with stacks of the good stuff. Not a neat display of just one current bestseller, but books laid ﬂat atop one another, piles and piles that completely negated the value of the window as a means of seeing inside. The bookstore occupied half a low-slung, one-story building with a dingy “I’ve-seen-better-days” aspect. The other half contained a Mexican restaurant. Excellent. There was no front door. Sneaking around the side, I opened a door and discovered a hallway with glass along both sides. Much smaller than expected, the bookstore was about the size of a large bedroom. Overﬂowing shelves covered the walls. Occupying most of the ﬂoor was an island of stand-alone shelves and small tables, with stacks rising nearly as high as those on the walls. A walking track ran all the way around, towers of tomes looming on both sides. There was room to walk and room to turn, but only just. I felt that if I tripped and fell, I’d take the whole store with me, everything collapsing like rows of oversized dominoes. I loved it. Interlude: I do enjoy the chain bookstore—clean, roomy, and organized, where the marketability of a product decreases in proportion to its creases. Everything is perfect; nothing is surprising. Contrast this utopia with its polar opposite: small, cluttered rooms with insufﬁcient lighting, a musty smell, and a sense of magical discovery. What treasures might be hiding around the next turn or in the box shoved under a table? All bookstores are variations on these two themes, and No Dearth of Books, with its naked, tubular bulbs { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �22 {books} anna perleberg A display at Watermark Books in Kansas City, where WAR AND PEACE was a top seller. lining the ceiling, its pleasant odor of dust, and its stacks of papery happiness, is a perfect example of the latter. In spite of the chaotic feel, the stacks weren’t really disorganized. Signs indicated groups by genre, and if the proprietor did not know exactly where and what every book was at all times, he did an excellent job of faking it. Harry Dearth, a kindly older man with a quiet wit, has owned and managed this store for 11 years. With an emphasis on nautical volumes and Northwest history, his store contains a plentiful supply of everything else, from massmarket fare to psychology texts to Program heavies such as Tolstoy, Homer, and Shakespeare. Pricing is used-book standard, with the majority of books half off list price. I’ve been spoiled by St. John’s Meem Library book sales, where paperbacks cost a dollar and hardbacks $3. I bit the bullet and committed to a copy of Anna Karenina in excellent condition ($8) and a humor piece with a promising title, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories ($4.50). As I checked out, Mr. Dearth knocked another $1.50 off the Tolstoy novel. Nice. I asked Mr. Dearth about business these days. He told me it was up and down, less than in previous years, which he blamed more on the struggling economy and gasoline woes than on decreased interest in books and reading. People from all over the world, including South Africa and China, had signed his guestbook. Was Mr. Dearth familiar with the Amazon Kindle? He was not. I explained that it’s a portable digital reader; you store books in digital form in the built-in memory and read them on its screen. I expected a rant against newfangled technology that reduced the joy of reading. Instead, he joked that such a device would “drive you blind,” and then said that he had no opinion and was sure there were several sides to the issue. I agreed, but was surprised—as a member of the technology generation, I was more concerned than he was! So I’ll supply the rant. I support technological innovation, as long as its creators keep the dangers in mind. (Don’t these people read science ﬁction?) I love the iPod. A device that lets me take the writings of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Chaim Potok, Will Shakespeare, and Tom Clancy with me, without having to lug around a small elephant, sounds wonderful. The Kindle can do that. Yet I’m a lover not just of books, but of the reading experience. No other medium offers the intimacy of reading. Holding the book and supporting its weight, feeling the pages and hearing the sound they make when turned—these sensations build a whole that deserves the name “experience.” However casual we may be about reading, it is a deeply personal activity that works on more senses than just sight, and more levels than just thought. Aren’t there some things that can’t be improved upon? As our society speeds toward an Internet-driven digital world, I feel some apprehension amidst my excitement. One day we might wake up and realize we’ve lost something irreplaceable, to our sorrow. Perhaps it is groundless anxiety, backlash from Fahrenheit 451. I don’t lose sleep over it. After all, when an e-book is a mouse-click away, there are people who get to their feet and visit stores such as No Dearth of Books. I asked Mr. Dearth if he was worried about the future of the usedbook trade. He said he wasn’t, that for every bookshop that closed there would always be another that opened. I hope he’s right. We shall always be treasure-hunters and bargain-grabbers; I hope we’ll be bibliophiles as well. Nowhere captures the thrill of exploration, the delight of discovery, the sheer capitalistic joy in value, and the love of the book as well as the used bookstore. O hallowed ediﬁce, may you remain an institution as long as intellect endures! Confessions of a K ansas Ninja Bookseller by Anna Perleberg (SF02) W hen you’re from Wichita, Kansas, and move out of state (as I did when I matriculated in Santa Fe in 1998), the ﬁrst thing you have to get used to saying is “but I don’t live on a farm.” Much has been written about the coastal bias against the “ﬂyover states,” and I don’t want to get into petty regionalisms here; I’d like to emphasize, though, that Wichita is a Real City, the 51st largest in the country, with ethnic grocery stores, warehouse art galleries, violent crime—we even had our own serial killer, until they caught him in February 2005. In short, anything they have a thousand of in New York City, Wichita has at least one of: you may have to look harder for it, but it’s there. So yes, Manhattan has that literary mecca, the Strand; Portland has Powell’s; San Francisco, City Lights. Wichita has my workplace and second home, Watermark Books. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �{books} anna perleberg Johnnies are bibliophiles by nature—the kind of people who decide whether they want to get to know someone by perusing their bookshelves, head cocked to one side to read the titles—and I’m a Johnnie by nature; thus, by Euclid’s ﬁrst common notion, I’m a natural bookstore employee. Furthermore, having imbibed a healthy disrespect for authority at a school where 19-year-olds argue with Plato, I don’t do well in impersonal, bottom-lineoriented work environments. Unfortunately, that’s what a lot of bookstores are these days: little more than supermarkets pushing words in bulk, processed thought instead of processed foods, the formulaic bestseller equivalent to high-fructose corn syrup. In contrast to this gargantuan, soulless business model, Watermark can seem startlingly old-fashioned. It’s owned by two people I’ve actually met. Our inventory is computerized, sure, but it’s also internalized: 80 percent of the books in the store have actually passed through my hands, so I have the formidable ninja skill of usually being able to walk right up to the book a patron wants, even when they only remember part of the title. (Sometimes none of. Sometimes the color is enough. Or, “Oh, it’s that book about that girl who did that thing.”) The bookstore’s two main foci are contemporary ﬁction and children’s books. As the resident classicist, I’ve corrected gaps in our backlist (not a Gulliver’s Travels to be found when I started in March 2008. Ouch.) Last summer, we launched a new program, the Watermark Challenge, featuring mini-lectures and moral support to readers seeking out more strenuous fare. We started with that intimidating granddaddy of should-read-that tomes, War and Peace, in the beautifully rendered, magniﬁcently jacketed new Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation. Fifty people showed up at the ﬁrst meeting, and we sold about 100 copies total (making us, I suspect, the only bookstore in America whose Tolstoy sales 23 for last year rivaled their Stephenie Meyer trafﬁc). Having written my senior paper on Tolstoy’s theory of history, I got to lead a lively discussion on why he mucked up such a good story with all that dry philosophical stuff and that dratted locomotive metaphor. Subsequent challenges: The Aeneid, Moby-Dick, and next summer, Proust, which I’ll deﬁnitely have to get in on. It’s not just the bookstore itself that I love: there’s the in-house café, famous for tomato bisque with healing powers, homemade focaccia, addictive cupcakes, and sandwiches with literary names (although some of the connections are tenuous—“Moby Dick” is tuna salad, of course, but why is my favorite pesto-and-portobello “The Odyssey”?) Every month, they rotate recipes from a featured cookbook: Black Forest cookies from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking (Matt Lewis & Renato Poliaﬁto), a jasmine-essenceinfused poundcake from The Spice Merchant’s Daughter (Christina Arokiasamy). Oh, and mint chocolate chip milkshakes in December. Most of all, what Watermark has to offer that no corporate-led, cookie-cutter megastore can rival is its connection to the community, past and present. It’s in the heart of a neighborhood called College Hill, ﬁrst laid out in the 1880s, with shady, tree-lined streets (a rarity on the prairie) and the kind of brick houses that real estate agents describe as “quaint.” In the same square mile, a pedestrian (and there still are pedestrians in College Hill) can ﬁnd the Wichita Historical Museum, Wichita Community Theater, and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Allan Lambe House. For large events, such as chirpy/laconic National Public Radio commentator Sarah Vowell’s visit last September, we partner with the Orpheum Theatre downtown, a lavish movie palace recently restored to its 1920s glory. Even Watermark’s location in the city’s oldest strip mall (dating from 1949, and currently housing nothing but locally owned businesses—a ﬂower shop, a shoe store, a diner, a barbershop), taps into Wichita’s history. On a smaller scale, Watermark is very much a local meeting place. It’s a prime lunch spot, near downtown and Wichita’s largest high school. Over the holidays, bookstore and café alike overﬂow with families and college kids home on break. Besides the store’s several “ofﬁcial” book clubs (chick-lit, classics, works in translation, French, Spanish, a group that reads Elizabethan drama out loud), many more meet in the café or one of the downstairs meeting rooms, which also host school groups, bridal showers, political discussions, and the Kansas Paranormal Researchers Guild. And we’re the only place in town that carries the daily New York Times—which does make Wichita sound terribly provincial, I’m afraid—and there are a dozen folks who pick it up every day without fail. Watermark Books, more than just being a place to buy bound paper, gathers together the things I love best about my hometown. On an ordinary day, I can call more than half of my customers by name, remember what they’ve bought—and they remember what The in-house café at Watermark Books features bisque with healing powers. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �24 {books} I’ve sold them, what I’ve read recently, what we’ve both liked, and where we’ve differed. It’s this human factor that’s kept Watermark open since 1977 and keeps it thriving today in an Amazon.com world. Anybody can sell you the one book you want. We can ﬁnd the one you didn’t know you wanted. maps an elegy for nations that are no more than an early prototype of the world of today. There you ﬁnd a bloated version of the present-day Federal Republic of Germany called Prussie, the empires of China and Russia, a sliver of land marked Mesopotamie. A previous owner circled the names of towns up and down the Mississippi. I often wonder whether she The Haunted Bookstores of Paris reached them. Regarding new books, any given quartier has several indeby Jennifer A. Donnelly (A96) pendent bookstores, with neat copies of Roland Barthes’ mythologies and King Babar’s adventures arranged in their lthough a resident of Paris for nearly a decade, I polished windows like chocolate éclairs at the pastry shop. The still feel haunted by the achievements of the French government regulates the price of new books, so bigthinkers who, at some time or another, have called box chains and two-for-one markdowns are uncommon, but this city home. René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, when you just want to browse, a librairiste is much less likely to Molière and Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and effuse chagrin than a salesgirl at the guillotined Antoine Yves Saint Laurent. Lavoisier, are all buried here. While these French instituWhat they left behind when they tions have charm, a foreigner departed, apart from bones, Annapolis Bookstore Manager Robin Dunn has spent 19 like me also wants books in my bronze memorial plaques, and years as a bookseller (and 15 in publishing). Here’s his guide langue maternelle. Paris has a unpaid bills, were their books, to some of the best in the trade: half-dozen or so Englishmusical scores, theater pieces, language bookstores, each with and even the occasional federal Boulder Bookstore, Boulder, Colo. “They have an a distinct character. The elegant constitution. The bookseller incredibly broad selection of books and a well-trained staff.” Galignani purports to be “the helps us communicate with their The Tattered Cover, Denver (three stores) “In addition to ﬁrst English bookshop estabghosts. And these mediums are being a great bookstore, the Tattered Cover is at the forelished on the continent,” ultieverywhere. front of the intellectual freedom movement, and they give mately tracing its origins to the The ﬁrst place you notice back to the community.” 16th century. The Village Voice, them is the river that bisects the Powell’s City of Books, Portland, Ore. “So big, the founded by a solitary Frenchcity. Both banks are lined with departments are decorated in different, vivid colors so you woman, admirably wrestles know where you are.. Used books are shelved right alongside metal boxes holding used books, against English chain W.H. the newer volumes.” magazines, and prints, tended by Smith for readings from bestbouquinistes who withstand the Sam Weller’s Bookstore, Salt Lake City “Amazing, selling authors. The San Franfamily-owned bookstore stuffed full of new, used, and rare incessant drizzle in the service cisco Book Company gives intitles. They know their books here!” of literature (or at least of print store credit for used books. The media). At the numerous The Strand, New York City “Eighteen miles of books in a mere name of The Red Wheellabyrinthine building, a good place to buy new books at low broquantes—a blend of antiques barrow evokes poetry. prices.” shops and rummage sales—a few Then there is Shakespeare & Euro coins and some patience Elliott Bay Book Co., Seattle “In an elegant building in Company. Founded by AmerPioneer Square, very peaceful, but with lots of readings and might reward the bookhound ican George Whitman in 1951, other events going on all the time.” with a ﬁrst-edition, leatherit copped its name from the City Lights, San Francisco “You have to go for the lore, of bound tome from centuries past, and bookshop legendary course, but it’s the best place if you’re looking for literature pages splashed with red wine and and poetry. I always ﬁnd something I didn’t expect.” lending library run during the underscored with the pencil of heady interwar years by another Seminary Co-op Books, Chicago “It’s in a basement of some unknowable stranger. expatriate, Sylvia Beach (who, the Chicago Theological Seminary in Hyde Park, and you’ll For me, the primary pleasure have to make your way around pipes, but it’s the closest in addition to supplying reading of these eclectic spots lies in thing to St. John’s you’ll ﬁnd anywhere. Absolutely packed; material for the likes of their capacity to surprise. The you may need to weave a web like Ariadne to ﬁnd your way Gertrude Stein and F. Scott printing press has enjoyed a out. A philosopher’s heaven.” Fitzgerald, published James long, storied history in France, The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, N.C. “It has a musty Joyce’s Ulysses after traditional and you never know what you smell without being moldy.” channels judged it obscene). might ﬁnd. I once bargained Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C. “The ﬂagship store The façade of the building, adamantly for a Géographie for books on current affairs and politics.” catty-corner to the Notre Dame, moderne from 1884, its yellowed A Best Among Booksellers { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �25 elena luoto meister {books} bows out slightly; the timbers are smoothed with age. Outside, overﬂowing bookracks announce the place’s purpose. Inside, every conceivable nook has been put to use: walls are covered ﬂoor-to-ceiling with shelves, ladders, and rickety chairs at hand for scaling them. Doorways between rooms are fashioned into bookcases, although they are nearly unnavigably narrow. A display table is formed by the top of a rickety piano, whose keys still play, although the space between pedals and keyboard is ﬁlled with threadbare paperbacks. Planks have been nailed to the bottom side of the staircase, with old books piled on them. In various corners, readers sit sprawled upon dusty mattresses. At night, transient writers curl up on them to sleep, in exchange for a brief written biography and some help around the shop. While the case of the mattresses is unique to Shakespeare & Company, it says something broader about the essence of the English-language bookshops in Paris. They become a locus for the city’s community of Anglophones, expatriates of various countries as well as non-native speakers of the language. Nearly all organize readings, usually followed by wellattended apéros; some host informal critique groups of worksin-progress. These are also the places to get your New York Jennifer Donnelly senses the lasting presence of long-dead authors in the bookstores of Paris. Review of Books or to read calls for submissions from literary journals and offers of language exchanges. Over the years, the bookshops and their activities have enabled me to meet a number of renowned authors as well as make many revered friends. Which is one of the reasons that, while in France, I rarely order from Amazon. It’s not just because La Poste is unreliable (although it is) or that fees for international shipping are exorbitant (they are). Booksellers abroad, whether of the local language or your native tongue, offer the traveler discovery, sometimes refuge, and almost always a pleasant diversion. And, like all bookstores everywhere, they form a link between the authors whose earthly remains lie in catacombs and crypts, or one day will, while their words live on in consciousness and conversation. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �26 { A l u m n i Vo i c e s } A Townie Goes to College In the Midst of a Depression, Life Was Good at St. John’s by Jack Owens (Class of 1937) students, and the professors were well suited for their job. My graduating class contained 75 students. Early in freshman year, we were required to attend a lecture on mental and physical health, with emphasis on social diseases. Dr. Murphy from the Naval Academy told us about the problems encountered by young people from 16 to 24 as they adjust to becoming adults. During my years, three students died: one in his auto and two by suicide. One of them I knew well. He shot himself in his room. I think the college was struggling with the Depression, as everyone was. I believe the presidents took the job for prestige as well as a hope to help the college. One of the The front walk of the Annapolis campus in 1933, when Jack three presidents in my Owens was a freshman. four years was Amos W. W. Woodcock. He had alcohol don’t have worms.” President just left his job in Washington as head Woodcock said, “That’s right. People who of prohibition enforcement, sponsored drink die.” by the Women’s Christian Temperance President Douglas Gordon had a nice Union (WCTU), because the amendment motto that most remember: When you was abolished. He was not popular on campus. At one of graduate from St. John’s, you will be “a gentleman and a scholar.” the student assemblies in the Great Hall, My four years were an important phase he gave a lecture on the sins of drinking of my life. I became more skilled in my alcohol. He placed two glasses on the social abilities. I found that I could succeed lectern, one with water and the other with in the real world, as I had good basic alcohol. He dropped a worm in the water knowledge in many subjects and had and the worm wiggled. Then he put it in learned how to do the research you need to the alcohol and the worm died. He asked solve a puzzling problem. the assembly what this demonstration My freshman year was the last of the proved. One of the boys in my aisle said in a hazing. One day a sophomore asked if I was hushed voice, “It proves people who drink greenfield library T he Depression was full blown in 1933. I had just graduated from Annapolis High School and needed to go to college, but I did not have the $300 for tuition at St. John’s. Annapolis was relatively sheltered from the economic realities because the largest employer was the Naval Academy. But the tenor of the times was displayed to me when a friend and I hitchhiked from Annapolis to New York City. We were 15. We stayed at the YMCA and ate at a cafeteria. There I sat next to a nice-looking man of about 50, who was poorly dressed. He had ordered a coffee for about ﬁve cents. He drank a little and then he poured the whole sugar shaker’s contents into the drink for food. We had moved from Annapolis to a small house in Eastport on Spa Creek. My mother died in the inﬂuenza epidemic when I was about three years old, and my father had prostate cancer. The only way I could go to college was by scholarship. The state of Maryland offered each county a fund for tuition to St. John’s. I took the test and succeeded. I later discovered that about ﬁve percent of the Johnnies also had this scholarship from their own counties. Annapolis was called “Crab Town” because so many ﬁshermen unloaded their catch at the City Dock, to ship from there to Baltimore. The bay was a veritable protein factory because of the water’s bounty. The clear spring water of Spa Creek was full of healthy seaweed, crabs, and small ﬁsh. I often caught our dinner from my little boat, dipping for soft-shell crabs. My worldly knowledge was limited, and I was happy to go to St. John’s to knock heads with young men from all over the East Coast. To reach my earliest class at 8 a.m., I rowed across the creek for ﬁve minutes and walked about 10 minutes. St. John’s was a good, typical liberal arts college with about 350 students. I took the regular classes my ﬁrst year: math, English, history, chemistry, and physics. The classes were small, never more than 20 { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �27 a freshman. I said yes. “Where is your strawberry box hat?” he demanded. “I don’t have one.” He said, “Get it and wear it.” I never found one. I guess I am a bit of an iconoclast. During a “shoot the cannon run” starting at the old Civil War cannon, the sophomores lined up with belts to swing at the freshmen as they ran toward the Liberty Tree. I was a fast runner, so I did play that game. The freshmen also had to learn the school songs. The best is “St. John’s Forever.” Another was for the football team, whose traditional rival was Johns Hopkins: St. Johnnies in town, Oh Hopkins, they are all around. They will run around your ends, Gaining by tens. There is no use in playing Cause old St. John’s is in town. We had about six fraternities on campus where the brothers lived and a big dorm for freshmen and other students who did not want to join a frat. A student union on the ﬁrst ﬂoor of McDowell had a bookstore and also a pool table where the daily game was nickel nine ball. There was a small library and a nice gym for basketball, and of course McDowell for classes and administration. I knew I was missing much of the social life by living in town, and the food at home was mainly from a can. So I worked hard to ﬁnd more aid to pay for room and board. I raked leaves under a federal program. I set up the lab in physics. I did a little tutoring and got paid a little money. That did the trick; I moved to the frat house. All day we dressed much like preppies, but in the dining room a jacket was the mode. I recall the ﬁrst day of the philosophy course. The professor entered the room smelling a little ﬂower, not saying a word. Then he looked at the ﬂower and said, “Little ﬂower, as I look at thee and smell thee, I wonder what the world and thee are all about.” Sitting down, he said, “That’s what this course is about.” We students looked at each other and gulped. Although it was not my favorite course, even now I can’t get these international words about life from my mind: Élan vital, ding an sich, and cogito ergo sum. In my senior year, I was the person who initiated the new frat pledges. The dictum greenfield library { A l u m n i Vo i c e s } Mr. Owens’ senior portrait from the 1937 Rat-Tat, the college yearbook. was from the Bible: “Vanitas, vanitatum, omnia vanitas,” with two long paragraphs in Latin. I told them my translation: “Don’t be vain like Narcissus, who liked his looks so much that he kept looking in a pond at himself, so Zeus turned him into a ﬂower.” College activities included the theatrical Colonial Players, a glee club, a social club, and enthusiastic intramural sports: softball, touch football, basketball, and track. The big sport teams were football, basketball, and of course lacrosse. Having played some lacrosse in town, I played four years as a Johnnie. During my junior year, the lacrosse team missed a train in New York City on our way to West Point to play Army, so we got to spend the night in the city. Coach said, “I am bed checking; be in bed by 10 o’clock.” A New Yorker on our team convinced four of us to go to the Roseland Ballroom to “brush up on our dance steps.” About ten girls were lined up for “Ten Cents a Dance.” You picked a girl, paid ten cents, and began the dance. After about three minutes, the girls said, “Okay, ten cents more.” We went for about 30 cents and then headed back to our room. While I was playing intramural basketball, the coach, Dutch Lentz, approached me to say, “Hey, Owens, how about joining the varsity? Some of my better players are ﬂunking.” So I joined the team as a sub. For a small college, we had an outstanding year in 1937. The University of Maryland had a good basketball team that year and we were the underdogs as we played them at their home. When we were six points ahead with ﬁve minutes to play, one of our men fouled out. Coach Lentz said, “Owens, go in the game. Don’t let your man score.” Well, my opponent was named King Kong Keller and he looked the part. His job was to intimidate us. He was a good athlete but I was good on defense, so I stayed with him all the way. When we won, he threw the ball at me. I walked away having learned, “Debate, but don’t argue.” It was the ﬁrst year of the national collegiate contest in basketball, and the Johnnies were selected to represent the state of Maryland. We played on a Saturday evening in Philly and got beat. Yet it was a good day anyway, because when we got home to the gym, the social club had transformed Iglehart into a dance hall for Tommy Dorsey’s Big Band. We were invited to join the dancers. In those days, the “Big Apple” was a popular college dance: four or ﬁve couples link arms in a circle and each dancer has a chance to “shine” in the center of the ring. I give kudos to the coaches. I never heard one coach raise his voice to blame a player for his game. In 1937, we were prepared to beat Hopkins in lacrosse and trained hard. We did beat them; I had a good scoring day. These four years stand out in my mind as some of the happiest days of my life, and I think I qualiﬁed for the college’s aim: “a gentleman and a scholar.” x St. John’s forever, Its fame shall never die. We’ll ﬁght for its colors And raise them to the sky. Mr. Owens in the 1970s. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �28 {Biblioﬁle} Red Car by Sallie Bingham (SFGI93) Sarabande Books, 2008 The dozen stories in Sallie Bingham’s short story collection Red Car, set in locales from Colorado to Normandy, take a mature perspective. The narrator of “A Gift for Burning” tells an off-stage interviewer about her acclaimed novelist son who received little of his mother’s attention. In “Red Car,” the eponymous convertible is the only constant, while owners and marriages come and go. And in “The Shot Tower,” a young woman seemingly abandoned by her lover chooses to carry on without him. “The girl would always choose life,” Bingham writes in conclusion. Booklist said of her most recent work: “Bingham has been writing ﬁction for decades, and her newest short stories evince the tangy fruits of her labors in their graceful balance, reﬁned composition, telling details, and the probity of their emotions.” Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Bingham grew up in a complicated and powerful family, which owned The Louisville Times and The Courier-Journal. At 22, she published her ﬁrst novel, After Such Knowledge, in 1961. She has never stopped writing, even while rearing three sons and going through a divorce. Her themes include transgressions in affairs of the heart, dreams pursued and dreams unfulﬁlled, and family grievances. After her children were grown, Bingham moved to Santa Fe, where she came across a Excerpt: “Red Car” The wife rode in the car for the last time in March. She had eaten dinner with her husband in a restaurant they visited on the way back from the airport, on the way to the airport, and often in between, a lively little place with a bar overlooking the ocean. They both dreaded going back to the house. There’s a silence particular to the end of a marriage, when there are no words, not even any actions to convey the despair, the listlessness, of the approaching end; and the broad white bed in the big bedroom is no longer even a hope or a possibility but another item on an endless list of disappointments and regrets. brochure for St. John’s and realized that she had never read Plato. “For reasons that are mysterious to me, I missed reading a lot of the Western classics,” she says. As a Graduate Institute student, Bingham found “a lot of the discussions very worthwhile,” although the math and science requirements were a bit intimidating, she admits. (One of her stories, “Speaking Greek,” is based in part on an exchange in a GI seminar.) Bingham was exposed to Shakespeare at a young age and has always been fascinated by theater. Her ﬁrst play was produced in 1980, off-Broadway at the now-defunct American Place Theatre. Determined to help bring more plays written and produced by women to the stage, Bingham teamed up with the So when he said, “Shall we take a drive?” she thought it was a good idea, to put off that end. They drove out along the bay where the houseboats are snubbed up against the highway and the lights from the strip development waver in oily darkness. He pulled her in under his arm and drove with his left hand and she wondered why, once again, she was allowing him to drive her when he was drunk, and why, once again, their past seemed to have returned: the one-handed driver, the broad seat, the woman shivering in a light cotton dress under the heavy arm of a man to whom she appears, against all reason, to belong. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } theatre’s co-producer, Julia Miles. The Women’s Project and Productions, housed in a converted church, was offering in its heyday in the 1980s six or more plays a year, in addition to a variety of workshops. After she moved to Santa Fe, Bingham suggested to Martin Platt, then artistic director of New Mexico Repertoire Company, that they collaborate on a sustainable regional theatre. As founder and board member of Santa Fe Stages, Bingham helped produce original plays and brought in touring productions from across the country and abroad. Her championing of women writers also led her to establish the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at Duke University two decades ago. Originally devoted to housing Bingham’s papers as well as those of other writers, the archives have broadened their mandate to include a variety of public and personal records. While feminism has been an ongoing theme in both Bingham’s life and work, Red Car reﬂects the clarity one can achieve with time and distance. “There’s a certain degree of wisdom as one goes on as a writer that makes it easier to pick the battles,” she notes. “Not every battle is worth ﬁghting.” — Deborah Spiegelman La Fontaine’s Complete Tales in Verse: An Illustrated and Annotated Translation by Randolph Runyon (A71) McFarland, 2009 Though Jean de La Fontaine’s Contes et nouvelles en vers were written more than 300 years ago, Randolph Runyon’s new book is the ﬁrst complete English translation. The book includes an extensive commentary and 69 illustrations including engravings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) as well as others from littleknown 19th-century French editions. La Fontaine’s work is not meant for children. No tortoises, hares or foxes inhabit the poems. Instead they speak of husbands and wives, nuns and friars, lovers all ruled by the power of lust. The Tales are delicately sensual and yet, like Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, delightfully wicked. In 1675, at the request of Louis XIV, copies of the Tales were seized as it was claimed they contained indiscreet language and posed a threat to public morals. La Fontaine denounced them on his deathbed to win admittance to heaven, yet there are in �29 {Bibliofile} fact no unseemly words in the Tales. As Runyon writes in his introduction, “La Fontaine went to amusing lengths to suggest certain things without actually saying them, in verse that provides food for the mind as well as the senses.” A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books by Alex Beam Public Affairs, 2008 A number of the men central to the story of St. John’s College are major ﬁgures in Alex Beam’s book, A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books. Robert Hutchins, Mortimer Adler, Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan were all involved in an effort to bring great books to the general public beginning in 1952. Beam, a columnist for the Boston Globe, developed his idea to write about the Great Books movement after a reader of the paper asked him why a company called Liberal Arts, Inc., bought an estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1947. The query led Beam to Barr and Buchanan’s attempt to establish a great books college in Stockbridge after leaving St. John’s. “Liberal Arts was such a strange name for an entity, so I started looking into it,” Beam says. From there, he discovered the Great Books Foundation and grew particularly interested in the development and marketing of The Great Books of the Western World, a 54-volume series featuring 443 works deemed the most important for educated people to read—or, at least have on their bookshelves. Apart from capturing a movement and describing an ambitious business venture, Beam enjoyed writing about “these largerthan-life characters.” He expresses great admiration for Robert Hutchins, but he’s hard on Mortimer Adler, whom he describes as Hutchins’ “brilliant, Hobbitlike sidekick.” “[Adler] was a complicated person, and he deserves much credit for this dramatic educational movement,” says Beam. “I admit that I had fun with him and made sport of him, but to be fair, I acknowledge his strange, egomaniacal brilliance.” “Tiny St. John’s College” earns a chapter in Beam’s book, in a section devoted to showing how the great books live on. Beam met Annapolis tutor Eva Brann (HA87) at a great books conference at Yale University and asked if he could visit her at the college. “She is the most articulate advocate of the St. John’s ideal,” Beam says. Beam claims to have written “the only unboring book written about the great books.” Widely reviewed, with stories in publications including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the book has gained some attention for the college as a place where the classics are treasured— though it wasn’t Beam’s intention. “If I can get people thinking about and reading the great books, that’s a good thing,” he says. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } George Van Sant at Homecoming 2008 Taking on the Burden of History: Presuming to be a U. S. Marine by George Van Sant (class of 1947) Xlibris, 2008 George Van Sant, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Mary Washington, has penned a lively memoir of his years in the United States Marine Corps. Van Sant interrupted his studies to enlist in the Marine Corps during World War II, but the war ended while he was still in boot camp. He served overseas in Pearl Harbor and North China, and after his discharge returned to St. John’s to ﬁnish his degree. Later, he went to ofﬁcer training school in Quantico and was a second lieutenant when he was sent to the Korean War, where he served from 1952 to 1953. After he ﬁnished his Korean service in 1953, he attended graduate school at University of Virginia, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in philosophy. For much of his academic career, he remained active in the Marine Corps Reserve service. From the beginning of his military career, Van Sant wondered if he was cut out to be a Marine. That answer became clear: Van Sant was awarded the Meritorious Bronze Star for valor, for leading his platoon on a raid into the Chinese trench line. His military service, it turned out, “was the crowning achievement of my life,” he says. x �30 {Homecoming} AUTUMN REVEL S Games in the East, Balloons in the West Annapolis: September 26-28 Stationed at the Coffee Shop for Homecoming registration, Steve Thomas (SF74), vice president of the Alumni Association, noted that planning a fun weekend is an evolutionary process. Seminars are a must, but events for kids are becoming increasingly important. “This is a family-friendly event where the students take care of the kids,” Thomas said. “We even have junior seminars.” At a luncheon for members of the classes of the 1940s, where about 20 alumni dined with Christopher Nelson (SF70), Henry Robert (class of 1941) remembered Homecomings “when we were still having football games.” Anthony Hammond (class of 1947) traveled with his wife, Sylvia Hammond, from Dorset County, England. He attended St. John’s for just two years, Hammond noted, “but I’ve always had a certain afﬁnity for the college.” In the afternoon, Chris Denny (A93), assistant professor of theology and religious studies at St. John’s University in New York, was still talking about the morning’s seminar on the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” “I will never teach it the same way again,” he said. “In a St. John’s seminar people are committed to discovering the ways in which a text uncovers truth.” Ever the rebels, alumni from the 1960s talked politics and justice with tutors emeriti Sam Kutler (class of 1954) and Larry Berns (H00). Sharon Wallace (class of 1964) recalled how she and classmates registered voters and took part in sit-ins. After she graduated, Wallace said, she “pursued the question ‘what is justice?’ at the Justice Department.” Blakely Mechau (class of 1958) mused about the changes women brought to St. John’s. “I was in the ﬁrst class in which women were in every classroom. We went into the Ivory Tower in our plaid skirts and cashmere sweaters, ready. Today in a seminar on Locke with tutor Chester Burke (A74) we raised the question, ‘Is knowledge possible?’ It was ﬁtting.” photos by gary pierpoint Above (clockwise from top right): Temple Iglehart, transformed; Award of Merit recipient Henry Higman (class of 1948); Annapolis alumni play “Wits & Wagers.” Opposite page: Top right, Mikiko Duvoisin, daughter of Santa Fe tutor Jacques Duvoisin (A80), shows off her artwork; Honorary Alumni Howard Fisher (l.) and Kent Taylor; Khin Khin Guyot Brock (SF88) and her husband, Kevin (SF90); Award of Merit recipient Dr. Norman Levan (SFGI74) { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �{Homecoming} Honors, Honorary Alumni Santa Fe: October 11-13 For those really early risers, Homecoming festivities in Santa Fe began before dawn on Friday, October 10, when a group of alumni boarded vans at 4:30 a.m. to attend the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Shifting Homecoming later in the fall allowed alumni to enjoy one of New Mexico’s most popular events. Most alumni, however, chose a more leisurely start to the weekend. They registered in the afternoon (a new computer system moved people through smoothly), attended the welcome reception in the Lower Common Room, then met up with their classmates at the various receptions hosted before the 8 p.m. lecture by Elaine Scarry of Harvard University. After the lecture, there were movies on the grassy knoll outside Weigle Hall: the very campy St. John’s Story, along with the critically acclaimed The Tao of Steve, written by Duncan North (SF87). Saturday’s seminars were lively and well attended, especially the class of 1983’s King Lear seminar (led by tutor Phil LeCuyer) and the class of 2003’s Flannery O’Connor seminar (led by tutor Matt Davis). Wild weather—including a hail storm—brought the Fiesta Picnic, scheduled to be held on the Soccer Field, into the dining hall. Saturday night provided yet more opportunities for socializing: a lecture and book signing by Sallie Bingham (SFGI93), the All-Alumni Art Show reception, and a banquet and dance. x Each year, the Alumni Association welcomes honorary alumni into the fold and recognizes the achievement of St. John’s alumni: In Santa Fe, two long-serving tutors became 2008 Honorary Alumni of the college: Kent H. Taylor served the college as a tutor for more than 30 years. He contributed to the growth of the Santa Fe campus almost since its inception. Howard Fisher was a vibrant part of the St. John’s community on both campuses for more than 45 years. He began his career at the college in 1965 in Annapolis and moved to the Western campus in 2006. Santa Fe alumni also honor the achievement of two of their own: George Forest Bingham (SF68) earned a law degree from the University of New Mexico and has since practiced law in his home state of New Mexico as well as in Washington, D.C. He has served as a member of the Board of Visitors and Governors since 1994 and as a member of the St. John’s College Alumni Association Board. Dr. Norman E. Levan (SFGI74) is professor emeritus and former chief of dermatology at his alma mater, the University of Southern California School of Medicine. He enjoyed a long and distinguished career in medicine, including establishing the Hansen’s Disease Clinic at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. In 2006, he made a $5 million gift to the capital campaign to build a graduate center on the campus. Construction begins this spring on the Betty and Norman Levan Hall. In Annapolis, the association granted one Honorary Alumnus award, posthumously, to Christopher G. Colby, who joined the college’s Print Shop in 1977 and served as manager until his death on March 27, 2008. Mr. Colby will be remembered as a gentle, kind, and hard-working colleague, as well as a friend to many. His daughter, Yve, accepted the award for her father. At the Saturday banquet, two alumni were honored with the Award of Merit: Dr. Henry Higman (class of 1948), who enjoyed a long and successful career as a neurologist and medical school professor; and Peter McGhee (class of 1955), who rose to Vice President for National Programming at WGBH in Boston, where he guided the development of notable PBS programs including NOVA, American Experience, and Frontline. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } 31 �32 {Alumni Profile} The Boss Whisperer Laura Crawshaw (SF75) Tames Difﬁcult Supervisors by Anna Perleberg (SF02) he Boss from Hell is a cinematic staple, from goofy Michael Scott in The Ofﬁce to the ruthless chief in Glengarry Glen Ross. And there are all too many real-world analogues. How to deal? Search for “bad bosses” on Amazon and you’ll get a slew of how-to manuals (and a voodoo doll) for surviving what one author calls “dysfunctional, disrespectful, dishonest little dictators.” But Laura Crawshaw (SF75) takes issue with the labels: “The common myth is that these bosses are evil or crazy or both. Having coached them for 15 years, my experience is that that’s just not true.” Crawshaw is the world’s ﬁrst Boss Whisperer; while others have helped employees cope, Crawshaw works with the problem bosses themselves, opening their eyes to the distress their behaviors cause and gently retraining them to be more productive—often saving their jobs in the process. After graduating with her master’s in social work from Smith College in 1977, Crawshaw moved to Alaska to work with the state’s ﬁrst Employee Assistance Program (EAP). “There, I was, all sparkly-eyed,” she says, “and one day I had an emergency appointment. He was a typical Alaska roughneck—tractor cap, etc.—and looked embarrassed to be there. ‘I’m angry at my boss,’ he said. ‘He calls me names, he disrespects me.’ I asked him how angry. ‘I’m thinking about killing him.’” Crawshaw dutifully tried to determine how T serious the threat was: “‘Have you thought about how?’ I asked. ‘The gun’s in the car,’ he answered.” A stunned Crawshaw scurried down the hall to ask her supervisor what to do. “He said to ask him if we could have the gun,” she recalls. “So I did: the guy said yes, and he looked so relieved.” As the EAP collected guns in their safe, Crawshaw puzzled over how a boss could so stress a workplace that employees contemplated violence. Eventually, she was recruited as an executive in her company to direct their EAPs at the national and international level: “First, I learned the language of emotion” through her work in psychotherapy, “and then I learned and observed business.” This combined expertise led her to start her own ﬁrm in 1995: Executive Insight Development Group, headquartered in Portland, Oregon. The group has since coached leaders in more than 40 Fortune 500 companies around the world. In 2005, Crawshaw earned a PhD in organizational behavior from the Fielding Graduate Institute. Recently, she’s written a guide called Taming the Abrasive Manager: Ending Unnecessary Roughness in the Workplace (Jossey-Bass, 2007). Though Crawshaw left St. John’s for Smith College after two years, her time at the Montaigne would have made a great executive coach “His insight on the power gained through conversational humility stands the test of time,” says Crawshaw. “I’ve shared his thoughts with many of my clients, and to see one abandon dialectical bullying with the simple words ‘I am wrong’ is a powerful moment— that moment where inﬂuence is gained by relinquishing the imperative for “rightness.” Consider this passage from “On the Art of Conversation”: Contradictions of opinion, therefore, neither offend nor estrange me: they only arouse and exercise my mind. We run away from correction; we ought to court it and expose ourselves to it, especially when it comes in that shape of discussion…Each time we meet with opposition, we consider not whether it is just, but how, wrongly or rightly, we can rebut it. Instead of opening our arms to it, we greet it with our claws…I like expression to be bold, and men to say what they think…It is however, difﬁcult to induce men of my time to do this; they have not the courage to correct because they have not the courage to stand correction: and they never speak frankly in one another’s presence. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } As an executive coach, Laura Crawshaw combines the language of emotion with an understanding of business. college greatly inﬂuenced her work. The Boss Whispering method is inspired by three great thinkers: Socrates, Darwin, and Freud. Socratic questioning helps her coax comprehension from oblivious managers without simply telling them to “be nice.” She describes sorting through theories with a client who complained that his requests for ideas were only met with silence: at ﬁrst, asked why he thought this happened, he declared his employees must be lazy or stupid. Pressed for another option, he admitted, “I’ve been told I can be kind of critical.” Crawshaw suggested he test this notion by rewarding any response at all. At their next session, the overjoyed CEO cried, “I did what you said, and they started talking!” Darwin and Freud provide Crawshaw with a frame of reference for why abrasive bosses develop and a crucial strategy they need to change their ways. “Businesspeople understand the language of ‘survival of the ﬁttest,’” says Crawshaw, reeling off workplace idioms couched in animal terms: rat race, top dog, “it’s a jungle out there.” Freud later expanded Darwin’s ideas about natural selection to psychological survival: when faced with an emotional threat, individuals resort to defense mechanisms, less literal “ﬁght or ﬂight” reactions. The aforementioned CEO, for example fought; the employees who clammed up ﬂed. Identifying these responses in themselves and others can help a boss avoid eliciting them. Lately, Crawshaw has moved from coaching clients to training others in her method: she envisions a legacy of Boss Whisperers enlightening, soothing and taming unwittingly difﬁcult supervisors. “I’m in love with my work,” says Crawshaw. “My mission is to end suffering in the workplace.” x �33 {Alumni Notes} 1937 HAROLD BROOKS and Margie, his wife of 40 years, celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary in November at their home in sunny Sebastian, Fla. “Most of our courting days and nights were spent at St. John’s,” Harold writes. 1945 DONALD KAPLAN is still involved in ﬁnancial planning in Walnut Creek, Calif. He welcomes hearing from any classmates of the war and post-war years at dk2301@msn.com. 1949 ALLAN HOFFMAN has a message to all the members of the Class of 1949 and those who attended St. John’s in the years 1945 through 1949: “This fall in Annapolis we will be celebrating the 60th reunion of the Class of 1949. We were the last class to have both ‘Winkie’ Barr and Scott Buchanan as our president and dean. Our numbers were small then and due to the passage of time less now. This in all probability will be the last possible quinquennial reunion for those precious few of us left. Let’s all try to make this 60th a memorable occasion. I am sure Scott and Winkie would want it to be so. Mark the dates on your calendar now. I look forward to being with you in Annapolis one more time.” ALLEN JACKSON, the third generation to attend St. John’s, passed along some family lore concerning athletics at St. John’s, particularly the 1905 football game in which St. John’s beat Navy 104-0. “The game was never completed because of a brawl in the fourth quarter, including players tossing each other into College Creek, so Navy never recorded the event,” says Jackson, whose grandfather may have played for the Johnnies. In a more modern development, Jackson was recognized for his work in founding the Fuel Fund in Maryland. The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. presented its annual Humanitarian Award to Jackson, who played a major role in establishing the Anne Arundel County Fuel Fund in November 1979. He was also acknowledged for creating the Fuel Fund Envelope Campaign in February 1980. As chairman of the Anne Arundel County Economic Committee, Jackson penned a letter asking for BG&E customers to contribute one dollar to help families with their energy bills. His appeal was included with BG&E’s utility bills and raised $13,000. BG&E matched the contributions dollar for dollar. This program swept across the country. We have a promising little St. John’s reading group here in Ashland, Ore. We have been studying women—reading Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina. We are taking this inquiry to a more abstract level now with a reading of Don Quixote. Best of all, I’m still alive! But I say this with a hasty knock on wood!” HUGH MERCER CURTLER retired from teaching philosophy and humanities (great books) at Southwest Minnesota State University in 2005 and is enjoying his retirement immensely: “I now have time to read the many books on my ‘todo’ list (mostly histories), writing when I can, and working on my golf game. I was talked into putting together a web page in an attempt to attract possible agents or publishers to my latest (of 11) books. But it hasn’t happened. Those who are curious (or bored) might check out the website (www.hughcurtler.com) where they will ﬁnd, among other things, my e-mail address. I would love to hear from old classmates and friends.” 1958 MICHAEL SANFORD has retired from his 10 years as a part-time classical DJ and news man on public radio, but he’s still doing construction work: “I’m putting ﬁnishing details on the house I built, and I’m remodeling an outbuilding into a guest house. 1959 LORNA CAHALL recently published The Actor King, “a tale born during the angst we all suffered during the late Bush reign. I wondered how we can keep our souls during such a time About the Robots AREA JENNESS (HIMELGRIN, SF78) is having fun building 15-pound combat robots with her high school pre-engineering students at Tucson High Magnet School. She lives with her husband of 22 years, Doug, and 8-yearold son, Daniel, in Catalina, Ariz. “Everything I learned in the lab classes at St. John’s gets put into our robots!” she says. x M { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } and I decided that, whereas some turned to religion, I preferred the mimetic arts—possibly an alternative religion—but very intriguing. And, how much worse to be trying to keep your souls under the Romans. So I spent those years chasing my characters Tullius, Mercurius, Lucia, Kepi and their adventurous troupe as they survived the 2nd century. Other than that, Dick and I are living peacefully in Bend, Ore., and staying out of trouble. Dick is playing the banjo, working with SMART and trying to teach 10year-olds to program Lego robots.” 1962 “If Sarah Palin can think of 2012 already, then so can the class of 1962,” declares DAVID BENFIELD. “This will be our 50th and the success of our 45th suggests that we should plan for it carefully. An election will be only a few weeks in the future and hotel and travel reservations will be scarce. In the summer of 2010 we can have an online conference session and work out details to help involve everyone in the class.” 1964 JULIE WIGGENHORN WINSLETT has discovered that “life isn’t over at 65. I never expected to have a second career this late in life, but it has happened, and I love it. I began by teaching English as a Second Language to adults for a technical college near here a few years ago. That was so much fun that I applied for, and got, a position at a local university. It’s also The Military College of Georgia, and I teach English there (my degrees are in cont. on page 34 �34 {Alumni Notes} English). The kids (about 12 percent are cadets) are really great, although very different from what I remember we were like in the sixties. They’re not very idealistic and are politically conservative for the most part. Reading is not something they pursue with gusto. They’re into their cell phones and iPods— completely plugged into an electronic world. So there are challenges that we instructors face that our tutors and professors didn’t have to face. But it’s a great job, and I hope to do it forever. My husband, who is a nature photographer, and I collaborated on a book called Wildﬂowers of Stone Mountain and I edited a second book entitled Stone Mountain: A Walk in the Park. I am currently writing a mystery set in the high desert of the Southwest (near Taos) called Murder-off-the-Grid. It’s slow going because I have to squeeze it in during those brief moments when I’m not grading papers. But writing a novel is a magical experience and another thing that I never thought I’d do.” 1966 IAN HARRIS just returned from a three-month trip to Sri Lanka, where he keynoted a conference on adult peace education, from Italy where he spoke at both the University of Florence and Pisa, and Spain where taught a master’s course in peace and development. From France, CONNIE LINDGREEN reports: “Sitting by a roaring and much-needed ﬁre (double-glazed windows not yet installed), I just ﬁnished the LORNA CAHALL (Class of 1959) novel, The Actor King, which is a funny mix of scholarship and adventure in Hadrian’s time. Then the Skype ‘phone’ rang and it was MEL KLINE (A66), so I feel quite ‘book-ended’ by St. John’s. With the wonders of webcam, I showed both Mel and later my sister, SARAH (A67), the progress on our construction. There are walls going up! Reading Masters and Commanders, about WW II’s leadership: Churchill, FDR, Brooke, Marshall, and continuing to follow the Obama (hooray!) presidency in both Le Figaro and the International Herald Tribune. Scarlatti, Chopin, and Schubert keep my ﬁngers from atrophying totally, although I’m making quite a hash of their wonderful music. Sigh. My French is improving; I was able to tell one of Elliott Zuckerman’s funny stories to my piano teacher. Tutoring a young boy in English. Baking scones and making tea. Otherwise, like everyone...waiting for spring!” SYLVIA SHAPIRO is still living in Mexico, south of Guadalajara, on Mexico’s largest lake, enjoying retirement in Paradise. “Unfortunately,” she writes, my “husband died on October 1, 2008, which has left a large hole in my life. I am busy running a large book exchange in a local restaurant (commonly described as the best in Lakeside) and maintaining the book section of a local non-proﬁt thrift shop. My dad, age 92, is still working as a lawyer and driving to work every day, so I am looking forward to a long and happy life, although I do miss Northern California.” 1967 CLARK LOBENSTINE writes: “The InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, which I have been privileged to serve as executive director for nearly 30 years, has just moved to The Gate House, 100 Alleson St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20011. My wife, Rev. Carole Crumley, continues to be senior program director of The Shalom Institute for Spiritual Formation. She has also started as the interim director of Washington National Cathedral’s Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage on a very part-time basis. She started that center while on the Cathedral staff for 15 years.” 1968 TOM KEENS (SF) was elected chair of the California Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Advisory Council. This nine-member council advises the California Department of Public Health on issues related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) services to families, public education, and research in California. He has already embarked on an A Johnnie Abroad AMES F.X. O’GARA (A88) just returned from a year with the State Department in Iraq’s Wasit province, where he advised the governor and provincial legislature, enlarged the U.S. Government’s knowledge of and contact with Shia religious party leaders, spoke daily with his 7-year-old daughter, Nancy, via satellite phone, and otherwise carried on in a manner beﬁtting a St. Johnnie abroad. He can be reached at jfxogara@hotmail.com but notes that his Facebook contacts have expanded exponentially since connecting with ROBERT GEORGE (A86). J { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } ambitious program to try to establish uniformity in the diagnosis of babies dying suddenly, to determine the impact of different diagnoses on parent grief and recovery, to continue the fall in numbers of babies dying from SIDS through public health intervention, and to improve communication on Council actions with the California SIDS Community. He is a Professor of Pediatrics, Physiology and Biophysics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, and member of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. CHARLIE WATSON (A) writes with news of his children. His eldest, Ivan, is moving from NPR to CNN International as a reporter based in Istanbul. “Won’t be hearing him on the way to and from work or on All Things Considered anymore,” he says. His middle son, Misha, is living and working in Mystic, Conn. as a master carpenter and is currently participating in halfday cycling trips or ﬁve-mile swims. His daughter, Anya, is ﬁnishing a master’s degree in marine sciences with prolonged work with Dr. Roger Hanlon at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratories, studying the natural camouﬂage methods of groupers. She is also an enthusiastic cyclist and will be participating in a charity ride, the PanMassachusetts Challenge, a bike ride across Massachusetts in efforts to raise funds for cancer research. He adds, “Masha and I regret to say we haven’t been to Annapolis recently, despite close ties to the area, Baltimore and Washington. Masha has been actively working on behalf of the rehabilitation center at our city’s hospital and keeping track of everyone else in our family, including a 94-year-old mother. I’m still pretty busy in practice and trying to help administer a busy anesthesia department. A �35 {Alumni Notes} recent favorite activity (in addition to reading mind-rot ﬁction) is learning ultra-sound guided pain-relieving nerve/plexus blocks. My most unfavorite is watching my retirement monies diminish as the prospect of traveling more in the near future grows more remote.” 1969 JIM BARTRAM (A) says “hello” to all his classmates from the 1960s. “I am now disabled—Alzheimer’s at 61. I’m still able to make my beloved recorders, but probably not for long. I’m still very high functioning, and should be for some time.” BILL LANG (A) has retired from the Rare Book department of the Free Library of Philadelphia in 2006, after 30 “very happy” years at the library. Lately he has been working part time for the library’s development department; starting a small business giving swimming instruction, mostly to triathletes; working with disabled swimmers through the Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports; and helping to carry his wife’s harpsichord wherever she needs it to go. “I will be happy to hear from anyone from St. John’s, about swimming or anything else.” 1970 ANDREW GARRISON (A) has suspended his teaching career at Miami University to expand his psychology practice to full time. His son Jesse is making movies in New York. “I have just received page proofs (some 750 pages worth) of my new English translation of Henri de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis, Volume 3: The Four Senses of Scripture. It is being published in Grand Rapids, Michigan by Wm. B. Eerdmans and in Edinburgh by T. & T. Clark. This is the third volume of four. It should appear this spring,” writes E. M. MACIEROWSKI (A). 1971 MAGGIE JACOBS (SF) writes: “My husband, Bob, is happily retired and spends a lot of time ﬁshing. Son Daniel is starting his second year at Willamette in Oregon. I am upgrading my skills and getting into web programming. I’ve also taken up knitting and am studying Hebrew. Life is good!” SARAH SARAI (GANCHER, SF) has recently published poems in The Mississippi Review, Big City Lit, Ghoti and other journals; ﬁction in Storyglossia. Check www.myspace.com/sarahsarai for links. 1973 ELLEN LEITNER (USNER) (SF) reports, “I’m still living in Chimayó, where my husband, Hans, and I raised our six children. The youngest, Rose, just left for Stanford this fall. Our next youngest, Genevieve, is doing well studying classical guitar at North Carolina School of the Arts. She sometimes performs with her older sister Cecilia, soprano, who will get her Master of Music degree from Yale this May after a performance tour in China and Korea with the Schola Cantorum. In June and July she will perform under Helmut Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival. Our other three children live close to home. Franz, an architect, designer and photographer, works in Santa Fe. Maria, her husband Danny, and son Kiran also live in SF, and they sell their organic produce and mushrooms at the farmer’s market. Johanna lives here in Chimayó with her husband, Jesse, and three sons, Jonah, 8, Jeremy, 6, and Julian, 4. My husband, Hans, is a general contractor, an Austrian trained in carpentry (www.leitner-construction.com). I’m planning my next concerts for ‘Enchantment Chamber Music.’ Mozart’s clarinet quintet, some violin/guitar duos featuring Duo Guadalupe (our staple), and other small ensembles are on the agenda, if the funds come through. I’m also teaching a violin class at Northern New Mexico College in Española. It’s a lot of fun, and I hope the new music program will grow and attract more students for other classes I will teach, such as chamber music and jazz violin. I’ve lost touch with most of my class, and would really like to hear from any of them! Contact me through my website: www.chavezdeleitner.com.” 1974 ROBIN MCCONWAY HISCOCK (A) writes: “I started in engineering consulting, worked for Howard County, then since 1985 have worked in consulting for the federal government. I’ve been with SRA since 1991, specializing in database and application development. I play mandolin (old time and Irish) and violin (Swedish). Our daughter, Meghan, is a sophomore at Kalamazoo College, Michigan, majoring in art and art history.” JON HUNNER (SF) will publish a biography of Robert Oppenheimer this fall with the University of Oklahoma Press. He continues to teach U.S. history and direct the Public History { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } Program at New Mexico State University. His son Harley graduated from Seattle University last fall and is on his way to Mauritania for the Peace Corps. TED WOLFF (A), principal of Wolff Landscape Architecture, has been appointed adjunct professor of Landscape Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Wolff has been practicing landscape architecture in Chicago since 1979. In 1990, he launched his own ﬁrm. 1975 TINA BELL (A) shares news, mostly about her children: “Daughter Julia, an attorney who graduated from Boston University School of Law, has been married now for two years to Mattew Andrus, also an attorney and grad of BU Law, and the best son-in-law in the world. Timothy Bell graduated from Allegheny College with a major in writing (at which he is very, very good) in May 2008 and is looking forward to graduate school—doesn’t know exactly which one yet. Emily Margaret Bell graduated summa cum laude from the Boston University Professors Program (where she aced a graduate course in Plato taught by Mr. Stanely Rosen). Joseph Bell is in graduate school at Rutgers University and is studying social work. Their mother (me) plans to get a master’s in theology from Franciscan University at Steubenville, so she can teach.” G. KAY BISHOP (A) reports: “Have been unemployed for two years, four months, and counting. Send networking/job leads ASAP. Also accepting contributions of cash, jewelry, small, pawnable electronic devices, freeze-dried foodstuffs, fair-trade cacao beans, rare outof-print comic books, copper �36 {Alumni Profile} A Direct Line to the Center Darius Himes (SFGI00) Publishes Beautiful Books by Jenny Hanniﬁn D miriam romais books on photographer Mark arius Himes Klett and Canadian painter Otto credits his childDonald Rogers. Since then, hood in smallthey’ve published the work of town Iowa and a photographers Lee Friedlander, book-centric Julie Blackmon, and Debbie family with Fleming Caffery; sculptor John kindling his lifelong connection McCracken; and Southern Calito the printed word. “A playful fornia painters Charles Arnoldi childhood in the country and Ed Moses. A particularly contributed to a deep connection engaging book is being with the sensual, tactile world, published this spring on the and that directly translated into little-known food writing of an abiding love of the tactile photo-historian Beaumont nature of books and ink on Newhall (the ﬁrst director of the paper,” says Himes. Museum of Modern Art’s Added to that love of books was department of photography). a passion for photography, The inspiration for the name nurtured at Arizona State Univer“Radius” came from Himes’ sity, where Himes earned a bachtime at St. John’s. “The idea of elor’s degree in ﬁne arts. While the radius was always appealing attending the Graduate Institute, to me,” he says. “MetaphoriHimes worked part time at photocally, it represents a direct line eye Books, which was then primafrom the center to the rily a mail order photography periphery. Likewise, it leads bookstore. He spearheaded the from the outer world to the drive to turn the company’s 20inner.” year-old mail order catalog into a Like so many before him, nationally distributed magazine, A love of books and a passion for photography came together photo-eye Booklist, which in turn Himes learned of St. John’s from for Darius Himes with Radius Books. won national recognition and Mortimer Adler’s How to Read international attention. a Book. He credits his Graduate The subscription-based quarInstitute studies with teaching making decisions about what to publish, terly fed into photo-eye’s website and came him many things, but ranks two above all. Radius Books looks for projects that are about as Himes witnessed the proliferation First is the importance of approaching arresting, vital, exquisite, and readable, as of photography books and saw the need to texts—and by extension, individuals— well as artists who work passionately and intelligently canvas that terrain. “The without preconceived judgments. “An diligently on their art. photo-eye Booklist has been the equivalent unfettered search for truth, from whatever What makes the company different from of having a dear friend with more time source it may come, and being watchful for other publishers is a commitment to than I, and a broader perspective to point it, is very much a part of the St. John’s getting art books into the hands of those out treasures while their bindings are new Program and spirit,” says Himes. who might not normally be exposed to and the ink still fresh,” says Frish Brandt, Second is the unpredictability of them. Radius Books donates more than director of the Fraenkel Gallery in San seminar. “Regardless of which text we 200 copies of every title it produces to Francisco. read, by the end of the evening our various libraries and educational institutions Himes’ latest endeavor is Radius Books, understandings of the text had morphed, around the country. Nonproﬁt status deepened, and expanded in ways that were a nonproﬁt publishing company based in affords the company the ability to raise simply impossible to predict,” he explains. Santa Fe. Himes and the company’s three funds for programs like the library initia“There are always kernels of truth and partners—David Skolkin, David Chickey, tive, as well as ﬂexibility in working with common ground in any conversation, and and Joanna Hurley, all publishing profesartists and other institutions. Distributing searching those out is a rewarding process. sionals—work together to produce exquistitles through D.A.P. (Distributed Art I’m deeply interested in approaches to itely designed and printed art books. “We Publishers), the country’s premier art unity that can arise from the multiplicity all ﬁrmly believe that the visual arts are book distributor, means that each Radius around and within us.”x vital to the life of society and can educate Books title receives a wide audience. and uplift the soul,” says Himes. When Radius Books’ ﬁrst season included { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �{Alumni Notes} mine stock and other gilt-edged securities. Do not send out-ofdate coupons, old CRT monitors, live plants, livestock (not even chickens), circus clowns, scented candles, or spare children. Might could use 500-600 bales of clean newspaper (pre-paid shipping only) to build Thoreau-style hut in woods, once I learn how to sew thatch, build a chimney, and lay a brick hearth. Will let y’all know.” KEVIN JOHNSON (SF) has several “dog legs” in his career path, but now seems to be steadily on track for a career in organizational development, a ﬁeld which integrates a background in psychology with his experience in the business world: “I live in Boston with my ﬁancée, Sonora Rose, a therapist and bodyworker. I work at Harvard Medical School and to use my tuition assistance beneﬁt have begun a two-year certiﬁcate program in executive coaching, where I hope to learn how to become a Tiresias to today’s Oedipuses. I occasionally lead seminars for my alumni group, last time on Dubois’ Souls of Black Folk, which I heartily recommend as a backdrop to our most recent regime change.” He welcomes contact from classmates. After 12 years in Florida, ALAN MCVAY (SF) and family have moved to the D.C. area. “My brother calls me a corporate gypsy, since company breakups, bankruptcy, and takeovers have caused me to move eight times in the last 25 years. I also travel all the time for work. It is good to be back in a place with a decent used bookstore, Indian food, and the brightness of fall leaves and spring blossoms. About the winter, well, that was dimly remembered, and mornings near zero degrees were a shock. I continue to practice kojosho and tai chi, but more often indoors.” His daughter is 15 now, so he’s thinking about colleges. “She doesn’t want to go to St. John’s–too much reading. That doesn’t narrow it down very much. Let’s just say she wants to do something creative.” ERIC SCIGLIANO (SF) has a new book coming out this March: Flotsametrics and the Floating World is his ﬁrst collaboration, with the oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, and will be published by Smithsonian Books/HarperCollins. “After ﬁve years working in early childhood education (aka teaching preschool), I have returned to high-tech and work as a programmer and manager again,” writes BILL TORCASO (SF). “The ages may change, but immaturity is ever present. I married Kate Roper in the summer of 2007.” 1976 KATE LUFKIN DAY (A) sends greetings from snowy Syracuse: “BILL (SF82) and I sent Peter off to college this fall, and the closest he would go to the Program was Columbia. But he’s happy doing literature and humanities there, and Japanese; he hopes to study in Japan for his junior year. Meanwhile, his elder sister Helen is in her last semester at Wellesley. She’s done psychology and music, but her real triumph was leading her a capella group to a coveted recording session with Ben Folds this spring. Check her out on Ben Folds’ website singing “Annie Waits” with the Wellesley College Blue Notes. Bill is still teaching philosophy at Le Moyne College, where he has labored for years to support and strengthen the core program. His book of new essays on aspect seeing in Wittgenstein (which he is co-editing, a choice he doesn’t recommend) is ﬁnally complete and should be coming out some time this year. For my part, I am about to start a new job as Managing Chaplain at Crouse Hospital and am still rector of a tiny parish in the hinterland. DONNEL O’FLYNN (SF73) and JANET CHRISTHILF O’FLYNN (SF74) are colleagues in my diocese (which is still standing, unlike some Episcopal dioceses), and JANE HUDSON (A76, hero of the Nymphs from way back) is a buddy in Syracuse. She still leaves me in the dust. Oh, and I’m in touch with ERIC VATIKIOTIS BATESON (A73) and his wife and kids, with whom Bill and I formed a friendship teaching boarding school in the ’80s. (They live in Vancouver, B.C., now.) All the best to everyone trying to stay aﬂoat in our current economic climate. Friends can reach me at kblday@gmail.com.” 1977 DANA GOODE (SF, AGI91) made her conducting debut in January 2008 with the Londontowne Symphony. Daughter Evia is a Ben Carson Scholar and ambassador for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Please donate! 1979 DAVID WALD (SF), who lives just outside NYC, reports that he is going through shock, and soon withdrawal, as his 18-year-old daughter, Esther, prepares to head off to Oakland, Calif., in the fall to attend the California College of the Arts. He is consoling himself playing the drums in an arty sort of band. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } 37 He is also still enjoying making documentaries and news stories about education and related issues at nonproﬁt Learning Matters, Inc. The stories are regularly featured on PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. His wife, Betsy, is very happily ensconced as the branch head of their local library in Maplewood, N.J., a block from their humble abode. He sends his greetings, best wishes, and hopes for positive change to all! BEN GOLDSTEIN (SF) and GINA IRONSIDE (SF80) send this news: Ben, Gina and young Ben spent the month of December in Colombia—visiting relatives and old haunts, luxuriating in the spectacular geography, culture, and climate, and—mostly— adopting their new son, Cristian. Cristian is one year younger than Ben, who is almost 14. Ben is still unschooling, and Cris is trying out sixth grade in middle school. Everyone except Gina is still playing soccer. Ben’s open-source web engineering company, End Point Corporation, continues to thrive. They’ve received a few resumes out of the woodwork from Johnnies applying for jobs. “Greetings to our old friends far and wide from both campuses.” MARIE TOLER RANEY (A) and JON RANEY (A74) reported on a recent vacation: “Our sailing trip to Hawaii was all that we wished, except that it ended. Jon and I (and our dog) had a marvelous month sail of 2,500 miles or so to Hilo from Washington state in August, then a couple of weeks sailing up the island chain. I then had to return by airplane due to schedule limitations (somebody has to work, just not clear just when I drew the short stick!) However CHUCK HURT (A79) joined Jon for the tumultuous return trip where they were either becalmed or battling 40-knot winds and 25-foot seas. �38 {Alumni Notes} Despite a ﬁnger tip squeezed off 1,000 miles from home in the middle of the ocean and an escort into Bamﬁeld, B.C., by the Canadian Coast Guard, they did get home safely. Now we can dream of doing the rest of the Paciﬁc in a couple of years. For more information on our voyage see www.svphoenix.net. Hope to see all our classmates at our reunion this fall.” 1981 STEVE and BETSY (MILLS) ACCIANI (SF) are still in upstate New York. Their four daughters are Emma, 21, who is a junior at Wagner College, Staten Island; Maria, recently accepted at St. John’s, Annapolis; Anna, 15, a high school freshman; and Alice, who is 11 and in ﬁfth grade. “We are delighted to be in contact with the following Johnnies: SANJAY POOVADAN (SF83), LIZ WALDNER (A85) who was recently published in the New Yorker, ROBIN SLONAGER (A78), JOEL WEINGARTEN (A82), ALLISON CARPER (SF77), and BRAD WRONSKI (SF82).” JOSEPH (SF) and ANNE-MARTINE MOORE (SF84) are living in Concord, Calif., with children and a neurotic dog. Writes Joseph: “Anne-Martine is on the staff of Diablo Valley School (DiabloValleySchool.org), a Sudbury model school attended by four of our ﬁve kids. As I’m sure anyone who knows her will be shocked to learn, she’s still knitting up a storm. (I got cool ﬁngerless gloves for Christmas— nice for holding a cold steering wheel.) She is also involved in weaving, stamping and other crafty-type stuff. I am in the philosophically difﬁcult position of personally proﬁting from complex tax laws that are occasioned by equipment ﬁnancing. I sell software that does the complicated ﬁnancial analysis for large companies. So, if we ever get a simple, clear tax code, which I theoretically favor, I’d be ﬁnancially sad. On a positive note, my efforts to learn the Well Tempered Clavier have progressed to the point where, at my current rate, if I simply live another 450 years or so, I’ll have the entire thing down cold.” JOE ROACH and BJ (SISSON) ROACH (both A) write: “We are becoming more and more a Johnnie family. Our older daughter, KATE, graduated with the St. John’s (Annapolis) class of 2004. And now, in just a few months, our younger daughter MOLLY will be graduating with the class of 2009. Our youngest, Nicholas, feels a little left out, but his time may come in a few years.” DANIEL VAN DOREN (A) has been the president of the New York City chapter for ﬁve years, and this is his last year. He has worked in real estate management since 1985 and lives in suburban New York with his family. “One of my sons is an avid birder and we traipse all over the Northeast looking for bird sightings. If you’ve got any ideas for good birding spots, let me know,” he writes. 1982 “I’m still on the rocky road to tenure and would love to hear from others who have gone through it,” writes PATTI D. NOGALES (A), from the Department of Philosophy at California State Univeristy, Sacramento. “Otherwise, my kids are ﬁne (except for becoming teenagers) and I am ﬁne (except for them becoming teenagers)!” Plugging Along ICHAEL RYAN (SF86) is plugging along in Albuquerque, running a business, raising a teenager, trying to balance work and outdoor activities. He started readings on the Civil War and World War II. (“Slowly working my way back to a Great Book!”) He also taught a semester of structure for the architecture program at UNM and referenced Euclid in the very ﬁrst class. “Unfortunately, he did not make a second appearance.” M 1983 MARK and CHRISTINE (A84) GOWDY-JAEHNIG have now been living in Decorah, Iowa, for more than four years. Mark is a partner in a four-doctor veterinary clinic and drives through a lot of beautiful countryside between farm calls. Christine is nearing completion of her Montessori preschool teacher’s certiﬁcation: “Beginning graduate studies 22 years after leaving St. John’s was a challenge, but a good one. I would love to hear from any other Johnnies who are also Montessorians. Our eldest child, Alexandra, graduated from Hamline University last spring and is now one of those partially employed theatre majors who inhabit the Twin Cities. We are delighted that our middle child, PHILLIPA, found her collegial home at our alma mater (a junior, she is very involved in intramural sports, like her mom!) We still have one child in the nest, and are anticipating three more years of high school sporting events, choir concerts, and speech meets.” 1984 ANDREW HYDE HRYNIEWCZ (A) has worn numerous hats since graduating: “After completing my Watson Fellowship (which { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } pretty much ruined me for conventional employment) I spent a number of years catering and building houses while attending social work school in Baltimore. Migrating from clinical social work to community organizing to (almost) Community Planning, I started a MArch program at UM College Park, ﬁnishing up at UC Berkeley and SFIA (an experimental architecture/ecological design program in San Francisco). I practiced architecture and lived in Berkeley from 1994-1999. I had my mid-life crisis early, spending 2000-02 studying, traveling, and remodeling friends’ houses in the U.S. and Europe. I returned to Florida in 2002 to help my mother die and settled here. I worked as a ﬁnancial assets manager until 2008 when the ‘new economy’ made my job vanish. Currently I’m starting an online magazine about (either) ‘really big ideas/ questions/answers’ or ‘brain candy for smart/curious people’ and trust that it will be solvent before I’m not.” TRACY MENDHAM (A) writes: “I had a joyful summer in 2008. I started a full-time job as a learning specialist at Franklin Pierce University, after seven years of adjuncting at Franklin Pierce and other colleges. I married my partner of 17 years, Dana Chenier, in a New Hampshire civil union. Finally, we adopted an Australian Shepherd puppy named Pearl later that �{Alumni Profile} 39 Not Just Fun and Games Dominic Crapuchettes (A97) Turns a Hobby into a Business by Sara Luell (A09) C ladi dell’aira design. “A lot of the skills that we omposer, dot-com learned at St. John’s: how to learn, programmer, sea how to assimilate information, and captain, teacher— how to communicate with other Dominic Crapuchettes people” are needed for success in (A97) has ventured business, says Crapuchettes. These down several career qualities encourage honesty in paths. But none has been as rewarding entrepreneurship—what a company as his current job: running a company will live or die by. In a market domithat produces the games he designs. nated by big-name companies, No, they’re not video games, but inventhese qualities have helped tive board games that get people to sit Crapuchettes become successful down, talk, play, and laugh together. quickly, along with his strong focus Growing up in southern California, and desire to make an impact on Crapuchettes was immersed in playing others. His excitement about games. Rather than watching TV, once games, especially games that get or twice a week his family played games people talking and laughing, is such as Scrabble and Monopoly. When infectious. Crapuchettes was four, his father North Star’s most popular game, started entering him in chess tournaWits & Wagers, “embodies the ments. By the age of seven, he was fundamentals of what we were designing his own games. One game learning at St. John’s,” (which he dubbed “Kabloogi”) was so Crapuchettes says. “It’s pretty popular among his eighth-grade friends obvious when you play the game that it was banned from his middle how the college inﬂuenced my school. Students had been playing it design.” Although Wits & Wagers during class. is a trivia game, knowing the right Game designing was put on hold answers isn’t the key to winning. when Crapuchettes enrolled in St. All the answers are numbers. After John’s. His creative energies were everyone estimates an answer to directed toward classical music compothe question, players make bets as sition, which he seriously considered as to which one is the closest to a career. He soon realized, however, Dominic Crapuchettes is betting on a future in board games. correct. “One of the skills, which is that the market for such work was a Johnnie skill, is to know the limited. “If I was going to devote my met Satish Pillalamarri, a former investboundaries of your knowledge,” says whole life to excelling at something, I ment analyst and Jeopardy! contestant. Crapuchettes, allowing you to know when wanted it to be something people care Together they founded North Star Games, to go with your original intuition or when about,” he says. based in Bethesda, Maryland, and began to bet on other players’ answers. To pay his way through St. John’s, work on their ﬁrst game, Cluzzle, in which Wits & Wagers has won 20 industry Crapuchettes played in a professional players make puzzles out of clay. awards—more than any other party game in circuit for the card game Magic: The GathOriginally interested in designing history. It has been released in several ering. He won $30,000. During the strategy games, Crapuchettes discovered languages, and a version for the Xbox summers and breaks from St. John’s, he that many people viewed these games more gaming console is available. Cluzzle has captained a salmon-ﬁshing boat in Alaska, as IQ tests than as entertainment. “I said won nine industry awards. Say Anything, a job he held after graduation until the to myself, ‘I am going to design a game the newest game released within the past salmon market crashed. Crapuchettes that I don’t have to bribe people with pizza year, has already won two awards. taught for a while, and then learned in order to get them to play with me—that Crapuchettes is now developing family programming and worked for an Internet people come to me and want to play.” This versions of Say Anything and Wits & startup. When the dot-com bubble burst, goal was behind the development of Wagers, as well as a booster pack of Wits & Crapuchettes knew it was time to pursue Cluzzle and the company’s two top sellers: Wagers questions. And “I am always coming his dream of starting a game company. Wits & Wagers and Say Anything. up with new game ideas,” he says. x While working toward his master’s A St. John’s education has proven useful degree at the Smith School of Business at in both the business world and game the University of Maryland, Crapuchettes { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �40 {Alumni Notes} month. The fall has been more somber; my mother passed away in early November. I am very much looking forward to the 25th reunion—this is one I will make sure I get to!” 1985 JAN CONLIN (SF) is awaiting the birth of her ﬁrst baby (boy). Astonished to ﬁnd herself in business school, DEMI RASMUSSEN (SF) is taking education into unexplored territory. How can we integrate social justice with appropriate proﬁt? Where does environmentalism ﬁt into a business plan? These questions are part of the curriculum at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, where Demi received her MBA in Sustainable Business in 2007. Now working as the Initiative Manager at the institute, Demi also assists with teaching courses including ﬁnance, accounting and Systems Thinking in Action. Graduates of BGI and other sustainable business schools are becoming leaders in the new economy. (Check her out on YouTube, at the Ofﬁcial Inaugural Ball for Energy & the Environment.) As any good Johnnie would, she has maintained a stance of inquiry and scrutiny while supporting the launch of three sustainable businesses, FarmPower, Olympic BioFuels and GreenWorx. Now investigating PhD programs, Demi plans to improve and increase sustainability education. 1986 After 20 years with a large corporate law ﬁrm, PAUL O’HANLON (A) resigned last month and started a small ﬁrm with three good friends and colleagues. The work continues to be interesting, the ofﬁce is very relaxed and clients have been incredibly supportive. “I’m looking forward to seeing my classmates at our 25year reunion in 2011,” he writes. “This time I hope to avoid sleeping through my hotel alarm and missing my ﬂight home (but it was SO worth it).” 1988 ERIN MILNES (A) and Chuck Guest are the delighted, proud, and rather tired parents of Duncan Cullison, born May 22, 2008. Erin is sorry to have missed the 20th reunion but is looking forward to showing Duncan (and Chuck) off at the Thanks, from Stanford AVE WALTER (A91) is a teaching fellow in Stanford’s Introduction to the Humanities (IHUM) program. Last June, he was awarded the Walter J. Gores Award for Teaching Excellence. The award is the highest honor the university presents to its teachers at any level. “The Gores nomination pooled all the students and faculty I have worked with here at Stanford over the past three years,” he explains. “Scores of people wrote on my behalf. At the President’s award celebration, a prize committee member told me my nomination was ‘amazingly strong.’ In light of my success in this program, I think my ﬁrst thanks should go to St John’s.” x D 25th. Erin can be reached via Facebook (where you can also see pictures of the adorable Duncan). KIM PAFFENROTH (A) has a new zombie novel out, Dying to Live: Life Sentence (Permuted Press, 2007). His next, Valley of the Dead, is being shopped to publishers; it is a retelling of Inferno (with zombies). Zombie versions of other books on the List cannot be far behind. “I really enjoyed seeing friends and tutors at our recent 20th anniversary homecoming,” writes CLAUDIA PROBST STACK (A). “Since then, I have renewed my efforts to ﬁnd support for my documentary ﬁlm project ‘Under the Kudzu,’ which chronicles the history of two segregation-era black schools in Pender County, N.C. Anyone who is interested in the project can learn more by visiting my website: www.underthekuzu.org. Recently I interviewed a woman whose greatgrandfather was a slave who farmed the land where she now lives. She attended one of the schools I am researching, and then returned there as a teacher. Her son attended the same school, and now he is a wellrespected judge. My home life is rowdy and fun, thanks to Alden (age 8) and Jack (age 6). I am grateful every day for my sons and my husband, Joe. I would love to hear from any Johnnies, especially classmates!” STEVE VIRGIL (A) arrived in Winston-Salem this summer to start his work as the ﬁrst director of the Wake Forest Law School’s new Community Development Clinic. Virgil, formerly the director of a clinic with a similar mission at Creighton University School of Law in Omaha, Neb., was the overwhelming ﬁrst choice of the Wake Forest faculty after a nationwide search. Wake Forest clinic students will offer legal services to non-proﬁt organ- { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } izations and to entrepreneurs who create new businesses based in low-wealth areas in Forsyth County. The Community Development Clinic is part of a larger effort to strengthen the connections between legal education and the practice of law. 1989 LEE CARPENTER (A) recently opened his own legal practice in Baltimore, focusing on wills and estates; business is booming. STEVE DEAN (SF) is married: “Eddie Rangel and I are happy to announce that—in the 17th year of our relationship—we were legally married Monday, November 24, 2008, in Provincetown, Mass. Rachel Peters, Justice of the Peace, ofﬁciated at the marriage ceremony. My family is from Massachusetts, and we’ve been meeting on the Cape to celebrate Thanksgiving since 2000. This was the ﬁrst year that we were able to marry, as Massachusetts just repealed its residency requirement, and we could think of no place more beautiful or appropriate to have the ceremony.” BETH HEINBERG (A) is teaching performing arts to middleschoolers in Asheville, N.C., and performing jazz with her trio, Honey. SUSAN PETRONE’s (A) ﬁrst novel, A Body At Rest, is scheduled to be published by Drinian Press in early 2009. Johnnies may enjoy the fact that one of the two main characters turns into Don Quixote during the course of the book. (For the record, the other main character turns into Emma Woodhouse.) �41 {Alumni Notes} 1990 1992 Since leaving St. John’s, MICHAEL LANDIS (AGI) was married to Leslie L. Kinney in 1991 and had two children, Daphne (born in 1991) and Dorothy (born in 1996). He taught at Southern Vermont and Mount Snow Academy, and also worked at Morningside Emergency Shelter, a homeless shelter in Brattleboro, Vt. “Both daughters are outstanding students and Daphne was valedictorian of her graduating class at Guilford Central School before going on to the high school last year,” Landis writes. “I’ve been leading the local ‘Great Books’ group in Brattleboro since 1995.” After a 34-year hiatus, Landis returned to Cuba for a visit in 2004 and another visit last year (where, he adds, “I saw Fidel Castro (perhaps) for his ﬁnal May Day appearance.”) Landis returned this year, and says that his Spanish is improving and he’s made many friends throughout the island. AARON GARZA (SF) writes: “My wife, Azenett, and I had identical twin boys, Ulises and Dante, on December 22, 2008. My daughters Soﬁa (8) and Nadya (4) are both being super big sisters. I’m in my last semester of law school at the University of Utah and hoping to ﬁnd a good job in this uncertain economy. We’ve been in Utah since 2002 and I still haven’t managed to go skiing, not even once. I have shoveled a heckload of snow here, though (our house is on a corner lot).” DAVE MARQUEZ (SF) is working as a ﬁlm editor on several projects. “While I am currently based in Santa Fe,” he writes, “I am reasonably certain that as the media industry in New Mexico continues to grow the future will ﬁnd me working out of Albuquerque as well as Los Angeles. I encourage any alumni who are in the ﬁlm or television industry or are interested in it as a career to contact me via my website: www.davemarquez.info.” 1991 BLAKE SITNEY (SF) has been working to help the Mae Maeh orphanage in Chiang Mai province of Thailand, where he made another trip earlier this hirteen years ago, EMILY GILLILAND (AGI97) was accepted into AmeriCorps and spent two years in service through a program called Volunteer Maryland, which trained her to be a volunteer coordinator. “This experience changed my life,” she writes. “It gave me a job sure, but it was much more. The greatest take-aways from the experience were the knowledge that a band of community members can really get things done and that folks who are involved with AmeriCorps are some of the most special, talented people in the world: friends for life and partners in service. [On January 20], we took the world stage by participating in the Inaugural parade honoring Barack Obama. Spending the day with 150 of these passionate service leaders connected to AmeriCorps was enough inspiration to last all of 2009! Walking past the presidential viewing booth mere feet from the Obamas? I wish time could have stood still! I think I strained a muscle waving so hard. It’s not because I am conﬁdent that they can ﬁx what ails the country, but I am excited because they see the potential in all of us to band together, like AmeriCorps, and get things done.” Emily took 412 pictures: view them at www.ﬂickr.com/photos/egilliland/sets/72157612838555784/x T winter: “It gets very cold at night in the winter time in the Himalayan foothills of Northern Thailand, so we brought muchneeded mattresses for the kids. This time Jong and I delivered 120 mattresses, sacks of rice, and other food staples; I also continued the Art for Orphans project. I plan on staying in Thailand for two months working on software projects for my company (Marigold Technologies) and ﬁnding humanitarian projects in my free time.” 2004 and became the assistant editor of Inside Annapolis magazine. In December 2006, their second daughter, Devon Caroline, was born. In between, David changed careers from Java programming to enterprise architecture and is now a consultant for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In January, Megan left Inside Annapolis to become assistant editor of Taste of the Bay magazine. They now live in Severna Park, just north of Annapolis. MEGAN SMITH (A) and DAVID DOUGHERTY (AGI92) have career and family news. Megan ﬁnally got out of the optical business in { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } ELYETTE BLOCK KIRBY (SF) has been living in Europe for a decade now, the last two years in Bucharest, Romania, with her husband and children, ages 7, 6, and 4. “The children are unschooling, and I am enjoying learning anything about my passions: biodynamic farming, yoga, and natural healing.” J. ELIZABETH HUEBERT SCHOEMAKER (SF) and husband, Jeremy Schoemaker, welcomed their second daughter, Joslyn, in July 2008. Elizabeth continues to practice as an anesthesiologist in Lincoln, Neb. 1993 JAMES CRAIG (AGI) writes that he and his wife, Nan, having spent a year on Easter Island in the Paciﬁc in 2006-7 and three months in 2008, will again be “doing our thing” on the island this year, from April to July: “I will be supplementing my B&W portfolio, Nan will be painting. Our Easter Island WebLog, followed by more people than we ever imagined, will begin getting new entries near the end of March: http://web.mac.com /craigart.” �42 CLAIRE DARLING (SF) writes: “I’m generally in love with life as a self-employed, treatmentoriented massage therapist and single mom in Portland, Ore. Still active with the Weston A. Price Foundation local chapter, (Real Food movement). Still expecting the dream of land and a cow to materialize. Aikido rocks my world in the mean time. I wish someone had told me in adolescence that life could be so incredibly wonderful. Anyone wanting to help ‘process’ my old chickens and ducks or prune fruit trees, please contact me ASAP.” ALEX (AGI) and VANESSA ELLERMANN (A) are expecting their third son in March. Alex is ﬂying for Delta and with the Navy Reserve, and Vanessa is practicing law in D.C. They live in Kensington, Md., and don’t get to Annapolis nearly enough. THOMAS HAMMERMAN (A) just completed a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Northwestern University. He is now working as a post-graduate clinical fellow at the Family Institute in Evanston, Ill. On August 2, 2008, AMANDA KLEIN (A) married Bryan Carr at Trinity Episcopal Church in Seattle. “Bryan is an autodidact scholar, philosopher, and afterschool teacher who moonlights at a bookstore to augment his library of 4,000 books. My 10-year-old son, Gabriel, served as a groomsman and tore up the dance ﬂoor at the reception; his father, JONATHAN CRIMMINS (A95) was one of our three volunteer photographers and a huge help all around. Through the generosity of wedding guests, we were able to honeymoon for two weeks in the UK and France in October. (Gabriel stayed home with his dad.) Highlights included being driven around in the Mourne Mountains by an Ulster native, wandering amid {Alumni Notes} the ancient Druid stones of Avebury, getting a peek at the research rooms in the British Museum with the curator of the Sumerian collection, and savoring innumerable crêpes and baked goods in Paris. We had many wonderful conversations with friends, but still had ample time to gaze at each other. I am truly a lucky woman.” NANCY MARCUS (A) recently earned her second and third law degrees at the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison, Wis., where she also worked as a judicial law clerk for the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In March, she will be returning to Cleveland, where she earned her JD in 1997, as an associate with the law ﬁrm Berkman, Gordon, Murray and DeVan. Her practice will include constitutional law, civil rights, appellate, torts, and criminal cases, with an additional specialty in LGBT rights and partnership protections. 1994 ANTHONY CHIFFOLO (AGI) says his book, Cooking with the Bible: Recipes for Biblical Meals is now out in paperback; he and his coauthor are busy on their next book: Cooking with the Movies: Meals on Reels: “We deﬁnitely need a larger kitchen!” His 14 years since graduation have been “stellar,” writes LEE HOWARD MADDEN KRALL (SFGI): “My wife and I live here on the Solano Coast of California. We’ve lived in New Mexico, Europe, Japan, and now the Bay Area. I run an online Medialliance/record label from my home ofﬁce; my wife is a trainer. Our daughter just went off to college at the University of New Mexico, studying art history. I put the liberal arts training to work, learning to become over the past 14 years: a teacher, a chef, a record executive, and also now, a digital recording artist, just releasing my eighth album. I ﬁnished a ﬁlm last year, a musical documentary: Steve Roach, Live at Grace Cathedral, releasing the video to the world on my four YouTube channels, where I am a director. My music The Boys are the Teachers E MCGINTY JAMES (SF05) and her husband, Mike James, welcomed their second son, Theodore John James, on June 24, 2008. He joins his brother, August (age 2), in helping his mother forget the speciﬁcs of her education. Fortunately, the boys are teaching her volumes in their own right. x RIN { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } career is ﬂourishing; the digital realm has released us from the conﬁnes of the old ways of doing things; we can now produce music here at home and distribute it globally throughout the Internet; we played and sold more music last year than ever before. My latest solo release is out and available for download at iTunes, eMusic and rhapsody.com. We’re soon to be staging a ‘live from CyberiaRecords Studios Cybercast Sessions’ with some of our artists—CyberiaRecords, World Ambient Music.” ROBYN ANJA WASE (A) was married on May 3, 2008, to John Helmon, father of two teenagers, Alyssa (16) and Chris (14). “I’m already introducing St. John’s College to Alyssa in hopes that she will consider that option as she picks her next school. John and I both work at Microsoft and live in Kirkland, Wash., which is just outside of Seattle. We stay very busy, but would love to hear from any and all classmates via phone, e-mail, Facebook, or in person!” TIFFANY WINNE (SFGI), corporate managing director of the real estate advisory ﬁrm Studley, has been named to the prestigious Crain’s Chicago Business “40 Under 40” list. This list appeared in the Nov. 3, 2008, issue of the business journal. Winne joined Studley in 2002 after working in management consulting. She was also recently named associate branch manager for the Chicago ofﬁce. Winne is involved in the Jane Addams Hull House organization, where she serves on the property committee of the board of trustees. �43 {Alumni Notes} 1995 1996 GEORGE S. ERVING (SFGI) has been granted promotion to Associate Professor of Humanities, Honors, and English, with tenure at the University of Puget Sound, effective with the 2009-10 academic year. “I have a recently published essay on Coleridge and the Newtonian tradition (European Romantic Review 19.3 July 2008) whose genesis was in a preceptorial I had with Jack Steadman.” SARA BITTLE (A) was a Montessori teacher for 12 years after graduation and ran and taught in an Infant-Toddler Montessori program for at-risk children as part of a larger organization called Crossway Community in Kensington, Md., outside of D.C. Last spring, I left my ﬁrst career to return to school to Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore. I am in their accelerated Bachelor’s of Science of Nursing program, which is designed for students who already have a bachelor’s degree in something other than nursing.” She graduates in late July and will begin to practice, hopefully as a labor and delivery nurse, in either the D.C. or Baltimore area. I hope to eventually get my master’s and become a nurse midwife, but for now just want to spend some time in the delivery room as an RN.” KATE FELD (A) and her husband, Richard Roe, have exciting news: “Our daughter, Molly Patricia, was born in May and is keeping us all entertained. It’s been an eventful year. I’ve also started a nonproﬁt organization focused on writing and technology. Our ﬁrst project, a writers’ map of Manchester, England, is now live at rainycitystories.com. And we’ve moved to the delightfullynamed town of Ramsbottom. Any Johnnies venturing to the northwest of England are welcome to stop in for a pint.” ZACH (A) and Michelle RASMUSON are living in the rural Anderson Valley of Northern California. They have two girls, Fay (6) and Marlowe (2). KIRA ZIELINSKI (SF) is living with her ﬁancé, Nathan, in Mobile, Ala. She continues to work hard on her transition from helicopter pilot to small business owner, having taken over ownership of a coffee house a year ago, and divides the remainder of her time between home improvement and plotting how to get back to the mountains. Kira can be contacted at k_zielinski@juno.com. MICHAEL ELIOT BARTH (AGI) married Jennifer Paige Parks in Vail, Colo., this past August. The couple resides in New York City, where Michael heads an international education development ﬁrm based at Columbia University (upublic), and Jennifer works as the director of Strategic Initiatives at the law ﬁrm White & Case. Recently Mr. Barth was appointed Special Advisor to the Royal Education Council of Bhutan, where he is developing the country’s ﬁrst graduate schools of law and education. A Beacon of Light I n early 2008, MATTHEW RAREY (AGI06) volunteered in a journalistic capacity at the Ukrainian Catholic University in order to write about “this beacon of light on the Catholic Church’s Eastern Front.” Ukraine, he writes, “is at the crossroads of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, an important center of the seemingly interminable ecumenical dialogue.” He later accepted a job as communications director for the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation in his native Chicago. The foundation educates Americans about the needs of the Church in Ukraine, speciﬁcally UCU, the only Catholic university in the former Soviet Union. “Her classical curriculum is a rarity in that neck of the woods—or anywhere in the West, for that matter. (Mandatory Greek and Latin, anyone?) I’ll likely be back in the former USSR this summer, visiting UCU after participating in an academic conference in Vilnius centered on Catholic social teachings: terribly necessary to revitalizing the burnt-out shell of post-Soviet civic and spiritual life.”x 1997 JESSE BERNEY (A) and JENNIE DAIR BERNEY (A98) are overjoyed to announce the birth of their daughter, Isabel Lamb Berney, in January. BENJAMIN BLOOM (A) reports: “Terry and I are expecting our ﬁrst baby in July. The bad news is Terry won’t let me call the baby Euclid if it’s a boy.” JEHANNE DUBROW (A) has left Lincoln, Neb., is back in Maryland, and has a new poetry collection out: “I’m currently living in Chestertown, Md., where I teach creative writing and literature at Washington College. Jeremy is serving on a destroyer in Norfolk, Va. So, we do a great deal of commuting and see one another on the weekends! Our dog, Argos the Wheaten Terrier, enjoys spending time in both port cities. In other news, my ﬁrst poetry collection, The Hardship Post, was published by Three Candles Press in early 2009. My second book, From the Fever-World, just won the Washington Writers’ Publishing House Award and will be published in the autumn of 2009. A third poetry collection, { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } Stateside (which addresses my experiences as a ‘Navy wife’), is forthcoming from Northwestern UP in 2010.” “All’s well,” writes REBECCA GAFFNEY (A). “Although San Diego is my home, Red Letter Days Events is growing at a rapid pace, and we’re in the process of opening an East Coast ofﬁce in Washington, D.C. I look forward to visiting Annapolis as much as possible!” MELANIE KIRBY (SF) and her partner Mark Spitzig are blessedly “buzzed” to announce the birth of their newest queenbee, their daughter Isis Rose Blossom Spitzig. Isis was born November 11, 2008, in Taos, and according to Melanie, “she is smiling and beekeeping already!” BRENDA M. JOHNSON (AGI) resides in Baltimore, in the wonderful Mount Vernon cultural center of the city. “I am enjoying being a docent at the Walters Art Museum and especially enjoy teaching school children about art and art history,” she writes. “In addition, because I can walk just about everywhere I want to go, getting to the theater, �44 {Alumni Notes} symphony, and restaurants is easy and gives me lots of choices for entertainment and enrichment.” INYA LASKOWSKI (SF) spent November 2008 at an artist’s retreat in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. In October she curated an exhibition for Japanese artist Chiyomi Taneike Longo, titled Kokoro no Tabigi at Gallery Route One, Point Reyes, Calif., which culminated with a tea ceremony. Inya had a sculpture showing at the Quicksilver Gallery, Forestville, Calif., in January. KIT (A) and SONYA SCHIFF LINTON (A00) happily announce the birth of their son, Henry Calvin Linton: “We are all doing well in Durham, N.C. Our daughter, Viola, is four years old now, Kit works as a consultant for IBM, and Sonya is an attorney. If anyone wants to get in touch with us, e-mail at kitandsonya@hotmail.com.” JILL NIENHISER (SFGI) received a diploma in acting from the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in December and is now auditioning for roles in Washington D.C.-area theaters. By day, she is a Mastermind at Mind & Media, in Alexandria, Va., a communication consulting and media production company. She also continues to serve as webmaster for the nonproﬁt Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org), which will launch a redesigned website this spring with online membership, social networking for members, and a blog. 1998 LEAH FISCH (SF) is entering her eighth year as a reorganizer. Her new company, Recycle the City (www.recyclethecity.com), is in NYC and in the process of becoming a 501(c) 3. “It is my revolution, and I’m so excited that it comes at the perfect time. It has also been fantastic reconnecting and meeting Johnnies in the city, even ones whom I did not personally know when in school. I look forward to many fun experiences with them.” BRENDA (BURGER) MACON (SF) writes: “My husband (TODD MACON, SFGI98) and I are living in Durango, Colo., with our beautiful baby daughter, Mia Jolie Calliope Danger Macon. We have just started selling ﬁrst edition and rare books. Our company has a more conservative name: Points West Fine Books. In our spare time, Todd teaches English and History of Religion at a private boarding school, and I teach drawing and painting classes on the weekends. We continue to be grateful to St. John’s for bringing us together, and for teaching us the art of delightful conversation ...still a valuable pursuit after 10 years of marital bliss! Our love of books continues to grow and we enjoy sharing this with others in a truly beautiful part of the country. We are having fun, and welcome all old friends to give us a jingle.” ELIZABETH TRICE (SF) is living in her hometown of Portland, Maine, working on regionalization projects for county government, and consulting on urban housing developments for people living alone. She also plays bass and sings with her tango band, Tango Mucha Labia. 1999 After graduation, TESS COBURN (A) spent two years in China teaching English. “During that time I discovered that I had a passion for clothing design. I have since started my own design company, Teresa Crowninshield. I now split my time between Massachusetts and China, designing and producing my collection and performing music with my band, Beastwith2Backs. I wish all the best to the class of 1999.” 2000 GREG BAMFORD (SFGI) is chair of the English Department at The Overlake School in Redmond, Wash. His second daughter, Annabel Greer Bamford, was born in November. ROBIN HEARN (SFGI) is happy to announce that she will be sitting for her architectural licensing exams for the State of Oregon in February 2009. 2001 CHRISTOPHER BALDWIN BARNETT (AGI) recently ﬁnished his doctorate at the University of Oxford: “I worked out of the Faculty of Theology and wrote a dissertation on Søren Kierkegaard. Also, my wife, Stacy, and I recently welcomed our third (!) son, Paul, who was born on August 22, 2008.” DAN FRAM (SF) is grinding his teeth through the second (and thankfully ﬁnal) year of the Mississippi Teacher Corps teaching English to eighthgraders near Jackson, Miss., “where public education proves to be the polar opposite of astral harmony, public politics proves to be polarized racially, and public entertainment proves an elliptical arc between twin poles of salvation and sin.” He is available on Facebook for suggestions on how to return to the life worth leading. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } 2002 PETER BOYCE (SF) is studying textiles and sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Art and lives in Baltimore. KATHERINE BROOKS (SF) is living in Scotland doing a master’s in philosophy and thinking about going on to a PhD. She has also been studying ancient Greek language and thinking about concentrating in ancient philosophy. AMANDA (KENNEDY) FINNEY (SF) will graduate from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in May 2009. She hopes to next announce that she’s passed the bar exam. On January 12, MIRABAI KNIGHT-LASCOUTX (née KNIGHT, SF) married Katherine Knight-Lascoutx (née Lascoutx, currently getting her degree in Greek and Latin at Hunter College) at City Hall in Boston, Mass. As soon as they arrived back in Penn Station the following evening, their marriage was ofﬁcially recognized in the State of New York. Hurray for incremental improvements! Mirabai is still working as a CART provider (academic stenographer) for deaf and hardof-hearing students studying everything from art to pharmacy, and Katherine is a tutor at the Hunter Reading/Writing Center. Also, they found a cat in the park near the Cloisters last spring and named him Alcibiades. Life is pretty great. 2003 BRENDAN NORWOOD (A) graduates as president of his class from Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons �45 {Alumni Notes} this May. Norwood plans to begin a residency in emergency medicine in July. ERIKA GINSBERG-KLEMMT (SFGI) lives in Sarasota, Fla., with her three kids and hubbie. Last year she taught writing at Ringling College of Art and Design and French at Riverview High School. She just coauthored her ﬁrst book The Complete Anchoring Handbook. She is now working on her ﬁrst solo book, based on her years of sailing. 2004 In November 2008, EMMA ELLIOTT (A) started a job as an editor with the Rabobank in Utrecht, the Netherlands. MELISSA THOMAS and MARTIN ANDERSON (both A) were married on July 18, 2008, in front of about 80 guests, including BILL MOROCCO (A94), ANDERSON TALLENT (A04), SUMMER STARR (A04), DEBORAH MANGUM (A05), G. AUGUST DEIMEL (SF04), and SARAH WAGNER (A08). Reports Melissa: “COURTNEY MAY (A04) was the perfect bridesmaid. Groomsmen MICHAEL MALONE (A04) and STUART BANNAN (A04) were truly awesome friends and wore tuxedos for us on a 90degree day. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were both thrilled to make it ofﬁcial!” KETURA KESTIN (A) is living in New York City and working at CBS News. In addition, she is currently ﬁlming in Toronto as director of development for Serendipity Productions. She has three ﬁlms in pre-production. Please feel free to send along scripts or any inquiries on investing to: kkestin@earthlink.net. 2005 MATTHEW GATES (A) is in his third year of service as a Peace Corps agroforestry volunteer in rural Senegal. NICO JENKINS (EC) is living in France while attending a PhD program at the European Graduate School in Saas Fee Switzerland: “It is a program sort of set up like the original St John’s Graduate Institute program in that it meets for only one month of the year for a very intensive series of classes (meeting 10 hours a day) with leading philosophers and artists. This summer I will be studying with Alain Badiou, Slavoj Zizek, and others.” JESSE POSNER (SF) graduated from George Washington University Law School in 2008 and is now working as an associate in New York for the law ﬁrm Dorsey & Whitney, LLP. 2006 A play by NORMAN ALLEN (AGI), The Christmas Foundling, based on stories by Bret Harte, was produced in Seattle, Wash., and Sonora, Calif., in December 2008. A new musical version of Carmen, for which he wrote the libretto, opened at the Karlin Music Theatre in Prague in October 2008. His play for young audiences, The Eve of Friday Morning, opened at The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., in January 2008. Norman is also chair of the English Department at Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School in D.C. DARYA PETERSON (SF) is completing instructor training at IMPACT Personal Safety this February. She became the outreach coordinator for the organization in the fall of 2008. She has been involved with the organization for one and a half years. IMPACT is a nonproﬁt organization that empowers people to live fuller lives by teaching defense against verbal, physical, and sexual assault. AMY YOUNGKIN (A) relocated to Chicago and accepted a clinical research associate position at the University of Chicago in the section of Hematology/ Oncology. “I like my work. I love my friends. I could do without the weather.” 2007 “I am currently living in Phoenix and working for the Great Books charter school, Great Hearts Academies, teaching ﬁne arts,” writes AMANDA MOON (AGI). “It is wonderful!” 2008 BILLY GRAY (AGI) writes: “My husband, Daniel, and I are living in Dallas. It is currently his turn to be the full-time student. I am writing, barista-ing and taking a literature class. Things are good!” JONATHAN LYNN LEBLANC (SFGI) is pursuing a PhD in political science at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge: “My ﬁeld is political philosophy, and I am currently studying political theology, and republicanism. I am also a graduate assistant in the LSU Public Policy Research Laboratory.” KIM (NICHOLS) LEMENTINO (SF) recently married Eli Lementino and gave birth to a son, Wesley. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } She is living in Albuquerque and will be pursuing a PhD in electrical engineering at University of New Mexico this spring. ROY ROGOSIN (SFGI), an “absolutely not-retired” professional conductor, is excited to be joining St. John’s to create a choral program to include all students, staff, and faculty. “We’ve already had our ﬁrst orientation and our goals are eminently achievable,” he writes. JESSIE SEILER (A) has joined the Peace Corps. “I’ll be departing February 27 for Senegal, where I’ll be doing preventative health education in a rural area for the next two years. Internet access will be super limited, but I’m going to try to keep a blog at http://jseiler.blogspot.com/. See you guys in April of 2011. If there are any Johnnies who are thinking of applying and have questions, please let me know! I love to talk to Johnnies about the Peace Corps, it just makes so much sense in a weird way for us to go from the philosophical to the practical like this. At least, I hope it does.” x What’s Up? The College wants to hear from you. Call us, write us, e-mail us. Let your classmates know what you’re doing. The next issue will be published in July; deadline for the alumni notes section is May 31. In Annapolis: The College Magazine St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800 Annapolis, MD 21404; rosemary.harty@sjca.edu In Santa Fe: The College Magazine St. John’s College 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599; alumni@sjcsf.edu �46 J. Burchenal Ault J. BURCHENAL AULT (H83) FORMER COLLEGE OFFICER, BVG MEMBER J. Burchenal Ault, who served as a part-time tutor, vice president, provost of both campuses, and a member of the Board of Visitors and Governors, died on October 29, 2008. He was 82. Mr. Ault’s lasting contributions to the college include working to bring teachers from inner-city schools and Middle Eastern countries to the college’s Graduate Institute. Mr. Ault was born in Glendale, Ohio, in 1926. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Yale University and held an honorary degree (Legis Doctor) from Long Island University. After graduating from Yale, he was commissioned an ofﬁcer in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1947 and served in the Korean War. He began his career in the fabrics industry, as a salesman with Bates Fabrics, Inc., in New York City. He later joined the Radiation Research Corp. of Westbury, New York, eventually becoming president and chairman of the executive committee. In 1970, pursuing his deep interest in education, Mr. Ault moved to Santa Fe, working ﬁrst as a part-time tutor, then as vice president of the Santa Fe {Obituaries} campus from 1970 to 1980. He was provost of both campuses between 1980 and 1985. In 1983, the Alumni Association made him an Honorary Alumnus. After leaving St. John’s, he served as consultant to Armand Hammer United World College of the American West and Vice President of Financial Affairs at the Santa Fe Institute. He also worked as an independent fundraising consultant. Mr. Ault divided his time between the undergraduate and graduate programs. In addition to attracting teachers from urban schools to the GI, he also brought teachers from Middle Eastern universities to the graduate program, with the support of grants from the U.S. Information Agency and the DeWitt Wallace Foundation. Over 10 years, 60 teachers from 11 countries took part in the graduate program. “Those who experienced St. John’s inevitably were drawn to think deeply, perhaps for the ﬁrst time, about aspects of their own culture and tradition,” Mr. Ault once said. Mr. Ault and his wife, Florence, had ﬁve children, twelve grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. ARLAND CHRIST-JANER FORMER ST. JOHN’S VICE PRESIDENT Arland Christ-Janer, who began his career at St. John’s and went on to a distinguished career leading institutions including Boston University, died on November 9, 2008, in Sarasota, Florida. He was 86. A Nebraska native, Mr. ChristJaner attended Carleton College and then the Yale Divinity School and the University of Chicago Law School. In World War II, he was a member of the 39th Bomb Group, as bombardier on the Yankee Dollar. He joined St. John’s as assistant to the president, a post he held from 1954 to 1960. He also served as treasurer and vice president. He became president of Cornell College in Iowa and later was appointed president of Boston University in 1967. In 1970, Mr. Christ-Janer was named president of the nonproﬁt College Entrance Examination Board. He left that job in 1973 to return to college administration with the New College, a private, liberal arts college in Florida; he was credited with saving the college by persuading lawmakers to incorporate it into the state university system in 1975. BILLY LIEB (CLASS OF 1945) CINEMATOGRAPHER, ARTIST Cinematographer, nature lover, peace activist, and artist Billy Lieb died on November 26, 2008, in San Diego, California. Born in Mt. Vernon, New York, he lived in West Los Angeles for many years. Mr. Lieb studied at St. John’s for two years before World War II interrupted his studies. He fought in Europe as a tank gunner stationed in France, Belgium, and Germany, participating in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. Following the war, he settled in Los Angeles and resumed his education at the University of California at Los Angeles. He worked for many years in the motion picture industry as a cameraman and ﬁlm editor for Arland Christ-Janer { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } Walt Disney, among others. Upon retiring he became deeply involved in the peace movement. At the age of 63, he walked in the Great Peace March of 1986 across America, followed by trips to Europe and Russia with Veterans For Peace groups. Later he returned to his love of art, taking classes at Santa Monica College. His special passion was making wood sculptures and assemblages, many with found objects such as driftwood. He also volunteered at the Getty Art Museum and was a longtime member of the Sierra Club. LOUIS KURS (H00) ANNAPOLIS TUTOR EMERITUS Annapolis tutor emeritus Louis N. Kurs died on August 22, 2008, at the age of 83. He began teaching at St. John’s College in 1964, moving from Chicago, where he taught in the geology department at the University of Illinois. Mr. Kurs attended the Colorado School of Mines from 1942-43 and again in 1946, and Columbia University from 1943-45. He received his Master of Science from the University of Chicago in 1948, and taught geology and physical science at various institutions in the Chicago area until moving to St. John’s. He particularly enjoyed teaching freshman laboratory and mathematics and worked enthusiastically to ensure that every student achieved his or her best. He was always ready to engage in conversations about the books and the Program, and his enthusiasm for St. John’s caused most of his family to follow him to the college. The St. John’s College Annapolis Alumni Association gave him an honorary membership in 2000. He retired from full-time teaching in 1992, although he continued his involvement in the community until his death. �47 {Obituaries} Mr. Kurs is survived by Alice (SFGI71), his wife of 58 years, as well as by his four daughters and their husbands: Claire Kurs (A74) and Pascal Gambardella; Jean (SF75) and Jim Blair; Eleanor (A80) and John Verdi, Annapolis tutor; and Elizabeth and Hans-Peter Soeder (A81). He is also survived by seven grandchildren: Daniel and Peter Gambardella; Antonia and Luca Verdi; and CarlGustav, Johann Friedrich, and Armin Heinrich Soeder. ANNE BERVEN (SF00) SANTA FE TUTOR Anne Berven, alumna and former tutor at the Santa Fe campus, died on January 30, 2008, at age 39. She served on the faculty for many years, and was particularly active in the music program, devoting herself to helping students and faculty develop their musical talents. At a memorial held on February 7 in Bothell, Washington, Sam Markham (SF01) recalled bonding with Miss Berven over difﬁculties with basic geometry and later being guided by her as a member of a choir under her direction. “I always found it ironic that while Anne was no genius in the math department, she excelled at music, which is supposedly undergirded by mathematics,” he said. “Proportion and balance, dynamics and ﬂow, these were things Anne understood with ease and conveyed with enthusiasm to her fellow classmates and students. That same year Anne created a choir out of nothing. We were a ragtag group of students who enjoyed singing and had been encouraged by her. After several months of practice under Anne’s guidance we performed Rachmaninoff’s Vespers. I remember being very nervous on the day of the performance, as I was singing one of the solos. Anne helped me through my anxiety. She made the point that singing for an audience is an offering of oneself and one’s voice. It is a vulnerable act that mixes fear, trust, and fearlessness. Anne lived her life in this spirit of courage and vulnerability. I’ve touched on just one part of what made Anne a superior human being. Her wicked sense of humor and heightened awareness of life were an example to us all. While many sleepwalk through life, Anne was awake and alive to life’s sadness, goodness, and beauty.” Friends, classmates, and former students shared memories of Miss Berven on a memorial website (http://anneberven. wordpress.com), remembering her warmth, generosity, sense of humor, and devotion to music. ALSO NOTED PATRICIA DAWSON BENSON (A90), OCT. 17, 2007 LORIN BLACKSTAD (SF08), NOV. 7, 2008 LEAH BOYD (CLASS OF 1959), DEC. 9, 2008 JAMES BOYLE (CLASS OF 1939), OCT. 23, 2008 MELVIN BRAUNSTEIN (CLASS OF 1949), DEC. 1, 2008 PAULETTE DOLLINGER (SFGI89) EDUCATOR Paulette Dollinger, who was an educator in New York City public schools for 20 years, died on February 2, 2009, at the age of 53. A resident of Queens, New York, Ms. Dollinger began her career as an English teacher at Sarah J. Hale, Clara Barton, and Lafayette high schools in Brooklyn. In 1991, she became a guidance counselor, eventually serving at several high schools in Manhattan. She worked at the Ofﬁce of High School Admissions in Manhattan, later served as Assistant Principal for Pupil Personnel Services at Bushwick High School in Brooklyn, and was a guidance counselor at Canarsie High School. She had begun training for drug counseling as a post-retirement career. Ms. Dollinger took a sabbatical to attend the Graduate Institute in Santa Fe. According to her husband, Gregory Zsidisin, Ms. Dollinger “considered her time at St. John’s one of the most intellectually stimulating and challenging experiences of her life, and was very proud to have graduated from the program.” As a tutor in Santa Fe, Anne Berven shared her love of music with students. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } D. MICHAEL BROWN (CLASS OF 1951), SEPT. 4, 2008 WALTER DUDLEY (SFGI70), SEPT. 18, 2008 MARTHA (MARI) BILLINGTON GALEREAVE (SF79), JULY 4, 2008 NAOMI GARWOOD (SFGI79), SEPT. 3, 2008 WILLIAM HAKIM (SF79), DEC. 12, 2008 ANDREW HILL (A98), DEC. 1, 2008 DINWIDDIE LAMPTON, JR. (CLASS OF 1938), SEPT. 22, 2008 MICHAEL J. LANDRY (SF70), NOV. 28, 2008 CLAUDIA “KIT” LARCOMBE (SF69), SEPT. 17, 2008 IAN CAMPBELL LEA (CLASS OF 1949), APRIL 18, 2007 ASBURY LEE III (CLASS OF 1937), FEB. 20, 2009 ROBERT LOHR (CLASS OF 1954), OCT. 8, 2008 HENRY MACK (CLASS OF 1945), SEPT. 28, 2008 JOHN ROBERTS (CLASS OF 1939), OCT. 14, 2008 ALLEN SCHOOLFIELD (CLASS OF 1945), DEC. 28, 2008 ARTHUR TORELLI (AGI07), OCT. 21, 2008 �48 {Photo Essay} Everyday Wonders in a Commuter Landscape by J.W. Ocker (AGI02) he world has gotten so that it proclaims its wonders pretty loudly these days. Every bit of ancient, awe-inspiring natural beauty, every dizzying example of human architectural prowess and enlightening artistic accomplishment, and every improbable creature discovered in the most improbable places has its own marketing team to ensure that as many people in the world as possible know about it. Add this to the way modern transit has shrunken the size of the globe and the media that engulfs and connects it all, and it’s evident that you don’t have to be an explorer of legendary and daring mien to see the world anymore. But there are other ways to see the world and other wonders not so loudly proclaimed. Much more humble wonders that are shoved for lack of a present use into the dusty attic corners of the world, stowed in small towns like the forgotten steamer trunks of longdead relatives, lost in the overwhelming cacophony of the city like a tiny dislodged jewel in an avalanche of rock, or hidden in plain view like a coin in the palm of a conjurer. These aren’t usually called wonders. They’re called oddities. But that doesn’t make them any less wonderful. I’ve had the opportunity to travel abroad a few times in my life, but most of my existence has orbited that interminable stretch of life that is the northern half of the Interstate 95 corridor. Even in that small bit of commuter-heavy landscape, I’ve encoun- T tered countless oddities of history, culture, and art. In Philadelphia, you can stand beneath Auguste Rodin’s towering and grim masterpiece of sculpture, The Gates of Hell, and then travel two hours west in the same state to the ghost town of Centralia to stand gingerly atop a perennially burning 400-acre underground coal ﬁre that might as well be the gates of hell. In New Hampshire, you can see both ends of the spectrum of human potential in a single afternoon—the birthplace of America’s ﬁrst serial killer, H.H. Holmes, standing forlorn and apologetic in the town of Gilmanton, and the family homesteadturned-park of America’s ﬁrst man in space, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., in Derry. You can visit homemade mummies of modern vintage tucked into the bathroom of a small museum in Philippi, West Virginia, and an ofﬁcial Egyptian mummy whose time is marked in millennia staring blindly at the ceiling of a museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut, while children work at arts and crafts at a table nearby. To me, both of these experiences were in some ways more compelling than an actual trip I took to the Great Pyramid of Egypt itself. You can see the grand but conventional National World War II Memorial in D.C. anytime you like, but I was much more { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } impressed by the surprising international War of the Worlds Memorial that holds modest court in an unassuming little park in the unrecognized-by-most-GPS-units town of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Most statues are erected in honor of people who have inspired awe by the heroic actions of their lives. And I’ve never been more awed by a statue than when I visited the sprawling and astounding Dr. Seuss National Memorial in Springﬁeld, Massachusetts, or the modest, but note-perfect Jim Henson statue in College Park, Maryland. Here there be monsters, as well. In addition to the already mentioned mummies, you can witch-hunt in Salem, Massachusetts, visit the still-existing grave of an 1800s-era vampire unearthed in Exeter, Rhode Island, walk in the shufﬂing footsteps of zombies in a mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, looked �49 {Photo Essay} over your shoulder for the devil who haunts a pine forest in New Jersey, and pay your respects to the Invisible Man buried in Moultonborough, New Hampshire. In Danvers, Massachusetts, you can move into a 130-year-old insane asylum recently converted into a swank condominium complex. A few states down in Moundsville, West Virginia, you can spent the night in a 130-year-old prison, watching practitioners of the peculiar hobby of ghost hunting. Back up in Fall River, Massachusetts, you can spend the night at a 120-year-old murder scene, in the very bedroom of suspected axe murderess Lizzie Borden. You can safari through Burlington, Vermont, to see its ﬂying monkeys, its lake monster, and its giant ground whales, but a much more terrifying adventure is a simple drive-through safari park experience located in Natural Bridge, Virginia. The literary inspirations of some of the greatest writers of the English language proliferate in this corridor, including Irving’s haunted Sleepy Hollow, New York; Thoreau’s idyllic Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts; and Hawthorne’s somber House of Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts. I don’t know what exactly the common denominator is with all these oddities for me. Some appeal to a personal morbid streak that runs the length and width of my entire being. Others are connected to speciﬁc joys in my life such as reading great literature or watching strange movies. Still others are just intrinsically attention-grabbing. I do know, though, that each of these oddities has a story worth listening to, a peak in the normally ﬂat line that is unfortunately often the best metaphor for everyday existence. Somehow ﬁnding and visiting these artifacts gives me a share in those stories. And then that gives me a chance to tell the stories myself. Most amazing, oddities such as these are located not in far-ﬂung exotic locations, but within driving distance. And that’s true no matter where you are. In fact, if this few states’ worth of ground is any evidence, the world will never wear out its wonders…even the odd ones. x J.W. Ocker (AGI02) chronicles his visits to oddities at his website O.T.I.S.: Odd Things I’ve Seen (www.OddThingsIveSeen.com). Opposite page, Above: An underground ﬁre continues to burn in the abandoned town of Centralia, Penn. Below (l. to r.): Dr. Seuss National Memorial, Springﬁeld, Mass.; War of the Worlds Memorial, Grovers Mill, N.J.; and Lake Monster Monument, Burlington, Vt. Above: J. Seward Johnson Jr.’s sculpture, “The Awakening,” now at National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Md. At right: detail from Rodin’s “The Gates of Hell,” Philadelphia. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �50 {Alumni Association News} Thirty Years of D.C. Seminars read, and more the fact that we’re reading it together,” says Grandi. “It’s a community. Everyone has the experience of St. John’s, and Johnnies have a way of approaching the work.” Papier was the ﬁrst president when the reading group ofﬁcially became a chapter. Possessing a certain “anarchic spirit,” she says, the group initially resisted being a full-ﬂedged chapter; it ﬁnally signed up in the early 1980s. In addition to Grandi and Papier, Sharon Garvey (SFGI78), and Jean Dickason (AGI85) served as presidents. Two alumni who have since passed away, William Ross (class of 1938) and Sam Stiles (class of 1954), also served as presidents. Papier tapped Aickelin, a librarian for a D.C. law ﬁrm, to serve as the group’s librarian, helping with paper and electronic distribution of readings. Economist Carl Seastrum, a Summer Classics and Executive Seminar devotee who became a regular at the chapter seminars, was drafted as treasurer. At the chapter’s last election, a larger board of directors was put in place in an effort to expand the offerings to include more social events. There’s now a social committee, headed by Vice President Robert Morris (SF04), that organizes regular happy hours and other nonseminar activities, such as a recent bowling outing. But the seminar remains the core of the chapter, cherished by its long-timers and delighting newcomers. In January, Annapolis tutor David Townsend led a regular Tuesday seminar on Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Two weeks later, the group followed up with an “imbibe while you opine” discussion of Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, held at a Greek restaurant. The weather was nasty that night, and a couple of people couldn’t attend. Still, 22 people showed up. It was a seminar night, after all, and in D.C. they take their seminars seriously. To see what the Washington chapter has been reading for 30 years, visit its website: www.stjohnscollege.edu; click on “Alumni” to access the online community, then the Washington, D.C., chapter. x he 17 people exchanged they’ve been coming for about 17 years. handshakes, hugs, and a “It keeps us reading interesting things that little gossip as they I for one am not certain I would be reading wandered into the Cleveland without the seminar,” Carol says. Park Library meeting room “I wouldn’t say interesting, I’d say on a wintry Tuesday important,” adds Bill. “I’m really grateful evening. But when John Rees (A74) was to Ed and Deborah for having the whereready to ask the opening question, they withal and knowledge to keep a steady ﬂow were all business. “Is Socrates being fair to of readings. There’s always intelligent Ion?” asked Rees. A lively discussion conversation, and that’s hard to come by.” ensued as the group tossed around various According to Papier, who has done two interpretations of who the rhapsode was stints as president and plays a key role in and what truth Socrates wanted him to assembling the reading list, “Our readings learn. Was rhapsody an art? Was it merely have spanned 4,000 years, from the a techne? Or could it be a divine madness? Babylonian creation myth called the Enuma Elish to Barack Obama. We don’t Greek works are always a draw for the Washington, D.C., alumni chapter, but the conﬁne ourselves to the Great Books. But we still look for works that have proved reading for the February 10 seminar was their value over time. It’s very hard for a chosen for a special reason: to mark the living writer to get onto the schedule.” 30th anniversary of the reading group. A professional writer and editor, Papier Plato’s Ion was the subject of the ﬁrst seminar on January 24, 1979. Since then, is also in charge of publicizing the there have been bi-monthly seminars on seminars. Eight years ago, she brought some 600 readings, making this the oldest the group into the electronic age, with continuously active chapter of the the creation of a Yahoo group that generAlumni Association. ates weekly reminders of chapter activities. Among the participants in the Close to 300 people subscribe to the discussion were three people who had been stjohnsdc list. present at that ﬁrst conversation 30 years Except for the summer break, during ago: Edward Grandi (A77), Mark Aickelin which seminar participants tackle a long (75), and Deborah Papier (A72). Grandi work, readings are generally short, making and Aickelin were among the original it easier for members with busy careers to organizers of the group, and all three have participate. leadership roles in the chapter today. “For me what’s important is less what we “A year or so after I graduated, I was nostalgic for seminar,” says Grandi, a nonproﬁt executive who currently serves as the chapter president. “I wanted to have those conversations again. The chapter ﬁlled the void I was experiencing.” The D.C. area was also experiencing a void. There had been an alumni-led seminar group in the ﬁfties and sixties, but during the seventies there was were only occasional discussions organized by the college. So Grandi got together with two friends from school— Aickelin and Ed Kaitz (A76)— and got the conversation going. Six hundred readings later, the D.C. alumni chapter is still going Bill and Carol Tilles (both strong. class of 1959) estimate that T { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �51 {Alumni Association News} The Silk Road Project ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION An Introduction to Eastern Classics A summer seminar offers a glimpse of Santa Fe’s Eastern Classics program. President – Jason Walsh (A85) Vice President – Steve Thomas (SF74) Secretary – Joanne Murray (A70) Treasurer – Richard Cowles (A70) Mailing address – Alumni Association, St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800, Annapolis, MD 21404, or 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599. international imperative for citizens of the world. If successful, the future seminars will feature comparisons of East and West, such as Aristotle and Zhu Xi or Aquinas and Shankara. Already half-ﬁlled, the seminar is now open to all interested Johnnies. The cost is $3,600 and a certiﬁcate of completion will be provided for use in obtaining credit toward the EC master’s degree. The deadline for enrollment is the end of April. Contact Maggie Magalnick at maggie. magalnick@sjcsf.edu or 505-984-6199 to enroll. x ANNAPOLIS Beth Martin Gammon, A94 410-332-1816 emartin@crs.org AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO Toni Wilkinson, SGI87 512-278-1697 wilkinson_toni @hotmail.com BOSTON Dianne Cowan, A91 617-666-4381 diannecowan@rcn.com CHICAGO Rick Lightburn, SF76 847-922-3862 ricklightburn@alumni. stjohnscollege.edu PHOENIX Donna Kurgan, AGI96 623-444-6642 dakurgie@yahoo.com SEATTLE James Doherty, SFGI76 206-542-3441 jdoherty@mrsc.org NEW YORK CITY Daniel Van Doren, A81 914-949-6811 dvandoren@ optonline.net PITTSBURGH Joanne Murray, A70 724-325-4151 Joanne.Murray@ basicisp.net SOUTH FLORIDA Peter Lamar, AGI95 305-666-9277 cplamar@yahoo.com DALLAS/FORT WORTH Paula Fulks, SF76 817-654-2986 puffjd@swbell.net NORTH CAROLINA Rick Ross, A82 919-319-1881 Rick@activated.com Elizabeth Ross, A92 Elizabeth@ activated.com PORTLAND Jennifer Rychlik, SF93 503-547-0241 jlr43@coho.net DENVER/BOULDER Elizabeth Jenny, SF80 303-530-3373 epj727@comcast.net HOUSTON Norman Ewart, A85 713-303-3025 norman.ewart@rosetta resources.com NORTHERN CALIF. Reynaldo Miranda, A99 415-333-4452 reynaldo.miranda@ gmail.com SAN DIEGO Stephanie Rico, A86 619-429-1565 srico@sandi.net SALT LAKE CITY Erin Hanlon, SF03 916-967-2194 e.i.mhanlon@ gmail.com { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } SOUTHERN CALIF. Jan Conlin, SF85 310-490-2749 conlinjan1@yahoo.com WASHINGTON, D.C. Ed Grand,i A77 301-351-8411 egrandi@aol.com WESTERN NEW ENGLAND Peter Weis, SF84 413-367-2174 peter_weis@ nmhschool.org n ALBUQUERQUE Robert Morgan, SF76 505-275-9012 rim2u@comcast.net ge MINN./ST. PAUL Carol Freeman, AGI94 612-822-3216 Freem013@umn.edu in each area. ’s C ohn olle .J mn u SANTA FE Richard Cowles, SFGI95 505-986-1814 rcowles2@comcast.net Al PHILADELPHIA Helen Zartarian, AGI86 215-482-5697 helenstevezartarian@ mac.com MADISON Consuelo Sañudo, SGI00 Call the alumni listed below for information about 608-251-6565 chapter, reading group, or other alumni activities sanudoc@tds.net CHAPTER CONTACTS io amy raab The new Silk Road Project will start this summer with Confucius’ Analects, translated by Edward Singerland, and selections from A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Tutor Krishnan Venkatesh will lead the threeweek seminar, which is scheduled for 1:30-3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, August 3 through August 20, 2009, on the Santa Fe campus. Venkatesh will introduce components of the Chinese language; a ﬁnal paper is optional. Pam Carter (SFGI08) and Jean “Puddin” Clarke (SFGI95, Board of Visitors and Governors member) brainstormed the idea as a prelude to the Eastern Classics primarily for Johnnies who do not have the time to start the EC. However, they envision the seminar to have additional beneﬁts. It will serve as a “test-drive” for those who may be overly concerned about the language requirements, for those who cannot as yet afford the yearlong program, and for those desiring a greater understanding of the Eastern mind, now an St S t. John’s College will experiment this summer with a new seminar concept bridging East and West. The seminar is designed for Johnnies—undergraduate or GI graduates— desiring to study powerful Eastern authors and texts, but unable to fully commit to the yearlong master’s degree in Eastern Classics program. All alumni have automatic membership in the St. John’s College Alumni Association. The Alumni Association is an independent organization, with a Board of Directors elected by and from the alumni body. The board meets four times a year, twice on each campus, to plan programs and coordinate the affairs of the association. i A s s o cia t Providing opportunities for more alumni to connect more often and more richly �52 greenfield library {St. John’s Forever} Elliott Carter at 100 R enowned composer Elliott Carter recently turned 100, inspiring concerts, boxed sets of retrospective CDs, and a tribute website: www.carter100.com. His time at St. John’s was brief, but memorable. According to J. Winfree Smith’s A Search for the Liberal College, Carter was one of several faculty members Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan brought in as they grappled with ﬁnding the right place for music in the New Program: “Herbert Swartz in 1938, Elliott Carter in 1940, and Nicholas Nabokov in 1941 were all added to the faculty in large part because of their music knowledge, which, it was expected, would enable them to suggest how music as a ﬁne art might ﬁt into the curriculum and also to sponsor and supervise music as an extracurricular activity.” None remained very long, Smith noted, and “little came of their efforts.” { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } Carter and Nabokov offered seminars on musical composition, but they didn’t gain much ground here, Smith posited, largely because of Buchanan, “who thought that one should study the scores without listening to and without ever having listened to the sounds represented by the staves with their whole notes, half notes, and quarter-notes, etc., and without even knowing that those marks might refer to sounds.” x �{Alumni Events Calendar} Alumni Calendar Piraeus Milton’s Paradise Lost Section 1: Led by Eva Brann and David Carl (FULL) Section 2: Led by Tom May June 4-7, 2009 Annapolis The weekend will begin with a welcome dinner on Thursday evening followed by the ﬁrst of ﬁve seminars spread out over the next three days. Over the weekend, there will be time to enjoy the treasures of the Chesapeake Bay, the museums in D.C., or reading, boating, and eating crabs. Cost: $400 per person Includes all seminars, receptions and Sunday brunch On campus room and board is $200 per person for three nights. Stendhal’s The Red and the Black Led by Michael Rawn and Ned Walpin June 14 – 19, 2009 Santa Fe The week begins with a welcome dinner Sunday evening. The program will consist of seven seminars spread over the week. There will be a morning and an evening seminar on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The ﬁnal seminar will take place Friday morning, followed by a closing lunch. Wednesday, with no scheduled seminars, will be an opportunity to enjoy Santa Fe and prepare for the ﬁnal three seminars. Homecoming Shakespeare In Performance King Lear Led by Louis Petrich and Jon Tuck Acting Instruction by Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting June 18-21, 2009 Harman Center for the Arts Washington, D.C. Annapolis Friday, September 25 - Sunday, September 27 (please note that Sunday’s events will be over by 2 p.m. due to the start of Yom Kippur at sundown that evening) In collaboration with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., this combination seminar/performancebased workshop will feature stimulating scholarly discussion integrated with an exploration of the actor’s craft and approach to classic text. Participants will engage in seminars, text analysis, stage combat, and voice and movement workshops. Whether you are a novice actor, scholar, or student, “Shakespeare in Performance” is a not-to-be missed workshop. Alumni Association President Jason Walsh Cost: $990 per person (A97) presents the Award of Merit to Includes seminars, ticket to performance of Peter McGhee (class of 1955). King Lear, instruction, breakfasts, receptions and tours. Registration and payment deadline: June 5, 2009 Santa Fe Friday, October 9 - Sunday, October 11 Cost: $475 per person Includes all seminars, lunches, and dinner on Sunday On campus room and board is $250 per person for ﬁve nights Registration and payment deadline: May 22, 2009 Jason Bielagus (SF98) enjoys the Homecoming banquet in Santa Fe. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Spring 2009 } �NON -P ROFIT ORG . U.S. POSTAGE PAID P UBLISHED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE P.O. BOX 2800 A NNAPOLIS , MARYLAND 21404 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED A NNAPOLIS , MD P ERMIT NO . 120 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The College (2001-2017) Description An account of the resource The St. John's College Communications Office published The College magazine for alumni. It began publication in 2001, continuing the St. John's Reporter, and ceased with the Fall 2017 issue. Click on <a title="The College" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=56">Items in The College (2001-2017) Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Santa Fe, NM Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thecollege2001 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 52 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Title A name given to the resource The College, Spring 2009 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Santa Fe, NM Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The_College_Magazine_Spring_2009 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Description An account of the resource Issue of The College Magazine. Published in Spring 2009. The College https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/68ed0bc77b7be0724a5790f863a54c05.pdf e40f0d855498311cea5457fa915b9258 PDF Text Text The College W i n t e r 2 0 1 0 ST. JOHN’S C OLLEGE • ANN APOLIS • SANTA FE Wittgenstein and The Limits of Language �On Wittgenstein S ometimes an apocryphal story is too good to resist repeating. It’s said that when Ludwig Wittgenstein presented the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus as his doctoral thesis at Cambridge, Betrand Russell, his supervisor, declared: “Mr. Wittgenstein has written a work of great learning and originality. Nevertheless it still satisﬁes the criteria laid down by the University of Cambridge for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.” Apocrypha aside, William Day (SF82), associate professor of philosophy at Le Moyne College, considers Wittgenstein the most interesting 20th-century philosopher. “Wittgenstein’s life and his concern with the way that he lived it, his concern with his moral being and for his immortal soul, were unique among important thinkers of the last century,” says Day, who in December was putting the ﬁnishing touches on a volume of essays about Wittgenstein, co-edited with Victor J. Krebs of Pontiﬁcia Universidad Católica del Perú. Titled Seeing Wittgenstein Anew, the book is due out in March from Cambridge University Press. Day, also a jazz pianist, developed a deeper interest in Wittgenstein’s later writings, particularly his discussion of “seeing (and hearing) aspects,” after coming across something Wittgenstein told his friend Maurice Drury: “It is impossible for me to say in my book one word about all that music has meant in my life. How then can I hope to be understood?” Day suggests that Wittgenstein found in the puzzle of musical meaning an emblem for the demands that his later writings make on his reader. As Wittgenstein explains, sometimes understanding a sentence means sorting out your experience of it, seeing how it cannot be replaced by any other sentence, just as understanding a musical theme means hearing how it cannot be replaced by any other musical theme. Wittgenstein turned away from a life of wealth and privilege to pursue profoundly difﬁcult things on an untraditional path. As a young man he was drawn to philosophy by way of engineering. His fascination with the foundations of mathematics led him to Bertrand Russell’s Principles of Mathematics and, in 1911, to study with Russell at Cambridge. After he wrote the Tractatus (1921), the only work published in his lifetime, Wittgenstein decided he had solved all of philosophy’s problems and moved on. But he returned to Cambridge in 1929, and until his death in 1951, Wittgenstein set aside the systematic philosophy with which he concerned himself in the Tractatus to focus instead on how philosophy creates its own problems when it considers words (such as “knowledge,” “being,” “object,” and “name”) apart from their original, everyday use. He dedicated himself to doing away with philosophical problems by showing that puzzlements arise when language “goes on holiday.” Wittgenstein wasn’t on the Program when Day was an undergraduate. He ﬁrst encountered him in grad school at Columbia, and as an exchange scholar at Harvard, where he attended some of Stanley Cavell’s seminars. (Cavell’s The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, Skepticism, Morality, and Tragedy, was published in 1979.) When Day was studying philosophy, the ethical side of Wittgenstein’s concern with the workings of language was largely ignored by professional philosophers other than Cavell. That began to change in 1990, when Ray Monk published his Wittgenstein biography, The Duty of Genius. The work drew attention to the religious or ethical dimension of Wittgenstein’s thought. In this issue of The College, Annapolis tutor John Verdi examines how Wittgenstein reexamined the very work that made him famous and repudiated nearly all of his earlier conclusions. Verdi’s book on Wittgenstein, Fat Wednesday (Paul Dry) is due out this spring. We also proﬁle three Johnnies with careers in publishing, from the writer whose imagination begins the process to the publisher who brings it to fruition. Also, Santa Fe senior Jacob Dink explores how learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is like learning a new language. —RH The College is published three times a year by St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD, and Santa Fe, NM Known ofﬁce of publication: Communications Ofﬁce St. John’s College Box 2800 Annapolis, MD 21404-2800 Periodicals postage paid at Annapolis, MD postmaster: Send address changes to The College Magazine, Communications Ofﬁce, St. John’s College, Box 2800, Annapolis, MD 21404-2800. Rosemary Harty (AGI09), editor 443-716-4011 rosemary.harty@sjca.edu Patricia Dempsey, managing editor Jennifer Behrens, art director The College welcomes letters on issues of interest to readers. Letters can be sent via e-mail to the editor or mailed to the address above. Annapolis 410-626-2539 Santa Fe 505-984-6104 Contributors Cathi Dunn MacRae Kelley O’Donnell (A04) Keileigh Rhodes (A13) Nathaniel Roe (SF08) Deborah Spiegelman John Verdi Babak Zarin (A11) Magazine design by Claude Skelton Design �Winter 2010 Vo l u m e 3 5 , I s s u e 1 The College The Magazine for Alumni of St. John’s College Annapolis • Santa Fe {Contents} 10 Doing Things with Words d e p a r t m e n t s page 2 • Santa Fe sails through reaccreditation A Q & A on the college and the economy Matt Davis leads the Santa Fe GI Levan Hall update Cookies, milk, and stories A meeting of the minds A model Johnnie How did you hear about St. John’s? News and announcements Letters 28 biblioﬁle • • Tutor John Verdi suggests there are two philosophers to consider when approaching Ludwig Wittgenstein. • • • • 16 The Book: a Story in Three Parts page • • • page 10 The publishing world is going through revolutionary change, but these Johnnies wouldn’t do anything else. Eva Brann (HA89) on Feeling Our Feelings; Michael Waldock (SFGI03) issues a Main Street Manifesto; Katherine Wolff (AGI93) delves into the Culture Club. 22 Something Deeper page What’s behind all that rolling and hugging of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? Jacob Dink (SF10) explains why this gripping martial art is like studying language. 290 alumni P RO F I L E S page 16 29 Kelly Trumpbour (AGI06) helps young women discover politics. 31 Candles captivate Martin Marklin (A85). 33 California winemaker Zach Rasmuson (A95) 37 Mark Sanﬁlippo (SFGI00) and the secrets of salami 40 Q & A: Lisa Rosenblum (A81) 42 Designer Nadia Nour (SF00) values sustainability and ethics. 24 A Way of Looking at the World page He arrived at St. John’s uninspired and indifferent; he left full of passion and purpose. Hugh Curtler (class of 1959) explains how St. John’s shaped a career. page from the bell towers 46 alumni association news 52 48 st. john’s forever page 48 Homecoming The Class of 1959 reﬂects on ways St. John’s never left them. on the cover Ludwig Wittgenstein Illustration by David Johnson �2 {From the Bell Towers} Santa Fe Campus Receives Highest Endorsement from Accrediting Agency by Deborah Spiegelman doug plummer conﬁned to the Program; they embraced academic support strucAchieving reaccreditation is a signiﬁcant accomplishment of which tures and the administration of the college as well. any college may be proud, but equally noteworthy is the successful “We wanted to make a thorough and searching review of the completion of the process leading to achievement of this distinccollege and have the self-study come out in one voice,” Pesic tion. This past June, St. John’s Santa Fe campus received a 10-year explains. “We wanted to explain ourselves to the outside world. re-accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission of the It was a grass-roots process. In the end, the report had to balance North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The 10-year re-accreditation is the accrediting body’s most positive endorsement. many perspectives.” The ﬁnal product, ﬁrst drafted in December 2007 by Pesic with Colleges and universities seek accreditation because it adds to assistance from fellow tutors Bartok and Honeywell, went through the credibility of the institution and also enables it to qualify for numerous revisions, taking into account suggestions from a diverse U.S. Department of Education Pell Grants (to support students group, including an active BVG committee. It also needed to be based on ﬁnancial need) as well as for work-study subsidized loans, responsive to recommendations made by evaluators at the concluexplains Susan Kaplan, director of Corporate and Foundation sion of the previous evaluation cycle. The organization of the selfRelations. Once an institution is accredited, it must be reaccredited study is a departure from the presentations made by most colleges, every 10 years. Pesic suggests. For St. John’s in Santa Fe, this process got underway at the end of For example, the report devotes a number of chapters to 2006, with the establishment of a steering committee appointed by providing an overview of St. John’s and a discussion of Program President Michael Peters. Chaired by tutor and musician-in-resiaspects—how they have changed and how they might be improved— dence Peter Pesic, the committee included Victoria Mora, dean; before addressing the HLC’s ﬁve core criteria. (These criteria cover Judith Adam, tutor and then assistant dean; Krishnan Venkatesh, an institution’s mission; resources to respond to future challenges; then director of the Graduate Institute; Bryan Valentine, treasurer; student learning and effective teaching; acquisition, discovery, and Jim Osterholt, vice president for Advancement; and Claudia Honeyapplication of knowledge; and engagement and service.) well and Philip Bartok, tutors. “Our self-assessment,” the report’s summary concludes, “is that Charged with organizing the self-study—the centerpiece of the St. John’s College in Santa Fe is strong; its Program is alive and vital evaluation process–the committee referred to the commission’s to those who dedicate themselves to it; we are reaping the beneﬁts 192-page Handbook of Accreditation to structure the college’s and the challenges of being a more mature campus; and. . . we are response to the evaluation criteria. The commission “doesn’t want you to assess yourself against other universities in the North Central poised to meet the challenges that face us going forward.” Peters had decided not to wait until the region. They encourage you to do a self end of the 2008-2009 evaluation period to assessment, to take the criteria and have the HLC’s peer-review team come to measure how well you are doing what you campus, but to have the self-study say you’re doing,” Kaplan says. completed early so that the evaluators “The process mirrored our fundawould be in Santa Fe by November 2008. mental commitment to self-knowledge,” He wanted the bulk of the self-study Mora adds. Because the Program is based completed before Pesic, its chief author, on conversation among tutors and went on sabbatical. “I also thought we’d students, both were key participants in the have a richer pool of potential reviewers self-study. The process was both reﬂective [for the evaluation team],” he explains. and prospective; that is, the goals were to The self-study was completed in assess how the college meets the HLC’s September 2008, which gave the evaluacriteria, to analyze the college’s present tors time to read it thoroughly before their situation, to identify strengths and chalthree-day visit. Besides reviewing a mass lenges, and to suggest future directions. of required documentation in its tempoBy the summer of 2007, the data-gathrary “resource room”—from ﬁve years’ ering process was in full swing, propelled worth of publications to audits, from BVG by a series of small-group, open conversameeting minutes to treasurer’s reports— tions designed to be as inclusive as the team conducted interviews with possible. These discussions included selected ofﬁcers, staff, and tutors; held tutors, staff, alumni, members of the open meetings; and attended classes. college’s Board of Visitors and Governors, “This is the best way to understand and ofﬁcers of the college. In addition, St. John’s,” Peters notes of the classroom undergraduate and graduate students In Santa Fe, the Program is “alive and vital to visits. “It helped us convey what we’re were encouraged to conduct their own those who dedicate themselves to it,” the campus’ self-study report stated. trying to do. They found it helpful and self-studies. The discussions were not { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{From the Bell Towers} 3 doug plummer that came across in their already emerged in our own report.” conversations,” Pesic notes. The four peer reviewers “We need to project ourselves served as both evaluators and out into the world. We need to counselors. “The team was a continue to work to improve the terriﬁc group of people and fairProgram and help students move minded,” Peters adds. The out into the world with as much team’s leader met with Peters at support as possible.” the beginning and at the concluReﬂecting on the process, sion of the visit. “They offered Mora says that it is clear that the suggestions and took away some college is in the middle of an very positive lessons about the institutional transition, process,” Peters notes. becoming a college with more In particular, the team singled fully rationalized structures to out for praise student involvesupport the Program. “We need The Higher Learning Commission encouraged St. John’s to do ment in the self-study. “They to prepare the college for the more to share its discussion-based approach to learning beyond thought that it was amazing” to future,” Pesic agrees. The evaluits campus. have this level of student input, ators’ report also occasions Kaplan says, and suggested that reﬂection about possible this is a model for other instituchanges in two areas: commutions. “The students gave a nity outreach and aggregate thoughtful response to their own assessment of students. education,” Mora observes. The commission considers The evaluators also underhow an institution is doing not stood, Peters says, “the distinconly within its own community, tive nature of what we are but also within the larger doing.” A preliminary draft of community in which it is the team’s ﬁndings was located. “So, we want to look at ---Higher Learning Commission presented to Peters in January what [our community outreach] 2009, and in June word came is and what its purpose is,” from the HLC’s board that Mora explains. St. John’s had earned its reaccreditation. “The process for us was Meanwhile, the Instruction Committee is examining the notion about as smooth as it could be,” Kaplan reﬂects. “We got the best of aggregate assessment; that is, gauging the academic progress outcome you can get: a 10-year accreditation with no required made by groups of students. “We got praise for our one-on-one interim visits and no required interim reports.” assessments of students,” Mora notes, but there is pressure to “It is testament to the integrity of our liberal arts program and to demonstrate that St. John’s, as an institution, “is doing what we say the dedication and hard work of the faculty, staff, students, and we’re doing.” Since the college doesn’t test incoming students and board members over many years,” Peters emphasizes. The college then re-test them to gauge their academic progress, the challenge is also was encouraged to share its approach to learning with the to determine whether there is a method of aggregate assessment higher education community. “They told us, you’re being too that is a natural extension of the Program. “That remains an open modest; don’t hide your light under a basket.” question,” Mora says. “Everything the evaluators mentioned [in their report] had The self-study process also highlighted the extent to which the college needs to supplement oral tradition with written documents, Mora points out, adding that now an institutional The Annapolis campus learned in November that the Middle States Commission on Higher infrastructure is in place to Education accepted the college’s periodic report and has reafﬁrmed the college’s accreditation. respond to questions that may This was the campus’ ﬁve-year midterm review. The next formal full-scale accreditation review be posed during the next will be scheduled for 2013-14, with a self-study review beginning in 2012. Tutor Joseph Macfarland evaluation period, such as how (A87) was the principal author of the periodic report; Dean Michael Dink (A75) and tutors Nathan the college is making its now Dugan and Eric Salem also took part in the process. Among indicators of progress concerning the more informal practices more Program, the report notes the development of a new manual for fall semester junior mathematics; rationalized. substantial changes to the music tutorial, including study groups that prepare more tutors to “We received stellar teach in this part of the Program; and preliminary steps underway to revise the spring semester of comments from the evaluators senior laboratory, in order to make room for the “deep and interesting questions” at work in postduring the exit interviews,” DNA biology. The report also noted substantial improvement to the college’s buildings and Mora says. “To them, we are on grounds: two new dormitories, a renovated and expanded Mellon Hall, and a new, energy-efﬁcient the cutting edge of pedagogy—a heating plant. The report also noted that a new campus Master Plan has been completed, and the testament to the rarity of the college will begin assigning priorities for campus improvements. x conversation, I suppose!” x “The St. John’s Program offers unique and effective pedagogical tools which the college has an obligation to share with educators beyond the campus.” Annapolis Accreditation Reafﬁrmed { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �4 {From the Bell Towers} St. John’s College and the Economy Questions and answers St. John’s College is responding to the economic downturn by taking the same measures enacted by nearly every college and university across the United States: cutting expenses whenever possible, slowing down hiring or freezing staff positions, and freezing faculty and staff salaries. No personnel cuts or furloughs have been necessary, although some tutors have voluntarily taken a cut in teaching stations for this ﬁscal year. The result is that this year, like the prior 17 years, St. John’s has a balanced budget. These steps, along with tapping reserve funds, have helped the college preserve what is most important: the quality of the academic experience for students. To avoid operating budget deﬁcits in the future if the nation’s economy does not improve, the college is scrutinizing its operations to see where more savings can be found, and devoting more resources to strengthening student recruitment efforts. Here are answers to common questions posed by alumni, parents, students, and friends of the college. What is the state of the college’s ﬁnancial health now? The successful completion of the college’s capital campaign, which raised $134 million, provided money for ongoing ﬁnancial aid, enabled the college to build several needed buildings, and strengthened the endowment signiﬁcantly. The endowment continues to be an important source of revenue for the college. Although the endowment lost value as the recession deepened in 2008, it has rebounded somewhat (from $100 million to $117 million) by the end of October. The college draws between 4.5 and 5.5 percent from the endowment for operating expenses—faculty salaries, ﬁnancial aid, student services, and administrative ofﬁce expenses. While the draw amount is down for 2009-2010, a measure of overall progresss is that in 2005, prior to the campaign, the college’s endowment was $100,000 per student; it is currently $113,000 per student. However, the recession has affected every area that brings revenue to the college. A drop in freshman enrollment on both campuses, while not as steep as at some other colleges and not as steep as predicted, will affect St. John’s for the next few years. Grant support from the Sellinger Program in Maryland is down, and the college expects The Fund for St. John’s (which raises money for annual expenses) to be ﬂat, or to bring in about the same as in the 2008-2009 ﬁscal year— approximately $3 million. area have been climbing steadily. The average St. John’s grant is $22,000. Nevertheless, in terms of college priorities funding need-based aid is— and will continue to be—second only to preserving the quality of the academic program. Did the college raise tuition to help increase revenue? The college enacted the smallest tuition increase in 20 years, raising tuition just 2.9 percent for this academic year. This decision reﬂected both an awareness of how the economic crisis is affecting current students and their families as well as a desire to keep St. John’s competitive with peer colleges. How did changes in enrollment affect the college budget this year? The college budget reﬂects a 7 percent drop in enrollment in the 2009-2010 academic year, primarily due to the recruitment of smaller freshman classes. That meant the college brought in less tuition revenue, and since tuition makes up about 65 percent of the college budget, this loss in revenue is noteworthy. Having encountered swings in enrollment in the past, the college does not expect this downturn to continue. However, to ensure a stronger applicant pool the college has made signiﬁcant changes in its recruiting efforts. Last year, St. John’s engaged a consultant, George Dehne and Associates, to evaluate every aspect of its admissions practices. The college has hired more admissions counselors and has changed its practices to extend the reach to prospective students. New marketing materials are being prepared this year by North Charles Street Design, a top ﬁrm that also represented the University of Chicago. Is the college still providing ﬁnancial aid? The college signiﬁcantly increased the amount of ﬁnancial aid to meet the needs of students this year. Across both campuses, 62 percent of St. John’s students receive ﬁnancial aid, and costs in this What is the college leadership doing to plan for the future? The St. John’s Board of Visitors and Governors, in concert with the Management Committee (the college presidents and deans, working with the treasurers and vice presidents), has named a task force { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } to study the college’s ﬁnancial model and make recommendations to ensure the long-term ﬁnancial health of St. John’s. The Sustainability Task Force brings together board members with extensive, high-level experience in the ﬁnance and business sector with representatives from the college. Board members are Greg Curtis, Steve Bohlin (SF82), Perry Lerner, and Stephen Feinberg. Faculty members include Annapolis Dean Michael Dink and tutor Joseph MacFarland and Santa Fe Dean Victoria Mora and tutor Stephen Van Luchene. The group will meet regularly and report on its recommendations at future board meetings, beginning in January. Responsible ﬁnancial planning requires the college to take into account all scenarios, including the “worst-case” model which shows a deﬁcit in the operating budget by 2013. This model would become a reality only if the nation’s economic state worsens, hurting endowment and philanthropic support, and if enrollment fails to rebound. Ensuring that the college avoids this scenario is the reason the task force was assembled. Overall, the college remains strong ﬁnancially; the endowment is highly diversiﬁed and well-managed, and ﬁscal responsibility is a priority on the campuses. What can alumni and friends do to help St. John’s? Alumni and friends have always been an important source of assistance for the college. They support St. John’s by making gifts, acting as volunteers, and advocating for the college. Continuing these support activities is crucial to St. John’s. x �{From the Bell Towers} GI director Matt Davis Every day that Matthew Davis (A82) goes to his ofﬁce in Weigle Hall, he observes the progress being made next door on the Norman and Betty Levan Hall. Since beginning his duties as Graduate Institute director last June, Davis has witnessed the construction site evolve from a gaping hole to a concrete, masonry, and steel-beamed preamble to the future home of the GI’s two programs, Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Eastern Classics. Planning the transition to Levan Hall next August, Davis already is acquiring books for a library dedicated to the graduate program. Dr. Levan (SFGI74) will be donating a large collection of his own books, but Davis is hoping to augment that generous contribution with additional books. The library project is just one of many on Davis’s to-do list. His top priority is boosting enrollment in the two graduate programs. “I’d like to be back to more than 100 students, possibly more,” he says. (This fall, the GI opened with 86 students.) To that end, the college has been tapping technology; for example, putting the admissions application online and increasing the GI’s Facebook presence. Davis is also turning his attention to ideas for improvement to the graduate programs. One of those ideas is revising policies concerning the optional master’s essay. In an effort to improve the completion rate, Davis and the members of his mini-Instruction Committee are examining ways to support students to do this work successfully. “Students feel like they get a kind of depth with [the master’s essay] unlike anything else,” Davis observes. Students work closely with an advisor, applying careful thought to a particular text, and produce a major piece of writing. In response to student requests, Davis and his committee also are exploring how to incorporate Greek instruction and reading into the curriculum of the liberal arts program. “We’re looking at a preceptorial sequence, without prerequisites, that would give students an introduction to the language and to using it to read Levan Hall Update Bordered by Weigle Hall and the Fine Arts Building, Levan Hall is beginning to suggest its ﬁnal form, asserting a modern interpretation of the campus’ Territorial style of architecture. Alumni who want to watch this longawaited graduate center emerge on the Santa Fe campus can visit the college’s webcam: www.stjohnscollege.edu; click on Outreach. Levan Hall has been designed as an energy-efﬁcient building, says Peter Brill, president of Peter Brill, Inc., the owner’s representative for the project. Designed to earn LEED Silver certiﬁcation, Levan Hall might be able to achieve Gold certiﬁcation, Brill says. The building will be heavily insulated, and rooftop photovoltaic arrays will convert solar energy into electricity that can be returned to the grid. Large windows, including a three-ﬂoor array of glass on the back side of the building, take full advantage of passive solar heat and light. The ﬁrst building on campus to signiﬁcantly harvest rainwater, Levan Hall will direct roof water to catchment tanks—an ample reservoir for irrigating nearby trees and plantings. In 5 texts,” Davis says. He envisions a summer preceptorial that might evolve into a more extensive program, similar to the Greek Institute at the University of Chicago, only with the St. John’s way of “learning the language through extensive translation of the original texts.” An Annapolis graduate, Davis earned a Getting to know GI students is one of master’s degree in the best parts of being GI director, says Matt Davis (A82). philosophy in 1984 from Dalhousie University, was a students, and met a man who doctoral candidate in philosophy had been a ﬁreﬁghter in New and classics at the University of York City during the 9/11 Pittsburgh, and earned a attacks. The student had left doctorate in political science in ﬁreﬁghting to become a teacher 1995 from Boston College. and enrolled in the Graduate He has held academic positions Institute to learn more from the at the University of Toronto, great books. “He had experiCarthage College, and Boston enced something profound College. In 1998, he joined the [through 9/11] and he found St. John’s faculty. something truly signiﬁcant In his new role at the college, here,” Davis says. x Davis enjoys meeting and teaching GI students, who bring diverse experiences and viewpoints to the college. As one of his ﬁrst duties as director, he interviewed graduating construction and function, the new building suggests an environmentally responsible way to live in the high desert. The 9,200 square-foot building will span two and threefourths ﬂoors. The front entrance will open onto the second ﬂoor, with a hallway leading all the way to the back of the building, also with its own entrance. At this point, the building is three stories high, with a balcony overlooking hills ﬁlled with piñons. A third entrance will face Weigle Hall. A Zen garden is planned for one side of the building. Contrasting masses are a thematic element: for example, the front entrance presents a { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } light, portal-like side next to a heavy masonry structure. Levan Hall’s design also has inspired changes in the surrounding architecture and terrain. For instance, new second-ﬂoor balconies on the Fine Arts Building and the Peterson Student Center will echo the balconies of Levan Hall. The Meem Library Placita will become part of a more open central core, distinguished by an expanded landscape of connected walkways and sitting areas. On schedule for completion by next summer, Levan Hall will be ready for its occupants by August 2010. x �6 {From the Bell Towers} favorite poem—it’s all about sharing something you like with others.” The focus isn’t on creative writing, Trop explains. Instead, it’s about the spoken word, the shared experience of hearing and reacting to a story. Some students deliberately choose stories that allow them to dramatize the tale. Others are eager to share a favorite genre, such as science ﬁction, or a favorite modern writer. Daniel Dusman (A11), co-archon of the club with Trop, has brought Polish science ﬁction stories from Stanislav Lem’s Cyberiad series, as well as medieval tales such as the legends of the Rhineland. There are generally just two criteria for a work brought to Storytellers: “It has to be good,” Dusman says, “and it has to be brief.” Participants always consider the audience when selecting material for Wednesday nights. “It has to be enjoyable for the listener all the way through,” Babak Zarin (A11) reads from Patricia Wrede’s Dealing with Dragons. science ﬁction, medieval tales, even children’s stories have been read aloud. and lend itself to dramatization. For example, Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” may be a brilliant short story, but it’s a snoozer when read aloud, notes Eric Honour (A10). Mark Twain and the Brothers Grimm are more entertaining for audiences. A few years ago, the acacia pappas A small but enthusiastic group of Johnnies makes time every Wednesday for an old-fashioned pursuit. They put aside their Program readings, lab manuals, and Greek lexicons to gather in the “Chasement,” the cozy basement of Chase-Stone House in Annapolis. On chilly nights, they’ll lay a ﬁre in the ﬁreplace. Someone brings the milk and cookies. And someone brings a story: often a favorite from a children’s book or a short story collection; sometimes a yarn spun from their own imagination. The Storytellers Club is in its fourth year on the campus, and it attracts a loyal following of students (10-15) who ﬁnd it a perfect midweek break, an alternative to dorm parties and trips to downtown bars. “People want to entertain others and be entertained,” says Kelly Trop (A12), who brought a favorite children’s book, The Squishiness of Things, to Storytellers one night. “You might make up a story, read a story, recite a acacia pappas The Storytellers On Wednesday nights, students in the Storyteller’s Club gather in the cozy basement of ChaseStone House for a bedtime story, complete with milk and cookies. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } group found an Internet story that combined the Republic with Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, which was a real hit. At a college where one must be conscious of not doing all the talking, “storytelling lets you practice skills of speech we don’t really get to use at St. John’s. And with all the reading we do, just listening is really fun,” Honour says. A couple of times a year, the club puts aside printed material and hosts a special “Tall Tales and Liars” event, inviting Johnnies to bring their best made-up stories. The group votes on the best yarn, and a tacky prize is awarded to the winner. Halloween each year brings ghost stories. Last year, one Johnnie read several stories with a marriage theme, then proposed to his girlfriend right in the middle of Storytellers. (She said “yes.”) It’s always fun to see what Johnnies will bring when they go out of their way to entertain their friends in these freewheeling sessions, says Honour. But there’s just one hard and fast rule: “No Program readings,” he says. x �{From the Bell Towers} 7 A Meeting of the Minds Alumni invite Johnnies to neuroscience conference by Kelley O’Donnell (A04) Like J.P. Snyder (A10), who told me he believes “that neuroscience is the next logical step for philosophy,” I was led to neuroscience out of a love not of biology, but of wisdom. While at St. John’s, I could not imagine being as happy anywhere else; I had a nebulous desire to “help people,” but I believed that no altruism, however expansive, would be meaningful outside the context of the examined life. Shortly after graduation I began a post-baccalaureate premedical program, but soon experienced a profound crisis of faith in that path. Homesick for my alma mater, I considered leaving behind the multiplechoice tests and the problem sets that characterized my new, albeit temporary, life, but in doing so was forced to consider what questions I would rather be asking. Time and again, I found myself considering the nature of the mind, of the self, of the means by which we perceive ourselves and the world, of personality and habit, of mental fortitude and mental illness. I wanted to ask questions that mattered, as I had done for four years at the college. Thinking back to my summer as a Hodson intern in the pathology laboratory of Dori Borjesson (sister of tutor Gary Borjesson), I recalled the sense of both humility and empowerment that characterized my time at the bench. It occurred to me that through neuroscience I could experience that same exhilaration, taking questions that interested me on a philosophical level, and asking them in a way that would allow me to apply the fruits of my inquiries to the mentally ill, in whom such questions acquired a heightened urgency. I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Snyder, along with his fellow seniors Elizabeth Fleming (A10) and Jacob Dink (SF10), in October in Chicago, at Eager to help Johnnies interested in her ﬁeld, neuroscientist Patricia the annual meeting of Sollars (A80) invited students to the annual meeting of the Society of the Society for Neuroscience. There we were Neuroscientists in Chicago last fall. Back row, from left: Jacob Dink (SF10), Pamela Bergson (A99), Taffeta Elliott (SF97), Kelley O’Donnell joined by over 30,000 (A04); seated, from left: Elizabeth Fleming (A10), J.P. Snyder (A10), neuroscientists, Sollars, and Leslie Kay (SF83). among whom were my fellow alumnae Leslie indeed unprepared to “do” title of which (“Origins of Kay (SF83, Director of the anything. Abstract Knowledge: Number Institute for Mind & Biology at Certainly in the sciences, and Geometry”) would have the University of Chicago), and I suspect in any ﬁeld, such appealed to any student of Taffeta Elliott (SF97, a posta fear is unfounded, but the Euclid and Kant, and was a doctoral fellow at the Univerunique gift of a St. John’s marvelous afﬁrmation of why sity of California, Berkeley), education can seem more the path from St. John’s to Pamela Bergson (A99, a postdistant to seniors faced with neuroscience sometimes seems doctoral fellow at the Univerthe task of moving outside the so obvious. sity of Chicago), and Patricia brick or adobe fortress, into a From the current students’ Sollars (A80, Associate world that seems interested perspective, the most valuable Professor at the University of only in more traditional and aspect of the trip was that Nebraska, Lincoln). In a heroic quantiﬁable measures of skill effort of advocacy and organiza- dinner, in which we discussed and success. at length the paths that led us tion, Ms. Sollars had arranged Mercifully, the college is in out of Annapolis and Santa Fe. for the three seniors, who had no danger of becoming a place Ms. Fleming said, “We often expressed an interest in neuroin which one acquires profeshear that it’s hard to ‘get a real science, to attend the meeting, sional “training”; however, job’ after St. John’s, or that thanks, in part, to the jumping into an academic ﬁeld, measures must be taken to generosity of Chicago-area ensure that graduates do not especially science, is a alumni Elisabeth Long (A86), feel hampered by or apologetic daunting task, so it was very Rick Lightburn (SF76), and about their background when encouraging to see alumni who Barbara Schmittel (A76) who faced with the task of moving were doing just that . . . and opened their homes to provide on. Though this meeting, offering to help us make that places for the students to stay. Ms. Sollars has set a precedent leap ourselves.” Every Ms. Sollars had also that I hope can be followed in St. John’s student or alumnus contacted the other alumnae the years to come, for students has been asked to justify the attending the meeting and had interested in any number of “practical” beneﬁt of his organized a dinner for all of us education, as though the exam- ﬁelds. x one evening. There our talk of ined life was of no intrinsic neuroscience ranged from the merit. The cumulative effect of crystal structure of certain that pressure is often a sense of proteins to a lecture we had anxiety, a fear that we are heard earlier that evening, the { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �8 {From the Bell Towers} From Fashion to Faraday Why a Ford model came to St. John’s Amid the paintings, photographs, pottery, and other works submitted for the annual Community Art Show at the Mitchell Gallery last spring, two stunning dresses stood out. They were the creations of Shannon Vaughn (A12), a former Ford model and designer who found her way to St. John’s a decade after leaving Maryland’s Eastern Shore for a modeling career. One dress was a recent design, a formal gown made of ostrich feathers and satin, created for a client who needed something spectacular for a gala. The other was Vaughn’s own wedding gown, a recreation of a nearly century-old silk Victorian gown that Vaughn discovered in a museum collection. About 90 percent of the ﬁnished dress was of new material, silk stained with lukewarm tea to match the original fabric. As a model based in New York, Vaughn traveled the world. She met an architect from Saudia Arabia, got married, and for a while lived in her husband’s country. In her studio there, she ran her own design business, Gervois. “I’m entirely self-taught,” says Vaughn, who learned a great deal about ﬁne couture by wearing it. “I paid attention when I was a model.” After she divorced, Vaughn returned to Maryland in 2008 and continued her design business, until she decided it was time to pursue some of the things she missed out on during her career. Her father, Merritt Vaughn, a builder and a painter, was a fan of St. John’s and the Mitchell Gallery. He introduced her to the college. While she ﬁrst considered going to business school, Vaughn decided she wanted the kind of education that would enhance her life no matter what future path she follows. “I felt that I wasn’t educated in those things I couldn’t get out of my life experiences,” such as philosophy, the sciences, and Ancient Greek, Vaughn says. “I wanted to reevaluate my own way of thinking, to ﬁnd out what would happen to my brain.” What happened, she says, was that she has begun to develop an ability to see things— such as a Euclid proof—“in very different ways.” It was difﬁcult at ﬁrst for Vaughn to stop trying to apply ideas from the books and classroom discussions to real-world experiences. “St. John’s is a very contemplative place,” she says. “To study A fashion model and designer, Shannon Vaughn (A12) found at St. John’s “the ability to see things in different ways.” ideas for their own sake, you don’t need a lot of exterior elements in your head. It’s totally apart from the realworld, the world of commerce.” Vaughn has found mathematics and Ancient Greek challenging. She enjoyed seminar discussions and writing papers. But the best part of her How Did You Hear About St. John’s? Aaron Bisberg (class of 1949) remembers only some of the details: “It was 1944. I was on a landing ship-tank that was being used as a troop transport for my Air Force repair outﬁt being transferred from the Philippines to Ie Shima. We were laying off Okinawa waiting for the convoy to assemble. “I remember I managed a boat ride to land, and at the airport I hopped a helicopter ride to a merchant ship in the bay which my cousin Simon was on—all this to spend a little time with him. “Simon and I stood on the bow of his ship talking and he tells me about this very small college he read about and thought I would be interested in it. He described what he knew about the great books program. I was hooked. I wrote a letter to [then Dean] Scott Buchanan. He responded with “come along,” and described the protracted { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } experience has been the personal attention and encouragement of her tutors. “I really enjoyed the personal assessment that tutors are able to provide of me as a student. I don’t think that there are many colleges where faculty are this involved with students.” x ﬁrst year starting a little late for the returning vets. I joined the class of 1949.” At Mr. Bisberg’s suggestion, The College asks alumni to share how they ﬁrst heard about St. John’s. Some responses will be published in the Spring 2010 issue of the magazine. Send your story to: rosemary.harty@sjca.edu.x �9 {From the Bell Towers} News & Announcements Novelist Johnnie Receives Whiting Award SALVATORE SCIBONA (SF97) received the 2009 Whiting Writers’ Award in October. This prestigious $50,000 award recognizes 10 young writers for their extraordinary talent and promise and is one of the most coveted prizes for new writers. Scibona’s ﬁrst book, The End, was the winner of the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award and a ﬁnalist for the National Book Award. Honors for Winiarski Earlier this year, the college awarded WARREN WINIARSKI (class of 1955) the distinction of Honorary Fellow, a rare honor bestowed on individuals who have been outstanding supporters of the college. The faculty of St. John’s College awarded the distinction in appreciation of his achievements as a vintner, his distinguished service on the Board of which exhibited a risk to personal life or safety in the course of his or her duties or who performed a life-saving action requiring the highest of professional conduct.” In December 2008, Ofﬁcer Hudson took action to prevent a possibly serious injury to a student. Visitors and Governors, his generosity and leadership in capital campaigns, and his selﬂess work leading to the eventual sale of California property intended originally for a St. John’s campus. Tutor News In Annapolis, tutor STUART UMPHREY retired at the end of the academic year, 2009. Umphrey had been a member of the St. John’s faculty since 1984. Felicia Martinez has joined the Annapolis faculty. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and studio art at the University of Notre Dame, then went to Stanford University, where she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in English literature. Her doctoral dissertation was on: “What We Are: Interpreting Personhood in the Experimental Novels of Conrad, Faulkner, and Naipul.” BVG Member Serves on Presidential Committee Warren Winiarski (class of 1952) has been named an Honorary Fellow Public Safety Ofﬁcer Honored The Northeast Colleges and Universities Security Association has recognized an Annapolis Public Safety ofﬁcer for meritorious conduct. PFC BRANDON HUDSON received an honorable mention for the association’s Outstanding Performance Award in recognition of “an act JILL COOPER UDALL, a member of the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors, has been named to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The committee works with federal cultural agencies on programs that recognize excellence in the arts and humanities. A lawyer, longtime arts advocate, and former head of New Mexico’s Ofﬁce of Cultural Affairs, Udall works with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. x {Letters} Inspiring Resilience I read “Resilience in a Recession” (Summer 2009) on a night when I was trying to ﬁgure out where the money was going to come from to pay this month’s bills. The article was exactly what I needed to place my particular circumstances in perspective and to remind me of the needs of others. Thank you for publishing such an inspirational piece. Heather Elizabeth Peterson (A86) Still a Great Idea Concerning A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books, reviewed in The College (Spring 2009): The subject prompted a request to the college bookstore for a copy. The quality of a good storytelling newspaper columnist is well represented. The human interest aspect that the subject has on the public is told movingly. My father looked for the “romance” attendant to [St. John’s]. Here are found such accounts in which the founders of this educational endeavor would be satisﬁed, and which would alleviate the despondency they felt as failures. H. A. Hammond (class of 1947) Free Thinking The three essays on freedom (Summer 2009) speak to the diversity of free thinking that goes on at St. John’s. I especially like Mr. Pastille’s essay because his notion [of] watcher conscience paraphrases my own question, “What is happening here?”, when I begin a poem. For example, there is a tradition in Oxford, Maryland, that winter sunsets must be watched. Men, women, and children come around 4:30 p.m., bringing a glass of wine or coffee, and they line the banks of the Tred Avon River, where it enters the broad Choptank River, to sit or stand, { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } sometimes arm in arm. It is not odd that there is little or no talking. To the casual observer, what is going on is people watching a sunset. But I want to write a poem about Oxford Park and the people and the sunset. Here is my “watcher” conscience kicking in, and there is more than the physical sunset. There is the freedom to see its effect on three age groups—and on me in my thought to write about it. Mr. Pastille, thanks for tweaking an old man’s brain with something new to think about, and of course question. Ernest J. Heinmuller (class of 1942) �10 {The Program} DOING THINGS WITH WORDS by John Verdi L udwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was two of the most inﬂuential philosophers of the 20th century. His early work, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921), the only book he published during his life, conceives of philosophy as the critical analysis of language. It initiated the “linguistic turn” in philosophy, which proposes that philosophical problems may be solved or dissolved by paying attention to language, either by reforming it or simply clarifying how the language we use actually works In this book, Wittgenstein addresses two major questions: What is the nature of logic? and How is language related to the world? The answers to these questions turn out to be related in a fundamental way. He believes that language and the world must hold something in common that allows us to talk meaningfully. This common feature is the “logical structure” of both. “Logic is. . . .a mirror-image of the world” (TLP, 6.13). Speech is meaningful when its structure reﬂects the structure of the world. Just as a picture is a model of a real scene, language is a picture in words. The meaning of a name is the object to which it refers. An experience that helped Wittgenstein develop this view was reading a report on a court case in which an attorney used small toys to reconstruct a trafﬁc accident. These toys could stand for real objects, and the way that they related to each other (while being moved around a table, for instance) was just the way the real objects were said to have related. Language works like this. (4.01: “A proposition is a model of reality as we imagine it.”) Truth is the correspondence of the language-model to reality, while falsehood is the correspondence of the model to something that is not real. Wittgenstein suggests that in order for propositions to be meaningful, they must consist of elements, “atomic facts,” put together to be isomorphic with the world. The truth of a proposition is determined entirely by the truth of these components. These atomic facts cannot be analyzed, and Wittgenstein never gives an example of one. Still he considers them necessary to explain how language works. Nonsense arises when we attempt to represent what cannot be represented. Just as Kant draws limits to thought by establishing the limits of the mind’s powers, Wittgenstein reveals (5.6: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”) For Kant, synthetic a priori truths, such as Newton’s laws, apply only to appearances, while the “things-in-themselves” can never be known. For Wittgenstein, thought and language are not separable, and so an investigation into language is an investigation into thought, and hence into “my world.” The propositions of logic demarcate the limits of what can be said, much like rules in a game make clear how a game is to be played. Language has meaning within the limits of logic, just as a game is played according to rules. At the limits of language lie logical truths, such as “Nothing can both be and not be at the same time in the same manner,” or “Red is a color.” They are not a part of meaningful speech, as for instance are, “Red would go well in this room,” or, (said in exasperation), “I can’t be in two places at once, can I!?” Meaningful speech can be true or false, depending on whether it mirrors the structure of reality. But tautologies can be only true, and contradictions only false. According to Wittgenstein, they thereby show that they say nothing. They are senseless. Beyond the limits of language established by the tautologies of logic (that is, by the world) lies the mystical. It cannot be said, but only indicated by what can be said. Attempts to say the mystical lead to nonsense, in particular to metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and theology, which all try to say what cannot be said. Philosophical propositions are not true or false, but rather nonsensical. They sound like ordinary propositions because, after all, they are grammatically constructed and consist of parts we understand. Wittgenstein holds these nonsensical propositions in great respect. They attempt to express what is of most importance, but which cannot be expressed. “My whole tendency and I believe the tendency of all men who ever tried to write or talk about Ethics or Religion was to run against the boundaries of language. This running against the walls { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �11 jen behrens {The Program} of our cage is perfectly, absolutely hopeless. Ethics so far as it springs from the desire to say something about the ultimate meaning of life, the absolute good, the absolute value, can be no science. . . . But it is a document of a tendency in the human mind which I personally cannot help respecting deeply and I would not for my life ridicule it” (LA). Philosophy’s new job is to allow the mystical to make itself manifest by saying only what can be said--by getting out of its way. (“What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence” TLP, Preface). Philosophical, ethical, aesthetic, and religious problems are like knots which we must untie, and since they are knots of language, it is through analysis of language that we must loosen them. After Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was published, Wittgenstein left Cambridge and academia because he believed that he had found the deﬁnitive solution to the problems of philosophy. He thought that one major value of his book was that “it shows how little is achieved when these problems are solved.” He left England and returned to Austria, his birthplace, where he became a schoolteacher. He also designed and helped to build a house in Vienna for his sister. But he began to have serious doubts about the correctness of the view he espoused in the Tractatus. His work with young children was no doubt one stimulus to this reconsideration. How do I discover if a child knows the meaning of a word except by how he or she uses the word? A teacher doesn’t look into a child’s mind, but observes what he or she says and does. Several visits by Frank Ramsey, a young philosopher of mathematics, also seem to have inﬂuenced Wittgenstein to go back to Cambridge. After Wittgenstein returned he held many discussions with the Italian Marxist economist Piero Sraffa. One day while talking about the Tractatus’s claim that meaning arises through the correspondence of the form of expression with the form of the fact to be expressed, Sraffa made a familiar Neapolitan gesture of contempt, by ﬂicking his chin with the back of his ﬁngers. “What is the logical form of that?” he asked Wittgenstein. Sraffa’s point was clear: this gesture has meaning, but it does not derive its meaning from any isomorphism between it and the world. Instead, its meaning arises from its use in human life. Wittgenstein’s intellectual honesty and passion for truth and clarity compelled him to challenge the very position that had made him famous, prompting him to question the idea that there are foundations to thought at all. Eventually, he repudiated the Tractatus view of meaning. The question that had motivated that book, namely, How can sentences mean anything?, evolves into, How can we do things with words? He comes to believe that philosophers had spent too much time determining what we mean without examining the nature of meaning itself. His shift from the correspondence view of meaning to a new, use-related view, is decidedly pragmatist. Concepts now are not correct or incorrect, but more or less useful. Logical analysis is not the way to achieve clarity about philosophical problems; description of our linguistic practices will lead to their dissolution. Wittgenstein’s new view has its roots in the American pragmatic tradition of C. S. Peirce and William James. Wittgenstein much admired James’ The Varieties of Religious Experience, { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �12 {The Program} jen behrens wherein James says something about attempts to establish the “essence of religion” that sounds much like what Wittgenstein will come to say in Philosophical Investigations: “Let us not fall immediately into a one-sided view of our subject, but let us rather admit freely at the outset that we may very likely ﬁnd no one essence, but many characters which may alternately be equally important to religion.” Wittgenstein is working towards a fundamentally new conception of language, and of the proper procedures for philosophy. The “second Wittgenstein” rejects analytic philosophy because he no longer thinks that analysis can reveal the truth about how language connects with the world. Philosophy cannot be analysis because philosophical propositions and ideas are not constructed. They emerge from ordinary language, in which propositions are vague, inexact, and indeterminate, but work. Not only is there no need to correct or idealize ordinary speech, but how would we begin to do so? “When I talk about language (words, sentences, etc.) I must speak the language of every day. Is this language somehow too coarse and material for what we want to say? Then how is another one to be constructed?—And how strange that we should be able to do anything at all with the one we have!” (PI, 120) Wittgenstein’s reformed position begins to emerge in The Blue Book, the transcription of lecture classes he conducted in his room to a small group of students at Cambridge. One of the most important inﬂuences on Wittgenstein’s thinking came from the people with whom he could discuss ideas, and so he conducted his lectures in a kind of dialectical style. He never used notes, but would appear to be thinking out loud. These thoughts usually formed themselves into a question, for which someone from the class was to provide a response--a starting point for new thoughts leading to new questions. The Blue Book begins: “What is the meaning of a word? Let us attack this question by asking, ﬁrst, what is an explanation of the meaning of a word; what does the explanation of a word look like?. . .The questions ‘What is length?’, ‘What is meaning?’, “What is the number one?’ etc., produce in us a mental cramp. We feel that we can’t point to anything in reply to them and yet ought to point to something. (We are up against one of the great sources of philosophical bewilderment: a substantive makes us look for a thing that corresponds to it.)” In philosophical discussions, in place of asking a “What is?” question, we ask instead something like “How would you explain the meaning of this word to someone?” This question reminds us that we learned how to use words when we were children. We are not born speaking our language, and it does not develop in us automatically, as does walking. We learn language from our parents, our teachers, and friends. We’re corrected when we make mistakes because there are right and wrong ways of speaking. These corrections depend on what we say and do, on what others see of us. No one teaches a child how to speak by looking into its mind and determining that now she has the right idea. Learning how to talk is to learn a technique for doing something, for doing many things. In a sense we train children to use words as tools, and just as the uses of tools can be manifold, so can the uses of words. “Am I doing child psychology?—I am making a connection between the concept of teaching and the concept of meaning” (Z, 412). Rather than think of what a word means, think of how it is used. Wittgenstein thinks this will help us avoid philosophical problems that arise because we tend to think of a word’s meaning as something the word has, rather than what we do with it. We then { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{The Program} 13 The contexts in which words are get caught up in questions such as learned and used, and what is accom“What is knowledge?” or “What does plished by using them, Wittgenstein calls the word ‘knowledge’ mean?” when “language-games.” He did not think that we ought to be asking “How is the language was a game; our linguistic word ‘knowledge’ used and for what activities are less trivial than games purposes?” “You say: the point isn’t because of the way they are interwoven the word, but its meaning, and you —John Verdi with our lives. He hopes that the image of think of the meaning as a thing of the the game will help us obtain a perspicsame kind as the word, though also uous view of at least parts of language, by emphasizing some of different from the word. Here the word, there the meaning. The those features of language whose importance he believes is money, and the cow that you can buy with it. (But contrast: money, frequently overlooked. He means to “bring into prominence the and its use)” (PI, 120). fact that the speaking of a language is part of an activity, or form of Wittgenstein challenges the belief that in searching for an life” (PI, 23) The rules of chess, for example, determine what answer to the question of, say, what is language, we ought to seek moves are permitted. They tell us how to play the game, although what is common to all languages and uses of language. Instead, he not how to play it well. No examination of the shapes of the indisuggests that “these phenomena have no one thing in common vidual pieces on a chess board could accomplish this, just like no which makes us use the same word for all,—but that they are related to one another in many different ways. And it is because of examination of a word, however carefully done, will tell us how the this relationship, or these relationships, that we call them all word is actually used. Words, like chess pieces, are deﬁned by how ‘language’.” (PI, 65) Socrates’s challenge to Meno to say what all they are used in common with other people. The functions—and instances of arête have in common may be misguided, for if there hence the meanings—of individual words, phrases, and sentences is nothing common, then the search for it is for a chimera. His can be determined only by observing how they are in fact used in requirement that there be something common may be a ﬁrst step the various neighborhoods of our language, and in what circumstances and for what ends we use them. This makes language in the wrong direction. Now in fact there may be something that all essentially public, even when we use it to talk about our inner life. instances of virtue have in common, but would knowing that be For any description of what goes on inside me must be given in enough to allow us to say what virtue is? Meno’s initial answer to words whose use I learned from other people, and did not invent Socrates, the “swarm” answer, while perhaps not entirely disinfor myself. A private language, according to Wittgenstein, makes genuous, might be on the right track. If we lay out how a word is no more sense than a private game or a private rule. None of these used in its wide variety of contexts (no easy task!), then we will makes sense because in every such case, there would be no critehave obtained a perspicuous view of it. It is this perspicuity that is rion for what is correct, except what I say is correct. And if I am the often lacking in philosophy, wherein we attempt to transfer words only one who can judge correctness, then the concept of correctfrom the contexts in which we learned them and in which they ness degenerates into simply what I am inclined to say is correct. have perfectly good uses, to contextless situations, thinking that A question that ought to concern us as members of the St. John’s their meaning will follow them. But if meaning is use, which community, and simply as thinking beings, is what becomes of requires a context, then such a move empties the word of its power. philosophy in the light of Wittgenstein’s proposed reorientation In an image reminiscent of Kant’s dove, which seeks an airless of our concept of meaning. Wittgenstein believes that “a main environment because it feels constrained in its ﬂight by the atmossource of our failure to understand is that we do not command a phere, Wittgenstein writes: “We have got on to slippery ice where there is no friction and so in a certain sense the conditions are clear view of the use of our words: (PI, 122) Because philosophical ideal, but also, just because of that, we are unable to walk. We want problems have the form “I don’t know my way about” (PI, 123), it to walk: so we need friction. Back to the rough ground!” (PI, 107) is precisely the perspicuous representation of how we do things with words—that is, how we use them—that is of fundamental The attempt of philosophers to talk universally is something like signiﬁcance to any effort to answer philosophical questions and to that of Kant’s bird and Wittgenstein’s ice-walker. The temptation dissolve philosophical problems. We are led to philosophical probis not to be belittled, Wittgenstein thinks. It points to something lems when we confuse the forms of our expressions with their noble in human nature. But succumbing to it can be deadly to our uses. “Words like ‘thinking’ and ‘thought’ alongside words search for truth. denoting (bodily) activities, such as writing and speaking, make us A private language, according to Wittgenstein, makes no more sense than a private game or a private rule. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �14 {The Program} look for an activity…corresponding to thinking” and to a product of thinking analogous to the products of writing and speaking. “When words in our ordinary language have prima facie analogous grammars, we are inclined to try to interpret them analogously” (BB, p. 7). Similarly, for each substantive we tend to seek a substance and so are led to ask, for example, “What is length? What is meaning? What is number?” instead of “How are lengths measured? What is an explanation of meaning? How are numerical expressions used?” Related to this source of confusion is our tendency to mix up language-games. We might imagine, for example, that certainty, be it about the weather, a geometrical proof, or my own pain is the selfsame concept, and differs only in degree in these cases. Instead, we ought to consider it to be more like the concept of winning, as we ﬁnd it in football or chess. We also easily succumb to the temptation to project grammar onto reality, and to think of words as names and sentences as descriptions. It is a short step to the conceptual confusions of psychology, where “I” becomes the name of a person who has privileged access to her own mental objects, states, and events, and which she then describes when she says “I have a pain,” “I am anxious,” and “I am thinking.” What Wittgenstein offers to help solve these problems is “not a philosophical method,” but “methods, like different therapies” (PI, 133). For “the philosopher’s treatment of a question is like the treatment of an illness” (PI, 255). If we are willing to admit that Wittgenstein, too, philosophizes, then we’ll see that the Wittgensteinian philosopher’s task differs in important ways from that of many of his predecessors. His job is “to show the ﬂy the way out of the ﬂy-bottle” (PI, 309). The clear glass ﬂy-bottle sits slightly raised on a table. It has a cork in the top and a hole in the bottom. The ﬂy is initially drawn into the ﬂy-bottle through this hole, attracted by a trough ﬁlled with beer that rims the inside of the bottle. (I’ve heard that sugar-water can be used, but I prefer the beer version.) Once inside, the insect does not escape, because its phototropism keeps it from returning the same way it entered. It bangs its head repeatedly on the sides of the bottle, until it eventually falls into the beer, dead. Just so, “a person caught in a philosophical confusion is like a man in a room who wants to get out but doesn’t know how. He tries the window but it is too high. He tries the chimney but it is too narrow. And if he would only turn around, he would see that the door has been open all the time!” (Malcolm, 51) How does the new philosopher liberate those of us who have become trapped by the intoxication of philosophy, and who don’t even realize we are trapped? Wittgenstein’s approach is like that of Socrates in that both attempt to bring people to remember what they have forgotten, which is still somehow alive within them. Both try to elicit from others the consequences of their own words, and both frequently do this by asking questions. (Philosophical Investigations contains 784 questions, of which only 110 are answered—and 70 of those answers are meant to be wrong!) Wittgenstein’s philosopher treats this illness of chronic forgetfulness by assembling reminders of how we actually use words and what we have learned to do with them in everyday contexts. He says: “When someone uses a word—‘knowledge,’ ‘being,’ ‘object,’ ‘I’—. . . .and tries to grasp the essence of the thing, one must always ask oneself: is the word ever actually used this way in the language-game which is its original home?”(PI, 116). We might say that according to Wittgenstein, “it is the whole of philosophy to realize that there is no more difﬁculty about time than about a chair” (L, p. 119). This image of philosophical problems as a kind of forgetfulness that must be treated with aids to remembering reminds me of the Meno. Meno poses a famous paradox about coming to know anything: if I don’t know what I am looking for, how can I recognize it when I have found it? And if I do know, why do I need to look for it? Socrates suggests as a solution that in a previous life we learned all things, and that in our present life, what appears to be learning is really recollection of what we knew but have forgotten. Wittgenstein is saying something similar. Birth may be a protracted process: We are perhaps not fully born until we have mastered our native language. The time before our birth, that is, the time before this mastery is achieved, is the time during which we were learning how to talk, when we were learning how to do things with words. Later, especially when we philosophize, we tend to forget what we know and need to be reminded of it. Once we are, the problems which trouble us dissolve. We once again can operate with words according to their true grammar, which expresses the essence of things. The consequence of this Wittgensteinian dialectic is to lead us out of the ﬂy-bottle of philosophical problems and questions and restore us to our ordinary ways of speaking. Imagine that you are trying to describe in words how to do a dance. At a certain point in the description, you get stuck—you just can’t remember if the left foot or right foot takes the next step. The answer to the question will come as soon as you grab a partner and dance. Wittgenstein might say that philosophical problems can come on the scene whenever we stop dancing and try to talk about dancing, whenever we take ordinary words out of their usual contexts and stop using them in their ordinary ways. This, however, shouldn’t lead us to think that philosophical problems are avoidable. Most of us cannot spend all our time dancing; we ﬁnd other activities enjoyable, too. And sometimes using words in extraordinary ways, as in poetry, is just what we { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{The Program} jen behrens want to do. But to someone enmeshed in a philosophical problem, it is never useful to say simply: we don’t talk that way. Wittgenstein puts it like this: “You must not try to avoid a philosophical problem by appealing to common sense; instead, present it as it arises with most power. . . .Philosophy can be said to consist of three activities: to see the commonsense answer, to get so deeply into the problem that the commonsense answer is unbearable, and to get from that situation back to the commonsense answer” (BB, pp. 108-109). In a sense, Wittgenstein’s work is aesthetic: he draws our attention to certain features of language and places things side by side to exhibit these features. The hoped-for result is a change in the way we view things. Wittgenstein also said that, while he was not a religious man, he could not help seeing every problem from “a religious point of view.” Three of Wittgenstein’s favorite authors were Augustine, Kierkegaard, and Dostoevsky. All three share a conviction in the importance of what cannot be said, a conviction Wittgenstein expressed in the Tractatus, and which remained with him until his death. He agreed with Kierkegaard that the most important things are best shown, not said. “If only you do not try to utter the unutterable, then nothing gets lost. But the unutterable will be—unutterably— contained in what has been uttered.” (Engelmann, 9) Even of his own late work, he writes in Philosophical Investigations: “Where does our investigation get its importance from, since it seems only to destroy everything interesting, that is, all that is great and important? (As it were all the buildings, leaving behind only bits of stone and rubble.) What we are destroying is nothing but houses of cards and we are clearing up the ground of language on which they stand” (118). Wittgenstein does not provide arguments for a new truth about things, but instead lets us see anew, in a changed way. As Socrates ﬁrst taught us, there is no prescribed set of rules 15 for bringing someone to see differently. For Wittgenstein, the religious point of view is the one that approaches a philosophical problem with the belief that its solution lies in radical recollecting and re-visioning. The new vision is not a truth to be proved, any more than faith is taking someone’s word for it, even God’s. Our new eyes cannot be given to us by another, and certainly not by any book. There is a long tradition of philosophers who have griped about the quarrels of their predecessors. They offer their own solutions, new methods they believe can put an end to these disagreements. Descartes gives us clear and distinct ideas, Hegel gives us the dialectic of Spirit, Husserl “bracketing.” Wittgenstein One thought he’d solved the problems of philosophy by revealing the logical form of language, while Wittgenstein Two believed that if only we could see how philosophical problems arise through language, we would also see their solutions. But the later Wittgenstein might be right. The challenge he poses to philosophy cannot be simply rejected. We can’t simply say that all he’s talking about is words, because we can’t be really sure what all the others have been talking about until we understand how language and thought tie up together. If it turns out that eternal questions are eternal errors, then we shall have learned something important. Maybe we’ll ﬁnd a way out of the ﬂy-bottle, or discover that it’s not such a bad place to be after all. x j6 { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �16 {The Book} THE BOOK A Story in Three Parts T 0 those who love to read books, the prospect of being a part of bringing them to life—from idea to printed volume—must be Nirvana. The College explores the careers of three alumni who have been successful in the publishing industry: an independent publisher whose personal passions led him to success, an editor with an eye for winning titles, and an author whose ﬁrst book was 20 years in the making. The Publisher Jeremy Tarcher (class of 1953) Founder, Tarcher Publishing by Rosemary Harty (AGI09) True love led Jeremy Tarcher to a career in publishing. Real passion for his subject matter propelled him to success. Tarcher was a writer and producer working in the television industry when he met his ﬁrst wife, Shari Lewis, who was on her way to becoming one of the most beloved children’s entertainers in television history. They both knew a long and happy marriage was more likely if one of them got out of television. Tarcher decided to try publishing, because, as he explains, “it was employment.” To learn the business, Tarcher went to work as an assis- tant to Ben Rayburn, founder of Horizon Press. “I worked with him for two years. In that time, I thought I had seen every mistake that could be made in the publishing business. I discovered that there were plenty more to make.” By the early 1960s, Tarcher was ready to venture out on his own. At ﬁrst, he teamed noted celebrities with authors to produce best sellers including Johnny Carson’s Happiness is a Dry Martini and Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints. A desire to follow his own personal interests—rather than industry trends—led him to success as a niche publisher. He developed a specialty in books about health, philosophy, psychology, and human potential. Tarcher Publishing led the way in offering titles that coincided with California-born trends that would sweep the nation beginning in the 1970s and ‘80s. His biggest success came in 1980, when he published The Aquarian Conspiracy by Marilyn Ferguson. Establishing a personal relationship with the author—primarily by persuading her how much the book captured the desires for his own life—led Ferguson to choose Tarcher instead of a large New York trade house. “There was no book with which I felt more closely associated, and for which I felt a greater participation in the development of the text,” Tarcher explains. “The book made a big different in my life.” The Aquarian Conspiracy, Tarcher explains, “caught the spirit of the times. People were open to new spiritual perspectives, new ways of thinking about things.” Ferguson’s book “brought together a lot of different perspectives at the leading edge and made them into a path along which many people wished to stride. It called for the better parts of humanity when no one was really calling for that.” By today’s standards, the book wasn’t a blockbuster; it sold about a million copies in hardcover and paperback. Yet Tarcher considers the book a resounding success because { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �17 {The Book} Success came to Jeremy Tarcher (class of 1953) when he began publishing books on topics he truly cared about. its enduring message that each individual can make a difference was carried worldwide. “The greatest fun in publishing is that for a very small amount of money and a few seconds of TV time, one can get an idea out to a general public, distribute a book, send it to the opinion makers and really get a bang for your book-publishing buck,” he says. “It’s possible to be an active citizen and affect a lot of things that go on in the country and the world.” Independent publishing is a tough business, he concedes. When interest rates soared in the late 1980s, money got tight. “Capitalization is a big problem,” he says. “The more successful you are, the larger inventory you need to carry. Higher advances are expected for the authors, by their agents and by themselves. The more books you have out, the greater the debt to you, further diminishing your cash. Twice I had to sell because I became too successful and no longer had cash. I could not maintain the company without pulling in very strongly, and I chose not to do that; I thought being with a large company was the answer.” Tarcher sold his company ﬁrst to Houghton Mifﬂin, but when that didn’t work out, he bought it back a few years later. He sold it again, to Universal Studios, which had Putnam as part of its corporate empire; thus Tarcher became part of Putnam. When Viking/Penguin took over the company, it began publishing books under a Tarcher/Penguin imprint. “For the most part,” Tarcher says, his name is still carried on good books. If he were just starting out today, Tarcher doubts that he could succeed. “I could not possibly duplicate what I did now with the amount of money I started with, which was really very little,” he says. He wouldn’t have been able to acquire signiﬁcant authors without paying huge advances. “Nobody really knows what’s going to happen next,” he muses, “with the Kindle, the blogosphere. The world is changing with [such] rapidity that a one-year plan is impossible to make. Who the hell knows what ﬁve years ahead is going to look like?” And today’s business world, he observes, is dominated by e-mail and text messages, computers and Blackberrys. When Tarcher started out, he didn’t even have a fax machine or a Xerox. Much of his time was devoted to talking with authors and agents. “It was a much more human world then,” he says. Always grateful to St. John’s for putting him on the path to success, Tarcher is frank about what led him to Annapolis: desperation. He had yet to prove himself as a student when he began applying to college. “I couldn’t get into any other college in America at the time,” he recalls. His family knew the Pinskers, whose son, Adam (class of 1952), had attended St. John’s. “My parents applied to St. John’s for me while I was away in Colorado,” he recalls. “I came onto the campus, and I knew that I had found my home. High school was memorization; at St. John’s, I was able to open up, discover new ideas. The whole feeling of St. John’s was to open the mind and open the spirit, which I guess in some ways I have carried on in a different perspective in my publishing life.” He wrote his senior essay on Nietzsche and Goethe and the will to power. “Every day I’m grateful to St. John’s for the inspiration, for the love of books, for the love of learning, perhaps most of all, I’m grateful for the sense of— if not the perfectibility of man—the improvement.” After St. John’s, Tarcher joined the army and was assigned to an education center in Verdun, France. After { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �18 {The Book} his discharge, he traveled the world and returned to New York to ﬁnd a job in the burgeoning television industry. He started out as a cartoon timer, eventually becoming a producer and writer. Tarcher accompanied a friend to a radio show audition one night, and in the studio he spotted a “lovely girl who captured my heart.” He and Shari Lewis, known for her puppet Lamb Chop and her long-running PBS television show, spent 40 “very good years together” before she died of cancer in 1998 at age 65. Their daughter, Mallory, became a producer, writer, and entertainer. It was also love at ﬁrst sight when Tarcher met his second wife, Judith Paige Mitchell, a television writer and novelist. They were making marriage plans by their second date and have been married 10 years. Although the industry will continue to go through tumultuous change, Tarcher says Johnnies who pursue publishing careers may succeed “if they ﬁnd something they really care about and become expert in it.” “All of my success came about because I had the friendship of and tutelage of many people who knew a great deal about spiritual development and were able to teach me its ways,” Tarcher says. “I don’t care if you’re interested in model railroads or transcendent spirituality, you should know something about the ﬁeld into which you’re going. You’re going not just as a publisher, but as a person.” The Editor Colin Fox (SF97) Senior Editor, Simon and Schuster By Nat Roe (SF08) Every day, Colin Fox walks through labyrinthine hallways to an ofﬁce tucked in a corner. Stacks of books line every wall along the way. These halls—publishing giant Simon and Schuster’s portion of Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan— don’t look much different than a Johnnie’s dream. Fox’s own corner ofﬁce is crammed with books, many of which he has helped to publish. Sitting behind his desk with a Beach Boys haircut, a striped dress shirt and a broad smile, Fox appears professionally savvy, but beams with youthful energy. His job as a senior editor is to acquire and develop new books for publication. With a list of authors including political heavy-hitters like James Carville and Tucker Carlson, entertainment legends like David Cross and Billy Crystal, and respected ﬁction writers like Donald Westlake and Stephen Hunter, Fox has worked hand-inhand with some of today’s most notable minds. A book ﬁrst reaches Fox through a literary agent’s pitch, one of the social perks of Fox’s work. “It’s a very personal transaction often,” he explains. “Many of them [literary agents] are personal friends of mine.” Fox evaluates the viability of a book based on the scope of the subject matter, the size of the target market, and the past work of the author. If the book seems to merit publication, Fox buys the book and then begins a lengthy period of discussion and revision with the author. This conversation can last for close to a year. An editor for Simon and Schuster, Colin Fox (SF97) says his job is more about marketing and less about being “a philosopher-king.” { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{The Book} Once the manuscript is complete, months of in-house selling of the project to marketing staff takes place before the book is ready for the public. “A lot of my job is selling. You learn very quickly in this business that this has nothing to do with being a philosopher-king. Simon and Schuster is dedicated to quality, which is wonderful, but we have to make money.” Still, Fox maintains that the publishing industry isn’t excessively money driven. Instead, the industry attracts those impassioned with the written word. “I think the people are what drives it most,” he says. “Everyone comes in early [in their careers] wanting to ﬁnd the great American novel. We were all book people in college,” he says. From close contact with authors to spending his days with similarly minded coworkers, Fox enjoys a society of letters similar to St. John’s. Moreover, Fox ﬁnds his work fulﬁlling for its social impact. “S & S has done a lot of very important books in terms of driving the national debate and being involved in major news events.” Former Vice President Dick Cheney, for example, recently signed a book deal with Threshold, a politically conservative wing of the publishing house. Fox himself tends toward the liberal side with his own acquisitions, but uses this example to point out an interesting quirk of book sales: the opposition party often sells more books than the party in power. Insights like this one drive publishing, but Fox discusses these issues with an air of opportunity rather than of shrewd greed. It seems he has struck a happy middle ground in his ﬁeld. Fox’s task is a “nebulous” balance of cultural curation and business sensibility, with one foot in the ivory tower and the other foot behind the cash register. Fox’s experience also vouches for the practicality of the St. John’s experience. “Publishing is a kind of bizarro professional continuation of St. John’s. It’s the same act, too. You just read all the time, then talk about your reading and then you write about it.” As Fox describes it, the smooth continuity from college to career came as a pleasant surprise. “When I was at St. John’s, I willfully avoided the thought of what I would do next. Even senior year, I said to myself, ‘I’m focusing on this.’” Having a connection at the Warner Books publishing house, now known as Grand Central Publishing, Fox found himself in publishing a few years after graduation. One 19 might even say that this is the path he was born for. His father, William Price Fox, was a novelist (best know for Ruby Red), and his mother worked as an editorial assistant. This is a difﬁcult time for his chosen industry, but Fox is hopeful about its future. “This is the worst environment retail-wise for books ever,” he says. “Even huge, bestselling authors have seen diminished numbers.” But Fox sees lagging numbers as indicative of the economy in general and predicts that the publishing industry will recover with the rest of the world. E-books, including the Kindle and iPhone applications, will help the industry become more efﬁcient, he believes. “The book, whatever its Platonic form is, will be ﬁne,” Fox says. “You have to be an optimist to be in book publishing, whether you’re an agent or an author. You have to be able to have faith in the face of most people being disappointed at the end of the day with the results.” A great book, Fox admits, is a career goal rather than a daily reality. It’s this goal, however, that drives Fox. “It’s so rare for something to catch on and get the attention it deserves and be commercially successful that when it does, it’s just a real treat. That’s what keeps you going.” The Author Victoria Hanley (SF76) Novelist by Cathi Dunn MacRae Since 2000, four young adult novels by Victoria Hanley (SF76) have captivated readers in more than 20 countries, winning literary awards and critical acclaim. And although Hanley didn’t divine her writer’s future at St. John’s College, she “often marvels at how three semesters in Santa Fe had a much larger inﬂuence upon the workings of my mind than expected. That education continues to shape my mental life in profoundly beneﬁcial ways.” Having graduated a year early from high school, Hanley was 18 when she left St. John’s at the end of 1973, in the middle of sophomore year. As she explained to then-dean Robert Neidorf, “I feel like I’ve been in school forever. I want to live my life instead of discussing it.” Career plans took a back seat to “stocking up on experiences.” During nearly 20 years before she began to write, Hanley worked at 19 occupations in at least 27 jobs { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �20 {The Book} rose hayden including house painter, Montessori teacher, dishwasher, folksinger, corporate ﬁnancial manager, massage practitioner, and anatomy instructor. Other than the corporate job’s “dreadful managers,” Hanley savored her experiences. Her long succession of jobs occurred in four states (New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Colorado) and 12 towns and cities, where she lived in 35 dwellings, including a yurt. In 1977, Hanley bicycled from Eugene, Oregon, across the Rocky Mountains to Boulder, Colorado, to attend Naropa Institute. She spent a “life-changing” summer at the Buddhist institute, taking classes in writing, aikido, voice, and meditation. She attended open lectures by Allen Ginsberg and poetry readings by Anne Waldman and Peter Orlovsky. Hanley and her soon-to-be husband then moved into the Nyingma Institute, also in Boulder, where Hanley became the retreat center cook while beginning “serious studies of Buddhism.” The following summer, their son Emrys was born, and Hanley became a busy working mom. A move to Denver, a divorce and remarriage, the birth of her daughter Rose, and demanding jobs consumed her. When did she make the transition to writing? “Like many people,” says Hanley, “I’d always planned to write a book someday. I started a couple novels but never ﬁnished them, telling myself I didn’t have time. Then I went through my second divorce, quit my job, and moved away from Denver. I was miserable and afraid, and thought: I’ve had this dream of writing a novel for long enough. So I began and kept going (with numerous necessary interruptions) until the book was ﬁnished.” It took ﬁve years. Living a life rich in experiences—from working in 27 distinct jobs to engaging in a serious study of Buddhism—led Victoria Hanley (SF76) to success as an award-winning author. When Hanley married again in 1997, still laboring on her novel, her husband Tim joined her teenaged children Emrys and Rose as “ardent supporters” of her writing. Now having weathered the publication of six books, Hanley realizes that “their love and interest and perspicacious comments have made all the difference.” After persevering through many drafts, Hanley submitted her ﬁrst novel to an agent. Two rejections later, she tried a literary agency in London, which has represented her work ever since. Her ﬁrst novel, The Seer and the Sword, was published in the U.K. in 2000, and in the U.S. later that year. An exciting heroic fantasy for young adults aged 12 and up, The Seer and the Sword takes place in a palpable, original otherworld with Arthurian echoes. According to Hanley’s tag line, “Prince Landen loses his father, his kingdom, his sword, and his freedom.” This multi-layered tale of treachery and intrigue is ultimately about the transforming power of peace. Hanley’s ﬁrst novel earned enthusiastic praise. Seer won the 2000 Colorado Book Award, the 2003 Kallbacher Klapperschlange Award in Germany, a nomination for the U.K.’s 2001 Carnegie Medal, and placement on several state lists of teen favorites. But she identiﬁed herself as a writer only when she sold a companion novel, The Healer’s Keep (2002), which explores her otherworld characters’ abilities to perform spiritual healing or harm. Her third { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{The Book} book, The Light of the Oracle (2005), examines this otherworld’s compelling mystical religion with a pantheon of seven gods, animal helpers, and a hierarchy of ambitious priests and prophets young and old, locked in harrowing power struggles. Hanley’s study of Buddhism informs the spiritual concerns in The Healer’s Keep and The Light of the Oracle, where she navigates her characters’ “inner landscapes,” which the Oracle’s Master Priest refers to as “the abanya, the vast etheric lands that existed, unseen by most, alongside the physical realms.” Hanley explains, “From my early twenties to mid-thirties, I carried on an in-depth study and practice of Buddhist meditation, which gradually deepened my awareness of various states of consciousness. I still practice meditation daily. The examination of psychic landscapes is a personal interest.” But it was the St. John’s program that introduced her to spiritual themes. “I was raised in an atheistic household where intuition and emotion were discouraged and even disparaged, and where terms like soul and spirit were considered suspect. So I really enjoyed Socrates as written by Plato: the pristine ﬂow of his ideas could be said to be reasonable and yet seemed to have intuition at its core. It became apparent that great thinkers did not necessarily dismiss spirit out of hand. Emotional truths kept showing up as viable, too.” In Hanley’s writing, “Intuition brings forth the story, and once the story is written, logic carefully examines the whole in a very Johnnian way—looking for whether the structure, as built upon the premise—is sound,” she says. “I was surprised by how much I liked Euclid and his theorems. Along with Plato’s dialogues, they taught me how much a premise inﬂuences the integrity of what follows. This understanding is crucial for writing ﬁction.” A different type of fantasy for “tweens” (ages 10 to 14), Hanley’s Violet Wings (August 2009) ventures “behind the inner looking glass to reﬂect upon the possible fey view of humanity.” In this page-turner, young fairy Zaria Tourmaline learns to use her magical powers while searching for her missing family in “the fabled land of humans.” Hanley has ﬁnished the ﬁrst draft of the sequel, Indigo Bottle, to be published next year. Why write fantasy? In her youth, Hanley read Howard Pyle’s King Arthur books, Andrew Lang’s fairy books, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Tolkien’s Lord of 21 the Rings and several books by Ray Bradbury. Although she now reads little fantasy, it is “well suited to examining universal themes; when fantasy books explore the human psyche, they help us deal with this world rather than escape it. For instance, in The Seer and the Sword, when the hero Landen loses everything, he must draw deeply on his inner strength to lift himself up. The story of his challenges and heartaches is the story of anyone ﬁnding a way through grief and loss.” Also, she concludes, “fantasy is so enjoyable to a certain type of kid, it can serve as an entry point to other kinds of literature.” Aspiring writers ask her so many questions that Hanley wrote Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write—the book she wishes could have jumpstarted her own writing journey. Published last year, it offers exercises in using each tool of the writer’s craft, from freeing the imagination to creating characters. Sixteen authors share their best advice, and Hanley answers young writers’ questions. She will soon launch an interactive site for teen writers at www.seizethestory.com. Hanley’s Wild Ink: How to Write Fiction for Young Adults, also published in 2008, is another book that she wishes she’d had as a beginner. Coaching adult writers entering the thriving arena of young adult literature, it describes YA genres, advises how to address the teen audience, and demystiﬁes the process of getting published. Interviews with agents, editors, self-publishers, and 19 YA authors demonstrate how tenacious a writer must be. Having birthed ﬁve novels, Hanley trusts the process that began at St. John’s: “Seminar discussions of the Iliad and the Odyssey opened my eyes to the layers and levels of symbolism and emotional truth in a work of ﬁction. And although I didn’t stay long enough to participate in seminars on Jane Austen’s books, I have read and re-read all her works, and appreciate her extraordinary ability to blend a good story with witty commentary on human nature.” Surrounded by mountains in her home in Loveland, Colorado, Vicky Hanley recently sang harmony on her son’s debut album, “Emrys.” Her song is about Santa Fe. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �22 { S t u d e n t Vo i c e s } THE L ANGUAGE OF BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU by Jacob Dink (SF10) B razilian Jiu-Jitsu baits us with a misleading ﬁrst impression. We hear the name, so evocative of oriental antiquity. And we imagine some caricature of a choreographed and arcane martial art—perhaps respectable, but abstruse and impractical to all but bearded, meditative masters on forlorn mountainsides. St. John’s campus in Santa Fe certainly resembles such a setting, and scraggy beards abound. But the college’s Brazilian JiuJitsu classes, taught by Santa Fe alumnus and Jiu-Jitsu purple belt Quinn Mulhern (SF08), defy such a caricature. The classes certainly strike a traditional chord, with bowing, lessened emphasis on strenuous muscular workouts, and retention of the traditional uniform (the “gi”). Nevertheless, this martial art cannot be characterized as some quaint Tai-Chi simulacrum. “People realize that Jiu-Jitsu is very different from traditional martial arts,” says Mulhern. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a no-striking, ground-ﬁghting art that focuses on positions, leverage, and submissions. Its territory is the ground, because the ground is where real ﬁghts inevitably end up. Jiu-Jitsu’s emphasis on practicality is an essential characteristic that a cursory glance would miss. Such misconceptions—and their subsequent disabusal—permeate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and its origins. One example is the United States’ most notable introduction into the art. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was founded by brothers Carlos and Hélio Gracie, after Carlos learned it from Mitsuyo Maeda, an innovative Japanese judoka. Hélio adapted it to his smaller frame. After years of trial and evolution in Rio de Janeiro, in 1993 Hélio sent his son Royce to compete in the very ﬁrst “Ultimate Fighting Championship” in the U.S. The pay-per-view tournament featured a bevy of ﬁghters from various disciplines: boxing, kung-fu, muay-thai kickboxing, tae kwon do, sumo, and many other combat sports. The idea was to determine superiority. Which martial art would win in a real ﬁght situation? Some competitors were as large as 260, 430, or (at a later tournament, an unbelievable) 770 pounds. American audiences expected strikers to down their opponents with a kung-fu “death punch,” or some muay-thai knees. Small ground-ﬁghters, we thought, would not stand a chance against the big strikers. Royce won all of his matches in a total ﬁght time of less than ﬁve minutes. Real ﬁghts go to the ground. The motivation here was purely competitive: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is obsessed with proving itself. It’s tied up in the very genesis of the sport. The Gracies wanted to change the way people thought about ﬁghting—and they did. The effect on martial artists was dramatic; everyone started training in ground-ﬁghting. The sport of ﬁghting evolved into modern day Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), a sanctioned, mainstream competition in which well-rounded athletes test their striking, wrestling, and submissions. Here Jiu-Jitsu branches off, and here a second misconception looms. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s inﬂuence on MMA becomes somewhat orthogonal, overemphasizing the ﬁghting element of the art. The self-testing character of Jiu-Jitsu’s genesis should not be misconstrued as egotistical machismo—Jiu-Jitsu’s concern with self-testing is not a fundamental concern with ﬁghting. Rickson Gracie, Royce’s half-brother, describes his take on Jiu-Jitsu: “I’m not a ﬁghter. But I believe in Jiu-Jitsu. I believe it’s a self-defense art. So to keep believing in what I teach, what I share with my students—to trust in my own words—I must make myself available for any kind of competition. But the most interesting aspect of JiuJitsu . . . is the sensibility of opponents: the sense of touch, and weight, and momentum, to the transition from one movement to another. That’s the amazing thing about it.” Sparring (called “rolling”) is the central activity of a typical class. Students use their skills against each other, “tapping out” if caught in a submission (choke or joint-lock). The lack of striking and the relative safety of most submissions mean that students are free to practice at high levels of intensity with little risk of injury. Such considerations are a large part of the emphasis. But something deeper is going on in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s most crucial activity: Students are learning a language. The “rolling” part of Jiu-Jitsu—in which students test their control over opponents’ frames and their own—creates and plumbs an ever-growing well of knowledge: possibilities for movement, techniques, counters, counters to those counters, and so on. The well deepens into labyrinthine caverns to be unconsciously explored. The process must, of course, be unconscious—a chasmal echo in the back of an adrenaline-fueled cortex—because the majority of learning in any language is implicit. In language, the resulting stream of unconsciousness is called ﬂuency. One develops a sort of ﬂow, an ineffable spontaneity of knowledge. One cannot identify “where” the stream comes from. Words just pop into our head. We can’t identify the fount from which the well springs. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shares this curious characteristic. In “rolling,” the ﬂow through movements similarly inhabits the penumbra of conscious calculation. This description of Jiu-Jitsu as a language is not an analogy; it is a deﬁnitive testament to Jiu-Jitsu’s depth and legitimacy as not just a hobby, but a lasting venture. One sees this characteristic in any worthwhile endeavor, because the potential for ﬂuency—a horizon { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{ S t u d e n t Vo i c e s } 23 persists, as does the limitless poential and eagerness for improvement. Pedro Sauer, a seventh-degree black belt, recently invited Eduardo Telles (who is in his 20s) to teach part of seminar. Asked why he was so eager to meet the less seasoned Telles, Sauer replied, “because I want to know what that guy is about.” Known for his ability to use an unconventional “turtle guard” in competition, Telles has valuable insight for a veteran who has owned his black belt for about as long as Telles had been alive. Another prime example of the pinnacle of the elite is Marcelo Garcia, who typiﬁes several important aspects of the art. Garcia is a multiple-time champion in AbuDhabi Combat Club, the most prestigious and wellknown grappling tournament in the world. Alhough Garcia epitomizes Jiu-Jitsu’s ability to dominate much larger opponents—he is a silver and bronze medalist in the absolute division (no weight limit), despite his 5-foot-8-inch frame—it’s more interesting to observe how he beats these opponents: by being creative. Garcia is extremely innovative; his strategy largely consists of techniques, or combinations of techniques that he has originated. Garcia’s success exempliﬁes another characteristic of language: the possibility for and rewards of creativity. This characteristic, like the others, pervades Jiu-Jitsu’s origins: adopted from judo, innovated by Maeda, reinvented by Hélio, evolved in Rio de Janeiro, and still evolving today. Says Mulhern, who has trained with Garcia, “Jiu-Jitsu is an open art form. . . . It’s possible for anyone with great insight into the sport to add to it. That’s something Marcelo has done. But it’s not just Marcelo—it’s something about Jiu-Jitsu. It’s organic. It’s always changing.” Fluency engenders creativity. There is a downside, however, to the potential for ﬂuency: some people aren’t ﬂuent. It is undeniably hard to appreciate a language we’re not ﬂuent in, or haven’t even dabbled with. In some languages, we’re all ﬂuent. Learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu takes more creativity than strength, says Jacob We jump, run, balance, and exert ourselves, so we Dink (SF10), one of many Johnnies captivated by this martial art. appreciate obvious feats of speed, strength, or balance. But it’s difﬁcult to appreciate a language in which we’re not all ﬂuent. With Jiu-Jitsu, “there’s a subtlety that people don’t understand,” says Mulhern. “It’s not that can be approached but never actually reached—signiﬁes a near about punching and kicking, there’s something else going on. inﬁnite depth. It’s about an inside space, about balance.” A layman watching The effect of this endlessness is an astounding profusion of, and an elite display of Jiu-Jitsu can’t appreciate what looks like exponential disparity between, the skill levels in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. “advanced hugging.” A student of several months can soundly handle an athletic This third, more lingering obstacle to understanding Jiu-Jitsu, is newcomer. A student of one year can easily best this verdant that general under-appreciation that accompanies the novelty of a monther. A student of three years (like the author) can often beat a foreign language. Such a frustration is unfortunate, yet inevitable, one-year student without much effort. (I know, because I have and little improved through my fumbling articulations. I’m writing terrible endurance.) Quinn Mulhern can beat me without any in the wrong language. I can only hope to convince the reader that threat of submission to himself. And we haven’t even mentioned it is difﬁcult, or has depth, or is worth a try.To learn how, one has black belts. to try the language. “My ﬁrst impression was with sparring,” says Not that the ascent would stop there. Without seeing their ranks, Mulhern. “It was some secret I had to learn, something I had to be it might be difﬁcult to distinguish the effortless domination of a a part of. It inspires humility: every day you’re made to feel like you white belt by a black belt, from the effortless domination of that know nothing.” x same black belt by a more elite black belt. Within the black-belt class, the tiered system of skill levels and exponential disparity { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �24 { A l u m n i Vo i c e s } A WAY O F L O O K I NG AT T H E WO R L D A philosophy professor reﬂects on a “debt” owed to St. John’s Many Johnnies ﬁnd their way into higher education. Hugh Mercer Curtler (class of 1959), a recently retired professor of philosophy at Southwest Minnesota State University, describes his persistence in bringing great books into the curriculum wherever he taught. I attended Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore, a city I hated after growing up in a small town in Connecticut. But I memorized and regurgitated and passed the tests well enough to be handed a diploma. I suppose you could say I had learned to play the great American game called “school.” I aspired to be a priest in the Episcopal Church, and I needed to get a bachelor’s degree, so the curate of my church recommended that I take a look at nearby St. John’s College. I did so and was astonished to ﬁnd myself meeting with Dick Weigle (HA49), then president of the college. Imagine: a college prospect meeting with the president! I was impressed. In addition, I loved to read, and at that point all I knew about St. John’s was that they read a lot. So I decided to enroll. After all, college was a means to an end, and with a state scholarship, I had to go somewhere in Maryland. That was the long and short of it in my mind at the time. I was told I had to read ﬁve books of the Iliad before entering as a freshman, and I thought “what on earth have I gotten myself into?” In my mind I was being asked to read ﬁve entire books before I ever set foot on campus! I was that naive and just a little bit stupid. I dallied for the ﬁrst two years, playing intramural sports and organizing a basketball team in the local YMCA league, playing poker with my friends, and doing enough to get by with stern looks from my tutors. Needless to say, I did poorly on my sophomore enabling exams. I met with Dean Jacob Klein (HA76) and assured him I was going to turn things around, only to be told that, “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” I was placed on academic probation, given a semester to turn things around. I made the most of it. I never shone at St. John’s, though I became a much more serious student and began to enjoy the discussions more and more. The curriculum was having a profound effect on my way of looking at the world, though I don’t think I knew it at the time. I graduated with 19 other people in the spring of 1959 and decided after four years (well, at least two years) of intense study I needed a year to let the dust settle before attending seminary. I took a job teaching at a private boys’ school in New York and found that I loved to teach. But I wanted to teach something I couldn’t fully master, something that would keep my mind alive for the rest of my life. I had decided that the priesthood was not for me and that I would pursue philosophy instead. Now there was a moving target that would be hard to hit! I was lucky enough to be accepted into graduate school at Northwestern University. I did well. In fact, after { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } All he knew about St. John’s when he enrolled, Hugh Mercer Curtler (class of 1959) recalls, “was that they read a lot.” Only later could he grasp how St. John’s shaped the way in which he views the world. �{ A l u m n i Vo i c e s } 25 those in higher education, St. John’s I found graduate I was beginning to discover, school to be fairly easy. I tended to sell the students earned the MA and the PhD (Florida Academic Press, 2009) short. and looked for a teaching job. Eventually, sad to say, that What else was there to do with In Provoking Thought, Hugh Mercer Curtler explores issues course died a slow and painful degrees in philosophy? I found of contemporary life in the context of “a number of impordeath as specialized faculty myself at the University of tant books and what their authors had to say to us.” Like a resisted being forced to teach Rhode Island, where I taught stimulating coffee-shop conversation, the book ranges over outside their ﬁeld. So I simply for two years. diverse topics—Plato, the Iraqi War, George Eliot, Brett taught philosophy for a There I realized that I was Favre, Tocqueville, Boston Legal, even Rod Blagojevitch. number of years, feeling more being squeezed into a niche in Central to Curtler’s thesis is how a liberal education, in and more constricted. I also a department of seven people, producing citizens who are able to question and reconsider realized how much those each with a specialty within their opinions, advances democracy and improves society: students could beneﬁt by being philosophy. I read that a new “Given that a liberal education should. . . put young people introduced to great writing, college in Iowa wanted in possession of their own minds, the question is how best to including, but not restricted someone to head up a departachieve this goal. How is it to be done without merely to, philosophy. By this time I ment of philosophy and teach exchanging one set of chains for another? Clearly the answer had tenure and had been “humanities.” Now that to this question is of central importance not only to profesaround long enough that I was sounded great! And they paid sional educators, but also to all who are concerned about the able to convince the faculty to well. I was awfully young and survival of this Republic. A democracy cannot function institute a pair of courses in inexperienced, but I applied unless its citizens are educated, that is, capable of informed “humanities” in the general and was hired as the chair of a choice, unless they are in possession of their own minds. This education requirement. department of two. My job was is possible only if the students become well-informed and are Several people were hired to to initiate basic courses in able to process this information—in a word, if they can think. teach the courses, and while philosophy while teaching two Thinking, in turn, is a function of the ability to manipulate they started out being great required courses in what I the symbols of language and mathematics, to analyze and to books courses, each of those knew were great books by synthesize. Content is less important than process, but both teaching them turned them in another name. I am sure my matter if the goal of an educated person is to be achieved.” x their own direction. background at St. John’s was I remained loyal to the books the key to my being hired. and continued to require that I enjoyed teaching those my students read the classics, including a number of Greek plays, courses, as my love for the books allowed me to read them several Platonic dialogues, portions of Thucydides, Shakespeare, again—this time more carefully—and talk about them to classand even some Dostoevsky. Assignments nearly always focused rooms full of eager students. on selections, but one must begin somewhere! I also started up The college had a remarkable curriculum with a two-year an honors program and required each graduating honors student general education requirement that included a year of reading to take a seminar in the great books before graduating and the great books of Western civilization. But the college also had the incoming honors students read selections from foundered ﬁnancially, and I moved on to a public college just Tocqueville, among others. Those were some of the best classes opening in Minnesota where I would, again, start a philosophy I taught in my 41 years of college teaching. program and also head up what they called “Ideas in Flux.” A few years before my retirement I wrote a book, Recalling Once again, the breadth of my preparation helped me land the job. I wanted to turn that course into one that focused on the Education, in which I attempted in my small way to restore great books, but it was a required course taught by the entire some semblance of sanity to the higher educational system I was faculty and as most of them had not read the books (as was the becoming increasingly familiar with. I argued for a solid core case with the dean of the college), it was not to be. requirement built around the great books, which are increasIn those days experimentation was all the rage, and “tradiingly ignored in the academy but which are nonetheless the tion” was a bad word. The books were considered irrelevant and cornerstone of any attempt to free young minds from narrowtoo difﬁcult for students to read. Being young and powerless, ness, prejudice, and stupidity. The book sold fairly well, and one I played the role handed to me and assigned the weaker works reviewer on Amazon likened it to the writings of Mortimer that were approved by the dean for several years, sneaking a Adler—hyperbole, but a high compliment in my mind. really important piece of writing into the curriculum when I Throughout, I have retained my love for the books. In my could. I always thought it was a mistake to withhold the great retirement, I reread many of them and added others to my list. books from these students and spent much of my time Eventually I worked up a book of meditations on sundry topics, attempting to place before even the most reluctant of readers drawing on the books I have read over the years. I called the some of the great works of the human mind. And every now and book Provoking Thought, and it reﬂects the enormous debt I again, I knew it was paying off, as student comments showed. owe St. John’s and the love for the books that has remained with These are books that are approachable on so many levels, and me throughout my adult life. x Excerpt: Provoking Thought { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �26 {Iglehart Hall} HAIL, TEMPLE IGLEHART Celebrating a Century A stark contrast to today’s typical university gym— with rock-climbing walls, aerobic studios, and ﬁtness rooms packed with shiny equipment— Temple Iglehart speaks to digniﬁed simplicity. A basketball court. A weight room. Locker rooms that could best be described as Spartan. But this is a building steeped in history. Slip out of your street shoes in the foyer to protect the polished gym ﬂoor. Climb the steps to the banked wooden running track, where the brick walls are lined with plaques celebrating century-old athletic feats. Below on the basketball court the Maenads and the Amazons are ﬁghting it out with three minutes left in the half. Some of these athletes will be awarded a coveted prize: the blue blazer. Others are making some of the best memories they’ll carry forward into their lives as alumni. Happy birthday, Temple Iglehart. You don’t look a day over 90. Ellen Alers (A82): “Once I was asked, ‘If your house was burning and you could save one thing, what would it be?’ Without hesitation, I said, ‘My St. John’s athletic blazer.’ I won it my sophomore year and treasure it. It reminds me of my best times at St. John’s and keeps me from cringing, too badly, when I think of my dismal academic performance. No matter how bad the day, every game was an opportunity to make a fresh start, encourage my teammates, and have fun. Although I never shone in the classroom, the St. John’s sports program gave me the opportunity to lead, follow, learn, teach, encourage and support my fellow athletes, and they reciprocated. Without it and them, I would have never survived.” dimitri fotos Talley Scroggs (A01): “I always prized the 30 minutes or so before the Kunai basketball games. As the women started gathering around the benches, various groups would head out to the court to practice jump shots or free throws. There was no real organization, and we would mingle with the opposing team all during the warm-up. Those pre-game moments really captured the spirit of Basketball and a balance: the simplicity of Iglehart Hall reﬂects the simplicity of the Program. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{Iglehart} 27 The banked running track beckons only the adventurous. conviviality and fun that I’ll always associate with SJC sports.” dimitri fotos Paula Swann (AGI97): “My husband, John Swann (AGI97), and I met in the Temple at St. John’s. We were playing on opposing teams (I was a Greenwave, he was a Hustler) during the winter tournament. I was guarding John under the basket. Unfortunately, he is 6’4’, and I am 5’6.’ So John would just reach over my back and grab every rebound despite my best efforts to box him out. I wasn’t getting an over-the-back call from the refs, so the next time he came over my back, I nudged him a little and he fell on the ﬂoor! The next semester we had all three classes together and soon started dating. Seven years later, we got married in the Great Hall. That’s 13 years total that we’ve been together since that ﬁrst game in the Temple. Now we have a son, Maxwell, 2 1/2 years old.” dimitri fotos Steven Reynolds (A83): “My memories of Iglehart Hall are suffused with camaraderie and a sense of justice not seen in other sporting venues. . . . I was assigned to the Hustlers my freshman year, and played basketball with a senior full of passion for the game and an unrelenting drive to win. Another senior, a Greenwave, made a drive to the hoop and was fouled by our player- Bronze plaques on the brick walls of the gym’s upper level celebrate victories of the past. coach, who had the skill to stop a drive with his body with impunity. But our man’s feet were in motion at the moment of impact, and 10 players on the court knew it was a foul. As impartial as [then Athletic Director Bryce] Jacobsen was, his eye was not always the most discerning, and play continued. The missed call provoked Greenwave Tom (A80) to quote Kant: ‘Mr. J., you’re disrupting the synthetic unity of my apperception!’ Only at Iglehart Hall.” x Up to a Challenge? Join the Team. If you have fond memories of athletics and Temple Iglehart, here’s a chance to say thanks. If you were a fencer, a Greenwave, a weight-room denizen, a coxswain, a badminton player—the college needs you to join the Mind-Body Challenge. To commemorate the temple’s 100th birthday, the Annapolis campus seeks to raise $500,000 to establish an endowment fund for the repair and replacement of athletic equipment. Fifty percent of St. John’s students participate in athletics on a regular basis; 27 percent of staff and faculty use the gym regularly. A thriving intramural program complements the college’s academic program by adding to the sense of community, camaraderie, and common purpose. This campaign will establish an endowment fund for the repair and replacement of athletic equipment by providing a dedicated stream of $25,000 to the gym each year. Even this modest amount will help enhance the athletic program by keeping the balls bouncing high, the ﬁelds in good shape, the crew boats primed for regattas, and the scoreboard bright. Learn more about the challenge on the college’s website: click on “Giving” and follow the Mind-Body Challenge link. Or, visit Temple Iglehart’s very own Facebook or YouTube pages. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �28 Feeling Our Feelings: What Philosophers Think and People Know By Eva Brann (HA89) Paul Dry Books 2008 In Feeling Our Feelings, Eva Brann considers what the great philosophers on the passions and feelings have thought and written about them. She examines the relevant work of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Adam Smith, Hume, Kierkegaard, and Heidegger, and also includes a chapter on contemporary studies on the brain. Feeling Our Feelings provides a comprehensive look at this pervasive and elusive topic. “‘Feeling our feelings’ comes from the words a little boy called Zeke said to me some thirty years ago when he was four,” Brann writes in her preface. “I was swinging him in a park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and not doing it right. ‘Swing me higher,’ he said, ‘I want to feel my feelings.’ The phrase stuck with me; you might say it festered in my mind; it agitated questions: Why do we all want to feel our feelings, so generally that people ‘not in touch’ with them are thought to be in need of therapy? What feeling was swinging high inducing? Was it an exultation of the body or an exhilaration of the soul? When he wanted to be feeling his feelings, was there a difference between the general feeling, the mere consciousness of being affected, and his particular feelings, the distinguishable affects?—as, when you sing a song, there is a difference between the singing done and the song sung—or is there?” The Main Street Manifesto By Michael Waldock (SFGI03) Ailemo Books (2009) Michael Waldock’s The Main Street Manifesto is a call to ordinary citizens to rise up to the challenge of getting the country back on track by making a series of “bite-sized” ﬁxes. Waldock calls for “good old-fashioned American fairness and practicality,” as well as a need to re- {Biblioﬁle} examine “how we live, what we manufacture, what we buy, and what we can do to rebuild our failing economy from the bottom up.” With more than 70 percent of our GDP composed of consumer spending, the United States faces permanent trade imbalances and a national debt that will continue to grow. At the same time, only 10 percent of Americans are working in manufacturing, compared to one-third of Americans 50 years ago. Waldock sees other threats in the growing gap between the rich and the poor, as well as failures in education, from grade school through college. As a former CEO and president of the U.S. subsidiary of The Body Shop, a retail cosmetics company known as the original “company with a conscience,” Waldock is familiar with activism. During his tenure at The Body Shop, he initiated a program to employ the home-bound disabled and gave staff paid leave time to work with community programs of their choice. “I know we can ﬁx our economic and social problems,” Waldock said, “and it is the Main Street activists who will rebuild and relocalize our economy.” In this slim volume, Waldock passionately addresses several major issues: the moral imperative for a free press, the need for universal health care, the role of lobbyists, the outsourcing of jobs, rebuilding the country’s manufacturing base, and the danger the United States faces of becoming a plutocracy, among others. Each chapter addresses a particular issue, often giving a brief background history and citing several studies to supplement Waldock’s view, before going on to end with a set of recommended action items. Among them: send a copy of the Constitution to a friend and post parts of it online, watch a video on emerging democracy in China, write your legislators to express support for healthcare reform, and read The Economist. — Babak Zarin (A11) Culture Club By Katherine Wolff (AGI93) University of Massachusetts Press, 2009 Founded in 1807, the successor to a literary club called the Anthology Society, the Boston Athenaeum occupies an important place in the early history of American intellectual life. At ﬁrst a repository for books, to which works of art were later added, the Athenaeum attracted over time a following that included such literary luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry James. Yet from the outset, Katherine Wolff shows, the Boston Athenaeum was more than a library; it was also a breeding ground for evolving notions of cultural authority and American identity. Though governed by the Boston elite, who promoted it as a way of strengthening their own clout in the city, the early Athenaeum reﬂected conﬂicting and at times contradictory aims and motives on the part of its membership. On the one hand, by drawing on European aesthetic models to reinforce an exalted sense of mission, Athenaeum leaders sought to establish themselves as guardians of a nascent American culture. On the other, they struggled to balance their goals with their concerns about an increasingly democratic urban populace. As the Boston Athenaeum opened its doors to women as well as men outside its inner circle, it eventually began to deﬁne itself against a more accessible literary institution, the Boston Public Library. An independent scholar and researcher, Wolff holds a PhD in American literature and history from Boston University. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �29 {Alumni Profile} Giving Women a Running Start Kelly Keenan Trumpbour (AGI06) ﬁnds her niche in advocacy. by Rosemary Harty hy hasn’t there been a female president of the United States yet? For the women who founded the nonproﬁt organization Running Start, there’s a simple answer: women are still not running for elected ofﬁce—whether the town council or the U.S. Senate—in numbers anywhere close to men. That means fewer women gain the credentials they need to win national ofﬁces. As senior director of Running Start, Kelly Keenan Trumpbour (AGI06) is working to change that. She helps guide a nonpartisan organization that works to plant the seeds for a political career in the minds of young women. “This is not about bashing men,” says Trumpbour. “It’s a pipeline issue.” Trumpbour always wanted to do “meaningful, change-the-world work.” After ﬁnishing her degree at the University of Detroit Mercy’s College of Liberal Arts, she worked with Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer on urban revitalization projects throughout Michigan. She moved to Maryland to attend the University of Maryland Law School, knowing she was interested in advocacy rather than “typical ﬁrm work.” After graduation, she worked on a senate subcommittee on Capitol Hill and lobbied on behalf of female business owners as Public Policy Chair for the Maryland chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. Her public affairs experience led her to write a book, Working at Interest Groups and Nonproﬁts, to introduce others to a satisfying line of work. “A lot of young people say ‘I want to go out and make a difference in the world,’ ” Trumpbour says. “They often get stumped trying to envision what a job like that looks like.” Working on the book brought her into contact with Susannah Wellford Shakow, the former president and co-founder of Women Under Forty Political Action Committee (WUFPAC), created to funnel ﬁnancial support to women running for ofﬁce. What Shakow and many others learned as they help women gain ofﬁce was that “the biggest thing that was holding women back was really themselves.” It was W Kelly Keenan Trumpbour (AGI06) helps lead an initiative to introduce young women to careers in politics. more difﬁcult for women to see that committing to a career in politics didn’t rule out other choices, such as starting a family. Trumpbour was invited to sit on WUFPAC’s board, and that led her to join with Shakow and others to create Running Start. “What we decided was that it was much more important go back and talk to girls in high school and in college to get women thinking about running for ofﬁce in their 20s.” The group’s ﬁrst step was to create, in 2007, a ﬁve-day summer leadership program for high school girls. They managed to draw 25 girls to their inaugural session at American University, a ﬁve-day program in which elected ofﬁcials, speechwriters, campaign managers, even unsuccessful candidates, offered a view of life in politics. The next year, the program expanded to 50 students, and 300 women applied. “That seemed really impressive to us,” recalls Trumpbour. “Then we had a presidential election.” Having a woman and an African-American man vie for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential race changed everything, Trumpbour says. For the 2009 class, Running Start received 30,000 applications for the 50 slots in the program. “It was mind-blowing,” Trumpbour says. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } Whether any of the young women who come to Running Start’s Washington program will be a congresswoman, or even a local school board president, is hard to say. But Trumpbour is impressed with the ambition, skills, and experience these women have developed at such a young age. One woman, a Native American, aspires to be a leader in her tribe. Another participant launched a bicoastal conference on interfaith relations. While law school prepared her well for a career in advocacy, St. John’s gave her something else, Trumpbour says. There was a moment in law school when Trumpbour realized, “this is not fun, this is boring, and hard.” Then she ran across St. John’s and its dual degree program with Maryland, which allows students to obtain simultaneously the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Juris Doctor degrees. “I couldn’t believe it—you sit on this beautiful campus and talk about books.” With three GI segments to complete, Trumpbour enrolled in her ﬁrst semester at St. John’s after her ﬁrst year of law school, her second after she passed the bar exam, and her third after she completed an MBA at Johns Hopkins University. Whenever she felt overcome by drudgery, her husband, Jason, would suggest, “you need a semester at St. John’s.” Philosophy and literature, great discussions, and her tutors always restored her. At 31, Trumpbour hasn’t ruled out running for ofﬁce. For now, though, she’s happy to be a mentor and a teacher to others. Although she ﬁnds it frustrating to see women lead other countries when a woman has not yet achieved the highest ofﬁce in the United States, she believes it won’t be long before a woman stands on the steps of the Capitol to take the oath of ofﬁce. “It is still an uphill battle for women,” Trumpbour says. “But I hope what we’ve shown is that it doesn’t have to be scary.” x �30 {Alumni Notes} 1937 JACK OWENS sends regards from Naples, Florida, where he and his wife, Peg, recently celebrated 65 years of marriage. He writes: “I am still trying to comprehend the philosophy course I took with Dr. Bernhard in 1936.” 1943 was a 36-year age difference between us, but he was always younger than his years. (P.S. He also tried hang-gliding.)” 1950 T YLDEN WESTCOTT STREETT received a Medal of Honor from Maryland Institute College of Art. He continues to teach young sculptors interested in human anatomy and ﬁgurative sculpture. BURTON ARMSTRONG notes that he met his wife, Peggy, while at St. John’s. “We are now both 88, have been married for 66 years, and have lived in Charlottesville, Va., since 1982.” 1946 PETER WEISS gave a talk on June 26 at Humboldt University, Berlin, on “The International Law Obligation for Nuclear and General Disarmament.” 1960 This note from KATHERINE HAAS was too much fun as is to edit: “Am still teaching full time, also teaching six classes per week of private classes in Chinese, studying Arabic (sixth year), brain tanned buffalo hide on rez this summer. Bird researcher for 23 years summers, presented at AOL in PA in August, loving life…Running out of breath.” JOHN LANE is enjoying retirement 1949 Charlotte Anderson passed along this news to the college: “My husband, CLARENCE ANDERSON, philosopher, accountant, business manager and dean of ﬁnancial services and administration at Patrick Henry Community College in Marinsville, Va., scuba-diver, swimming teacher at the YMCA, little league baseball coach, boxing instructor, teacher of philosophy, runner, past member of a rescue squad, graduate of an automechanics program, owner of a patent, registered nurse, and airplane pilot, died peacefully of pneumonia at the age of 87 on July 1, 2009. He always spoke proudly of his education at St. John’s and was a true St. Johnnie. He loved to argue and discuss. The Great Books program enriched his life and, indirectly, mine as well. There and staying involved in the community. He is the vice president of the Cascades HOA, which with 6,000 households, is the largest HOA in Northern Virginia. He is also vice chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Equalization, which hears appeals from taxpayers protesting their real estate tax assessments— 2,700 appeals this year. “As I’m writing this item, anticipating the arrival today of stepson Jim, with six of his Naval Academy classmates and their spouses, staying with us for a couple of days on their way to their 25th class reunion at the Academy. I spent 23 years in the Air Force and am a St. Johnnie. Who would have thought Marie and I would be hosting a Naval Academy reunion bunch!” 1961 As part of a featured exchange titled “Life Without Lawyers” in its May 14, 2009 issue, The New York Review of Books published a lengthy letter by HARRISON SHEPPARD. His letter, criticizing the book of that name by Philip K. Howard and its review by Anthony Lewis in the April 9, 2009 issue of the NYRB, argued that both the book and the review failed to identify the root cause of abuses in American legal education and practice as attributable to the dominance of an adversarial “warmaking” model as opposed to a “problem-solving, peacemaking model” of the kind Yale Law School Dean Anthony Kronman identiﬁes as the “lawyer-statesman ideal.” Sheppard maintains his solo civil law practice in San Francisco while continuing his nonﬁction writing and editing. His last published book was Too Much for Our Own Good: The Consumeritis Epidemic. He is at work editing the manuscript of a distinguished physician concerning the need to separate the teachings of dogmatic religion from reasonable moral judgments, and a second manuscript relating to the early career of Elvis Presley. 1962 MARIA FLASCHBERGER BROOKS writes: “My husband, James O. Brooks, died September 12. He was my second husband. We had a wonderful marriage and I miss him terribly. He had a lengthy illness with Parkinson’s, but was able to deal with it very well. He taught at Villanova University in mathematics and computer science. I taught at Valley Forge Military College, computer science. I retired early so we could spend more time together, and we traveled quite a bit as well. We have two children, our son is in Manhattan, also in computer science working in industry, our daughter is married in northern New Jersey.” 1963 DAVID MICHAEL TRUSTY has been traveling all across the country on Amtrak. He lives 10 minutes away from the Santa Fe station at Lang, N.M. He is enjoying train travel. After more than 30 years in advertising, JED STAMPLEMAN is now retired and enjoying as many weeks on Cape Cod as the weather will allow. He is also participating in monthly seminars held by the New York alumni chapter. He went through a bout of cancer but is doing ﬁne, and the doctors are happy with his recovery. Best to all at St. John’s. 1964 Earlier this fall JEREMY LEVEN was in Royaumont Abbey outside Paris for six weeks as a guest of the French government with three other Hollywood screenwriters, including Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon, Cool Hand Luke, etc.). “I’m writing Girl On A Bicycle to be shot in Paris, produced by Max Weideman and Quirin Berg (Oscar and César for The Lives Of Others). My Sister’s Keeper came out in June, did well in U.S., considering it’s a story of a girl dying of cancer, and very, well, foreign; also Time Traveler’s Wife (uncredited, but worked on for two years) did well. In the works: novel for Knopf, The Savior and the Singing Machine, will be done by end of year with any luck; play on Francois Premier for Comedie de Theatre Champs Elysees in Paris is in works, but lots of work, so who knows when; ﬁlm of true story of theft of Mona Lisa in 1911 (Lovers, Liars and Thieves) now casting, hoping for Paris shoot 2010 or 2011. Wife and ﬁve kids continued on page 32 { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �31 {Alumni Profile} How Aristotle Would Make Candles Martin Marklin (A85) creates symbols of hope and peace. by Patricia Dempsey W photos courtesy of m.g. marklin hen Pope Benedict XVI was preparing for a visit to the United States in April 2008, Martin Marklin (A85) got a telephone call from a monsignor in New York. “The Pope needs a candle,” he told Marklin, an artisan who specializes in candles for religious services. Marklin was given two weeks to craft the 5-foot, 65pound candle, inlaid with the Pontiff’s coat of arms. Pope Benedict lit the candle during a ceremony at Ground Zero to honor the victims of the September 11th attacks. “It is very rare that the Pope lights his own candle—this is usually done for him,” Marklin says. “So this was an honor.” There were numerous technical requirements for the custom candle, including the inlay, a “secret process” Marklin has perfected over the years. Also, the candle needed to burn well for at least 20 minutes and be draft resistant. “I am Aristotelian in my approach—if a candle looks beautiful but doesn’t burn well, it won’t make it,” he says. Marklin added a personal touch to the candle: “I put the initials of my four children on the bottom of the Pope’s candle, as a silent prayer for peace.” Captivated by the craft of inlay since childhood, Marklin experimented in the basement of his parents’ home in St. Louis and began making candles while attending St. John’s. After he made a candle for St. Mary’s Church in Annapolis, one of the priests, Vincent Dwyer, encouraged him to start a business. He told Marklin that no Detailed handwork is the hallmark of Marklin Candle Designs, which supplies half of of the nation’s cathedrals with hand-dipped beeswax candles. one was producing artistic candles, gave him the seed money to start his business, and put him in touch with contacts. While at St. John’s, Marklin learned another trade that helped him become a candle maker. During his junior and senior years, Marklin worked in the college print shop under the tutelage of Chris Colby (HA08). That gave Marklin the skills to work in his brother’s print shop in New Hamphsire while he launched his candle business. Today Marklin Candle Designs is based in rural Contoocook, New Hampshire, and Marklin shares the 50,000-square-foot manufacturing center with his wife, four children, and about two dozen employees. The company supplies more than half of the nation’s cathedrals with custom, handdipped beeswax candles. “Our designs struck a chord [because] they are more inventive,” explains Marklin. “We are liturgical artisans trying to make a busi- Martin Marklin (A85) started his candle business as a student in Annapolis. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } ness, so we are in touch with how we worship.” Marklin also recently opened a small retail shop in the old barn that is part of Marklin Candle Design. The shop includes accessories designed by noted children’s book illustrator Tomie de Paola as well as a new line, MarkMoments, of custom, handdipped candles for lay people. “There is something evocative and life giving about a candle. When a ceremony is over, you take the registry book, the Mass card, put them in a drawer, but a candle you keep as a symbol.” Last year, Marklin got another telephone call from a church leader, this time, a bishop who wanted to congratulate him. He had spotted one of Marklin’s large paschal candles in the Clint Eastwood ﬁlm Gran Torino. It’s standing next to the casket in the opening funeral scene, ﬁlmed on location at a church in Grosse Point, Michigan. Whether on a movie set, at Ground Zero, or in a private home, Marklin hopes all his candles “are tapping into what we do best—creating this light, these symbols of hope, spiritual life.” x �32 {Alumni Notes} continued from page 30 and their spouses all well, employed, healthy, happy, and that’s what counts.” 1965 JAN H. BLITS recently published New Heaven, New Earth: Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra (Lexington Books). It’s his sixth book. He is also the recipient of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s ﬁrst Prometheus Award for his work protecting the rights of students at the University of Delaware, where he teaches. 1966 This past January, IAN HARRIS traveled to Sri Lanka to give a keynote speech at a peace education conference. “On the way home I lectured on the growth of peace studies at the University of Pisa and Florence in Italy.” 1968 BRUCE (SF) and Ina BALDWIN happily announce the birth of ﬁrst grandchild Gavin on July 18 to daughter-in-law Ashlea and son Ian. CARL BOSTEK (SF) is ﬁnishing a work assignment in Kona, Hawaii, and returning home to Anchorage for three weeks before returning to New Zealand, where he hopes to get his schooner back in the water after a major reﬁt. Next summer, he’ll be back in Alaska working. In between, who knows? “Pretty interesting year,” writes JOHN FARMER (A). “Where to start? Enjoyed going back to St. John’s for the Piraeus program. Went to D.C. as a member of a Food and Drug Administration committee I was on. I pushed the envelope and took up golf! Trying to keep up my practice while getting older is a challenge. The best way to travel is to visit friends, I found. The chance that I will climb Mt. Everest or swim the English Channel is getting smaller. Now can get senior citizen coffee at McDonald’s.” CHARLES WATSON (A) reports that his eldest son, Ivan, is now a CNN international reporter based in Istanbul. Charles was also the recipient of a minor award at the most recent American Society of Anesthesiologists Meeting, when the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the U.S. presented him with the Malignant Hyperthermia Hotline Partnership Award for working together with/assisting another physician (an anesthesiologist in California) manage a patient with malignant hyperthermia crisis during anesthesia. “A longstanding (more than 20-year) project of mine is voluntary service as a phone consultant for both the malignant hyperthermia (MH) and the neurolept/malignant syndrome information service (NMSIS) Hotlines,” writes Watson. “A pleasure to help others treat patients with special problems. It has brought me together with physicians and nurses from various special areas of practice (anesthesia, surgery, critical care, internal medicine, psychiatry, dental surgery, etc.) from around the world.” 1970 MAUREEN BARDEN (A) has been the Department of Justice’s prisoner reentry coordinator in Philadelphia since October 2006, working primarily with a federal reentry court program. After many years as a prosecutor, she is happy to be using her skills to help people stay out of prison. BENJAMIN BARNEY (SF) writes: “I am living at my house in Lukachukai in the middle of the Navajo Nation. If you should heading through Arizona get in touch and stay over. I am in Northeast Arizona in the Chinle Valley (Canyon del Chelly area). I am no longer working at the Dine College. Right now I am reading, writing, and hosting relatives and friends. The winter ceremonial calendar started the ﬁrst week of October; the yeibicheii and ﬁre dances are taking place each week until end of December. I try to get to most of them as well as other Native festivals and major events. Where are all those people who graduated in 1970 from Santa Fe campus with me?” LES MARGULIS (A) has been in Mumbai now for almost six months running an ad agency. “Loving Indian food and the colorful dress.” He wore a “spiffy-looking” outﬁt to celebrate Diwali. He says, “ It really is a ‘Marriage Suit’ and it must have worked as I had four proposals before noon.” 1971 TRAVIS PRICE (SF) was just awarded Alumnus of the Year at University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning. 1972 DAVID S. CAREY (A), emeritus professor of philosophy at Whitman College, received the George Ball Award for Excellence in Advising at the end of the 20082009 academic year. Carey, who joined the Whitman faculty in 1989, recently retired. 1973 After writing a how-to management book in 2006 called Management by Baseball, JEFF ANGUS (SF) spent the next couple of years doing workshops, seminars, and speaking to groups while gearing back his management consulting practice. Now he’s back to { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } consulting work full time, currently away from his home in Seattle, working mostly in San Francisco. “I’m reading a ton, he says. “Last year I re-read Lucretius and all of Herodotus—not just the seminar bits, alternating ﬁction and nonﬁction, particularly enjoying Thomas Pynchon, William T. Vollmann & George Soros. I practice guitar and I’m somewhat active in Society For American Baseball Research. My granddaughter just turned four, so she’s old enough to be entertained by my humor and the fact that I can run faster than anyone else she knows, and concurrently too young to have decided I’m full of crap—the perfect age.” JAN LISA HUTTNER (A) is the founder of WITASWAN: (Women in the Audience Supporting Women Artists Now!) 1974 JON HUNNER (SF) just published a biography, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Cold War, and the Atomic West, through University of Oklahoma Press. He is now on a semester sabbatical from New Mexico State University, traveling, writing, and reading. Jon and Mary Ellen’s son Harley is now a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. DEBORAH ROSS (A) has published an historical novel, Konrad and Albertina. It’s based on the true story of one of Puget Sound’s pioneer families. Deborah lives in Olympia, Wash., and summers in Fox Harbour, Nova Scotia, with husband Brian Hovis and their teenaged son, Jamie. 1975 “Since we are now empty nesters my wife, Patti, and I moved from the Westchester County (N.Y.) suburbs back into Manhattan, continued on page 34 �{Alumni Notes} 33 Passionate About Pinot Zach Rasmuson (A95) ﬁnds clarity in wine. by Deborah Spiegelman T he chronicle of how Zach that the area offered the right growing Rasmuson (A95) came to conditions for ﬁrst-class pinot noir. take up residence in In August 2003, Rasmuson became Philo, California, poputhe winemaker at Goldeneye Winery, lation 1,098, could easily where he now is also vice president and be called The Tale of the general manager. The process of Serendipitous Work-Study Job. producing pinot noir is one “of Rasmuson grew up in rural Massaminimal intervention, of ﬁnesse not chusetts, in a bedroom community of muscle,” he explains on the winery’s Worcester. He left high school early to Web site. “Pinot noir reﬂects its terroir attend the Armand Hammer United with remarkable clarity,” he adds. This World College of the American West, understanding of place manifested in in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Before the the wine he attributes to Schoener’s year was out, however, Rasmuson realtutelage. ized that this was not the right ﬁt. Rasmuson also credits his St. John’s Succumbing to his father’s repeated education with keeping him patient and entreaties, he applied for admission to humble in the face of the challenges St. John’s. and rewards of winemaking. “I learned “I had no idea of what I was getting to focus on the key principles,” he says. into,” Rasmuson admits. Ultimately, Now recognized as one of the top attending St. John’s turned out to be pinot noir regions in North America, “the most important thing I did.” the Anderson Valley is “a hot spot,” Rasmuson landed a coveted worksays Rasmuson. While the movie Sideways helped propel pinot noir into the study job. On Friday afternoons, public consciousness, Rasmuson works he worked for John Agresto, then assiduously to maintain superior president of the Santa Fe campus, quality. He keeps vine yields low and who hosted gatherings for board selects only the ﬁnest fruit for the members and other distinguished estate wines. visitors. Rasmuson found himself Having traded rural Massachusetts, pouring a glass of Stag’s Leap for the via small-town Annapolis, for a still winery’s founder, Warren Winiarski, Meeting a tutor who loved wine and a board member remote and rugged Anderson Valley, a pioneer in the American wine who made some of the world’s best wine set Zach Rasmuson says: “I wouldn’t live industry. Rasmuson (A95) on the path to viticulture. anywhere else.” His young children Rasmuson, who regularly particiattend a one-room schoolhouse, and he pated in a wine study group hosted by and his wife appreciate the peace and Abe Schoener (then a tutor, now determined in the vineyard, not the winery. quiet of life close to the land. himself a winemaker) began to lobby Grounded in the production of Bordeaux In a tidy switch of roles, Rasmuson Winiarski for a job. Persistence paid off, varieties, Rasmuson found himself natuhelped his former wine study host pursue and, after graduation, Rasmuson drove rally gravitating to pinot noir. Pursuing his his own passion. He got Schoener a job at straight from campus to Winiarski’s Napa growing passion for the variety, he left Stag’s Leap, when the tutor was on sabbatValley-based operations. “I guess Stag’s Leap in 1988 to become assistant ical. Schoener became quickly hooked, [Winiarski] ﬁgured that if I didn’t make it winemaker at Robert Sinskey Vineyards. decided to stay in California, and now has as a winemaker, I could be a carpenter and Two years later, he came to the Anderson his own label, Scholium Project. build sheds,” says Rasmuson. Valley as winemaker for Husch Vineyards. The irony in this business, Rasmuson Working at Stag’s Leap, however, proved “It was an adventure, taking oneself out explains, “is that we work hard—blue jeans to be Rasmuson’s apprenticeship. “I of Napa,” Rasmuson recalls. At the time, and boots—and then there’s this other studied what I could, focusing on the vitithe Anderson Valley, which cuts across the lifestyle, where we get to meet lots of people culture side,” he explains. Rasmuson took coastal region of Mendocino County, was and have great conversations.” And, he an extension course at the University of known principally for its timber and marimight add, drink some ﬁne wine. x California-Davis—recognized as the center juana production. “It was evolutionary for for oenological studies in the United me to start at Stag’s Leap and end up in the States—and he learned from Stag’s Leap Anderson Valley,” he adds. “I believed in winemaker Michael Salacci that quality is the region.” In particular, he was certain { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �34 continued from page 32 where my daily morning commute is now an 18-minute walk past Matt, Meredith, Ann and Al doing the Today Show on Rockefeller Plaza,” writes GERSHON EKMAN (A). “My oldest daughter graduated from Michigan and is teaching English in Nanjing, China, while she decides whether or not to go to law school, which is what college graduates do when they can’t decide what to do after college. The twin girls are sophomores at Lehigh and Tulane. The Great Wall Street Meltdown has made for an interesting and busy year and a half, career-wise; so far I’ve managed to hang on to my job. ISAIAH LADERMAN (A75) and I frequently have lunch together to discuss the state of the world. See you at the 35th reunion!” On June 6, CYNTHIA KIRSCHNER SWISS (A) graduated from the Dietetic Technician Program at Baltimore City Community College. “On October 19 I started my new job at Medifast Weight Loss center as a member of the Nutrition Support Team. I answer e-mails and phone calls from all over the country. I give advice on weight loss, daily nutritional requirements, and food composition. I am enjoying my new job.” K.C. VICTOR (A) has been in Los Angeles for 12 years now. She is still recruiting lawyers, as she has done for 25 years. “Still liking what I do. Still married to my ﬁrst husband (the wonderful Irv Hepner who some of you know), now 31 years. Still a mom (of Kate) 24 years and a grandmother of Bailey (5 years). Kate and Bailey live about three hours away by car so we see them often. The only current dog (one of life’s sad facts is that dogs live shorter lives than we do) is a black Standard Poodle puppy born last Thanksgiving. We named her Laska after Levin’s great dog in Anna Karenina. I am in regular contact with SETH GINSBERG (A75), G. KAY BISHOP (A75), MARION YOUNG CONDON HUISTIS (A75), JOHN HUSTIS (A76) and FELIX LESLIE (A98). I {Alumni Notes} met Felix after college through the law biz. I encourage each of my friends to write their own notes here soon. My husband, who wanted to go to St. John’s but did not have what he calls ‘enough courage’ is basically an unofﬁcial alum,” she notes. “Irv attends alumni seminars and others think of him as a St. Johnnie. In other words, he knows how to read and how to listen. Most recently we put together a group of some Johnnies and some others to tackle Ulysses, slowly. Irv and I and almost all the others are reading this great work for the ﬁrst time. If you are in Los Angeles and want to join us, it is not too late!” Books in Baltimore J (class of 1953) and Trudy KAUFFMAN have formed a foundation to supply Baltimore’s inner-city elementary schools with library books. “This is charity at its best,” writes Joe. “Children who have books and have read them donate these books to schools where decent libraries do not exist. Kids are involved with the true meaning of charity: to give something that you have cherished. We started in May 2007, and to date we have delivered more than 12,000 books. All of this is being accomplished without money. What little operating costs are, Trudy and I cover. This can be done everywhere; if you are in the Baltimore area, please join us in obtaining books. Visit our website: trudyjoe.org.” x OE government e-mail, friends and others can contact me at annibuggirl@gmail.com.” 1976 CAROL DOCKHAM (SF) is a doctoral student at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Her special interest is the Russian Orthodox Church during the Soviet era. CLIFF ADAMS (A) is now married to a German woman who he met in Erding, Germany (just outside Munich) where he has been living for the past eight years. He was working for a major airline computer services company, now he works at home, developing websites, Web 2.0 technology, and creating technology learning materials. On the hobby side, he is involved in a number or projects that came out of his association with Landmark Education. (e.g. www.israelpalestineproject.com). The St. John’s program is still very present in everything he does. 1978 ANN T. SCHWARTZ (A) writes: “After almost 12 years, Andre and I are contemplating a move from Maryland. With my kids grown, the world is our oyster. Hoping for something that involves sand, surf and at least for now, no weapons training. Since I will be losing my 1979 In accordance with the Annapolis class pact made at Homecoming (30 years!), KATHY BUCK (A) is submitting some of the highlights for those who weren’t there. They were honored by the presence of Dr. Stevens, Dr. Silverman, the Dr.’s Howard, and Dr. Fine. Nathan and Bruce celebrated four years together in Chicago (mazel tov!) Marge A. revealed the real reason for taking a year off. Despite legal battles over royalties, M., R., and Kathy continue to rake in proﬁts from their invention and will be able to retire to the Caribbean as planned. You can see her house search in the spring on House Hunters International (don’t pretend you aren’t watching). It is her hope that Raoul will be released in time to join her before it is too late. From MARIE RANEY (A): “JON (RANEY, A74) and I sailed to Hawaii last summer on our 40year-old sailboat and CHUCK HURT (A79) helped Jon bring her back to Bellingham from Hawaii that fall. That was a fabulous trip and you can read about it at our website http://svphoenix.net . While we repair and regroup from that trip we continue to work in { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } Bellingham, Wash., and prepare our off-the-grid home on Lasqueti Island, B.C. As soon as the Bellingham house is sold and gainful employment sloughed off, we plan to replicate the Odyssey including the side trip to Hades. Please send any thoughts you have on this intended voyage to Jon, the cunning, and Marie at phoenix@svphoenix.net.” 1980 GERALDINE GLOVER (SF) has taken a faculty position with New Mexico Highlands University for fall 2009. Emily has another year of pre-school before heading on to “Big School.” Santa Fe is still treating them well, and they are happy to be there. LISA GINSBERG ROSENBLUM (A) recently accepted a position as director of the Sunnyvale (Calif.) Public Library. Earlier this year Lisa was named one of the American Library Association’s “2009 Movers and Shakers” for her innovative work modernizing the Hayward Public Library and jointly managing the Library and Neighborhood Services departments. �35 {Alumni Notes} 1981 ALINE BRANDAUER (SF) is living in Santa Fe with her husband, Charles, daughter Sarah (10) and two cats. She is doing a variety of communication and arts projects through her company, Vani Productions. She also is part of STEVE WARSHAWER’s (SF78) Beneﬁcial Farms CSA and wants to sing his praises for helping to develop local food systems. nately, I crashed on the bike leg and sustained a hurt shoulder, broken ribs, and a deep laceration on my hip. The injuries made it somewhat unpleasant to ﬁnish the bike leg and then run the marathon up Mount Gaustad. I also had to replace my beautiful bike as the frame was cracked in two places. Kirsten agreed to let me apply for a place in next year’s race, this time without a crash.” 1984 1982 With daughter Alyssa graduating from the University of Chicago and son Sam attending MICA in the fall, LESLIE SMITH ROSEN (A) is an empty-nester. Glad to hear from so many SJC friends on Facebook and happy to see more! 1983 Last August, DAVID CARNES (A) completed the Norseman—the world’s hardest ironman triathlon— in just over 17 hours. “Unfortu- PETER GREEN (A) is living in New York’s Washington Heights and loving New York. He’s a world news reporter at Bloomberg News and was heading off to Prague last summer to interview Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president, and then wander around the East for a few weeks. He is looking forward to the next reunion! HAROLD HUGHES (A) just returned from a year in London running Europe and the UK: “Since no one was covering Moscow and Morocco, I was able to go there as well. Working in New York. Kids are 20 and 16 now. She is a sophomore at Penn State Biking for Bishop: Cyclists Wanted F RED ELLIS (A) is looking for other Johnnies interested in riding in the Paris-Brest-Paris randonnée with him in honor of Jeff Bishop (HA96), former vice president for Advancement at St. John’s, who completed the cycling event in 1995. The ride is 1200 kilometers in 90 hours or less. Anyone who is interested should contact gfe409@yahoo.com. The next randonnée is in August 2011. x playing Division 1 lacrosse, and he is a sophomore in high school. We are very sophomoric this year. Living in Annapolis (can’t beat life on the Severn anywhere in the world). I average three nights a week in NYC in an apartment at the Essex House, so if you are in NYC look me up—especially you, Pie, if you ever get out of Atlanta!” From BETH (LOHR) KOOLBECK (A): “We are expecting that our oldest child, SPC Daniel Koolbeck, will be returning from 11 months of duty in Baghdad this December. My husband, Greg, and I continue to teach our six children-yet-athome. I loved seeing everyone at the SJC Annapolis ’84 reunion.” JOHN C. WRIGHT (A) and L. JAGI LAMPLIGHTER WRIGHT (A85) are now the proud parents of a daughter. This October, they adopted a 13-year-old girl from China. Ping-Ping Evelyn Wright joins their three sons, Orville, Roland, and Juss, making the Wright family a family of six in all. about to begin translation work on a book about the no-name brand, MUJI, to be published by Rizzoli. I also recently ﬁnished writing two dozen entries for The Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design, due out next year. My family now includes myself, my husband, one kindergartener, three teenagers (one a legal adult), a dog, two cats and a goldﬁsh (if it’s still alive). Anyone visiting the Bay area, be sure to look us up!” PAUL SCHATZBERG (AGI) is retired, but also teaching at Anne Arundel Community College. JEFFREY L. WILSON (A) serves as Associate Dean for Faculty Development of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, where he has been teaching philosophy since 1995. He recently returned from a visit to El Salvador to learn more about how the Jesuit mission is enacted in Central America. 1986 1985 JAN CONLIN (SF) writes: “I have been promoted to fulltime mom to my 8 1/2 month old son, Patrick, while I wait out the recession.” “We’ve settled well into life in Northern California,” writes MAGGIE (KINSER) HOLE (A), “and following my mom’s sudden death due to lung cancer, I’ve ﬁnally begun to regroup. I’ve been writing nonﬁction, mostly about design and architecture, for almost 25 years now, but for the past 10 years, I have also been working with a partner in Japan translating design-related text and the spoken word from Japanese to English. We’re about to launch our website to offer our services far and wide. We’ll be helpful to Englishspeaking researchers, editors and creative professionals who want to ﬁnd out more about Japanese designers, etc., and to Japanese creative professionals who want to reach a wider audience. We are { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } “My family and I still love living in North Bend, Wash., at the foot of Mt. Si,” writes LINDA GREZ (A). “We’re launching a new business, Propele Electric Boat Motors this winter. Propele specializes in quiet, lightweight electric motors for small craft such as canoes, dinghies, rowboats and ﬁshing boats. We hope to see them in the Chesapeake soon.” MICHAEL SILITCH (SF) is happily living and working as a mountain and ski guide in Chamonix, France, with his wife, Nina, and their two boys, Anders 3.5, and Birken 5.5. “Come ski with me this winter,” he writes. Visit www.highalpine.com 1987 CELESTE DINUCCI (A) is pleased to announce the end of a long and often pointless ordeal that has �36 {Alumni Notes} resulted in the completion of her PhD in English from the University of Pennsylvania. This was made possible, in part, by her winnings from Jeopardy!, though she is still often on the fence about whether this was the best option for their use. Celeste is residing in Philadelphia, trying to decide what she wants to be when she grows up. MICHAEL VITAKIS (A) is spending a year in Dunedin, New Zealand, while his wife, Chiara, completes a master’s in International Studies at the University of Otago. His most recent book, She and I: A Fugue (under his birth name Michael R. Brown), was published by Petrarca Press earlier this year. He is working on several other projects and welcomes e-mail from all Johnnies via his website: www.fuguewriter.com. 1988 Magellan. I am now working on an article about Kent’s work in the region, as well as laying the groundwork for an exhibition sometime in 2013 or 2014. I’ll be returning to Tierra del Fuego to complete my research next month.” JAMES F.X. O’GARA (A) is working for the Department of State in Kandahar, Afghanistan, at an intelligence fusion cell targeting corruption related to the insurgency. He writes: “The privations of life in southern Afghanistan have been softened by his discovery that a colleague at the fusion cell studied political philosophy and has mild Straussian leanings, i.e., he reads books carefully, but does not number the sentences. For reasons of national security, the mildly Straussian analyst’s identity cannot be disclosed, other than to say that he is a former student of [University of Texas professor] Tom Pangle.” BARBARA HAHN (A) received her “I’m taking a break from my corporate career to do research on the Tierra del Fuego work of the American painter, Rockwell Kent (1882-1971),” writes FIELDING DUPUY (A). “After Kent’s return from South America in 1923, he was among the most famous artists in the U.S., becoming an all-around cultural phenomenon, known equally for his paintings as for his writings, illustrations (Moby-Dick, Candide, Leaves of Grass, etc.), and his adventures to cold climates. His leftist social activism in the post-war years, however, led to a McCarthy Commission subpoena, revocation of his passport, and a swift decline in his popularity. The Tierra del Fuego travels came at an inﬂection period in the artist’s career and yet they have never been fully studied, perhaps because the region itself is so forbidding. Last winter, I spent two arduous months in Tierra del Fuego, retracing Kent’s route and locating the scenes he depicted in his canvases and in the book he wrote about his travels, Voyaging: Southward from the Strait of PhD in business history and the history of technology from UNCChapel Hill in May 2006, and has since been on the tenure track at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Her current manuscript examines the interactions between the tobacco industry and tobacco agriculture over three centuries— but, perhaps ironically, she no longer smokes. She would love to hear from old friends at b.hahn@alumni.unc.edu. KIM PAFFENROTH (A) has a new anthology of zombie stories available: The World Is Dead. Unlike most all zombie tales, stories in this collection are set signiﬁcantly after the dead have risen and devoured all of humanity. Put it on your list of zombie reading alongside Kim’s other works, as well as the enormously popular Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith. 1989 MANDY DALTON (A) has moved to Cheverly, Md. “I am still a clown. Business is improving. Too many video projects to keep up with.” DIXIE DAVIS (A) is back in Texas, probably 30 years sooner than she thought she’d be, currently dealing with an aging, disabled mother with diabetes issues and various other “fun” issues that we get to deal with as we get older. After working in the nonproﬁt ﬁeld for many years, she is currently helping a friend rescue his failing small business. She also rescues Nothing Continues to Happen H OWARD MEISTER (A75) was pleased that his chair (Nothing Continues to Happen 1980) was part of the exhibit, “Highlights from the Modern Design Collection: 1900 to the Present” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The chair is part of the museum’s permanent collection. x dogs (nominally Welsh Corgis and Great Danes, but in reality, lots of other stuff that comes along as well). She was very much looking forward to the 20-year anniversary of her Annapolis class this fall. Even though she did not graduate SJC, her years at St. John’s have shaped her tremendously and she treasures the experience. “It’s late 2009, 20 years and a few months after leaving St. John’s. . . and I’m still writing batch code and administering computers,” writes GEORGE ERHARD (SF). “This time, it’s for AT&T U-verse, and I’m responsible for approximately 7,000 servers in 64 cities. Stress? What stress? This is fun. My wife, Claire, and I are living happily ever after in Irving, Texas, and at some point, I hope to get to Santa Fe again, possibly showing up to a seminar in riding leathers.” 1990 N. TATIANA MASTERs (SF) ﬁnished her doctorate in Social Justice and is starting a one-year post-doc position at the University of Washington. Husband JASON SPAINHOWER (also SF90) is still consulting. As always they are in Seattle and like to hear from people. 1991 After three nonﬁction books, J. CHRISTOPH AMBERGER (AGI) is looking forward to the publication of his ﬁrst novel. The Lazarus Smile will be published by Secret Archives Press as an e-book on November 10, and as a paperback by December 15. “I got the idea for the plot back in Annapolis, and it took almost 18 years to put it all down on paper,” he explains. He hints that a tutor will meet with a bad end in his book. continued on page 38 { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{Alumni Notes} 37 Slow-Food Salumiere Mark Sanﬁlippo (SFGI00) makes sausage the old-world way. by Patricia Dempsey W hen he was a screenwriter in Los Angeles in the 1990s, Mark Sanﬁlippo converted the empty closets in his apartment into cool, dark places where he could hang homemade salami. “When my friends came to visit they would ask, ‘Why does it smell like the back of a deli in this apartment?’ ” Sanﬁlippo hung the salami as the ﬁnal step in a patient process, in which penicillin mold slowly hardens the fat, readying the salami for slicing. “Americans don’t want mold, but for centuries it’s been done this way, so I make my salami in the old way.” Self-taught as a salumiere, Sanﬁlippo took a chemistry class and “picked the brain” of Armandino Batali, one of the top salami makers in the country. Sanﬁlippo also jumped at the chance to introduce his handmade salami to patrons in a Los Angeles restaurant where the chefs were curing their own meats. “They were tuned into slow food, which basically means using traditional techniques and local products, using foods that are handcrafted and artisan. There is a recipe I created myself called super sutta Sicilian that we served. It’s a nod to my Sicilian roots.” For Sanﬁlippo, who grew up in a secondgeneration Sicilian family, salami and sausage were always more than just food. “On Christmas Eve the Italians celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes. They prepare ﬁsh in seven ways: anchovies, salt cod, linguine with clams, things like that. We didn’t do that. Instead, we had homemade sausage. After Mass we would come back and have sausage, bread, and wine. So sausage was always very mysterious and magical to me.” Today, Sanﬁlippo is back to his roots. He now lives in his hometown of St. Louis, where his Sicilian grandfather sold vegetables in the city market. In 2008, he launched his company, Salume Beddu, in St. Louis, where he still pursues the oldworld way, albeit now in a commercial kitchen. Sanﬁlippo creates fresh artisan salume–Italian for all salted and cured pork products—and fresh salsiccia (sausages) and sells them at local farmers markets. He also makes Roman guaniale and pancetta, as well as gan and lardo, “which is a bad name for a very good product,” explains Sanﬁlippo. “It’s delicious—big, thick slabs of fat cured for six months.” His coppa rossa, cured pork shoulder, is ﬂavored with Spanish paprika and New Mexico Chimayó chiles—a nod to his GI days, when he lived in Santa Fe and worked at a bakery. Sanﬁlippo pairs his traditional old-world techniques with local ingredients. Much like farmers who use heirloom plants to preserve certain older varietals and ﬂavors, Sanﬁlippo uses heritage pigs. “I buy from more than one farmer. It’s more trouble but it makes for higher quality. Oscar Meyer will just have one kind of pig that they Only the very best pigs make it into salume made the old-fashwill breed to the max to ioned way by Mark Sanﬁlippo (SFGI00). be as lean as possible, with less ﬂavor, but for pH test to cure the meat. Basically you are maximum proﬁt at the slaughter—and they cooking salami without using heat. And slaughter them weekly. The smaller there is the mold—you have to inoculate it farmers I buy from in Illinois, Iowa, and with penicillin mold and keep it out of the Missouri might have say, 20 pigs, and they light or the fat will not harden. So there’s a breed them to be ﬂavorful and only whole delicate process.” slaughter them when necessary. Instead of As for eating them, he says, “It’s a little dirty pens, my farmers give the pigs space like antipasto. You don’t want to cover up and land to graze on. This is the Italian the ﬂavor. Do what the Sicilians do, serve it model. It makes a difference in the taste.” with crusty bread and a smear of butter, The old-world way can take several and some red wine.” x months, but Sanﬁlippo savors every step. “I love the work itself. It’s very meditative. I ﬁnd a beauty in the product, its deep red color. There are many complicated factors that make it a puzzle: the fermentation, a { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �38 continued from page 36 {Alumni Notes} Orchids in Scotland JOAN CRIST (A) is serving as assistant professor of Religious Studies at Calumet College of St. Joseph in Northwest Indiana, and coordinator of ecumenism and interreligious affairs for the Catholic Diocese of Gary. Several faculty at Calumet know and admire the St. John’s Program, writes Joan. “ Six of us junior faculty have been tasked with proposing revisions to the general education curriculum, and we’re looking at a renewed emphasis—sort of a back-to-basics— on reading classic texts, possibly including a ‘minimalist canon,’ for the college,” she writes. ON DENNIS (SF82) got married for the second D time last March and lives with his wife on a small island of 150 inhabitants in the Inner Hebrides in Scotland, where they run a large (12bedroom) B&B (www.achamorehouse.com), a small sea-tour operation, and a ﬂower essence business now in its 14th year. “Amongst other things, I grow orchids in a greenhouse here, and we use some of them to produce ﬂower essences which we sell worldwide. Latest project is a set of eight large greeting cards using photos I have taken of the orchids in our greenhouse: www.healingorchirds.com. And I still ﬁnd time to think over the thesis I wrote (when I was at Marlboro in Vermont) on the Odyssey, and the meaning of the verb mnaomai, and the pun on Odysseus’ name I discovered in Book 20. Happy to elaborate if anyone wishes to write.”x JON ARNO LAWSON (A) has a new book of poetry forthcoming, this time for older children. The book is called Think Again, a tortured philosophical love story told in four-line rhymes. It will be published by Kids Can Press in March 2010. STEVEN MCNAMARA and ANGE MLINKO (both A) are moving to Beirut this fall where he will be teaching law and ethics courses in the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. Ange’s third book of poetry Shoulder Season, is forthcoming from Coffeehouse Press in 2010. Any Johnnies passing through Lebanon are encouraged to get in touch at: sm99@aub.edu.lb. BLAKE SITNEY (SF) recently married. “My wife is Thai and her name was Naraporn Kaichayaphoom, now it is Naraporn Sitney. We live together in Khon Kaen, Thailand. When I am not working on software projects, and she is not working in her beauty salon, we tend to our fruit tree orchard and organic garden. We enjoy traveling when we have free time and we are looking forward to starting a family together.” 1992 ALEC BERLIN (SF) wrapped up three months in the Bay Area performing in Green Day’s American Idiot at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. With a little luck, East Coast performances will follow shortly. He’s also ﬁnishing up a new record. Watch www.alecberlin.com for details. ERIK FISHER (A) is involved in a project that studies the practical possibilities and potential outcomes of ongoing interactions between humanities scholars and laboratory practitioners researching new and emerging science and technologies. The project places liberal artists and social scientists in over 20 laboratories around the world to explore the role of interdisciplinary dialogue in shaping research decisions. Erik would love to hear from fellow alums who have been involved in similar kinds of collaborations, who know of similar programs, and/or who can suggest relevant theoretical or empirical work in this area. Erik’s e-mail is eﬁsher1@asu.edu. After almost a dozen years as a corporate training manager and consultant, MARTHA (MARTI) ACOSTA HOLMES (A) embarked on a new path: “For my midlife crisis I eschewed cosmetic surgery and extramarital affairs and choose to pursue a doctorate in Human and Organizational Learning at George Washington University. I ﬂy to D.C. from Santa Fe every month for classes and have enjoyed catching up with Johnnies in the area. I would love to catch up with more classmates and anyone who is thinking about complex adaptive systems and organizational failures.” “I am full of joy from the birth of my ﬁrstborn,” writes MICHAEL KOPPLE (SF). “Levi Simcha Kopple was born on September 15, 2009, and is now the ‘little man’ of the house. All is well in Los Angeles, and I continue to practice as a trial lawyer.” 1993 JOANNA CORWIN (SF) married David Hassell in the middle of Shenandoah National Park this past summer. She’s still working in the U.S. Copyright Ofﬁce and is newly enjoying the joys of home ownership in Bowie, Md. ELLEN DORNAN (SF) is proud to announce the launch of the Centennial Atlas of Historic New Mexico Maps, at atlas.nmhum.org. This unique resource, developed for the New Mexico Humanities Council to commemorate the centennial of statehood, features 20 historic maps from over four { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } centuries, each annotated with the stories of the people who witnessed the events and places that deﬁned New Mexico during that time, as well as historic photos and illustrations, Native American oral histories, and audio from New Mexico historians and scholars. Lesson plans support use of the Atlas in the classroom, and instruct students in creating their own rich media maps of their community histories and cultural resources, and sharing them as part of the Atlas. KEVIN JOHNSON (A) plans to get married next July, to Sonora Thomas, a body-oriented psychotherapist. “I’m completing a certiﬁcate program in executive coaching. I work at Harvard Medical School in HR, working on programs that are meant to create a more engaging and productive workplace culture. I’m savoring Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga after seeing the brilliant BBC miniseries based on these novels. And I’m putting my own blend of chai spices in everything I bake—try them in wafﬂes, yum!” PENNY SINONE (SFGI), actor and writer, recently performed, “Leftovers: Taking Turns.” for the Monologue Festival at the Filling Station Theatre in Albuquerque. This monologue is part of a large body of work, “Leftovers: Dirty Panties, Bones and Fish Sauce,” performed in Santa Fe in February. WALTER STERLING (A) and wife Meghan welcomed their son, William Galloway, to the world on April 12, Easter Sunday. All are doing very well. ERIKA SUSKI (A) has been in Dumfries, Va., for the past decade, commuting to work and working on a College of Science master’s degree from George Mason University. She is living with her family, they’re all having fun. She hopes everyone is good. Her mail address is P.O. Box 1133, Dumfries, VA 22026 ASHLEY WARING VIETOR (A) reports that she and her husband, Oliver, and their ﬁve children (Eliz- �39 {Alumni Notes} abeth, Lucy, Alexander, Mary Virginia, and Caroline) moved to Phoenix from Virginia four years ago. “We left the Episcopal Church (my husband was a clergyman for six years) and converted to the Catholic Church in Advent 2007,” she writes. “Oliver is currently awaiting ordination as a Catholic priest through the Pastoral Provision. In the meantime I am putting my St. John’s education to work by homeschooling our son and rediscovering some of the classic children’s literature I read when I was young. We love exploring Arizona and welcome any visitors!” 1995 THEA AGNEW BEMBEN (SF) is currently commuting between Pittsburgh where her husband, Will, is a third-year medical student, and Anchorage, where she is still running a community planning and development ﬁrm. Their 3-year-old son, Noah, is doing great and is excited about baseball and long-boarding. 1996 This summer, PAULA GILLIS (SF) marked 10 years at The Press of Atlantic City, and, she writes; “I still can’t believe I get to read for a living. In August, my boyfriend, Krishna Mathias, marked our 10th anniversary by proposing; we plan to wed in September 2010. We’re shopping for horse- and artistfriendly properties in South Jersey. He’s an illustrator (we met when I was hired at the paper, where he’s an editorial artist) and I teach riding part time. We’re excited to ﬁnd a place with room to play in the dirt!” RYAN MCBRIDE (SFGI) is excited to have started a service-learning project called “Aristotle in New Orleans,” which has his Tulane University students studying ancient rhetoric while starting debate teams in local public middle schools. “Besides attending St. John’s, this is the most Johnnieesque thing I’ve ever attempted.” Here is a link to the project wiki: http://aristotleinneworleans.wikispaces.com/ RONALIE A. MOSS (SFGI) is enjoying reading, hiking, biking and visiting family members now that she is in retirement from teaching high school English in Los Angeles. BRIAN MCGUIRE (A) made the switch from speechwriting to newspaper reporting. “I have spent most of that time working for the Republican Minority Leader of the Love on the Appalachian Trail OAN HENRIKSON (A05) is currently living in Brewer, Maine, J and working as a ridge-runner for the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. More importantly, she is eloping with her ﬁancée, Dan Silsby, on October 22, so by the time this notice gets to press, they will be wed. She has been making up for all the studying at St. John’s by spending the last four years outside. She has spent time with the Student Conservation Association in Hawaii, and traveled to Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. In the spring of 2007, she began a hike of the Appalachian Trail, where she met Dan. After the hike, she and Dan moved to Utah, where she spent 15 months as a ﬁeld guide at a wilderness therapy camp call Red Cliff Ascent. Now she is back in Maine, and waiting until next spring, when she and Dan will be making a trek of the Paciﬁc Crest Trail. Anyone is free to contact her at joan.hendrikson@gmail.com. She would love to help anyone interested in long-distance hiking, or outdoor jobs. x U.S. Senate,” he says. “ It’s a rewarding line of work, and I’m more than happy to talk with anyone (of any political persuasion) who is interested in D.C. politics in general, or speechwriting in particular. “ KELLY NASH and MATTHEW SCHERTZ (both SF) are now living in Missoula, Montana. After working at Colgate and Penn State, Matthew ﬁnally got his dream job as a philosopher of education at the University of Montana. “We have a beautiful toddler named William who is keeping us both on our toes and another wee one on the way. Western Montana is simply beautiful. We can see elk from our back porch and a mama bear periodically comes by to eat berries and apples from our fruit trees. If you are into wild things drop us a line and/or come visit!” MAT STRICKLAND (SF) just moved out to the Navajo Reservation in Chinle, Ariz. “Finally done with medical training and working as a full-time pediatrician for the Indian Health Services. Loving it out here and glad to be back near Santa Fe, the desert and the Southwest. If anyone is interested in visiting (we have a beautiful canyon, Canyon de Chelly) or saying hello, e-mail me at matstrickland@yahoo.com 1997 BENJAMIN BLOOM (A) is happy to announce the birth of Emily Rose Bloom on July 8, 2009. Mother and daughter are both doing wonderfully. This July, LINDA MAY (SF), married her partner of ﬁve years, Nate Calkins, in a small gathering of family and friends on a farm just outside Portland, Ore. In August, they ofﬁcially became homeowners and moved into their new home. Nate works as an art installer in Portland and has a small business making banjos. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } Last May, Linda earned her master’s degree in education from Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. She is working as a counselor with seventh graders at St. Helen’s Middle School. The work is hard, the hours are long, the pay is little, and she is absolutely loving it. She ﬁnally ﬁgured out what she wants to be when she grows up. “Getting settled in Galway, Ireland, where I’ll spend the next three years studying for my PhD in Web Science,” writes JODI SCHNEIDER (A). “Visiting Johnnies are welcome to get in touch: jschneider@pobox.com or http://jodischneider.com.” 1998 “Tooting my own and other Johnnie actors’ horns in the hopes that more Johnnies in the DC region will come out to see some excellent theater,” writes SARA BARKER (A). “As a founding member of Factory 449, a theater collective, over the summer I led an ensemble in Psychosis 4.48, by the late British playwright Sarah Kane, at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C. The production won Best Drama and Best Overall in the festival and was highly praised by theatre critics in the press. We remounted the production this October for an additional 16 performance. Also, as a company member with the Washington Shakespeare Company (WSC), from November 12 through December 13, I will be playing the title role in Lulu by Frank Wedekind. Also with WSC, I will be in Moliere’s The Miser from January 28 through February 28. Visit www.sarabarker.com/acting for more information! Sara’s not the only Johnnie doing theater in the Capital. KIMBERLY SCHRAF (A79), was nominated for a 2009 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Resident Play, JILL NIENHISER (SFGI97) recently continued on page 41 �40 {Alumni Notes} A “Big-Picture” Thinker in the Library World by Rosemary Harty S been a director, I have had to cut the budget. In fact, I think I am getting quite good at stretching a dime. ure, those MacArthur “genius” grants are impressive. Nobel Prizes, too. But what could be more gratifying to Johnnies than to have one of their own honored by the American Library Association? LISA GINSBERG ROSENBLUM (A80) was recently named one of the ALA’s 51 “movers and shakers.” ALA’s Library Journal noted her accomplishments modernizing the Hayward Public Library and jointly managing the city’s Library and Neighborhood Services departments. Rosenblum directed the construction of a new main library, renovated interior design and services at the city’s library facilities, launched an Early Learning with Families program, and assembled a teen advisory group. Now the library director in Sunnyvale, Calif., Rosenblum describes her career path. What does it mean to be a “mover and shaker” to the American Library Association? Are you seeing the role of libraries shifting in your community? What do you think the libraries of the near future—say, in 10 years— will be like? Today’s public libraries have to be more than places to check out books, says Lisa Ginsberg Rosenblum (A80). Movers and Shakers represent innovators in the library world. I earned the award for my work as a “Big-Picture” thinker. I wasn’t just a library director who was focused on library service; instead, I tried to connect the dots in my city so the library would become more relevant and important to the community. Did you come to St. John’s knowing you would like to be a librarian? Not at all. It was a bad economy when I got out of school, and I happened to get a job with a government contractor on the Beltway who provided library books to Army libraries. I was terribly underpaid— earning minimum wage and frankly annoyed that this was the best I could do with a degree from St John’s. This, however, got me my next job in Houston in the library at Rice University, cataloguing. I didn’t like that either. Finally I started working in a public library and really enjoyed it. I liked being with the public and enjoyed the variety of the work, especially answering difﬁcult questions. I went on and got my master’s in library science from San Jose State [in 1994], and the rest, as they say, is history. I would describe myself as a fairly mediocre student at St John’s. Certainly not an intellectual. In fact, my favorite memory of SJC is being on the Maenads, my ﬁrst experience with team sports. I earned a blazer my sophomore year! Growing up in the 1960s, girls were excluded from such things. I think I learned as much from that as I did from Kant, which admittedly I learned very little from. So I want to make a plug for those of us who were not SJC stars. We still can do well! How is your library affected by California’s economic difﬁculties? (We’ve had some cuts in Maryland.) Whatever is happening in Maryland, it is far worse here and has been so since Proposition 13. Every year since I have { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } We are becoming less a place to get information with the advent of the Internet. In fact, data shows that role is really fading. We are more places people want to go for other pursuits: Teens hang out and social network and create online, young children and their parents get together and network during storytimes while learning early literacy skills, new immigrants take ESL classes or participate in conversation clubs. Older adults learn new skills (also called lifelong learning). Just last week we offered a class on Craig’s List and Facebook geared to seniors. We are not just a free book and DVD store anymore. Because many Johnnies think that being a librarian is even better than being a rock star, tell us something about your job that’s not so glamorous. I have dealt with some rather unglamorous behavior from our patrons, some that I cannot share. Sufﬁce it to say it concerns bodily ﬂuids. The library is a place that everyone can go and everyone is not always on his or her best behavior. And what’s the very best part of your job? I love doing and talking about library redesign. I think we have a long way to go on this, and I am proud that the libraries where I have been director all look much better because I insist they look more like retail stores. I also like seeing teens—our most at-risk group at our libraries— engaged and off the streets. And of course I like seeing little children toddling home with stacks of library picture books. x �41 {Alumni Notes} continued from page 39 graduated from D.C.’s National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts and Colin Smith (A01, also a NCDA graduate) was recently Gogol’s Inspector General with Journeyman Theatre. GLENSCOTT COPPER (AGI) is still working on the novel he began at St. John’s 11 years ago. He is almost done. “I’ve lived in Fairbanks since 2002 and am one of the general counsel for the University of Alaska,” reports MICHAEL O’BRIEN (SFGI). “My wife and I have a son who is almost four. Showing kids the world and the wilderness has got to be one of life’s greatest pleasures. Anyone venturing north of the Alaska Range is welcome in our home.” reunion! Her eldest son, Douglas, is a Lt. Commander in the Navy and is an FA18/A Hornet pilot on the carrier Nimitz. He is also the dad of her (to date) only grandchild, 2 1/2-year-old Maeve. Her twin daughters are Lisa, also a Lt. Commander in the Navy, who recently completed her pediatric residency and is stationed in Sicily, Italy, and Amy, who is completing doctoral studies at the School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. They are her real achievements. HEATHER (RICHARDSON) WILDE (A) and her husband are busy running (way) offshore technical support for a software ﬁrm in Mountain View, Calif., from their yacht in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. At the time they sent in their alumni note they were likely somewhere south of Latitude 22, working furiously. 1999 ANNA L. BOOZER (A) has just begun a new position teaching Roman Mediterranean Archaeology at University of Reading just outside of London. She would love to be in touch with any Johnnies in the area and can be reached at AnnaBoozer@gmail.com. MICHAEL OLSEN (A) writes: “I taught history in grades 6-12 in Chicago for seven years. I’m now a graduate student and a graduate teaching fellow in the Department of History at the University of Oregon. My research is focused on the history of the American West during the 19th century. Any Johnnies who will be passing through central Oregon are invited to contact me. I’m also interested in hearing from anyone who is studying or teaching history, or is thinking about doing so.” CLAIRE SULLIVAN PETERSON (SFGI) is celebrating three personal achievements this year: her (class of 1959) 50th high school reunion, 25th undergraduate (Hood, class of 1984) college reunion, and 10th (St. John’s) GI 2000 CHRISTINE CURRAN (A) moved to Chicago last year and is currently working as director of Mission and Volunteers at Franciscan Outreach Association, a homeless-services organization in the city. This December, she will receive a master’s in religion from Yale Divinity School, and she has been taking classes part time at Catholic Theological Union. “It would be great to meet up with other Johnnies in the Chicago area!” she writes. Contact her at: christinejcurran@gmail.com KARINA HEAN (A) has moved to Missoula, Montana, for the 2009/10 academic year to work as a visiting professor of art at the University of Montana and is preparing for an exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, among group and solo exhibitions. Next summer it’s back to Santa Fe. Visitors welcome. (karinahean@gmail.com) FLAME SCHOEDER (SF) and her husband had their second baby (a boy this time!) in August 2007. “Now that the family is complete,” she writes, “I am dividing my time between supporting them and growing my three-year-old personal coaching business in Omaha, Nebraska. I spend a lot of time debunking the myths that coaches are therapists, which they are not, and that they are pompous Harvest Time in Nebraska A particularly poetic note from MARA GILES (SF95): “I am still in Nebraska, and the beautiful fall weather is now come upon us. The harvesters in the ﬁelds work late into the night as they try to reap what they have sown before the rains and snows come. Every day as I go to work I pass their ﬁelds, now brown with the season. I am a professor at a small college here, Peru State College, where I teach anthropology and sociology. It is a challenging but immensely rewarding career. (I have a fellow Johnnie as a colleague and another colleague who always wanted to be a Johnnie. So that’s nice.) My husband also teaches biology here, and we get to have lunch together almost every day. Our daughter started high school this year after ﬁnishing junior high as her class valedictorian. Thus, as the forthcoming holiday season approaches rather quickly, we recognize that we have wonderful things in our lives to be ever thankful for. You are welcome to e-mail me at yehkatah@yahoo.com, but be warned I am an unreliable correspondent.” x know-it-alls, which some are and some are not, quite frankly. Using an ontological model, it’s amazing to watch people grow and fulﬁll their potential right before my eyes. I’m sure my kids get some side-beneﬁts, too.” 2001 NATHAN CRADDOCK (AGI) is teaching ESOL at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, Va., his third year. MARSHALL HEVRON (A) graduated from Tulane Law School last May and was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in October. He’s now working at a large regional law ﬁrm in New Orleans. In August, TALLEY KOVACS (A) started a one-year fellowship as a law and policy analyst at the Center for Health and Homeland Security in Baltimore. Earlier in the summer, LOU (A02) began his ﬁrst year as a family medicine resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center. “We’ve moved into new digs in South Baltimore near a beautiful park and can be found most evenings on our roof deck watching ships and tugs come and go on the Patapsco River,” writes Talley. “We’re also expecting a little Kovacs at the end of January 2010. Tout va bien.” ANDREW RANSON (AGI) was ﬁnally able to travel to Italy last summer and was thrilled to see so many Johnnies: “I visited a former classmate, DUSTY RITTER (AGI 00), and unexpectedly ran into EVA BRANN in Rome, and LAURA THAYER (A02) in Amalﬁ. I am continually elated by how such a small school can have members of the polity everywhere.” After discovering a passion for African djembe drumming six months ago, GIOVANNA VECCHITTO (SF) will be moving to Trinidad indeﬁnitely to continue continued on page 43 { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �42 {Alumni Notes} An Ethical Approach to Design Nadia Nour (SF00) Balances Couture with Sustainability By Nathaniel Roe (SF08) N adia Nour’s showroom in Manhattan’s Garment District was crowded with her fellow designers and prospective buyers; Nour herself was working feverishly to prepare her spring 2010 collection for a runway show during Fashion Week last September. Dresses, skirts, and blouses bound for boutiques, specialty stores, and the upscale chain Anthropologie were arranged on two racks. Flipping through the dresses, Nour described her creative vision. In her holiday collection, she experiments with the idea of transparency: sheer overlays sewn above opaque textures, and transparent patterns combined with each other to form new patterns. While these techniques are Nour’s trademarks, she is better known for ethical methods of production. Since launching her collection in 2007, Nour has been committed to economic and environmental sustainability. She is on a mission to produce organic fashion with a couture-inspired, urban design sensibility. Most associate organic clothes with dull earth tones and scratchy fabrics. Nour’s introduction of vibrantly dyed, delicately textured organic silks to the United State market was an industry breakthrough. By commissioning fair-trade organic silks and cottons hand-loomed in a village in India, and using organic dyes derived from sources such as pomegranate rind and turmeric, Nour supports businesses that provide the foundation for self-sufﬁcient communities. Workers who dye her fabrics use the runoff to fertilize an organic vegetable garden outside of the factory that provides food for the entire village. A far cry from conventional fabrics requiring pesticides and toxic dyes, Nour’s fabrics help to feed families. While many designers outsource production to foreign countries, Nour’s collection is produced by a team of industry veterans in a factory a few blocks from Nour’s showroom. With a close eye on production, she is dedicated to responsibly managing every aspect of her collection. Her apparel is also made to last—a basic, often overlooked model of sustainability. High-quality fabrics and construction are combined with a timeless design aesthetic to produce garments ﬁt to be modernday heirlooms. “Fashion has become really disposable,” Nour says. “For me, the heirloom aspect [of design] is really about breaking that cycle and just Designing beautiful fashion is satisfying for Nadia Nour (SF00), giving somebody but sustainability and ethics matter more. something that they’ll be able to Lee Angel before going to work for Elizapass down to their daughter ideally.” beth Gillett, designing and managing the With quality and endurance in mind, development of woven, knit, and crocheted Nour’s garments are highly detailed for apparel and accessories. As the production their price range. “I really want the wearer manager for couturier Robert Danes, Nour to feel the energy of the person who put it learned every detail involved in producing together. A lot of my garments are very labor intensive, so when people wear them, a $10,000 evening gown. Today, Nour’s distinctive approach to they can almost feel the spirit of the person fashion reﬂects the time she spent at who constructed them.” St. John’s. How, one might ask, is the quiet Even as a child, Nour had a natural consideration of timeless questions related afﬁnity for manipulating fabrics. “When I to the ever-changing fashion world? was a kid I used to customize my clothes “Fashion combines a lot of the aspects and cut up curtains and blankets and sew of what we studied at St. John’s, which are them into things, so I’ve always been basically the ideas of communication and attracted to working with fabric. When I identity,” Nour explains. “Verbal commuwould ﬁnish one of my homemade nication is very conscious,” she says. creations I would think to myself, no one “We can monitor it. But with body else in the world has this. This is somelanguage, gestures, and clothing—they thing truly unique in this vast world. It really get at the unconscious. It’s a really sounds like a cliché, but I feel like fashion personal form of communication, and chose me.” that’s what I’m interested in.” Despite a few doubts about the practiWhile her St. John’s education prepared cality of pursuing a career in fashion, Nour her to think creatively, Nour also credits felt compelled to follow her heart. After the college with developing those traits graduating from St. John’s, she earned a that were essential to succeed—on her BFA with a concentration in Fashion terms—in a world of cutthroat competition. Design from Columbia College of the Arts “The ability to consider ideas from in 2003, blasting through the four-year multiple angles and to independently evalprogram in two years. Determined from uate multiple factors gave my company a the start to launch her own clothing line, deﬁnite competitive advantage, and ultiNour sought out experience in all aspects mately put me in a better position to of the fashion business. She started out as succeed.” x technical design manager for jewelry line { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �43 {Alumni Notes} continued from page 41 her studies, focusing on AfroCaribbean hand and steel pan drumming. 2002 GINA MARIE CORSO (SF) and WILL WEISKOPF (SF03) were married October 18, 2009, in Baltimore before family, friends, and nature. Gina is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist with a thriving private practice in Baltimore, just recently returned from a 12-week gardening and herbalist apprenticeship at Avena Botanicals herb farm in Rockport, Maine. Will is chair of the math and science departments at the Jemicy School, which serves high-functioning students who experience difﬁculty with the mechanics of language. Two magazine articles by CHARLES GREEN (AGI) won honorable mention in the 78th Annual Writer’s Digest writing competition. LORI RUBELING (AGI) is on sabbatical from Stevenson University until January 2010. Go west, young family: CRYSTAL SOKOLOV (Sanders, SF) and her family are relocating from New York to the San Francisco Bay area in December. MEGAN SIELKEN (SF) and her husband, not-a-Johnnie Benjamin Ransford, celebrated the ﬁrst birthday of their son, Linus Foster, this past October with both shock and awe. Megan lives in Northampton, Mass., and is enjoying not taking advantage of her master’s in social work as she attempts to raise her son and enjoy life married to a graduate student. DAVID WILSON (A) is writing about the role compensation consultants play in setting CEO pay in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Canada. 2003 MEREDITH ENA BARTON BOHANNON (A) is working on a PhD at the University of Maryland, College Park, in the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences Program. She and her husband, DAVID BOHANNON (A99), are expecting their ﬁrst child in January. ERIN M HANLON (SF) has been living in Sacramento again since December 2007 and working for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers since March 2008. If anyone is passing through Sacramento and wants to visit let her know: E.I.M.Hanlon@gmail.com JONATHAN (SF) and TATIANA LINDSAY (SF04, nee FISCHl) ZECHER celebrated the ﬁrst birthday of their little girl, Zoe, born October 7, 2008. They are currently living in Durham, England, while Jonathan works on his PhD in theology at Durham University, and Tatiana works as the only female at an IT company in Newcastle, which may or may not be considered odd for a technophobe. They hope to be back in the U.S. by the beginning of 2011. 2004 NOAH J. AUGARTEN (A) is currently working on ﬁnishing his BA with Prescott College in Arizona. He will be moving to Germany to work in youth guidance at an international community called the Heydnmuhle. After spending a rollercoaster three years in Hawaii, Mackenzie (2 years) and MARYIRENE CORRIGAN (A), will be following Devin (USNA03) to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. After spending 18 months along the beautiful central California coast while he works toward his master’s, they will head to Naval Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to complete the TPS program. In addition to wrangling a toddler and trying to plan a move from the most remote island in the world, she is currently working on a master’s in Elementary Education, a bachelor’s in psychology, and looking for another job to add to her random resume. She is also trying to ﬁgure out how to adjust to seasons, Daylight Savings Time, and a cold ocean. Ultimately, she hopes their slow move east will bring her in sight of the Annapolis campus, so that she can teach Mackenzie the ﬁner points of croquet. After graduating with a master’s from Harvard, MICHAEL LOOFT (AGI) has been working in Sierra Leone as VP of Operations for Village of Hope International, which focuses on education, health, and economic security in rural areas. When he is not in Sierra Leone, he lives in Toronto with his lovely wife, Adrienne. They are expecting their ﬁrst child in December. On August 1, BENJAMIN REIKE (SF04) and ANN KEATING (A07) were married in Santa Fe. The Reikes live in Chicago. Ben works as a consumer counselor for a nonproﬁt, and Annie is a graduate student in education. They are both writers. THEODORE C. ROGERS (AGI) was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in November. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs. 2005 Happy news from CHRISTIAN and MARIE ACEMAH (both SF). “Our son arrived on Oct. 30, 2009, at 2:28 a.m. He weighed 8 pounds on { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } the nose and was 20.75 inches long. We have named him Tchabo Njagala Acemah.” After two years of “post-bac” coursework, JAMES HARRISON (A) will be starting med school at Penn this fall. “To old friends and classmates,” he writes. “All are welcome if you’re passing through Philly.” MIRANDA (FOSTER) MERKLEIN (SFGI) will graduate this year from the University of Southern Mississippi with a PhD in English/Creative Writing—Poetry, with a research emphasis in music, and Spanish as a second language. She just ﬁnished her ﬁrst book of poetry, “Demonian,” and is currently looking for a publisher (and a job after graduation). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Oxford American, Iron Horse Literary Review, South Carolina Review, and others. She does miss Santa Fe. JACOB THOMAS (A) is, perhaps surprisingly, living happy and, relatively, healthy in Berkeley, Calif. This past July, he married his longtime partner, Phoebe, at the Alameda County Clerk’s Ofﬁce in beautiful downtown Oakland. He wore a “Repeal Proposition 8” shirt under his Dario Di Napoli suit coat. He continues to work full time in the special education department of the Berkeley Uniﬁed School District, while waking up at 5:15 every morning to write. His poetry appears, with some regularity, in unknown small press magazines across the country. It’s an interesting enough life. ABRAM TROSKY (SFGI) is in his ﬁnal year as a Presidential Teaching Fellow in Boston University’s Department of Political Science. He hopes to defend a dissertation prospectus before his hire as senior teaching fellow/lecturer for Modern Political Theory this spring in the department comes into effect. Continuing the service in student government he began at St. John’s, Abram is acting vice president of the BU Graduate Student Organi- �44 {Alumni Notes} zation. When not engrossed in teaching, writing, and extracurriculars, Abram keeps it academic by hanging with Johnnie alums JESSICA DIAMOND (A03), PIERCE HARMON (SFGI95), and PAUL DENBY (SF06). 2006 Johnnie Progeny S ROAHEN (SF94) sent in this picture of a passel of Johnnie kids: They are (from l. to r.) Louise Olivier (parents Sarah Todd Olivier and DAVID OLIVIER, A94); Emmett Caswell (parents CAMERON HALL CASWELL, A94, and MATT CASWELL, A96); June Olivier, Agnes Caswell, Tibo de Schutter (parents Sara Roahen and MATHIEU DE SCHUTTER, SF94); and Rose Mae Sothern (parents NIKKI PAGE and BILLY SOTHERN, both A98). No ID on the dog, however. x 2007 ARA BRENDAN E GREELEY (SFGI) has completed primary ﬂight training in Corpus Christi, Texas, and is now in advanced jet training, ﬂying the T-45 Goshawk, in Kingsville, Texas, for the Navy. He was scheduled for promotion last August to Lieutenant Junior Grade. MEGAN CALLOW and ADAM MORSE (both SFGI) were married 2008 on the 4th of July, 2009, nearly ﬁve years after meeting in Ms. Knight’s preceptorial on Gustave Flaubert. Morse works as a technician on a wind farm, and Callow will soon be teaching writing at the local community college. They live in Hood River, Ore., a small town in the Columbia River Gorge. JOHN NEWTON (A) is a JD candi- DANIEL GRIMM (SF) writes: “Jennifer and I closed up Fishbar for the season, and are traveling to Thailand for seven weeks. Jennifer has been invited to compete on the Food Network show ‘Chopped,’ which should ﬁlm in January. We’ll keep you posted at freshlocalﬁsh.com.” JIM KENTCH (SFGI, EC06) has recently opened his law ofﬁce in Santa Fe specializing in immigration and consumer protection matters. After teaching language arts in a Santa Fe private school, JUSTIN NADIR (EC) started a business called Luna Moruna Productions, producing world-class ﬂamenco performances for the Juan Siddi Flamenco Theatre Company. The company presents traditional and contemporary ﬂamenco music, song and dance nationally and internationally and with their summer seasons in Santa Fe. Find out more at: www.juansiddiﬂamenco.com ALLISON OWENS, now Bastian (AGI), married Zach on November 7, 2008. Now she’s in medical school at the University of North Dakota and lives in Fargo. She wonders: Any other Johnnies in Fargo? DENNY MAISON (SF) graduated from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Ore., was admitted to the state bar, and is now practicing criminal defense in Salem with the law ofﬁces of Jeffrey M. Jones, P.C. SARAH and DANIEL RERA (both A) celebrated the birth of their ﬁrst baby, a girl, Elliot Martha Rera. They cannot wait to introduce her to the St. John’s community. Sarah is an associate attorney at Barth Sullivan Behr in Buffalo, and Dan is a data analyst for Kaleida Health and working toward his MBA. If you live in Santa Fe, RUSSELL SIMON (SFGI) wants your vote. He’s running for Santa Fe City Council in District 1; the election is March 10, and has a website: www.russellforsantafe.com. Continuing her international adventures, SUSAN SWIER (AGI) is at St. Andrew’s University and is excited to be embarking on her PhD. “I’m living on campus, less than a ﬁve minutes’ walk from the library. The dorm itself is quite small and run-down, especially considering how much it costs, but I guess it’s worth it for the location. The English department is also very close and that’s right beside the ruins of a castle.This semester, I have just one required class, once a week, and nothing but the dissertation after that. I’m thinking that I might stay here for just a year and get a good start on my dissertation, then move somewhere else to ﬁnish writing it. The last year I spent in Taiwan was good overall, and I might even go back and settle there.” KELLY KEENAN TRUMPBOUR (AGI) was recently named senior director of Running Start, a nonproﬁt dedicated to inspiring women in high school and college to pursue political careers. MICHAEL ZITO (AGI) is teaching history and English at the Pennington School. Zito served in the Navy on active duty and then became an instructor in English at the US Naval Academy. He comes to Pennington from Christ School in Arden, N.C., where he taught English, directed plays, and was a house parent. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } date at the Maurer School of Law, Indiana University at Bloomington, class of 2012. “I’m engaged to my dear old friend from pre-St. John’s days. I’m having a blast with law school, and I’m looking forward to being a lawyer back in California when I’m done. Anybody have ideas for a law student’s summer work in the San Francisco Bay area?” On October 3, 2009, SCHUYLER STURM (A) and JULIA PATTERSON (A09) were married in Glover, Vt. A bunch of former and current Johnnies (and one tutor) were in attendance. x What’s Up? The College wants to hear from you. Call us, write us, e-mail us. Let your classmates know what you’re doing. The next issue will be published in April; deadline for the alumni notes section is Feb. 15. Alumni will also be sent a call for classnotes via e-mail in March. To see the last mystery picture identiﬁed, visit the online community at www.stjohnscollege.edu, click on Alumni. The College Magazine St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800 Annapolis, MD 21404; rosemary.harty@sjca.edu �45 {Obituaries} FRANCIS MASON Class of 1943 getty images Francis Mason, a cultural diplomat, author, dance critic, and ardent supporter of the arts, died on September 24, 2009, at the age of 88. He was well known and admired as a cultural critic and supporter of dance, having close friendships with dance greats George Balanchine and Martha Graham. After graduating, Mr. Mason joined the Navy. A lieutenant, he served on a supply shift and participated in the D-Day invasion. He returned to the college to serve as a tutor from 194647. In 1948, he joined the State Department’s international broadcasting division and the Voice of America as an information specialist. From 1954 through 1965 he was the press attaché in the U.S. Embassies in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and cultural affairs attaché in London. Mason was successful in persuading the American government to sponsor appearances by American dance companies, gaining international recognition of American choreographers, and ultimately helping to boost the popularity of American dance troupes both in Europe and the United States. He was the chief of EastWest Exhibitions for the USIA (1965-66) and served as the Policy Ofﬁcer, Ofﬁce Assistant Director, Europe, Foreign Service Institute (1966-67). In 1968, Mr. Mason became the assistant to the President of Steuben Glass, where in 1972 he took on responsibilities in marketing and special projects. He later became the assistant director of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City in 1975. Mr. Mason’s lifelong devotion to dance began in 1948, when a friend brought him to the world the Distinguished Flying Air Cross and the Air Medal with 11 clusters, among others. Upon retiring from the Air Force, Mr. Brown spent the next 20 years teaching in Riverside, California. As a student at St. John’s, Mr. Mason was photographed for a feature about the college in Life magazine. As an ardent supporter of the arts, he was a champion for American dance. premiere of Orpheus, with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Balanchine. From 1969 to 1982, he was the Vice President and President of the Dance Research Foundation. In 1974, he became the president of the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. He served as the center’s chairman from 19751976, and its chairman emeritus in 1979. He was chairman again from 2000 through 2007. For many years, he was the weekly radio commentator for the “World of Dance” on WQXR in New York. In 1980 he became the third editor of Ballet Review, and was credited for improving the quality of the publication. He wrote three books: Balanchine’s Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, 101 Stories of the Great Ballets, and Balanchine’s Festival of Ballet. In his Vanity Fair blog, author James Alcott wrote of Mason: “A man of qualities (elegant taste, impeccable tact, unfailing cheer), Francis Mason might have stepped out of a Louis Auchincloss novel, only without the stiff rectitude and plaster dust.” Mr. Mason was a longtime supporter of the college, active in the Alumni Association and a gracious host of receptions for prospective students. He also served on the college’s Board of Visitors and Governors for six years (1974-80). In 1984 the Alumni Association of St. John’s College honored him with the Award of Merit. JOHN HARRINGTON BROWN Class of 1937 John Harrington Brown, class of 1937, died August 1, 2009, in Glendale, Arizona. He was 92. A Maryland native, he received his bachelor’s degree at St. John’s and his master’s from Redlands University in California. Mr. Brown was a B26 pilot during World War II and ﬂew 68 combat missions while in Europe. He received { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } AMANDA LAKE (SFGI95) Amanda Ridgely Lake died on August 19, 2009, at her home in Fairhaven, Mass, at the age of 44. A graduate of Hamilton College, Ms. Lake was a devoted and accomplished sailor. She began her career on the water at an early age, skippering tourists and residents between Edgartown and Chappaquiddick on Martha’s Vineyard. She later joined the crew of the Regina Maris, a wooden barkentine, studying Humpback whales in the Caribbean and North Atlantic. She became one of only a handful of women to earn a 100-ton Near Coast Master’s License, allowing her to pilot large vessels in and out of commercial ports. At the time of her death, she taught classes on advanced ship-handling and maritime safety at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Ms. Lake worked for the Audubon Society as their Internship Program Coordinator, and for PBS, helping them to design an awardwinning educational website. Her unfailing and sometimes mischievous sense of humor and her constant volunteer work inspired her friends and family. ALSO NOTED LAWRENCE SANDEK, CLASS OF 1954, SEPT. 4, 2009 PAUL WHITTENBURG, CLASS OF 1956, AUG. 20, 2009 RODNEY WITT (SF85), SEPT. 13, 2009 �46 {Alumni Association News} CALENDAR January 15-17, 2010 Piraeus, Santa Fe In January, tutors Susan Stickney and J. Walter Sterling, Jr. (A93) will lead seminars on Aeschylus’s Oresteia. The weekend begins with a welcome reception on campus Friday night at 6 p.m. Seminar continues Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a catered lunch on campus. Afternoon seminar will begin at 3 p.m., followed by a cocktail hour. Sunday seminar begins at 10 a.m., and a closing luncheon on campus completes the weekend. Continental breakfast before morning seminars will be available. Cost: $250. A $50 nonrefundable deposit is required to reserve participation. Alumni can register by calling the alumni ofﬁce in Santa Fe at 505-984-6121 or e-mailing Alumni Activities Director Nancie Wingo: anwingo@sjcsf.edu. January 19: 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. Washington, D. C., chapter seminar: John Locke’s “Letter Concerning Toleration” March 22: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. New York City chapter seminar on The Fall, by Albert Camus, led by Santa Fe tutor Grant Franks (SF77). June 3-6, 2010 Piraeus in Annapolis Choose from two selections offered this summer in Annapolis. Tutors Debbie Renaut and David Townsend will lead seminars on William Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses. Eva Brann (HA89) and David Carl will lead seminars that bring together two intriguing novels: Jane Austen’s Mansﬁeld Park and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. For more information, contact the Alumni ofﬁce in Annapolis at 410-295-6926 or visit the college website: www.stjohnscollege.edu. September 24-26, 2010 Homecoming, Annapolis A Toast to Jason Walsh T he Alumni Association extends sincere thanks to Jason Walsh (A85) for his contributions in leading the association, ﬁrst as vice president, and as president from 2006-2009. The college’s presidents, Michael P. Peters in Santa Fe and Christopher B. Nelson (SF70) in Annapolis, thanked Walsh for performing a “remarkable job” for the college and the association. “With a clear sense of purpose, the respect of your peers, and your natural gift for consensus-building, you led the Alumni Association through some turbulent times,” the presidents wrote in a letter of thanks. “As the leader of our most important constituency, you challenged us to better serve our alumni while encouraging the members of the association to renew their commitment to St. John’s College. We are indebted to your service and anticipate that the next era of collaboration { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } between the college and the Alumni Association will bear witness to the vision, inspiration, and cooperative spirit you provided. It is a worthy legacy.” Leading the association involves attending Homecomings, board meetings, and working closely with chapter leadership, notes Jo Ann Mattson (HA87), director of Alumni Relations. “Serving as the president of the Alumni Association entails a tremendous sacriﬁce of time and genuine dedication to the college,” Mattson says. “We’re very grateful for Jason’s energy, his enthusiasm, and his willingness to serve St. John’s.” x �47 {Alumni Association News} Alumni Volunteer Proﬁle services manager in the Annapolis alumni ofﬁce) with three sons: Jake, 8; Noah, 6; and Matthew, 4 Name: Dave Heimann (A87) Pursuits (hobbies, etc.): With three boys, I don’t have a lot of time for hobbies, but I do enjoy working in the garden, cooking, and drinking wine. Profession: Information Technology/Management Volunteer Service: Longtime volunteer for the Alumni Association; served on Alumni Task Force setting a new direction for alumni involvement. Favorite college memory: Mr. (Jon) Lenkowski’s sophomore language tutorial Last books read: I’ve ﬁnished two recently: A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Why volunteer for the college? St. John’s is an important part of my life. Being active as an alumnus is a way to stay involved with the college and lets me give something back. Family details: Married to Jeannie (daughter of Dolores Strissel, alumni Beantown Chapter Born from a “Bribe” avid Schiller (class of 1962) and Leland Giovanelli (A78) were walking from one of the dorms during a summer alumni seminar program in 1981 when former president Richard Weigle buttonholed them. Famous for his persuasive powers, Weigle informed them that they were to start up an alumni chapter in Boston, and, by the way, he had two tickets to the Santa Fe Opera. It wasn’t a bribe, though. “At least that’s what he said,” says Schiller. Schiller and Giovanelli thoroughly enjoyed Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. On their return to Boston, they carried out Weigle’s wishes. Schiller made up a threeyear list of monthly readings, and Giovanelli supplied a meeting place. The ﬁrst seminar of the ﬂedgling Boston chapter was on Hegel’s Phenomenology, concerning the master/slave relationship. Says Schiller, “I ﬁgured that if people would attend seminars for that, they would attend seminars for anything I proposed!” When Schiller ran out of ideas for readings, other chapter members came through with suggestions. One of these was Layla and Majnun, a classical Arabian tale of star-crossed lovers. “It took nearly the entire seminar for us to ﬁnally realize that the story is actually a religious treatise about a believer’s love for God,” recalls Schiller. Since then, the Boston chapter has been among the most active in the nation. Current members are carrying on their founders’ predilection for reading a wide variety of texts in their seminars. Recently, D they read Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu, in full. The seven-volume work consumed an entire year, and it was a small group of extremely dedicated readers who ﬁnished. Last October, members took on something shorter: Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. Members come to seminars not only from metro Boston, but also from Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine. This makes logistics somewhat challenging for current president Dianne Cowan (A92), because, in addition to the length of the commute, ﬁnding parking in the Boston area is always a daunting prospect. Cowan has been attending seminars in Boston for the last 13 years and has seen many faces come and go. Aside from a core group of about a half-dozen people who attend every meeting, many alumni attending graduate school in Boston cycle through regularly. Members are welcome to bring friends, partners, or spouses to the meetings. The constant inﬂux of fresh opinions strengthens the conversations. “Occasionally though, someone new shows up once and then we never see them again,” says Cowan. “I always think that’s sad.” Cowan tries to organize a few meetings outside of seminars every year. During the summer, when the library where they meet closes on Sundays, the group gets together for a dinner cruise on the Concord and Sudbury rivers. There are also potlucks at members’ homes and an occasional game of Team Trivia at a local bar. Cowan most enjoys spending time with other alumni. “I like talking to other Johnnies,” she says. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } “And I like giving other Johnnies the opportunity to talk to each other.” Alumni in the greater Boston area are invited to get involved. For more information, contact Cowan at diannecowan@ alumni.stjohnscollege.edu or 617-714-4343. The group meets on various Sundays at the Watertown Free Library; check the online alumni community (www.stjohnscollege.edu; click on Alumni for a schedule. x —Keileigh Rhodes (A13) ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION All alumni have automatic membership in the St. John’s College Alumni Association. The Alumni Association is an independent organization, with a Board of Directors elected by and from the alumni body. The board meets four times a year, twice on each campus, to plan programs and coordinate the affairs of the association. President – Steve Thomas (SF74) Vice President – Patty Sollars (SF80) Secretary – Liz Travis (SF83) Treasurer – Richard Cowles (SFGI95) Mailing address – Alumni Association, St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800, Annapolis, MD 21404, or 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599. �48 {Homecoming} COMING HOME, THE JOHNNIE WAY Y ou can always witness creativity at work when you venture back to Santa Fe or Annapolis for Homecoming each fall. In Santa Fe, Johnnies from the class of 1969 relived what it was like to be a Johnnie—on the new campus of an old college— during the summer of Woodstock and Apollo 11. They enjoyed Homecoming with an Italian twist, venturing onto the soccer ﬁelds to play bocce, a game that dates back to 5000 BC. In Annapolis, the class of 1959 spent all day together Saturday, reveling in a seminar on art, then talking with each other about the lasting inﬂuences of the college on their lives, and ﬁnally toasting the college and their class at the annual banquet. There was an art show in Santa Fe, and a big celebration in Annapolis marking the 100th anniversary of beloved Temple Iglehart. The gym was decorated as it was 100 years ago when Johnnies of another era ﬁrst engaged in competition there. There were awards and honors, and lectures and seminars. Perhaps there were even rekindled romances, but it’s certain many a friendship was renewed. For photo galleries of both events, visit the college website: www.stjohnscollege.edu and click on “Alumni.” x At right, Sunday Brunch in Santa Fe; Below, right: in Annapolis, Mark Gowdy-Jaehnig (A83, right) shares a yearbook with classmates; Below, Left: Annapolis Freshman Chorus revisited { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{Homecoming} 49 Children of Western Civilization he Class of 1959 had two seminars at Homecoming in Annapolis. The ﬁrst, before lunch, was on essays by two members of the class: Mary Bittner Wiseman’s “Vermeer and the Art of Silence” and Hugh Curtler’s “Requiredness in Art.” Their second seminar, over lunch, was on how St. John’s inﬂuenced the course of their lives. Patience Schenck posed the opening question: “What was a seminal or life-changing experience you had at the college?” Like any good seminar question, it opened the door wider, back to memories of Annapolis and forward to careers, marriages, and life changes. A theme emerged after just a few of the participants spoke. They are lifelong learners, voracious readers, and avid pursuers of diverse hobbies and interests. Dick Cahall described them all as “children of Western civilization.” Patience Schenck was never afraid to read any book, on any topic, after attending St. John’s. Today she harbors a passion for social justice that was born at St. John’s. “In every meeting, I’m always the one asking the questions,” said Charlotte King, retired now after a long career in social work. “That has continued for 50 years.” Realtor Barbara Tower remembers that once—and only once—she attended seminar without ﬁnishing the reading. The uncomfortable feeling it gave her sparked a lifelong compulsion: “To this day, I’ll never attend a meeting without being fully prepared.” Buddy Nadler recalls traveling down from the Bronx to sit in on a seminar at St. John’s, where his brother, Hank, was enrolled. “The conversations sounded like symphonic music to me,” he said. Though he stayed for just a year, ‘the college transformed my life,” said Nadler, who worked in the ﬁlm industry in Hollywood. Friendships and romance had their genesis at the college. “We found our best friends here,” Carol Tilles said of herself and her husband, Bill. “We were family right from the very beginning.” “I never stopped thanking my lucky stars that I went to St. John’s,” said Dick Cahall. For one thing, he met his wife, Lorna, here. “She keeps me straight and even jumps ahead of me.” T Added Lorna: “I have a Johnnie husband who doesn’t care that I have too many books.” Many of the classmates shared memories of the tutors. Carol Tilles smiled remembering Victor Zuckercandl, the charismatic force behind music at the college. “What a total joy that man was,” she recalled. “He had us learning to see things and hear things, and that was a very special memory.” Marshall Lasky came to St. John’s with the idea that he wanted to be a chemist, but when he described his plan to Jacob Klein, he was told, “Well, Mr. Lasky, we’ll cure you of that notion of industrial cookery.” Lasky graduated from St. John’s, went on to earn a master’s degree, worked in hypersonic propulsion research, and later developed software and computer systems. Peter Rice remembers working diligently in Simon Kaplan’s German tutorial, only to get a C-. Since then he’s lived in Germany, acquired ﬂuency in the language, and learned that “I had the power within myself” to excel. x Honors for “Mr. P.” T he St. John’s Alumni Association gave its highest honor, the Award of Merit, to Athletic Director Leo Pickens (A78). “Leo is the most articulate athletic director in the United States,” said President Christopher Nelson (SF70). “No individual quite possibly has had more inﬂuence on the lives of students.” Pickens characteristically turned the spotlight to others, speciﬁcally “three fellow stewards”: Joseph Novaks, who ran the athletic program in the 1920s; Ned Lathrop, who steered athletics after Barr and Buchanan dropped intercollegiate sports in 1939; and Bryce Jacobsen (class of 1942). “Mr. J. was one of my mentors,” Pickens said, “ and I am deeply indebted to him for his humor and gentle humanity, his creativity, and the way he put into daily practice his deep concern for egalitarian fair play.” Finally, Pickens thanked “the generations of students. . .who took to heart and nurtured and embodied this ideal of athletics for all that had been seeded in these ﬁelds years before. Because of their enthusiastic energy, ideas, and leadership, my job has always been, and will continue to be, to simply get out of the way.” x The Class of 1959 enjoyed sharing memories at Homecoming. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �50 {Homecoming} Ciao, Johnnies! J ohnnies on the Santa Fe campus for Homecoming October 9-11 enjoyed a near-perfect fall weekend, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones while dipping into Italian culture with opera, cannelloni, and bocce ball. The weekend began with a reception for classes marking a reunion year, paying particular homage to the class of 1969 with music, décor, and cuisine from the 1960s. Photographs displayed on easels took alumni on a nostalgic journey back through the decades, providing a visual tour of how both the campus and its students have changed over the years. Tutor Sam Kutler (class of 1954) delivered the Homecoming lecture on poetry and mathematics. Saturday began with the State of the College address from President Michael Peters and Dean Victoria Mora. Mora conveyed the news that the college has received a 10-year re-accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Peters addressed the continuing effects of the economic downturn on St. John’s and spelled out how the college is addressing these concerns. The slate of new ofﬁcers for the Alumni Association Board was presented and voted into effect: President: Steve Thomas (SF74); vice president: Patty Sollars (A80); treasurer: Dick Cowles (SFGI95); and secretary: Liz Travis (SF83). Ymelda MartinezAllison (A74) presented the slate of ofﬁcers, who begin their threeyear terms in January. Seminars followed that meeting, many with an Italian text or theme, and afterwards an Italian lawn party took place on the soccer ﬁeld. Alumni and their families feasted on panni, cannelloni, opera tunes, and bocce ball. It was a beautiful afternoon of play and reminiscing. This year, the All Alumni Art Show was expanded to include work by students as well as by alumni. Friends from the Santa Fe community joined alumni, students, faculty, and staff for the opening of the art show and were entertained with music performed by tutor Bill Donohue and student Ari Winneck. The Great Hall was the setting for the Homecoming banquet, where toasts from the classes of 1969-2004 were made. Alumni recalled fond memories of shared experiences and continued gratitude for all the signiﬁcant ways their St. John’s education continues to affect their lives. Steve Thomas presented Mike Peters with a check for $25,000 completing the gift pledge made from the Alumni Association. Following the banquet, alumni and students alike provided an impressive display of dancing skills to the worldbeat music of Wagogo. The weekend concluded with the traditional brunch at Hunt House. x Above, Santa Fe President Michael Peters welcomes an alumnus to brunch at Hunt House; At right, Santa Fe tutor Cary Stickney lets the bocce ball ﬂy. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{Homecoming} 51 Two campuses, two homecomings. the settings are different, but the spirit is the same. Clockwise, from top left: In Santa Fe, Allen Schwartzberg (l.) and Dan Cleavinger (both SF69), enjoying the president’s brunch; Tiemar Teclemariam (A11) leads a seminar on a children’s book for johnnies-to-be in Annapolis; Ruth McCoy Miles, daughter of Jack Miles (A89) becomes a ﬂower girl; In Santa Fe, alumni take in the Homecoming Art Show; in Annapolis, a confectionary replica of Iglehart Hall. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �52 {St. John’s Forever} Shall We Dance? B efore the Student Activities Center opened in Santa Fe, the Great Hall in Peterson Student Center served, among other things, as a dance studio for Johnnies. This photograph from the college archives in the Greenﬁeld Library was probably among those taken for college promotional material produced in the 1970s.Today, the Santa Fe campus has a popular dance program, based in the Student Activities Center, where Johnnies can learn ballroom dancing, swing, and the tango—plenty of fancy moves to show off at waltz parties. x { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �{Eidos} A Day at the Carnival Photos and text by Brendan Bullock (A01) Brendan Bullock has spent the past eight years pursuing photography in Santa Fe, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Maine. Self-taught, he’s reﬁned his skills by assisting photographers, working in ﬁne art galleries, and studying the work of historic and contemporary photographers. He spent four months in 2009 working as a teaching assistant at the Maine Media Workshops. In working with documentary classes, he captured these images of a traveling carnival in Maine. T he images are dark; there is a recurring ominous undertone. I didn’t set out to make photographs depicting the subject in this way, but consistently, my images contained this feeling. Photography remains a magical medium because it uses a cold, unfeeling machine to capture a scene, and yet time and time again, the emotional perspective of the photographer comes through. This is due to many factors: where one chooses to go make photographs in the ﬁrst place, what one ﬁnds interesting within that location, where the camera is placed, how the camera is operated technically, and ultimately, which moment is chosen to make a photograph. Personal psychology, emotion, and past experience seep in subtly to all of these decisions, and result in a subjective image that often reveals as much about the photographer as his or her subject. Carnivals and fairs are meant to be diversions that are strictly happy places, but in actuality, there is a lot of heaviness and depression emanating from the scene. There is poverty and strife evident in the lives of those attending and those traveling and working the fairs. It was incredibly interesting to view all of this without the rose-colored glasses of youth, when everything is shiny and exciting. Through the camera, I saw outdated rides with rusty edges, junkie and alcoholic ride attendants, and meaningless plastic prizes that would ﬁnd their way into attics, basements, and dumpsters. Most of all, I saw many parents spending hard-earned cash that they seemed scarcely able to afford in order for their children to have this experience. Essentially, all of the subtexts that you might imagine woven into a small-town carnival in a recession. x See more images at www.brendanbullock.com. { T h e C o l l e g e • St. John’s College • Winter 2010 } �NON -P ROFIT ORG . U.S. POSTAGE PAID P UBLISHED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE P.O. BOX 2800 A NNAPOLIS , MARYLAND 21404 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED A NNAPOLIS , MD P ERMIT NO . 120 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The College (2001-2017) Description An account of the resource The St. John's College Communications Office published The College magazine for alumni. It began publication in 2001, continuing the St. John's Reporter, and ceased with the Fall 2017 issue. Click on <a title="The College" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=56">Items in The College (2001-2017) Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Santa Fe, NM Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thecollege2001 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 52 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Title A name given to the resource The College, Winter 2010 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Santa Fe, NM Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The_College_Magazine_Winter_2010 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Description An account of the resource Volume 35, Issue 1 of the The College Magazine. Published in Winter 2010. The College